Why Cannes is Counting on Intimate Experiences with CLX
This year Cannes Lions and MediaLink have brought together a curated group of tech-forward content creators and storytellers for a more intimate side to the Palais experience: CLX. Huge and Amazon will be hosting their Hackathon and brands like Activision Blizzard, Tik Tok, Microsoft, NBC Universal and more will be hosting roundtables and interactive experiences. Away from the huge auditoria, the organisers hope it will provide a delegates with a more engaging time. We caught up with Louise Benson , VP Festivals at Cannes Lions to find out more.
LBB> What prompted the Lions team to pull together CLX?
Louise> We were inspired by the diversification of Festival attendees and some of the fascinating partnerships that have come out of meetings and interactions in Cannes. Successful partnerships come out of good relationships, and CLX is designed to set the foundation for these, as well as inspiring participants with experts in the field of entertainment, media and technology.
LBB> And how have you curated the brands and participants taking part in the round tables?
Louise> CLX will bring together select global marketers and agencies with the world’s best content and technology businesses for valuable conversations, top-to-top networking and impactful business opportunities. It’s a unique chance for important stakeholders to drive the future of the industry. CLX will give marketers a chance to better understand the different entertainment verticals available, new technologies and product offerings from some of the best brands in the industry. They will also and be on hand to discuss collaborative content and business models.
LBB> What do you think will be the big talking points of the week in terms of the juicy topics and trends?
Louise> CLX is about the future of entertainment and the opportunities for brands within that. Each partner is a very different business, and between them they have so much knowledge to share on their successes and failures and how they approach modern consumers. Storytelling and creative processes, business structure and transformation, brand partnerships, consumer insight and measurement, immersive experience and innovation and emerging technology will all be covered. And Generation Z. Lots of Generation Z!
LBB> CLX is all about interaction and intimacy – why is it important to introduce this aspect to the Palais activities?
Louise> We want to provide attendees an intimate and experience-led environment to hear from and engage with the companies at the forefront of content creation. And as more and more people attend the Festival from a much broader spectrum of industries we want to help people navigate to one another for proper conversation about shared interests.
LBB> The brands and agencies taking part are all very much future facing, from Amazon and Huge to Activision Blizzard and Tik Tok – but is there space for a more traditional approach to content creation in the mix?
Louise> A common thread across all our content is the importance of storytelling and the need to provide exceptional customer experiences. We’re all striving to be future-facing but some things never change!
