IAPI and Enterprise Ireland Host the Irish Lunch at Cannes

This year marked the beginning of an exciting collaboration between IAPI and Enterprise Ireland, the government’s trade and innovation agency, which supports Irish enterprises to achieve their global ambition. 

“The creative industries in Ireland account for almost 10% of national employment and the advertising sector generates over €1.7bn for the Irish economy annually,” said Conor O’Donovan, head of communications at Enterprise Ireland. “We are actively supporting the industry under the Irish Government’s Roadmap for the Digital Creative Industries to internationalise and grow creative services companies. The Cannes Lions Festival is an important platform to engage global decision-makers, partners, and customers in support of our ambition.”

Ireland’s creative sector is not just thriving domestically; it is also carving out a significant niche on the international stage, propelled by a unique blend of talent, strategic positioning, and a celebrated tradition of storytelling. The nation’s creative pulse is hot right now, and the world is taking notice.

The Irish Lunch at Cannes, hosted by IAPI & Enterprise Ireland, is by invitation only. It will convene Irish agencies, brand marketers, and a select group of influential figures from the advertising and media sectors under the banner ‘Ireland: Where Creative is Native.’ If you would like to attend, please register your interest here.

The purpose of the event is to gather Irish delegates together as a collective and to gain the attention and registration of international marketers and diaspora who are attending Cannes and who would like to meet the Irish agencies also attending. “In the background, we have been crafting campaigns for some of the most iconic global brands,” said Charley Stoney, CEO of the Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland (IAPI), “It is time for us to harness our creative legacy and assert our presence on the international stage.” 

Toby Southgate, global CEO of Forsman & Bodenfors, will be the guest speaker at the event. As a luminary in the advertising world, Southgate will share his insights on the current surge in Irish creativity and why Forsman & Bodenfors choose to recently acquire an Irish agency.

"We’ve always believed you don’t have to be based in one of the so-called big markets to be a world-class agency. In fact, it can be helpful to see things from the outside – most real people aren’t in and don’t really care about ‘AdLand’, wherever that is. Any agency network with ambition should want a geographical presence in Dublin: it’s a springboard to the world’s second-largest market and offers access to some of the world’s fastest-growing companies."

Also present at The Irish Lunch in Cannes this year is Boys + Girls, a leading independent Irish agency that is being supported in their international operations by Enterprise Ireland. “Geographically, Ireland really won the lottery when it comes to its ability to deliver brilliant international work,” says Pat Stephenson, co-founder & director, Boys + Girls. “A small country situated between Europe and the US and very much dependent on international trade. We understand how to best communicate effectively in a culturally resonant way no matter the language or market. Maybe that is why our own agency’s experience in international pitches has been so overwhelmingly positive.”

The Irish Lunch at Cannes, hosted by IAPI & Enterprise Ireland, is by invitation only. If you would like to attend, please register your interest here.