Cannes Lions 2025: The age of experiences

WEB AB In Bev SAS 7562 — Marcel Marcondes, global chief marketing officer, AB InBev

People are spending 65% more money on experiences than they did five years ago, according to Marcel Marcondes, global chief marketing officer at AB InBev. The experience economy is now slated to be an $8 trillion market. “We are officially living in the age of experiences,” said Marcondes. “And this brings us a big responsibility to adjust the way we connect our brands with consumers, because we need to match their lifestyle. We need to be meaningful to them.”

We must delight at every experience with events we could not even imagine are possible

Mathilde Delhoume

Global chief brand officer, LVMH

SAS 1823 — Mathilde Delhoume, global chief brand officer, LVMH

At LVMH, the goal is to impress, “we must delight at every experience with events we could not even imagine are possible,” said Mathilde Delhoume, global chief brand officer at LVMH. “If we just meet customer needs, we are dead,” which is why exceeding expectations is essential to the brand. Examples from the brand Delhoume shared included the end-to-end experience of the luxury Belmond train journey, and more recently, the Louis Vuitton flagship store in New York is undergoing renovation for the next two years and whilst that is taking place, the exterior has been replaced with giant versions of their iconic travel trunks, which ushered the largest “wow” from the audience during the festival.

WEB Tor IMG 7428 — Tor Myhren, VP of marketing communications, Apple

Apple showcased how they are bringing its Apple TV+ shows to life. For season 2 of Severance, a show about people severing their work and home lives, the campaign focused on bringing that to the real world. The core cast gathered inside a glass cube, emulating the show’s Lumon Industries office setting, at Grand Central Terminal in New York last year. “We crave human interaction… and that cube is sitting there in front of you, the actors are real people inside that cube” explained Tor Myhren, VP of marketing communications at Apple. “It's a real, tangible experience.”

WEB Pinterest IMG 7651 — Pinterest Beach at Cannes Lions 2025

Several companies also introduced experiences to their branded beach. Pinterest set out huge tables inviting visitors to craft and create, aligned with their brand messaging. At the Meta Beach, a dedicated area dubbed the Reels Skate Park paired visitors with creative directors to film a reel of them appearing to skate. And at the Amazon Beach, people were queuing for the chance to create their own fragrance. Hosting experiences to remember was central to what brands wanted visitors to takeaway with them from Cannes Lions 2025.