Cannes 2025: Everything Elevated

If there was one recurring theme at this year’s 2025 Cannes activations it’s elevation.

Elevated thinking: Despite varied positioning, offerings, and priorities in past years, the Croisette has often become a 'sea of sameness.' This year, however, brands truly stood out, activating on and around the beach with more intention. The result? A raised bar, and a stronger sense of individual personality expressed in fresh, differentiated ways.

Elevated focus: As illustrated by Stagwell Sports Beach, zeroing in on verticals works well. Similarly, others used entertainment and culture as a focus. Netflix was not only brand-first (over IP) but cleverly anchored around comedy with an exclusive performance from Kevin Hart.

Elevated design: Always keen to differentiate through design, Tubi evolved the aesthetic it introduced last year, building on both visual identity and programming. Motel Yahoo! embraced a new direction that looked forward while nodding to the brand’s heritage. And DoorDash made a bold entrance, literally cutting through the noise in a striking, red-forward environment set just off the beach.

Elevated experiences: Pinterest Manifestival doubled down on trends, creators, and tactile engagement. Canva joined the action with an activation rooted in creative accessibility, reinforcing their mission to democratise design. And across the board, some of the most engaging talks and panels happened outside the Palais, hosted by like-minded, culturally fluent brands.