With excitement building for Cannes Lions 2026, our leadership team is already busy forecasting the challenges, opportunities, and trends set to dominate conversations on the Croissette. Some of the topics they predict will be at the forefront of discussions include:
- The importance of proving advertising effectiveness and ROI in an era defined by audience fragmentation, and the growing realization that traditional measurement methods are falling short
- The shift from AI as a concept to AI as infrastructure, focusing less on theoretical potential and more on the tangible outcomes it delivers
Broadstroke Trends
Chief Executive Officer Lana Busignani talks about the future of agency models, referencing recent developments among holding companies such as Publicis’ acquisition of LiveRamp. “Significant industry consolidation has greatly reduced competition, so I expect conversations to center around the implications of this on the agency model.”
Chief Revenue Officer Paul Shortley echoes these sentiments, specifically highlighting the need for organizations to justify ROI and demonstrate results. “Global sponsorship spend is estimated at $50 billion this year. Yet, most marketers still cannot tell you if those investments are working. That is a $50 billion problem the industry needs to solve, and I think Cannes is where that conversation starts to get serious.”
Kerel Cooper, Chief Marketing Officer, believes that this year won’t be defined so much by a single trend, but about proof. “I expect conversations to be dominated by creative capability as a business asset, not just a marketing deliverable. Beyond that, expect to hear a lot about the maturation of the creator economy as a serious media channel, sports marketing as a full-funnel brand-building platform, and the ongoing pressure on sustainability claim”.
Primary Challenges
Measurement isn’t a new subject on the docket. However, Kerel argues that in today’s turbulent economic landscape, this will be put under even more scrutiny. “Marketers will be walking into Cannes with a lot of pressure on their shoulders. Budgets are tighter than ever, and the metrics we’ve always used to justify investment: reach, impressions, and engagement rate are increasingly hard to defend. Hours will be spent discussing the gap between what we say we measure, and what we actually measure. What moves people…”
“Fragmentation is another challenge that will be given significant airtime. Audiences are no longer found on a single platform. Attention isn’t linear. And yet, most measurement frameworks were built for a world where it was.”
Similarly, Lana expects the intersection between AI utilization and maintaining human creativity and oversight to be front of mind. “Exceptional creative is still a delicate balance of art and science, with industry research consistently demonstrating that creative execution accounts for 50–70% of a campaign’s success. The ways in which marketers harness technology to achieve greater efficiency, while safeguarding creativity is more important than ever.”
The Role of AI
On the subject of AI, Paul thinks that the days of businesses making empty statements about the capabilities of AI are over with evidence being brought to the fore. “Cannes Lions 2026 will be a pressure-testing environment, forcing people to prove if AI is actually delivering. This will hinge on the data that underpins the tools and technology. After all, AI is only as good as the data it runs on.”
For Kerel, the sessions worth keeping an eye on will be those that treat AI as a mechanism for merging creative and media intelligence. He contends that smarter signals are the catalyst for unlocking stronger storytelling and more precise activation.
Advertising Effectiveness
Too many organizations continue to put their faith in short-term performance metrics, despite evidence pointing to their waning relevance. Kerel suggests that these outdated proof points will once again come to a head in Cannes.
“Click-through rates. Conversions. Efficiency ratios. While still relevant, these don’t capture what great advertising actually does, which is build the kind of brand equity that makes performance more efficient over time. Emotional resonance isn’t a nice-to-have; it’s a leading indicator of whether a campaign will actually move business outcomes.”
Lana reinforces this perspective, highlighting the importance of total funnel measurement over simple sales metrics. “Brands now have significantly more opportunities to drive discovery, whether through digital advertising or AI-driven inquiries. At the same time, building brand affinity, loyalty, and advocacy has become increasingly critical, making mid-funnel metrics more important for ultimately driving conversion.”
Innovation in Marketing
Every year, overhyped marketing trends rear their head at Cannes, consuming valuable stage time and distracting attendees from the real issues. In 2026, Paul expects this role to be filled by the assertion that attention metrics are a viable proxy for effectiveness.
“Proximity to content doesn’t equate to impact; viewership is not advertising effectiveness. The gap between what the industry says it measures, and what it actually measures, is one of the most pressing conversations we could be having right now.”
However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t genuinely innovative marketing trends that deserve time in the spotlight. Case in point, Kerel hopes that the relationship between audience intelligence and creative decisions gets a real platform for discussion.
“This is the space where behavioral data and emotional signals shape what gets made before it goes to market. Most brands are sitting on data that could change how they brief creative. That conversation is still under discussed at the level it deserves.”
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