Cannes 2025 has come and gone. It was another successful year celebrating innovation, inspiration, and global industry momentum under the French Riviera sun.
LiveRamp was proud to join leaders across the advertising, marketing, and technology worlds to explore what’s next for our industry. From the beaches to the rooftops to the panels, a few big themes cut through the noise. As expected, agentic AI was the festival darling, but it wasn’t the only topic the Croisette was buzzing about.
Below are five key takeaways from the week that signal where the industry is heading and what marketers should prioritize next.
- The AI “race” will be won by proprietary data
Agentic AI was everywhere at Cannes Lions, moving from a buzzword to a full fledged driver fueling creativity, media planning, customer experiences, and brand strategy. The real conversation, however, wasn’t just about the AI itself, but the data powering it.
Specialized agents are emerging to serve many marketing use cases, such as analyzing first-party data, powering more intelligent customer interactions at scale, and increasing the value of partnerships by unlocking richer insights into joint customers and accelerating clean room collaboration.
Without access to high-quality, connected data, AI agents can’t deliver on the promise of personalization, optimization, or measurable business outcomes. In this new landscape, delivering CPMs is no longer enough. Marketers want to know how, when, and why customers engage. Value must be created throughout the funnel as AI reshapes the consumer experience. AI, fueled by the right data, can get them there.
- Commerce media is entering the phase of co-creation
Commerce media is no longer just for retailers, as evidenced by the countless companies across financial services, travel, entertainment, and other industries that convened in Cannes to flaunt their new media platforms. From Instacart and Pinterest, to CVS and Reddit, data-rich companies are forging creative, new partnerships to engage consumers in all the places where inspiration and discovery happens, not just the point of purchase.
As CMOs move beyond campaign-based thinking and invest in building or buying commerce media capabilities, data and collaboration will remain at the center of it all. “Data is more powerful in the context of other data,” said Shelly Palmer, CEO of The Palmer Group, during a panel at the Uber Villa.
Dive deeper into this evolution in our Cannes Commerce media recap.
CVS Media Exchange, PayPal Ads, LiveRamp, and Uber Advertising explore the future of agentic commerce.
- Sports is shifting from reach to relevance
From Sport Beach to athlete appearances along the Croisette, sports were everywhere at Cannes 2025. As streaming continues to make live games more dynamic and on-demand, marketers are leaning into personalization and real-time engagement to reimagine how fans can discover, watch, and interact with content. They know it’s time to rethink how to reach today’s “fluid fan” as global moments like the World Cup and 2028 Olympics loom on the horizon.
TikTok, Sports Innovation Lab, and others hosted events that showcased how brands are moving away from purely programmatic campaigns in favor of more integrated, contextually relevant CTV strategies. Instead of showing up everywhere, marketers want to invest in fewer, higher-impact moments. By using data, they can identify the right tentpole events, sports properties, and cultural flashpoints to be part of, and layer on performance tactics to close the loop and drive true growth.
This “audience-first, performance-backed” model is gaining momentum, especially as emerging sports properties and leagues offer compelling access to highly engaged and passionate fans. The future of sports advertising lies in delivering not just reach, but relevance, and data is the playmaker.
LiveRamp and Sports Innovation Lab co-host an event about the future of data-driven sports advertising.
- It’s no longer what you measure, but how you measure it
As AI changes how people search, shop, and engage, and as economic pressures heighten scrutiny over marketing budgets, the conversation around measurement has reached a turning point. At Cannes, it was clear that traditional KPIs like ROAS no longer go far enough on their own. Marketers now have to connect media performance to real-world business outcomes in ways that are holistic and rooted in consumer trust.
There’s a shift from proxy metrics in favor of KPIs that reflect impact on the business and resonance with consumers. Solutions like LiveRamp’s Cross-Media Intelligence are helping marketers, commerce media networks, and publishers connect every dot to measure not just what was seen, but what worked. In a world of increasingly fragmented platforms and rising expectations, measurement must evolve to be not just smarter, but simpler.
- Collaboration fuels creativity
Amid the many forces changing the advertising industry, one theme is clear: no one wins alone.
Leaders across the industry emphasized that the pace of innovation demands new forms of collaboration. Brian O’Kelley, CEO of Scope3, put it best: we’re in a state of “real-time building” where breakthroughs are happening faster than we thought possible. And as Parbinder Dhariwal, VP and General Manager at CVS Media Exchange, noted, the funnel has collapsed. It’s been replaced by a more fluid, collaborative model that builds experiences with consumers, not just for them.
Collaboration isn’t just about connection; it’s a catalyst for creativity that drives growth. When brands, publishers, agencies, creators, and platforms bring their data and insights to the table, they can co-create richer, more relevant customer experiences. In a world moving at the speed of AI, creativity is no longer confined to campaigns. It’s embedded in how we build partnerships, share signals, and shape innovation together.
As the industry looks ahead, it’s about the meaningful networks we build – powered by data and trust – to unlock the next era of growth.
The future is connected
We’re walking away from Cannes reminded that real innovation doesn’t happen in silos. The future of marketing will be shaped by those who come together. Data collaboration offers a bridge between innovative companies and their data, partners, and outcomes.
“We knew that all of our partners and retailers were investing in LiveRamp as well. Having that kind of common currency across the ecosystem was important.” – VP, Data-Driven Experiences, Personal Care & Beauty, Total Economic Impact Study
At LiveRamp, we’re proud to help build the infrastructure that enables AI-driven, measurable, and adaptive marketing at scale. Whether you joined us in the south of France or followed along from afar, we’re excited to keep the conversation going.
If you’re ready to chat about how you can bring this innovation to life, reach out to us today.