LONDON – Mirroring the rapid growth of content created for and by brands, there has been a surge in award submissions in the category of “branded entertainment.” It is “exploding out of all proportion,” says Philip Thomas, CEO of Cannes Lions in this interview with Beet.TV
Another fast growing sector among the Festival’s seventeen categories is digital which is called “cyber” in the Festival’s parlance.
This year there will be some 37,000 submissions in all categories.
In this conversation, Thomas charts the evolution of Cannes Lions from principally an advertising agency fest to broadly embrace media and technology. This year will mark the first time there will be a sizable presence by venture capitalists including the noted Silicon Valley investors Ron Conway and Ben Horowitz, Thomas says.
We spoke with him as part of our series titled “The Road to Cannes,” a preview of the Festival and an overview on the state and future of digital media by a range of thought leaders. The series is sponsored by Videology.
