Cannes Lions 2026 Rewind Report
Published on:
UNLOCKING HUMAN CONNECTIONS THROUGH CURIOSITY
"While AI is turbocharging shifts in media and commerce and enabling marketers to have access to tremendous creativity from every source at their disposal, the fundamentals of brand building are staying the same".
This was the thesis statement in Marc Pritchard, Chief Brand Officer at Procter & Gamble’s Tuesday session at the Palais titled ‘Robots Can’t Build Brands.’ Pritchard reflected on the ‘build-remind-buy’ journey and leveraged examples from recent P&G activations to make the case that brand memorability is rooted in deep-seeded cultural insights that only human experiences can capture.
In a fragmented media context in which consumers have access to exponentially more content than ever before, the combination of the brand’s voice, expert voices (e.g., influencers) and consumer ‘s voices (e.g., user-generated content) are necessary to build BOTH memory in people’s minds, as well as memory in the algorithm. All of these voices – he remarked – are fundamentally human voices.
Reflecting on the juncture in which the industry finds itself at this time in another Palais session titled ‘A New Era of Innovating to Impact’, Takeshi Sano, President & Global CEO at dentsu pointed out that while AI is opening up amazing possibilities in scaling offerings and increasing the output of creativity, curiosity will be the key that enables businesses to innovate in ways that AI can’t achieve on its own.
This, along with mutual respect, customer centricity, collaboration, and trust, is a core pillar of the culture that exists at dentsu, a now 125 years old growth partner to some of the world’s leading brands. Some of the work celebrated by Lions leaned on the notion that curiosity is the invisible force that attracts audiences to brands and make humans bond with businesses.
Cannes Lions is an opportunity for the advertising and marketing industry to both celebrate the most impactful creative work and to reflect on how the industry landscape is evolving. Like every year, our strategy and innovation experts share the key themes emerging from this year's Festival of Creativity.
Here are this year's key themes:
01 - QUESTIONING THE PACE OF TOMORROW
Brands are creating lingering moments for customers to get to know them better.
02 - EARNING TRUST THROUGH FACTS
With audiences increasingly unsure about what is real and what isn't, the work highlights traceable facts or mocks imitations.
03 - PROOF OVER PROMISE
Tech is being used to facilitate and protect consumers' interests and rights.
04 - EXPLORING YOUR SECOND LIFE
With taste emerging as a key cultural value (over 'newness'), brands put a spotlight on their offerings' post-purchase role in the world.
05 - PARTICIPATING VS GAZING
Brands double down on playful interactions with consumer communities.