Each Cannes Lions has been bigger for creators and creator marketers than the last. This year’s festival is no exception.

Those in the industry tell us that onsite, they expect to see more creators than ever. The Creators List, compiled by companies including Whalar Group and Comscore, lists more than 200 creators expected to be in attendance. Beyond that, more designated spots for creators are expected across spots like Influential Beach, UTA Beach, and YouTube Creator Club, the last of which will be at the festival for the first time this year.

Lions Creators, the festival creator track that is now in its third year, will have an even greater presence, with programming expanding to the full five days and its hub moving from the top of the Palais to what it’s calling Creator Beach on the Croisette, Ed Davidson, chief growth officer at Lions, told us.

“[We’re] really excited about the new location,” Davidson said. “There’s a bigger footprint and more things going on within the space.”

Ahead of a week where creator marketing is poised to be the talk of the town, we spoke with creator marketers about the sights they expect to see and conversations they expect to hear at this year’s festival.

Continue reading here.—KH

Bonjour, and welcome to day one of Cannes Lions! This is Kelsey Sutton, editor of Marketing Brew, and I’ll be here all week with one of my fellow Marketing Brew Weekly co-hosts, reporter Jennimai Nguyen.

Over the years, most of the Marketing Brew team has attended this international festival of creativity, but I’ve never actually been, so I arrived prepared to share my fresh-faced impressions and observations. I also arrived unprepared for just how hot it can get here—there’s no better reminder to reapply sunscreen than when you are desperately seeking some shade before 9am.

Almost immediately upon arriving on Sunday, I spotted workers finalizing installations, and it occurred to me that this is the place to get inspired if you’re a fan of experiential marketing. Up and down the Croisette, the importance of IRL brand experiences is on full display, whether that’s a branded bar or a pop-up tattoo parlor.

Jennimai and I kicked off the week by recording a special episode of Marketing Brew Weekly from a studio at Spotify Beach, where we chatted about some of the biggest questions we have heading into the week. Then we headed to Pinterest’s “Manifestival,” where we promptly received reusable screen covers to encourage us to get off our phones—part of the brand’s broader message of finding reasons to get offline.

Later I interviewed Julie Towns, who heads up product marketing and product operations at Pinterest, about the brand’s message, and I also spoke with Stacy Minero, the chief marketing and experience officer of Outfront Media, about the creativity on display in OOH. Next up is a conversation with Brieane Olson, the CEO of PacSun, about targeting Gen Z and Gen Alpha.

One final thought before I sign off: The glamour radiating off of some of the people in attendance is very White Lotus-esque. No, seriously—the show’s upcoming season is set in this town. As if that wasn’t enough, I’ll be conducting interviews primarily from the Hôtel Martinez—one of the central locations for the upcoming season. If I somehow spot Laura Dern while I’m here, no one will ever hear the end of it.—KS

As enterprises and consumers alike further adopt AI, and ahead of two highly anticipated IPOs of major AI companies, brands have invested $1.3 billion into digital ads touting their products’ AI-related offerings through May of this year, up 48% compared to the same time period last year, according to Sensor Tower.

The report, published last week, details not just how AI is reshaping the digital advertising landscape, but also how the AI assistant landscape is changing, whether that’s ChatGPT losing market share or how agentic shopping is transforming consumer behavior. To reach its conclusions, it used data including mobile app download and in-app purchase revenue data, web visit and unique visitor data, and data on ad investments.

“Consumers are actively seeking these tools out,” the report read. “Advertisers have taken note.”

Hop on the bandwagon: Advertising referencing AI is on the upswing in several categories, Sensor Tower found. Health and wellness ad creative containing AI-related terms, for example, recorded a 165% YoY increase in ad investment through May of this year, according to the report. AI-related terms mentioned in ads in the financial services, business and industrials, and media and entertainment verticals all grew more than 60% YoY.

AI brands are also pouring significant dollars into their own brand advertising. In the US alone, AI brands increased ad spend by more than 3x YoY in Q1 2026, reaching $424 million, per the report. Anthropic, which is chasing an IPO, increased ad spend by 1,184% YoY in Q1, spending more meaningfully on OTT and linear TV; OpenAI was close behind at 800% YoY, with more focus on YouTube and LinkedIn, Sensor Tower found.

Continue reading here.—JS

From cultural moments to global campaigns, Netflix knows a thing or two about capturing attention. Join Magno Herran, VP of brand marketing and partnerships at Netflix, as he shares how one of the world’s most influential brands stays relevant in an endlessly scrolling world.

We’re halfway through 2025, and the digital advertising landscape is rapidly evolving. EMARKETER’s analysts are closely monitoring shifts around increased regulation, commerce media, AI transformation in search, and the growing influence of creators.

Prepare for the changes shaping ad strategies with data-driven insights from EMARKETER’s analysts in the full report. Stay ahead of 2025’s ad strategy shifts.

Executive moves across the industry.

• Smartbird, formerly known as Allbirds, tapped AWS alum Nadia Carlsten to serve as CEO now that it’s rebranded to an AI company.
• Dave & Buster’s hired a new CMO: Jeremy Tucker, who has previously held that role at AutoNation and Planet Fitness.
• Ogilvy’s Kent Wertime, a longtime exec who has most recently been serving as global COO of Ogilvy, global CEO of Ogilvy One, and co-CEO of Ogilvy APAC, is retiring at the end of the month.