Same themes this year, different order

It’s easy to get distracted by the extravagance of the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity: rooftop terraces, yacht parties, chilled rosé and private dinners add to the sensationalism that has made it a legendary event in the industry. However, those who have been up and down the Croisette a few times realize that these are simply distractions from what’s really happening.

At Cannes Lions this year, three themes dominated the conversations: AI, CTV, and the evolution of Retail Media into Commerce Media. From Meta's bold claims about AI-powered creative workflows to the shifting landscape of TV consumption and the expansion of commerce-driven advertising beyond traditional retail, it was clear that these areas are rapidly transforming the industry. This recap dives into the key takeaways from each of these pivotal discussions, highlighting how brands are navigating and innovating within this dynamic environment.

AI

AI was front and center to nearly every conversation. Naturally, as a festival of creativity, creative production was top of mind for nearly everyone. Meta has boldly proclaimed that they will be able to generate creatives, create campaigns and report on results in one complete, AI-powered workflow by the end of 2026. 

In the meantime, Google and Pinterest are incorporating visual AI into their search functionality. TikTok is helping users generate videos from static images. Reddit has rolled out “Reddit Answers” which makes use of their 20 years of post history to respond to their users’ queries. Needless to say, AI is enhancing the user experience in addition to transforming the process of advertising production, media planning and campaign creation. Not to mention the scores of marketers looking for ways to appear in the results of prompt-based LLMs, via paid mediums or otherwise.

For advertisers, the question is less about which AI technology do you use, but rather how well you are able to use it. Adoption rates of these new AI-powered technologies will be the difference maker between brands that continue to lead and innovate and those that fall behind.

These new technologies have created an undercurrent of anxiety, a sentiment certainly exacerbated by broader economic uncertainty. However, the ongoing decline in US advertising employment, coupled with industry consolidation, is speculated by some to be a direct consequence of AI adoption.

CTV

It was recently announced that viewers are splitting their time 50/50 between Connected TV and Linear TV. However, according to market estimates, advertising spending does not reflect this split. The CTV market is quickly catching up however, and expanding in exciting ways.

CTV has long been purchased through DSPs like TheTradeDesk, StackAdapt, Amazon DSP and others. Savvy players are realizing that there is a lot of growth to be had in the long-tail of small advertisers without access to a DSP as well. Companies like Vibe and Roku are making it easier for smaller advertisers to tap into the large and growing supply of CTV inventory, with similar targeting options as are available in digital channels.

As TV consumption habits shift and cable subscriptions continue to decline in major markets, brands are re-evaluating where their advertising dollars are being placed relative to where their audience are spending time. Expect brands who are “net new” to the CTV world to begin exploring with these new platforms as planning and buying becomes easier and more performance-oriented. If you think your brand is too small to explore CTV, chances are your mental model of CTV is out of date.

Retail Media < Commerce Media

By no means diminishing from its importance being the third biggest theme this year, Retail Media has nearly become mainstream in its adoption and percentage of advertising budgets. However, the broadening of the category was heavily foreshadowed the year before with the presence of Chase Bank and Uber Ads. This year, we saw prominent messaging from companies that don’t fit the traditional Retail Media narrative like DoorDash, United Airlines, PayPal and Marriott Bonvoy (cleverly displayed at the JW Marriott hotel along the Croisette).

The key development here is that Retail Media (and Commerce Media) by extension are expanding into programmatic demand sources as they continue to grow their advertiser base. Uber Ads announced that display and video ads can now be purchased through TheTradeDesk, Google’s DV360 and Yahoo DSP. 

What’s next?

We certainly weren’t talking about cookies this year, but perhaps they’ll be back on the menu next year? Jokes aside, here are a few themes to watch over the next several quarters:

Measurement: The measurement space is heating up, with several partnerships announced during the course of the week between “Measure Tech” companies and media platforms. It seems like the industry has decided that third-party measurement tools provide the best signals to optimize for.

Audience activation: The focus on identity remains high as marketers seek to deliver the right message to the right person at the right time. WPP announced “Open Intelligence”, a large marketing model with identity-based signals from participating retail industry members. Supermetrics announced our own acquisition of Relay42, a Realtime Customer Acquisition platform with identity resolution at its core. It’ll offer our customers exciting new possibilities to engage with their customers at scale leveraging their first-party data. 

Integrated offerings: Agencies realize that, in order to differentiate from the competition, they need to make investments in technology to leverage the advantages associated with AI and automation. Working closely with technology partners and systems integrators will be key to delivering holistic, market-beating services and delivering value for clients long term.