Creatively awarded work is 7x more effective. 7x. Not a figure to be sniffed at.
Read on to hear what Liv Phillips, StrategiQ Creative Strategist, took home from Cannes 2026.
Whatever posts you’ve seen about the Cannes International Festival of Creativity (and I’m sure there’s a lot), I’d hazard a guess that they probably talked about influencers and mentioned the word Rose approx 12 times. And, while I did do Tequila shots with Rob Mayhew (pics – it happened) I promise I won’t mention that again.
The headlines:
- The ‘colouring in’ departments might just be the most valuable
- AI? Don’t know her
- Is the crowning of the creator economy premature?
This week, my colleague Marco and I represented the UK in the Young Lions Digital competition, the largest of the lot, with well over 50 countries represented. It’s not every day we get to work alongside teams of the best young talent from Brazil to Mongolia, and frankly, we should. Sitting shoulder-to-shoulder and tackling the exact same brief, was ego-expanding and perspective-shifting. For the brands offering the briefs, this must surely be the shortest route from introspective thinking to endless inspiration and maybe that in itself is a lesson to be learned.
Hot (Like Really Sweaty) Takeaways from the week
The activations: The budgets are mental. With so much talk of ROI, one has to assume the mysterious handshakes everyone speaks of must be of astronomical value, because in a world where everything has to be measured, the ROI on some of these activations has got to be tough to prove.
Or maybe they’ve just been listening to James Hurman, and doubled down on brand building (it’s this btw). In “marketing has a marketing problem” he did some serious mythbusting: reminding us that creatively awarded work is 7x more effective than non. The biggest breakthroughs, though:
- Click-through rate has zero correlation with purchase conversion
- BUT there’s a strong correlation between brand awareness and purchase conversion.
^ His words, not mine! Before anyone @s me.
And then there’s the legend that is Cindy Gallop, reminding us who really holds the power. While the tech platforms act like they own the Croisette (and they kind of do) it’s easy to feel like the future of this industry is in their hands. But the reality check is this: no matter the product, they always come crawling back to advertising, because at the end of the day it’s us, the ‘colouring in departments’, who actually make them money. They need our services, ideas and culture-shaping craft far more than we need their algorithms. We have the keys, just let’s not forget where we left them.
Winning, Watching and the Green-Eyed Monster
Watching other people win is almost as exciting as winning yourself. It’s surprisingly incredibly humbling and genuinely emotional. Like watching the finish line at a marathon, you’re seeing the culmination of immense hard work and huge setbacks, all made possible by passion, dedication and resiliency.
Amongst the late-night brainstorming, last-minute tweaking, and frantic pitch rehearsing, all of it falls away when you see others celebrate. And if you leave Cannes feeling a mixture of awe, exhaustion, and pure unfiltered jealousy? Then good. In fact, congratulations because that means you have taste and appreciate flair. If you’re not jealous of what you’re seeing, you’re probably not humble enough. Seeing the sheer amount of talent that exists, and being able to stand amongst it, is a sharp reminder that the moment you stand still, you’re obsolete.
Three Pieces of Work to Look Up RIGHT NOW
- Based on a True Story (Missing People): Incredibly important and the best representation of of dark humour I’ve seen in a while.
- Your Way Out (Coinbase): The quote, “the best special effect is the truth” comes to mind. A scathing critique of the financial system disguised as pure, brilliant film craft.
- Beat Cancer Off by VML: Just trust me (but maybe wear headphones if you’re watching in the office).
AI or Creators? Or Did Both Miss the Mark?
Assuming AI would dominate every conversation would have been fair, and while it definitely showed up, the industry instead scrambled to crown the Creator Economy as the new messiah of marketing.
That may be true for now, but I can’t help feeling it’s still shortsighted. In a world flooded with automated content and infinite scroll fatigue, the scarcest commodity is tangible, real-world presence. Even Pinterest knows it, their entire brand now positioned around “Less URL, more IRL.”
The Creator Economy may hold the crown for now, but when the analogue revolution really arrives, who’s poised to take it? Watch this space.
The tools are catching up to this thinking, and the direction of travel is telling.
What can the rest of the world learn?
For me, there’s one standout takeaway: just how dedicated the people in this industry are. The brilliant, funny, inspiring, outrageous, passionate people.
We creatives may not always be the most efficient on paper (oh come on, of course we know that), but we are famously tenacious and can be incredibly stubborn, and the benefit of that? Well if, in these uncertain times, I wanted people to care about my business as much as I did, I know exactly who I’d be betting on. This entire festival proves that commitment to quality, innovation, and just genuinely giving a sh*t, is in our DNA. Making efficiencies to maximise shareholder value is fun and all, but the creatives winning awards on that stage this week will go through it all for you, your brand, and your brief. That’s who I want in my corner.
If that sounds like something you need, you know where we are.
Otherwise, here’s to next year, and a whole load of brilliance in between.
Now I need a lie-in.
As promised – Liv + tequila with Rob Mayhew.
Meet Liv
From diving head first into brand strategy to global award-winning creativity, Liv’s impact is felt in every project she touches. Whether she’s solving complex client problems or competing against the best young talent in the country, she brings a level of passion and insight that is, quite literally, world-class.