Every year, Cannes Lions offers a glimpse into where marketing is heading.
Yes, there are headline-grabbing campaigns and celebrity appearances, but underneath all of that are conversations that shape how marketing teams will work over the next few years.
This year felt a little different.
Rather than chasing the next shiny technology or debating whether AI will replace marketers, from what we can see, the conversation became far more practical. For production teams, that’s an important shift.
Here are five themes from Cannes Lions that we believe will have the biggest impact on marketing execution.
AI has matured. Humans are back in the driving seat.
Last year, AI dominated every conversation. This year, it was still everywhere, but the tone had changed.
The question is no longer should we use AI? It’s, where does it genuinely add value? We think that’s a much healthier conversation.
Some brands need AI to speed up localisation. Others want to automate repetitive production tasks or create multiple campaign variants more efficiently. Some simply want to free up creative teams to spend more time solving bigger problems.
There isn’t a single right answer.
The brands seeing the greatest success aren’t using AI because it’s fashionable. They’re using it where it supports their objectives without compromising quality, creativity or brand consistency.
For us, that means helping clients build production workflows where AI supports people rather than replacing them.
Consistency is becoming a competitive advantage
Consistency has always mattered. But today’s marketing environment has raised the stakes considerably.
Campaigns now launch across dozens of channels, markets and formats simultaneously. Brands aren’t just speaking to one audience anymore. They’re communicating globally, often in multiple languages.
At the same time, search is changing. Large language models increasingly rely on consistent brand signals across websites, content and digital channels to understand and reference organisations. The stronger and more consistent those signals are, the easier brands become to recognise and trust.
That makes production even more important.
As campaign volumes continue to grow, maintaining that consistency becomes an operational challenge rather than simply a creative one.
Have brands become too afraid to be memorable?
One of the more interesting conversations coming out of Cannes centred around creativity itself.
Research from Havas found that 84% of brands suffer from consumer indifference, suggesting many organisations simply aren’t creating work that people remember.
It’s easy to see why.
Brand reputation has never been more fragile. Social media amplifies criticism instantly, approval processes have grown longer, and risk management often outweighs creative ambition.
The result can be campaigns that feel safe rather than distinctive.
The challenge isn’t choosing between bold creativity and responsible marketing. It’s finding production partners who can execute ambitious ideas confidently, consistently and at scale.
Great ideas still fail without operational leadership
One statistic shared by Accenture Songstood out.
While 81% of CEOs believe they can generate creative ideas, only 16% believe they can turn those ideas into initiatives that drive growth.
That’s a significant gap but it reinforces something we see regularly.
Most organisations don’t struggle to come up with campaign ideas. They struggle to operationalise them.
As campaigns become more complex, production leadership becomes increasingly valuable. Coordinating multiple stakeholders, markets, suppliers, approval processes and content formats requires a completely different skillset to developing the original creative concept.
Execution isn’t the final stage of marketing anymore. It’s becoming one of the biggest competitive advantages brands have.
The creator economy is changing production forever
Consumers have become exceptionally good at ignoring traditional advertising. Holding someone’s attention for even a few seconds has become one of marketing’s biggest challenges.
Creators were a major focus throughout Cannes because they offer something many brands struggle to achieve on their own: authenticity. But working with creators also introduces new production challenges.
Content moves faster, whilst assets need to be adapted across more channels. Campaigns require multiple versions, rapid approvals and near real-time optimisation.
For production teams, creator marketing isn’t simply another content stream. It’s a fundamentally different way of delivering campaigns that demands greater flexibility and much faster execution.
The common thread? Execution matters more than ever.
While the headlines from Cannes will inevitably focus on AI, creators and award-winning campaigns, one message sits underneath all of them.
Marketing is becoming more operationally complex.
It’s a message we’ve been saying for a while. But, the brands that succeed over the next few years won’t necessarily be the ones with the biggest ideas. They’ll be the ones that can consistently deliver those ideas, wherever their audiences are, without compromising quality along the way.
Find out how we’re helping brands succeed by viewing our work.
