At the 2025 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, it wasn't the usual spectacle of cinematic storytelling or high-concept campaigns that took the spotlight. Instead, this year, the conversation turned sharply to convergence—how marketing, media, and technology are blurring into a single, experience-driven discipline.
CMOs from giants like Salesforce, Citi, and Boston Consulting Group were joined by unconventional collaborators—think music mogul will.i.am and immersive tech designers—to explore one dominant theme: in today's world, your brand is no longer what you say it is. It's the sum of every interaction, in every channel, driven by unified experience.
The implications for B2B are seismic.
The Brand Is the Experience
In a world saturated with choice, buyers aren't evaluating brands solely on performance—they're assessing how those brands make them feel across touchpoints. Whether it's a webinar, a website, or a 1:1 demo call, the expectation is for a coherent, seamless, and emotionally resonant experience.
B2B brands can no longer afford to separate marketing from customer success or design from delivery. The most successful enterprises are those that align every layer of their organization—sales, product, support—around delivering a unified, branded experience.
The Expanding Role of the CMO
CMOs are no longer simply campaign strategists—they're now stewards of customer experience and growth. This expanded mandate requires fluency across tech stacks, data privacy laws, content ecosystems, and revenue operations.
Today's CMO must:
- Align with CFOs and CROs to drive measurable business outcomes.
- Collaborate with product and IT teams to deliver innovation.
- Own the voice of the customer across all channels.
What B2B Marketers Should Take Away
- Consistency Beats Creativity Alone: Cannes made it clear—brands that prioritize consistency across experiences outperform those chasing campaign awards.
- Content Must Be Omnichannel: The best creative is now designed for multiple formats—web, social, VR, even voice.
- Creativity Must Be Backed by Data: The most impactful campaigns at Cannes combined storytelling with analytics—emotion meets attribution.
Action Steps:
- Audit your buyer journey. Are there disjointed or inconsistent experiences?
- Equip your teams with customer insight tools—not just campaign trackers.
- Break silos between content, design, and performance marketing.
Closing Thoughts
Cannes Lions 2025 made one thing clear: the most powerful brands of the future will be those that create meaningful, integrated experiences—not just flashy campaigns.
At Pineapple View Media, we champion CMOs who lead with vision, not volume. The age of fragmented messaging is over. This is the age of convergence. And your brand must feel as smart, human, and seamless as the product or service you deliver.
