Three years ago, Retail Media was nowhere to be seen at the Cannes Festival of Creativity. Today, it’s at the heart
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is renowned for the big names and the big campaigns. Reese Witherspoon, Percy Jackson and Serena Williams are there. Lola Young (Messy) talking about neurodivergence.
The big names in Retail Media are there in force: Walmart Connect, Tesco Media and Insights, Instacart, Nectar 360, SMG, Kroger, Albertsons, Kinective, Uber Ads, Chase Media as well as AdTech vendors such as Criteo, Mirakl, Stractache, Pentaleap, Vantage, Pacvue, Epsilon, Vistar Media, Zitcha and QSIC.
This is a far cry from a couple of years ago, where a few Retail Media fans might meet for a coffee or dinner – but there was not a lot to be seen for RM fans – with the exception of the biggest of the lot – Amazon Advertising.
Amazon Advertising doesn’t just have a stand, it takes over part of the Cannes Port – and calls it the ‘Amazon Port’. Amazon are the single biggest exhibitor at Cannes – and they even have their of stage show to rival Spotify – who take up a huge area right on the beach.
Must attend Retail Media include the following:
- Every Morning: The Mirakl Morning at the Mirakl Cabana with different guests and interviews each day including Rakuten, Lowe’s, BCG and Forrester
Sunday Launch Party
- Retail Media Cannes Cocktail Party: Criteo in partnership with the CPG & FMCG Guys 18:00 onwards
Monday
- Adweek Group Chat: The Retail Media Effect Meets the Omnichannel Overhaul — 10:30–11:15
- Beet.TV Stage at the Infillion Café: Marketing in Perfect Harmony with Epsilon, Uber Advertising, Albertsons — 11:00–12:00
- MediaLink: Cart Meets Content: Where Retail & Media Converge — 13:00–14:30
- Equativ Panel: The Shopper Journey Rewritten: How Creativity Is Unlocking Commerce Everywhere — 14:00–14:30
- Equativ: Where CTV Meets Retail Media: Unlocking Impact Through Creative Innovation — 14:45–15:30
- Criteo: Commerce & The Shifting Economy Panel — 15:30–16:30
- Chase Media Solutions: RMN ‘Frenemies Reception’ with the Ascendant Network — 15:30–18:30
Tuesday
- Beet.TV Stage at the Infillion Café, presented by Albertsons Media Collective: Accountable Media: The New Standard for a Retail Media Network — 10:00–11:00
- Beet.TV Stage at the Infillion Café, presented by Criteo: Beyond the Shelf: Reimagining Retail Media for Discovery, Personalisation and the Hybrid Future with Best Buy Ads — 11:00–12:00
- Female Quotient: Beyond the Shelf: How Retail Is Redefining Media, Influence, and Access — 13:30–14:00
- Beet.TV Stage at the Infillion Café: Balancing Consumers’ Contradictory Demands for Privacy and Personalisation(TransUnion, United Airlines MileagePlus, Tinuiti, Next in Media) — 14:00–15:00
- New Digital Age – Co-hosted with Epsilon: What Are the Biggest Opportunities in Retail Media Right Now?(Women in Retail Media Collective, Epsilon, and Amazon Ads UK) — 16:00–18:30
- Retail Media Therapy Live: The Celebrity Deathmatch Edition at Cannes 2025, featuring Kiri Masters, Andrew Lipsman and Colin Lewis — sponsored by Zitcha, Qsic, Grace and Co — 16:00–18:00
- SMG x Madfest: Now That’s What I Call Retail Media! Vol. 2 – The Hitmakers — 17:00–20:00
Wednesday
- Nectar360 Retail Media Summit 3.0, Carlton Hotel — 09:00–15:45
- T‑Mobile Advertising Solutions: Reinventing Retail Media: Why In-Store Screens Are the New Shelf Space — 10:30–11:00
- Criteo Women in Commerce Experience, in partnership with the Women in Retail Media Collective:
- Session #1 – Breaking Through the Noise: Women Who Set the Standard
- Session #2 – Performance with Purpose: Leading Beyond the Numbers
- Session #3 – Redefining Smart: Where AI Meets EQ
- Samsung Ads: CTV and Retail Media: The Dynamic Duo of Advertising in 2025! What’s All the Hype About? — Sainsbury’s, Rewe, Samsung Ads and Snowflake — 17:00–18:30
Thursday
- The Beet.TV Stage presented by WPP Media – Unlocking Growth at the Intersection of Culture and Creativity: How Culture and Creativity Power Modern Commerce — 10:00–11:00
- NielsenIQ & Digital Shelf Institute: Bridging Omnichannel Strategy: From Effective Retail Media to Content that Converts — 13:00–15:00
All events and locations are listed here
