How To Make a Splash at Cannes

Sure, you’ll probably spend the small hours crammed outside the Gutter Bar, but if you really want to meet the people who matter, it pays to put on your dark glasses, knock back an espresso and get out before the hordes have hit the snooze button. Those who have been in the industry longest have honed their livers over years of ‘power lunches’, so you can expect the great and the good of the advertising world to be out and about before the sun is too high in the sky. Catch them having their croissant on the Croissette and who knows what opportunities may arise.

If you’ve been to Cannes before, you’ll know well that there are thousands of conversations going on at once and you can’t possibly stay abreast of them all. In the lead up to the festival, many leading industry figures will share their thoughts on trends and what they want to hear from speakers and potential new business partners at the festival. You can read this on many of the industry’s best read news platforms, so do your research in advance. Know who you want to speak to and about what. Ask yourself; what do you want to learn? What do you want to observe? Who do you want to hear from? What do you want to tell people? What do you want to change people’s opinions about? 

Many brands, networks and individuals make big announcements during Cannes, so make sure you’ve got phone battery to check the breaking news. You don’t want to be that guy from last year that didn’t hear about Marcel until he got off the plane.

With wifi provision notoriously hard to come by, it’s easy to (for once) forget the power of the internet. But Honeycomb and Group IMD will be interviewing Cannes Lions visitors from across the industry to see what’s made an impact on them this year and posting it all over the socials. If you’ve got something to say and you’d like to be featured in one of our two minute shorts, just get in touch. Follow #MakeASplash on Twitter and Instagram to see who is making the biggest waves in advertising in 2018. 

Your budget may not have stretched to a Palais pass, but it’s easy to spot who made it into the official festival. You can be fairly confident that those people who have a palais lanyard round their necks are well-placed to make decisions, so it’s definitely worth starting up a conversation. Their names will be proudly emblazoned across the lanyard too, so if you’re ballsy enough you can pretend it’s not the first time you’ve spoken; handle it well and you might make them embarrassed enough to listen to your entire pitch….

Last year was the year of the media platforms, facebook, instagram, spotify - you know the drill. This year, get ready to get into consultancy, as these giants are the ones who have greatly increased their presence at the festival for 2018. One hot industry topic this year has been the growth of these companies in the advertising industry and how they might continue to infiltrate our day to day in future. Keep an eye out.

The prices may be hard to swallow, but heading to the bar at one of the big Hotels (we’re thinking the Martinez or the Carlton) immediately puts you in the vicinity of the biggest names in the industry. So tear yourself away from that happy hour, chuck something over your bikini and head up to the hotel bar. 

Last year Honeycomb hosted meetings in our inflatable boardroom bobbing by the LBB Beach. This year together with IMD we’re reaching new heights with a giant inflatable trampoline. So, if you really want to be seen this year, just swim out to our trampoline and, literally, #makeasplash. 

You can keep up to speed with Honeycomb and Group IMD throughout the festival by liking our Facebook page, following us on  Twitter and Instagram and keeping an eye out for #MakeASplash.