Everyone is shouting at Cannes Lions: the smartest brands are doing something else

Cannes Lions has become as much about experiential activations as it is about creativity awards. The official programme now sits alongside an enormous ecosystem of beach cabanas, rooftop takeovers, yacht parties and branded pop-ups, all competing for the same audience.

“It’s like Glastonbury, but your boss is paying for it,” says Chris Rhodes, founder and creative director of Experience. “There’s so much to see and do.”

“The whole town is just taken over. Every venue that can be booked, even if it’s not a venue before that festival, they are brokering a deal.”

For many brands, the instinct is to respond to that competition by going bigger, louder and more ambitious. Rhodes believes that's often the wrong approach.

“You’ve got a brand that’s trying to activate and communicate a message, and then you’ve got an audience that’s being absolutely swamped with loads of brands trying to reach them,” he says.

That creates a fundamental challenge.

“How do you stand out from a crowd? Your audience is walking past thinking, ‘I've got so many sweet shops to go in. Why am I going to choose your sweet shop?’”

Chris Rhodes

The forgotten human factor

For Rhodes, the activations that cut through aren't necessarily the most expensive or technologically advanced. They're the ones that understand how people are actually feeling in that moment.

“I think somewhere like Cannes, when you're activating, if you keep in mind what people really need as humans, align that with your messaging and somehow join the two, then you've got something.

“The simple human side of events has kind of been forgotten about,” he says.

In an environment where delegates are walking long distances, sitting through multiple sessions, juggling meetings and spending hours in the heat, basic comfort can become a surprisingly powerful differentiator.

“If you've got a meeting room that's got really efficient aircon, comfy seats and it's quiet, people remember that.”

He laughs while returning to one particularly overlooked detail.

“The ones where you went somewhere and they had a good loo - you're like, ‘you nailed that’.”

“It’s event 101 stuff. If you're going to host a party, make sure the facilities are there to look after people.”

When good ideas meet the wrong environment

That doesn't mean creativity doesn't matter. But Rhodes believes many activations fail because they prioritise novelty over context.

He recalls one activation centred around creating bespoke perfumes for attendees.

On paper, it sounded like an engaging and personalised experience. The reality was somewhat different.

“You might smell nice, but you need to smell nice because you've been standing in the queue now for half an hour and dripping in sweat,” he says.

“It's a nice idea, but it's in the wrong environment for it.”

For Rhodes, successful experiential design starts with understanding the audience's mindset and circumstances before layering in creativity.

“You need to get right underneath your message to work out what it is you're talking about, then find a way to make that resonate with an audience that's in a really busy environment.”

Utility beats gimmicks

This is where many brands fall into the trap of creating experiences that are memorable but disconnected from their core message.

“There's no point in doing ‘spin the wheel’ unless you're promoting wheel axles,” Rhodes jokes.

Instead, he points to a Meta activation as one of the strongest examples he encountered at Cannes.

The experience featured suspended retro telephones that translated speech into different languages in real time using AI.

“It was tactile, audio, playful - it tickled all the senses,” he says.

“It was telling a story, communicating a message and showing the future potential of the technology.”

For Rhodes, that's the sweet spot: an experience that entertains while also demonstrating a genuine brand proposition.

Designing for an audience with endless choice

The challenge becomes even greater for brands operating away from Cannes' prime beachfront locations.

“You can't compete with a few PowerPoint slides in a hot room and some free rosé,” Rhodes says.

“You need to think much more about how tactile you can make it and how you bring storytelling to life.”

Yet despite the competition, he believes many brands overestimate how much audiences want to be dazzled and underestimate how much they value relevance.

In a festival environment overflowing with options, utility can be every bit as powerful as spectacle.

Embracing the chaos

At the same time, Rhodes acknowledges that the overwhelming nature of Cannes is part of its appeal.

“There's just so much stuff on the go all the time,” he says. “I don't know who's seeing it all and I don't know who it's all for.”

Yet that overload is also what creates the festival's unique energy.

“The buzz probably only exists because that many people descend on the place.”

For first-time attendees, his advice is refreshingly straightforward.

“You're never going to see it all,” he says.

“It probably is a bit like Glastonbury where the line-up's amazing, but you can't get round everything.”

Instead, he suggests embracing the location itself.

“You are in the south of France. Kick your shoes off, go for a swim in the sea and then go back to your session.”

Ultimately, Rhodes believes Cannes offers a lesson that extends far beyond the Croisette.

In a world where audiences are bombarded with messages, brands don't necessarily need bigger budgets or louder activations. They need a better understanding of people.

“It doesn't have to be expensive,” he says. “But it has to be thought through.”

“You need your message, and then you need a really good idea to help get that message live to an audience in a really busy environment.”

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