In the eye of strategic planning, a look back at trends at Cannes Lions 2024

Once again this year, the Cannes Lions are at the heart of discussions for all lovers of advertising, belles créas and insights that touch your heart. At Dusens group, we make a habit of analyzing the creations presented to inspire our collaborators during an internal “Team Learning” session. Inès Guigue and Margaux Caillaud, strategic planners, decipher for you three key trends that show the way to the advertising of tomorrow.

Entertainment: between fantasy and reality

In a society increasingly impacted by one economic, social, environmental and geopolitical crisis after another, an anxious and heavy atmosphere unfortunately cv dfseems to be taking hold in people’s minds and behavior.

Faced with this gloomy climate, we are witnessing a duality in entertainment practices and artistic expression through communication. On the one hand, there’s a need for fun, laughter and humor as a temporary distraction from our many daily preoccupations. It’s a great way to escape, recharge your batteries and keep your spirits up.

But on the other hand, there’s also a desire not to completely obscure reality, to show it in all its complexity, in the hope of touching audiences in a more personal and universal way. This approach aims to bring people together around common themes, stimulate reflection and foster collective awareness of current challenges.
Today’s entertainment industry needs to strike a subtle balance between laughter and emotion, in order to meet society’s contradictory yet complementary needs. It is in this duality that the key to getting through these troubled times with greater serenity and social cohesion may lie.

Man and machine

Last year, all eyes seemed to be on the advertising and media campaigns that focused on the latest technological innovations. Between the dazzling advances of artificial intelligence, the promises of Web 3.0 and virtual worlds, and the craze surrounding NFTs, the place accorded to “the real thing” seemed increasingly limited.

This year, however, we noticed that design, in the broad sense of the applied arts, was massively rewarded and honored in many fields. This trend reflects a desire to reconcile man and machine, to allow all forms of creativity, innovation and artistic expression to (re)emerge in a more balanced relationship between technology and the very essence of human creativity.

Indeed, design – be it product, graphic, interaction or user experience design – puts the human being back at the heart of our concerns, by making tools and interfaces as intuitive, pleasant and functional as possible. This in turn contributes to the greater acceptance and appropriation of technological innovations by as many people as possible.

Acts not facts

After two consecutive years marked by numerous committed speeches, vibrant manifestos and ambitious promises from brands on their social and environmental commitments, it now seems that mere declarations of intent are no longer enough.

We’re entering a new era that could be described as “post-purpose”, where companies must now embody their values and raison d’être in concrete terms, to prove them to their audiences and make them real. It’s no longer just a matter of communicating commitments, but of putting them into practice in a coherent and sustainable way, in line with their business model and activities.

This means that brand communication campaigns have to be genuinely useful and beneficial to their targets, going beyond the simple display effect or the search for the trend of the moment to win prizes. It is now essential to remain true to one’s identity, one’s convictions and what one fundamentally is as a company, rather than surfing on passing fads.

This shift towards a more authentic, long-term approach reflects a strong expectation on the part of consumers that brands should fully assume their responsibilities.

With these three trends, we wanted to underline the fact that communication is becoming increasingly important in proving its impact on the world. More than ever, communication plays a vital role in the profound transformations taking place in our society. It has a duty not only to inform and raise awareness, but also to take action, and get people to take action, so that together we can move towards a better future for all.

Planning strat’s favorites campaigns

Iris’ favorite :

When form serves substance, communication verges on perfection. Such is the case with this UN Women campaign, which, in the form of wedding invitations written by a child, is bloodcurdling.

In Pakistan, 21% of marriages involve girls under the age of 18, and the aim of these fictitious cards addressed to legislators was to encourage them to pass a bill to protect children from forced marriage.

UN Women, with its strong commitment in the field, is once again demonstrating its determination to change things. That’s why we’re particularly proud to have supported them in their campaign for the 2024 Olympics!

Marjo’s favorite :

By using Madrid’s vacant advertising space to display the Instagram posts of Marina Prieto, an elderly lady unknown to all, without logo or call to action, JCDecaux created a digital mystery.

This approach underscored OOH’s ability to integrate into the modern media ecosystem. By choosing an atypical, authentic figure, JCDecaux was able to capture the public’s attention while conveying a positive message, demonstrating the continued relevance of OOH in a saturated media landscape. I was particularly impressed by the use of this grandmother, who brought a very emotional side to the campaign. Powerful storytelling around Marina Prieto created an intriguing narrative, and thus audience engagement. A successful gamble with a BtoB target audience in a BtoC context!

Margaux ‘s favorite:

The documentary “We Are Ayenda”, broadcast on Prime Video traces the crazy and tragic story of Afghan women soccer players who had to flee their country when the Taliban came to power.
Afghan women were quickly deprived of their fundamental rights: access to education, work and sports.

Thanks to WhatsApp, a totally secure messaging system, they were able to coordinate their escape from the country and save their lives. The messages on the screen include “don’t use SMS” and “I’ve heard the Taliban are hacking SIM cards”.

A long format supported by brands that is becoming increasingly popular on the streaming platform. Proof that it’s still possible to hold attention, thanks to powerful messages and impactful images.

Inès ‘ favorite:

We live in an era where brands’ purpose is the most important element and helps create a bond with audiences. But today, Pedigree has started from the observation that the brand doesn’t capitalize enough on its own, which is to commit to ensuring that no dog is a stray.

To remedy this, the brand uses AI to highlight dogs available for adoption nearby. AI enables them to optimize the photos of these dogs to make them suitable for outdoor broadcasting. As soon as a dog is adopted, the digital poster changes live to showcase a new dog.