Cannes Lions 2025: Unbounded creativity

In a sign of the globalization of creative power, this year Grand Prix were awarded to a broad range of nations, including a first for Puerto Rico.

At Cannes Lions, delegations from Mongolia and Saudi Arabia hosted pavilions at the Palais, while Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland and Mongolia joined the shortlisting jury for the first time. And VML Czechia won its first Grand Prix this year for KitKat’s “Phone Break” campaign from our Prague team.

KitKat’s “Phone Break” campaign by VML Czechia

China is not new to the Festival but is ramping up its presence and seems poised to become a major player. While its tally of four Lions in 2024 (2025 figures were unavailable at time of publishing) was comparatively low, brand-building is starting to get underway in earnest. Adams Fan, CCO for agency F5 Shanghai, who led a fascinating session called The globalization of Chinese brands, explained that the nation has traditionally channeled its creative energy into tackling innovation and R&D but that things are changing. Fan was joined by speakers from dairy group Yili and appliance brand Midea, who talked about their focus on emotional storytelling leveraging both AI and influencer strategies.

WEB Yajuan Wang 3 X 0683 — Yajuan Wang, CMO, Xiaohongshu

Social shopping and lifestyle platform Xiaohongshu (or Rednote) was in Cannes for the first time, too. As well as hosting an activation at the Palais, the company's CMO, Yajuan Wang, shared details of its native marketing model, which leverages the power of its fifty million-strong community across more than a million vertical interest groups to promote or “seed” products – achieving click-through rates of 14%. The platform has become a kind of shopping search engine in China, impacting consumer behavior and brand tactics and is clearly set on global expansion.

WEB Jimmy Fallon SAS 1109 — Jimmy Fallon

Media and content are also now borderless as platforms cater to vast global audiences unlocked by social media. Jimmy Fallon, host of NBC Universal's "Tonight" show acknowledged the role of social media in building a truly global audience for the show. "The reason people know who I am here is because of digital," said Fallon. Short skits and celebrity clips made for digital have racked up more than 9.2 billion views and the show has more than 100 million followers. "The globe is watching the Tonight show," said Fallon, "we do a bit and we have no idea how big it's going to get."

As the globalization of creativity continues apace, brands must consider the needs of those way beyond the borders they are used to, and prepare for an audience of billions.

Main image: KitKat’s “Phone Break” campaign by VML Prague