The penultimate day of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity kicked off for the Manifest team at the terrace of the Palais.

Speaking there were The Womb's co-founders Kawal Shoor and Navin Talreja. They were part of a roundtable titled 'Inside Indies - What's Next For The Agency Landscape'.

Advertising industry veteran Sir John Hegarty then took to the stage at Debussy Theatre to underscore the decline of traditional advertising due to societal changes and the rise of digital entertainment. 

“We have to be honest with ourselves, and unless you do so, you are not going to change anything. Advertising is failing, and it must be getting harder and harder for brands to come through - value of brands goes down, the economy suffers,” he noted.

He highlighted the increasing trend of people paying to avoid advertising, blaming it on advertising’s focus on 'promotion' rather than 'persuasion.'

“Advertising isn't creating the change that it needs in society. It is a fundamental part of an economy - It drives growth, it drives creation of ideas and creation of brands, and over the last 20 or 25 years we have seen a lack of growth. Where's the growth coming from? I genuinely believe part of that is because we have focused on promotion as opposed to persuasion.”

Hegarty also advocated for restructuring companies to prioritise creativity, suggesting a shift from CEOs to ‘Creative Executive Officers.’ Read more about it in our detailed piece here.

Sir John Hegarty

Actors and founders of the Pro Panja League, Preeti Jhangiani and Parvin Dabas are here in Cannes. After a short catch-up with the team last evening, Jhangiani has written her first experience of the festival. Read that here.

At the Lions Sport, Rob Johnson, managing director - audiences, ECB, and Adam Bullock, co-founder, The Multiple Agency, took to the stage to discuss the evolution of The Hundred, a cricketing format that has divided opinions. Read what they spoke about here.

At the Lions Creator’s Beach, a session, ‘Stop advertising, start entertaining: crafting social content people actually want’ discussed how brands must stop interrupting people with traditional advertising and instead create entertaining, culturally relevant content that audiences actively choose to consume on social media.

(Jennifer Richardi and Nick Gallo)

The speakers included Nick Gallo, founder and CEO, Loop; and Jennifer Richardi, head - brand and creative, DoorDash.

The day continued with a one-on-one chat with Sir Martin Sorrell at Les Monks Cafe. At his candid best, Sorrell spoke about what the Lions are getting wrong, what WPP is getting wrong in Cannes, why Arthur Sadoun (CEO, Publicis) needs to be careful, while not shying away about stating how its India operations need to be stronger. Catch this chat in the July issue of Manifest. 

The day ended with the team visiting the Havas Cafe for their party and spending some time with Mohit Joshi, CEO, Havas Media Network India, Uday Mohan, chief operating officer, Havas Media Network India. The highlight was Yannick Bolloré, CEO, chairperson and CEO, Havas, getting behind the DJ console. 

Catch us on day five!