PR’s Creativity Compass Points to Cannes Lions: A 2025 Travel Tutorial
The first time I ever heard the words “Cannes Lions,” I was sitting in a freshman-year university class in Tennessee (USA) – “Mass Communication 101” – learning about the world of advertising, journalism, and public relations. (We won’t fixate on just how many years ago that university experience was for me, but suffice to say, it can be measured in decades!).
The point is, I heard about Cannes Lions during my formative years as an aspiring PR practitioner and how the best in our creative-services field gather each year along the French Riviera to celebrate the past year’s best creative persuasion and call-to-action campaigns around the world.
Since then, I hoped some day to attend this epic event in Cannes, France – arguably the most globally prestigious within the advertising and creative services industry.
This past summer – the week of June 17, 2024 – I finally had the opportunity to attend, thanks to a board meeting also scheduled during Cannes Lions that I was set to attend (and thanks to ICCO — the International Communications Consultancy Organisation — for its many years of supporting the PR industry presence in Cannes!).
As I learned, it’s great to know that the global PR community is gaining more prominence at Cannes Lions.
Many PR industry associations are forging a larger presence in Cannes and encouraging PR agency participation in the competition.
Historically an event squarely focused on advertising / paid media, Cannes Lions has branched out over recent decades. Public relations has (slowly) gained more prominence as a featured and celebrated discipline.
Some say that in 2024, PR began hitting its stride in Cannes (see samples of PR campaign storyboards on display last year, below):
The advertising world rotates on an axis of creativity, appealing to nearly every human sense that can be availed through the power of media.
Creativity in purchased message-delivery exists to cut through the massive clutter of our global media world, to connect (fast!), persuade, and inspire people to action. In earned media (PR), our purpose and mode can be every bit the same in forging brand ties beyond awareness, yet in PR, our industry often struggles with notions of “creativity.”
Going back to the formative years of PR, public relations campaigns, strategies, and tactics evolved – from start to finish – as rather dry and decidedly non-creative communication undertakings.
Consider the traditional news release. In the arsenal of core PR tactical tools, it doesn’t get much more boring, at least conceptually.
My own personal theory about this “PR-creativity struggle” phenomenon is that, for many decades dating back to the 1950s and ‘60s, PR’s workforce often emerged from the ranks of journalism – reporters, editors, publishers, and newscasters who transitioned out of news / editorial roles and shifted their careers to consulting in the PR sphere.
Their “just the facts” mentality often made their brand of PR counsel exist largely as a rote, non-creative, Who-What-Where-When-Why information-gathering and dissemination enterprise. They tended to focus far more on the substance of the content itself, rather than any creative packaging or style points.
As such, “embellishment” and “flair” were generally frowned upon as a journalistic “No-No.”
Consequently, the idea of PR being a “creative” enterprise ran afoul of many journalism-skewed PR people’s professional sensibilities, for many years and prior generations of practitioners.
But it’s now 2025.
These days, the PR sector features style as well as substance, particularly to align PR messaging and digital PR comms in creative ways toward the minute-by-minute nuances of popular culture, trends, events, and socio-political breaking news.
This more holistic notion may still make some journalistically minded PR pros’ heads spin. But in truth, there is no rule that says a fact-focused and data-rich PR campaign that delivers honest public benefit while achieving business objectives cannot also stand as a creative powerhouse.
Finding the ways to be creative in PR can be just as creative as the resulting creativity itself.
Perusing through the award-winning Cannes Lions PR campaign storyboards on display at this year’s festival, it was clear:
The PR industry has no excuse not to advance its collective creativity game. And that means all of us.
It’s being done – and done well – by clients and agencies the world over.
Yes, many of them have mega-budgets for mega-brands. But true creativity needn’t be hampered by more modest budgets. I would argue that the best way to earn more budget is to prove results gained from a more creative flair to the PR process.
While PR remains connected at the hip in many ways to media relations and securing news-editorial coverage, the PR toolbox and core-competency roster extends well beyond that arena.
The power of our own industry’s dynamic thinking must rise to the creative occasion.
This past year’s themes at Cannes Lions overwhelmingly hinged on emerging uses of Artificial Intelligence, as well as continued focus on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) and global environmental sustainability – as well as bridging the divides of action, accountability, and results on those fronts.
I anticipate that those themes are going to evolve, just as global business priorities are themselves shifting in real time to conform with political and economic realities.
As for colleagues who have never attended Cannes Lions but would like some practical tips and recommendations to take the creative leap to attend the 2025 event, I can offer the following:
- Consider attending Cannes Lions in person with a festival pass.
Many marketing folks visit Cannes for the outside networking off-site from the Palais, without ever purchasing an actual event pass. For the biz-dev folks in particular, there is value in taking this approach, given the volume of networking indeed to be gained… there’s tons of socializing off-campus, as it were, from the Festival venue.
I truly do understand the cost concerns as well of foregoing the Festival pass, but I do urge fully registering for the event, if at all possible.
I particularly recommend attending Cannes Lions as a registered conference-goer before planning to enter PR work into the competition, if you and your team have never done so before.
It’s the best way to experience the PR sector’s creative best-and-brightest for yourself, alongside the larger creative community in media, marketing, and strategic comms.
There is no replacing the power of first-person experience as a registered attendee, to capture the inspiration and energy of the festival and to understand what it takes to be competitive. Those elements are important, to frame your thinking around your creative PR work product and what kinds of submissions you may wish to enter in the competition, in the future.
- Budget wisely.
The Cannes Lions experience is no small line item on the travel and professional-development budget grid. It’s a commitment.
I’ve probably attended more than a few hundred PR and marketing conferences since the early 1990s, and Cannes Lions is, by far, the most expensive I’ve ever attended.
Coming from the States, including a €4,000 general pass to the festival, overseas airfare, accommodation, on-site transports, food / beverage, incidentals – I recommend a one-person budget of at least $12,000 – $15,000 U.S. – or, about €11,000 – €14,000 – and that’s on the conservative side.
One summertime convenience is that I was able to book the overseas leg of my flight from Atlanta directly to Nice, on Delta. It’s my understanding that this particular flight is not necessarily available year-round, but it is during “the season.”
Costs can skyrocket if you stay at a hotel or Airbnb within walking distance of The Palais (the Cannes Lions conference center venue). Many people wisely stay in Antibes or other 30-minute taxi drive or 15 to 30-minute train ride outside of Cannes proper, to save on cost. If you can plan to attend alongside one or more other friends / colleagues and share expenses, it will help. Book as soon as you know for sure that you’re going.
(Sightseeing note: Monaco / Monte-Carlo is just up the road, so if you have a free afternoon before or after the festival, it’s worth the drive over for lunch and a walking tour.)
This year, I brought my family to Cannes, including my three daughters – two of whom are in university now (University of South Carolina and University of Tennessee) and majoring in journalism and comms.
I purchased student passes for them as well to attend the Festival (about € 1,000 each), which I considered an important experiential learning opportunity for them, as they prepare for their careers.
They each took part in networking, both within PR student / young professional peer groups, as well as among very senior and accomplished role models. The mentoring they received was amazing.
Cannes Lions does offer designated student and new-pro programs (LIONS Academies), but note that it’s important to apply well in advance, in order to meet early deadlines. In addition, I should give a shout-out to ICCO PR, for its innovative new professionals programs as well.
- Plan ahead (Cannes Lions 2025 takes place June 16-20).
The 2025 Cannes Lions site and booking links are up-and-running. You can sign up online for event alerts, as new information is posted about next year’s event.
I recommend making your travel plans by end of February 2025, in order to take advantage of early discounts and to snap up your preferred hotel or other accommodation reservation.
To that end, if you’re booking through a virtual B&B booking service online, check and verify ratings, reviews, and credibility of the accommodation service. I know of a few horror stories of colleagues who booked accommodations for Cannes Lions — particularly in outlying areas — only to be unpleasantly surprised upon arrival (although there are indeed many incredible places to stay that are worth it!).
If flying in to Nice, it’s ideal if you can arrive several days early to avoid the mad rush and to get settled in (such as the Friday prior, which is what we did, by flying out of Tennessee on a Thursday afternoon, with the overnight leg to France allowing a Friday mid-day arrival. We did not regret it!).
The airport at Nice is utterly chaotic the Saturday afternoon / evening and Sunday prior to the Festival beginning, from what I gathered from friends arriving in that timeframe. Also, the car service / airport arrivals queue situation can be very difficult if you’re arriving during that busy window and have not pre-booked your ground transportation.
When you purchase a general festival pass, you can receive directional assistance with accommodation advice and placement.
There also is a premium access pass for the high-rollers out there (€10,945 per pass, the last I checked), with far more bells & whistles and concierge services available (such as a guarantee of a five-star booking in the city center, although hotel costs are not included in any pass).
By early April, look for listings of private parties / events each evening, many of which are sited along the Cannes beach venue with major headline bands / entertainment. Some are rather exclusive or invitation-only; others you can apply / register to attend, in advance.
- Download the app. Map out each day ahead of time.
The Cannes Lions App for registered attendees is a must-use tool for networking with other conference-goers and navigating and pre-planning where you want to be, to take part in each high-value session… particularly featuring the big names who speak at the festival, like Elon Musk and John Legend, who attended this past year.
Review the Palais’ layout and get familiar with site logistics ASAP, upon arrival. There can be long queues for entry into high-demand sessions, so arriving early to secure your seat is important, if you don’t have a VIP pass.
Many of each day’s sessions are led by that year’s Cannes Lions award winners, where they discuss their best practices and how they approached their campaigns to qualify for award consideration. If you want to learn from PR sector winners, gather the list of finalists in PR categories (available online), and seek out their sessions in advance.
- Creature comforts matter.
Cannes Lions is such an amazing event but, obviously, at a significant investment. As such, you will want to be able to enjoy it and squeeze every bit of value out of it.
Aside from planning in advance, bear in mind the importance of being physically comfortable, from morning to late into the evening, particularly if your accommodations are far off-site and not convenient to access during the day.
For this American, that reality meant:
- air-conditioned accommodations (some French hotels and many Airbnbs offer no A/C, so you need to check and confirm before booking, if it’s important to you),
- good long-distance walking shoes (the distance from the Palais to some off-site networking venues up the beach are more than 1 km, one way; car services are not always easily accessible, so high heels are not practical for some of us ladies),
- close event proximity to accommodations (the Palais conference center has no hotel attached to it),
- a water bottle,
- and portable mini-fans!
Cannes Lions 2024 included sensational weather, particularly during the first half of the week-long event, with low humidity, cool mornings and fair, breezy days. It was a blessing.
But that’s not always the case.
It’s often hot and oppressively humid during June along the French Riviera.
Most venues in the Palais are fully enclosed and air conditioned, but some are outside and open-air – possibly without shade. Staying hydrated for the long walks up and down conference venues and along the beach is important.
On a final note, it was a lovely highlight of my own Cannes experience to see the Olympic torch brought through the city, in preparation for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games.
I watched streetside at the beach, as the torchbearer walked right by me.
The encounter served as a heartwarming reminder of our global community, in competition with one another, but brought together with the same spirit of wishing to achieve excellence and helping each other be stronger and better. That’s certainly the spirit of Cannes Lions.
I hope to return to Cannes Lions in future years. Until then, be safe, and enjoy your Cannes Lions experience!
Mary Beth West, APR, FPRCA (marybethwest.com) is a U.S.-based public relations strategist. Follow Mary Beth on LinkedIn or on X: @marybethwest.
