Cannes Lions 2022: The Metaverse is a very sexy, but much-hyped area to be in – Sir Martin Sorrell

In April 2021, Allianz appointed S4 Capital’s Media.Monks to handle its global digital mandate.

A year later, at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Sir Martin Sorrell, founder and executive chairperson, S4 Capital and Christian Deuringer, head - global brand communication, Allianz, were in conversation with John Stinchcomb, global chief revenue officer, Wall Street Journal, to discuss how client-agency partnerships can be built that move at the speed of digital.

The talk began with Sorrell stating why digital is of utmost importance to S4 Capital.

“The total size of the entire media business is US$ 750 billion. Digital makes up 450 billion of it. That’s almost 60% of the total business and it will grow to 70% by 2024. Out of the 450 billion, Google dominates with almost half (215), Meta has 115 and Amazon is at 31. All of these will be growing in the future,” he said.

He also listed three attributes that agencies must have:

“They need to be agile. They also need to have better means of understanding the digital ecosystem which includes players like Microsoft and Adobe among others. And in times of inflation, in particular, agencies need to have efficiency.”

While new channels are emerging for marketers, Deuringer believed that brands can only be built on the back of insights.

“New channels have been emerging every few years even in the past. Brand building starts with insights. Channels might change, but human behaviour doesn’t,” he said.

According to Sorrell, most brands are looking for agencies to help them deliver the right technology for their campaigns and also help them get more local.

Metaverse

Sorrell labelled the Metaverse as a ‘much-hyped, but very sexy area’ for brands to be in.

He explained, “The revenue opportunities for brands using the Metaverse are currently limited. Conversations that open up about the Metaverse often lead elsewhere. We have a long way to go to understand this and it will be extremely important in the long term.”

Agreeing with Sorrell, Deuringer said, “It’s overhyped for sure. Brands must explore what the Metaverse will mean in the future.”