Cannes 2025: These 5 Things Are What’s Next for Brands

The Croisette was swarming this year. AI banners everywhere, panels packed, drinks flowing - and brewing under the surface was a palpable sense of “what exactly are we running toward?”

Because while AI dominated every talk track, the smartest conversations weren’t about tools at all. They were about taste, trust and culture - and what’s going to separate the brands that endure from the ones that drown in the noise.

Here are 5 things I’d send back to any CEO or CMO thinking about what comes next:

1. Creativity Is the Only Edge That Will Last

AI tools are everywhere, and they’ve left a lot of leaders feeling burnt out. You could hear it all week: the fatigue of chasing every new tool, every integration, every 'must-have' update, with no time to think about what really matters. AI is moving fast toward table stakes. It won’t be an advantage much longer. Creativity is the only true edge left and right now, a lot of work isn’t meeting the mark. What will matter more than ever is distinctiveness: ideas, voice, taste. The market is moving faster. Tolerance for mediocrity is shrinking. Anything forgettable will be… forgotten. The edge isn’t speed. It’s resonance.

2. You Can’t Automate Trust

Speed and scale alone won’t build trust. If anything, they’ll erode it. People can feel when something’s made with care and when it’s made on autopilot. The brands that will win trust are the ones willing to slow down where it counts - in the thinking, the strategy, the creative choices — the human parts that shape meaning, not just output. And they’ll need to be more deliberate about this, because trust will only get harder to earn from here. In a world of endless content, discernment will be felt.

3. Culture Is Not Something Brands Can Own or Scale

There was plenty of talk about shaping culture this week. The reality? People create culture, not brands. The best a brand can do is help people connect inside of it. Right now, though, we’re seeing the opposite. The sheer volume of content - algorithm-chased, engagement-hungry, made to feed the machine - isn’t enriching culture, it’s fracturing it. Moments get flattened. Meaning gets lost in the churn. The brands that step back, listen harder, and act with more humility will be the ones that stay relevant.

4. Taste and Judgment Will Separate the Winners

More tools will not give you an edge. Smarter choices will. Taste and human judgment are what will make the difference, in what you create and how you connect. But those qualities are getting harder to find inside teams. Part of it is speed. People are shipping faster than they are thinking. Part of it is overload. With so many new tools and platforms to navigate, space for judgment and craft keeps getting squeezed. The brands that protect and invest in those qualities will be the ones that break through.

5. The Opportunity: No One Has This Figured Out

Amid this week’s polished panels, one truth came into sharp focus: Nobody has a perfect playbook. The ones claiming they do? Red flag. The brands that will win this next era are the ones that stay clear-eyed, make smart bets and lead with human intelligence. Being first or fast will only get you so far. Being felt — that’s what matters.

The more noise we create, the harder it is to connect. But the appetite for connection hasn’t gone away; it’s growing. People still crave ideas that move them, brands they can believe in and experiences worth their attention.

That’s the opportunity. The brands that stay sharp, stay human and act with intent will be the ones we’re still talking about long after the next wave of tools comes and goes.

Karen Piper is co-head of strategy at Code and Theory