With the 2026 edition of the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity now behind us, New Digital Age asked a variety of industry figures for their summary of this year’s event…
Richard Davis, CEO and co-founder of 51toCarbonZero
It was striking that climate barely featured in the keynote sessions or panels, yet it came up repeatedly in conversations throughout the week. With Cannes Lions taking place during a European heatwave and school closures in parts of the UK and France, there was a growing sense that the climate deserved much greater prominence on the agenda than it ultimately received.
More broadly, I came away with a sense of AI fatigue. The conversation is becoming more grounded, with less focus on hype and more on practical questions around cost, implementation and long-term value. Increasingly, businesses aren’t asking whether to adopt AI, but how to do so in a way that’s commercially and environmentally sustainable.
Maor Sadra, CEO & Co-founder, INCRMNTAL
Cannes was extra hot this year – and I’m not talking about the record-breaking heatwave (although I did nearly melt). The real heat: the wave of strategic acquisitions announced, and the number of companies scrambling to find their footing in the zero-click AI reality we’re now living in. The buzzword bingo cards practically wrote themselves. AI has quietly become the default engine driving intelligence in our industry – and data is the oil it runs on. The companies that figure out how to refine that oil – not just hoard it – are the ones who’ll still be standing when the next heatwave rolls in.
Sophia Cao, Director of Strategic Partnerships at RTB House
“Cannes this year has put a microscope on traditional measurement metrics. While clicks, site visits and return on ad spend are useful, they may not tell the whole story. Advertisers run the risk of buying traffic without understanding whether these audiences have a genuine intent to purchase the product.
“This week has proven that this accountability gap is closing. Technology has reached the point where optimising for meaningful, engaged visits is achievable. The brands and agencies making that shift are the ones getting the most value from their campaigns. RTB House has long led the way using Deep Learning to identify and accelerate real intent.”
Olly Lewis, Head of Agency and Senior Vice President at StudioB
“This year, Cannes Lions felt like a world for creators. With more than 1,000 of them at the festival this year, it’s evident that creators are no longer competing for attention; they have earned it and are here to stay. In fact, for the first time ever at Cannes, every session and panel I attended ultimately circled back to creators, underscoring their increasing importance on our industry.
“From a more personal perspective, one of the things we’re certainly proud of in terms of how we’re showing up is being the first creator-led solution to advertise OOH at Cannes. This just reiterates how creators are really owning the agenda this year, and this is only going to be more common at future events.
“The takeaway from this is clear – everyone needs to start thinking more like a creator, if they want to see results. We have seen first-hand that marketing executives have been lining up to speak with creators this week, looking to understand how to build owned attention in a meaningful, lasting way, using the sustained co-authored collaborations that creators are known for. From building new IP to using scripted, episodic content and franchises, the possibilities feel endless at the moment.
“Outside of the creator world, the role of AI in the creative pipeline also, unsurprisingly, came up regularly. The definitive message was that AI technology is not replacing human storytelling, but it is allowing us to operate faster, test and learn, and storyboard and script in new, more efficient ways. Ultimately, lived experiences will always be what tells stories for brands, but having AI in your toolbox still has a number of real benefits.”
Charmaine Tavassoly Moss, Programmatic Business Development Lead Europe, Bauer Media Outdoor
“One of the strongest themes to emerge from Cannes Lions this year was the growing importance of trust and brand coherence in an increasingly fragmented media landscape. While AI dominated conversations across the Croisette, the discussion wasn’t simply about automation or scale. It was about how brands remain discoverable, credible and consistent as consumers engage with a widening range of channels and platforms. That shift reinforces the value of premium media environments.
“As marketers navigate greater complexity, trusted channels that deliver transparency, accountability and real-world attention are becoming increasingly important. Programmatic Out of Home (PrOOH) continues to stand apart in this respect, providing brands with a visible, brand-safe presence in public spaces where audiences can engage with messages in context.
“The conversations at Cannes also highlighted that scale alone is no longer enough. Success will come from education to improve the value of branding. This also combines creativity, contextual relevance, and trusted environments to build lasting brand value.
“For PrOOH, that’s a powerful validation of the role the medium plays in helping brands create meaningful connections while delivering measurable outcomes. As the industry adapts to an AI-driven future, the fundamentals remain the same: trusted media, strong creative ideas and genuine audience engagement will continue to be the foundations of effective advertising.”
Ed Wale, VP International at LG Ad Solutions
“Across many of the CTV conversations at Cannes, there was a clear shift from reach alone to demonstrating measurable business outcomes, with much of that discussion focused on where influence is actually created.
“In CTV, one of the most important elements is the Home Screen. It’s the first thing a viewer sees, before they’ve chosen a show and before they move into a lean-back environment. Throughout the week, this moment of discovery was recognised as a critical point in the journey, where attention is high and engagement begins before content starts.
“The Home Screen sits above and across apps, shaping how audiences navigate content from the outset. As viewing choices continue to expand, it plays an increasingly important role in helping viewers discover what to watch next.
“If one of the defining questions at Cannes this year was how to demonstrate measurable outcomes, the industry should arrive next June with a clearer understanding of how those early moments of discovery contribute to those outcomes.”
Shane Buckley, Head of UKI Restaurants, Uber Advertising
“It was promising to see such a strong commerce media presence at the Cannes Lions festival this year. In the last few years, commerce media has been building momentum at the event, and now it’s earned a real seat at the table.
“Conversations were moving away from it being a new and exciting channel, to one that is established and on its next phase of growth. Investment in the right technology infrastructure, APIs, and full suites of measurement and insights tools was showcased in detail, moving the needle on how platforms deliver on brand expectations.
“And it’s not just about how commerce media networks show up on the media plan; there is a shift to how they are delivering on overall brand objectives, beyond performance metrics to the impact they have on overall market share or brand uplift, for example. What were once simple capabilities, like measurement, are now more advanced and becoming commerce media’s greatest strengths, enabling these platforms to better showcase their campaign success.
“This year, it’s clear that commerce media brands aren’t just a nice-to-have; they’re growing and scaling for an even stronger future.”
The companies included above are all clients of Bluestripe Group, the publisher of New Digital Age.
