Join Cannes Lions’ first online edition from anywhere in the world (and for free!)

Often thought of as the creative industry’s Oscars, the Cannes Lions festival is a much-anticipated date in the creative calendar. Taking place across five days (22-26 June), exploring several themes and high profile industry speakers, this year the event has had to shift from its usual location and onto a digital platform.

In this year’s unique edition of the newly named Lions Live, anyone from anywhere in the world can join in the festivities via live streams, which promise to still include “the very best content elements of Cannes Lions,” says VP of content, Charlotte Williams, just translated “into a curated digital experience.” This experience has been created by “some of the most creative people on the planet,” whether they’re from agencies, brands, production or entertainment companies. “We want everyone to feel inspired by this,” continues Charlotte, “and to come away rebooted and refreshed.”

To programme the event, Cannes’ organisers first began by canvassing opinion on what the industry was keen to discuss. Developing eight themes from research and interviews from leaders across the industry, the topics to be discussed include “Creative is the business growth engine”, “Looking to 2030: Making your Business Future-fit”, “Creative disruption in commerce” and “Post-Purpose: Brand Accountability and Activism”, to name just a few.

The Lions Live agenda includes a series of Lions Shorts, specially-commissioned films from world-leading creatives like Hakuhodo Indonesia, AlmapBBDO and Whaler, and will also be home to the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors' Showcase celebrating 30 years of new director talent. Another direct learning opportunity comes from 42courses.com as part of Lions Live, which offers a Cannes Lions sample course of "storytelling-led learning given by the creativity industry's most extraordinary minds". Each lesson brings Lion-winning work together with insights from experts like multi-award winning designer Katherina Tudball and Ogilvy’s Rory Sutherland. During the week of Lions Live, The Work – which houses 200,000 pieces of the world’s most extraordinary creative thinking to educate the creative community – will also be made complimentary for all to access.

Also on the content programme, the “At Home With…” will see A-list talent like Wyclef Jean and A-Rod, exploring “narratives around inspiration, motivations and what it takes to be successful in the wider world of creativity.” Elsewhere, marketing-focused creatives will be able to watch a series of the world’s leading brand’s chief marketing officers provide insight into how they’re “managing remote leadership in lockdown, and whether the world of marketing will really change forever.”

Other keynotes to watch out for on the agenda include Unilever’s newly appointed chief digital and marketing officer Conny Braams, a new Vice TV production No Mercy, No Malice with professor Scott Galloway, and Bob Lord from IBM in conversation with Chelsea Clinton to discuss “the ways that creativity and technology are intersecting to bring about change.”

Always highly anticipated too, the Cannes Lions jury presidents will also play a part in Lions Live. Simon Cook, the event’s managing director will be hosting the 2020-2021 jury presidents to share briefs ahead of time, also outlining a “set of guiding principles for the entire industry for the first time” to watch out for. Head here for a longer list of programmed speakers.

Although partnering with Google to live-stream content through YouTube, all content will also be available on the Lions Live platform afterwards. To sign up for next week’s events head here.