3 things you need to know – Cannes day 2

From Spotify deciding what it will be when it grows up to how Unilever and Vice are using content to deliver relevant marketing to consumers, here’s the three big trends to come out of Cannes day 2.

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Spotify knows what it wants to be when it grows up

Spotify’s first chief marketing officer Seth Farbman, the former Gap CMO who joined the company in May, told the crowd at Spotify House in Cannes that after some “internal analysis” the brand has decided it wants to grow up to be a creative platform.

The CMO was opening a panel titled ‘creativity in context’ which outlined how the seven-year-old brand is using data to provide contextual experiences for consumers, while allowing listeners to discover new music.

In May this year Spotify announced a suite of music features on mobile to aid the company in its goal to be contextual. It includes Spotify Running, which matches music based on the tempo of the runner, and partnerships with the Nike+ running app and the RunKeeper app, which records user data.

Spotify will also be integrating video clips and audio shows, using data to suggest what consumers would want to watch and what podcasts to listen to.

Farbman said: “For years we have felt at times as marketers and advertisers that there is a separation between data and the drive to get more contextual, more information and more accountability in our messaging and creativity.

“It has to be about spark inspiration. It’s not just about giving customers what they want but it’s giving them something they haven’t even thought of – it’s about content and context.”

Cutting through the ‘overflow of content’

Two announcements were made at Cannes today, both focused around the future of content. First WPP, DailyMail and Snapchat launched Truffle Pig, an equal stake content marketing company that aims to “combine the best of agency, newsroom and social media”.

Then Unilever and Vice partnered on a new female-focused Broadly channel.

WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell said the aim of his move was to give consumers quality content in a digital world “overflowing with content”.

Unilever CMO Keith Weed meanwhile said his brand wants to prove its relevance by being part of the conversations its customers are having.

“Vice is not something people go to they’re part of it. That’s something we want with brands such as Dove and Tresemme. We want to be part of people’s lives, we want to be in there.”

Keith Weed, Unilever CMO

Facebook imagines the future of marketing

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Facebook might not have announced any new ad products at Cannes but it is showcasing some possible ideas for where advertising on the site might go in future. Product boss Chris Cox showed a video during his talk at the event which showed a mockup of what smartphone ads might look like in the future.

The aim seems to be to allow brands to offer a more immersive experience with full screen images, rotating product shots and interactive video.

However, its chief creative officer Mark D’Arcy, speaking to journalists at a separate event, said Facebook now is less focused on building new formats – believing they will come as the industry evolves. Instead it is pitching its role in unlocking creativity by showing brands how they can use Facebook for storytelling and making the social network more like a playground.

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