Big Tech will court adland during Cannes’ comeback week with Apple and Amazon upping the ante

By Ronan Shields

Adland is fervent with anticipation for the first in-person Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity since the Covid-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the global economy with the glamor-gathering officially kicking off on June 20.

While the four-day conference has creativity at the core of its historic DNA, seasoned attendees will point to the growing influence of digital players with household names such as Facebook and YouTube regularly emblazoned on the croisette during the annual marketing mecca in recent years.

However, 2022’s installment will be marked by the increased presence of two of the industry’s most disruptive names: Amazon and Apple.

Apple’s stealth fuels intrigue

The, notoriously secretive, iPhone maker has caused much rancor in the last number of years with its gradual erosion of data signals that many in the ad industry, particularly those active in its iOS ecosystem, grew reliant upon.

Apple leadership is reportedly contemplating a restructure of its services division – a section of the company whose revenue hit “an all-time high” netting almost $20 billion in revenue according to its latest earnings. Advertising is thought to be a key cornerstone of this reorg with Todd Teresi, vp of its ads division, now reporting to long-time exec Eddy Cue, according to Insider.

The company is renowned for its preference for privacy (until is ready to make its own unilateral announcements) although separate sources told Digiday that while Apple’s ad execs have always attended such conferences, it seems to be upping its efforts at this year’s Cannes Lions.

“They’ve never had a presence where they’ve hosted,” said one source who requested anonymity given their company’s reliance on Apple, “they’re usually incognito, but in this instance, they’re meeting people in their own location.”

All sources remained purse-lipped when quizzed by Digiday as to the nature of these meetings (such is the power of Apple). Although, the recent unveiling of the latest version of its campaign measurement tool SKAdNetwork 4.0 at WWDC 2022 (due for release later this year) is likely to fuel such conversations given how the information was delivered in a manner that only the most technically-minded can understand.

The seeds of future plans?

Speculation has also turned to the potential for introducing ad-funded options for recently announced consumer offerings such as exclusive streaming rights for MLS on Apple TV beginning next year.

Meanwhile, separate sources also noted the uptick in the number of “Ad Platforms” positions the company is currently recruiting for as a potential harbinger of Apple’s potential designs on adland.

Apple does not specifically break out the revenue generated by its advertising operations – primarily these are search ads in the App Store and Apple News – although Insider Intelligence forecasting analyst Peter Newman told Digiday it is among the top-five ad companies in the industry.

“Our estimates of Apple’s data for advertising revenue is $4.14 billion for 2022. That is 1.7% of total digital advertising in the U.S., and we’d put that …read more

Source:: Digiday