Simon Langley’s Cannes Diary #2: AI, credibility and a campaign withdrawn from the festival

Simon Langley, Group Chief Creative Officer, Bastion Australia represented Australia on the Cannes Audio & Radio Lions jury. Here, Langley shares his insights from day two inside the jury room, exclusive to CB.

Day 2 is where the real debate starts and our decisions begin to make a difference, not only to careers and brands, but also to how the industry perceives our category into the future. No pressure.

With the shortlist behind us, the conversation shifted from identifying great work to deciding exactly how great it was. The distinction between Bronze, Silver and Gold sounds simple on paper, but in the jury room it’s anything but. Every piece of work that reaches this stage is good. The challenge is determining which campaigns genuinely push the category forward and which are simply excellent executions.

Controversy hit the jury room early in the day when one of the leading contenders came under scrutiny. After the first round of judging, a disclaimer was added to the case film, raising questions about the accuracy of some of the claims being made. The campaign quickly became the subject of discussion, not because of the quality of the idea, but because trust and integrity are fundamental to the judging process. By the following day, the work had been withdrawn from the festival entirely. It was a reminder that no matter how strong the creative idea, credibility matters just as much as creativity.

Beyond that distraction, a major theme throughout the day was AI. Interestingly, the jury consistently rewarded work where AI served a purpose rather than becoming the headline. One standout campaign used AI to help musicians fight the growing impact of AI-generated music, while many of the strongest entries demonstrated how audio technology is solving real-world problems in healthcare, transport and accessibility. The technology worked best when it enhanced the human idea rather than becoming the idea itself.

By late afternoon, after much debate, we had selected our Gold Lions and attention turned to the ultimate question: what deserves the Grand Prix? Those discussions were some of the most fascinating of the week. At that level, everyone agrees the work is exceptional. The debate becomes about cultural impact, originality and whether the idea has the potential to influence where the industry goes next. After passionate discussion from every corner of the room, a Grand Prix emerged that felt worthy not just of the category’s highest honour, but of setting the benchmark for the future of Audio & Radio.

What stood out most was the quality of the jury itself. Everyone had the opportunity to contribute their perspective and advocate for the work they believed in. The conversations were robust, passionate and occasionally challenging, but always respectful. It was a privilege to spend the week with such talented people from around the world and, together, decide what we believe represents the very best of Audio & Radio on the global stage.

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