25% drop in entries? Honestly, it’s healthy: Jane Lin Baden on Cannes scrutiny

At a time when Asia-Pacific continues to outperform global markets, Publicis Groupe’s performance in the region reflects that momentum. The group has outperformed the industry for 20 consecutive quarters and started this year with 6.4% growth in Q1.

In conversation with Neeta Nair, Editor, IMPACT Magazine, Jane Lin Baden, CEO APAC at Publicis Groupe, reflects on Asia’s expanding role in global growth, the rise of AI-led transformation, evolving consumer behaviour, and how the Cannes Lions festival itself is adapting to a rapidly changing industry.

Excerpts from the conversation:

We’ve heard about how the Asia Pacific has been outpacing the US and the European markets with regard to growth. But tell me how far before we actually make a big dent in the overall ecosystem, in the global revenues of Publicis?

We definitely should have ambition. We have the ambition to significantly grow the size of our business in the future. But for the Asia-Pacific, the importance of the region goes beyond revenue, even though its contribution is already quite significant today.

We all know that this region is a source of innovation and a source of speed, and that’s what makes it so important for our clients. When I think about the future of Asia-Pacific, the ambition is not only about scale. It’s also about the role and meaning of the region within the global business landscape.

 That’s what we should be striving for—not just growing the size of the region, but strengthening its influence and significance.

 We’ve heard in the past year that Publicis has committed heavily to the use of AI. You’ve had a very strong AI outlook as well, which has contributed to growth. Tell us, how is it really impacting the workflows on the creative and the media side at Publicis APAC?

As a matter of fact, this week at Cannes, even before the festival officially began, we brought together 450 leaders from across the world for AI training. You couldn’t think of a better setting to have that conversation. It shows how important AI is for us.

For Publicis, AI is not just pitchware or a showcase technology. It’s an enterprise solution. We’re looking at how AI can connect all our practices and bring our people onto a common platform. With more than 100,000 people globally, including a significant workforce across APAC, the opportunity is to create a connected ecosystem where teams can work together more effectively.

What differentiates us isn't simply access to AI tools. Everyone can use LLMs. The real differentiation lies in the data layer, the data cube, and the technology infrastructure we're building around it. That’s the foundation.

Our goal is to bring everyone onto that enterprise solution so we can connect workflows, capabilities and expertise across the organisation. At the same time, we’re investing heavily in building AI skills across our workforce, including for people who may have never worked with AI before. The speed at which people can learn and the impact they can create has been remarkable to see.

The first thing that comes to mind when you talk about AI is job losses. By sheer number of people that we have in APAC, you would think that it would affect Asia-Pacific the most. Are you really turning that into an advantage as opposed to something that can create problems in the AI platform?

I love this question because I think we look at it very differently.

Within the group, I always say that AI is not meant to drive layoffs. Honestly, we don't believe that’s the right approach. If a company is growing, that growth can fund productivity. The reason many people associate productivity with layoffs is that their businesses aren’t growing fast enough. They don't have the bandwidth or buffer to invest in productivity while continuing to grow.

The way we look at it is different. First, we're seeing strong growth across the region, which gives us the ability to invest in productivity. Second, when we talk about productivity, we’re not talking about cutting people. We’re talking about re-skilling people so they can refocus on growth, because we want to grow even more.

If we can help our people spend less time on repetitive or low-value tasks, they can spend more time creating growth for our clients and our business. So why would we need to lay people off? I don’t think that’s the right connection to make. It's not the right motivation, and it’s certainly not the best way to use AI.

What’s also interesting is how client conversations have evolved. Over the past two years, most client discussions around AI were centred on productivity. This year, every client is asking a different question: How can AI help us grow? That's their business agenda today.

I think we need to flip the conversation. Instead of asking how AI can help us reduce headcount, we should be asking how it can empower our people, unlock new opportunities and accelerate growth. That’s a far more valuable way to think about AI than simply saying, ‘Let’s cut another 20% of jobs’.

What is that one big commerce or consumer behaviour trend that is brewing in Asia, but perhaps the world is still sleeping on it?

A lot of things. If you look at the scale, complexity and speed of this region—and going back to your earlier question about how Asia can make a dent globally—I think the region is already making a dent because many of these consumer trends are deeply rooted here.

Take quick commerce, for example. In India and China, quick commerce is moving at incredible speed. Even this year, it continues to dominate headlines in India, with multiple players and business models emerging. If you look at the GMV flowing through quick commerce platforms, the growth is extraordinary.

The same is true in China. Look at how much investment media and commerce platforms have poured into quick commerce, resulting in thousands of what we call ‘lightning warehouses’—similar to what we’re seeing in India. You simply don’t see this at the same scale in many other markets. I would say quick commerce is the number one trend in the region, and there is a lot that other parts of the world can learn from Asia.

The second trend is social commerce. Social commerce in Southeast Asia is booming. Look at how platforms like TikTok and other social commerce ecosystems are driving GMV. You don’t see that happening at the same scale elsewhere. I believe this will become huge in the US and Europe, and they can learn a great deal from what's happening in Southeast Asia.

The third trend is around consumers themselves. If you look at ageing populations, the 60-plus consumer segment is growing rapidly across the region. When we talk about ageing, we need to be clear about definitions—we're talking about consumers aged 60 and above, and perhaps even breaking that down further into 70-plus and 80-plus cohorts. But the 60-plus segment alone is already a very significant and growing group.

In China, around 20% to 23% of the population is over 60, and they are big spenders. We're seeing brands create products not just for Gen Z, but increasingly for older consumers. They have money, and they have time, so brands should focus on them.

We're already seeing brands rethink SKUs, design thinking and user experiences for the 60-plus consumer. I think this is going to be a major consumer trend in the future, and it's something that many markets outside the region are still underestimating.

 What is that one big consumer trend that you're seeing across Asia but not in India?

 India has so many. India has a size, and there’s a population. It has everything; I don’t see anything outside in the region not happening in India.

 You have been recognised globally for driving diversity and business with a cause. What is that one big hurdle that is stopping Asian talent from becoming maybe global leads or elevating themselves on a global level across agencies, brands, everywhere?

 I don’t think there are any intentional hurdles. Within our group, if I look at diversity from a gender perspective, we have very high gender equality and strong female leadership. When it comes to Asian talent, I sit on the International Board Management Committee, and we also have many leaders from Asia playing important roles globally.

 Where I do see a challenge is in the industry’s mindset. Not just in Asia, but across the industry, there’s still a tendency to think that to hold a global role, you have to be somewhere else. There’s often an assumption that a global leader needs to be based outside Asia. That’s the wrong notion.

 What is global business today? If you look at our clients’ boards and management teams, many of those leaders come from Asia. If you look at which region is driving growth for clients, it’s Asia. We need to change the notion that, in order to be global, you have to be outside the region. That’s something all of us need to work towards.

 The second thing is that Asians tend to be less self-promotional. Maybe it’s cultural. Maybe we’re simply more low-key and believe that if we’re doing good work, it should speak for itself. But sometimes promoting yourself is really about sharing what is working on a broader stage. That’s probably something Asian talent can do more of.

 The world is very curious about what’s happening in this region. If you look at our clients, they’re coming to Asia because they believe their future growth will come from here. Naturally, they want to tap into the talent here as well.

 When I look at talent organisations, whether it’s headhunters or talent acquisition teams, we’re actively working with them to place Asian talent into important global roles. We can certainly do more as a region, and the industry can do more as well. But I still come back to the same point: we probably need to be a little more vocal about what we’re doing and what we’re capable of.

 Which are the big clients which you are seeing globally who are suddenly focusing on the Asian market in the past one and a half years, where their trust in Asia has become bigger than ever?

 We work with international clients, and virtually all of them already have a footprint in this region. India, China and Southeast Asia are all incredibly important markets for our clients. In fact, I don't have a single client who doesn’t have a presence here.

 What I do see, however, is a shift in mindset. In the past, everyone knew growth was coming from the region, but there was often a sense that investment could wait or that growth would happen naturally. Given the macroeconomic environment, there was also some uncertainty around what could be predicted. This year feels different.

 With everything happening in the global economy and geopolitics, I’ve seen a significant increase in interest from international clients. From March to May, we had global CEOs and CMOs visiting the region almost every day. They’re not just coming to check in on local teams anymore. They’re seriously evaluating further investment opportunities.

 The reason is simple: when the global economy becomes more volatile, where do you find growth? When growth is available everywhere, Asia is treated as business as usual. But when meaningful and profitable growth becomes harder to find, companies turn to this region because it continues to deliver growth.

 I’m seeing clients double down on Asia. From our own perspective, we’re seeing growth across the region. As we move through the first half of the year, growth isn't coming from just one market—it’s coming from virtually every market. That gives our clients confidence and reinforces their belief that the region remains one of the strongest sources of future growth.

 Are you satisfied with what you’ve seen so far? The metals that we managed to get, one for the Sting campaign, that’s the most prominent one that we managed to get this year.

 I’m very happy with our team, and I feel like, other than Cannes, if you can win something in Cannes itself already, it’s amazing. We’re looking at, oh, we should win ABC, but Cannes is becoming even more and more selective. So, I feel like any award that can be awarded in Cannes itself is a great recognition. I’ve been on the Cannes jury board five times so far, and I was the jury president last year. I really feel like they’re making an effort to give good recognition to the work. I’m happy with our team’s work, and I love the India work. I love the sting work. I’m a big fan of that work. That is a very strong work.

As you said, you’ve been on the jury many, many years. What is that most positive change about Cannes that you’ve seen over the past five, 10 years, something that's reflecting now eventually?

 I feel like Cannes is constantly introducing new categories to keep the awards modern and relevant, and that’s an effort we should recognise. In many ways, Cannes is like the Olympics of our industry. It’s the award that everyone aspires to win, and maintaining that relevance is incredibly important.

For example, the category I chaired as Jury President last year—Creative Business Transformation—was itself a relatively new category, introduced only a few years ago. That’s a good example of how Cannes continues to evolve alongside the industry.

The second positive change is the increased scrutiny around entries. Last year, we spent a lot of time reviewing and validating work in our category because we wanted to ensure that the work being recognised genuinely represented real work. I can see a clear effort from Cannes to reward authentic work and real business impact.

The commitment to recognising real work is there, and I hope that focus becomes even stronger in the future. I think Cannes is moving in the right direction, and that’s a very positive sign for the industry.

Interestingly, we saw what happened last year, and there were a few scams and cheating scandals, as you would want to put it. Then this year, after all those measures were put in place, we’re seeing a 25% drop. Does that send a bad signal about the industry, 25% drop means that many people were not really submitting real work.

I don’t think we should read it that way, even though it’s easy to draw that correlation. My view is that even without the rule changes, we would likely have seen fewer entries this year. That’s partly because of the broader macroeconomic environment, geopolitical uncertainty, and even changes in how holding companies are organising themselves. So, some reduction in entries was probably inevitable.

Now, is it possible that a portion of the 25% decline came from people feeling they might not meet the new regulations and therefore chose not to enter? Perhaps there’s some element of that. But honestly, I think that’s healthy.

We may see a dip in the first year, whatever the reason. Setting a higher benchmark and establishing a clear threshold is a good thing. It creates a healthier environment for the industry.

Different markets will always behave differently. If a market is performing well, it may naturally submit more work. At the same time, we’re also seeing some markets—and even some clients—not entering as much work, and we need to understand those dynamics as well. But I don’t think the decline can be attributed to a single factor.

One thing I strongly believe in is recognising real work and big work—work that delivers meaningful impact for major brands and businesses. Having served as a Jury President last year, I can say it’s always exciting to see outstanding creativity. But I also think we do a tremendous amount of work for clients who are investing real budgets to build their brands and grow their businesses, and I love seeing that work recognised. 

To me, that’s what the industry should celebrate: work that reflects the real job we’re doing, drives real business outcomes, and creates genuine impact. When that work gets recognised, it’s a win for everyone. 

We just have two days left to see the work that is winning. Which is the one best bet from APAC or Publicis? 

From APAC, we have a lot of amazing work coming from Leo and across our networks. But if I had to highlight one piece of work, it would be the work from Leo Australia for Suncorp. 

What makes it special is that it has created a long-term impact. It’s not just a one-year success story. The team has been working with Suncorp for five years, consistently delivering innovation, real-world outcomes and meaningful business impact. I’m particularly passionate about that work because, while there is a lot of great work out there, this is an example of what can happen when a brand commits to innovation over the long term. 

The campaign was also shortlisted for Titanium this year, which is a significant achievement. I think a lot of that comes down to having an exceptional CMO who has consistently championed the work and driven it forward for the business. 

Ultimately, I believe we should recognise business impact. Great creativity is important, but when creativity delivers sustained results and creates long-term value for a business, that’s something truly worth celebrating.