Digiday at Cannes: From center stage to closed doors, inside X’s quiet Cannes strategy

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Digiday at Cannes: From Center Stage to Closed Doors, Inside X’s Quiet Cannes Strategy"

Released on June 18, 2025

In this episode of The Digiday Podcast, host Sam engages in a comprehensive discussion with Crystal Scanlon, Digiday’s platforms reporter, to explore the shifting dynamics of social media platforms at the prestigious Cannes Lions Festival. The focus is primarily on X (formerly known as Twitter) and TikTok, examining their strategies, relationships with advertisers, and the broader implications for the digital marketing landscape.

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1. X’s Evolving Presence at Cannes

Crystal Scanlon provides an insider's perspective on X’s diminished visibility at Cannes compared to previous years. Historically, X maintained a prominent and vibrant presence on the Croisette, featuring notable events and high-profile attendees. However, this year marks a significant change:

“Last year it was just a very, very quiet presence in just a very plush suite doing client meetings,” Crystal explains [02:34].

This shift reflects X’s transformation under new leadership and strategic priorities, moving away from large-scale beachside displays to more focused, private engagements.

2. Rebuilding Relationships with Advertisers

A central theme of the conversation revolves around X’s efforts to mend its strained relationships with advertisers. Crystal highlights the platform’s new focus:

“It's more about let's rebuild those relationships,” she states [03:51].

This strategy comes in the wake of significant backlash and advertiser pullback following Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, which led to concerns over brand safety and stability.

3. Timeline of X’s Transformation

Crystal provides a concise timeline of the major changes at X since Elon Musk’s takeover in 2022:

“He predominantly didn't really like advertisers from what we knew of the history of Tesla,” Crystal notes [04:07].

Under Musk’s leadership, X saw drastic cuts, including the disbandment of crucial departments like trust and safety, which are pivotal for maintaining advertiser confidence. This led to major advertising partners labeling X as a high-risk platform, thereby exacerbating the challenges in restoring trust.

4. Behind Closed Doors: Client Meetings

The podcast delves into the discreet nature of X’s engagements at Cannes. Last year, X’s activities were largely confined to the Carlton suite, operating under "incognito" conditions:

“Most of my meetings last year were literally in the Carlton,” Crystal recalls [07:45].

This year, while X has slightly increased its visibility, the emphasis remains on private client meetings rather than public beachside events, indicating a cautious approach to rebuilding advertiser relationships.

5. Comparison with TikTok’s Approach

The conversation draws a stark contrast between X’s subdued strategy and TikTok’s robust presence at Cannes. Crystal observes:

“It's almost as if this ban was just like a mythical imaginary thing,” referring to TikTok’s upcoming US ban [14:07].

Despite looming regulatory challenges in the US, TikTok continues to aggressively engage with advertisers and host high-profile events, showcasing resilience and a commitment to maintaining its market position.

6. Current Year Observations: AI Emphasis

AI technology emerges as a central theme for many platforms at Cannes. Crystal notes that platforms are heavily promoting their AI-driven tools:

“They are all needing the AI tools, apparently,” she comments [19:32].

This trend underscores the industry-wide shift towards integrating advanced technologies to enhance advertising capabilities and measurement accuracy.

7. Other Platforms’ Strategies at Cannes

Beyond X and TikTok, other major players are also making significant moves. For instance:

• Snap is hosting major parties, including events featuring celebrities like 50 Cent.
• Meta is showcasing innovative products and hosting DJ sets post-press briefings.
• Reddit is unveiling new announcements, focusing on AI capabilities to stay competitive.

These activities highlight a broader strategy among platforms to solidify their presence and attract advertisers through high-profile engagements and technological advancements.

8. Conclusion: Future Trajectories of Advertiser Relationships

As the episode wraps up, Crystal expresses optimism about TikTok’s growth despite regulatory hurdles, stating:

“I would be very surprised if this goes left field at this point,” [17:56].

In contrast, X remains in a phase of cautious rebuilding, striving to regain advertiser confidence and establish a stable foothold in the digital advertising ecosystem.

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Notable Quotes

• Crystal Scanlon on rebuilding trust: “It's more about let's rebuild those relationships.” [03:51]
• Crystal on X’s quiet presence: “It was just a very, very quiet presence in just a very plush suite doing client meetings.” [02:34]
• Crystal on TikTok’s approach to the ban: “It's almost as if this ban was just like a mythical imaginary thing.” [14:07]
• Crystal predicting TikTok’s growth: “I would be very surprised if this goes left field at this point.” [17:56]

Key Takeaways

• X’s Strategic Shift: Post-acquisition, X has shifted from a visible, large-scale presence to a more private, relationship-focused strategy at industry events like Cannes.

• Advertiser Trust Rebuilding: X is actively working to restore trust with advertisers through confidential client meetings and revamped brand safety measures.

• TikTok’s Resilience: Despite facing a potential US ban, TikTok maintains a strong and proactive presence at Cannes, emphasizing business as usual and continuing to innovate with AI tools.

• AI as a Central Theme: The integration of AI across platforms signifies its critical role in the future of digital advertising, with platforms leveraging AI to enhance advertiser offerings and measurement capabilities.

• Diverse Platform Strategies: Other platforms like Snap, Meta, and Reddit are also intensifying their efforts at Cannes, focusing on high-profile events and technological advancements to attract and retain advertisers.

This episode offers a detailed examination of how major social media platforms are navigating the evolving landscape of digital advertising, highlighting the strategic adjustments and technological integrations shaping the future of the industry.

Transcript

[Sam]

Foreign. Welcome to another episode of the Ditch Day Podcast, a show about the business of media and marketing. We're coming to you live from Cannes on day three, and we've got none other than Crystal Scanlon, our platforms reporter. Hi, Crystal.

[Crystal Scanlon]

Hi.

[Sam]

So glad to have you here. How are you enjoying. This is your second can, right?

[Crystal Scanlon]

Yep. I guess kind of still a newbie, but getting my way around now.

[Sam]

Do you feel like you found your footing? A little bit.

[Crystal Scanlon]

It's nice to have familiar places and not have to rely on, like, maps.

[Sam]

I love that for you. Going up and down the Croisset. Right. What are some of the places that you've been to so far?

[Crystal Scanlon]

I mean, I granted all the platforms typically. I mean, so far, whether it's either Reddit was Monday. I've done TikTok yesterday, I think. I mean, you name a platform I've not been to at this stage. It's literally just running up and down there, and if it's not there, it's meeting with them.

[Sam]

You know what's so crazy? Because I will absolutely name a platform that's not there. And we're here to talk about today. So the theme of this episode is a look at kind of what happened Twitter Beach. And I feel like it's very parallel to the relationship that Twitter, X, whichever you want to call it, has with advertisers now, Right. We're here at Cannes, the festival of creativity, where there are swarms of advertisers and who is not seen here is X is Twitter. I remember Twitter as. I think the first time I came to Cannes was like, maybe 2018, 2019, when they still had a very big presence along the beach. I think there was like Reddit, Pinterest, Microsoft, Yahoo, Twitter, Big, you know, bird, blue sign. I remember I was at a panel for something else, snuck away because someone text me, said, hey, Chrissy Teigen, who was the mayor of Twitter at the time, right? Yeah, she's on stage speaking. So, like, I snuck off and I saw her and it was like the whole thing was magical. Later on that night, they had a performance by Sierra. They had like panels during the day. It was. It was a really, really big. And now you walk past it and I think it's like, maybe influential beach that's there. But talk to me a little bit about what you're seeing in terms of, like, how they've been working with advertisers because they're not there. So, like, how are you pitching advertisers if you're not here?

[Crystal Scanlon]

As you Kind of rightly said about the way that they used to have their presence. I mean, anyone that I speak to, because granted, that was definitely pre my era. Even at digiday, everyone has spoken about like, oh my God, it was so memorable. Oh my God, it was a fantastic spot. Oh my God, like we had Steve Aoki, like everyone possible. So it's kind of almost like, how can you not be there? I guess, obviously the Twitter era is definitely well and truly gone. But because of it's now X, it's under different leadership now. It's a very different space. As a platform, it's not so much, I guess the priority isn't necessarily let's have a beach space right now. It's more about let's rebuild those relationships. Because obviously we all saw what happened after the takeover acquisition and granted the numerous headlines, there was obviously a swath of advertisers that have literally just got went off the platform. So off the back of that, I mean, it's rebuilding that trust primarily. So they are here right now. Couldn't define specifically how many of them. I know there's, I think one or two execs that are definitely on panels. So it's definitely. They're growing again beyond last year, because last year it was just a very, very quiet presence in just a very plush suite doing client meetings. And that was kind of it. It was very low key. If you were having meetings with them and you knew they were here, if you didn't have a meeting with them, you probably wouldn't have even noticed where they were at all. So it was very incognito vibes. But this year, I mean, obviously, if you're starting to see some of the execs on panels, they're obviously becoming more open to being knowing that they are here. Even before can, it was a case of, I saw on LinkedIn, they're obviously making it more obvious by putting up banners saying, what we're going to be at Cannes. But granted, you still do not see that spot on the beach.

[Sam]

You know what, actually, let's backtrack and do like a quick timeline here, right? 2022, Elon buys Twitter. There's the sink moment where he takes out the sink and things start going wonky with advertisers. Walk us through that timeline.

[Crystal Scanlon]

I guess the. Probably the short version of that story is pretty much the case that obviously he came in, he predominantly didn't really like advertisers from what we knew of history of Tesla. So obviously for that, for him, it's just like, well, it's not really a relationship I need right now. So between that and obviously wanting to. He's very renowned for making things more efficient. And more efficient tends to mean less people. I mean, the whole company was gutted literally within like the first month. And obviously one of the first couple of departments that went was like trust and safety, brand safety, all the things that advertisers really rely on. So, so that's why then GroupM announced at the time that it was a high risk platform. And obviously when you've got the big dogs out there saying this is a high risk place, then obviously others are going to just kind of look to their guidance, albeit just to put on, like I say, put on record. I'm not Elon or anyone. But at the same time, it wasn't a collusion or anything with advertisers. It's just they individually took their own stance on it. And so literally ever since then, I mean, even to this point now, I still have conversations with advertisers left, right and center every single day. And I'm still like, are you on X? Are you on X now? What's the relationship like? It's still rebuilding that thing. The only thing I'd say where it's a caveat of change is that before it was very much, we're never going near that thing again. Now that has definitely shifted. And at least some of the ones I'm speaking to now are definitely saying they're not totally averse to it if it's for the right client and if it performs the way they need it to perform.

[Sam]

But how much of that is because there's a lawsuit? Right?

[Crystal Scanlon]

And.

[Sam]

And the disbandment of Garm and things like this, that kind of, I would say, pushed advertisers more so than swayed them to showing up on that platform again, I guess.

[Crystal Scanlon]

I mean, there's spend and their spend. Like you can be spending and spend. I mean, obviously, figuratively speaking, like $10, you can be spending and spend like millions. So I don't think it's probably near the latter. But I couldn't tell you individual budgets because so far I've yet to be able to speak to anyone who will tell me anything about those budgets because so far most people like, we're open. But that's as far as that conversation has gone. So far, at least as far as conversations I'm having with people.

[Sam]

So the beach touch down or changes hands, right? They no longer have that big presence anymore. You and I were here last year on the ground. And I feel like I saw you ripping and running, trying to get to where Linda Yaccarino was and things like that. To your point earlier, like, they're making a slow build back, right? I guess give me a juxtaposition because on the one hand, the slow build back in person at Cannes, but also the slow build back, like in, like, you know, hosting panels outside of Cannes and like, talking about brand safety measures and things like that to, like, I guess, build some faith back with advertisers.

[Crystal Scanlon]

I suppose it's kind of. I kind of liken it almost as well to what's going on. Even with TikTok and the TikTok ban.

[Sam]

Yeah, we'll touch on that too. Lord have mercy.

[Crystal Scanlon]

I guess in the sense of it's one thing. I'm sure with any of those platforms, like, once you're kind of like stuck in a narrative, it's like, we're stuck. No one will talk about anything else. But. So for X, after the takeover, it was. I mean, how many headlines did you see at that point? And it wasn't never really about the actual platform anymore. It became about the personalities of leadership. So I think it's one of those things. They probably needed a bit of a break as well, so that they could actually have a bit of space between those headlines and them so that then they could actually start trying to have, like, build their new narrative from scratch versus, oh, well, this is X. But the leadership and all those sort of kind of comments. So I think that's probably why we're starting to see like a slow build back in that way. But at the same time, like, the lower connotations of it as well is just the fact that they might not ever escape it, but they can maybe get some distance.

[Sam]

So you're on the ground and you're hearing that there's meetings happening behind closed doors. Talk to me about where those meetings were at, what did you hear about them, who was in them, that type of deal.

[Crystal Scanlon]

So last year, I know they definitely had a suite in the Carlton. I felt like a spy, literally just trying to work out who was who. I mean, I literally walk. I mean, most of my meetings last year were literally in the Carlton. I walked that lobby like numerous times to the point I don't even know. I probably know that place like the back of my hand at this stage. I did not see, obviously, like, half the team have changed. So I couldn't even say I recognize people from LinkedIn at this stage. So it was very like incognito. Of just like, I know they're here. I couldn't tell you who they are or anything like that, but I know that there was definitely. It looked like a big group of people. And from what I understand of it, there was a good, like maybe 15, 20 people people in that suite. But it was just very, very focused on, let's just meet with clients, let's just build back that trust. And it was very much. They were just doing business with those individuals. It was nothing really outside for the public kind of viewing.

[Sam]

So we get to 2025, we're here this year, and you said that they've got a little bit more of a presence. What does that look like this year?

[Crystal Scanlon]

So I know they're here somewhere so far, still on that hunt. I know they're definitely doing client meetings because granted, they're going to try and do that every year. As far as where, I'm still trying to pinpoint if it's the same place as last year. So we'll get back to you. As far as anything else, it's literally just, I guess they're starting to. Obviously they've had a whole thing of disliking press for the start. I mean, we saw everyone was getting a certain type of emoji, if you were a journalist trying to contact them for a longer period of time.

[Sam]

I got the poop emoji several times.

[Crystal Scanlon]

Yeah, it became a regular. And then I guess going from that to then trying to almost put yourself on a panel where you're opening yourself up to scrutiny again. It took them a while to almost trust that it was going to be okay because I think they're now starting to see that they can't expect certain narratives to build if they're not willing to open themselves up. So I think that's where we're at in terms of that sort of coverage so far this year. But I think we're probably still a long way off before we start seeing major beach activations.

[Sam]

Yeah, I think that's really interesting because, like, as platform reporter. Right. What does it signal to you that a platform has a massive presence like that on the beach?

[Crystal Scanlon]

I think. I mean, from everything that I hear, Grant is still. I'm only like two years into Cannes at this stage. Everything I hear is that if you've got a beach spot, you're basically. You've made it like it is just very clear, like, you are here, you're here to stay.

[Sam]

Right.

[Crystal Scanlon]

I mean, that's not to say that X isn't like at the same Time, Like, I mean, it's. It's living a new life now, I guess. Like, poor bird guy is dead. But, you know, it's one of them, I guess, in the general sense. I can. I can envision a situation when they come back to it. But then also, I mean, I've heard some people even say, depending on whatever spot you go to, it looks a bit performative. And it's like, money that is ridiculous. Sort of prices for certain spots on the beach right now given, like, the revenue going through that company. I don't know their finances, but would they even have the capital just to put aside, even just for a spot? Because, yeah, you can have the spot, but you've also got to fill it for the whole week.

[Sam]

Yeah, that's actually a really, really good point as well. The last thing that I want to ask you, because I do want to touch on the Tik Tok ban as well, since that's literally coming up in 24 hours. But the last thing that I want to ask you about Twitter is, are media buyers and people that you're talking to, are they curious? Do they care anymore? Has the burden been forgotten?

[Crystal Scanlon]

Yes, literally. I mean, I. Without fail, especially since I think January was probably when it was, like, at its peak. To be honest, everyone back then was contingency plan modes, and that was about it. Since then, it's almost as if, like, what ban? What are you talking about? I don't even know what you're talking about. Everyone. And that's literally every conversation. And I pretty much badger people regularly about it. And I have done every single month leading up to this point. And I'm like, we're now on, what, nearly round three of a potential extension? I mean, let's be honest, it's probably going to happen that way anyway. But even when I speak to TikTok execs, it's a case of it's business as usual, which makes sense because it's the stance they've taken the entire time since it was first put through the course. Like, I don't see that changing from their standpoint because it's almost like if we don't talk about it, it's not a thing. But then even with advertisers, when I ask them, they're just like, well, do you know what I mean? We've been here before, we've seen how many. This isn't our first rodeo. And at the same time, even if it was to go, we're just gonna stay there till we can't do they.

[Sam]

Have a similar attitude about X Twitter, where it also is just kind of forgotten.

[Crystal Scanlon]

I think it's definitely one of those. I suppose what's probably different with Twitter, or X rather, is is that when it was Twitter, it wasn't a tier one platform for advertisers anyway. So because it was never kind of a need to have. It was more of a, yeah, if we've got some budget and it's useful, sure, why not? Because it was kind of an easy one to throw off the cards at that point. Now, as X, it's even easier because now it's just kind of where I suppose the original narrative after the acquisition was more about the brand safety or the lack of. And that was why everyone stepped away. It's kind of after the two years after that that I was reporting about it, it came a lot more clear that it was more to do with the association of who the leadership was versus what's actually going on with the platform. Because even the brand safety tools that they have from speaking to people, they're quite akin to anything you'd find on other platforms. So in that sense, it's like, well, if everything's the same elsewhere, why aren't you there? And it always came down to, okay, well, we don't want the association or the fear or the suing of leadership. So that was kind of the slight caveat that I think started getting a bit misconstrued.

[Sam]

It's so interesting to kind of look at the, like the presence that an ad platform, ad network, whatever you want to call them, like their presence here on the ground at Cannes and kind of like what that says about their relationship with advertisers. Right, because it's similar as we were just talking about for TikTok. So last year I think they had the TikTok House, right, at Carlton. Talk to me about what you see them doing this year.

[Crystal Scanlon]

So they've got. Yeah, same spot. So it was TikTok Garden. That was definitely where they had their press set up last year. They've definitely got the same spot this year. It definitely seems like they are going all out. I know they've got a party on Thursday. They've got happy hours through the week. They are all encompassing in that sense. They've got a massive roster of food creators that are part of all the panels. And if they're not literally there at that spot, then they've got all of their execs and all their creators at panels elsewhere across literally the quasar.

[Sam]

But the entire time there is a Ban literally coming up.

[Crystal Scanlon]

What do you mean?

[Sam]

It's like, it's not a thing that no one's addressing. Just up and down the Croisset rose is flowing and in the US you're, you're, you're risking, you know, divest or else. And no one's talking about that.

[Crystal Scanlon]

No, it's, it's, it's almost, it's really bizarre. It literally is so bizarre because like, anytime I ask anyone, it's literally, whether it's literally advertisers, whether it's creators, whether it is literally TikTok execs, everyone is just like, I'm not even having any conversations. When I was even speaking yesterday to some of the execs, they were like, do you know what? This is the first time someone's mentioned it to me and that's you. So I was like, well, I have to do my due diligence, so it needs to be done. But yeah, I think it's probably just boredom now because if there's going to, I suppose TikTok has got to the stage. It's so ingrained in US life, it would be very hard to untangle that. I'm sure there are loopholes. I mean, we saw a blackout earlier this year, so it's doable. But are they going to risk wanting to kind of, however much money that they are literally impacting the US economy, are they really going to want to take that away in a world like macroeconomic uncertainty right now?

[Sam]

Two questions based on what you just said there. One, was TikTok in the same vein as a meta or anything like that when it came to spend right to where it's easy to write it off because you weren't spending 80% of your budget on it, the same way that you would Google or meta Amazon, yada yada yada?

[Crystal Scanlon]

I guess in some respects, yes. Like, I guess with it depends who you really talk to. It's always considered like it's, I guess at this stage now it's too big to be a Tier 2, but it's not big enough to be a Tier 1 when it comes to budgets. So it will never kind of outshine right now the Googles and metas, but in terms of the actual platform capabilities that they have since launching Smart plus, which is basically their equivalent of Meta's Advantage plus, even an exec last year when I was speaking to Blake Chandley who stepped away from his role in April, this year even, he said, I'm pretty sure that once we have that up and running, it's going to close the gap between us and Meta. And I was like, that's a very bold statement to make. But so far, I mean, no one's said anything negative about it. The only difference is that they're saying is it can get there. It's just early days right now.

[Sam]

The second thing that I want to ask as a follow up there is like, if they're not talking about the ban, what is TikTok here at Cannes talking about?

[Crystal Scanlon]

Literally as if the ban never happened. It's just like we're business as usual. These are the products we're giving you, these are everything that we're doing with AI to make your job easier. When I was even talking with execs this week, they really want to be like a full, rounded, full funnel, every type of marketplace to all advertisers. They just want to be everything for everyone in that sense. And they, I mean, I've never spoken to anyone that's had a bad word to say about how they work with their partners. In some respects, they're even probably more attentive than other platforms from what I hear. But yeah, it's literally just. It's almost as if like this ban was just like a mythical imaginary thing that like none of us ever really became a thing.

[Sam]

And marketers and media buyers, planners, they also are not concerned.

[Crystal Scanlon]

I mean, there's still partnerships being announced this week. So I'm like, if you're literally announcing a partnership, you wouldn't be announcing that if literally by like tomorrow it's not going to be a thing.

[Sam]

Yeah. What announcements have they made here on the ground? You've talked to their execs so far, right?

[Crystal Scanlon]

I think they've basically. I mean, they've got a lot of new kind of AI products. They did have TikTok World literally just before Cannes actually, when they were releasing a lot of that. They've got various different tools to basically just make things for advertisers a lot easier when it comes to measurement, be able to attribute what goes to what in terms of their figures. But when I kind of compare them or any releases or any information I'm getting from TikTok versus any other platform, I can't really say it's any majorly different. So in that sense it's like, well, clearly you don't think you're going anywhere and clearly no one else does either. So let's just carry on as business as usual.

[Sam]

Do you think that they'll get bigger?

[Crystal Scanlon]

Yeah, I would. Honestly, I would. I would be very surprised if this goes left field at this point, actually.

[Sam]

What, what, what are you hearing about the potential ban at this point? Do you think it'll be extended kind of. What are you hearing from that angle?

[Crystal Scanlon]

Yeah, I think everyone, anyone that I've spoken to is literally just at the stage of. I can't imagine it's either going to get extended or it's going to just be sorted through a deal with China. Like, no one sees that it's going to disappear in any capacity because it'd be such a loss for everyone. So I think, yeah, the likelihood at this stage, I mean, there's even been reports in the last few weeks that there will be another extension. I mean, usually in a situation like that, there's no smoke without fire.

[Sam]

Yeah. It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out. But like I said, what's most interesting to me about this conversation is kind of like where these platforms are at Cannes and like, how they're showing up, like, what they bring panels that they have, things like that is like, really speaks to the relationship that they have with advertisers who are. Some of. The last thing that I want to ask are some of the other players on the beach and at can that you're seeing, you know, trying to strike deals and whatnot. I know Snap's got a massive present this year, too.

[Crystal Scanlon]

Yeah, they've got a massive presence. They had a whole party on Monday, if I'm not losing my days. And that had 50 cent. Yeah, yeah. So they've got a massive presence. I know Meta definitely had a DJ set after their press briefing. And that was also on Monday. Everything was literally kicking off on Monday. I was like, there's not enough Mondays for my Monday is the way I saw it. Even Reddit, they've got new announcements out, but, I mean, the one kind of through line is it's all stuff to do with AI capabilities.

[Sam]

Oh, that's what they're all hawking right now. No.

[Crystal Scanlon]

Yeah, 100% all about AI as the one buzzword. But you know what? The one really surprising thing that some people are starting to say to me now, and I did kind of almost think it, but now hearing it from others, I'm like, okay, I'm not going off the fact that they're like, AI. Bit of an overarching comment. Bit of an overarching name to call everything. But we were doing this before, it just never was referenced. Like AI, machine learning, they're all slightly. There's nuance to it, but everything. The moment you Put AI on anything, everyone wants to know what it is. But if you say machine learning, it's just maybe not as a sexy word or something, and that's why it's just kind of not really given the same level of importance.

[Sam]

I almost feel like I'm seeing. I know that CAN 2025 was supposed to be the year. Creators, Creators, creators, creators. I feel like I'm hearing more about AI from the platforms than I am hearing about their creators, I must admit.

[Crystal Scanlon]

I think, like, I'm definitely seeing. Even when I went to YouTube, actually to their press breakfast, I mean, they had, like YouTube, they had YouTubers on the actual panel as well. There definitely seems to be a much bigger presence of creators everywhere. But, yeah, you're right. I think it's even like when you think even the tools that the platforms are making now for creators, it's how to democratize all the tools so that they can even like, do everything to the equivalent of other professional businesses. Everything all comes down to AI. So it's kind of the two are really interlinked at that point. They're all needing the AI tools, apparently.

[Sam]

I think there's been a really interesting conversation, kind of talk about the platforms and, like, where they sit and what's happening with all of them. I don't know if we'll ever see another Twitter beach, another X beach with a Sierra or a Steve Aoki concert, but it's been really interesting, kind of tracking the movements of them. The last thing that I want to say here is you're still hunting them down.

[Crystal Scanlon]

Oh, yeah. Until my dying breath on Friday.

[Sam]

So we'll hopefully get some more then. But, Crystal, thank you so much for joining. The POD has been great.

[Crystal Scanlon]

Thank you for having me.

[Sam]

Again, if you want more coverage on this, we've got Seb Joseph, our executive editor of news, who is cranking out a daily newsletter. And then, Crystal, you've got some stories that are cranking out as well, correct?

[Crystal Scanlon]

Yes. So granted, some will probably trickle through this week, but then also, you know, I'm sure it's the whole situation of when people in Cannes do they want to have FOMO if they're not in Cannes. So watch the space. If you don't see them this week, by next week you'll have all the extra coverage.

[Sam]

Perfect. 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, Sam.