Simpli.fi’s CEO, Frost Prioleau Chats About His Key Takeaways from the Cannes Lions 2018

Cannes Lions: The International Festival of Creativity was a big hit, like all its previous editions. A week has passed since its conclusion, yet the festival continues to buzz the content calendars. At the event, we decided to hop on to candid chat with Simpli.fi’s CEO, Frost Prioleau. Frost was attending the event for the third time, and the first in two years.

Here’s what Frost had to say —

“Cannes is a great opportunity to spend time both scheduled and unscheduled time with customers and partners. Some of the best sessions are those that are put on by sponsors in their beach facilities, yachts, and/or suites. This year I thought that Comcast/Freewheel had some great content on the Future of Television.”

How do you see marketing and advertising standards improving each year post-Cannes Lions?

Digital marketing and advertising standards are definitely improving each year, but I wouldn’t really tie that to Cannes. We are seeing that advertisers of all sizes are very interested in ensuring that their ads are seen by real people on sites and apps that are positive for their brand.

Themes and takeaways at Cannes tend to be the same as those at other advertising conferences. This year the main themes are the transformation of television, location-based advertising, and continued focus on quality and transparency.

Last year, it was all about quality and transparency.

What’s the biggest buzzword you heard at the event, and from whom?

The biggest buzzword this year, aside from OTT/CTV, is AI.  This is being treated by some as a separate, new technology. However, many adtech vendors have been building AI into their optimization algorithms for years.

I think technologies like AI/Machine learning, Live videos, would further enable ‘Humanizing of traditional technologies’ for marketing and advertising. Like I said earlier, AI/ML is already in use, and definitely will be more broadly adopted into other marketing and advertising applications. In my opinion, personalization will likely be the next big application.

Thank you, Frost, for chatting with us at Cannes Lions 2018.