SBP 128: The Cannes Cut Day 4: This Ad Won’t Wear Out

We’re back with another episode from the Croisette — and today, we unpack a busy (and very hot) Day 4 at Cannes Lions.

Marc and Vassilis reflect on a standout presentation by Mark Ritson, who laid out three pillars for marketing effectiveness: fluency, emotion, and time — and challenged long-held assumptions about personalization, ad wearout, and brand purpose.

They’re also joined by Vanessa Chin, SVP of Marketing and Josh Fruttiger, VP of Global partnerships from System1, who share insights from their latest report, The Long and the Short Form of It (co-authored with Andrew Tindall), which explores how brands can build attention, recognition, and results through short-form video.

Highlights include:

Ritson’s point: “Make fewer ads. Run them longer. Make more money.”

Why distinctive brand assets matter more than your logo

The creative secret behind Corona’s Cannes-winning eclipse campaign

System1’s forced fatigue study: why entertaining ads fatigue less and perform longer

The surprising absence of AI and personalization from the Croisette conversation

The myth of more = better: why 3,500 assets ≠ 3,500 ideas

The return of out-of-home — and what Super Bowl marketers can learn from it

Plus, find out why entertainment outperforms even hard-selling tactics across both brand and conversion metrics.

Stick around until the end to hear short interviews with Josh and Vanessa directly from the ground.

Enjoy the episode!

Timestamps:

00:00 – Introduction

01:12 – Recapping Day 4 at Cannes + why we need to talk about Ritson

02:20 – Mark Ritson’s 3 rules for effectiveness: fluency, emotion & time

04:45 – Why we overvalue personalization and short-term refreshes

06:30 – Creative consistency vs. fragmentation: 3,500 assets ≠ 3,500 ideas

08:20 – The case for distinctiveness, memory, and emotional resonance

10:00 – Interview: Josh Fruttiger (System1) on the long and the short form

10:50 – How System1 + TikTok measured short-form creative performance

13:15 – Entertainment vs. salesmanship: what actually converts?

15:30 – Why lazy branding hurts attention — and what to do instead

17:10 – What fluent devices and brand characters do better than logos

18:30 – Ad fatigue is real, but good creative ages well

20:00 – How to keep ideas fresh without losing consistency

21:15 – Interview: Vanessa Chin (System1) on brand, storytelling, and Corona

22:45 – The return of brand identity and emotional storytelling

24:10 – System1’s new out-of-home research and the future of Super Bowl ads

25:15 – Vanessa’s final takeaway from Cannes: sunscreen + storytelling

26:00 – Outro: Thanks for keeping us in your ears