first time at cannes lions

what did cannes tell us?

First and foremost, it said: Welcome.

It opened its doors and, in doing so, reaffirmed something we have believed from the beginning - that the space we created for sharing marketing knowledge and experience has real value and meaningful impact. More importantly, it encouraged us to look beyond our local landscape and start thinking on an international scale.

Then it reminded us to dream boldly. To think bigger than ever before. But at the same time, it reminded us to stay humble, because on this journey, ego has very limited mileage.

Before sharing my full Cannes Lions Insight Report, I wanted to reflect on the most important lessons I brought back from the 2026 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

experience is the new brand

For years, conversations around branding focused on strengthening brand foundations. Today, however, the conversation has shifted. Across every stage and every session, one message stood out: creating and continuously improving experiences - for both brands and consumers - has become the real competitive advantage.

Every interaction between a brand and its audience is an opportunity to strengthen awareness, reinforce positioning, and build a genuine emotional connection.

Brands no longer have the luxury of talking about themselves first and letting consumers discover the product later. In today's accelerated world, the product is the brand. It is the promise - and the proof that the promise can be delivered.

Consumers are no longer satisfied with simply watching or listening. They want to participate.

What matters most is the experience you create, how you make people feel, and what stays with them long after the interaction ends.

Ultimately, creativity should exist to solve real human problems - not simply to produce beautiful campaigns or clever messaging. Great creative work is valuable only when it creates meaningful change in people's everyday lives.

this is a human business

While previous years focused heavily on how to use AI, this year the conversation evolved into something far more interesting: where not to use it.

Several themes consistently emerged:

• Creativity remains fundamentally human.
• Every process should begin and end with people. AI can support the work in between, but it should never replace human judgment.
• AI is a partner - not the leader. We remain responsible for the thinking behind the work.
• One of marketing's biggest challenges is creating brands that evoke genuine human emotion while remaining understandable and readable for AI-driven systems.
• As a result, originality, personal voice, human craftsmanship, and authentic creative expression are becoming even more valuable.
  
  

Another important reminder was that brands behave much like people. 

An Arsenal supporter does not suddenly become a Chelsea supporter overnight.

Yet many new brand managers and agencies continue changing campaigns simply because they want to leave their own mark or because they have grown tired of the existing visual identity. The problem is that consumers rarely move at the same speed. Constant change often weakens recognition instead of strengthening it.

A campaign typically needs two to three years before it begins delivering meaningful results. Building long-term brand equity takes closer to a decade.

Creating content has never been easier. Brands now have access to countless tools that allow them to produce content faster than ever before. As a result, today's content ecosystem is louder, faster, and more diverse - but often lacking in meaning, relevance, and lasting value.

If we want people to hear our brand, we should not focus on speaking more. We should focus on creating something valuable enough that others choose to speak about us.

cultural moments as a measure of brand authenticity

Today's cultural moments are no longer created by brands.

They are created organically by communities and fandoms. Brands naturally want to become part of these moments to build emotional relevance - and there is nothing inherently wrong with that.

The challenge is authenticity.

Not every brand can become part of something it does not naturally belong to. The people brands hope to connect with can usually tell the difference between genuine participation and an obvious attempt to join the conversation.

Which raises an uncomfortable question: are you fluent? or just fluent enough to fool youself?

Advertising can buy attention. It cannot buy affection.

Consumers no longer want to passively listen to brand stories. They want to participate in shaping them.

The future belongs not simply to storytelling, but to story-doing - where communities become active participants in building a brand's identity rather than passive audiences consuming it.

it is all one long journey

This journey demands a deep understanding of the fundamentals behind the work we do - especially now, when AI has become part of almost everyone's toolkit.

There may come a day when technological intelligence becomes universally accessible and everyone's intellectual output starts looking increasingly similar: efficient, but often superficial.

That is why strong foundations matter more than ever.

Critical thinking, analysis, measurement, and strategic discipline remain the true differentiators.

At the same time, we should remember that fear and criticism are not obstacles. They are companions on the journey. Courage simply needs to walk beside them.

One day we will look back and think, "Imagine how far I would be today if I had started then."

Which makes the best time to begin exactly now.

what did the brands make us feel?

As I mentioned earlier, everything at Cannes revolved around experience.

There were no traditional presentations. No lengthy brand speeches. No endless explanations about products or services.

Instead, brands invited people to experience.

If you were thirsty, they offered something refreshing. If you were hungry, there was always something to taste - snacks, ice cream, and countless small moments designed to delight.

Product interaction itself became part of the experience.

You could explore building a business with Amazon Web Services, play Xbox, listen to Amazon Books, and engage with countless interactive installations. Behind every experience, brands were also collecting valuable first-party data that will undoubtedly help them better understand and serve their audiences in the future.

The overall feeling was remarkably consistent: generosity, enjoyment, entertainment, connection, and shared experiences.

What stood out even more was the culture itself.

You could never immediately tell who worked at Amazon, Meta, or LinkedIn. Everyone blended into the same community. There was little emphasis on hierarchy or status.

It made me reflect on how much we still struggle with this in Georgia, where titles and positions often define interactions before people even begin talking to one another.

I have already saved Canva and Spotify for next year's festival. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to visit their activation spaces this year.

what really won at cannes lions?

More than ideas, it was measurable impact that won. But impact deserves a more thoughtful definition.

Real impact means creating tangible results. It means changing something - or someone - in a meaningful way. It means an idea that not only generated attention but also improved everyday life, influenced behaviour, or made the world a little better than it was before.

Georgia also celebrated an important victory.

Georgia won when Giorgi Abuladze and Luka Mosiashvili were named the winners of the Film category in the Cannes Lions Young Lions Competition. They won a Gold Lion for their work, and I congratulate them once again.

Finally, thank you to everyone who followed this journey and experienced Cannes alongside us.

A special thank you goes to our partners - Dressup.ge, Imedi L, PSP Pharma, and Roamingo. None of this would have been possible at this level without your support.

See you at the next Cannes Lions Festival.