‘Human creativity is under fire’ says WPP

For all the star-studded splendor of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, its origins were remarkably modest. To find them, you must leave the French Riviera entirely and return to a warm September afternoon in 1954, in St. Mark’s Square in Venice. Europe was still rebuilding after the war, commercial television had yet to spread across the continent, and cinema remained the only mass audiovisual medium available to advertisers outside America. A group of cinema-advertising executives, inspired by the glitz and glamour of the Cannes Film Festival, decided that advertising deserved the same artistic legitimacy as film itself. And just like that, the first International Advertising Film Festival was born. It drew just a few hundred attendees and there was only a single competition category. The inaugural Grand Prix went to an Italian commercial for toothpaste. Those in attendance could scarcely have imagined what the festival would eventually become. This June, over seventy years on, tens of thousands will descend on Cannes. These days, the crowds lining the Croisette extend far beyond advertisers and filmmakers. Chief executives, venture capitalists, technology founders, and finance leaders are among the throngs flocking to the festival, all drawn by a growing conviction that creativity now sits at the centre of business strategy. Yet as creativity’s influence has expanded, so too have the pressures upon it. Many in the industry fear that the conditions that allow great ideas to flourish are becoming harder to sustain. Among the familiar faces raising the alarm is Rob Reilly, WPP’s global chief creative officer, who oversees creative strategy across one of the world’s largest advertising companies. “Human creativity is under fire,” he tells Fortune. “Without it, society will lose far more than its capacity to innovate. Everything that brings joy, peace, or inspiration—music, art, sports, and even simple hobbies like bak