ADWEEK

🌴 ADWEEK's guide to Cannes is here 🌴 When it comes to the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, every year seems the same and yet also totally different. The bottomless rosé and yachts aren’t going anywhere, but what once was a gathering of creative weirdos and production houses is today a disorienting melange of tech execs, celebrity entrepreneurs, Instagram influencers, activists and about 50 other subsets of the marketing universe. So what should you be looking out for, either as a first-time attendee or a veteran returning to an ever-changing landscape? ADWEEK has you covered with this year’s guide to all things Cannes Lions. David Griner returns and shares... 🫢 The Dos and Don'ts of Your Time at Cannes: https://adweek.it/3z0B7yr 🤝 The Top Spots to Network With Creatives at Cannes: https://adweek.it/3z4PFNj 🤩 These Celebs Mean Business at This Year's Cannes: https://adweek.it/4b0fGLb 🦸 A Guide to Approaching Your Hero, Dream Client and Future Boss at Cannes: https://adweek.it/3VxThQR 📣 5 Topics That Will Be the Talk of Cannes: https://adweek.it/4aWkilx

The Leagues Cup between Major League Soccer and Liga MX teams wraps up its group stage today, and the marketing results are already on the scoreboard. As 47 clubs play 77 matches throughout the U.S. and Canada through August 25, Leagues Cup's creative partners at Portland, Oregon-based INDUSTRY came up with an anthem and music video, “Nuestros Colores,” produced by Grammy Award winner Emilio Estefan Jr. and featuring contributions from six-time Latin Grammy winner Christian Nodal, Black Eyed Peas member Taboo, Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Emily Estefan, Latin Grammy nominee Gusi, Argentinian singer Abel Pintos and Rabanes’ frontman Emilio Regueira. It also produced a one-minute manifesto focusing on rivalries including LA Galaxy and CHIVAS FC before making a flag and jersey encompassing all participating MLS and Liga MX teams Industry's Oved Valadez saw an opportunity to redefine and embrace the theme of “ni de aquí, ni de allá” in North American soccer culture, but to quantify regional soccer itself in the run up to FIFA World Cup 2026™ - Canada, Mexico and the United States in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. The plan worked, as the tournament’s first weekend at the end of July averaged crowds of 21,415, up from 17,269 last year and including a record 50,765 at Levi’s Stadium on July 27 for the San Jose Earthquakes’ matchup with Chivas Guadalajara on Saturday. The tournament’s sponsor count is up from nine in 2023 to 15 this year, including AT&T, Molson Coors Beverage Company, GEICO, Frito-Lay , Lowe's Companies, Inc. Gran Centenario and Caliente Interactive. “Leagues Cup is a powerful testament to how we are uniting both leagues to grow soccer at the grassroots level,” said Marcela Garcia, marketing vp for Leagues Cup. “With our new campaign, ‘More Than Soccer, This Is Leagues Cup,’ we are embracing the cultural diversity of soccer in our region.”

Department store chain Belk is standing up an advertising business. The company is starting an ad arm called Belk Media Network that will sell ads to brands trying to reach the retailer’s shoppers. https://adweek.it/3SAuPwj

Google is giving advertisers a little more control over where their Performance Max ads appear. The tech giant rolled out a series of updates on July 30 to ensure greater brand safety and more transparency into ad buys bought using Performance Max, Google’s big AI-driven buying tool that is both popular and at times controversial with advertisers. https://adweek.it/3SvoLW3

VOICE | "Cottagecore, balletcore, gorpcore … just a few of the many labels that seemed to dominate the discussion in the last few years, causing brands to look for new ways to capitalize on the emerging trends of the moment. But in a recent breakdown from trend forecaster @thedigifairy, these “cores” have faded just as quickly as they multiplied. The surface level, isolated, all-encompassing aesthetics and cores have inevitably left consumers feeling, well … bored. After all this core-hopping, how will brands reach consumers next? This is where lore, the original IYKYK, will bridge the gap." Diana Weisman has the story. https://adweek.it/3SqDmSj

VOICE | "After all this core-hopping, how will brands reach consumers next? This is where lore, the original IYKYK, will bridge the gap.," writes Diana Weisman. https://adweek.it/3SqDmSj

Breaking: Layoffs hit The Walt Disney Company Company's Entertainment division as the company continues to cost-cut while shifting to streaming. The cuts affect National Geographic as well, and they come a week before its Q3 earnings. My latest for ADWEEK: https://lnkd.in/gKRpv44e

Fox Corporation has officially wrapped negotiations, growing volume on both digital and linear, according to a statement from Jeff Collins, Fox’s president of ad sales, marketing and brand partnerships. “Our focused portfolio of market-leading properties in sports, news, entertainment and streaming delivered year-over-year growth in both linear and digital advertising commitments as well as growth in overall portfolio pricing in this year’s upfront,” Collins said. https://adweek.it/4c75j8Q

JUST IN | Today, Disney laid off 140 members of its Disney Entertainment Television workforce. That represents roughly 2% of the division’s headcount. https://adweek.it/3ymoCNG

90% of consumers own a smart media device, and connected home advertising lets you reach them through content and context. Amazon Ads director of device advertising Nikhil Nilakantan shares 3 ways marketers can get started with the connected home. #sponsored