Although Kanye West’s presence yesterday created the biggest social splash so far, it is arguable that Wednesday is the day that we really saw the true power of celebrity. A host of A-listers, from Jared Leto and Courtney Love, to Sheryl Sandberg and Calvin Harris, helped to drive overall Cannes Lions 2014 conversations to a record 29,743 – a rise of almost 15% that comfortably surpassed Tuesday, despite Kanye’s appearance. Sandberg discussed the power of personalised advertising, and plans for Facebook and Instagram, which helped drive mentions around the social platforms to 1,007 and 1,338 respectively. Meanwhile, Calvin Harris’s Tweet that he was on his way to Microsoft’s Beach Club almost doubled the popularity of #msftcannes, moving it into fourth place in the most popular hashtags stakes, helping to boost the brand’s social presence. Celebs also drove online conversations around buzz words yesterday. Both Sandberg and Leto discussed advertising in depth, with the latter relating it to its role within the music industry and how technology can impact upon it. These presentations sparked a significant surge in online conversations around ‘advertising’, with the word experiencing a 128% increase from Tuesday to over 1,500 mentions. Other hot topics of discussion on Wednesday focused around the role of women in creative industries, as well as the Design Lions awards.