With the dust settling on the 70th edition of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, this year’s attendees are reflecting on their time in the south of France.
Whilst at the festival, Getty Images spoke on a range of topics over the course of the week. Focuses included masculinity, LGBTQ+ inclusivity in marketing, and autistic representation in media.
Mediaweek caught up with Dr. Rebecca Swift, VP global creative insights, Getty Images, to chat about bringing the brand to Cannes and what the future looks like.
What is the appeal of having Getty images at Cannes?
“Cannes provides an opportunity to share and showcase our collaborations with some of the world’s greatest brands, and give marketers, content creators and strategists a window into the trends shaping visual communications through our unique insights and expertise. It’s an opportunity to inspire and be inspired, to learn from new approaches and to help shape the future of creativity and creative businesses.
“Today, we are the world’s leading visual content marketplace, with over over 520 million visual assets, 516,000 contributors and 310 premium content partners. This gives us unparalleled insights into visual content creation, but also how brands can create impact with their audiences. We’re excited to have showcased some of that work and the individuals behind the lens at Cannes this year.”
What industry trends and discussion points did you notice while you were there and how do you think that they apply to Getty Images?
“I was part of a really interesting panel discussion on masculinity. Together with BBD Perfect Storm’s New Macho, we recently unveiled some new research on the portrayal of men in brand communications, which found that harmful masculine stereotypes continue to permeate online media and advertising. It couldn’t come at a more critical time, as men’s mental health and attitudes towards issues like gender equality continue to decline in all parts of the world at alarming rates. The panel included speakers from the UN and Movember and explored the ways in which the depictions of men in advertising and the media can have a negative impact, and how men are gravitating towards brands that appeal to their needs and values, not outdated cliches of manhood.
“In the same vein, authenticity was a major theme at the conference, in how brands are tackling issues of ageism, tokenism and representation. There is a growing need for brands to go beyond the surface of diversity and inclusion, to promote more inclusive and authentic portrayals of individuals that are real and relatable, whether it’s age, ethnicity or body type. At Getty Images and iStock, we often talk about the importance of intersectionality, showing the multiple identities that people can simultaneously hold and displaying how these traits overlap in communications, to encourage more unbiased, nuanced advertising that leads to a measurable impact and reflects the current state of the world.
“The changing economic environment and its impact on marketing budgets is also, understandably, top of mind for creative and marketing agencies across the world. Many advertisers and creators are finding they are having to do more with less, and are trying to strike the right balance between performance and brand marketing. Productivity, however, should not come at the cost of quality.”
Getty Images partnered with the Verve Group to the The Art of Data installation, can you talk me through what this project is and why Getty Images actioned it?
“We recently partnered with the Verve Group to launch ‘Visual Intent’ – the first solution to combine contextual targeting and Getty Images to strengthen brand association across the web. Through The Art of Data installation, brands can transform their Cannes Lions moments into personalised digital art by selecting an image to best fit their moments from the event.”
Getty Images has been involved in a lot of progressive topics including LGBTQI+, Women’s issues, and neurodiversity, why is it important for Getty Images to be involved in these issues?
“It has never been so important to build an inclusive narrative. With the world in constant change, visual content must be in line with new realities.
“At Getty Images, we truly feel that seeing is believing and visuals can impact the way we see ourselves and the world around us. When inclusiveness and diversity are considered in imagery, we create authentic representation which can change perceptions, shift mindsets, and help create lasting connections between brands and consumers.
“We’ve partnered with some astounding brands in this space. Most recently, we worked with GLAAD to challenge the harmful and cliched visual stereotypes of the LGBTQ by creating visual guidelines. We also partnered with Citi to create a first-of-its-kind initiative that provides resources and tools around authentically showing underrepresented communities in visuals in Citi’s marketing and advertising campaigns on a global scale. These are just a few examples of how we’re working with brands to shatter stereotypes and more accurately represent a diverse population.”
Where do you believe Getty Images’ path into the future is?
“We’re looking at areas where we can continue to deliver the most value to our customers, including continuing to deliver unmatched breadth, depth and quality of visual and video content. We’re able to do this through our network of exclusive and non-exclusive contributors, to curate and create the highest quality of content that is unique and premium for businesses. Another area we’re focused on is our creative and industry insights. The upside of having one of the world’s largest editorial, creative and archival content libraries is that we have access to insights at our fingertips, to help brands choose relevant and powerful visual concepts that will move their audiences to action.”
What do you think is the biggest issue facing media today? And what are ways to overcome it?
“We live in a visual world, and it’s becoming harder than ever to choose one that makes your message stand out. At the same time, marketers are dealing with declining advertising revenue and difficulties in attracting and building trust with new and younger audiences.
“Our data shows that the world is shifting and that our customer base is looking for a more authentic view of people, and we know that brands and businesses are trying to be more diverse and inclusive in their visual stories, but it is our unconscious biases that are often overlooked and are one of the reasons why we are still perpetuating the stereotypes we are hoping to avoid.
“While we continue to push ourselves to lead the way when it comes to representation, the next step in our evolution was to look at identity in more detail. Media should continue to ask important questions such as, “What do we see? What is the demographic landscape of a country or region, and where are the opportunities for broader representation?” This will allow us to move beyond a superficial message and instead showcase the true intersectionality of experiences and perspectives that are drawn from the audiences they are targeting.”
See Also: Mediaweek’s Cannes 2023 wrap – the top sessions, brand activations, and award winners