Cannes Lions, an annual opportunity for advertisers to score accolades for their creativity, is refining its agenda to acknowledge how that work drives business.

• This year, Cannes added a Long-Term Impact sub-category to multiple awards.

As consumer attention and advertising channels become more disjointed, the demand for advanced measurement has increased—especially as brands face higher expectations to prove ROI to their leadership teams.

• 71% of US CEOs want their marketing teams to focus on sales and revenue metrics, per a January Boathouse survey.

“We’re making this great transition from almost 100% compliance within the linear TV world to bringing that process within the digital space, which is a little more wild and free,” said Nada Bradbury, CEO of AD-ID, the universal measurement tool backed by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and the 4As. “People are just doing whatever they have to do to get their ads out there.”

Can I see your ID?

While marketers are eager to experiment with new channels, they are recognizing how more advanced creative measurement proves business results.

Some 35% of US and UK content and creative professionals want to enhance platform performance tracking and reporting to enhance their content ROI, per an October 2024 survey from Canto in partnership with Ascend2.

“One of the biggest challenges in measuring creative performance across linear and streaming is simply knowing which creative actually ran where,” said Ryan McConville, executive vice president and chief product officer of advertising platforms and operations at NBCUniversal Advertising and Partnerships.

• AD-ID is speaking on a Cannes Lions panel on unifying cross-platform performance alongside speakers from NBCUniversal, VideoAmp, and IAB Tech Lab.

While expanding from linear TV to multiple digital channels has brought some needed innovation, the media industry has also “lost a lot of its processes along the way,” said Bradbury. This lack of visibility can ultimately lead to wasted ad dollars.

• Transparency on where your ads are running (39%) and difficulty managing ad frequency across publishers and platforms (37%) are top connected TV (CTV) concerns among advertisers worldwide, per an April 2024 Advertiser Perceptions survey.
• Nearly half of viewers (49%) agree that they have decided not to purchase a product from a brand when they see the ads too often, per a September 2024 AD-ID and Harris Poll survey.

“The more that we can do to make sure that identification is standardized and utilized for all kinds of purposes, including frequency capping, the better that it will be for the entire industry,” said Bradbury.

Mastering measurement in new spaces

“Measurement will be top-of-mind for many marketers,” said our analyst Jasmine Enberg. “While marketers no longer have to fight for executive buy-in for influencer marketing, the days of unchecked spending are over.”

• Proven higher ROI compared with other channels is the top factor (54.7%) that would warrant an increased creator marketing budget among US brand marketers and agencies, per a February EMARKETER and Spotter survey.

While Cannes will feature celebrities and flashy tech announcements, the measurement conversation will remain top of mind across the industry, said Bradbury.

“It’s not really sexy or exciting, but it’s truly meaningful," said Bradbury, “because it could have magnificent ramifications, both from a savings and an increase in sales perspective.”

This was originally featured in the EMARKETER Daily newsletter. For more marketing insights, statistics, and trends, subscribe here.