As the 70th Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity gets underway in the south of France today, the man who runs the show says there is a renewed spirit of creativity and brand engagement.

Phil Thomas is chair of Cannes Lions, having run the festival since 2006.

In this interview with Beet.TV at Cannes’ famous Palais des Festivals, he gives his thoughts as the 2023 festival kicks off.

Brands get creative

“We saw an increase in the number of (award) entries coming in, which is great, 6% increase,” Thomas says.

“But actually what’s really interesting, if you (go) deep down into the data, you’ll see that entries from brands are up 18%.”

Thomas believes that shows brands are embracing creativity more than ever, with the festival providing ammunition to marketers to fight for the funds to invest in creativity.

Growth in delegate numbers and confidence

Compared to last year, the festival is experiencing significant growth in the number of delegates, the number of people and creativity of the activations around the city.

Thomas attributes this growth to the fact that attendees have had a full year to prepare for the event, as opposed to the uncertainty leading into the 2022 festival.

“We’re seeing a huge growth in that from all sorts of different areas – technology, ad tech, creative, creative businesses and everybody else,” he adds.

Artificial intelligence is a hot topic at this year’s festival, with numerous talks and panels dedicated to its impact on the industry.

Thomas highlights one talk in particular featuring a senior leader from OpenAI, which he believes will be a fascinating conversation. Unlike past trends like AR, VR, and blockchain, Thomas feels that AI is “the real deal”.

OpenAI chief operating officer Brad Lightcap will be talking with two leads of creative outfit Goodby Silverstein & Partners on their collaborations using tools like DALL-E.

The value of partnership

As the media, advertising, and technology industries continue to evolve, partnerships and collaborations have become increasingly important. Thomas expresses his gratitude for the partnerships Cannes Lions has formed, including with Beet.TV, and believes that working together provides real benefits for both parties.

“There are two ways to do Cannes for sure. One is to come and sit on the outside and do a thing in a hotel or on a beach or whatever and not engage with the heart of what we do.

“And the other way to do it is to join a partnership with us. And you guys have done that, which we’re very grateful, and I’m glad you can see the benefit of it because there is real benefit for us working together.”

Beet.TV has a strong presence in Cannes again this year, with a villa, numerous events and some fantastic artwork peppering the Croisette.

For more videos from Beet.TV’s Cannes Lions 2023 coverage, please visit this page.

By Robert Andrews on @robertandrews