If there’s one thing you’ve heard about Threads, it’s probably that it’s an Instagram-X hybrid – which isn’t entirely accurate.

Yes, it’s very much “Instagram in text form” – you get a bit of the curation of your Instagram feed with the rawer nature of Instagram Stories mixed in with the format of content on X/Twitter. This makes it feel familiar but also sets it apart as its own thing.

But one thing about Threads is clear: it’s for having conversations. 

Now, if you’re here, you were likely lurking slash dabbling on Threads but are ready to get a bit more strategic. So this is a list of some ideas for you to consider as you start crafting your content — with an important caveat. Less creating and crafting is required for Threads posts than, say, X or LinkedIn. Just thought it was worth mentioning.

Let’s dive in and discover how you can make the most of Threads for your content strategy.

Introduce yourself or your brand

If you still haven’t posted on Threads, you’re in luck. The user base is genuine and loves authentic content.

So instead of worrying about making the “perfect first post”, start with something that gives people a peek at who you are, whether it’s a simple text, “Hello Threads!” or a request to connect with other folks. 

Even better, use a hashtag relevant to your primary audience, like “Social Media Managers” or “Creators of Threads” for Buffer.

Threads will give you a neat little “First thread” badge at the top left of your post, and here’s an encouraging theory from @mattnavarra to motivate you to make those first few posts: 

Spark genuine engagement

The heavy focus on conversations gives you two main tasks on Threads: starting and participating. 

Starting is easy if you have an established brand (personal or business) identity. This is evident in how brand accounts like Elmo and YouTube hopped into Threads and got right to posting.

If you don’t, you might have more leeway to be creative and start from general conversations before narrowing down to niche ones as you find your audience or they find you. One way to start is to share real, personal stories followed up with a question – these consistently get high engagement. 

Here’s an example from carissabroadbentbooks:

Kirsti Lang, Buffer’s Content Writer, also has first-hand experience with how powerful this can be. She asked her audience (and the broader Taylor Swift fanbase) to help her decide about seeing the artist in concert, and her post exploded in engagement.

On the other hand, instead of only posting, you’ll prioritize participating in conversations to see meaningful growth. Here’s an example of how other brands responded to this post from the @nature_valley account:

Source

One standout strategy for leveraging Threads is the approach taken by Buffer’s social media manager, Mitra Mehvar. Repurposing a legendary Buffer strategy, Mitra has pioneered a method that prioritizes genuine engagement on Threads – Bufferchats.

Every month, centered around a topic related to social media, the creator economy, or remote work. This monthly event gives our audience something to come back to our account every month, as well as an anchor for Buffer’s identity on Threads. 

Share polls

Polls are a feature available on Threads and a fantastic way to engage your audience interactively. They invite participation and can provide valuable insights into your followers’ preferences and opinions.

Here’s one from the Buffer account about preferred content formats.

On the other end of the spectrum is a less business, more #relatable post from @apartmenttherapy.

Join in on trends

Trends are one of the fastest ways to get engagement on Threads. Participating and molding them to your preferred content style is also one of the best ways to establish a habit of consistency, especially with a new platform.

Some of my favorite posts on Threads are the daily journals that involve creators sharing pictures that act as visual diaries. They’ll usually tag their posts “ThreadsJournals” and add some visual flair through fonts that look like handwriting or drawings.

Ask open-ended questions

Open-ended questions are a simple yet powerful way to foster engagement – and the main Threads format. The Threads team actually highlighted this as an engagement strategy, but take that with a grain of salt. Some things might have changed since then.

Users take them in all directions, from the genuine.

To the humorous.

My personal theory on why they work so well is that they invite your audience to share their thoughts, experiences, and opinions, leading to richer and more meaningful interactions, for better or worse.

Reuse and repurpose

If you’re over the multiple social media platforms out there and just want to be able to share your ideas without modifying them for every single social media – do it!

There’s no shame in repurposing – in fact, it can take your content farther in reach and engagement than you might expect.

Take a cue from @jsstansel who consistently repurposes his content across Threads and X.

Nothing ever “went viral” just because it was posted at a certain time of the day, used a certain number of hashtags, said “please share,” or any other number of social media “hacks.”

If the content isn’t compelling, all the algorithm hacks and tricks won’t help you.

— Jon-Stephen Stansel (@jsstansel) June 10, 2024
Some tips for crafting winning Threads posts

Here are some tips to help you kickstart your own posts.

You get a built-in audience with Threads – it’ll likely have a lot of overlap with the people who already follow you on Instagram. So, keep your content tailored to them. Don’t worry too much about format – there’s no one content format that performs distinctly better than others on Threads (yet). If you’re torn, stick to text and images – it’s a combination that never fails.Threads is still very early, and there are no experts. Do what feels right for you.The Threads team, and different users, have identified links as a factor that hurts the reach of content in the algorithm. Consider directing people to your link in bio instead of posting a link directly on Threads.Engaging others’ content might be just as important as posting yourself. It’s important to actually participate in conversations, and not just the ones you start either.

Finally, brainstorm your next post with Buffer’s AI social post creator – it’s free and can turn your ideas into winning content.

FAQs about creating content on ThreadsCan I use hashtags in my Instagram Threads?

Yes, you can use hashtags in your Instagram Threads. Hashtags can help link your posts together and make them more discoverable to users interested in your thread topic.

Can I generate a Threads post using AI?

Yes, absolutely. Draft your next post with Buffer’s AI social post creator (for free)!

What are the best practices for visuals in Instagram threads?

For visuals, use high-quality images and maintain a consistent style or color scheme throughout your thread. This will help create a good experience for your followers and maintain visual consistency.

How often should I post to Threads?

Consistency is key, but so is identifying what works for you. Aim to post regularly, whether that’s daily or weekly, as long as you can keep to your chosen schedule. The key is to keep your audience engaged without overwhelming them. Adjust your schedule based on the feedback and engagement from your followers.

How long should my Threads post be?

You can post up to 500 characters and include links, up to 10 photos, and videos of up to 5 minutes in length. You can also share your Threads post on your Instagram story or as a link on any other platform you prefer.

As a CFO in the advertising industry, the one constant that I’ve come across is change. Maybe it’s a recency bias, but the past few years have been seemingly more volatile than at any point I can remember. The challenges have been harder and more ill-defined, the answers weren’t straightforward and the outcomes have been equal parts scary and exciting.

There is a truly exciting crop of new agencies that are opening up and making a mark in the industry. But despite doing great work, one pain point is how to pivot from being an employee to being a business owner, and all of the nuance that goes into that change.

At Flower Shop, some of the conversations we find ourselves having revolve around some of these core issues. Can I afford to hire someone? How well is my business running? Important questions that, when accounted for, can put a company in a position to make smart decisions and grow.

Running a business is hard. In the same vein that I find a new crop of creative agencies to be exciting, it’s also incredibly scary as well. Small agencies typically come from bigger agencies and sometimes lack the knowledge of what goes into running a creative agency.

In that spirit, I offer up a few thoughts for new agencies as they navigate the waters of being business owners and entrepreneurs.

Create and focus on scalable behaviors

For so many agencies, finance can be a bit of a black box with success loosely defined by topline revenue and margin. I recall an insight from earlier in my career that sometimes the only thing that changes for a growing business is where the comma and the decimal point go on the P&L.

If processes, ways of working and finance are prioritized from day one, they become a fixture in the culture of the business. A strong financial foundation and investment upfront will make growth and scaling incrementally easier.

Focus on the right financial metrics

Three really clear areas of finance should be the focus of any owner: Cash flow, budget forecasting and pricing.

A forward-looking cash flow model is essential to businesses of all sizes. In creative services, having a 90-day rolling forward-looking model is a foundational tool. It forces a business owner to understand their current cash position, grasp the inflows and outflows of the business, and what sort of capital requirements could be needed to make an investment or hiring decisions.

The second essential tool is having a forecast model that can highlight how the business is performing. Any model is only as good as the information that’s in it, so spending time on this area of the business is the best way to ensure that you’re looking at the right information.

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When this is updated and working correctly, you should have all your revenue (both forecasted and recognized) in one place. You can determine if you’re spending too much on labor (or not enough), how much you’re spending on your overhead and get a sense of where your margin is projected to be, along with any corrective action that needs to be taken. This should work in tandem with your cash flow model as cash typically trails accounting profit.

Lastly, prioritizing and understanding pricing is the third leg of the stool. It’s been a recurring topic in the industry how client budgets have decreased, the role of procurement has increased and agencies are being asked to do more work. Given these current market realities, it becomes essential for agencies (especially smaller ones) to understand the costs that go into making work for clients.

Knowing how long something will take, how many people will be needed and what types of people should be a part of the process are all important factors to understand your cost basis. Adding in your overhead ratio should give you a clear picture of what your true cost is and, from there, help to determine a price that protects the agency from taking on work at a price that is unsustainable and could put the business in jeopardy.

Putting it all together

Making work that delivers on clients’ marketing goals should always be the north star for any creative service company. Without having a solid foundation of work, it’s incredibly difficult to stand out. Great work begets more work. Winning new business and getting to make creative work is incredibly rewarding. It’s why so many of us chose to get into this industry and the desire to create an agency with one’s vision requires such a passion and energy for the craft.

But it’s not always enough. The above elements may not be the most fun aspects of running a business. They don’t specifically show up in a campaign or film, but they are the areas and behaviors that can help a business accomplish the goals it sets out to achieve and sustain them for the long term.

When looking for what drives creativity, the Uber Villa at Cannes Lions is a good place to start.

In partnership with ADWEEK, the Uber Villa hosted a Creativity in Motion: Exploring New Media Landscapes panel during last week’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, with top industry experts discussing what fuels today’s creative marketing.

Moderated by ADWEEK CCO Zoë Ruderman, the panel included Megan Ramm, head of Americas for Uber Advertising; Ian Trombetta, svp of social and influence marketing for the NFL; Sarah Larsen, CMO of Samsung Home Entertainment; and Domenic DiMeglio, chief marketing and chief data officer of Paramount Streaming. Throughout the event, the execs discussed innovation, new media, data and how it all comes together within today’s creative.

Here are three ways marketers are fueling creativity today:

Stay flexible and reframe success

During the panel, executives stressed the importance of keeping an innovative, flexible mindset regardless of a company’s situation.

For instance, though Uber has been around since 2009, its dedicated advertising division has only launched in the last few years. With that in mind, Ramm views Uber Advertising as a startup, navigating the market and relationships with flexibility that giant companies aren’t known for.

“We’ve been having to be nimble. We have to go after and get the resources we need, the engineering resources we need and seek out the partnerships that help us do that internally and externally,” Ramm said.

For the NFL’s part, Trombetta said the league is “constantly reframing” what success looks like and focusing on new opportunities, including global expansion, building player profiles, flag football and more.

By reframing what success looks like, Trombetta said the league “opens up so much opportunity for creativity across the board, whether that’s our internal teams or great partners like 72andSunny.”

Lean into culture

According to Larsen, part of staying relevant to consumers is leaning into today’s culture and not having creative “provide a sea of sameness.”

“For Samsung, it’s a very well-established, legacy consumer electronics brand. It couldn’t get more staid and traditional,” Larsen said. “So the only way we can break through when it comes to our marketing is to lean into culturally relevant material and change up the marketing playbook.”

However, leaning into culture starts within a company, with DiMeglio noting that a culture of creativity within Paramount Streaming facilitates innovation.

“We’ve always had a culture of always questioning things, trying to innovate and certainly feel like our content creates a lot of moments for creativity,” DiMeglio said. “We have a lot of moments that matter.”

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Use data to tell your story and get buy-in

When it comes to effective creative, data is your friend.

“For me, I’m constantly on my creatives, constantly on my influencer teams as well, to measure everything,” Trombetta said. “Then we can map that back and tell powerful stories as to what it’s doing for us.”

Ramm noted that uncertainty about any adverse effects of advertising on the passenger experience may have been a reason that Uber’s advertising division was delayed for so long.

Data helped prove that wrong, providing a “lever” for Uber Advertising to negotiate internally.

“Turns out it’s quite the opposite,” Ramm said. “It’s more personalized. People like to see the ads, and we’re proving that every day through the formats that we’re developing.”

Ever noticed those little bubbles atop certain people’s profile pictures in your DMs? Those are Instagram Notes, and — despite a slow uptake on the platform — they’re starting to gain traction. 

“Notes usage has grown at a wild pace, particularly with young people,” Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri shared in an update on Instagram. 

“Notes have quickly become a popular way for people to share thoughts or status updates with their Close Friends or people who follow them back. They’re sort of like AIM status, for those of you old enough to remember that reference,” he joked. 

Mosseri also pointed out in the update that notes are designed for “starting conversations with people you care about” and are, as such, only visible to people you follow and who follow you back. 

And there’s the rub: why should brands or creators care about this friends-and-family feature?

Well, for one thing, Instagram’s inbox is a well-traveled section of the social media app, particularly for younger Instagram users. Having your name and a message atop that important real estate on the crowded platform could give your content a helpful boost.

In this comprehensive guide to Instagram Notes, I’ll explain exactly how — and why notes is a new feature not to be ignored as grow your following on Instagram.

Wait, what are Instagram Notes?

As Adam Mosseri explained above, Instagram Notes are little updates you can share with mutual followers that appear in Instagram’s direct messages section. 

Like Instagram Stories, Instagram Notes last 24 hours, after which they disappear. Notes can be up to 60 characters long, and you can only share one note at a time. 

When the feature rolled out on Android and iPhone in 2022, it was limited to text-only, but now users have a host of options, including music, videos, and even replies. Here’s how Mosseri explains it:

Music note: Share your current favorite song or one that captures your moodVideo note: Tap the photo in your notes tray to record a two-second video to post as a noteReplies: Respond to a friend’s note using audio, photo, GIFS, and stickersLikes and mentions: You can now like a note or mention a friend in one

These options are still being rolled out to all regions — so if you don’t have the ability yet, you should soon!

How to use Instagram Notes

Viewing others’ notes on Instagram is simple — just head over to your DMs or inbox. You can get there within the Instagram app by tapping on the little message icon (either a paper plane or a speech bubble, depending on your region) on the top right-hand corner of your screen.

How to create an Instagram Note 

Creating a new note only requires a few extra taps. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

Tap on the DMs icon on the top right corner of your screen. Tap ‘Note…’ above your profile picture at the top of your Instagram inbox.Type in your note (1). To add music, tap the audio icon (2). To add a video, tap your profile picture (2) and then the blue button at the bottom to begin recording your video. Videos can only be two seconds long. Choose who to share your note with (followers that you follow back or your close friends list).Tap Share in the top right to share your note.How to delete an Instagram Note

The note will disappear after 24 hours, but you can delete it at any time. To delete your Instagram note, simply tap on the note, then hit ‘Delete note.’

How to leave a note on an Instagram post or Instagram reel

Instagram recently introduced a clever new way to add a note to another piece of Instagram content. For personal Instagram users, this is a neat way to share content with a comment without having to navigate over to your inbox. 

To use this feature on a post or reel:

Tap the paper plan icon on the post.Tap ‘Add note…’ and enter a note of up to 60 characters.Choose who to share your note with (followers that you follow back or your close friends list). Tap Share in the top right to share your note.

These notes work a little differently from the ones you add from within your Instagram inbox. For one thing, they last for three days before disappearing, not 24 hours. 

Notes you create on posts or reels will be visible to only followers who follow you, or your close friends list (depending on which option you chose before sharing).

Interestingly, the person who shared the content will not be able to see your note (unless you mutually follow each other or they’re on your close friends list).

People on this list can either like or reply to it. If someone replies to your note, their reply will start a chat between you and them only. 

Why use Instagram Notes

Notes is a subtle way to get your follower’s or customer’s attention in a far less crowded space. Think of it as pinning up a signpost on a quiet lane that you know your most engaged followers often wander down. 

If you’ve gone the extra mile and followed your most engaged followers and customers back (and why not?), Notes are perhaps most useful in alerting them about new content. 

Given how noisy their Instagram Feed and stories bar are, it’s far more likely they’ll see a quick note that says ‘New Reel!’ or ‘Giveaway in feed!’ than new content. 

So it’s well worth leveraging Instagram Notes to send your followers to your new content — this may well prompt their engagement on your new posts too! Engagement is the strongest signal to the Instagram algorithm that your content is valuable, helping boost reach.

3 Instagram Notes ideas for creators and brands

Here are some creative ideas for your next Instagram Note:

1. Point followers to your new content

It’ll take less than 10 seconds to share a note alerting followers to any new content you’ve just published — it’s worth baking this update into your Instagram publishing process. A simple “New reel” or “New post!” could do the trick, but it’s worth adding a little intrigue to entice your followers to tap over. 

If you can squeeze it into the character limit, you try to include what the content is about, too. What value is your new content providing? Think: “Newborn sleep for new moms in new post!” or “[Product] tutorial in new reel!” If you have space, add in some colorful emojis to help the note stand out. 

2. Tease a launch or announcement

Whet your followers’ appetites for any big news with a brief teaser in Instagram notes. If it’s a product launch, share a sneaky video of the new item or simply drop some text hints. 

For example: “HUGE announcement 6 p.m. EST tomorrow!” or “T-2 days until new range drops!”

3. Share exclusive content or discounts

Given Instagram Notes are reserved for followers who you follow back, the feature offers a unique way to strengthen your relationship. 

For example, you might be a creator launching a new guide or course — use notes to give your most engaged followers a sneak peek with a note like, “Reply here & I’ll DM you a link to my new guide!” If you’re a brand, you may opt for a 24-hour discount code you share in your notes with your best followers. 

Instagram Notes is an evolving feature

It might not be the new Instagram Stories, but notes offer a unique way to connect with your most engaged followers. 

And whether you’ve leaned into it yet or not, it’s clear that Instagram Notes is an important feature for the powers that be at Meta — which means it’s worth leveraging as part of your Instagram strategy.  

Have you experimented with Instagram Notes yet? We’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas! Find us on all social media platforms @buffer or @bufferapp. 

ADWEEK’s Brand Genius award recognizes the most dynamic and innovative brand thinkers working today. In a business environment as competitive as it is unpredictable, brands succeed only with the guidance of true achievers who are brave enough to take chances, willing to break with convention and able to read opportunities in the market.

Our Brand Geniuses play a range of key roles—founder, serial entrepreneur, marketer and chief executive. Today more than ever, some began as public figures with the business savvy to have leveraged their followings to create and develop successful brands.

Our past honorees have included music impresario Pharrell Williams, who founded skincare brand Humanrace and went on to become Louis Vuitton’s men’s creative director, and Ryan Reynolds, the actor who expanded his writing and producing bona fides to include digital marketing agency Maximum Effort, wireless carrier Mint Mobile and premium spirits brand Aviation Gin.

Do you someone like this? Then please introduce us by filling in the fields below. Get your candidates in early! The deadline for nominations is July 19, 2024.

I’m thrilled to share that you can now use Threads within your Buffer account.

Threads launched less than a year ago but, as young as the platform is, there’s no doubt that it’s already an important new social platform. Many are finding it to be a calmer space and a place where they see greater engagement and connection.

Threads offers a powerful opportunity to find community and growth on a brand-new social network, boosted by the distribution of Instagram and connected to the wider ecosystem of the fediverse.

And yet, Threads is also another social network to stay on top of and regularly post to. Today, participating in Threads becomes much easier thanks to Buffer’s brand-new integration. 

We’ve been building our support for Threads for months (as you’ll see from the screenshots below!) so that as soon as they made their API available, we could provide this value to you.

This step goes beyond new features or technical advancements. It’s about how we continue to evolve and serve our inspiring customers — creators, businesses, artists, nonprofits, and educators.

Listening and responding to our community

The decision to integrate Threads came directly from you — our community. We received over 7,000 requests for this feature, and each one was a reminder of why we do what we do at Buffer.

It’s about providing tools that empower your voices and help you connect in more meaningful ways. Thanks to all of you who shared your vote for us to add Threads, and for holding us accountable to improving Buffer for you.

Fostering a calmer, more deliberate internet

In a world where online conversations can often be reactive and impulsive, we believe in fostering a more thoughtful approach to social media.

As Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri aptly described, Threads offers a “less angry space for public conversations.” Our integration allows you to craft your Threads with care and intentionality, encouraging a friendlier, calmer internet environment.

Embracing simplicity and accessibility

One of Buffer’s core beliefs is in the power of simplicity. Threads aligns perfectly with this, offering an intuitive and welcoming space for sharing ideas.

At Buffer, we strive to make social media accessible to everyone, regardless of their background or expertise. This integration is a step towards making that a reality.

As we look towards the future of social media, the ability to seamlessly connect across platforms is an exciting reality. The web was built on open standards, and it is wonderful to see a return to those ideals with the fediverse.

With the fediverse, you can select your social network provider and community of choice, and share and engage with people within or outside that community.

Threads is the first mainstream platform to connect to the fediverse, and could open up the world of decentralized social media to many people who might feel intimidated by the technology.

This is a significant moment and milestone for social media, and one that we have long been committed to supporting.

For over a year, Buffer has supported Mastodon, the social platform that popularized the fediverse. And we’re working hard right now to support Bluesky soon, another interesting approach to decentralized social media.

You can now share your thoughts seamlessly from Buffer to Threads, Mastodon, X, LinkedIn, and more, all with a single click. We’re delighted to play a role in breaking down barriers and creating a more interconnected digital world.

Join us on this new journey

I’m personally excited to see how you’ll use Buffer with Threads. This integration is for you, our community. And it offers so much more than the ability to schedule your threads.

You can cross-post to multiple other platforms, analyze your content performance, store all your ideas in a single hub, and so much more. Buffer for Threads is available on all plans, including free.

You can get started right away at buffer.com/threads.

Cheers,

Joel and the Buffer team

For the first time in my 14 years in a row attending Cannes Lions, I spent most of the first half of the festival in the bowels of the Martinez, sitting in conference rooms, some without any windows. But it was pure joy because we had the good fortune of having to prepare for Titanium, Glass and Innovation Lions presentations. The involvement, care and focus this required made it one of the highlights of my week. Ideas shape differently, relationships and bonding between clients and agency get stronger and campaigns suddenly have a second life. It was great. All of us, together, focused on the work. When I finally abandoned those beige-carpeted rooms, I found a different picture. Here are my thoughts on the 2024 Cannes Lions.

Calendar obligations took over

We were busy this year. No one seemed to have time for anything as if an evil AI update had taken over our calendars to steer us away from the most important thing: seeing and talking about the creative work. This is our own doing. As the festival has grown to include more activations, more marketers, tech platforms, media giants and social media creators, it can’t force us to go downstairs in the Palais and walk around to see the work. We have to impose it on ourselves, against our crazy ambitions to meet every possible client, shine in three different panels at the same time and give free hugs to everyone.

And it is a must. Going to the Palais and experiencing people’s reactions to the work in real life reminds us of the impact of our creativity and our efforts. Observing our clients’ excitement (or plain jealousy) over great ideas is the validation we need to keep pushing. Missing that because we are running from meeting to meeting is a shame.

So, first takeaway: We need to make more room to collectively experience the amazing work while we are here.

The only other moments to do so are the Galas. McCann Worldgroup had the collective experience to see the Golds and Grand Prix in the Award Galas, introduced by the booming voice of media personality Juan Señor, the Lions’ resident emcee.

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We missed laughing

Second takeaway: Humor is back in all forms from quirky to weird to dark.  Four of the biggest winners (Grand Prix) were truly funny campaigns: “The Last Barf Bag” for Dramamine; Specsavers’ “The Misheard Version” with Rick Astley, CeraVe’s “Michael Cerave” and Weber Shandwick’s “Edible Mascot” campaign for Pop Tarts. Also, the adorable “Marina Prieto,” without being strictly humorous, combines a Spanish little town sensibility with social media ambitions. Those winners show that comedy and a light-hearted tone of voice can be transformative for a brand. Specsavers has a history of great comedy, but they were able to channel that into a new demographic for those with hearing loss. CeraVe, not in a category that typically stands out during the Super Bowl, nevertheless became the talk of the (advertising) game. Kellanova’s Pop-Tarts reached an entirely new audience by injecting dark humor to toaster pastries and giving the world something truly meme-able.

And that’s just the funny stuff. Other big winners, like what we did for Mastercard with “Room for Everyone” and Xbox’s “Everyday Tactician” as well as W+K’s Titanium Grand Prix winner, the Doordash Super Bowl campaign that averted viewers’ attention away from the game itself and onto all of the ads, were ideas that inspired an array of emotions. Empathy, triumph, even greed! In the end, these executions make a point that you can extend to the festival: When we laugh, when our barriers are brought down by an unexpected twist or a surprising human connection, we are more able to feel.

This is the exact reason we come to Cannes: we want to feel, in real life, what it’s like to belong to this industry, to be on the winning side and celebrate, to be on the not-winning side and recharge ourselves with envy as the fuel, to be amazed about what people who do the same job as us are capable of achieving and question ourselves.

Feeling is what separates us from, yes, machines. At least for now.

So, (final takeaway) it is on us to keep coming here. Let’s continue our day-to-day jobs to connect with those emotions through the only thing that justifies the existence of Cannes or any other festival: The work we love.

If the Cannes Lions festival is anything, it’s a stage-setter for the rest of the year. 

In ADWEEK’s third and final episode of The Cannes Dispatch, the editorial team who worked the Croisette dig into the creative that won this year and what it means for the future of advertising.

While DoorDash’s Super Bowl sweepstakes took home the top prize — don’t forget to read ADWEEK’s inside look on how it all came together — other winners weren’t without controversy. 

Coca-Cola’s award-winning campaign “Recycle Me” depicted the company’s crushed logo to promote recycling. But the campaign had its fair share of detractors at the festival, who felt that the ad was an example of greenwashing, because crushing cans isn’t recommended by recyclers, and because the beverage giant has long had a reputation as a major polluter.

If anything, the controversy underscores that brands that infuse their marketing with some sort of purpose also open their business practices up to scrutiny.

Purpose with a laugh

The big trend at the Cannes Lions, and one that seems likely to stick, is that after years of self-serious purposeful ads, brands at least want to make you laugh. The festival introduced for the first time a humor category. 

It’s fortuitous timing because, as ADWEEK’s brand editor Rebecca Stewart pointed out, many of us are still reeling from a cost of living crisis and a tanking economy. Consumers might not have the stomach for a heavy-handed message these days, which even the most purposeful brands have thankfully recognized.

“Sometimes we forget that humor can also be purpose-driven,” said ADWEEK executive editor Jameson Fleming. 

AI or AIn’t?

Generative AI entries this year faced a cold reception from the Cannes Lions jury. 

“In terms of how agencies and brands are using it, it’s still in its infancy,” said Stewart. But that seems poised to change. Accenture Song CEO David Droga showcased his experiments with OpenAI’s Sora when he shared the stage with OpenAI CTO Mira Murati.

And Toys “R” Us just released the first-ever Sora-powered ad to a decidedly mixed public reception.  

Cannes jury be damned, generative AI as a creative tool might be about to leap from infancy to puberty.

All the business away from the Palais

Many of the Cannes Lions attendees aren’t there to check out an awards show; they’re there to strike deals and make bank. Adtech has drowned out creativity over the past decade, and while the heyday of blackbox startups has waned, the festival still serves as a major platform for dealmaking. 

And while 2023 was a dealmaking deadzone — the investment bank LUMA partners noted deal volume was down 10% compared to 2022 — there’s a lot more optimism for 2024. LUMA founder and CEO Terry Kawaja had his annual “white party” at Cannes, where adtech execs and dealmakers dressed all in white mingle. 

Michael Kassan, who made a defiant appearance at (or more specifically above) the MediaLink bash this year, had previously told ADWEEK that he’s diving into M&A, with a focus on finding small adtech companies to combine into larger solutions. And a spate of small companies like Claritas, Sonobi, and 33across have all hired banks to pursue sales.