🏆 It’s our Cannes Lions episode!

Shannon breaks down our top picks in the most coveted Titanium Lions category, including elite campaigns like:

• “Minefield Honey: Harvesting Hope” by Saatchi & Saatchi Ukraine
• EDF “The Flame that Wasn’t a Flame” by BETC
• E.l.f Beauty “So Many Dicks” by Oberland
• AXA “Three Words” by Publicis Conseil
• Finch “36 Months”
• Powerade “The Athletes Code” by Ogilvy
• Mastercard “Life Donor Card” by MRM Germany
• Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Rakish, Chicago Hearing Society “Caption With Intention” by FCB Chicago

🎙️ Stream it now (19 min): 

YouTube
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Apple Podcasts
Amazon Music

CAMPAIGNS

🏳️‍🌈 Amnesty International challenges performative allyship during Pride month.

🧀 The great summer Cheetos Shape Hunt begins.

🎨 M&M’s debuts new global creative platform.

🍺 The Blue Moon x eos lip balm is *chef’s kiss.*

SOCIAL

🏆 Instagram adds 2 new features to track in-app performance stats.

🎥 LinkedIn launches video creation integration for Adobe Express.

💡 And Meta’s Opportunity Score is now available to all advertisers.

AI

🤖 HubSpot’s ChatGPT connector generates excitement and some concerns.

🚀 Amazon announces the US release of its AI-powered video generator tool.

🧠 Infographic: The smartest AI models, by IQ.

JOBS

🌍 Starbucks is hiring a Global Coffee Creator to travel the world and make spon con.

💼 Why you need a personal brand in a crowded job market.

Monday: 80% of Instagram creators who started using Trial Reels saw an increase in reach from non-followers. Trial Reels, which rolled out six months ago, are shown only to non-followers in order to give you an unbiased assessment of how your content is likely to perform. Here’s how to leverage them.

• 💡 According to our poll, of the marketers that have tested Trial Reels, 66% found them effective.

Tuesday: Now that AI is cranking out content at lightning speed, clear and compelling writing is a profit-driving power move. In fact, data from 18 years of conversion tests shows that copy is consistently the biggest lever for increasing performance. But most AI tools are trained on average writing. So while everyone has access to content, clarity is what sets you apart. Here’s how to write and edit so that people understand you.

• 💡 According to our poll, 43% of respondents always have a colleague proof their writing before it goes live… and 16% never do.

Wednesday: Digital Summit’s newest event lineups are stacked with marketing and community experts from powerhouse brands who’ll share the latest on all things digital marketing you need to boost your bottom line. Save up to $300 on select cities and take off an additional 20% when you use code CARNEY20.

Thursday: According to the “2025 State of Email” report from Litmus (now part of Validity), 70% of marketers expect AI to handle up to half of their email operations by 2026, while 18% predict AI will manage the majority of their email tasks. Here are the key findings.

• 💡 According to our poll, 45% of respondents report that it takes their teams just hours to produce a marketing email. It takes 31% multiple days, 15% weeks, and 9% months.

Can you solve it? 🍻

Nancy posted: “Anyone have a heat map recommendation with G4?”

Carla posted: “Which tool is best to understand if influencers are posting about a specific topic, and who they are?”

Bergit posted a poll: “Do we feel like this emoji 💦 can be used in professional marketing emails?”

Marlana posted: “Is there a way to ‘remove from main grid’ a tagged collaborator reel from Instagram?”

For $99, you get 200 characters to share your stuff right in this spot.

Our on-demand process lets you select your date, drop in your creative, complete your payment, and get on our calendar ASAP.

Answer: The first (then) International Advertising Film Festival was held in Venice in 1954. In fact, the iconic trophy was inspired by the Lion of Venice in Piazza San Marco. The festival was moved to Cannes, France, in 1984.