It’s the first year of Lions Creators, the official creator track at Cannes Lions, and the excitement is palpable.

Lions Creators programming will include presentations, panels, roundtables, and networking events, as well as the Social & Influencer Lions Awards Show, building on years of increased creator participation in the festival, mostly on the brand side. Executives told us that, in response, creators, as well as creator marketers, will be there in higher numbers than ever this year.

We spoke with some of the executives behind the program—Thea Skelton, VP of events at Cannes Lions, and Joe Gagliese, co-CEO and co-founder of Viral Nation—about why 2024 was the year to make Lions Creators happen.

Continue reading here.—KH

Stuck in neverending rounds of review with clients or stakeholders? Pretty much business as usual for creatives, especially those working in the brain-bending world of video. If only there was a way video creatives and clients could collab more cohesively.

Good news: There is. Say hi to Dropbox Replay, a user-friendly media review and approvals solution built to speed up the feedback process of rich media projects—tough stuff like brand campaigns, promotional vids, product demos, podcasts, you name it.

With Dropbox Replay, you can:

• Eliminate endless back and forth with collaborators.
• Recreate the in-person experience, virtually.
• ​​Review and resolve feedback right from your editing app.
• ​​Give and receive precise feedback with frame-accurate commenting.

Say goodbye to endless review cycles.

It’s day two at Cannes, and I’m still buzzing from last night’s Spotify soiree, where I got full-on imposter syndrome rubbing elbows with Jessica Alba, Sophia Bush, and Keenan Thompson while John Legend sang “All of Me” on a stage built on top of a pool.

I kicked off my second day at a TikTok media briefing, where executives discussed the app’s new AI features. Afterward, I chatted with Sofia Hernandez, global head of business marketing at TikTok, who was also at the Spotify party and admitted the hilly shuttle ride to the venue made her a little dizzy (same).

As for her role at TikTok, Hernandez said her role means she has a lot of brand CMOs on speed dial because, as she said, “For most brands, what I hear is, ‘It’s a little scary to put ourselves out there,’” but that’s often what you need to do to find success on TikTok. Hernandez said she sees convos at Cannes this year focusing on the evolution of the CMO role beyond just “campaign makers.”

I knew there would be lots of interesting sports-centric conversations at Cannes this year, so I headed to “Winning Equality: The Rise of Women’s Sports,” a panel featuring soccer player Midge Purce, basketball player and rapper Flau’jae Johnson, and Mr. Serena Williams himself, Alexis Ohanian. They talked a lot about how brand deals have evolved in women’s sports, as well as their larger impact.

“If I take the short end of the stick, or if I take a deal, if I do something for free, they’re gonna tell the next young girl ‘Flau’jae did it this, Flau’jae did it that,’ so I can’t undermine the worth of the woman coming [up] behind me,” Johnson said.

Speaking of athletes, the Olympic Torch passed through Cannes today, escorted by a parade including brands like Coca-Cola and French savings bank Caisse D’Epargne (whose float featured a basketball-playing squirrel). I had assumed the woman carrying the flame was a French athlete, but I later found out that it was actually Halle Berry. Go sports!—EC

Each week, we spotlight Marketing Brew readers in our Coworking series. If you’d like to be featured, introduce yourself here.

Melissa Grady Dias is the chief marketing officer of Cadillac. Over the course of her career, she’s also worked at brands and agencies including MetLife, Motorola, and TBWA\Chiat\Day.

Favorite project you’ve worked on? I am very proud of our “Colors of Emotion” campaign. It was the grand unveiling of the Lyriq, Cadillac’s first all-electric vehicle, on the world stage. It was also the first campaign to feature the new visual identity and tagline, “Be iconic.” We felt we needed to revamp our brand strategy and look and feel for Cadillac’s transition to EVs. The entire process took two years, and to see the final product and culmination of it all was incredibly fulfilling for the entire team. At one point, “Colors” tested in the top 3% of all ads ever tracked by our GM research team across all industries.

What’s your favorite ad campaign? My favorite campaign right now is the Angi ad with the song from Black Sheep. I love the energy the music infuses—you can’t help but start to move, and it stays in your head. And the message is so clear—get some help from Angi, and you have the freedom to enjoy the things you want to do.

Another one I love that came out years ago is the “Beatrice” ad by Esurance. There’s a myth that people don’t like advertising, but people like good advertising that’s entertaining, memorable, and relatable. This one is the perfect balance of memorability and effectiveness. It clearly establishes Esurance as the tech-savvy option for big insurance savings, and I still quote and laugh at the punchline today!

Continue reading here.

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Mergers and acquisitions, company partnerships, and more.

• Amazon and GroupM debuted work from their exclusive shoppable livestream partnership at Cannes.
• GroupM also announced a new retail media arrangement with measurement company Incremental.
• Dunkin’ tapped Will Arnett and Corporate Natalie for its summer campaign.
• Walmart has signed onto Forbes’s first “Creator Upfronts” event as a partner, which is scheduled for the fall.