On day three of Cannes Lions, the focus shifted from AI to marketing that proves creativity still moves people – and the world. In a lunchtime session aptly titled Marketing That Happens: Real-Time Truths That Move Culture, Todd Kaplan, CMO North America at Kraft Heinz, took to the stage to champion marketing that happens. The kind that sparks a text from a friend who’s seen your work, or buzzes through as a push notification on your phone. The powerful slide caption from his talk sums up why we’re all here – to master the craft because creativity has the power to move people. In so many ways. And maybe win a Lion.
While the first two days of the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity were heavily AI-focused, Wednesday featured a breakthrough session that was a true love letter to advertising. Its unexpected envoys were Jimmy Fallon, award-winning Host of NBC’s The Tonight Show, and Bozoma Saint John, former CMO of Netflix and current cast member of Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
All week, we’ve been gnashing our teeth over AI and its devaluation of human capital and creativity. Then in leaps Jimmy, paired with the incomparable ad icon, Bozoma.
NBCUniversal | The Late-Night Hustle: From Comedic Gold to a Business Empire
As a serial entrepreneur and restless creative, Fallon burst onto the stage, proclaiming that he’d found his tribe here. And he has. This fall, he and Bozoma are launching a reality TV series and marketing agency called On Brand with Jimmy Fallon – think Chopped meets The Apprentice.
With Jimmy as CCO and Bozoma as CMO, the series will have real agency folks, in real time, try to create a real marketing campaign for global brands like Marshalls, Southwest Airlines, and Dunkin’ Donuts. The joy of the crowd was palpable.
In closing, Saint John said it best, “I want to bring back respect to marketing and advertising.” Amen, sister.
Reporting Karen Howe, President, The Township Group, Cannes Lions Advisory Board member
Regarded as an authority on global trends in culture, tech and creativity, Karen speaks to audiences across North America providing a vital analysis of these key trends. She is a globally recognized Creative Director and a Cannes Lions Advisory Board member who trains Canada’s Young Lions and Judges for competition. Karen is also a rarity as a female creative director in an industry where fewer than 10% are women. Count on her for a unique point of view. Follow her on X @realkarenhowe
From left to right: Catherine Casey Nanda, Tanya Bryer, Serena Williams, Sheila Redzepi
Purpose in Practice – Meeting Innovation Where it’s Needed Most
Today’s moment of global sobriety was brought to us by an engaging panel of powerful women leading the charge on innovation where it’s needed most – for underrepresented entrepreneurs like women and especially women of colour and for underrepresented populations. The session opened with two stark facts – half the world still lacks access to basic healthcare and one in four people don’t have safe drinking water.
This kicked off the Impact Innovators Building a Healthier World session – moderated by Tanya Bryer OBE and featuring Serena Williams, Catherine Casey Nanda of Acumen America, and Sheila Redzepi from Reckitt. What made this session stand out was not just the data. It was the decisive and focused action being taken to confront the issue at a systemic level.
The Real Face of Innovation
Marketing is obsessed with talk about innovation. We can’t get enough of AI, personalization and the latest media strategies to cut through the clutter to reach our audiences. This panel delivered something much deeper and urgent. This discussion was all about innovation as a tool for survival, dignity, and equity.
Reckitt | Impact Innovators: Building a Healthier World
23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams talked about her evolution from athlete to entrepreneur and investor. Williams is no stranger to investing for good. In fact, Serena Ventures has been backing founders from underrepresented communities for over a decade. She doesn’t do it for optics. She does it because she’s come to understand that the best ideas and innovations often come from people on the ground and closest to the problem. Watching the tremendous growth of DTC brands over the years, its true that the most successful start-ups are those that tell the story of wanting to solve a real problem. In underrepresented populations and geographies, these entrepreneurs tend to be overlooked and underfunded.
A Data Point We Shouldn’t Ignore
Catherine Casey Nanda brought jaw dropping numbers to light: only 2% of venture funding goes to women. Meanwhile, women-led businesses consistently outperform on returns and job creation. In healthcare, where women deliver 90% of frontline services, the disconnect is staggering.
And yet, they keep showing up. Some examples cited today were about women working hard to deliver progressive offerings like a water-harvesting startup in Pakistan and in East Africa, an AI-driven diagnostics solution. It was clear that community-led innovation can solve serious issues on the ground with the empathy, speed, and cultural precision that global NGOs could only dream of.
Brands as “Catalysts” – Not Just Sponsors
Reckitt’s approach, outlined by Sheila Redzepi, is worth studying. Rather than dropping into communities with branded solutions, they partnered with Acumen and others to fund and scale local entrepreneurs. They’ve supported over 60 innovations across 13 countries – focusing not on logo visibility, but on lasting change.
Their newest move? Launching Reckitt Catalyst – a global platform to support health and hygiene entrepreneurs, with Serena Williams as their Entrepreneur in Residence. This isn’t a CSR play. It’s a strategic investment in scalable solutions to the world’s biggest problems.
The Takeaway for Brands
This session delivered a masterclass in how not to do purpose theater. The brands and individuals here weren’t chasing headlines. They were focused on moving the needle. And in doing so, they offered a few sharp lessons:
- Proximity is power. If your solution isn’t shaped by the community it serves, it probably misses the mark.
- Equity is a strategy, not a slogan. Ignoring diverse founders isn’t just unjust – it’s bad business.
- Purpose needs scaffolding. Funding, mentorship, and long-term commitment – not just a campaign brief.
In a week where “brand purpose” is everywhere, this was a reminder of what it looks like when purpose is practiced – not just preached. When done right, it doesn’t just feel good – it works. It scales. It saves lives.
When real impact is achieved and brands can celebrate collective victories with significant global impact, it builds the kind of trust that they’ve struggled so hard to earn back.
Reporting Sonia Carreno, President, IAB Canada, Cannes Lions Advisory Board member
As acting President of IAB – the only trade association dedicated to the responsible growth of the digital industry in Canada – Sonia is a true digital veteran with deep experience covering virtually every angle of the digital marketing sector. Her recent induction into Canada’s Marketing, Advertising, PR and Communications Hall of Fame is just one of many accolades she has collected, including two gold medals for her work supporting gender equality in the Canadian marketplace for IAB’s AutoCorrectHer campaign. As an active member of the advertising community, she is deeply committed to the industry’s success, with a focus on ethical and responsible practices to build a sustainable future.
Young Lions PR, Media, Marketers presenting today!
Pictured: Marketing Gold-winning Canadian Young Lions Suzanne Liu and Arielle Uwonkunda ready for the pitch
What a journey it’s been – from winning gold at home for the chance to travel to Cannes and compete with some of the world’s top young creatives. Today, Canada’s teams in PR (sponsored by Edelman Canada), Media (sponsored by Snap Inc.), and Marketers (sponsored by Interac) are presenting their work live to an international jury, hoping to step onto the global stage and bring home medals.
All of Canada’s Cannes Lions Wins in One Place
IKEA’s ‘U up?’ campaign earns double gold at Cannes
Who’s counting? We are. On day one, Canada secured six Lions, including a Gold for FCB’s “The Count” campaign for SickKids Foundation. Day 2 included two Bronze Lions in the Film Craft competition and we kicked off Day 3 with nine Lions and at Wednesday’s night awards Kraft Heinz won Gold and it was two Gold Lions for Rethink’s Ikea campaign.
(And if you’re reading this now… odds are that number’s already gone up.)
See who’s bringing the hardware home – and track every Canadian finalist and winner with Strategy Daily.
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