Cannes Lions changes reflect the convergence of tech and creativity

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has long been the ad industry’s pinnacle. For years, creative agencies held court along the Croisette’s grand hotels, back before Big Tech started dominating the Riviera beachfront.

Once, it felt like “us” vs. “them” — the creatives against the data-driven ad tech crowd. But over the years, the two worlds have inched closer together, and Cannes seems to be acknowledging that shift.

The festival just announced a new award: the Creative Brand Lion, designed to recognize “excellence in the creative capabilities that drive sustained business success for brands.”

Celebrating the systems behind the work

Instead of rewarding a single standout campaign, the Creative Brand Lion celebrates the machinery behind it — the systems, data pipelines, culture and infrastructure — that make great work not just possible, but repeatable. In practice, that means strategic partners —agencies, consultancies and tech collaborators — also get credit for helping deliver brand value.

So far, reaction from the creative side of the industry is positive.

“We’re in the business of building brands. Everything we think, plan, create and make is in service of that purpose,” Paco Conde, chief creative officer at Lerma, told The Current. “That’s why I’m glad to see Cannes zooming out, shifting its focus beyond celebrating executions to recognizing everything behind them that unlocks great work and helps build brands.”

Media leaders also welcome the new framing.

“It validates our entire approach, as we’re building a network designed to deliver creative that speaks to individual travelers with personalized content for where they are in the travel journey,” said Chris Norton, general manager at Riott Media and senior vice president of marketing capabilities at Marriott International. “The system and data inform the creative.”

Data and retail media take the spotlight

But that’s not all.

Cannes is also refreshing its Creative Data Lion, which it said celebrates the power of data-driven creativity. According to the festival, “today’s most effective work doesn’t just use data; it’s born from it.” Entries must now prove that data was essential to both the idea and its measurable impact.

As Marian Brannelly, global director of awards at Lions, put it: “Data has become a creative catalyst, AI is expanding what’s possible and retail media is redefining how brands connect with consumers. These changes reflect how technology isn’t just supporting creativity; it’s allowing us to conquer new creative frontiers.”

Meanwhile, the festival is expanding its recognition of retail media, which has surged in recent years. EMarketer projects that retail media ad spend will represent $1 in every $5 spent on digital advertising in the U.S. by 2029.

Because first-party data drives retail media, creatives can build ideas around real consumer behavior. That unlocks creative formats like interactive storytelling inside retailer apps, which can appear at the exact moment a potential consumer is pondering making a purchase.

“Creativity and relevance have always been about knowing your audience, and the modern commercial enterprise needs a foundational identity platform to be able to unlock creative ideas and executions,” said James Rothwell, managing director of brand marketing at Kinective Media, United Airlines’ traveler-focused media network.

“This is especially important for the customer experience where brand integrations and advertising are entering new environments in the commerce media space.”

Rothwell previously discussed how audience insights could inform brand strategy on The Big Impression podcast (recorded, for what it’s worth, at Cannes in The Current’s beachfront cabana).

“We did some analysis around business travelers and noticed that business travelers are actually more likely to respond to advertising than leisure travelers,” he said during the episode.

AI joins the creative conversation

And given all the buzz this year around AI and its impact on creativity, Cannes Lions is introducing a new AI subcategory “to celebrate the sweet spot where human creativity meets artificial intelligence to create something neither could achieve alone.”

Essentially, the festival is trying to thread the needle between honoring human-led craft and acknowledging that creative excellence may get a helping hand from a machine.

Could it be a controversial move at a time when the industry is still arguing about the right balance between humans and chatbots?

The most recent flash point was Coca-Cola’s AI-generated Christmas ads. “The Holidays Are Coming” spot, a homage to its classic 1995 ad, has certainly sparked backlash for looking glossy but synthetic.

But at the same time, it could very well walk away with a Lion.