Digiday at Cannes: Ad networks take center stage — are buyers buying in?

This week’s episode recaps Meta’s reported look at acquiring Perplexity, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s conditional approval of the Omnicom-IPG merger and Netflix’s deal to carry traditional TV networks in France. Then Select Management Group’s Danielle Pistotnik (21:45) joins the show to go behind the scenes of developing “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” around a group of TikTok creators and selling the reality show to Disney-owned Hulu.

Amid the AI hype, increasingly fragmented media marketplace and economic headwinds, marketers this year came to the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity looking for answers. For Carly Carson, PMG’s head of integrated media, this year’s festival served as a temperature check for an industry in flux. As the book closes on another Cannes Lions, Carson has pocketed three takeaways: AI still needs a human infusion, Garbage in, garbage out and Ad dollars need to keep up with changing consumption habits.

Between panels and parties, creators like former bachelorette Rachel Lindsay are looking to get face time with ad execs, brand marketers and partners like Spotify. However, rather than coming to the Croisette to strike deals, they’re playing a long game. Joined by Roman Wasenmüller, head of podcast business at Spotify, and Digiday Podcast co-host Kimeko McCoy, Lindsay pulls back the curtain on the creator at Cannes experience, monetization strategy and more.

A few years ago, Twitter Beach was one of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity places to be. Nowadays, the beach and Twitter execs are harder to find. Instead of the flashy fireside chats and branded lounges, X’s execs are found behind closed doors, quietly courting marketers and media buyers against a backdrop of lawsuits, Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM)’s disbanding and political crosshairs. It’s a clear sign that the platform’s role in the ad ecosystem– and culture overall–has dramatically shifted. In this episode of the podcast, platforms reporter Krystal Scanlon joins host Kimeko McCoy about Twitter, now X, and what its retreat from the Cannes beachfront says about its relationship with advertisers, as well as TikTok’s head in the sand mentality around the ban.

If there was any doubt that everything is an ad network, this year’s Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity proves otherwise. To Peggy McCann, chief media officer at GSD&M ad agency, all signs point to one thing: retail media networks aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. It’s a tall order, but perhaps fits within the expectations of Cannes’ pageantry. For media planners like McCann, the question is: is the Cannes flash enough to attract ad spend?

On this episode of the Digiday Podcast, Patricia Corsi, chief growth officer at Kimberly-Clark, joins hosts Kimeko McCoy and Tim Peterson to kick off Cannes Lions 2025. Corsi shares her approach to Cannes and how she's sifting through AI hype chatter to get to the real talk of Cannes. This episode marks the start of Digiday’s daily podcast coverage from Cannes. Tune in every day this week for fresh conversations with marketers, media execs and creatives on the ground.

On this episode of the Digiday Podcast, co-hosts Kimeko McCoy, senior marketing reporter, and Tim Peterson, executive editor of video and audio, sit down with editor-in-chief Jim Cooper and executive news editor Seb Joseph to share their top tips for surviving Cannes Lions (18:06). Also on this episode: Warner Bros. Discovery’s plan to split into two companies, why the ad spend outlook isn’t as grim as expected, and WPP Media’s ambitious AI play.

On this episode of the Digiday Podcast, co-hosts Kimeko McCoy, senior marketing reporter, and Tim Peterson, executive editor of video and audio. sit with Marie Claire’s EIC Nikki Ogunnaike about her day-to-day routine (14:42). Also on this episode: Amazon announces its first content licensing deal with a publisher, Business Insider makes staff cuts amid AI growth and Meta goes all in on AI ads.

This week’s episode recaps Google’s latest AI-related announcements, OpenAI’s hardware plans following its acquisition of io and Publicis Groupe’s purchase of Captiv8 to bolster its influencer marketing business. Then Google vp of global ads Dan Taylor (18:03) joins the show to discuss how the search giant is transforming its search advertising business for the AI era.

Digiday senior reporter Sam Bradley joins the show this week to recap the highs and lows of last week’s Upfront Week presentations in New York City, two major pay-TV and internet providers’ merger plans and Microsoft’s decision to shut down its demand-side platform. Then (19:45) Horizon Media’s president of global investment David Campanelli breaks down the state of play as TV and streaming’s annual upfront ad marketplace gets under way.