DV Highlights: Cannes Lions 2025

Join us as we look back at the exciting moments and innovative breakthroughs from Cannes Lions 2025. 

The 2025 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity was a thrilling showcase of creativity and tech, and DV was proud to be at the forefront. With insightful panels and networking happy hours, our presence at Cannes reflects our commitment to the future of digital advertising. 

Join us as we recap the key moments from this year’s iconic festival.

Cannes Kickoff: Happy Hour In Partnership With Smartly | Monday, June 16

Advertisers and marketers from around the world raised a glass with DV and Smartly to kick off an unforgettable week at Cannes. It was the perfect opportunity to make new connections and deepen industry relationships while unwinding and finding inspiration.

The ROI of Resilience: Advertising Through Economic Uncertainty | Tuesday, June 17

During economic turbulence, the instinct is to pause, but data indicates that resilience, not retreat, leads to stronger brands and long-term growth. Check out the key takeaways from this panel of independent voices on how advertisers can confidently invest to drive better outcomes, even when the market says to wait.

Panelists

Key Takeaways

#1: Resilience Is a Strategic Muscle, Not Just Survival Mode. Marketers must embrace constant change and maintain strategic direction even when external conditions are unstable. Resilience means avoiding knee-jerk reactions and focusing instead on long-term brand health and continuing to build equity even when pressure to cut spending intensifies.

#2: Agility Requires New Signals and Faster Metrics. Traditional data sources often lag in fast-changing environments. Leading brands are expanding their inputs — such as alternative economic indicators or real-time supply chain data — to make faster and more informed decisions. 

#3: Growth Favors the Bold — Don’t Default to Budget Cuts. Brands that continue to invest in brand equity during downturns significantly outperform those that retreat. Evidence shows that strategic media investment during these times yields a higher market share on the other side. The key isn’t to ignore budget pressure, but to optimize spend intelligently.

Want to get the most from your ads placed in walled gardens? Explore how DV Authentic AdVantage delivers pre-bid protection, post-bid verification and performance optimization — all in one powerful solution.

The AI Advantage: Dynamic AI Strategies that Outperform | Tuesday, June 17

AI is transforming advertising performance with faster, smarter media optimization. This panel examined how AI-driven strategies can enhance efficiency, boost campaign ROI and drive meaningful outcomes across the open web and social platforms alike. Take a look at what the panelists had to say about this transformation.

Our Panelists

Key Takeaways

#1: AI Produces Clearer Customer Insights. The integration of AI and advanced data collection into the ad ecosystem is empowering marketers to develop a richer, more holistic view of their customers and truly understand their unique needs and preferences. This shift not only allows marketers to move beyond customer segmentation, but also enhances the effectiveness of marketing strategies. 

#2: We Must Rethink the Traditional Marketing Funnel. The traditional marketing funnel, which divided campaign strategies into two distinct categories — branding and performance — has become outdated in today’s dynamic marketing landscape. The convergence of data enables us to consider all stages of the funnel, creating a seamless customer experience with a unified goal of driving conversions and fostering long-term loyalty.

#3: AI Enables Us to Prove Outcomes. AI is enabling brands to move away from relying on proxies like clicks and impressions alone and instead to demonstrate tangible outcomes. With enhanced data modeling, brands can not only predict outcomes but also validate them effectively.

Interested in learning how to leverage AI to drive digital strategies that not only perform but excel? Check out our guide to DV Scibids AI.

80s Retro Rendezvous With Affinity Solutions | Tuesday, June 17

DV’s legendary 80s Retro Rendezvous, co-hosted with Affinity Solutions, featured a memorable performance by Howard Jones. The Seven Sins yacht became a throwback paradise as he sang classics like “What Is Love” and “Things Can Only Get Better,” while attendees danced under the stars in their 80s attire.

Prove It: AI, Attribution and the ROI Mindset | Wednesday, June 18

In a world filled with fragmented touchpoints and rising expectations, proving performance matters more than ever. This panel explored how AI-driven activation and attribution link media investments to real outcomes, enabling brands to optimize, demonstrate impact and make informed decisions using trusted data and insights. See the key takeaways below.

Panelists

Key Takeaways

#1: Goodbye Funnel, Hello Consumer Journey. The functionality of the traditional marketing funnel is changing. AI is enabling marketers to follow real, nonlinear customer journeys where time, mood, media context and channel all matter. The result? Smarter, more responsive advertising that treats people as individuals, not segments.

#2: Predict, Don’t Just Prove. AI is making performance prediction possible (and closer to real time than ever before) with faster, more granular data. Additionally, with advanced modeling, advertisers can simulate outcomes, detect anomalies and course-correct mid-campaign, replacing lagging indicators with a proactive strategy.

#3: Data Is Powerful — But Only If It’s Ready. From transaction data to creative signals, the value of AI depends on clean, well-structured inputs. AI doesn’t fix broken data; it amplifies it. Brands and agencies must prioritize data hygiene, cross-system collaboration and transparency to ensure AI delivers on its promise.

Are you ready to prove it? See how DV Rockerbox helps marketers close the loop and connect spend to real outcomes. 

Happy Hour In Partnership With EDO | Wednesday, June 18

To top off an amazing week, the DV executive team raised a glass to new ideas and bright days ahead as the sun set on the French Riviera and another Cannes Lions festival.

Au Revoir, Cannes!

From all of us at DV, thank you to everyone who was able to attend any of our events or meet with us on deck. We hope you gained valuable insights into key trends within the ever-evolving digital landscape.

Speaking of valuable insights, have you checked out DV’s Global Insights: Trends in the Modern Streaming Landscape yet? Get your copy of the report to explore the biggest shifts and trends in streaming, examining both the consumer and advertiser perspectives.