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← Back to IdeasOgilvy at Cannes Lions 2026
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is the world's premier gathering where the unique power of imagination is celebrated. Each year, it unites top creative minds from across the globe to showcase groundbreaking work, share innovative ideas, and inspire future possibilities.
At Cannes Lions 2026, Ogilvy is thrilled to host an inspiring series of activities and sessions at our Ogilvy Terrace. From thought-provoking talks to vibrant moments celebrating the undeniable impact of our network's Borderless Creativity, we invite you to join us.
Discover below how Ogilvy will be making its presence felt on the Croisette throughout the Festival.
Monday, June 22
Ogilvy On — Health
The Health Consumer Has Spoken. Are You Listening (or Selling Like Yesterday)?
Monday, June 22, 12:00 - 12:45 pm
Ogilvy Terrace
Healthcare is rapidly shifting from an HCP-centric to a consumer-driven marketplace. The long-standing paradigm, where the doctor was the sole gatekeeper and pharma’s model revolved entirely around HCPs, is no longer. Today, empowered patients, leveraging digital tools, communities, and direct-to-patient pathways, are making health decisions much like they choose a lifestyle brand. The panel — featuring Raahki Sippy, VP and Global Commercialization Leader at GSK; Sophie Bailley Maitre, SVP of Marketing, Europe at Colgate; Justin Thomas-Copeland, CEO at 4As; Melissa Brotz, CMO of Abbott, and moderated by Mario Muredda, Global CEO of Ogilvy Health, will explore how pharma – traditionally focused on efficacy and clinical data – can become 'consumer-first' by drawing lessons from the emotional connection, community-building, and aspirational marketing that defines iconic consumer brands. We’ll focus on 'above-brand' marketing that’s vital for global audiences facing strict DTC regulations and how to engage consumers and build loyalty when product promotion is limited, while unpacking non-traditional practices, including ethical celebrity endorsements, vibrant online communities, and personalized experiences. Join the conversation on balancing innovation, ethics, and regulation as pharma embraces the beloved consumer brand mindset.
Tuesday, June 23
The Soul in the Machine: Why Meaning is the Ultimate Competitive Advantage
9:00 - 10:30 am
CMO Fireside
WPP Rooftop, Martinez Hotel
AI can generate content. It cannot generate meaning. In the age of algorithms, the human story has never mattered more. This panel explores how authenticity, cultural context, and distinctive storytelling build the trust that drives lasting brand growth — and why human creativity provides a powerful competitive advantage. Featuring creative icons and world-class marketers, we'll examine how the world's leading brands build genuine consumer connections and make people feel something. Our Global Chief Creative Officer Liz Taylor will be moderating an incredible and star-studded panel, led by Actress, Producer, Director and Activist Eva Longoria, Photographer and Director Rankin (John Rankin Waddell), Cristina Diezhandino, Chief Marketing Officer for Diageo, and John Rudaizky, Global Chief Brand & Marketing Officer for EY.
Ogilvy On — Partnerships
Read it, Pin It, Play It: How Culture Off the Feed is Fueling Brands’ Future
Tuesday, June 23, 11:00 - 11:45 am
Ogilvy Terrace
The most powerful brand moves of the last few years weren't made alone. They were built with someone else, across dynamic platforms where culture is being shaped in more places than ever—from Reddit threads and Pinterest mood boards to Spotify playlists. The brands winning culture today aren't waiting for the right moment—they're engineering it through bold, unexpected collaborations across entertainment, music, food, gaming, and beyond. This masterclass — moderated by Carol Reed, Global Chief Innovation Officer, The Ogilvy Group and featuring Matthew Gerrard, Head of International Creative Strategy at Reddit, Kay Hsu, Head of Global Creative Lab for Spotify, and Sara Pollack, Vice President, Global Head of Consumer Marketing for Pinterest — will reveal how iconic brands and leading platforms are rewriting partnership rules, transitioning from platform guests to strategic collaborators. You'll discover the playbook for leveraging expertise as a creative spark to become genuine contributors, not interrupters, and achieve deeper consumer relevance, new commerce pathways, and compounding business growth.
Game Changers: Why Women's Sports is the Biggest Win for Brands right now!
3:00 – 4:30 pm
WPP Rooftop
As the FIFA Men's World Cup gets underway, forward-thinking brands are already looking at a bigger opportunity. Backed by provocative new WPP research, our all-female power panel explore what it takes to build iconic partnerships in Women's Sports—moving beyond sponsorship into tangible, long-lasting growth. With the Women's World Cup just 12 months away, find out what the world's leading brands are doing right now to win. Vickie Segar, Global Chief Sports & Entertainment Officer, The Ogilvy Group will moderate a panel featuring Kate Schoff, Head of Sports & Entertainment for JP Morgan Chase, Andrea Hopelain, SVP Marketing for EA Sports, and Kate Scott-Dawkins, Global President, Business Intelligence, WPP Media.
Panelists:
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Kate Schoff, Head of Sports & Entertainment, JP Morgan Chase
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Andrea Hopelain, SVP Marketing, EA Sports
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Kate Scott-Dawkins, Global President, Business Intelligence, WPP Media
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Vickie Segar, Global Chief Sports & Entertainment Officer, The Ogilvy Group
A Toast to Celebrate Creativity
Tuesday, June 23, 7:30-10:30 pm
Attendance is by invitation only
Cannes is a moment for our community to celebrate. We’d love for you to join us as we raise a glass to the exponential power of human craft, bold ideas, and the partnerships that make it all possible.
Wednesday, June 24
Ogilvy On — Sports & Entertainment
Beyond the Badge: How Sports Builds Brands that Belong
Wednesday, June 24, 11:00 - 11:45 am
Ogilvy Terrace
As the ‘golden era’ of sports kicks off with the FIFA Men’s World Cup, one question sits at the center of every serious brand conversation: how do you build genuine connection with the communities shaping the next waves of culture and commerce? The next several years aren’t just changing the sports calendar—they’re profoundly reshaping the business of culture, demanding a new approach from brands. Driving this future is a fundamental shift in how live sports are shared among fans and what shape sponsorship takes as authentic athlete storytelling and brand-driven entertainment converge. Vickie Segar, Global Chief Sports & Entertainment Officer, The Ogilvy Group will moderate a panel featuring Radhika Duggal, Chief Marketing Officer, Major League Soccer, Arnab Roy, President, Global Category, The Coca-Cola Company, and Orlando Baeza, Vice President of Brand & Creative, Chime on turning fan passion into business and will explore what it takes to move beyond the static sponsorship — and into the kind of brand belonging that drives lasting fandom.
Thursday, June 25
A Question of Taste
10:30 - 11:30 am
LBB & Friends Beach
As AI booms, taste and discernment are being positioned as the ultimate human differentiator. That’s all well and good on an individual level, but when you’re leading creative on global brands and looking to reach everyone on the planet? Join our panel of global creative leaders to find out how they cultivate taste and how they deploy it at scale. Ogilvy North America's Chief Creative Officer Guillermo Vega will join a panel alongside Nils Leonard, Founder of Uncommon, Justine Armour, Chief Creative Officer International at 72andSunny, Danilo Boer, Global Creative Lead & Partner at McCann, and Franki Goodwin, Chief Creative Officer at Saatchi&Saatchi.
Ogilvy On — Social & Influence
The Participation Premium: Moving from Campaigns to Communities
Thursday, June 25, 11:00 - 11:40 am
Ogilvy Terrace
The future of brand storytelling is here, and brands are mastering it by elevating co-creation as an essential strategy. A decade ago, brands competed for media. Five years ago, it was attention. Today, they’re competing for active, credible participation in culture. But what does that really look like, and how do you do it in a world where culture moves faster than corporate marketing cycles? In this session, we’ll unpack how leading brands are making a seismic shift — building more agile creative systems, more deeply integrating creators and talent into their process, and ultimately reframing content from mere distribution channels to trusted bridges into communities where true relevance and resonance are built. Moderated by Drew Warren, President, Client Integration, Ogilvy US, a panel featuring Ricardo Aspiazu, Senior Vice President, Creative & Brand Design at Verizon, Ghadeer Khub, Creative, Social & Digital Department Director for The Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi, Keiko Mori, Head of Creative Product Marketing and Ops, North America at TikTok, and Sarah Templeman, Head of Broadcasting for SheerLuxe, will delve into how co-creation strategies can unlock unique brand perspective and identity, and probe what often holds brands back from this transformative approach — revealing the most effective ways to empower creators, earn attention, and create lasting cultural relevance in this participatory digital age.
Sooooo…What Even Is An Agency in 2026?
2:30 – 3:15 pm
LBB & Friends Beach
The language of advertising is struggling. The simple enough vocab that we’ve used for years to describe the companies that make up the industry just doesn’t seem to cut it any more. There are holding companies doing everything they can not to be holding companies. Production companies that look suspiciously like agencies. Indies with footprints and capabilities to rival any network. New micro-holding companies bubbling up in surprising places. And hoards of roaming loan wolves and two-three people mercenary bands doing the work of agencies. This session pulls together leaders from across the industry, including Ogilvy's Global CEO Laurent Ezekiel alongside M+C Saatchi's Karen Boswell, COO Residence's Madison Wharton, and 19th & Park Founder Tahira White to discuss these evolving business models, where they’re going and what the heck we should call them.
For more info: https://beach.lbbonline.com/2026
What Won & Why?
Thursday, June 25, 3:00 - 4:30 pm
WPP Rooftop
Ogilvy’s Liz Taylor joins a conversation with WPP’s Chief Creative Officer Rob Reilly and creative leaders from across WPP to unpack the insights and lessons from what won at Cannes and why.
For more details on WPP programming, visit www.wpp.com/cannes