Our journey through Cannes Lions!

Each day this week we will be giving you a quick rundown of our highlights from Cannes Lions, and a summary of the emotions that people have felt across the festival.

Last night we caught a performance by Craig David near the marina, explored some of the amazing yachts, caught some rooftop jazz and spent some much-deserved chill out time on the beach!

We caught an inspiring discussion in the Lumiere Theatre this morning, focussing on diversity in gender representation and the amazing #ShowUs project from Getty Images, Dove and Girl Gaze.

Today was a day of meetings for most of the team, catching up with clients, and meeting lots of new faces. Our VP Client Partner, Nigel Ashton, spent an amazing afternoon with Unilever and caught up with their CEO Alan Jope and Unilever ‘s Global EVP of Marketing and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Aline Santos Farhat.

…and this afternoon we heard a great talk from Mastercard’s CMO, Raja Rajamannar, in the Palais, on the ongoing challenges and opportunities around data and technology, and what he believes we need to do in order to move our industry forward over the next 12 months.

It’s been a jammed packed day at Cannes with Norm Johnston taking to the stage this morning to speak about his predictions for the next 18 months, Nicky Spooner and Rebecca Waring joined MediaCom to discuss how sports events connect with audiences, we held a joint event with Brave Bison on ‘The Role of Emotions and Culture in Creative Effectiveness’ in the Unruly apartment, and we had lots more meetings across the festival.

Last night we had great fun at the Lad Bible party, catching up with old friends and dancing the night away in true Unruly fashion.

Our CEO, Norm Johnston, took part in the Future Gazers panel along with Julia Challicom, Kidovation Founder, Accenture Interactive and Jeremy Lindley, Global Design Director, Diageo on the Terrace Stage, at the Palais des Festivals.

Our VP of Strategy, Nicola Spooner, and VP of Insight and Solutions, Rebecca Waring, joined Mediacom on stage to demonstrate how sporting events can be used to connect with audiences on an emotional level.

We had lots more meetings across the festival, catching up with old friends and speaking to new ones about what we’ve been up to at Unruly.

We caught the inspirational Seng Yee Lau from Tencent on stage, speaking about using technology for good and how creatively curated Technology can provide equality in educational opportunities, eliminate economic barriers, and protect cultural artefacts.

We also caught an exciting presentation from Unilever CEO, Alan Jope, sharing his vision for the future of business and looking at the role that marketers play in applying creativity to solve problems.

This morning we joined 16 of the world’s leading advertisers as they announced the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (click here to find out more).

We caught an incredibly inspiring talk from Jay Pattissall, speaking on what we must all do to change and move our industry forward for the better.

The APAC team have been running up and down the Croisette all day, cramming in lots of meetings!

We held our first ever UNext event in the amazing Unruly apartment, bringing together the world of programmatic and unpicking the issues that matter to brands.

…and finally, back in London, Sophie Evans took part in OMD’s Empathy Explained panel to discuss trends and themes coming out of Cannes Lions through an empathy lens.

What an amazing first day in Cannes! We’ve heard some great talks already from the likes of Samsung, P&G, Versify and Instagram, have caught up with lots of friends over a glass or two of rosé, have taken a flight over the festival, and most importantly soaked up some much-needed sun!

We heard a great session at the Debussy Theatre on Conversations that Shape Culture, looking at how some of the world’s leading brands have turned damaging conversations on their head through innovative ideas and clever PR.

We took a short pit stop by the beach!

We caught an amazing talk on the power of words, and a moving performance from Kwame Alexander on the UNdefeated, the UNlimited and the UNspeakable!