On the ground in Cannes: Editors' diary, day 2

Newest diary entries from Cannes Lions 2019 will appear at the top of the page. If you're looking for awards information, see our separate hub here. Also, see our diary from Day 1.

TUESDAY, JUNE 18

What's Lovot got to do..., 3.30pm

It was hard not to fangirl this adorable creature (so we didn't resist), which delighted Palais II this afternoon. When the audience was released to meet Lovot, one delegate cradled the robot in her arms and said: "Oh my god, it's alive. It's really alive!" 

Campaign's Olivia Parker makes a new friend

For the record, Lovot is not alive, but you can read about its creation and aims in a piece by Niklas Lilja, the head of stories at R/GA, who has worked with the creators of Lovot for 18 months, here. 

An update from the Festival's big cheese, 3.15pm

Just as our interview with Cannes Lions chairman Philip Thomas was about to start, he was called off to a jury room to fix an emergency.  The life of a festival director!  Thirty minutes later he was back, crisis seemingly averted, in time for us to discuss the uptick in entrants from China and India, the Festival’s outlook and how CMOs experience Cannes completely different nowadays.

Table for two at Havas Café, 2.00pm

Stopped by the Havas Café to have a chat with Havas Creative global CEO Chris Hirst. Chris spoke about the trends in the work Havas has submitted to Cannes this year with meaning and purpose at the center. While many accused creative agencies of self-aggrandisement here at the Festival, Hirst wants less bullsh*t in the industry generally.  He’s written a book on “No Bullshit Leadership” and is presenting on it here in Cannes.

How do things stand for Asia's women? 1.10pm

Senior leaders from Cheil took to the stage to present their impressions of gender equality in Korea, China and India, referencing the 'inconvenient truth' that despite many more women graduating from university, the numbers of women on boards in these markets remains an extremely small figure. 

Olivia Parker interviewed these women after their session in this piece: 'Asia, it's time to move on from lazy stereotypes'. 

Took advantage of a quiet moment in the Palais to look at these striking #humanrights campaigns by @amnesty, Mumbai Smiles and @Forsvarsmakten pic.twitter.com/Pj0x0orG1c

— Olivia Parker (@OliveClare) June 18, 2019

Meeting with McCann leadership, 11:00am

Had a chance to catch-up with McCann Worlgroup global CEO Harris Diamond and the new incoming McCann APAC chief Alex Lubar for an off-the record chat about the Asian business climate at the McCann suite at the Martinez.

McCann is naturally very excited about their double Grand Prix wins in the health space last night. We'll be writing more on that later today. 

Tencent launches latest True Luxury Playbook, 11:00am

In partnership with Boston Consulting Group, Tencent presents its latest research on luxury consumer behavior in China. Some tidbits: 

• Luxury consumers in China continue to be young. 48% are below 30, and these contribute 42% of luxury sales. 
• Younger consumers show a bias towards ready-to-wear accessories and shoes; older consumers are buying more watches, jewellery and handbags.
• Consumers from lower tier cities (tier 3 onwards) are catching up on luxury spending power in all key categories
• Social media is the biggest source of touchpoints (24%) during consumers' discovery and research journey, but earned traffic and offline marketing are growing as a source of these touchpoints. 

Here's Tencent's Kiki Fan presenting ways the company is helping brands navigate these trends. 

Sit down with IAS global CEO, 10.00am

Hopped aboard this yacht for a sit down interview with Integral Ad Science global CEO Lisa Utzschneider, who truly knows her priorities on transforming the third-party verification firm. In addition to expanding relationships with Amazon and Facebook she’s set on making the right bets and hiring good engineers. 

We also spoke about the in-housing trend, which she sees as an opportunity for interested brands. All this and her plans for Asian expansion in a full story to come in Campaign Asia. 

Pounding the pink carpet, 9am

To the right is the famous Cannes staircase, adored with its glorious red carpet. Clashing wonderfully with it is the Cannes pink carpet, leading delegates around the various festival sites. 

Last night's award winners, 8.30am

First up, here's our report on the APAC winners from last night's awards shows. Design, Outdoor, Health & Wellness, Pharma and Print & Publishing results have come out so far — keep track of this page every morning to get the latest wins.