Big Tech Dominates
• Big Tech’s dominance of the advertising market was on full display at Cannes, reflected in the prime, beachfront locations secured by the likes of Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta.
• These three companies are on track to capture 55% of global advertising spend outside of China in 2025, according to WARC’s latest Global Ad Spend Forecast, and dominate the digital ad market.
• During the event, Meta announced the introduction of advertising on WhatsApp, further expanding its monetizable inventory and creating a new revenue stream from WhatsApp’s 3 billion monthly users.
Growth of Alternative Ad Networks
• From retail (CVS) to travel (Uber) and hospitality (Marriott), alternative advertising networks are becoming increasingly influential.
• Platforms with large, loyal customer bases are successfully leveraging their first-party data to create an alternative to the walled gardens.
• Cannes provided a backdrop for several major announcements, including the formal launch of Marriott’s commerce media network and a collaboration between CVS Media Exchange and Reddit.
Influencers Take Center Stage
• Major brands are tapping into celebrities’ and social media influencers’ widespread appeal and engaged fan bases to reach younger demographics who can be skeptical of traditional corporate branding.
• Influencers’ prominent presence at Cannes reflects their growing importance to the industry – new reporting finds that, this year, ad revenue from user-generated content and platforms will exceed the amount earned from professionally produced content.
• Between 2024 and 2025, the global influencer marketing industry is expected to grow by 36% to $33 billion, according to Statista data.
AI Is Now a Fact of Life
• AI was the buzzword at Cannes, with almost every company talking about their plans to harness the technology to enhance products, reduce costs, and drive growth.
• Agentic AI is poised to revolutionize both the creative and media sides of the industry, with companies such as MONKS describing how they can now create a one-minute ad entirely with AI agents.
• Meta’s launch of a suite of new AI-enabled products that allows brands to create ads from scratch, with more control and better targeting, potentially throws into question the role that agencies will play in the creative process in future.
For more insights, visit Solomon’s Technology team.
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