Group Black is a first-of-its-kind media collective and accelerator rooted in the advancement of Black-owned media properties, with the overall goal of changing the face of media ownership and elevating more diverse voices.
For our inaugural presence at Cannes, Group Black’s goal was to make an impact and challenge the industry to make good on promises to invest in Black-owned media. Group Black curated a guest list of industry leaders and P&G Widen the Screen partners to celebrate the Juneteenth holiday with programming focused on the progress and forward focused movement of Black and other underrepresented communities. P&G had time to share a topline overview of the Widen the Screen (WTS) movement with a “Call to Action” to industry leaders / agencies to step and commit to driving change.
Additionally, in partnership with P&G, Group Black curated a 5-day creative storytelling experience at Cannes with select creators from across the globe including South America, Africa, APAC and EMEA.These Ambassadors were a part of the first cohort to participate in a global creative emersion program that includes sponsored access to international creative festivals (Cannes, Dubai Lynx, Davos, etc.), Creators were to use their talent, social platform reach and WTS messaging to creatively highlight their experiences at Cannes and abroad.
Our slate of programming provided a clear roadmap for solving the issues of equity in media.Group Black was able to capture the attention of the industry and attendees through its special events with NAS and DNice, attraction conference participants, and celebrities like Issa Rae, Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Regina Hall, DNICE, Charlamagne tha God, NAS, Keke Palmer and other notable names.
Group Black’s role at Cannes this year is a representative example of the power of diversity and the impact of true inclusion, in a space that has historically excluded experiences from marginalized groups.