In the media release the company stated: “As a founding partner of the Cannes Lions and a strong supporter of its goal of promoting the power of creativity, Publicis Groupe is pleased to see the steps it is taking to reset the Festival around its core values by reducing its length and complexity to focus on celebrating impactful ideas from around the industry.
“Having worked closely with the Festival’s organisers over the past 6 months, Publicis is delighted to reaffirm its commitment to the Cannes Lions and its transformation. Publicis Groupe will actively participate in these efforts and renew its presence for the 2019 edition of the Festival and beyond.”
Instead of attending Cannes in 2018, Publicis will instead hold its annual creative ‘get-together’ at Viva Tech technology conference in Paris during May.
The Viva Tech conference was launched in 2016 by Publicis Groupe and French luxury goods holding company LVMH in a bid to establish a Paris-based global tech conference similar to the massive Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas every January.
“Viva Tech 2018 will be a real celebration of transformative ideas and initiatives and a fitting precursor to our return to industry events from September 2018”, Arthur Sadoun, Publicis Groupe’s Chairman and CEO said in a media statement.
“Ascential’s decision to re-center the Cannes Lions’ focus around creativity is commendable, and Publicis Groupe is looking forward to attending the Festival in 2019,” said Sadoun. “We are pleased that our decision to refocus our investments for 12 months in order to create the platform of the future has inspired a larger discussion in the industry, leading to what are clearly some positive changes.”
