Digiday covers the latest from marketing and media at the annual Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. More from the series →
Do not believe what you may have heard about ad tech losing its luster.
For a festival of creativity, Cannes sure has a lot of ad tech companies on hand. Their presence is most conspicuous in Cannes Harbor, which has suddenly become glutted with yachts from media sellers, mostly from ad tech companies. Notable exceptions include MailOnline, which has taken pride of place at the very end of the dock with a giant superyacht rumored to cost over $300,000 just to rent for the week.
But make no mistake about it: “Ad tech” and “yachts” go hand in hand like the luff of the jib goes into the foil. (There’s even already a Lumascape for ad tech yachting.)
Aboard the U.S.S. Sizmek, for example, finger food is available, including individual bowls with pasta. Unfortunately, there’s only one bathroom. Monday night, there was a line. On the foredeck of the GumGum, one of the biggest boats, you don’t have to take your shoes off unlike on most yachts because the firm has smartly lined its floors with carpet. Rubicon was one of the busiest ships, but the skipper of the Blippar, which was the biggest boat, hired a bouncer and deployed a strict admittance policy: one person out, one person in.
To make your hopping easier, Digiday has compiled a map with the yachts of Cannes. NB: there are beaucoup de bateaux — and they all have their own perks. Bon voyage.

More in Media
OpenX hunts new CEO after parting ways with Matt Sattel as chief executive
The ad tech company is switching leaders, ending the current CEO’s five-month term in office.
Streaming is the next frontier for Walmart’s, Kroger’s ads businesses
Walmart and other retailers have also recently invested in the ability to integrate their shopping data into video platforms like YouTube and TikTok.
‘A Super Bowl every two days’: Inside Unilever’s 50,000-creator World Cup play
50,000 creators activated globally, massive in-person pop-ups in host cities, and more are all part of Unilever’s World Cup creator push.