This year was my first time at Cannes. And I felt like a huge imposter.
I wasn’t there to collect a Lion – I was going for the experience. To be honest, I felt a little silly showing up without any skin in the game. Thankfully, it didn't take long to realize there were many people in the same boat (yacht) as me: not to accept an award, but to learn, meet people, and see what all the hype was about.
Cannes is like drinking from a creative firehose. Then you come home, jump back into a full plate of client work, and try to make sense of it all. Now that the dust has settled, here are the ideas I'm still carrying with me.
First. Oprah.
She was there to receive the LionHeart Award, celebrating her legacy of using storytelling to drive positive, impactful change. And wow, it changed me.
Listening to her speak was one of the most moving experiences of the week. I almost cried a handful of times. Her presence, her stories … everyone in the auditorium was completely locked in. How could they not be?
She talked a lot about The Oprah Winfrey Show and how intentional she was with every single person who came on. Every interview was about creating an authentic connection. She spoke about the trust she'd built with her audience over decades, what it meant to be her own brand, and the responsibility that came with it.
She ended with a profound piece of advice from her dear friend and mentor, Maya Angelou. It's the quote that has stayed with me the longest.
“Your legacy is not your name, but the impact you leave on every single person’s life that you touch.”
I haven't stopped thinking about it since.
Maybe that's because we spend so much time chasing titles, awards, and recognition. But in the end, the thing people remember most is how you made them feel. Even Oprah.
Next, I bopped over to a panel on e.l.f. Cosmetics. I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to get out of it, but after seeing the long line to get in, I figured it had to be worth listening to.
My gut was right.
I walked in thinking about e.l.f. as the affordable, go-to, fun cosmetic brand I grab at Target. I walked out realizing it's a company fueled by its people.
I kept taking note after note as Marcus Collins interviewed Tarang Amin and Kory Marchisotto. They talked about the importance of putting people and culture above everything else, building high-performing teams through healthy conflict, and giving feedback in the moment – not waiting for a once-a-year performance review to finally say what's been on your mind for months.
In fact, they don't even do performance reviews because feedback is woven into how they work every single day.
One thing that really stuck with me: when you start at e.l.f., your job for the first few weeks isn't even to work. It's to get to know the people around you.
Everyone matters. Everyone is important. Everyone knows everyone else's name. And Tarang's mission is to make sure every single person there feels taken care of.
It all made sense why they're a bajillion-dollar brand. You invest in your people, and your people invest back in the business.
Quick plug: Grab Marcus’s book, Good Soil for deep dive into the e.l.f. Culture. I’ll be reading.
Another moment at the top of my list was making sure I got to see Sir John Hegarty. As expected, it was a packed house.
His message was simple: don't forget to entertain.
Advertising has become so obsessed with sales results, dashboards, and RTBs that we've forgotten the art of storytelling. And the more we lose sight of that, the more we risk losing people altogether.
One thing he said has been stuck in my head ever since:
"A brand is the most valuable real estate in the world. A corner of someone's mind."
Consumers won't remember that your cleaning product worked 17% better than the next one. They'll remember how you made them feel.
So be funny. Be weird. Be bold. Be MEMORABLE.
I've caught myself coming back to that advice over and over, whether I'm evaluating ideas or coming up with my own.
Finally, there's the Palais.
Among everything happening up and down the beach at Cannes: the brand activations, the massive tents, the panels, the parties … there's one building. The building.
The Palais.
It's more than just the place to cool off from the 100-degree heat. It's where the award shows happen. Where the juries deliberate. Where the work lives.
What fascinated me most was this: a festival built to celebrate advertising puts the advertising itself in the basement.
And somehow, it's the most powerful experience of them all.
You walk down the stairs, and it opens into a maze of the world's best creative. Conference rooms where the judging happens. Collaborative workspaces. Row after row of award submissions.
Walking those aisles reminded me why I got into this business in the first place.
You can't help but get chills as you move from one piece to the next, thinking about the impact each idea had, the years of work behind it, and the teams that refused to settle for good enough. Hell, even the meticulously designed 11x17 case study boards dripped with inspiration.
It was a reminder that, beneath all the hype, Cannes isn't really about the parties or the yachts.
It's about the work.
I'd also be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the genuine connections that happened along the way. The kind that starts with a simple smile at a stranger and somehow ends with you talking to a Broadway star and TV host (👀 Robert Hartwell). The kind where you accidentally bump into someone, exchange beads of sweat in the sweltering heat, apologize, and somehow end up yapping for the next 30 minutes. (Hey, One Take Stace!)
And then there are the serendipitous run-ins with old colleagues and production partners (Ashlock, E. Leonard, Milana, Portman, and Ross). Those moments reminded me just how small (and special!) this industry really is. The people are the absolute best.
I'm so glad I went. And I left feeling a whole lot less like an imposter.
Sure, winning a Lion one day is still at the top of my list. But Cannes reminded me that the relationships you build in this business are far more valuable than any hardware you take home.
Cannes isn't just a lesson in how to win awards. It's a lesson in the power of connection.
Maybe that's what Oprah meant by legacy. It's not measured by what you create, but by the impact it has on both the people who experience it and the people who help bring it to life.
