What you need to know in advertising today
Indeed, Facebook, Twitter, Google and Pinterest shell out millions to set up elaborate beach cabanas to hold meetings and entice advertisers with their latest ad products.
But one tech giant notoriously absent from the festival? Amazon - until this year.
Amazon famously maintains a low profile at major advertising gatherings and doesn't pack its executives on panels, so the company's involvement this year is particularly noteworthy for marketers who are intrigued by the ecommerce giant's data and search capabilities as an alternative to the duopoly of Google and Facebook.
To read more about how Amazon is taking over the Croisette, click here.
In related news:
Unilever marketing boss Keith Weed's latest fight is against influencers, the Wall Street Journal reports. "At best it's misleading, at worst it's corrupt," Weed - who is also being joined by Samsung and eBay -said in an interview.
"What the f--- is happening to our business?'": As ad execs hit Cannes, New Yorker scribe Ken Auletta's new book chronicles the industry's various existential crises. Business Insider spoke with Auletta about his experience writing the book and his take on the state of affairs in adland.
In other news:
The Onion is on a crusade against Mark Zuckerberg because it says Facebook is choking its traffic. The satirical news site has published around a dozen articles, taking aim at everything from tech addiction to the 34-year-old CEO's baby daughter.
Google's new retail strategy is a clever way to cut into Amazon's business that also solves its image problem. Google signed a deal with Carrefour that enables customers of the French supermarket chain to order goods online or via Google Assistant.
Time Warner has rebranded to WarnerMedia following AT&T's acquisition of the company, CNN reports. The WarnerMedia unit includes HBO, the Warner Bros studio and Turner and has John Stankey as its new CEO.
Biotech billionaire Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong will take control of the Los Angeles Times and San Diego Union-Tribune on Monday. Soon-Shiong is spending $500 million to acquire the news organizations from Chicago-based Tronc.