This year at Cannes Lions, the message was loud and clear: creativity in 2025 is no longer about chasing attention, it’s about earning it.

With global shifts in tech, culture, and audience expectations, the brands that stood out were those that entertained with purpose, embraced AI with intention, and stayed rooted in cultural nuance. Whether through music, sport, fashion or film, creative leaders are proving that real impact starts with real relevance.

🎭 1. Entertainment as the Engine of Engagement

Inspired by: "From Meme to Movement: The Duolingo Playbook" with CMO Cammie Dunaway
and "MrBeast: Building Empires Through Entertainment" featuring Jimmy Donaldson’s team

Duolingo’s green owl isn’t just a mascot. It’s a meme, a movement and now a growth driver. MrBeast’s session proved that when content is truly entertaining, it transcends platforms and turns attention into affinity.

Opportunities:

Develop characters and IP that evolve across platforms
Embrace humour, community storytelling and internet-native tone
Build franchises, not just campaigns

Challenges:

Avoid becoming a parody of your own brand
Measuring long-term impact of entertainment-led marketing
Staying agile in ever-shifting meme culture

🤖 2. AI That Powers Creativity, Not Replaces It

Inspired by: "Creativity in the Age of AI" with Apple VP Tor Myhren and "The Art and Science of Speed" from Adobe

AI was centre stage at Cannes - but not in a way that sidelined human talent. Apple’s Tor Myhren delivered the quote of the week: “AI won’t save advertising. Creative humans still need to lead.”

Opportunities:

Boost productivity in asset creation, localisation and testing
Unlock new ways to tell stories faster and better
Personalise at scale without losing consistency

Challenges:

Risk of losing brand tone or emotional depth
Legal and ethical considerations
Ensuring AI is used as a co-pilot, not a creative crutch

💥 3. Authenticity at Scale: Micro-Influencers and Real People

Inspired by: "Representation Rewired: Building Brands With Real People" featuring Savage X Fenty, and "Creator Culture: The Power of Niche" with TikTok, Pinterest and leading creators

The old influencer playbook is fading. The most powerful brand-building stories are now being shaped in collaboration with micro-communities and creators with real cultural credibility.

Opportunities:

Build community, not just visibility
Invest in long-term creator partnerships
Show, don’t say, when it comes to values

Challenges:

Requires sustained investment and attention
Brands must cede some control to creators
Authenticity is not easily scalable

⚽ 4. Sport as a Cultural Powerhouse

Inspired by: "Welcome to Wrexham: Sports, Storytelling and Soul" with Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney

In one of the most heartfelt sessions of the week, Ryan Reynolds spoke not about content or business KPIs, but about “collective effervescence” - the pure joy and community power of sport as culture.

Opportunities:

Use sport to connect across age, class and borders
Integrate fashion, gaming and music into sports activations
Build fan-first, story-led brand ecosystems

Challenges:

Sport is emotionally volatile - narratives can shift fast
Major sponsorships are expensive and competitive
Success requires cultural fluency, not just logo placement

🎥 5. Branded Entertainment Goes Cinematic

Inspired by: Entertainment Grand Prix Winner - “Night Fishing” by Hyundai,
and "Entertainment That Earns Its Place in Culture" with Riot Games, Rimas Entertainment and Anitta

The Night Fishing short film stunned the jury and set a new bar for cinematic brand storytelling. Other sessions focused on how music labels and streamers are shaping brand IP through episodic and artist-led formats.

Opportunities:

Create content worth bingeing, not skipping
Partner with entertainment creators to boost cultural capital
Build brand as studio, not just advertiser

Challenges:

Long-form requires long-term thinking
High investment with less predictable ROI
Stakeholders must value impact over immediacy

📈 6. Commerce Media and the Business of Creativity

Inspired by: "The New Media Money: What’s Next for Retail, Commerce and AI-Led Performance" with Amazon Ads, Publicis and retail media experts

Cannes isn’t just a creative festival anymore — it’s a commerce summit. The discussion was sharp and clear: the most powerful work of the future will connect media, data and creative in one intelligent loop.

Opportunities:

Close the loop between brand and conversion
Use retail data to inform creative at every stage
Combine storytelling with measurable outcomes

Challenges:

Creative teams need performance fluency
Risk of over-relying on short-term optimisation
Fragmentation of platforms can make consistency hard

⚖️ 7. Culture Wars and Brand Caution

Inspired by: "Can Brands Still Stand for Something?" with Unilever, Nike and McKinsey, and "The New Risk Equation for Marketers" with Edelman and global CMOs

Some brands are stepping back from bold value-led messaging, fearing backlash. Others are doubling down, refusing to retreat from inclusion and purpose. The tension was palpable across sessions.

Opportunities:

Define a values-led strategy that is embedded, not surface
Be consistent across time and markets
Back up statements with genuine action

Challenges:

The landscape is polarised and fast-changing
Missteps are amplified instantly
Requires cross-functional bravery to stay true

🏆 Winning Brand Activations at Cannes Lions 2025

Here are the standout campaigns that took home the big wins - and dominated conversations on the Croisette:

Pinterest - Manifestival
A bold, immersive experience that turned mood boards into real-world moments, bridging aspiration and action through creativity and curation.

Hyundai - Night Fishing
A 13-minute sci-fi film shot using in-car cameras that blurred the line between product and prestige cinema.
Clash of Clans - Haaland: Payback Time
A blockbuster-style brand film starring Erling Haaland that brought gaming to life through live-action film.
Bad Bunny x Rimas - Interactive Album Drop
A genre-blending music release where fans shaped the experience, merging commerce, fandom and tech.
Duolingo - The Rise of the Owl
A case study in meme marketing and fandom-building, with zero media spend and major cultural footprint.
Savage X Fenty - No Edits. No Excuses.
A fashion campaign that championed real people, unfiltered bodies and raw narratives.
Barbie x Xbox - Crossover Activation
A playful tech-meets-nostalgia partnership that reimagined Barbie in the world of gaming.