1) What will youth audience-focused social experts do now?
The UK this week announced it will follow Australia (and France, Denmark, Turkey, Malaysia, Spain and Greece) in introducing a social media ban on under-16s. My two distinct social circles have diverged. I’m struggling to find a parent at school pick-up who doesn’t think this is a wholly positive development. I’m struggling to find a London-based sports marketing thought leader on LinkedIn who’s not alarmed by the development (and its prospects for their consultancy). This, from Two Circles’ Christian Harrall-Baker, is the most balanced, pro-digital, sports-focused take I’ve read.
2) What’s the point of Cannes (for sport)?
It’s a valid question. And one that more and more people will begin to ask as the sports industry gets swept up in the crush on the Croissette. The Cannes Lions International ‘Festival of Creativity’ is arguably the most gigantified, pan-industry piss-up on the global business events calendar. It’s a black hole and we are all being sucked inexorably into the void. (I’m already so far in I’ve found myself round the back of a bookshelf at Matthew McConnaughy’s house). Sport is increasingly central at Cannes. It’s a mainstay on all the various stages of programming, in the activations around town, and in the people you bump into in front of air conditioning units in hotel lobbies the length and breadth of the town. But why? It’s a topic we’re getting stuck into in a new podcast series I’m co-hosting with Fuse strategy lead Alex Charkham. Crystal Palace Creative Director (and Cannes Lions Sports Director) Kenny Annan-Jonathan is our first guest.
3) Are you the sort of person who screencasts a roaring fire onto the TV via YouTube in Winter?
You’re probably also into lofi soundscapes. Sport is catching on. Here’s an eight-hour YouTube video of Lewis Hamilton relaxing in Monaco. And here’s a basketball court being slotted together ahead of an NBA finals game. It’s a fast growing way to make an impact through digital activation.
4) How much is that rights holder in the window?
The spirit of innovation runs deep at Tennis Australia. Not content with building the Australian Open into the ‘Happy Slam’ and breaking attendance records and sponsor satisfaction scores every year, this is a rights holder that now actively markets itself as a proxy rights holder for other rights holders. The team behind the AO already help run the Laver Cup. Now they’ve been drafted in to help deliver the 2028 Presidents Cup in golf.
5) How much is that rights holder in the window now?
I didn’t have Mark Ritson (more or less) defending Fifa and dynamic pricing on my 2026 bingo card.
6) What’s the next big sports city brand building opportunity?
It’s fair to say Hyrox is having a moment. Hosting rights for the next three World Championships – each of which is likely to account for 140,000 hotel room nights – are up for grabs.
7) What’s a ‘performance mindset partner’?
Manchester United have either jumped back into their ‘come up with an unlikely sponsorship category’ brainstorming session, or they’ve taken another genuinely well-meaning step towards a group wide cultural reset.
