As the 2025 Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity approaches, marketing leaders emphasize the need for substantive discussions beyond industry buzzwords. While AI remains a dominant topic, CMOs are focused on how it can enhance efficiency and effectiveness without compromising trust, brand distinction, or human connection.
Seven top marketers shared their expectations and priorities for this year’s festival:
- Maggie Schmerin, United Airlines: Anticipates conversations on AI’s impact on creativity and personalized brand experiences, stressing the importance of building and maintaining trust in marketing.
- Aba Blankson, NAACP: Sees Cannes as a platform to confront the future of influence and control in storytelling, highlighting the rise of diverse voices and the shift of power from institutions to individuals and creators.
- Joy Allen-Altimare, Saucony: Expects a focus on purposeful innovation and regenerative creativity, where brands move beyond storytelling to authentic actions that align with their values and impact.
- Dara Treseder, Autodesk: Notes a shift beyond AI hype toward practical changes, citing the dramatic increase in AI skills across job markets as evidence that AI fluency is now a standard expectation.
- Raja Rajamannar, Mastercard: Highlights the evolving marketing landscape shaped by generative and agentic AI, with brands seeking authentic cultural engagement to stand out amid AI-driven uniformity.
- Kelly Mahoney, Ulta Beauty: Looks forward to discussions on redefining beauty authority through inclusive content, scalable personalization, and maintaining human emotional connections despite technological advances.
- Todd Kaplan, Kraft Heinz: Focuses on AI’s role in transforming creativity and campaigning, with particular interest in how brands can integrate cultural relevance to cut through consumer distractions.
Overall, CMOs at Cannes 2025 are prioritizing actionable insights on AI’s integration, brand trust, cultural relevance, and creativity’s evolving role in marketing strategies.