The Globe and Mail recently hosted Après Cannes, an evening celebrating the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, at The Globe and Mail Centre in Toronto.
Sponsored by Kruger Products, the event transported attendees to the South of France, giving them a taste of the winning campaigns, insights, and trends driving this year’s Lions. With 2025 marking The Globe and Mail’s 20th year as the official representative of the Cannes Lions Festival in Canada, the evening carried a distinct celebratory tone.
The event opened with Penny Hicks, Managing Director, Client Partnerships and Commercial Operations at The Globe and Mail and Marcin Zerek, Head of Trade Marketing at The Globe and Mail, who emphasized Canada’s incredible performance this year. With 57 Lions plus 9 co-wins, it was the country’s highest total wins ever, bringing Canada to rank #4 globally.
Karen Howe, Founder of The Township Group and Canadian Cannes Lions Advisory Board member kicked off the evening giving her take on the year’s top creative work. Describing Cannes Lions as the “Olympics of Creativity,” Karen highlighted the festival’s role as a global benchmark for creative excellence and broke down the key trends defining this year’s winning campaigns.
#1: Artificial Intelligence takes centre stage
AI was a dominant force in award-winning work. Campaigns that leveraged smart and innovative use of AI, paired with a niche target, found particular success.
#2: Unconventional Use of Conventional Media
Some of this year’s most impressive campaigns reimagined traditional media in a fresh and unexpected way. Karen highlighted Pedigree’s “Adoptable” campaign that used OOH ads with AI to create advertisements with real adoptable dogs.
#3: Invite people into your brand
While traditionally, big global brands don’t want people messing with their logo or name, this year, brands like Heineken embraced fans’ creative agency.
#4: Humour is having a moment
This year, 78% of US and UK winners used humour in their campaigns. It can be a remarkably successful strategy, Karen argued, when used in a low-interest category, as it allows jurors and audiences alike to connect with your brand in an authentic way.
#5: Wit over Wallet
Brands used tight budgets to think outside the box, with Karen highlighting the example of Burger King’s “Invoke Ghosts” campaign, which captured their audience’s attention despite a $0 budget.
#6: Culture Matters
Sometimes, the right message delivered at the right moment can launch a brand into the cultural conversation and prove more effective than the most planned campaigns. This year saw winning campaigns that rode the culture wave to success, from Doordash’s “DoorDash All The Ads” to Heinz’s “Seemingly Ranch.”
#7: Women in Sports
Women’s sports stepped into the spotlight this year, with multiple campaigns challenging gender stereotypes and barriers. From Molson’s redesign of the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s jerseys to Orange’s deepfake soccer ad exposing gender bias, these campaigns took gender discrimination head-on.
Inside the Jury room: Understanding what makes a Lion-worthy campaign
After the presentation, Shannon Lewis, President of CMDC and Canadian Cannes Lions Advisory Board member, introduced the panel discussion. Susan Irving, Chief Marketing Officer at Kruger Products and Canadian Cannes Lions Advisory Board member, was the moderator, and she was joined on stage by two of this year’s jurors, Andrea Ogunbadejo, VP, Managing Direction of Production at Cossette, and Erin Kawalecki, Chief Creative Office and Co-Founder of Angry Butterfly.
The discussion covered what makes work truly award-worthy – from emerging industry trends to consistent qualities found in award-winning work to the heated debates that shaped the jury’s decisions.
Andrea highlighted how exceptional craft should strengthen storytelling, while Erin discussed the importance of innovative approaches to traditional mediums. The panellists agreed that the biggest takeaway of the evening was that award-winning campaigns always take things one step further. The best creative teams pushed good ideas to their limits, turning solid concepts into gold and making them undeniable to the jury panel.
- Both emphasized some key insights and tips for competitors:
- Don’t underestimate the role of culture
- Embrace how consumers naturally engage with your brand
- For better or worse, measurable results are important
- Every choice should advance your story
- Use new tech but don’t overlook older mediums
- Selecting the right category is as crucial as the submission itself
- Insights matter
The panel concluded with valuable advice for future juror and competitors. Andrea talked about the importance of trusting your creative teams to take the lead, while Erin shared a tip she received before heading to Cannes: approach the experience with ‘strong opinions, loosely held.’
With over 13,000 attendees from over 78 countries, Cannes Lions is a testament to the global importance of creativity. The Globe and Mail’s ‘Après Cannes’ celebrated this spirit, highlighting creativity, insights, and the Cannes Lions community while showcasing the trends and ideas shaping the industry’s future.
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