Much like last year, sending a Cannes recap a week after feels like you’re so late to the party, it’s cringe. Work is busy. The inbox was very scary. But we’ve made it. The heat dome couldn’t stop us (though it tried).
There are a few goals for this letter/pod: 1) Heap praise on the few brands and orgs that did things well 2) Give a healthy dose of constructive criticism 3) Share how we want to reinvent this whole thing, because what else are two fresh pairs of eyes good for?
Quick note: this email will get cut off by all the photos. Carry on in the browser for the pics.
Enjoy!
Hit the links to skip to the bits you fancy
* 00:00 — No five takeaways. One giant episode of hot takes (live from a heat dome).
* 03:04 — The many worlds of Cannes, and why we happily fit in none of them.
* 08:32 — Creators are walking ad platforms now. And dominated the conversation.
* 11:12 — Every AI panel opened with the same Claude-written line.
* 13:29 — Amazon built a whole port of partners, but missed the one ‘Amazon’ moment.
* 16:51 — Cîroc ditched the panels for a wellness villa. Brave. Smart.
* 20:56 — Female Quotient got the memo. Even brought daycare. So many claps.
* 24:16 — Canva dominated for many reasons. Their own CMO running the line was icing.
* 29:07 — Brand Innovators went bigger.
* 29:52 — Pinterest wants you offline, and this year they focused the message.
* 33:16 — TikTok’s cold room won. The scent bar less so.
* 36:51 — Meta filmed your content for you. And provided a breeze.
* 41:06 — Edelman House lived up to the promise. A home away from home.
* 43:22 — Our dinner: breathwork, phones away, masks off. Such an amazing evening.
* 46:31 — The AI Tech Sandbox was beautifully built, yet empty. We have some guesses.
* 46:58 — Yahoo looked very cute. But yet again it was quiet. Minus 1 exceptional dinner.
* 47:16 — Uber handed out free pizza at 1am. Kings of the gutter bar.
* 49:13 — PayPal’s patisserie was a meeting you wanted to go to.
* 50:05 — DoorDash had nice amenities. Next year, they could deliver more (literally).
* 51:25 — Google and YouTube became the creator hub they wanted to be.
* 53:29 — Breakfast with Knotch and chatting about AI tools that actually make sense.
* 54:23 — Our happy hour. Feet in the sand. Lovely company.
* 55:04 — Our swim. People want to get in the water. With or without the heat dome.
* 55:53 — Substack’s breakfast was cute but needed a host. We have ideas.
* 56:06 — Collins House. Always exceptional. Always a breath of fresh air.
* 58:28 — Burgers Magic Frites was the house party you really wanted to get into.
* 1:00:24 — The Carlton is still worth every visit. Crowded but so many familiar faces.
* 1:00:52 — Brands & Culture do it right every time. And Kirsten moderated a panel.
* 1:01:59 — LinkedIn’s rooftop was nice, but felt a little less integrated this year.
* 1:03:22 — Dept’s Souvenir Shop/Secret Garden were the stars/sleeper hit of the week.
* 1:05:10 — The Wall Street Journal brought serenity and great conversations.
* 1:07:07 — Sport Beach turned us away. But we still discuss it (briefly).
* 1:07:59 — Spotify had the hardest ticket in town.
* 1:08:22 — Reddit brought real food, and it felt like a new era for them.
* 1:13:01 — Adobe is an OG in Cannes, but might be getting out-hustled by Canva.
* 1:13:58 — Snapchat. What. Was. Happening?!
* 1:17:39 — Grindr’s bus was pure energy in a little footprint. Winning staff.
* 1:18:19 — ManyChat went full analog. But maybe you actually missed the brand?
* 1:20:00 — Foster Kramer had the crowd Substack missed. A delight in person.
* 1:22:19 — The basement, where the work actually lives. Why you go + what’s missing.
* 1:24:02 — The awards, and a real push for human creativity.
AMAZON
A PORT, NOT A PLACE // Amazon built this whole “port” of partner spaces, Twitch, IMDB. All were very cute. Oprah’s gratitude corner, especially. And the rosé fountain in the bar was cute. But the overall brand felt a bit disjointed. And the heat made fun experiences like caricatures an impossibility. Fixable things. But also next year, the yacht, pls.
CÎROC
ALLS WELL // Cîroc went bold. No panels, all wellness villa: paddle, massages, IV drips (mildly controversial), a helicopter just sitting there. We bet a lot of brands copy this next year.
FEMALE QUOTIENT
GOT THE MEMO // FQ leveled all the way up. Down on the beach now, with a charm bar, a very smart matcha-ordering situation, swag you’d actually keep, great line-ups, a rooftop for meetings, and daycare so panelists with kids could still show up. They clearly know their audience.
CANVA
LIVED VALUES, GOOD VIBES // Canva’s always great, but this year it was an experience the whole way through. Pool stage, good experiential moments, XP Land, the best Pride party on the Croisette. But the best part was their C-Suite running the lines on the last night, so their teams could celebrate. Obviously, no one else would know that. And that’s what was so f-ing cool about it. Very inspiring. Love them even more.
BRAND INNOVATORS
BIGGER, DARKER, COOLER // Big move to the beach. Private cabana offices around the edges for sponsors. A bit dark but certainly cooler. Like many, the casting of the panels was 1 creator to many brands. Not wrong, but felt a bit traditional.
PINTEREST
CLEARLY GOOD // Always the most experiential, but this year the message felt tighter: we’re an online platform that wants you living your IRL life. Bleach/hair salon, tattoos themed to their 2026 predictions, DIY notebooks. Only note: they shaded the patisserie, which was kind of the whole show last year. Just wish there had been a way to check in for some experiences as the lines in the heat were TOUGH.
TIKTOK
COOL BUT SMELLY // Fully enclosed, fully air conditioned, which was lovely. Closing off the room for talks is nice for noise, but hard when running late is a perpetual Cannes-life problem. The build-your-own scent bar inside was tough. Macy’s fragrance floor smells. TikTok has the right team, but really needs to figure out its brand (the kind with a capital B).
META
SURPRISINGLY ELEVATED // We did not expect “elevated” from Meta, but got it. A whole gradient event sub-brand, a flower Mobius you walk through, very rad uniforms. The creator vignettes (Laila Gohar, Yuki Kawae, Louis Rubi — who did the uniforms, and more) were staffed with creators to help you get perfect content. The only ding was the grumpy staff (not the event producers, who were a delight). In fairness, the heat was criminally difficult.
EDELMAN HOUSE
A REAL HOUSE // First activation they’ve ever done, and it was the one place that actually felt like a house, not “come see our brand.” AC, coffee, matcha, popsicles, cold towels, happy hour every day, open to everyone. Great clients (hi, Victoria’s Secret’s new CMO), genuinely delightful staff. Nailed it.
OUR DINNER
MASKS OFF // Twenty people, cocktails, then breathwork with our good friend Michael, then the kind of real conversation nobody else was making room for. Not the 27th creator-slash-AI chat. A meaningful connection in a sea of networking. Thank you to Edelman for giving us the keys for the night.
AI TECH SANDBOX
GOOD BUT MISSED // Beautifully fabricated. Completely empty. Rows of demos, a robot, and nobody touching any of it. Build for what people want, not for what you want to show them.
YAHOO
CUTE BUT QUIET // Visually cute, as always. But mostly a meeting space with no real reason to wander in. But Emily Sundberg hosted a dinner there. A big get for Yahoo.
UBER
FREE PIZZA, ZERO CREDIT // After 1am, right by the gutter bar, Uber gave everyone whole free pizzas. There was a bit more opportunity to own the moment. And given that Uber is essentially the bus system of the entire Croisette, they could go (meaningfully) bigger.
PAYPAL
SIMPLE BUT WORKED // PayPal took over an actual patisserie for meetings and made it adorable.
DOORDASH
A+ AMENITIES // Bigger this year and well done. The market of amenities was very on brand. But next year, they could deliver on what they are known for in a cool way.
GOOGLE / YOUTUBE
THE CREATOR HUB // A functioning restaurant, car experiences, demos, all checked the box. But our friend Trigg told us it became the place creators came to find each other which was cool. Just, please, more airflow.
KNOTCH
DONE RIGHT // We try to steer clear of ad-tech, but Knotch has a lovely team and a genuinely cool product: custom AI-built websites tailored to each person (their first client is Google, which is pretty rad). This is the AI we like, very Age of Authorship. Not replacing human creativity, just leveling up your experience. Not paid to say it. Just like the folx.
OUR HAPPY HOUR & SWIM
THE REPRIEVE // Feet in the sand, bodies in the water, brilliant people. Loved it.
SUBSTACK
MORE TO COME // Held at Collins House. Fantastic venue and great food. And we love the Substack team. But it was missing a bit of energy. Like every intimate party, it would have benefited from a very good host who intro’d you to rad people. Next year, they’ll go bigger, surely. We have ideas.
COLLINS HOUSE
ALWAYS HOME // Beautiful as ever. Brian and the boys just do it right: interesting speakers, good chat, a great singer at the after-party, and actual wind. People post up there all day and skip the Croisette entirely. Next year we want a speaking slot ;)
BURGERS MAGIC FRITES
HOUSE PARTY // Felt exactly like a friend’s house party, because it basically is one. Perfect food when everyone’s absolutely ravenous, a more art-side crowd, and a vibe totally different from the corporate day. Loved it.
CARLTON HOTEL
STILL THE MOVE // Everyone poo-poos the Carlton (too crowded, too much), but it’s still where you run into everyone (hi Lara Jackson, hi Hector). Pricey, delicious, ruthlessly professional waiters, and blessedly air-conditioned. We needed it.
BRANDS & CULTURE
REAL COMMUNITY // Brands & Culture always does great programming. Kirsten moderated one panel with the CMOs of Grindr and Strava, plus Stephen from De-yan. Joe, Charlotte, Michelle, Piotr, and team are the loveliest hosts, and they’re headed to New York on Nov 5th. Go.
LINKEDIN
LESS LINKED // Same rooftop, but it felt a touch less special this year. The TV-and-headphones setup for the talks was a nice touch, though. We still have no idea what the Cymbiotika tie-in was but we do love a little magnesium.
DEPT
THE OTHER FAMOUS ORANGE BAG // The sleeper hit of Cannes. Department’s orange-and-white striped bag was the thing everyone stopped you to ask about, and the Souvenir Shop pop-up was basically Colette. Real, high-quality product (not junk merch), plus a shaded garden with food and talks was truly an oasis. We’ll be back next year.
WSJ
SERENITY NOW // Lovely and sophisticated, just as you’d expect. Easy check-in, cute totes, coffee bar, and an air-conditioned room with excellent speakers all week. It felt serious in the best way. The wellness patio (compression boots, massage, LED face masks) was fully booked, obviously.
SPORT BEACH
EVENT IN AN EVENT // We got turned away at the door for agency affiliation, press passes be damned. But we don’t hold grudges. It’s become an event within the event, very athlete-forward and huge. Some people just never leave. A destination within a destination, like Collins, albeit VERY different vibes.
SPOTIFY
HARDEST TICKET // The ticket(s) of the week. Huge shows every single night (Raye, Mumford & Sons, so many more). Impossible to get into, even when you knew the people. Cool partnership with PEOPLE BRANDS AND THINGS all week.
REDDIT
REAL PEOPLE, REAL FOOD // Really nicely done, and it felt like a new era for them. A cute, well-branded deli serving actual food all day, tied straight to their new “We love real people” campaign. We had one tiny note that many need to learn.
ADOBE
COOL BUT OUT-HUSTLED // Big Cannes Lions sponsor, good work with the Young Lions, but Canva showed up with pure challenger energy and made Adobe look old-school. And the Firefly “be a Disney Imagineer” demo was really disappointing. We adore both brands, so it was confusing.
SNAPCHAT
NOT READY // Wowza. A whole building by the Carlton, Evan’s giant face on a billboard, a weird library waiting room, and a tiny elevator instead of the gorgeous staircase. Then: comically large glasses, tech that flat-out didn’t work, zero instructions, and an AI-portrait that was so bizarre. Evan is doing great philanthropic things, we want them to do well, but this missed in every way.
GRINDR
BACK IN CULTURE // A bus with a simple spinning wheel but actually good swag, run by a team who sprinted over the second you looked interested. Great energy, very on brand, and a brand that’s clearly clawing its way back into culture. We were into it.
MANYCHAT
CUTE, BUT WHY // The analog postcard station was adorable. The little shelf to film yourself writing was very cute. But did it connect to ManyChat’s offering in any way? Not really. I bet they’ll go bigger next year.
FOSTER KRAMER
THE RIGHT CROWD // A rad wine bar outside town, Foster Kamer’s perfect playlist, cigarettes on the table (like every cool party we’ve attended this year), and a proper Substack-and-journalist crowd. We capped it off with a gloriously absurd casino nightcap with the brilliant Ben Dietz (who hosted a fantastic Breakfast Club where I got to chat with Casey Lewis, finally!) and the ever delightful Max Tani from Semafor.
THE BASEMENT
WHERE THE WORK LIVES // We walked the work, which, weirdly, a lot of people skip. It’s cold (a reprieve) and full of reverence for the craft, but it’s a little snoozy next to the circus outside. There could be a way for this to level up without being a spectacle.
THE AWARDS
HUMAN WINS // Glamorous, red-carpety, genuinely emotional, whole teams storming the stage (Heineken brought the bottles). Jurors told us there was a real effort this year to reward human creativity over AI, a hard pivot from last year.
There were no five neat takeaways. The whole thing was a hot take. Hopefully, a useful one.
But before we go, we leave you with this because we could not help ourselves. Most Cannes ads are hysterically bad. Enjoy.
ABOUT
Chris and Kirsten are the founders of IN GOOD CO, a consultancy that ignites challenger brands with fearless positioning.
Chris writes a weekly newsletter for +17K subscribers that shares the best-of-the-best on culture, trends, marketing, etc. What she's dropping to friends on Slack or finding useful in meetings with brands | Follow her on Substack
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