Cannes Lions 2025: A Creator-First Future
24.6.2025
This year’s Cannes Lions Festival made one thing clear: the creator economy isn’t just booming—it’s reshaping the future of marketing. From the main stages of the Palais to the branded beachfronts of TikTok, Snapchat, and Amazon, creators were not just present—they were central.
Whether through creator-led campaigns, new collaboration models, or bold shifts in ad spend, brands are starting to behave more like creators themselves. Here's my wrap-up of the biggest themes and insights from Cannes Lions 2025.
From Advertisers to Creators: The Brand Transformation
Brands are undergoing an identity shift. No longer just sponsors or advertisers, they’re evolving into content providers—building trust and cultural relevance through storytelling and creator partnerships.
• Think like a marketer, act like a creator.
• Brands are building content ecosystems, not just running activations.
• Fandom is now a creative force, not a passive audience.
• The move is from “activation” to long-term belonging.
One of the clearest signals of this shift came from Unilever, which announced plans to increase its influencer marketing spend from 30% to 50% of total ad spend. CEO Fernando Fernandez explained:
"An influencer-first strategy will make Unilever more trustworthy to consumers who are skeptical of traditional corporate messaging."
Let Creators Lead: The Rise of Collaborative Creativity
Authenticity dominated the creative conversations at Cannes—and that means letting creators lead the narrative, not just execute a brief.
• Creative concepts should be tailored to each creator—not made for mass distribution.
• It’s not “brand + creator” anymore; creators are brands.
• Influencers are channels. Creators are collaborators.
• The most resonant campaigns are creator-led and community-informed.
This year’s message was clear: trust creators to be creative. When brands loosen the reins, better stories—and stronger connections—emerge.
Strategic Integration: Bridging Social and Brand Strategy
The most future-ready brands are treating social not as a siloed department, but as a core layer of their business and cultural strategy. When social and brand strategies operate as one, brands stop reacting—and start leading.
• Social strategy should be fully integrated into brand strategy—not an afterthought.
• Creator content reframes the narrative: humans first, product second.
As Ogilvy’s Social Lab Report put it:
“It’s no longer just about social media; it's about understanding the evolving connected media landscape and its impact on culture-driven consumer decisions.”
In a session from McCann Content Studios, the focus was on helping brands stay in control in this new creator-led era. Their core message?
Don’t outsource the soul of your brand.
Instead, they advised brands to:
• Lead with truth and a cohesive brand strategy where social is fully integrated.
• Educate teams on the real-time power of platforms.
• Lean into social conversations to draw insights, spark innovation, and myth-bust brand assumptions.
• Shift from being reactive to commanding the narrative across platforms.
The challenge ahead isn’t giving up control—it’s learning a new kind of leadership.
Diversity by Design: Co-Creation Is the Only Way
Diversity at Cannes was positioned not just as a moral imperative but as a creative superpower. The standout work was co-created with diverse voices—not just marketed to them.
• Diversity thrives through intentional co-creation, not surface-level inclusion.
• Neurodivergent and underrepresented perspectives bring originality and edge.
A major highlight came from Havas, whose session on neurodiversity reframed the industry’s mindset:
“Neurodivergent minds: they don't need advertising—advertising needs them.”
And as Shonda Rhimes powerfully stated during her appearance:
“Originality comes from working with people who think differently than you.”
The shift from performative diversity to inclusive innovation was one of the most energizing aspects of this year’s festival.
AI Rides Shotgun: A Human-Led, Tech-Enabled Future
AI was a prominent theme this year—but not as a replacement for creativity. The prevailing wisdom? AI should support the process, not lead it.
This idea was perfectly encapsulated by Apple, named Marketer of the Year at Cannes Lions 2025. Their message was clear:
• You drive, AI rides shotgun.
They emphasized using AI to enhance speed, streamline workflows, and boost creative efficiency—without compromising the human heart of storytelling.
Apple also highlighted the growing importance of IRL (in-real-life) experiences in this AI-saturated age. Their point: while technology scales content, human connection still builds culture.
Final Thought: From Campaigns to Creator Culture
Cannes Lions 2025 confirmed a fundamental shift: we’re not just marketing to audiences anymore—we’re creating with them.
Brands that still see creators as channels, rather than collaborators, risk falling behind. The winners in this new era will be the ones who trust creators, integrate strategy across silos, embrace inclusive storytelling—and co-author culture in real time.
As CreativeX aptly put it during the festival:
“When there’s a gold rush, it pays to be early.”
The time to commit to creator-led marketing isn't someday—it's now.
Whether through creator-led campaigns, new collaboration models, or bold shifts in ad spend, brands are starting to behave more like creators themselves. Here's my wrap-up of the biggest themes and insights from Cannes Lions 2025.
From Advertisers to Creators: The Brand Transformation
Brands are undergoing an identity shift. No longer just sponsors or advertisers, they’re evolving into content providers—building trust and cultural relevance through storytelling and creator partnerships.
• Think like a marketer, act like a creator.
• Brands are building content ecosystems, not just running activations.
• Fandom is now a creative force, not a passive audience.
• The move is from “activation” to long-term belonging.
One of the clearest signals of this shift came from Unilever, which announced plans to increase its influencer marketing spend from 30% to 50% of total ad spend. CEO Fernando Fernandez explained:
"An influencer-first strategy will make Unilever more trustworthy to consumers who are skeptical of traditional corporate messaging."
Let Creators Lead: The Rise of Collaborative Creativity
Authenticity dominated the creative conversations at Cannes—and that means letting creators lead the narrative, not just execute a brief.
• Creative concepts should be tailored to each creator—not made for mass distribution.
• It’s not “brand + creator” anymore; creators are brands.
• Influencers are channels. Creators are collaborators.
• The most resonant campaigns are creator-led and community-informed.
This year’s message was clear: trust creators to be creative. When brands loosen the reins, better stories—and stronger connections—emerge.
Strategic Integration: Bridging Social and Brand Strategy
The most future-ready brands are treating social not as a siloed department, but as a core layer of their business and cultural strategy. When social and brand strategies operate as one, brands stop reacting—and start leading.
• Social strategy should be fully integrated into brand strategy—not an afterthought.
• Creator content reframes the narrative: humans first, product second.
As Ogilvy’s Social Lab Report put it:
“It’s no longer just about social media; it's about understanding the evolving connected media landscape and its impact on culture-driven consumer decisions.”
In a session from McCann Content Studios, the focus was on helping brands stay in control in this new creator-led era. Their core message?
Don’t outsource the soul of your brand.
Instead, they advised brands to:
• Lead with truth and a cohesive brand strategy where social is fully integrated.
• Educate teams on the real-time power of platforms.
• Lean into social conversations to draw insights, spark innovation, and myth-bust brand assumptions.
• Shift from being reactive to commanding the narrative across platforms.
The challenge ahead isn’t giving up control—it’s learning a new kind of leadership.
Diversity by Design: Co-Creation Is the Only Way
Diversity at Cannes was positioned not just as a moral imperative but as a creative superpower. The standout work was co-created with diverse voices—not just marketed to them.
• Diversity thrives through intentional co-creation, not surface-level inclusion.
• Neurodivergent and underrepresented perspectives bring originality and edge.
A major highlight came from Havas, whose session on neurodiversity reframed the industry’s mindset:
“Neurodivergent minds: they don't need advertising—advertising needs them.”
And as Shonda Rhimes powerfully stated during her appearance:
“Originality comes from working with people who think differently than you.”
The shift from performative diversity to inclusive innovation was one of the most energizing aspects of this year’s festival.
AI Rides Shotgun: A Human-Led, Tech-Enabled Future
AI was a prominent theme this year—but not as a replacement for creativity. The prevailing wisdom? AI should support the process, not lead it.
This idea was perfectly encapsulated by Apple, named Marketer of the Year at Cannes Lions 2025. Their message was clear:
• You drive, AI rides shotgun.
They emphasized using AI to enhance speed, streamline workflows, and boost creative efficiency—without compromising the human heart of storytelling.
Apple also highlighted the growing importance of IRL (in-real-life) experiences in this AI-saturated age. Their point: while technology scales content, human connection still builds culture.
Final Thought: From Campaigns to Creator Culture
Cannes Lions 2025 confirmed a fundamental shift: we’re not just marketing to audiences anymore—we’re creating with them.
Brands that still see creators as channels, rather than collaborators, risk falling behind. The winners in this new era will be the ones who trust creators, integrate strategy across silos, embrace inclusive storytelling—and co-author culture in real time.
As CreativeX aptly put it during the festival:
“When there’s a gold rush, it pays to be early.”
The time to commit to creator-led marketing isn't someday—it's now.
Jaa
