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Choose your Cannes style:
Who are you?
Cannes Lions
CANNES, FRENCH RIVIERA
Gare de Lyon
Train Station
PARIS, FRANCE
Panel to Attend
Food
Access
Housing
Travel Plans
Defining Art + Activism
“As you walk further up the hill and away from the Croisette, prices drop and you start seeing homeless people. That’s where you can get a $5 piece of pizza.”
“Get a badge only if your CFO is paying for it. But you don’t really need one. You don’t need to be on a panel either. Just show up and be scrappy.”
Airbnb. As of June 6th, there were over 300 properties available, in the hyper centre, Petit Jouas, and Prado République. Here’s one.
Charles de Gaulle Airport
PARIS, FRANCE
John F. Kennedy International Airport
NEW YORK, NY, USA
Lone Wolf
Corporate Lion
Panel to Attend
Food
Access
Housing
Travel Plans
Cheers to People! Make Brands More Human, Change the Game
Dine at the iHeartMedia/MediaLink's Executive Dinner at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, with Mumford & Sons.
The Yacht Pass (“The only way to ensure your company gets a great yacht in a prime location during the festival.”): $29,088 (yacht not included)
“We have a dope house on the Croisette. Come by for the pool volleyball. My CMO is a beast!”
Nice Côte d'Azur International Airport
NICE, FRANCE
John F. Kennedy International Airport
NEW YORK, NY, USA
Lone Wolf
Corporate Lion
Shonda Rimes
Writer, Producer, Author
Panel: Time to Step Up: Smashing Beauty Stereotypes
Steven Pinker
Cognitive Scientist/Harvard Professor
Panel: The Art of Asking Questions
Jeff Goldbum
Entertainer
Panel: The Future of Entertainment
Dwayne Wade
Athlete
Panel: Cheers to People! Make Brands More Human, Change the Game
Alfonso Cuarón
Film Director
Panel: Defining Art + Activism
Max Richter
Composer
Panel: Merging the Worlds of Wellness and Entertainment
Of course, you could spend your days listening to panels on data mining, marketing, and the blockchain revolution, or you could spend time with some other visionaries. You make the call.
Too cool
for Cannes?
Some people approach the annual Cannes Lions Festival like, well, lions, if lions had expense accounts and a taste for escargots. They commandeer yachts, moderate important panels, and play host at their employers’ lavish dinners and sunset cocktail parties. Of course, not every Cannes-goer rolls quite like that. In fact, a great many function more like lone wolves, biding their time on the perimeters until it’s time to pounce. So we sought out a handful of seasoned Cannes vets for wisdom on how to get a solid return on your Cannes Lions investment, even if you’re not hanging out on Ron Perelman’s yacht. Here’s how to make the most of Cannes on a few connections, a little hustle, and a lot of Rosé.
Words by Mark Healy
Design by Tri Vo
How to make the most of the annual schmooze fest without a four-figure badge, a job at one of the big corporate sponsors, or a space on the iHeart yacht.
The Guerrilla Guide to
Cannes Lions
7
Check Yourself
6
Exercise Your Right to Party
5
Make Yourself Heard
4
Secure an Alternative Fuel Source
3
Serendipity is Your Friend
2
Make Yourself a Home
1
Power Through the Time Zones
Click through these steps to find out how:
7 Ways to Do Cannes Right
“Don’t over-schedule,” advises Dotdash CEO Neil Vogel. “The best meetings are random, the big parties are almost always overrated, and remember, this is just a fancy conference, so don’t be an idiot. My advice is act like a normal person, similar to the one you are in real-life, and you will have a fine time.”
Check Yourself
The brand consultants at Sunday Dinner create a massive spreadsheet for their clients detailing every dinner, talk, and cocktail party, but you don’t have to go to any. “So what if you don’t get into the Spotify party?” one regular asks. “You meet up with the fifty people you know who did go before and after.” Another adds: “Everyone converges at the Gutter Bar at 2 am and that’s where the democratization happens. It never ends and people see the sun rise there.”
Exercise Your Right to Party
“Write a few blog posts recapping the action and adding some insights, and push them out,” suggests Lindsey Slaby, founder of the brand consultancy Sunday Dinner. “Then use that to introduce yourself to people. I attend a bunch of talks and do a conference recap, writing about what people are talking about on the beach. The open rate on my newsletters from Cannes is like 60%.”
Make Yourself Heard
“It’s an incredibly expensive town,” says one insider, “and there’s nothing to fucking eat. It may be France but most of the food is inside at parties you can’t get into. I bring a bunch of Rx bars.”
Secure an Alternative Fuel Source
“The people you run into on the street are people you wouldn’t get a meeting with back in New York,” says Andrew Essex, Andrew Essex
CEO and Co-founder of Plan A and author of The End of Advertising. “You have to be scrappy. But don’t overschedule. The best stuff happens on the fly.” A branded content editor says access is unparalleled. “Everyone there has money to spend and everyone is staying up until 3 a.m going to parties and drinking Rosé.”
Serendipity is Your Friend
The Economist hosts a daily breakfast series at the Cannes Lion Beach Club, La Croisette. Anyone with a valid I.D. can get
into Little Black Book & Friends daily beach party, so grab a beach chair and get comfortable. Meanwhile moored at the Vieux Port is the Rubicon Yacht, which will partying all week long. Surely you can weasel your way into one of them. And the Drum will be posting up at Morrison’s Lounge for the duration. And when in doubt, check here for updates and ideas.
Make Yourself a Home
“You survive on adrenaline and a lot of water,” one veteran of the Croisette suggests. “Just acclimate as quickly as you can. I try to stay up late the first night and then sleep as late as I can. Don’t underestimate the value of iced coffee. The best place to get it is at the New York Post Coffee Kiosk, which is outside The Carlton.”
Power Through the Time Zones
Lone Wolf
Corporate
Lion