Cannes Lions 2025: Tips, tales and takeaways from the Electric Cat Team
Hello hello and welcome back to the Electric Cat Newsletter! Three of our team - Cat Kevern ⚡️, Stephanie Garey and Hatty Cadman - have just landed back on UK soil after a bustling, busy and bloomin’ hot week at the incredible Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. After five days of keynotes, networking with the best in the biz and the occasional glass of champagne, we have returned with a wealth of insights, tips and tricks for future first timers, and exciting takeaways for marketers. Stay tuned over the coming weeks for our full round-up, but for now these are our quick-fire tips and learnings:
Pace yourself
We heard from several sources that Cannes is the Glastonbury of marketing, and they weren’t wrong. The scale is unmatched, the content schedule is packed, and your step count will go bonkers. The trick is to remember that you have five days ahead of you - don’t knacker yourself for the week on the first day! Take it steady and accept that you can’t possibly see everything.
Ever heard of a lil something called AI…? 🤖
It’s no secret that AI is the hot new thing - literally everyone is talking about it, and Cannes was no exception. Despite this, we’ve left feeling quietly confident that robots aren’t taking over just yet. Choose your sources wisely, use AI where it’s needed, and get excited about the ways it can streamline your business operations and even boost creativity! But as we were reminded throughout the week, humanised brands are still cutting through the noise.
Listen to your audience
No really, listen. When the biggest brands and most revered CMOs in the world are telling you to engage further with your audience and use their experience and desires as a guiding light, you listen. A brand that feels truly steered by its customers is a brand that garners loyalty.
Use shortening attention spans to your advantage
Shortening attention spans sound like a marketing disaster, but the overwhelming feeling across the talks we attended was that they don’t need to be. While it’s hard to keep attention on an individual ad, post or piece of content, audiences are engaging across platforms – especially when content feels tailored to that platform. By prioritising platform specificity, and incorporating multiple touchpoints into your strategy, you can embrace a new approach to getting eyes on your brand, even with dopamine-munching attention spans… 🧠
Plan ahead & watch on demand
Remember that line about Cannes being the Glasto of marketing? Well the scheduling clashes are just as real (no seriously, plan your schedule if you’re planning to attend). The good news for everyyyone, is that the incredible content from the event is available on demand until 11th July! Attendees and badge holders can simply login to access, and for anyone who didn’t attend, digital passes are available to purchase now so you can get all the juiciest insights from the comfort of your home. Go, go, go!
B2B is not boring!!!
A direct quote from Jessica Jensen, CMO of LinkedIn. Need we say more?
Authenticity is currency
This is a conversation we are lovinggg at the moment, and Cannes made it clear that many of the world’s most iconic brands are loving it too. Audiences are craving genuine feelings and connection – they want to see beyond the veil of the business. This means your vulnerabilities, goals, passions, worries, challenges and successes are pearls of potential that you should be sharing! We recently wrote a longer article touching on this and we’re still hyped about it - transparency is the way to go 👉
Apply. For. The. Thing.
We were incredibly lucky to be accepted through Cannes’ ERA programme, saving us £15,000 in ticket costs. This is your reminder to be daring and apply for the thing! 👏 Ask the question. Submit the award. Apply for the grant. You just never know where it might get you. And if you’re in need of submission writing support, the EC team is on hand. Drop us a line to see how we can help!
We will of course be deep diving into more of the incredible talks and learnings we've come away with - so for any FOMO sufferers, stay tuned for a slice of the action. And if you’re planning on attending Cannes next year: pace yourself, plan ahead and apply to those schemes! (Oh, and pack sunscreen. Lots.)
