Yet, the pace of the week doesn’t give you much time to dwell, as the energy of the festival shifts your attention outward. I found myself drawn into the ideas that moved quickly from one session to the next. At times, I found myself wishing I could be in three places at once. The more I listened, the clearer it became that many of the themes being explored were the same ones we work within PR on a daily basis. 

The AI Conversation Everyone’s Having

AI dominated the conversation in almost every room (and beach, or plage, as the French say) I stepped into. According to a recent global survey, only 1 percent of company leaders consider their organisation’s use of generative AI to be fully developed. It helps explain the volume and urgency of discussion. Most are still working out how to apply it and what it means for teams. That sense of uncertainty is what made the discussions so engaging.

In the PR industry, that uncertainty often centres on how AI is reshaping strategic communications. One afternoon, glass of white wine in hand and notebook in the other, I found myself scribbling furiously as a speaker explained how corporate reputation is becoming just as important to clients as sales, and in many cases, is taking priority.

As people increasingly turn to AI tools to conduct searches, reputation is shaped not just by what a brand says but by what the LLMs surface. That’s why GEO, or Generative Engine Optimisation, is becoming more important. While traditional SEO prioritises relevance and authority, GEO places even greater value on content that is credible, traceable and attributed to reputable sources. A speaker argued that this makes earned media a “king” in this new landscape. The tools may be changing, but the principles behind good PR matter more than ever.

Raising Familiar Questions

Beyond the big-picture panels on AI, there were sessions that spoke directly to PR professionals, no matter your discipline or area of interest. One of the most engaging PR-specific sessions I attended tackled a question our industry has wrestled with for years: “How do we measure what really matters?” It also previewed the Barcelona Principles 4.0, the global framework guiding how we evaluate PR and communications.

It wasn’t the first time I’d heard someone say we’re living in an attention economy. But in that room, with data showing just how many campaigns fail to cut through, it hit differently. If people aren’t paying attention, then reach, impressions, and clicks tell us very little. The old ways of measuring success do not hold up anymore.

The session challenged us to think beyond surface-level metrics, Were people paying attention? For how long? AI tools are making it easier to answer those questions, offering more precise insight into things like dwell time or which moments earn the most replays. It was one of those sessions that gave me a lot to reflect on.

Lessons From the Sessions You Don’t Plan

Yet, it wasn’t always the sessions I planned that left the biggest impression. One late afternoon, after ticking off the talks I had bookmarked for the day, I still had time and curiosity to spare. I wandered into a session on the value creators can bring to brands and ended up in a packed room watching Alix Earle, one of America’s biggest influencers, speak on stage. It was centred on advertising, so I hadn’t expected it to feel so relevant to PR, but it did.

That’s the thing about Cannes. You can take a chance on a session and still come away with something that shifts your thinking. The panel made a simple point about how content isn’t about cramming in more information, but about saying something memorable. For PRs, that instinct matters too.

But the learning didn’t stop at the panels. Cannes is, after all, a festival of creativity, and that spirit carries through everything. There were brand activations where I took a personality test that matched me with a dessert (mine: chocolate-dipped vanilla ice cream with rainbow sprinkles, which felt like a win) and immersive AI photobooths where I turned myself into both a mermaid and a fighter jet pilot. In the evenings, watching the award-winning campaigns, including the PR Lions, reminded me just how powerful a simple, well-told idea can be. And between it all? A lot of great conversations, a lot of sunshine, and just enough rosé to remind you this is still the South of France.

After a week of early mornings, late nights and full days, I expected to feel exhausted. Instead, as I sat in the airport with a suitcase full of scribbled notes and branded freebies, I felt energised. 

The impostor syndrome I felt at the start had quietly faded. At this festival, the table is long, the seats are many, and if you’re willing to show up and pay attention, you belong there. If you’re wondering whether to go next year, take this as your sign. You’ll come back with a bit more spark than you arrived with.

Curzon PR is a London-based PR firm working with clients globally. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our Business Development Team bd@curzonpr.com