In this blog, Steph Inez Matthews recounts her highlights from her recent attendance at the 2025 Cannes Lions festival. She discusses the hot topics from the event, shares her favourite award winners and talks about the impact of inclusivity.

This was my fourth time attending the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, and each year is a completely different experience. There are over 1200 fringe events, in addition to the five-day schedule at the Palais, so you can choose your own adventure. For the first time, I had a Palais ticket in hand, which meant I could sit in on the headline sessions, watch the award shows, and properly immerse myself in what’s top of mind for marketers right now. After a week of panels, Croisette strolls, and sunshine soaked conversations, here are my takeaways.

Experiential is having a main character moment

Brand activations were all around; both in the awards’ entries and winners, and onsite at the festival itself. The Experiential & Brand Activation category saw an incredible 2,337 award entries, a testament to how central experiential has become in the marketing mix, and how brands are leaning into the power of physical and sensory engagement.

On the fringe, activations on the Croisette had evolved too, to become less static and more immersive. Pinterest’s Manifestival was a highlight, offering tactile, creative play: think tattoos, DIY crafts and more. It didn’t just advertise to their community; it invited them to co-create, creating a deeper brand experience.

The driver for this is our craving for connection. After years spent inside during the pandemic, and hours spent staring down at our mobiles, there’s a collective appetite for real-world interaction. This resurgence of IRL experiences isn’t just about being outside, it’s about creating intentional visceral moments that bring brand purpose to life, whilst driving that sought after commodity, our attention.

Creator Marketing has landed

Previous years at Cannes Lions were defined by the metaverse, then came AI, followed quickly by Gen AI. For 2025, it was all about the creator economy.

Of course, the creator economy is nothing new. Influencers and user generated content have been a comms strategy for a while. However, in 2025, it has finally reached an inflection point and become incorporated into brand strategy. Panel sessions saw client-side leaders, agencies, and creators sitting side-by-side discussing long-term partnerships, more open briefs, and the impact of full-funnel results. Data has been the catalyst from experimentation to integration.

Creators are no longer seen as outsourced production talent. They’re collaborators and co-owners of your brand equity. In the era of low trust and low attention, their ability to speak with authenticity, build audience relationships, and drive conversions at scale is unrivalled.

Accessibility is no longer an afterthought

A powerful throughline across this year’s winners was a deep, considered focus on disability and accessibility. This wasn't just one or two campaigns, it was a genuine cross-category presence. For me, it was a long-overdue shift, taking inclusion into a marketing transformation practise, that considers each and every potential consumer.

Some award standouts:

• ‘Caption with Intention’, a Grand Prix winner, made media truly inclusive by adding emotionally intelligent captions, optimising the experience for the deaf and hard of hearing community.
• Cemento Sol’s ‘Inclusive Sidewalks’, a Creative Effectiveness Grand Prix winner, created urban infrastructure adapted for blind communities, embedding access into public space design.
• Channel 4’s “Paris Paralympics 2024: Considering What?”, a Film Grand Prix winner, with sharp insightful storytelling.
• Google’s Pixel embodied inclusive tech by design embedding features for users with a range of disabilities.
• Virgin’s Dyslexic Thinking won a Titanium Lion, showcasing neurodiversity as a strength, not a deficit, with the founder at its core.

It’s a reminder that creativity can do both - achieve business objectives, whilst removing barriers and driving sustainable change for all.

A shifting centre of gravity

This year marked a noticeable de-centring of Western POVs. While Cannes has long been dominated by Europe and North America, 2025 was different. LATAM and APAC were key, not just in terms of attendance, but in who was winning too.

Brazil, in particular, had a presence through numerous creative wins, recognised as the Country of the Year, and honoured Washington Olivetto, the ‘Godfather’ of Brazilian advertising. This global shift was reinforced structurally through the Cannes Lions ERA (Equity, Representation and Accessibility) Programme, which intentionally spotlighted talent and creativity from the Global South and other historically underrepresented regions. This matters, because we know that creativity and innovation thrive on diversity of perspective.

A rumbling anxiety

Of course, Cannes isn’t just about celebration. It’s also a mirror for the industry’s nerves, and this year there were plenty. The talk of the Croisette wasn’t just about creative inspiration, but industry restructuring. Whether it’s the acceleration of AI, holding company consolidation or shifting consumer behaviours, the underlying sentiment was one of uncertainty. What do future agency models look like? Will we keep up with tech change without losing human nuance?

Unilever’s Chief Growth and Marketing Officer, Esi Eggleston Bracey, had a solve. On stage at the Palais, she introduced her new strategic framework SASSY - Science, Aesthetics, Sensorials, Shared by Others, and Young-Spirited. These levers are designed to create desire at scale and feed the AI machines without losing the emotion or creativity at the core of brand building. Watch this space.

Spotlighting social impact

Amongst the array of award winners, one campaign stood out for me: AXA’s ‘Three Words’. It was one of the most awarded campaigns at Cannes Lions, winning the prestigious Cannes Titanium Grand Prix, having already won the Grand Prix in the Direct and Creative Business Transformation categories.

At its core, they made a change in their insurance policy, to provide emergency relocation for domestic violence, in addition to fire and flood. Using geolocation tech and community mapping, they made it easier for domestic abuse victims to get help, fast. Additionally, in the first month it went live, of the 121 people who activated it, nine were men. This was a deeply human idea, that solved real problems, with empathy and inclusion.

A final lap of the Croisette

For me, Cannes Lions 2025 wasn’t about a single trend. It was about shifts in how we show up as marketers, what creative effectiveness looks like in an AI-enabled world, and why inclusive design and experiential are fundamental to the process. We’re standing at a crossroads. We can double down on short-term gains and old models, or we can embrace the ambiguity and messiness of reinvention and lean into strategic brand building in a new way. The choice is yours for the taking.

If you want to hear more from Steph Inez Matthews, CIM members can log in now to watch her recent webinar with CIM. She hosted an exclusive session on strategic inclusive marketing and discussed how it can drive brand growth.

Watch the webinar here