It was six years ago that Publicis Groupe CEO Arthur Sadoun announced to the world in Cannes that the Groupe would walk away from the Lions Festival of Creativity and all awards for a year to build an artificial intelligence-driven internal communications engine known as Marcel. 

At the time there was a good bit of snickering about Marcel and its prospective benefits and some disbelief about whether the Groupe would be a no-show at the following year’s Festival.  

But the Groupe followed through on both decisions which helped advance its AI capabilities, seen as critical to the ad industry’s mission today and also helped to transform the festival. 

There was a lot of grumbling back then that the event had strayed from its mission, was too costly and too long.  

Other holding companies were reconsidering their commitment to the Festival and not long after Publicis’ decision to opt out for a year organizers did some significant remodeling. The changes included shortening the program by a few days, eliminating some award categories and adding others. It also cut the cost of attending and revamped Festival content. 

To celebrate the sixth anniversary of Sadoun’s announcement, Publicis Groupe today is launching a tongue-in-cheek campaign at Cannes that uses a demo of AI to playfully recreate some of the initial reactions to Groupe’s early AI investment. 

The campaign is designed to remind the industry just how far AI has progressed in a short time. 

One billboard along the Croisette depicts an ad executive laughing out loud at the thought of the holding company making such a huge investment in AI at the time. Another shows the  exaggeratedly befuddled look of an analyst trying to make sense of the news. A company creative is seen to be looking in shock at the thought of not having a chance to submit an entry at the following year’s Festival.  

“Six years ago, AI was laughed at and criticized,” says Carla Serrano, Chief Strategy Officer, Publicis Groupe. "Fast forward, and you see that every company at Cannes is keenly announcing its latest AI partnership.” 

Serrano added that “AI is a tool that has long sat at the center of our model,” to enhance customer experiences, data, media and creativity.