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The increasingly prominent — and important — role played by talent in brand communications, advertising and creativity was a key topic of countless conversations on and off la Croisette at Cannes Lions 2024.
Whether it was superstar athletes at Stagwell’s Sports Beach — where Megan Rapinoe, Shaun White, Sue Bird and Mikaela Shiffrin were awarded Honorary Clio Sports Awards for their creativity, innovation and contributions to culture — or McLaren Racing CEO Zac Brown and Formula One driver Lando Norris talking at Women’s Sports House, a far more elevated understanding of just what it means to be talent in adland right now was clearly evident.
Historically, the talent were the badge — the fitting icing on the cake. While everything else was planned, scripted and crafted to the nth degree, the beautiful were whisked in after to showcase the wares of an often ill-fitting brand or product. Now is a new world entirely, however, because today, talent is more culturally symbolic. Athletes and artists are changing the world and need a brand that fits their trajectory far more than the other way around. Likewise, they’re so aware of their spheres of influence and what is a fitting interface with their own audiences that they choose their brand weapons wisely, wary of making a wrong move that might cause long-lasting damage.
Brand owners are now talking far more fluently about how they partner with the best, most intelligent talent
As a result, we are seeing a shift to a new, more mature approach to partnering with talent. More sophisticated relationships between brand, talent, agents, content creators and CMOs are now coming to dominate.
And an understanding is growing that with essential players all talking as one, recognising the power of culturally symbolic talent and what an impact it can have on the communities, they can truly impact culture.
So, the savviest bake in the talent from the outset, involving them at script stage and planning in a way which would have seemed alien a decade ago. And in this world where everything is PR, there’s also an elevated understanding of how to use talent to disseminate brand messaging and brand ethos for longer periods of time throughout a campaign, rather than just in a ‘red carpet moment’.
All of which was on display at Cannes Lions 2024.
Featured image: Diane Picchiottino / Unsplash