Will Smith was more popular than Usher at this year’s advertising and media festival. But is the festival giving way to celebrities over creativity? New research looks at the growing trend…
New data from location intelligence and insights company xAd reveals that the two audience magnets at Cannes Lions are celebrity speakers and free rose! Will Smith drew the biggest crowd on Tuesday at the Palais at 11am, beating Usher and editor-in-chief of American Vogue, Anna Wintour. Traffic spiked again at this location though when the crowds gathered for Rooftop Rosé.
Based on data from the official Cannes Lions app and xAd’s own app ‘The Scoop’, the company has compiled a report on footfall from around the festival, revealing real audience behavioural insights, citing where the biggest hotspots are and who is attracting the biggest crowds throughout the day. This was achieved through xAd using their propertietry Blueprint technology to create polygons around each of the most popular locations along the Crosiette and beyond, with time of day.
View the infographic below:
Commenting on the data, Theo Theodorou, GM of EMEA at xAd said: “Some industry leaders have questioned whether Cannes Lions should focus on celebrity speakers, rather than other wider industry issues. However, these celebrity talks do provide unique insights into personal branding on an international scale and the power of influencer marketing. Location is a great indicator of engagement, intent and action, and the data can provide valuable information about the behaviour of customers and what they want from their experience of a brand, or event in this case.”
Outside of the conference, The InterContinental Carlton Cannes was crowned most popular location. The venue held the number one spot in the early morning, as well as through the evening as delegates flocked to the hotel for networking and parties. In fact, over 10% of total daily foot traffic was seen at this venue.
The hotel dropped to the number two spot during the day when footfall headed towards Facebook Beach. This location saw a peak in footfall over the lunchtime period (12pm – 2pm) on Tuesday, when there was actually no official event listed in the programme going on. Alongside Facebook, YouTube hosted a programme of Lightning Talks at the Plage du Gray d’Albion, which was the fourth most popular location during the day.
Theodorou added: “The presence of tech and data companies shows how important insights are to the future of the creative industries. The greater understanding creatives have for audience context, the bigger the impact their advertising is likely to have. Location is a powerful player here, as not only is it one of the highest indicators of purchase intent, but it allows brands to reach their audiences in the moments that matter, to deliver the optimal, valuable experience’.
Source: http://www.xad.com/