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Digiday covers the latest from marketing and media at the annual Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. More from the series →
Here and gone before you know it, here’s what you might have missed from Cannes Lions 2025 across our coverage areas. A fun thing: compare the themes to how they were discussed last year.
Media
DoubleVerify casts itself as news ally in Cannes — as scrutiny mounts.
Marketing
Marketers demanded actual, tangible case studies of AI in efficient meetings.
Ahead of the festival, we detailed how it’s evolved.
Teams were eager to come to Cannes Lions, but cost was (not surprisingly) a huge factor.
Meet the man behind Cannes Lions’ most exclusive parties.
Here are some hot takes on the cliches from Cannes Lions 2025.
Here’s how Patricia Corsi, Kimberly-Clark’s chief growth officer, structured her deal-making week.
This year’s Cannes Lions felt more practical than ever before.
Is Gutter Bar on the way out?
Inside X’s quiet Cannes strategy.
As the line between brand and studio blurs, creators hold the pen.
What the ad industry isn’t saying about AI.
How DEI still found a place for itself at Cannes.
From the Digiday Video Studio at the Blockboard Suite: Samantha Avivi, CMO, Bayer N.A, talked about building trust amid fraud.
From the Digiday Video Studio at the Blockboard Suite: Jeff Rauch, evp, global commercial marketing, saw a shift in strategy and creativity.
From the Digiday Video Studio at the Blockboard Suite: Don McGuire, CMO, Qualcomm, addressed associating brands with passion points.
From the Digiday Video Studio at the Blockboard Suite: Esi Eggleston Bracy, CMO, Unilever, covered the brand’s application of tools to understand brand positioning.
From the Digiday Video Studio at the Blockboard Suite: Alex Craddok, CMO, Citibank, talked about AI talk in Cannes.
From the Digiday Video Studio at the Blockboard Suite: Caroline Proto, director, global media, EssilorLuxottica, addresseed how to navigate the creator economy and sponsored posts.
From the Digiday Video Studio at the Blockboard Suite: Kelly Mahoney, CMO, Ulta Beauty, on brand integration into big social moments.
From the Digiday Video Studio at the Blockboard Suite: Aida Moudachirou Rébois, svp and general manager, MAC Cosmetics, talked about personalization.
From the Digiday Video Studio at the Blockboard Suite: Jackie Jantos, CMO and president, Hinge, talked brand credibility.
From the Digiday Video Studio at the Blockboard Suite: Matt Graham, CMO, Mars, global food and nutrition, talked about using tech to connect with consumers.
From the Digiday Video Studio at the Blockboard Suite: Lisa Peterson, CMO, EY, talked about the implications of AI.
From the Digiday Video Studio at the Blockboard Suite: Matt Wasserlauf, co-founder and CEO, Blockboard, stressed that humanity is important when it comes to AI.
From the Digiday Video Studio at the Blockboard Suite: Sophie Kelly, svp of global tequila and mezcal categories, Diageo, covered how brands can establish trust with consumers.
From the Digiday Video Studio at the Blockboard Suite: Toby Espinosa, vp, ads, DoorDash, talked showing up at Cannes for the first time with a major activation.
Watch all videos as part of the video studio here.
Future of TV
Amazon Ads and Roku announced a partnership that makes the e-commerce giant’s demand-side platform the exclusive means of accessing Roku’s CTV advertising inventory via a shared identifier.
Amazon continued its charm offensive on advertisers, announcing a partnership with Disney Advertising that brings its demand-side platform into Disney’s Real-Time Ad Exchange.
Omnicom unveiled a partnership with Google’s YouTube that lets Omnicom clients target high-traffic livestreaming content (including sports, entertainment, gaming and shopping) on the video platform.
Media Buying
Agencies still showed up in Cannes this year in a big way — despite the economic turbulence.
Even still — immigration protocols, risk memos and quiet absences were at play.
Several Omnicom executives who spoke with Digiday talked of “the power of live content, conversation, and commerce to drive brand growth.”
Omnicom announced a partnership with Disney centered around live sports in tandem with The Trade Desk to programmatically take advantage of the inventory.
Outfront brought its XLabs to Cannes for the first time, hoping to draw a broader ad base.
Ad networks took center stage this year.
Omnicom partnered with Amazon and Meta to build on live content and live shopping.
Cannes now comes with a product demo.
Omnicom partnered with payment platform PayPal as well as with X, to get clients closer to influencers and content that shows a higher propensity to spur consumers to purchase.
BeReal remerged at Cannes with a slower, cheaper take on social ads.
It was a big year for optimism at Cannes.
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