CANNES, France – At this year’s Cannes Lions festival, the crème de la crème of food marketing didn’t merely tantalize the taste buds. Instead, they dazzled with **strategic innovation** that speaks volumes about the future of the industry.
If you think food marketing revolves solely around **glossy ads** and **sentimental taglines**, you might want to rethink your approach. The standout campaigns showcased at Cannes Lions 2025 proved that **creativity, utility**, and **commerce** are not just parallel avenues—they’re the same **highway** to success.
Let’s explore three transformative keys defining the next chapter for food and beverage brands:
Commerce Is the New Creative Playground
Ziploc’s “Preserved Promos” campaign clinched the **Grand Prix in Creative Commerce** by ingeniously turning **expired food coupons** into usable discounts at the point of sale. Sounds simple? Absolutely! But the brilliance lies in its strategic execution.
Why does this matter? Brands that seamlessly blend inspiration with transaction points are winning not just awards, but **consumer loyalty**. Creativity that integrates itself into the shopping journey—whether through receipts, apps, or retail media screens—is no longer an afterthought. **It’s now the main attraction.**
Action for brands: If your product sits on store shelves, let your creativity **live** in those spaces. Collaborate with retailers, enhance customer loyalty, and reinvent traditional couponing. **Make every touchpoint shoppable.**
Sound is the Flavor You Haven’t Tapped
Oreo’s “Name This Oreo” audio campaign won **Gold and Silver** in the Audio Lions category. No flashy videos, no influencers involved—just pure voice, radio, and **listener engagement**.
Why is this significant? We are witnessing the dawn of a post-visual marketing era. From podcasts to smart speakers, sound is emerging as a powerful driver of **memory** and **consumer behavior**, particularly for food brands that evoke cravings.
Action for brands: **Invest in sound.** Dive into sonic branding, explore audio campaigns, and harness voice-activated storytelling. Remember, consumers are listening before they even bite into products.
Retail Media Isn’t a Trend. It’s the Stage
Cannes introduced a fresh spotlight this year: Retail Media as a bona fide creative category, and for food brands, this is where the competitive landscape is rapidly evolving.
Why does it matter? Retail platforms now offer a space for storytelling that is measurable, conversion-driven, and consumer-centric. You’re not merely purchasing shelf space anymore; you’re buying precious moments.
Action for brands: Create campaigns **with** retailers rather than around them. Target your audience based on **cart behaviors**. Utilize the checkout process as a canvas for innovative storytelling. Think of **snackable experiences** at the exact moment someone hits **“add to cart.”**
The Bigger Shift: From Emotional to Experiential
Cannes 2025 made it abundantly clear: food marketing is pivoting from emotional storytelling to **experiential utility**.
The top marketers at this event didn’t just make us feel; they compelled us to **act**.
What was once considered the **Super Bowl of advertising** is now akin to the **World Cup of strategic commerce**. This evolution is a clarion call for food brands to rethink their presence—not just on screen, but also in stores, apps, and real-life interactions.
Because in 2025, the most powerful narrative isn’t solely the one we tell; it’s the one consumers can **taste, scan, redeem, and repeat.**
Editor’s note: Ivonne Kinser serves as an innovation advisor at The Food Institute. She previously led marketing and innovation for Avocados From Mexico for nearly a decade and founded Vantage Creative, a think tank focused on marketing innovation in 2023.
The Food Institute Podcast
This Episode is Sponsored By: Tibersoft
Data increasingly plays a vital role in the food-away-from-home sector, but the quality of that data—and the experts managing it—remains crucial for success. Tibersoft’s Suzanne Cwik joins The Food Institute Podcast to discuss how speed, precision, and efficiency should be the cornerstones of a robust data management plan.
