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Publicis pull out of Cannes and WPP voice doubts

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Shares in Ascential, the owner of Cannes Lions, fell more than 3% after Publicis Groupe said it would not enter the awards next year. Sir Martin Sorrell, meanwhile, CEO of WPP, adland's other big hitter, has said that “the jury is out” on its own future participation given the departure of its rival. Sorrell said, at an event hosted by the Financial Times today, that “Cannes has got to be rethought big time and repositioned. Some of it is diversionary, at best, unacceptable at worst.”

Sorrell said he has virtually halved the size of the WPP team Cannes from 1,000 to 500 and cut down the number of entries to the festival’s prestigious awards, because he feels it has become little more than a “bold and brash” money-making exercise that has lost some of its essence of celebrating creativity. He also bashed the price gouging that has become commonplace at the festival, lamenting that “Cannes in June is not the cheapest place in the world to be.”

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Martin Sorrell at Cannes Lions 2017

Sorrell’s comments follow a shock move by Arthur Sadoun, the recently promoted global chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe, who said that the company was pulling out of all promotional activity at ad industry festivals events such as Cannes Lions and CES for one year. Publicis Groupe plans to use the money to invest in its own AI platform, Marcel. Ascential shares fell 3.5% to 324p as reaction to the Publicis boycott.

Rival ad groups were stunned by Publicis Groupe’s timing, however, there has been growing criticism of Cannes Lions by ad chiefs over the last couple of years. Many have started to feel that Cannes' status as a festival of creativity is under threat from the influx of online platforms and tech companies. In a sign that some ad groups may be less enthusiastic about Cannes Lions, the organisers admitted last week that entries fell this year by 4.5% to 41,000 after a record number of submissions in 2016.

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Arthur Sadoun

Of course, the move could backfire because many creatives aspire to win a Cannes Lions, widely regarded as the Oscars of the ad industry, and they might be less likely to want to work at the group if there's no chance of an award win. Maybe WPP are waiting to see how it plays out for their rivals before joining them in jumping ship? Whatever happens, it's going to be a very interesting 12 months.

Ascential, which was awkwardly hosting shareholders in Cannes today for an investor presentation, floated on the London stock market last year and shares had risen sharply from their debut price of £2 before today's stumble.

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