Written by Nicole Webb
The Cannes Lions framed 2026 as the year the industry moved beyond AI hype.
The conversation was less “AI will replace creativity” and more “what should humans do, what should machines do, and where does real value now sit?”
Efficiency versus effectiveness
AI is being used heavily to create more assets, faster, but volume without quality simply creates more clutter. The smarter opportunity is using AI to remove friction while protecting the human inputs that make work memorable: judgement, taste, creativity, emotion and strategy.
Reach versus resonance.
Reach is no longer the hard part. Technology can put content everywhere. The hard part is making something matter. Focus on creators, community and trust. And think of creators as “torch bearers” who carry a brand’s story into spaces brands cannot easily enter (not as media channels).
The ‘two-audience problem’
Brands now need to communicate with humans and machines. Creative work may move people emotionally, but it may not be understood or surfaced by AI models unless it is structured, consistent and machine-readable. This has major implications for brand strategy, PR, SEO, content and reputation management.
An expanded brand influence system
CEO and employees are becoming part of a brand’s influence system. People trust people. That makes leadership visibility, community credibility more important than ever.
Top Cannes Lion themes for marketers
1. AI must serve effectiveness, not just efficiency
The biggest risk is using AI to make more average content, faster. Marketers need to ask whether AI is improving creative quality, customer experience and business growth, not just reducing cost.
2. Human creativity is becoming more valuable
Handmade, crafted, emotional and human-led work stood out. As AI content floods the market, the work that feels genuinely human may become more distinctive.
3. Reach is not enough – brands need resonance
The industry has become very good at attention. The next challenge is meaning. Brands need ideas that stay with people, not just interrupt them.
4. Creators are not media units
Creators work because they have trust, voice and community. Treating them as distribution channels misses the point. The best creator partnerships are built on shared credibility, not simply borrowed reach.
5. Community is becoming a growth channel
Creators work because they have trust, voice and community. Treating them as distribution channels misses the point. The best creator work borrows credibility, not just reach.
Top Cannes Lions themes for PR and strategic communicators
- Trust architecture is now a strategic discipline
Trust can no longer sit in brand sentiment tracking or crisis response. It needs to be designed across leadership, earned media, creators, employees, communities, evidence and AI-visible sources.
- CEOs are now brand assets – and brand risks
The CEO was described as “the most expensive influencer you’ll ever hire.” Strategic communicators need to manage leadership visibility, credibility and consistency far more deliberately.
- The “two-audience problem” changes reputation
PR now has to influence humans and machines. That means earned media, owned content, executive profiles, third-party proof and consistent language all need to be discoverable by AI systems.
- Social strategy is not social media strategy
Social is about how ideas travel through people, communities and culture. That is much bigger than posting on platforms.
- Creators are becoming trust intermediaries
For corporate affairs and PR teams, creators are no longer just a consumer marketing tactic. They are emerging voices in reputation, issue shaping, category authority and public trust.
IMPACT’s big takeaway
Cannes 2026 validated what we have been thinking at IMPACT: AI matters, but trust matters more.
The winning agencies won’t simply be the ones that use AI. They’ll be the ones that understand how to combine AI visibility, human credibility, leadership authority, creator trust and meaningful stories into one reputation system.
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