Cannes Lions proved as popular as ever this year, with online conversations reaching 147,389 between the opening Sunday and closing Saturday. This number comfortably tops a staggering 150,000 if we include the substantial pre-event chatter that took place throughout the social sphere. Ogilvy demonstrated the value of a well-oiled social machine, with its own strategy playing a significant role in driving the agency to the top of the brand charts. The company used #OgilvyCannes to spark debate and promote content, a tactic that proved successful, enabling Ogilvy to achieve over 22,000 mentions. As ever, celebrities were a big source of online discussion, and Cannes Lions 2014 taught us the impact that tapping into the power of celebrity can have. Twitter used Sir Patrick Stewart’s presentation to great effect, and capitalised on his participation in the first ever #dronie to drive conversation around the brand. Elsewhere, Kanye West presented alongside Translation, speaking about his own brand ideas for the likes of Beats and Instagram. His appearance created the most hype on social media with over 7,000 posts, as well as its own hashtag. Online data shows that, alongside the predictable hot topics of creativity and advertising, storytelling made its mark at Cannes Lions 2014. The presence of TV producers including David Benioff and Rebecca Eaton helped to spark these discussions as attendees looked for expert insight on how to deliver this concept within the advertising and marketing industries. Storytelling was the source of 3,446 conversations, the fourth most at the festival, demonstrating its rise to the top of the advertising world’s agenda this year.

1. The Latest Social Media Trends
from Cannes Lions 2014 –
Festival Overview
Sunday 15th June (1am CET) – Saturday 21st June 2014 (11.59pm
CET)

2. Cannes Lions 2014: Key findings
• Online conversations around Cannes Lions 2014 totalled over 147,300 between the opening Sunday and
closing Saturday.
• Wednesday was the most popular day, with celebrities including Jared Leto and Sheryl Sandberg sharing their
career experiences that resonated with the social audience. Both shared their views on the role of women
within the industry, while Sandberg also discussed ad plans for Facebook and Instagram
• Ogilvy’s position as the top brand was unchallenged all week, with the firm generating over 22,650 mentions
online. A well-executed social strategy was central to its success, with #OgilvyCannes also being the most
prominent hashtag
• Twitter and Google came second and third in the brand stakes, with 3,615 and 2,648 mentions respectively.
Twitter‘s strong performance was helped by a positive social campaign, during which it coined the popular
#dronie and #LiveStories tags.

3. Cannes Lions 2014: Key findings cntd.
• Patrick Stewart’s Cannes participation itself led to him becoming the fourth most mentioned celeb at Cannes.
• Kanye West’s surprise appearance created even more significant social buzz. The star generated over 7,000
conversations to lead the celeb stakes
• ‘Creativity’ was the most popular buzzword, featuring in 8,978 conversations, likely aided by its position in the
official title of the festival
• ‘Storytelling’ emerged as the key trend for the festival, and was the focus of several Cannes sessions. It
became a major talking point online, particularly during the early stages of the week, sparking 3,500 social
discussions

4. Cannes Lions 2014: Volume 15.06.14 (1am CET) – 21.06.14
(11.59pm CET)
Cannes Lions 2014 generated 147,389 online conversations between the opening Sunday and closing
Saturday – this discounts pre-event buzz which accounted for almost 10,000 posts and takes the total
number to in excess of 150,000.
Wednesday proved the most popular day, sparking 29,841 discussions as Jared Leto took to the stage to
discuss brand advertising, the music industry and women’s rights. Leto alone featured in almost 3,000
mentions that day, while Sheryl Sandberg was another talking point as she emphasised the importance of
personalised ads, sparking 1,300 conversations.

5. Top Brands (by mentions) at Cannes Lions 2014: 15.06.14 (1am
CET) – 21.06.14 (11.59pm CET)
Ogilvy was the dominant brand at Cannes Lions 2014, clocking 22,652 mentions online. It jumped in early with
a well-executed social strategy that even propelled Abraham Lincoln into one of the leading celebrity spots
over the opening weekend – quoting his famous stance that “the best way to predict your future is to create
it”.
Elsewhere, Twitter put in a strong showing which was kicked-off by its presentation alongside Sir Patrick
Stewart, and the coining of the #dronie. This momentum continued throughout the week, capped by the
appearance on stage of CEO Dick Costolo, driving the brand to 3,615 social mentions.
2,648
1773
3615
22652
2165
1430
1601
0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000
Google
RED
Twitter
Ogilvy
MailOnline
WPP
Apple
Google RED Twitter Ogilvy MailOnline WPP Apple

6. Top buzz words (by mention) at Cannes Lions 2014: 15.06.14
(1am CET) – 21.06.14 (11.59pm CET)
Unsurprisingly ‘creativity’ was the dominant buzz word for the week, featuring in 8,978 conversations, while advertising
sat comfortably in second place on 6,812. Perhaps the bigger stories come when we look further down the list – 2014
saw the rise of ‘storytelling’ as professionals looked to creative experts including Rebecca Eaton and David Benioff for
guidance on the topic. Storytelling was the source of 3,446 conversations, the fourth most at the festival.
The role of women in advertising was also under much debate this year, with Jared Leto and Sheryl Sandberg helping to
drive this conversation during their on stage appearances on Wednesday. ‘Women’ featured in over 2,500 online
discussions throughout the week.
11%
21%
28%
12%
8%
11%
9%
Buzz words
Mobile
Advertising
Creativity
Award
Women
Storytelling
Design

7. Most Mentioned Celebrities at Cannes Lions 2014: 15.06.14
(1am CET) – 21.06.14 (11.59pm CET)
Celebrities played as big a part as ever during Cannes Lions 2014. The top ten most mentioned celebs accounted for 20% of
all Cannes-related discussions throughout the week.
Kanye West was arguably the biggest name to attend, and this is backed up by social stats that reveal he was the subject of
over 7,000 conversations. West appeared on stage to share his brand ideas for the likes of Beats and Instagram, and even
sparked his own #Cannes-ye hashtag. Elsewhere, Jared Leto’s presentation on brand advertising, the music industry and
women’s rights generated just under 3,000 mentions on Wednesday and helped the movie star into second place overall with
5,150 mentions.
Bono’s final day appearance was enough for him to break into the top five celebs, featuring in 2,414 online discussions as he
spoke about RED, the AIDS organisation that he founded and was also awarded the inaugural Cannes Lionheart Award for.
7,229
2,685
5,150
2,414 2,806
1,864
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
Kanye West Patrick Stewart Jared Leto Bono Kim Kardashian Sheryl Sandberg

8. Top Hashtags at Cannes Lions 2014: 15.06.14 (1am CET) –
21.06.14 (11.59pm CET)
The official #CannesLions hashtag featured over 120,000 times on social media, peaking at 23,000 uses on Tuesday as Kanye
West, Marissa Mayer and Google struck a chord with the Twittersphere.
In terms of unofficial hashtags, #OgilvyCannes led the way throughout the week, averaging over 3,800 uses per day on its
way to 27,132. Ogilvy achieved awards success which contributed to this domination, but its own prolific social campaign
was the main driver as it produced engaging content on a daily basis.
Other hashtags tended to rise and fall quickly, with very few gaining lasting momentum. Twitter’s #dronie, fuelled by Sir
Patrick Stewart’s involvement, created considerable chatter. Similarly, Golin made the most of David Hasselhoff’s
involvement by creating the #Hoffornot game. Both accumulated well over 1,000 mentions throughout the week.
3% 3%
6%
82%
4% 2%
Hashtags
#msftcannes
#dronie
#HavasCafe
#OgilvyCannes
#Hoffornot
#JaredLeto