News UK's commercial chief Dominic Carter on 'the value of Cannes Lions' from a business perspective
News UK has underlined the success of its second substantial appearance at the Cannes Lions festival, signaling its investment led to significant business results.
Ed Sheeran Cannes 2017
The commitment from one of the UK’s largest media companies follows criticism of the week-long advertising festival from WPP chief Sir Martin Sorrell, and Publicis Groupe announcing it will not be taking part in next year’s Cannes Lions.
However, the long term success and continued growth of Cannes Lions in not in doubt, as The Drum editor Stephen Lepitak highlighted last week, especially as technology players and powerful media companies like News UK increasingly take centre stage.
Dominic Carter, Chief Commercial Officer, News UK, said: "This is the second time News UK has had a significant presence in Cannes and our investment helped us to engage with our valued agency and client partners whilst also clearly demonstrating the confidence and impact of our brands.
There have been some questions raised in the past week around the value of Cannes but we found that, when done right, it can help you to promote strong brand messages through a combination of thought leadership, networking and – yes – a little entertainment.”
News UK’s increased presence at this year’s festival was even more relevant given the continuing industry focus on the efficacy and transparency of online media. Procter & Gamble chief brand officer Marc Pritchard once again highlighted the urgent need for increased transparency at the festival.
The message emblazoned throughout News UK’s Cannes party, attended by leading figures of the media and advertising industry and featuring performances by Ed Sheeran and Norman Cook, was Quality Media Matters.
Discussing the success of Cannes Lions for News UK, Carter said, “we were helped by a resurgence of interest across the whole festival in what quality media has got to offer - brand-safe, transparent and impactful media inventory that reaches a targeted, engaged and measurable audience.”