Live is where it’s at for Omnicom, based on research (and strategy) it’s bringing to Cannes
By Michael Bürgi • June 13, 2025 •
Digiday covers the latest from marketing and media at the annual Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. More from the series →
As thousands of agency folk grab their passports, sunblock and antacids to head to Cannes next week for the annual Lions fest, Omnicom has quietly hammered out its strategy and message it’s taking to the Croisette. That message is, it’s time to capture the myriad opportunities for live — be it live-streaming, sponsorship of live sports, live shopping, etc.
Digiday has learned of a number of partnerships Omnicom and its various units (Omnicom Media Group, influencer arm Creo, commerce arm Flywheel) will be announcing next week with major platforms and retail media networks, all with an eye toward better understanding, harnessing and exploiting live opportunities for clients. Several Omnicom executives who spoke with Digiday talked of “the power of live content, conversation and commerce to drive brand growth.”
It’s all based on research Omnicom Media Group conducted that shows live can deliver more for clients thanks to evolving consumer habits and likes. Joanna O’Connell, Omnicom Media Group North America’s chief intelligence officer, spearheaded the research after OMG’s chief product officer Megan Pagliuca ID’ed the topic as one on which to focus. Nearly 1,500 U.S. consumers matched against U.S. Census data were surveyed the last week of April to generate the Rethinking Live study.
“There is truly this kind of rebound toward shared experiences,” said O’Connell. “Even as we’ve moved in a direction of so much personalization and so much … time spent alone on screens, people crave togetherness, they crave community, they crave connection. So, ‘live’ in that sense, is even more important than ever, because it’s kind of creating moments that bring people together, and they’re drawn to that.”
“At Philips, we recognize the opportunity that livestreaming and creator-led content unlock for deeper customer engagement,” said Faith Lim, ASEASN digital and media lead for Omnicom client Philips.
Some stats support Pagliuca’s hunch and O’Connell’s research as expressed in the report — which takes the concept of live far beyond live events like the Oscars or the Super Bowl, and into live-streaming, live shopping on a number of platforms (such as Amazon), second-screen experiences (such as conversations on X) while watching something live. For one, the study revealed that 75% of Gen Z watch social media live-streams while only 57% watch live TV content. In total, the live-stream e-commerce marketplace is estimated to hit almost $20 billion this year.
“When we asked people what they associate with live, more people (all U.S. consumers, not a specific age group) now say ‘live streaming on social platforms’ than they will live TV. And that’s bananas,” said O’Connell.
“Those are just massive numbers,” added Kevin Blazaitis, U.S. president of Creo, Omnicom’s influencer arm.
Three general findings came out of the research, said O’Connell. First, live-streams are the new prime time for younger people. One-third of younger respondents said they watch live-streamed content weekly, and they said it creates shared memories. What Omnicom will announce next week are a series of partnerships with a variety of platforms to harness this for clients, primarily through the influencers and creators who are live-streaming.
Secondly, co-viewing is more of a thing than ever before, particularly in the esports world. But other examples such as YouTube’s “watch with” feature adds a creator commentary layer to live sports streaming, while Thursday Night Football on Amazon also offers creator-led commentary.
Finally, private channels can’t be overlooked, since they also factor heavily into the shared experience — be it private chats, or membership in clubs. It’s a way for people to communicate with each other one-on-one as they digest shared experiences. Fans watching a Knicks game live on their TV at home might be texting each other with comments.
“This is more about questioning traditional notions than it is saying don’t do it anymore,” said O’Connell. “Because a live strategy needs to be a lot more expansive and sophisticated. You’ve got to be much more prepared to make real-time decisions. Your budgeting has to be more flexible. You need to be paying attention to social listening so you can get involved in conversation if it’s happening. There’s so much more depth and breadth to it.”
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