Daily June 24

After two years of pandemic lockdowns, a pending economic recession and other societal uncertainties, marketers and advertisers at this year’s Cannes festival say answers to the big questions aren’t coming so easily.

Additional coverage:

  • In the latest edition of our Confessions series, in which we trade anonymity for candor, we hear from an in-house creative strategist about their experience, why they want to go agency-side now and how pay is keeping them from doing so.
  • With live events back in full swing, esports companies are increasingly expanding their event programming beyond competitive gaming, both to reach a changing esports audience and educate brand partners about the value of gaming fandom as they begin to demand more clarity on the ROI of their esports investments.
  • Rent-to-own retailer Aaron’s is looking to boost brand awareness through bilingual TV spots as well as out-of-home and print ads — all with a little help from Mr. T.
  • To survive, much less prosper, ad tech vendors have been redefining and expanding what they do — while carefully sizing up competitors. But tossing out the smaller fish is easier said than done.