Business Insider Key Moments from Cannes Lions 2024

How do you build a durable brand and authentic connections in a performance-driven world? Business Insider set out to Cannes Lions to convene industry leaders around this timely and ever-important question.

Our research has found that stories that consider business, tech, and innovation through the lens of people’s lives evoke emotion and stay with readers. This also reinforces that while AI technology can enable incredible things, it is still so important to have human reporters who are telling person-first stories.

New research from Stagwell's groundbreaking 50,000-respondent survey gives us another proof point that it is safe for brands to advertise adjacent to quality journalism, regardless of topic.

Business Insider convened leading Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) and sparked insightful conversations surrounding these topics throughout the week:

Business Insider’s Second-Annual CMO Insider Breakfast

On Tuesday, June 18, Business Insider hosted its second-annual CMO Insider Breakfast on Stagwell's Sport Beach.

Chief Revenue Officer Maggie Milnamow and Head of Global Sales Orlando Reece welcomed nearly 100 CMOs to the flagship event. 

Fueled by star power and moderated by Chief Correspondent Peter Kafka, the first panel featured elite athletes turned successful entrepreneurs Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe to explore why it’s crucial for brands to authentically show up in today’s culturally transformative moments. 

Then, Senior Correspondent Lara O’Reilly took the stage to welcome a powerhouse CMO panel with IBM’s Jonathan Adashek, Intuit Mailchimp’s Michelle Taite, and Doordash’s Kofi Amoo-Gottfried. The three leaders shared how they have continued to shape and grow their global brands while delivering greater performance. 

To close out the breakfast, Business Insider CEO Barbara Peng welcomed another special guest to deliver final remarks – Mathias Döpfner, CEO Axel Springer.

The CMO Daily Take 

Together with The Female Quotient, we premiered “The CMO Daily Take” series to address the most burning questions across the modern marketing landscape.

Throughout the Festival, Business Insider executives moderated discussions with trailblazing female marketing leaders across industries at the Equality Lounge®. 

Key themes included building brands that stand the test of time, how women have transformed the current media landscape, the power of person-first storytelling, and building emotional connections in the age of AI. 

Catch up on the conversations: 

CMO Insider Interviews 

Last year, Business Insider unveiled “CMO Insider” – a destination for marketers, by marketers.

During the Festival, the Business Insider team, led by Executive Editor Julia Hood, interviewed nearly 40 CMOs to explore marketing trends and amplify their unique experiences. 

Keep an eye out for new “CMO Insider” episodes from Cannes coming soon. 

Business Insider CEO Barbara Peng Talks the Future of News 

Barbara took the main stage at Stagwell’s Sport Beach alongside Meredith Kopit Levien, CEO of the New York Times, Mark Thompson, CEO of CNN, and Mark Penn, CEO of Stagwell, for an important discussion about brand safety, strategy, and the future of the industry moderated by Axios Senior Media Reporter Sara Fischer.

Business Insider sincerely thanks our partners for making this year’s Cannes Lions a BI moment to remember. Until next time. 

Interested in learning more about Business Insider and where you can find us this year? Check out 10 Things You Need to Know and subscribe to our B2B LinkedIn newsletter, The Executive Summary.