If Cannes Lions 2024 was about how to harness AI, 2025 was about a much more urgent question: in a world saturated with AI-generated content, how do brands truly stand out? The dominant conversation at this year’s festival was the search for the human touch, with the most celebrated work demonstrating that technology is at its best when it amplifies, rather than replaces, genuine human insight.

This focus on meaningful impact was reflected in the numbers, with 26,900 total award submissions and a remarkable 53% increase in entries for the Glass Lion for Change – the Grand Prix going to WPP’s Ogilvy for their 20-year long campaign for Real Beauty with Dove. It was against this backdrop that WPP once again proved its leadership, exhibiting exceptional campaigns and receiving 168 Lions, including a Titanium Lion and 10 coveted Grand Prix, 23 Gold, 53 Silver and 81 Bronze Lions, reflecting the scale of the impact that was had.

But both within and outside of the jury rooms, there was plenty of discussion on the work and trends shaping the industry.

Transforming the creative landscape: AI

A masterclass in this was Mindshare’s work for Dove. Their campaign, Real Beauty Redefined for the AI Era, cleverly integrated and retrained AI in Pinterest searches according to people’s own understanding of authentic beauty standards. The campaign showed how technology can be used constructively to have a positive creative impact, making history with its Media Grand Prix win.

On panels across the festival, WPP panellists outlined that success lies in finding the right balance between technological innovation and human intelligence. As WPP CEO Mark Read pointed out, “As AI reshapes our industry, clients will come to us to build enduring brands powered by intelligence and creativity. That’s why we’ll need more, better creative minds and strategists than ever before.”

Creators and communities: captivating new audiences

As AI makes content ubiquitous, audiences are placing a higher premium on trust. This has highlighted the growing importance of influencers and their impact on audience engagement and brand building. Indeed, WPP Media's This Year Next Year Mid-Year Forecast predicts that user-generated content on social platforms will overtake professional production in 2025, with creator-generated revenue hitting $184.9 billion this year, up 20% from 2024.

The Titanium Lion-winning campaign Vaseline Verified from Ogilvy and Mindshare for Unilever brilliantly demonstrated this. The initiative embraced the drawbacks of harmful product usage on social platforms and rejuvenated community-bred information into scientifically tested truths. This allowed misinformation to be cleverly dissipated almost as quickly as it arose. In a powerful move, Unilever was able to build a strong community of authentic creators around their product without ever creating a single piece of content.

As Gymshark's Chief Brand Officer Noel Mack outlined in a WPP Beach panel, smaller creators with a more dedicated community are often more effective because their audience gains trust and authenticity from their platform—a core tenet of how Gymshark built its brand with close to zero investment.

Commerce: from transaction to creative transformation

Cannes also revealed how commerce is evolving to fuse with creativity, moving beyond the transaction to create more human and helpful experiences.

WPP’s VML won the Grand Prix for Creative Commerce with their Preserved Promos campaign for Ziploc. The initiative addressed the impact of the cost-of-living crisis with an innovative way for consumers to “preserve” promotional offers, transforming a simple purchase into a signal of empathy.

This integration of commerce with media is becoming highly developed. Platforms like TikTok are using creators to guide consumers towards more organic purchases, intertwining educational content which aids the drive of transactions. WPP’s announced expansion of its partnership with TikTok is designed to facilitate precisely this demand to make social a core part of the commerce journey.

Bold and brave storytelling: thriving in the AI era

Despite the advances of technology, the festival reiterated that human creativity remains irreplaceable. The new imperative for brands is to prioritise the unique, human-driven insights that AI itself cannot replicate.

In discussion with WPP’s Mark Read, Shondaland’s Shonda Rhimes – award-winning creator and executive producer behind some of television’s most iconic series, such as Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and Bridgerton – called for brands to consider storytelling as a creative premium. She argued that when done with intent and authenticity, strong brand storytelling can drive cultural impact and commercial success.

Consumers expect more than a product or a service. The challenge for brands is to adopt the principles of great storytelling across every customer touchpoint. While AI can handle data, the human touch is essential for emotionally compelling content. The brands that dare to stand out will be the ones who win.