Jane Austin: Buzzwords at Cannes: microdramas go viral, storytelling makes a comeback, AI gets too big for its buzz

Like so many other things we treasure in this industry, our vast lexicon of jargon has been taken over by AI, the buzziest of buzzwords.

But now that AI is so fundamental to operations – and perhaps because people are so bored talking about it – AI has gone beyond being a buzzword. It’s dystopian, it’s permeated every aspect of our lives, and it’s not going anywhere. All of which makes it more of a buzzkill than a buzzword.

Thankfully, there’s a fun new buzzword in town: ‘microdramas’. Microdramas are mini TV episodes, which, according to Variety, are fast-becoming the definitive industry buzzword, with brands from P&G to Crocs producing them. As the microdrama market is expected to hit $3.8bn by 2030, the drama around them is anything but micro.

When it comes to industry jargon, it’s nice when old favourites make a comeback. We’re seeing this at Cannes Lions this year, with ‘storytelling’ getting a few shout outs in the talks in the official programme, often in relation to AI.

This resurgence of storytelling could be because the term has recently been co-opted by the tech sector and wider corporate world. The Wall Street Journal reported that companies are increasingly hiring for “storytellers”, not just as a marketing role but a core business function. The percentage of LinkedIn job postings in the US that include the term ‘storyteller’ doubled last year. One Google job ad said: “As storytellers, we play an integral role in driving customer acquisition and long-term growth.” A line that was clearly written by the biggest storyteller of them all: AI.

On the topic of buzzwords of Cannes past, remember when the industry chatter was all about sustainability? Ad people tripped over themselves to talk about the critical importance of protecting the planet. Of course, that was quickly dropped the moment the corporate winds changed.

So it’s a welcome surprise to see ‘circular commerce’ and ‘sustainability’ make an appearance in the official Cannes headliners this year, thanks to Stella McCartney getting on the bill. Could sustainability be on the up after years in the wilderness? Too early to say, but it’s good to see environmental issues get a bit of the spotlight again.

As for buzzwords that we can consign to the bin bag of history, ‘the metaverse’ is one of my favourites. When the metaverse was the talk of Cannes back in 2022, everyone, from Meta to McCann, showed off their badly animated dystopian virtual Cannes worlds, and the collective industry imagination entered a whole new realm of virtual volleyball and CMO avatars.

Soon after that, the metaverse was never spoken of again. Like Bobby Ewing stepping out of the shower in Dallas, we pretended it was all just a bad dream. The fun part was that Meta lost $80bn trying to make the metaverse happen. Which is why, as farcical hype cycles go, the metaverse reigns supreme.

Jane Austin is the founder and owner of Persuasion. Communications.