Digiday Podcast at Cannes: From center stage to closed doors, inside X’s quiet Cannes strategy
By Kimeko McCoy • June 18, 2025 •
Digiday covers the latest from marketing and media at the annual Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. More from the series →
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A few years ago, Twitter Beach was one of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity places to be. Before it became X, the platform brought marketers from the Palais to the beach for daytime panels featuring Chrissy Teigen, a celeb the company once dubbed the mayor of Twitter, and a nighttime party with performances by Ciara and Steve Aoki. The flag with its iconic blue bird flew next to tech giants like Pinterest, Microsoft and Yahoo.
Nowadays, the beach and Twitter execs are harder to find. Instead of the flashy fireside chats and branded lounges, X’s execs are found behind closed doors at the Carlton, quietly courting marketers and media buyers against a backdrop of lawsuits, Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM)’s disbanding and political crosshairs. It’s a clear sign that the platform’s role in the ad ecosystem — and culture overall — has dramatically shifted.
“From what I understand of it, there was a good 15 to 20 people in that suite [that X occupied at the Carlton Cannes hotel],” said Digiday platforms reporter Krystal Scanlon on the Digiday Podcast.
Speaking of platforms gone quiet, what happened to TikTok ban discourse?
Back in the U.S., legislation looms over the platform, unless President Donald Trump extends the deadline yet again. But along the Croisette, it’s business as usual for TikTok, which is hosting panels, parties, and talking about everything but the ban, says Scanlon.
In this episode of the podcast. Scanlon joins host Kimeko McCoy about Twitter, now X, and what its retreat from the Cannes beachfront says about its relationship with advertisers, as well as TikTok’s head in the sand mentality around the ban.
Listen to the full episode of Digiday at Cannes podcast for more.
https://digiday.com/?p=581193
