Digiday at Cannes: AI hype, data overload and other takeaways from Cannes Lions 2025

Summary

Podcast Summary: Digiday at Cannes – AI Hype, Data Overload, and Key Takeaways from Cannes Lions 2025

Released on June 20, 2025

Hosts:

• Kimiko McCoy – Senior Marketing Reporter at Digiday
• Carly Carson – Head of Integrated Media at PMG

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1. Introduction and Overview

In this episode of The Digiday Podcast, host Kimiko McCoy engages in an insightful conversation with Carly Carson, Head of Integrated Media at PMG, about their experiences and key takeaways from the Cannes Lions 2025 event. The discussion delves into prevailing themes such as the integration of AI in marketing, data management challenges, client strategies amidst macroeconomic uncertainties, and the evolving landscape of retail media networks.

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2. AI and Human Storytelling

Carly observes a shift in the discourse around Artificial Intelligence (AI) compared to previous years.

Carly Carson [01:22]: "Last year, everyone was like, AI is here. It's here. And this year, I feel like it was more about how to harness it and how to take care with it in a new way."

The focus this year has moved from the mere presence of AI to effectively integrating human creativity within AI-driven processes. This balance ensures that human storytelling remains central despite technological advancements.

Carly Carson [02:14]: "Everybody thinks there's been the headline that AI is going to eliminate all of our jobs, but really being able to work with it, I think a lot of the conversation was about how it will improve our jobs and make our work feel more rewarding and interesting."

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3. Client Pain Points and Strategic Responses

Carly discusses the importance of addressing client concerns, especially in a challenging macroeconomic environment.

Carly Carson [04:56]: "We've been working to keep a really good pulse on consumer behavior in this environment. And what that actually gives us the ability to do is then quell some of those fears that clients have of how should I invest, where should I invest, what should I be thinking about in a new way."

PMG focuses on translating complex market conditions into actionable strategies for clients, emphasizing the need for clear guidance on investment and marketing approaches.

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4. Navigating Meetings and Panels at Cannes

The busy schedule at Cannes is highlighted, with Carly detailing the balance between client meetings, partner discussions, and absorbing diverse perspectives through panels and speaking engagements.

Carly Carson [05:46]: "We kind of do a 30, 30, 30 split between client conversations in meetings and our goals with those are to introduce them to new partners, but also strengthen relationships with some of their large partners."

This structured approach ensures that PMG maximizes the value of their time at the event, fostering both new and existing relationships while staying informed on industry trends.

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5. Leveraging Technology and Partnerships

Technology remains at the forefront of PMG’s strategy, with a strong emphasis on collaboration with platform partners to enhance efficiency and creativity.

Carly Carson [07:05]: "How can we drive more efficiency and more incrementality and more scalable creativity alongside our partners?"

PMG’s proprietary tech, including the Ally platform and the newly announced Ally Marketplace, exemplifies their commitment to integrating flexible and scalable technological solutions that cater to bespoke marketing strategies.

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6. Ad Dollars and Industry Trends

Discussions around the allocation of advertising budgets reveal shifts towards performance products, Connected TV (CTV), retail media, and the integration of video into full-funnel strategies.

Carly Carson [19:02]: "Ad dollars need to keep up with those consumption habits."

PMG identifies mid-funnel strategies, such as enhancing social search and interactive content, as crucial for driving consumer consideration and engagement.

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7. The Rise of Retail Media Networks

Carly highlights the growing significance of retail media networks, noting their ability to leverage consumer data to inform targeted marketing strategies.

Carly Carson [21:49]: "Consumer data is very, very, very valuable."

Retail media networks like Instacart, DoorDash, and Albertsons are transforming shopping behaviors by integrating commerce seamlessly into everyday experiences, thereby offering brands unique opportunities for engagement.

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8. Key Takeaways from Cannes Lions 2025

Carly summarizes the primary lessons gleaned from the event, emphasizing the synergy between human intuition and AI, the importance of quality data, and the strategic allocation of ad budgets.

1. Infusing Human Insight into AI:

   Carly Carson [17:30]: "Continue to infuse human taste and human strategy and human thought into the AI process is important."

2. Ensuring Quality Data for Effective AI:

   Carly Carson [18:19]: "Garbage in, garbage out in all, everything that we're doing."

3. Strategic Allocation of Ad Dollars:

   • Emphasis on maintaining momentum in performance-driven advertising while adapting to new platforms and consumer behaviors.

4. Embracing Mid-Funnel Innovation:

   Carly Carson [20:45]: "Mid funnel was a very common theme with everybody. How do we drive more consideration?"

5. Adapting to the Evolving Retail Media Landscape:

   • Recognizing the value of enriched consumer data and its application in targeted marketing strategies.

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Conclusion

The conversation between Kimiko McCoy and Carly Carson offers a comprehensive look into the current state of marketing and media as observed at Cannes Lions 2025. Carly’s insights underscore the critical balance between leveraging advanced technologies like AI and maintaining the essential human element in storytelling and strategy. Additionally, the discussions highlight the evolving dynamics of ad spending, the rise of retail media networks, and the imperative for brands to adapt to shifting consumer behaviors and technological advancements.

For professionals unable to attend Cannes Lions, this episode serves as a valuable resource, encapsulating the key trends and strategic imperatives shaping the future of marketing and media.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• "Last year, everyone was like, AI is here. It's here. And this year, I feel like it was more about how to harness it and how to take care with it in a new way."
  — Carly Carson [01:22]

• "Everybody thinks there's been the headline that AI is going to eliminate all of our jobs, but really being able to work with it, I think a lot of the conversation was about how it will improve our jobs and make our work feel more rewarding and interesting."
  — Carly Carson [02:14]

• "We've been working to keep a really good pulse on consumer behavior in this environment. And what that actually gives us the ability to do is then quell some of those fears that clients have of how should I invest, where should I invest, what should I be thinking about in a new way."
  — Carly Carson [04:56]

• "I think how do we continue to infuse our own gut into the technology? And I think that's the only way it can be effective."
  — Carly Carson [17:30]

• "Garbage in, garbage out in all, everything that we're doing."
  — Carly Carson [18:19]

• "Consumer data is very, very, very valuable."
  — Carly Carson [21:49]

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End of Summary

Transcript

[Kimiko McCoy]

Foreign. Hello. Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Digiday Podcast at Cannes, a podcast about the business of marketing and media. I'm Kimiko McCoy, senior marketing reporter at Digiday, and I am here with Carly Carson, head of Integrated media at pmg. Hi, Carly. How are you?

[Carly Carson]

Hi. I'm so good. It's nice to be here.

[Kimiko McCoy]

We've made it to the finish line of Cannes. How has the week been for you?

[Carly Carson]

It is always a whirlwind. This year felt a little more whirlwind y than ever.

[Kimiko McCoy]

That's a good way to put it.

[Carly Carson]

There's a lot to see and a lot to learn and so many people to connect with. So it's been fun.

[Kimiko McCoy]

Fantastic. Do you feel like we're struggling toward the finish line after all of the craziness of this week?

[Carly Carson]

I do. I woke up yesterday and I was like, we're halfway through. So finish line is near, but there are worse places to be, you know?

[Kimiko McCoy]

Absolutely. So the theme of this episode is kind of like, I guess looking back on the week, if you will. Right. A lot of the conversations that I saw surrounded AI and creators and human storytelling. So talk about some of the things or the themes rather, that you saw through the week that kind of stuck out to you, especially from the media buyer and our pov.

[Carly Carson]

Last year, everyone was like, AI is here. It's here. And this year, I feel like was more about how to harness it and how to take care with it in a new way. You talk about human storytelling and infusing human creativity into things, and I think that was a big theme as it relates to AI is how do we infuse the human of it all into the picture?

[Kimiko McCoy]

Yeah. Were there any things that stuck out to you about, like, kind of the storytelling aspect of it or anything like that as a media buyer, as a media planner? Because one of the talking points that I heard from creatives to your point is that, you know, what does this mean for my job? Right. But as a media planner, you're talking efficiencies and things like that. So, like, what are those AI conversations mean for how you do your job?

[Carly Carson]

I think it's really interesting. I think we heard a lot about reskilling our talent. Everybody thinks there's been the headline that AI is going to eliminate all of our jobs, but really being able to work with it, I think a lot of the conversation was about how it will improve our jobs and make our work feel more rewarding and interesting and spend less time on the minutiae and more time in thinking. And so I think some of that reskilling that can happen between either creatives and thinking about prompt generation to media team members as we think about automation. And so I think it's a really interesting time to become a student of this industry again.

[Kimiko McCoy]

I want to back up. Right. Because I feel like everybody has expectations before they hit the ground here. So what was kind of your expectations versus reality for topics, conversations, themes, and your experience at Cannes?

[Carly Carson]

Yeah, I thought. I mean, we're obviously in an uncertain macroeconomic environment, especially in North America, and I thought that would feel really present in all of these conversations. But I think the full steam ahead of innovation is kind of prevailing throughout all of that uncertainty. So it feels like we have a lot to do, which is really good. It feels really productive to be here.

[Kimiko McCoy]

Do you feel like the expectation you had coming into it met the reality of your experience here?

[Carly Carson]

I think it feels more positive maybe than I expected.

[Kimiko McCoy]

Oh, okay.

[Carly Carson]

Yeah. I think the industry is going through so much change, both on the agency and the platform side and the technology side. And I think sometimes that uncertainty can bring some anxiousness to meetings or conversations where it's like, where are we going? What are we doing? But I do think it felt a little bit more clear of staying laser focused on that human aspect of innovation feels really present here.

[Kimiko McCoy]

I want to lean into that because I think that's interesting. Talk to me a little bit about, you know, obviously we've got headlines around, like tariffs and things like that, and like, even within AD land itself, you've got mergers and acquisitions affecting jobs and macroeconomics. So talk to me a little bit about, I guess, what were client pain points that you were thinking about before coming here?

[Carly Carson]

I think with clients, it's being able to translate their environment to them in a way that makes sense is really, really important. Like, we've been working to keep a really good pulse on consumer behavior in this environment. And what that actually gives us the ability to do is then quell some of those fears that clients have of how should I invest, where should I invest, what should I be thinking about in a new way? So I think it's. It's been useful to sort of be here, to then be able to sharpen. Here's what I think the path forward needs to be.

[Kimiko McCoy]

Yeah. So how did those conversations kind of shape up with you on the ground? Walk me through kind of what your week looked like. What panels did you go to, what meetings did you have?

[Carly Carson]

Lots. So when we're here, we kind of do a 30, 30, 30 split between client conversations in meetings and our goals with those are to introduce them to new partners, but also strengthen relationships with some of their large partners. Second thing that we do is we as an agency spend this time to have those conversations with our partners about what does a product roadmap look like, what does our sort of joint technical strategy look like? And then lastly, between panels and speaking engagements and all of that good stuff, just absorbing the different perspectives around. So a lot of time spent with.

[Kimiko McCoy]

That in those conversations. Like, how direct are we right where I've got this problem and I need it solved. Because when we first came into cam, one of the first conversations that I had, even before I touched down, one of the things that was kind of touched on was this topic of like, for the money that I'm spending on AI partnerships or retail media or platforms and things like that, I need to start seeing some iroas. Incremental return on investment. Right. Kind of. How did those conversations shape up for you and your clients with partners?

[Carly Carson]

I work for an independent agency where technology and our proprietary tech has been at the center of what we have built for the last 15 years. And so tech was so infused into every conversation of what can we co create and what can we build alongside our platform partners to do exactly what you're saying. How can we drive more efficiency and more incrementality and more scalable creativity alongside our partners? So I think the technical conversations with product and engineering are really, really interesting here. And I think doing them through the lens of how can the work get better every time is important.

[Kimiko McCoy]

Was there ever a point of like an overarching theme where I guess feet to the fire is the best way that you can put it right to make sure, you know, to the point earlier that clients are getting that return on their ad spend. Did any of those conversations come up at all?

[Carly Carson]

Always. I think our whole job is to steward our brand's dollars and be really, really accountable to them and those results. And especially in moments where they may have some uncertainty or there are different economic pressures or things like that, every conversation needs to be done through the lens of how will this deliver against those bespoke business outcomes. And sometimes that's an IRO as sometimes that's like we need a brand to be reinvigorated in culture. And so I think the sort of objective outcomes have varied, but the conversations are how can we all hold hands and be really accountable to doing the best work that we can?

[Kimiko McCoy]

Speaking of accountability, I think it's and we may have touched on this already, but like it's this really weird juxtaposition. I feel like I use that word every podcast episode of the macroeconomic factors that are happening. And then here, here kind of in the south of France and you've got glasses of and concerts and the beach right there kind of. How do you square that in your mind, right? And you know, now you gotta go home and deal with tariff talks and things like this.

[Carly Carson]

I think we have to take some time and be really focused on being intentional with that time. And so not using the south of France as an excuse to have a meeting that could have been on zoom, like that's not what we're here for. But using this time to make those connections or have the conversations that you just can't always get these people in the same room for. And so it's definitely a balance between the two. But I think there been all of those studies about especially brands who continue to lean in and focus on brand building, especially in times of macroeconomic uncertainty. I think there have been studies since the Great Depression about if you really stay the course and stay true to the brand values. And so I think if you don't take an opportunity like this to continue to stay the course, then brands will be left behind out of those conversations.

[Kimiko McCoy]

For your team specifically, talk to me a little bit about, well, for your job specifically, excuse me, as head of integrated media at pmg, I'd love to know, kind of how did you see your role here at Cannes? Why come to Cannes? What was your intention?

[Carly Carson]

Yeah, I think there's so much convergence happening in media overall. The way that social is that second screen sort of real time lean in entertainment, how does that play with live sports? How do all of these things create that sort of one media ecosystem for our customers or our audiences? And I think making sense of that ecosystem is part of what I'm here to do. And then I also think with AI, there is so much more complexity in all of our media plans now. Everything is full funnel, everything is multi platform, everything is fragmented, Fragmented. And so in these conversations, talking with our platform partners of like, we need you all to play nice together, like so that way we can really have this holistic picture of what is happening. And so that's an under an underlying part of the conversation. Especially even with our social platforms, it's how are you thinking about tv? Like, how are you thinking about sort of that double experience? And so those have been fun conversations to have.

[Kimiko McCoy]

Does any of these conversations include like wheeling and dealing. One of the themes that I keep getting here at Cannes is like, I'm not here to strike a deal. It's for like networking and face to face time. But at the same time, like a lot of the announcements that happen months later were from conversations that happened at Cannes. So talk to me a little about kind of like from your pov, the wheeling and dealing of Cannes.

[Carly Carson]

I think it is a. The prep work that goes into Cannes is really, really important. I think giving your platform partners or those you're meeting with a really clear picture of what are your priorities and your business needs. What do your clients care about and prepping that. So that way when you are here, it is not what do you want.

[Kimiko McCoy]

To talk about, right?

[Carly Carson]

It is. No, let's focus on inspiring something that can come to life out of these conversations. And so I think the prep work is just as important as the conversation you have here. But I think a focus on productivity of what can we go build together, not what can we spend together, but like, how can we co create in new ways. So I think it's less about striking a commercial deal and more about how can we all continue to be first or the most effective as possible.

[Kimiko McCoy]

Talk more. That's interesting. Talk more about the prep work. What did that look like for you guys at pmg, right?

[Carly Carson]

Oh, man. It is an art and a science. Um, I think there were something like 170 meetings.

[Kimiko McCoy]

Lordy.

[Carly Carson]

Yeah. And we try to make sure we're really intentional about it. Of what relationships do we want to continue to accelerate? Which ones are totally new, where? Hey, I haven't met with this partner. Hey, I want their perspective. Um, and so I think it's a balance of both. I think sometimes you can come to a place like this and get stuck and see the same partners that you have a monthly with. And it's like, that's not what we're here to do. And so really expanding the horizon and making sure that that meeting slate is really meaningful is part of the fun. It is a shell game of scheduling though.

[Kimiko McCoy]

I could imagine. Did we meet with any new partners or were there any, I guess, ideas kind of sparked to take back home?

[Carly Carson]

We met with a couple of partners where they're really looking at how they can use AI to make sense of all of the data in a way that is so digestible. And I think those partners are interesting. They can move really, really fast. Things that took engineers or analytics teams weeks and weeks and weeks can now happen in minute. And so thinking about how you Use AI partners or tech partners to continue to accelerate. What we're doing is important. PMG announced on top of our Ally platform, which is our software platform. We announced Ally Marketplace this week, which is basically a bring your own tech stack to to your marketing strategies. So within Ally Marketplace we've integrated first and third party partners so that way we can test and learn for these really nimble, potentially emerging partners fast. So we can plug it in and say, I want a RapidMM model or an incrementality partner or hey, I want somebody who can help me enrich my foot traffic data. And so thinking about technology as portable and flexible is part of our strategy. And so that's how we have kind of shaped some of our conversations of every marketing strategy is so bespoke. So how can we enable that through technology more quickly?

[Kimiko McCoy]

I spent a lot of time talking about like how you guys are like talking to clients and whatnot, but given that you guys have your own analysis and things like that, how does PMG show up to can? Like what's the pitch? Right, to people who may want to partner with pmg?

[Carly Carson]

Yeah, I think that's an interesting question. I was asked on a panel with Microsoft about how is AI reinventing what you all are doing in terms of agency strategy? And I kind of had a moment where I was like, I don't think it's reinventing us. I think we've had a really clear vision of our approach to media and marketing and technology has been at the core of how that comes to Life since day one. 30% of our staff are engineers, which is a little bit strange for an agency. But I think we've had a clear vision of technology and creativity and media all have to work in such concert together. And so it's not that we're reinventing with AI, it's advancing and enabling so much of that to happen faster, but not a reinvention. So it's nice to not have to reinvent ourselves. Every can.

[Kimiko McCoy]

We've talked about AI and I want to zoom out and get some kind of like takeaways from you here. What do you feel like if you had to give like three to five, I'll give a range takeaways from can, right? What would they be?

[Carly Carson]

I think one takeaway is to continue to infuse human taste and human strategy and human thought into the AI process is important. I was talking with TikTok specifically and they have some research around what they're calling compound intelligence, which is the power of human and AI together is so so, so important. So that was a big takeaway is how do we continue to infuse our own gut into the technology? And I think that's the only way it can be effective.

[Kimiko McCoy]

Absolutely. Do you have two more.

[Carly Carson]

I think the other common theme here is, and to be frank, garbage in, garbage out in all, everything that we're doing. So when you think about using technology, if you don't have the right foundation or the right data or it's not contextualized, well, AI will just produce garbage on top of garbage. And that's not going to help any of us. And so I think really thinking about that was a big takeaway.

[Kimiko McCoy]

I'd be curious to know, like, if you want to make this your last one, like, what. What are the conversations that you had this week kind of say about, like, the state of ad dollars in the industry?

[Carly Carson]

Yeah, I think ad dollars in the industry are interesting because you obviously still have the Amazons and the Googles and the metas of the world who are continuing to accelerate, especially their performance products. And so those are. They're here to stay. However, I think there's so much interest and acceleration in both CTV from a fragmentation perspective. Retail media is being infused into all of the platforms and so obviously a little bit of a land grab of who can get there first. And the other place that I think we're continuing to see acceleration and interest is in video everywhere and how video is being infused into a total full funnel strategy. I think we're all continuing to recognize live sports are important. People do watch tv, they watch it in many, many different ways, and they scroll on their phone at the time same. And so ad dollars need to keep up with those consumption habits.

[Kimiko McCoy]

Were there any questions that you had about how we should be stewarding ad dollars that you had before you got to Cannes that have now been answered?

[Carly Carson]

I don't. I don't know. I don't.

[Kimiko McCoy]

Or any concerns or any, like, I guess, like, trends that you were seeing, we'll phrase it that way. Any trends that you were seeing in ad dollars that you questioned right Then you got here and you say, oh, no, this is the shift that's happening. So, like, for me, retail media would be the big one.

[Carly Carson]

I think one of the things that was important in terms of how people are spending is that mid funnel was a very common theme with everybody. How do we drive more consideration? How do we educate our audiences better? And so when you think about social search as a priority, I think bolstering that mid funnel and making it more interactive and more, providing more utility for brands was a theme in terms of how do we spend here and really connect those brand moments all the way through. And so I think mid funnel I'm seeing a lot of product innovation in that space.

[Kimiko McCoy]

I think that makes a lot of sense. And the last thing that I want to ask you since we touched on the retail media networks like the Amazon, they've always been here, right. For as long as I can remember. But you've got new players which were the retail media networks. They've only been here for like the last two or three years. Right. So to you, like, did you spend any time with them and kind of like what is their presence signal to you?

[Carly Carson]

Yeah, I think the retail media space is really, really interesting. Consumer data is very, very, very valuable. And so as retail media networks are thinking about how to harness the power of the data that they sit on, that's hugely valuable for a brand, understanding those purchase behaviors and being able to use that data to engage based on somebody's life stage or these signals that tell us, ooh, they're the right customer for us. And so I think that is a lot of the conversation with retail media networks is how do we best think about using that data wisely to enrich our strategies for both endemic brands and non endemic brands.

[Kimiko McCoy]

They've got these flashy spaces, I'm sorry to be doubling down on you here. They've got these flashy spaces like Instacart's got a set up, doordash has a whole storefront. Albertsons had a grocery store. Right. Did you stop by any of those? And like, I guess, for lack of a better way, like were you wooed as, were you wooed as a, as a head of integrated media? I.

[Carly Carson]

Think their presence and making these experiences come to life in that way, I think it reinforces some of the point of view of we are all shopping and thinking about shopping. Like commerce is infused into every thought in our brains. Like you wake up in the morning and you're seeing a get ready with me and you want to shop it. And retail media, I think taking notice of that behavior, especially as it's infused in culture is really interesting. Like enabling that shopping and making it easier with data is a priority for every marketer.

[Kimiko McCoy]

Yeah. Does it make a difference to you as a media buyer for them to have these experiences?

[Carly Carson]

I mean, it's really fun. The experiences are really unique and I think it inspires some creativity along the way. As Pinterest space is always so beautiful and it really brings to life. The value proposition of the platform of it's a place for inspiration and creativity and curation. And I think having these physical experiences like this are really helpful to inspire. How should our brands come to life in these physical spaces, too? So I love seeing what everybody brings every year.

[Kimiko McCoy]

So it's creative and it's fun. It doesn't necessarily inspire like, here, take my money. Take my client ad dollars.

[Carly Carson]

Yeah, I think there's a lot more that goes into how I'm going to invest and allocate other than a cool space. But. But I do think reinforcing like this is what the platform stands for or the media partner stands for in a physical way is. Is interesting.

[Kimiko McCoy]

Absolutely. Absolutely. Listen, Carly, I could yap all day, but we've reached the final day of Can God Bless and I want to let you get to it. So thank you so much for stopping by and chatting with us on the pod.

[Carly Carson]

Thank you for having me.

[Kimiko McCoy]

Well, that brings us to the end of this episode of the Digiday podcast. Thank you to everyone for listening. And please don't forget to share this episode with someone who you think would enjoy it. You can even rate us and leave us a comment on Apple Podcasts. Thank you so much for joining us.