The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has today launched the 2022 Festival programme with the first of its speakers announced. The programme is built around six priority areas, as identified by the global creative marketing community through the LIONS’ State of Creativity Study. Thousands of people from 100 countries took part in the recent study, identifying the key issues facing the global industry.

Simon Cook, CEO, LIONS, said, “We’re delighted to relaunch the global platform and bring together the world’s most creative minds to solve some of the industry’s biggest challenges and the world’s most urgent problems. This year’s agenda is focused around the key themes that the industry has told us are the most pressing. CEOs, CMOs, activists and world leaders will convene to collectively address them, take action, find solutions and drive progress through creativity.”

Industry leaders taking to the stage include David Droga, Wendy Clark and Mark Read, with other highlights of the 2022 programme including:

The Talent CrisisLinkedIn’s CEO Ryan Roslansky will analyse the extent of the talent crisis within the creative space.

Diversity, Equality & InclusionBob Lord, IBM Senior Vice-President, The Weather Company and Alliances; Issa Rae, Writer, Producer, Actress; and Liz Taylor, Global Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy, test audience bias; and Dentsu’s Creative Director Naoki Tanaka and Yoshie Kris, Arts Producer, SLOW LABEL, will share how creativity made the paralympics the ultimate inclusive blueprint.

SustainabilityAdam Kerj, Chief Creative Officer, Accenture Song Nordics and Anne Krogh, Chief Marketing Officer, IKEA DK will urge creatives to disrupt for the good of the planet; and Conny Braams, Chief Digital and Commercial Officer, Unilever, will explore how to prepare the next generation of marketers to address sustainability challenges.

Data, Tech and InnovationTiffany Rolfe, Global Chief Creative Officer, R/GA and Tom Morton, Global Chief Strategy Officer, R/GA will introduce activists, innovators, and super-users who are choosing to make the Metaverse a more human-friendly place.

Business TransformationTaehan Yoo, Design Director, Fjord part of Accenture Song; Takatoshi Nakamura, Head of Design, Minna Bank; and Ayumi Sasaki, Interaction Design Lead, Fjord part of Accenture Song, will divulge how Minna Bank boldly set a vision to re-design the 150-year-old industry to become a new kind of bank for digital natives.

Creative EffectivenessAB InBev - this year’s Creative Marketer of the Year - will take to the stage to talk about creativity as a driver for business growth. The people behind Star Trek, Sir Patrick Stewart OBE and Alex Kurtzman, Executive Producer, CoCreator, ViacomCBS, will show how the 55 year old global franchise has maintained and reignited meaningful connections, achieving sustained creative effectiveness.

The Festival will once again host the CMOs in the Spotlight series with chief marketing officers from across the planet including: The LEGO Group’s Julia Goldin; L'Oréal’s Asmita Dubey; Vice Media’s Nadja Bellan-White; Deloitte’s Suzanne Kounkel; The New York Times’ David Rubin; and Diageo’s Cristina Diezhandino.

Cannes Lions remains the home of classic creativity with a roster of global creative talent scheduled to take to the stage. Ryan Reynolds will discuss how TV ad campaigns can take chances and enjoy the effects of the golden age of television viewing as streaming remains in the spotlight. The Saatchi & Saatchi New Creators’ Showcase - which has been at the Festival for 30 years - will this year be showcasing work from creators that are modernising the visual landscape of Britain; the birthplace of the New Creators’ Showcase.

Cannes Lions takes place from 20-24 June in Cannes, France. Further details on the speakers are now available at canneslions.com where information on how to attend is also available.