Creative Impact content stream launched to drive effectiveness agenda at Cannes Lions 2023

The significant focus on effectiveness at this year’s Festival reflects the extreme pressure on marketing budgets in the current economic climate, and the urgent need to prove the role creativity can play in supercharging sustainable commercial growth. Creative Impact will uncover what it takes to build a business through creativity in 2023.

In the 2022 LIONS State of Creativity study only 12% of clients said they felt extremely confident convincing the CFO to invest in creativity. Yet studies repeatedly find that creative marketing is an asset not a liability when budgets are under pressure - for example, higher creative quality translates into lower CPM and lower cost per engagement (CreativeX, 2022), and high-quality creative does not wear out over time (System 1, 2022).

Creative Impact will act as the premier global forum for creative effectiveness. It will feature:

• Actionable ideas and examples from across the industry that are agenda-setting and challenging 

• Provocation and inspiration from brands that have built businesses on the back of creativity.

• Exclusive new research into the drivers of effectiveness - and how to convince the C-suite to invest in them

• Clear direction on future challenges within the industry - and how to respond to them effectively

Importantly, the emphasis will be as much on the “creative” part of the equation as on “effectiveness” - ensuring delegates gain insight into how the two work together. As well as speaker sessions, it will feature workshops and accelerators, ensuring delegates come back equipped with tools and insights they can plug directly into their own organisations and marketing plans.

Simon Cook, CEO, LIONS, said: "We know that Lion winning creativity has the power to progress people, shape society and drive business - but we also know that brands and agencies are under pressure to prove the ROI of creativity. As part of our 70th edition of Cannes Lions, we're delighted to introduce Creative Impact, which we are co-curating with our sister brand WARC, the global authority in effective marketing. Loaded with world-class thinkers, insights, resources and practical advice from those who successfully make the case for creativity everyday, we're pleased to provide a dedicated space for everyone in the business of creativity to come together to learn about something that will be essential to our collective success over the next 70 years. Creative Effectiveness."

Paul Coxhill, CEO, WARC, commented: "In 2022 WARC organized a hugely successful effectiveness series at Cannes Lions, building on 10 years of ever-growing programming. We’re delighted to work with LIONS to expand this into the Creative Impact stream, bringing the best thinking on effectiveness from around the world into one place. Brand marketers, media owners and agencies will come back from the Festival armed with new ways to respond to the current climate and to maximize their impact through creative effectiveness for both the short and the long term."

Anyone who would like to submit content ideas to be considered for the Creative Impact content stream, as well as any other part of the Festival or LIONS content schedule, can do so all year-round here.

Attendees of Cannes Lions 2023 will be able to attend the Creative Impact content stream as part of their delegate pass. This year also sees the launch of the Creative Brand Marketer pass. Exclusively for brands, the pass is designed to help brand marketers learn how to unlock creativity with learning opportunities, insights and exclusive networking invites. Find out more about pass options here.