Every year, Cannes Lions brings together the brightest minds in marketing to learn from each other and celebrate how cutting-edge brands are winning consumer attention. This year, we brought the Roku Beach House back to Cannes, where we hosted marketers and advertisers and served up streaming inspiration all week long.
At the Roku Beach House and in live speaking sessions, we explored how advertisers can augment consumer experiences to stand out amid escalating noise and drive real business results. We shared the latest consumer insights to help advertisers go beyond traditional ads and reach new audiences. Here are five key insights from Cannes Lions 2023:
Consumers will remember your brand if you own the entire streamer’s journey
A recent study of Roku users revealed they see over 3,200 TV ads monthly.¹ Amid such fierce competition, a fleeting 15-second ad may not cut through the noise. It’s important to integrate your brand in all facets of the streamer’s journey and to partner with platforms that can make your brand unmissable.
Earlier this month, Roku introduced exciting new creative tools for marketers including the latest Roku City brand experiences, and a new Showroom experience that enables advertisers to showcase and demonstrate product features, while streamers get to build, explore, and interact.
Consumers expect more inclusivity and representation on screen
By amplifying, supporting, and creating authentic, real-life portrayals of women and girls, we can help shape a more inclusive future.
Roku's Alison Levin took the stage at #EqualityLounge hosted by The Female Quotient, joining Kelly Campbell, President of Peacock, for an important conversation about how women in streaming can empower a winning combination of content, data, and tech to help creators and brands alike tell better, more inclusive and equitable stories.
CANNES, FRANCE - JUNE 20: Ronda Carnegie, Alison Levin and Kelly Campbell at The Female Quotient Panel during Cannes Lions (Photo by Arnold Jerocki/Getty Images for The FQ)
Consumers want entertainment that doesn’t feel like an ad
Brands are increasingly becoming more central to entertainment, from the upcoming Barbie movie to 2023’s Air, a film about Nike’s pursuit of Michael Jordan. Streaming platforms like Roku can help you be the entertainment—with your brand as the star.
While creating a star-studded film isn’t feasible for every brand, they can create unique content that adds value and doesn’t feel intrusive.
The first step is understanding which stories and messages resonate. Then, brands can leverage Roku’s platform to share their stories beyond digital and social platforms and reach a valuable and otherwise unreachable audience.
Consumers expect to shop on any platform — including TV
Social media taught people to shop their feeds. Now they expect that functionality everywhere — including TV. At Roku, we've partner with companies such as DoorDash, Instacart, Walmart and more to allow viewers to shop directly from their TV.
Dan Robbins (Roku) + Kara Rousseau (Walmart Connect) joined a panel hosted by The Information, where they spoke alongside Peacock and other industry marketing leaders about the art of brand building in today’s crowded marketplace and what it takes to truly stand out.
CANNES, FRANCE - JUNE 21: Photo by Walmart Connect, featuring Kara Rousseau and Dan Robbins during panel hosted by The Information during Cannes Lions 2023.
Consumers won’t pay attention to irrelevant ads — and AI can help
As attention spans shrink and more people than ever watch TV while scrolling through their phones, delivering pertinent messaging is critical. Enter AI. With data from 70 million active accounts, Roku is employing machine learning to aid marketers in refining creative decisions. By understanding how customers navigate from one program to another and employing real-time testing, we can help advertisers understand which concepts drive viewership and deliver those insights to brands to ensure they deliver the right messaging to the right audiences.
We’re excited to be part of building a better world through creativity and innovation—and we hope you’ll join us. Until next year, Cannes Lions!
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¹Roku internal data. US Roku Households, Streaming and Linear TV viewership, April 2023
