3C Venture’s Michael Kassan talks media M&A and – Business News
Michael Kassan, the unofficial King of Cannes, is back at Cannes along with his new company, 3C Ventures. The founder and Chief Executive of the strategic advisory firm has been coming to Cannes Lions for 25 years – which is almost one-third of the convention’s 72-year existence.
3CV kicked off Cannes with its inaugural Convene dinner hosted by 3C Ventures, iHeartMedia, Disney at Louroc restaurant at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes Monday evening. It was adopted by Convene After Dark, an after-party, hosted by iHeartMedia, 3C Ventures, Condé Nast, which occurred at a newly-constructed venue on the resort’s property, giving two large occasions to start out the pageant.
The company has additionally launched 3CV Plage, a new space on the seashore the place entrepreneurs, media execs and advertisers are discussing some of the largest points dealing with the industry all through the week.
Michael Kassan at Sport Beach. Ella Pellegrini
Seth Dallaire, Walmart, Elery Pfeffer, Nift Networks, Michael Kassan, CEO, 3C Ventures pictured collectively. Gary Morrisroe / 3C Ventures
Kassan spoke to The Post from Stagwell’s Sport Beach Tuesday about how the convention has developed, what’s on the horizon for the media and promoting industries and how to outlive the long, sizzling days and raucous, booze-filled nights of Cannes Lions.
Q: I used to be at 3CV’s govt dinner and your get together final evening. Please inform me more about your new company, 3CV, and what you may have deliberate for this week in Cannes?
Michael Kassan: We had some enjoyable final evening, and 3C in its inaugural go to right here to the Cannes Lions, kicked it off, I feel, the best way we prefer to with all of our buddies and companions and a good cross-section of this industry. And the best way I all the time describe Cannes Lions is the intersection of advertising and marketing, media, promoting, leisure, sports activities, and technology. I feel, you already know, the Latin I discovered after I was in law college many, many, many, years in the past was “recipes loquitur,” which in Latin says it speaks for itself. So all one need do is go searching on the Croisette and I feel it speaks for itself.
Michael Kassan speaks to The Post. Ella Pellegrini
Q: How did you assume final evening went? Will you do the identical factor subsequent 12 months? Have you had a probability to even give it some thought?
MK: I feel we modified it up a bit. I’ve been coming to the Cannes Lions for about a quarter of a century now. My first go to right here was 25 years in the past, so I suppose that’s not about a quarter of a century. I used to be good at math. That is a quarter century. It’s modified dramatically, and I feel you all the time need to iterate. The tongue-in-cheek joke is, I suppose, in Cannes, Monday is the new Tuesday.
Michael Kassan discusses Cannes Lions and how it’s developed. Ella Pellegrini
Q: How has Cannes Lions developed through the years?
MK: It’s attention-grabbing. When I confirmed up, form of unintentionally, my spouse and I have been on vacation, we’d all the time been on this half of the world within the third week of June, coincidentally, for, you already know, 35 years. And at some point I used to be sitting on the pool at our resort and it was a second like Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz.” When, if you happen to bear in mind, of course you do, when she woke up and mentioned, and you have been there, and you’re there, and you’re there taking a look at all of the farm palms, which turned out to be the, you already know, the characters. And I used to be sitting on the pool and I noticed a bunch of of us from the inventive aspect of the industry. And at that time, I used to be operating what was then the most important media company on this planet. And I solely say that to underscore the shock after I mentioned to them: “Why are you all here?”
And I turned to my spouse and mentioned: “Why don’t we go into Cannes tomorrow and check out this thing?” And I bought right here and this was and it continues to be a celebration of creativity. I feel if I’m capable of say this with a bit of immodesty. I feel what I did was I noticed the chance to construct a convention across the Festival of Creativity.
What I discovered … is there are occasions which can be conferences or [there are] festivals and they’re totally different. And I perceive the nuance now. And if you happen to look across the Croisette, as I mentioned earlier, it’s clearly a convention. And that convention nonetheless surrounds a celebration of creativity. I feel Cannes Lions at present is the right intersection of every little thing coming collectively at one time. It might be probably the most environment friendly week of the 12 months as a result of everybody’s right here that you simply need to see. And there’s all the time the reply that you simply get from people after they say, nicely, “I could see you in New York, I could see you in LA, I can see you Cleveland,” however you don’t. And right here it’s a forcing perform.
Dinner on the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Rock. Gary Morrisroe / 3C Ventures
Q: What sorts of points are you speaking about at Plage CV this week? What are entrepreneurs actually targeted on this 12 months?
MK: There are in all probability 4 fundamental points this 12 months. AI is overwhelmingly the primary subject on everybody’s thoughts. Up and down the Croisette and it’s from each side simply how is it going to play [out in your business] and what’s going to occur? What does this do to labor? What does this do to the best way I do what I do? It’s the technology of yes as a result of it’s going to influence every little thing we do in each side of our life primary so the highest problem would clearly be that.
I feel the second problem is the emergence of what many call retail media networks what I’ve began to call commerce media networks as a result of they’re no longer the province of simply retailers. When you may have firms like Lyft and Uber and Chase Bank and Best Buy. Best Buy is a retailer so you could possibly call it a retail media community but it surely’s based mostly on commerce.
Third is clearly the emergence of the influencer and the creator economic system. [The fourth topic], I feel is the M&A market and what’s going to occur as we’re ready for the Omnicom IPG merger to close, God keen, and I Ihink there’ll be more to come back. The holding company panorama, I believe, is not going to look the identical at Cannes 2026.
Michael Kassan, CEO of 3C Ventures, Bob Pittman, CEO of iHeartMedia, Musician Questlove, and Rich Bressler, Chief Financial officer of iHeartMedia, attend the iHeartMedia, 3C Ventures and Conde Nast after get together. Getty Images for iHeartMedia
Q: How will the Skydance-Paramount merger influence the media panorama, assuming it occurs?
MK: Well, it already has. Paramount’s already made some selections on who their media companions are going to be. That was introduced about two weeks in the past, so we’re already seeing some influence there, and that’s even previous to this deal closing, which hopefully it’s going to. And I feel as soon as that deal closes, and I do imagine it’s going to and I feel it ought to, I feel that it’s going to unlock large modifications within the streaming market.
I simply assume the best way you’ve bought WarnerBros. Discovery having spun off the cable belongings and Comcast having spun off its cable belongings…it readies you for various sorts of transactions and I do assume as soon as the Skydance Paramount deal closes, you’ll see a lot more exercise in that regard as a result of like commerce media networks. I’ve all the time subscribed. To a philosophy that if you happen to discover circumstances the place you should utilize the next three phrases in a sentence in the precise approach, somebody will make money. And these three phrases are consolidation, fragmentation, and effectivity. If you could find me a fragmented circumstance that may be made more environment friendly by consolidation, somebody will do nicely. If you look throughout the panorama at present with the rising commerce media or retail media networks, there’s too many of them. I feel there’ll be consolidation. I take a look at the streaming state of affairs precisely the identical. So, I feel you’ll see some of the streamers come collectively. And I feel the Paramount deal is an unlock for that.
From left to proper: Michael Kassan, CEO of 3C Ventures, Bob Pittman, CEO of iHeartMedia, Musician Questlove, and Rich Bressler, Chief Financial officer of iHeartMedia. Getty Images for iHeartMedia
Q: As a Cannes veteran, what are your ideas for people going by this week? How do you be environment friendly whereas surviving the grind of going to all of these occasions late at evening and getting up within the morning for conferences and panels?
MK: It’s actually exhausting, however what I’ve all the time instructed my groups once we hit the ground in the beginning of Cannes, half of my recreation day speech to the crew has all the time been that tumbler of rosé in your hand is merely a prop. It’s not there so that you can drink. It’s there so that you can maintain and be social. That’s the best lesson I can provide you, primary. Number two, costume gentle, it will get actually sizzling, and take all of it in. Smell the roses, make sure you’re taking all of it in. Do spend time wanting on the work as a result of at its core, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, is across the work.
