Tinuiti Takes Cannes 2022 [Hot Takes + Key Insights From Advertising’s Largest Celebration]

– Dalton Dorné, Chief Marketing Officer, Tinuiti
With B2B often being overlooked in the world of creative, Dorné sat down at LinkedIn Marketing Studios to discuss the infusion of creativity in B2B marketing campaigns, top challenges B2B marketers often face, and three key focus areas for 2023 (hint: don’t sleep on Streaming). Make sure to check out the interview for yourself – you’re going to want to take notes.  “B2B marketers are no less creative than consumer marketers,” said Dorné. “Compared to B2C campaigns, I actually think B2B has to be more creative in how we connect with consumers because our customer journeys are more complex in some ways, including longer buying cycles and decision processes.” As the leading independent performance marketing agency and recently named Microsoft’s Global Agency of the Year, Tinuiti took to the ground and joined top brands and partners to discuss performance marketing and the major industry shifts leading into 2023. Tinuiti’s Obele Brown-West, Chief Solutions Officer and Dalton Dorné, Chief Marketing Officer, lent their voices participating in several speaking sessions that created powerful conversations and thought-provoking questions around: emerging technology, disrupting the agency landscape, brand performance, B2B marketing, and diving into the hearts and minds of GenZ through Metaverse, Crypto, AR and the power of purpose to drive performance. 

3. Purpose-driven marketing is an expectation for brands today. Culture and DEI efforts continue to be top-of-mind in the advertising industry, because internal culture bleeds into external marketing. Gen Z was a huge focal point at Cannes and this generation expects brands to share their values and point of view in an authentic way – gone are the days of being silent.

As Microsoft’s Global Agency of the Year, Tinuiti’s Brown-West had the opportunity to sit down with Microsoft twice to share the agency’s commitment to excellence, efficiency, and accelerating brand performance for client partners. She first joined “The Download,” Microsoft Advertising’s monthly web show reaching marketers across the globe to discuss the future of retail and work culture. Brown-West highlighted the importance of having a customer-centric mentality, tips for empowering Gen Z in the workforce, and shared her thoughts on bringing authenticity and diversity into company culture as well as advertising activations (video to come). Second, she joined Microsoft’s “Disrupting the Agency Landscape” panel to share how Tinuiti is a leading independent agency that is shaking up the global market and how its people-first approach is thriving and fueling growth for clients. “Global brands are flocking to independent agencies like Tinuiti because we move fast. Very fast. We’re the first to market across new alphas and betas because we’re able to call our own shots. We like to say that Tinuiti is a cruise ship that acts like a jet ski,” said Brown-West. “We also have the nimbleness to play, work, and test with our partners who have also been incredibly influential to the growth and reach of Tinuiti.” Thousands of advertising, technology, and creative professionals descended on the South of France to attend the largest gathering of the marketing community, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. From June 20-24, the festival, known for its prestigious award ceremonies and networking events to drive progress for brands, made an impressive in-person comeback after a two-year break due to the global pandemic.  – Obele Brown-West, Chief Solutions Officer, Tinuiti

1. Influencer marketing will continue to be a huge investment for brands, and the smart brands are not only giving their influencers a seat at the table, but a voice. 2. It’s time to add retail media into the mix. Many brands are adding retail media solutions into their overall marketing mix to provide consumers with a seamless experience from awareness to instant ecommerce conversion.
Group Black, a media collective rooted in the advancement of Black-owned media properties, made their debut at Cannes this year where they led thoughtful conversations on similar topics. They discussed creating culture-shifting and culture-shaping content and the importance of advancing the development of diverse creative talent in the advertising, film, and media industries. At Tinuiti, we were honored to have Bonin Bough, Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer of Group Black as our keynote speaker at Tinuiti Live where he challenged brands to Rethink Everything, which was a prevalent theme of mobilization at Cannes as well.

Top Takeaways From Cannes 2022:

Both Dorné and Brown-West also joined a panel with Mediaocean and Beet.tv examining Gen Z as well as the success of Tinuiti clients in the Gen Z space like PacSun, e.l.f. Beauty, and Liquid IV to name a few. They shared the importance of brand authenticity and purpose and explored cross-channel targeting and the need to have a data-driven approach.

Let’s hear from our executives on their top takeaways from Cannes 2022.