At Cannes Lions, The Conversation Wasn’t Just About AI
Howard Smith, Executive Director, Center for Industry Self-Regulation
If you've ever attended Cannes, you know the event is designed to celebrate creativity, innovation, and the future of marketing. This year, however, I was struck by how many conversations ultimately led to a different topic.
Whether the discussion focused on AI, creator marketing, media transparency, or brand reputation, everyone was discussing how to ensure consumers continue to trust what they see, hear, and experience in an increasingly complex digital marketplace.
What surprised me wasn't that trust came up. It was that trust was discussed less as an ethical aspiration and more as a business imperative.
Speaker after speaker made some version of the same point, which may sound obvious. Organizations that earn trust create value, and those that lose it eventually pay for it.
One speaker described transparency as a “pathway to consumer trust.” Another noted that guardrails build confidence rather than restrict innovation. Several framed responsible business practices not as obstacles to growth, but as insurance policies against reputational, legal, and commercial risk. As one executive put it, “the challenge is often helping business leaders understand that trust-building measures are not costs, but instead they are investments and, like investments, they compound over time.”
These conversations represent an important shift in how industry thinks about accountability.
For years, discussions around compliance and self-regulation were often framed as defensive exercises that are necessary but separate from business growth. At Cannes, the conversation sounded different. Increasingly, trust is being viewed as a driver of customer loyalty, long-term brand value, and ultimately revenue.
One of the most memorable comments I heard came from a business leader who argued that "trust is good for business" and that guardrails are essential to building it.
The urgency of this conversation is amplified by AI. As generative tools reshape content creation and advertising, the industry faces new challenges around authenticity, disclosure, intellectual property, and consumer understanding. Trust's closest sibling is authenticity, yet authenticity is becoming increasingly difficult to evaluate in a world where content can be created, altered, and distributed at unprecedented speed and scale.
The pace of technological change often exceeds the pace of formal regulation. That reality creates a critical role for industry self-regulation, a system that allows frameworks to evolve more quickly as technology changes. Furthermore, it is often industry and those adjacent to it who have the technological fluency that regulators may lack to keep up with the issues that emerge as technology continues to advance with almost exponential speed.
One of the most compelling observations I heard was that successful self-regulation is often invisible. When standards work, consumers rarely notice. They simply experience a marketplace that feels more trustworthy. Public attention tends to focus on failures rather than the countless instances where responsible practices prevent harm before it occurs.
The alternative, a marketplace without meaningful standards, creates incentives for a race to the bottom. If responsible actors are not recognized and rewarded, the pressure to maximize attention at the lowest possible cost can overwhelm considerations of accuracy, transparency, and consumer protection.
The creator economy provides a powerful example.
Creators increasingly occupy a central place in the advertising ecosystem, and most creators want to act responsibly. The challenge is often not intent but understanding the rules. Time and again, I heard that creators want to do the right thing, but many simply do not know what the rules are.
Clear standards, practical guidance, and effective training can help creators meet consumer expectations while maintaining the authenticity that makes creator marketing effective in the first place.
Training and certification programs, like those being developed by self-regulation organizations around the globe and right here within the Center for Industry Self-Regulation's Institute for Responsible Influence, can help creators, brands, agencies, and platforms understand responsible advertising practices and have a partner in accountability.
Another theme I heard repeatedly was that the industry should be careful not to confuse efficiency with responsibility. AI promises remarkable efficiencies, but speed alone cannot be the industry's north star. Likewise, advertisers should resist the temptation to pursue attention at the cheapest possible price if doing so undermines long-term consumer confidence.
Trust must be designed into innovation, not added after the fact.
Advertising has solved difficult challenges before. The industry adapted to the rise of digital advertising. It developed standards for the rise of native advertising and emerging new marketing channels. It built systems that continue to evolve as technology changes.
The era of AI and evolving creator marketing models will require similar effort.
If there is one lesson I took away from Cannes, it is that trust remains the foundation upon which everything else is built. Great advertising is not simply advertising that captures attention. Great advertising is advertising that is authentic and that consumers believe.
Consumers ultimately have a powerful vote. When trust erodes, they can protest with their dollars, shift their loyalties, and pressure businesses to change. At a time when trust in media and institutions has declined globally, advertising has an opportunity to distinguish itself by embracing transparency, accountability, and meaningful standards.
The future of advertising will be defined by how effectively we ensure that innovation earns and deserves consumer trust.
If you've ever attended Cannes, you know the event is designed to celebrate creativity, innovation, and the future of marketing. This year, however, I was struck by how many conversations ultimately led to a different topic.
Whether the discussion focused on AI, creator marketing, media transparency, or brand reputation, everyone was discussing how to ensure consumers continue to trust what they see, hear, and experience in an increasingly complex digital marketplace.
What surprised me wasn't that trust came up. It was that trust was discussed less as an ethical aspiration and more as a business imperative.
Speaker after speaker made some version of the same point, which may sound obvious. Organizations that earn trust create value, and those that lose it eventually pay for it.
One speaker described transparency as a “pathway to consumer trust.” Another noted that guardrails build confidence rather than restrict innovation. Several framed responsible business practices not as obstacles to growth, but as insurance policies against reputational, legal, and commercial risk. As one executive put it, “the challenge is often helping business leaders understand that trust-building measures are not costs, but instead they are investments and, like investments, they compound over time.”
These conversations represent an important shift in how industry thinks about accountability.
For years, discussions around compliance and self-regulation were often framed as defensive exercises that are necessary but separate from business growth. At Cannes, the conversation sounded different. Increasingly, trust is being viewed as a driver of customer loyalty, long-term brand value, and ultimately revenue.
One of the most memorable comments I heard came from a business leader who argued that "trust is good for business" and that guardrails are essential to building it.
The urgency of this conversation is amplified by AI. As generative tools reshape content creation and advertising, the industry faces new challenges around authenticity, disclosure, intellectual property, and consumer understanding. Trust's closest sibling is authenticity, yet authenticity is becoming increasingly difficult to evaluate in a world where content can be created, altered, and distributed at unprecedented speed and scale.
The pace of technological change often exceeds the pace of formal regulation. That reality creates a critical role for industry self-regulation, a system that allows frameworks to evolve more quickly as technology changes. Furthermore, it is often industry and those adjacent to it who have the technological fluency that regulators may lack to keep up with the issues that emerge as technology continues to advance with almost exponential speed.
One of the most compelling observations I heard was that successful self-regulation is often invisible. When standards work, consumers rarely notice. They simply experience a marketplace that feels more trustworthy. Public attention tends to focus on failures rather than the countless instances where responsible practices prevent harm before it occurs.
The alternative, a marketplace without meaningful standards, creates incentives for a race to the bottom. If responsible actors are not recognized and rewarded, the pressure to maximize attention at the lowest possible cost can overwhelm considerations of accuracy, transparency, and consumer protection.
The creator economy provides a powerful example.
Creators increasingly occupy a central place in the advertising ecosystem, and most creators want to act responsibly. The challenge is often not intent but understanding the rules. Time and again, I heard that creators want to do the right thing, but many simply do not know what the rules are.
Clear standards, practical guidance, and effective training can help creators meet consumer expectations while maintaining the authenticity that makes creator marketing effective in the first place.
Training and certification programs, like those being developed by self-regulation organizations around the globe and right here within the Center for Industry Self-Regulation's Institute for Responsible Influence, can help creators, brands, agencies, and platforms understand responsible advertising practices and have a partner in accountability.
Another theme I heard repeatedly was that the industry should be careful not to confuse efficiency with responsibility. AI promises remarkable efficiencies, but speed alone cannot be the industry's north star. Likewise, advertisers should resist the temptation to pursue attention at the cheapest possible price if doing so undermines long-term consumer confidence.
Trust must be designed into innovation, not added after the fact.
Advertising has solved difficult challenges before. The industry adapted to the rise of digital advertising. It developed standards for the rise of native advertising and emerging new marketing channels. It built systems that continue to evolve as technology changes.
The era of AI and evolving creator marketing models will require similar effort.
If there is one lesson I took away from Cannes, it is that trust remains the foundation upon which everything else is built. Great advertising is not simply advertising that captures attention. Great advertising is advertising that is authentic and that consumers believe.
Consumers ultimately have a powerful vote. When trust erodes, they can protest with their dollars, shift their loyalties, and pressure businesses to change. At a time when trust in media and institutions has declined globally, advertising has an opportunity to distinguish itself by embracing transparency, accountability, and meaningful standards.
The future of advertising will be defined by how effectively we ensure that innovation earns and deserves consumer trust.