Cannes ad conference has been made easier on pocket

THE WORLD’S biggest and most expensive advertising conference just got a little shorter and a little cheaper.

A full pass to the French Riviera’s Cannes Lions awards next year will cost €3 249 (R54 753), about 22 percent less than this year’s event, Ascential, the organiser, said on Monday.

Cannes Lions, which bills itself as a festival of creativity, will run for five days from June 18 compared with eight days this year. The cuts come as Publicis Groupe, the world’s third-biggest ad company, decided to skip the event next year to invest money developing internal tools instead.

Ad festivals, including Cannes, have become a bigger burden for brands and agencies as tech companies such as Google and Facebook increasingly gobble up more of the world’s marketing spending.

Cannes Lions attracts more than 15 000 people from about 100 countries and is considered the largest meeting of ad professionals and marketers.

To further soften the financial punch, Cannes Lions has also worked with the City of Cannes to create a suite of money-saving offers for delegates, such as a fixed price of €80 for taxis to Nice Airport, a freeze on hotel prices booked via official channels, fixed-price menus at more than 50 restaurants and free wi-fi. – Bloomberg