AI at Cannes Lions

The Spotlight on Tania Bryer OBE: A Media Maven Shaping Global Conversations
The media landscape thrives on voices that can cut through the noise, and few do it as deftly as Tania Bryer OBE. A British broadcaster, philanthropist, and CNBC stalwart, Bryer has spent decades dissecting trends, moderating high-stakes debates, and amplifying underrepresented narratives. Her work at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity—a glitzy battleground for advertising’s sharpest minds—exemplifies her knack for bridging industries, from tech titans to grassroots activists. But Bryer’s influence isn’t confined to the French Riviera; it ripples through boardrooms, charity galas, and the very fabric of inclusive storytelling. Here’s how she’s rewriting the rules.
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Cannes Lions: Where Bryer Plays Maestro
At Cannes Lions, Bryer isn’t just a moderator—she’s a conductor orchestrating symphonies of ideas. Take her interview with WPP CEO Mark Read, where she grilled him on advertising’s existential crisis: *Can creativity survive the algorithm apocalypse?* The session, later broadcast globally by CNBC, became a masterclass in probing without pretension. Bryer’s secret? She treats CEOs like chatty cab passengers—drawing out unfiltered truths with a mix of charm and razor-sharp follow-ups.
Then came Elon Musk’s headline-grabbing appearance. While others fawned over SpaceX memes, Bryer steered the conversation toward ad-tech’s ethical quagmires. *“When data is the new oil, who’s drilling responsibly?”* Her panels don’t just rehash buzzwords; they force execs to confront the *“and then what?”* of innovation.
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Interviews That Crack Open Industries
Bryer’s interview roster reads like a who’s-who of disruptors. With TikTok’s Blake Chandlee, she dissected how the platform vacuums up ad dollars while dodging regulatory shrapnel. *“Gen Z scrolls past ads like spam calls,”* Chandlee admitted—a nugget Bryer spun into a broader critique of attention economics.
Then there’s Gary Vaynerchuk, the marketing provocateur. Their chat on *“Why ‘authentic’ branding is now as rare as a quiet crypto bro”* went viral for its brutal honesty. Vaynerchuk’s rant about *“corporate cringe”* resonated because Bryer let him marinate in his own audacity—no sugarcoating, no PR fluff.
But her pièce de résistance? The diversity roundtables. When Droga5’s Chioma Aduba broke down systemic barriers for women of color, Bryer didn’t just nod sympathetically—she turned the session into a call to arms. *“If your diversity report reads like a grocery list, you’re doing it wrong,”* she quipped.
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Beyond the Mic: Advocacy and Philanthropy
Bryer’s offstage work packs equal punch. As Chair of NEC at Cancer Research UK, she’s leveraged her CNBC clout to turn galas into fundraising juggernauts. *“Charity isn’t about guilt trips,”* she insists. *“It’s about showing donors the ROI in human lives.”*
Her Women of the Future summits, meanwhile, are part TED Talk, part boot camp. At CogX and Davos, she’s hammered home a simple truth: *“Inclusion isn’t a panel topic—it’s a profit driver.”* When stats prove diverse teams outperform homogenous ones by 35%, Bryer weaponizes data to shame laggards into action.
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The Bryer Blueprint: Why It Matters
Tania Bryer OBE isn’t just hosting events; she’s engineering cultural shifts. At Cannes Lions, her interviews peel back corporate veneers to reveal the messy, thrilling guts of industries in flux. Her advocacy—whether for cancer research or marginalized creatives—proves media influence isn’t just about airtime; it’s about turning platforms into levers for change.
In an era where trust in media hovers near septic-tank levels, Bryer’s blend of rigor and relatability is a rare antidote. She’s the interviewer who asks the questions audiences yell at their screens, the philanthropist who treats generosity like a business strategy, and the voice insisting creativity *must* serve more than bottom lines. The takeaway? However chaotic the media circus gets, Bryer’s the ringmaster we’d all do well to follow.