The 2018 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity came and went, celebrating the hottest creative brands, tech advancements, and innovative strategies reshaping the media world. This year, Cannes Lions announced it was adding a new Social Influencer Category to its awards repertoire, a move heralded as the festival's recognition of the importance of influencer marketing.

The month-long tournament is over with France as the victor, and that means it's time to reflect on what the World Cup and certain advertisers have taught us this year.

Many marketers are still sulking over the removal of Partner Categories, Facebook's third-party data exchange. And that's understandable. Many advertisers had come to rely on Partner Categories as a means of targeting their media buys on Facebook. For these advertisers, the path to finding audiences on the platform has entirely changed course.

Recent data on Gen Z digital consumption by social platform tells a concerning story for Facebook. A new report from the Pew Research Center the study showed YouTube leads the pack of internet platforms for Gen Z. About 85% of kids 13 to 17 say they use the video service, followed by Instagram (72%), Snapchat (69%), Facebook(51%) and Twitter (32%).Another survey from Pipar Jaffray has only has 9% of teens saying Facebook is their preferred platform, while Snapchat paces ahead.

On the heels of Europe's GDPR, the recently passed California Consumer Privacy Act is the strictest privacy law in the country. And, as when California enacted auto emissions standards that were later adopted by the federal government, it could very well become a template for the rest of the nation.

The hospitality industry has traditionally looked at food and beverages as a loss leader, something provided as a convenience. This type of defeatist thinking results in potential revenue walking out the door.

In today's world of seemingly endless data, artificial intelligence, and real-time decision-making, companies and brands have abundant opportunities to profile consumers and use the bits and bytes of their identities to facilitate communication. But we shouldn't rely solely on data and technology to develop the relationships we want to foster with individuals.

For consumers, "value" is no longer limited to coupons and discounts. From Millennials inundated with notifications to frazzled parents hoping to make the most of a grocery trip, consumers are now thinking beyond deals, associating value with time-efficient experiences that help them better navigate life. Brand interactions that add utility are gaining popularity, whether sending consumers timely coupons when they're running out of products or sharing personalized shopping maps while in-store.

Most of us spend our lives trying to avoid disease. Not surprisingly, we do the same with ads about disease.

Research has shown Millennials are significantly less likely than prior generations to own homes or automobiles - and the rise of the sharing economy has only further illustrated and accelerated that point. But, the one thing Millennials are spending money on is travel. As a generation known for valuing experiences over ownership, it's no surprise that 61% of affluent Millennials claim they "live to travel."