Our take-aways of St-Canneke

Tom Ernst of Young Dogs highlighted the importance of creative consistency: the ability to keep innovating without losing sight of your brand identity. When your brand stays loyal to its positioning and builds on a recognisable creative platform, it becomes more distinctive and remains relevant in the long run.

While last year’s Cannes was driven mainly by emotion, this year we saw campaigns that took it a step further. Brands that truly want to stand out must not only be creative, but also consistently so. Consistency is key for long-term impact.

A great example is the KitKat Phone Break campaign. For decades, the brand has remained loyal to "Have a break, have a KitKat", each time updating it to match the current times. This time, KitKat ironically taps into smartphone breaks. The campaign is recognisable, funny and perfectly aligned with the brand’s heritage.

Strategists love to hear it: the most impactful campaigns are grounded in human insights. Heineken proves this with Bar Dating . The campaign is based on two simple yet powerful insights. Bars make little profit from loyal regulars, while younger generations are engaging less in real-life social interaction. Heineken’s solution? A platform that lets you date new bars. This way, Heineken supports the hospitality sector while also facilitating real connections. A wonderful combination of social relevance with brand insights. It even won a bronze award in the Creative Commerce category.

Listening to your community is an essential part of brand research. Yet it is something many brands still overlook. The campaign Vaseline Verified is a great example of how to do it right. It rightfully earned a Grand Prix in the Social & Influencer category.

Vaseline noticed that their iconic petroleum jelly featured in countless viral social media videos, ranging from beauty tricks to lifestyle hacks. The brand decided to test these tips in their lab. Hacks that proved safe were given the Vaseline Verified label. Without producing content themselves, Vaseline still managed to build a credible creator community. Smart, relevant and 100% on-brand.

Advertising budgets are under pressure everywhere. As a result, Cartel Agency receives more and more briefings that are tightly focused on conversion. Does that mean that you have to sacrifice creativity? On the contrary: Cannes claims that conversion and creativity can be a perfect match.

One case that has circulated quite often already in our internal teams, is Preserved Promos of Ziploc, winner of the Grand Prix in the category Creative Commerce. The campaign addresses a common frustration: because of the rising retail prices, people use coupons, only to find they’ve expired when they’re already at the check-out.

Ziploc cleverly responded to this frustration. Clients who added a Ziploc product to their shopping cart could still scan expired coupons and receive the discount. A simple trick, perfectly aligned with what the brand has been doing for years: preserving what’s important. The action brought value to both consumers and retailers by turning disappointment into a positive brand experience.

St-Canneke 2025 confirms once more: strong campaigns are insight-driven, stay true to the brand and are culturally relevant. Armed with this inspiration, we’re eager to dive back into our own campaigns!