What Accenture Song’s CEO switch really signals

Hi there,

Day 3 at Cannes Lions didn’t ease up.

Forget BAU. From Reddit’s organic ad tales to Accenture Song’s purpose-fueled vision, marketing creativity is exploding. That means marketers need more than ever: precise tools, undeniable signals. When Amazon champions passion and Fospha cuts through the noise with full-funnel reality, the real question shifted from “what’s next?” to “what’s delivering?”

️ Cannes Dispatch

 Reddit bets on AI-powered community marketing

Reddit showed up to Cannes Lions with a clear message: the next frontier of advertising is participatory.

With the launch of Reddit Community Intelligence, the platform unveiled two AI-powered tools aimed at giving marketers deeper, real-time access to the conversations driving its 22B+ posts.

• Reddit Insights acts as a social listening layer—one that lets brands monitor sentiment, validate creative, and spot emerging cultural signals before they peak.

• Conversation Summary Add-ons bring the voice of the community straight into the ad itself, appending real, positive user posts underneath brand creatives to build instant trust.

It’s a major shift from third-party targeting toward cultural intelligence at scale—and early results back it up. Reddit’s ad products saw a +19% CTR boost in alpha tests, and agencies like Publicis are already using the tools to plug live sentiment into brand planning.

For marketers, this could mean faster creative validation and a more credible way to show up in community spaces—without forcing the fit. And with APAC now accounting for ~60% of Reddit’s growth, global brands may find Reddit’s localised communities an untapped advantage.

One thing’s clear: while other platforms are racing toward automation, Reddit’s betting big on real voices in real conversations—and giving advertisers a new kind of signal to measure.

Amazon Ads says goodbye to age buckets, hello to passions

Amazon came to the Croisette with star power and a clear message: audience targeting needs a reset.

Launching their “Beyond the Generational Divide” study, Amazon Ads revealed that most consumers don’t feel defined by their age. In fact, 1 in 4 actively identifies with a different generation than the one on their birth certificate. Instead, people say they’re shaped more by passions, values, and community—and Amazon believes that’s where marketers should be aiming.

To help, they’re rolling out new tools:

• A CTV identity partnership with Roku unlocking access to 80% of US streaming households

• Amazon Live signals now in AMC, enabling deeper attribution for livestream commerce

• And fresh integrations across Prime Video, Twitch, Wondery and more—pushing a full-funnel model that aligns commerce with culture.

At Amazon Port, the brand’s immersive space at Cannes, talent like Jamie Lee Curtis and the Kelce brothers helped bring the story to life—spotlighting storytelling’s role in driving performance, especially in podcasts and retail-tainment formats.

Want to share your thoughts on how you’re measuring what matters?

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Accenture Song’s Next Chapter

At Cannes Day 3, the spotlight shifted to leadership at Accenture Song, as Ndidi Oteh was introduced as the incoming CEO. Taking the reins from creative spearhead David Droga this September, she’s signalling a structural shift: accelerating the integration of AI while maintaining the agency’s signature human-first creativity.

 Strategic Realignment – Under Droga, Song transformed through scale—fusing 40+ acquired creative firms under one technology-powered banner and growing revenue from $12.5B to $19B. Now, Oteh wants to deepen that foundation by marrying data infrastructure with inspired creative execution.

 AI with Intent – A self-described ‘fast follower sooner’, Oteh emphasized to ADWEEK House audiences: while clients are eager to embrace AI, many lack the data architecture to make it effective.

Her aim: empower teams to offload repetitive work and refocus on strategic creative. Already, roughly 30% of Song’s client work incorporates AI—Oteh anticipates this could soon be the default.

 Implications for Marketers

• Consulting meets creativity – Expect more fully linked campaigns, not one-off executions.
• Data-ready creative – AI adoption hinges on robust customer data pipelines; the art of the possible shifts from ‘what if’ to ‘what works’.
• Leadership values scale and equity – Oteh is injecting purpose and diverse leadership into every project.

As the agency stands at the crossroads of innovation and insight, Oteh’s appointment suggests Accenture Song is doubling down on AI—but only as a force multiplier for human-led creativity.

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Enjoy Day 4!

Unofficially Cannes Lions Team

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