Indie Forum and Cannes Lions 2026 quick recap!
 22nd-26th June, Cannes, France

Panel 1: 

Earned Media - Dead or Alive?

The Indie Forum’s first panel at Cannes 2026 tackled a question many in the industry have been asking: is earned media still relevant? The answer was definitive — earned media is not only alive, it’s expanding.

Earned is no longer limited to press coverage or journalist relationships. It now includes social sharing, community engagement, creator amplification, and even how content influences search and LLM ecosystems.

The future lies in integrated communications where earned, paid, owned, and social work together to build cultural impact.

Speakers: Kai Sedel (Serviceplan), Tom Wenborn (Thinkerbell), Jane McDaid (THINKHOUSE), Kerri Young (Smarts, MSQ), Jari Lähdevuori (SAMY Nordics), Barby K. Siegel (Zeno Group)

Panel 2: 

The Indie Advantage: A techie perspective

Our second panel explored why AI adoption succeeds or fails inside agencies. The debate centred on whether the barriers are skills‑based or operational - and whether leadership is moving fast enough to drive change.

The panel highlighted that buying AI tools is easy; integrating them into daily workflows is the real challenge. Cultural resistance, leadership gaps, and unclear expectations often stall transformation.

But what’s the one thing AI cannot replace:  a quote from Amir, “AI cannot break the rules”. Creativity still relies on human instinct, intuition, and the willingness to push boundaries

Speakers: Jules Love (Spark AI), Monica Chun (ACC), Alexander Morad (Bright Mind Agency / oriiion AI), Amir Salim (ex‑Lovable), Kalie Moore (High Vibe PR / PRCoverage.AI), Jocelyn Wright Medhurst (Propeller)

EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT 

thenetworkone's Tier System is now live

digital marketing, PR and event management. With nearly two decades of experience and a team of over 120 professionals, they believe change starts with a spark. Their work has earned recognition at the IPRA Golden World Awards and The Stevie® Awards, and they produce Sound On, Hungary's leading creative and communications podcast and radio show.

THINKHOUSE win a Grand Prix at Cannes 2026

Huge congratulations to THINKHOUSE (an Irish based independent Social & PR agency) on their Cannes Lions win for  The Pub That Refused To Die for Heineken N - the story of Kilteely, Co. Limerick, where 26 locals came together to save their last remaining pub from closure. The campaign brought this story to life through documentary film, PR, and community-to-community storytelling, generating over 1,196 media placements and 209 million opportunities to see - a brilliant reminder of the power of creativity to spark real community action!

"It's such a buzz to come away from this campaign with more wins for this brilliant inter-agency team. Three years of compound-creativity, and continued wins at Cannes, is the result of a group of agencies that work together, under the visionary leadership of a world-class client brand team at Heineken®, to produce something really special." - Jane McDaid, Founder of THINKHOUSE

Propeller won a Gold AND a Silver Cannes Lions PR award

Propeller has just picked up a Gold and Silver Cannes Lions PR award for their work on the T-Rex Leather campaign with VML. Real leather made from reconstructed T-Rex collagen, a luxury handbag launched in Amsterdam, and a global PR campaign that turned a "is this an April Fools' joke?" moment into a genuine worldwide talking point. An independent agency going up against the biggest networks in the world and walking away with two Lions, huge congratulations to the team at Propeller! 

AI video is moving fast - and for independent agencies, the opportunity to build it into your offer is real. But knowing where to start, who to trust, and how to pitch it to clients is a different challenge entirely.

This session is for you.

Join Stuart McKenzie of Luna Production for a practical, no-nonsense 30-minute walkthrough tailored specifically to independent agencies. Whether you've been watching AI video from the sidelines or already experimenting, Stuart will give you the clarity and confidence to bring it to your clients, and make money doing it.

You'll leave with a clear picture of how AI production compares to traditional methods, a plain-English guide to briefing an AI production house, and a framework for presenting and selling these services to clients. No technical background needed - just curiosity and an eye for opportunity.

Wednesday 15th July 13:00 - 13:30 BST

Where: Online

We are excited to announce a new partnership with Shortlist - an awards intelligence platform built specifically for agencies, by Ben Condit who's spent 25+ years running award programmes (and racked up a 37% medal rate doing it!).

Here's the headline stat: a full award entry that used to take a lead strategist around 40 hours now takes under two. Upload your brief, and Shortlist recommends the strongest show-and-category combinations with a win-likelihood score attached - so you know where you've got a real shot before you commit the entry fee. It also drafts entries in your agency's own voice, jury-scores them against that specific show's criteria, and can even generate your press kit and video script once you've been shortlisted.

One insight from founder Ben Condit's research really stood out to us: awards juries are far more concentrated than they look -  roughly 100 people hold 40% of president and chair seats across the major global shows, with the same names reappearing year after year. The jury is more knowable than most agencies realise, and Shortlist tracks it properly, across 30+ shows and counting.

More details coming for members soon. Watch this space. Or email alice.carr@thenetworkone.com for more information.

Golden Drum - Young Winners Competition

YOptima is a data-driven media and martech partner to marketers worldwide. They address the CMO's business growth objectives via programmatic media, growth consulting and big data analytics. 

SAMY X Thenetworkone Social-First Trend Report

Joint initiative with thenetworkone and Kurio (Now part of SAMY), a member of thenetworkone. 

Social media marketing evolves in 2026 to an ever more all-encompassing and sales-driving part of the media mix, states our new report. Trends predictions by 22 agencies from thenetworkone, the world’s leading independent agency network, were compiled into a 90-page report to help marketers make the most of the changing media landscape.

Have any announcements or news you want to share with the rest of thenetworkone community? Please send it however small to alfie.buisson@thenetworkone.com or maddie.pluck@thenetworkone.com.