Is Cannes putting brand strategy back at the heart of creative growth?

Is Cannes putting brand strategy back at the heart of creative growth?

As Cannes Lions approaches, the industry is once again preparing for its annual ritual of celebrating creative excellence. But this year, Cannes is evolving the lens through which creativity is recognized.

For 2026, Cannes Lions has introduced the Creative Brand Lion, a new award that signals a broader definition of brand creativity. It recognizes brands not only for the creative work they put into the world, but for the systems, cultures, and capabilities they build to make creativity repeatable, scalable, and commercially meaningful.

That is a meaningful shift. It moves the conversation from creativity as a final output to creativity as the result of a stronger brand system. It suggests that the most interesting brands are not simply those that produce a powerful campaign, but those that create the conditions for powerful creativity to thrive over time.

The shortlist has not yet been publicly announced. But perhaps that makes the conversation even more interesting. Before we know who will win, we can already ask a more strategic question: what kind of brand is this Lion designed to recognize?

Our prediction is that the winner will be a brand with an exceptional sense of who it is, what it stands for, and how that meaning is translated into the organization. A brand with a strong cultural identity. A brand where creativity is not isolated in the marketing department, but shows up in culture, structures, decision-making, innovation, communications, experiences, and growth. In other words, a brand that is not only campaign-led, but system-led.

This is why brands like Dove and IKEA feel like powerful examples of the kind of brand this new Lion could recognize.

Dove is a brand we know well. Innate Motion worked with Dove in the past on the creation of its positioning, and it remains a brand we deeply stand by. For more than two decades, Dove has shown what happens when a brand has a strong sense of who it is, what it believes in, and the role it wants to play in people’s lives. Its commitment to Real Beauty has not behaved like a campaign idea. It has acted as a long-term brand foundation: shaping communications, innovation, partnerships, social impact, and culture.

IKEA shows this from another angle. Its belief in accessible design is not just an external promise, but an internal capability and system. It shapes how the company designs, prices, communicates, innovates, and creates experiences. IKEA’s creativity comes from a clear identity, belief, and know-how built from the inside out. It is a reminder that a great brand is not only built through what it says, but through what it knows how to do consistently.

That coherence matters because strong brands know the cultural space they occupy. They understand the tensions, beliefs, symbols, conversations, and behaviours that shape people’s lives. They do not simply respond to culture from the outside. They know how to participate in it from a clear and credible point of view.

Dove has built one of the clearest examples of a brand identity rooted in a human truth, a strong cause, and a distinct cultural role. IKEA shows how a brand identity rooted in democratic, accessible design can become a practical operating system. Both brands have stayed recognizable over time while continuing to evolve with culture. Both show that when a brand’s meaning is deeply understood inside the organization, creativity can become more than episodic. It can become a repeatable force for relevance, equity, and growth.

This is why the new Lion feels so relevant for us at Innate Motion. It puts brand strategy back at the heart of creative growth.

Creativity is more powerful when it is built on a brand that knows what it means, who it matters to, what human tension it is here to address, and what cultural identity it can credibly hold. This is what allows creativity to become more than expression. It becomes a way for the brand to renew its equity, strengthen its relevance, and create value people can recognize.

As Cannes celebrates brand creativity, the Creative Brand Lion signals an important evolution for the industry. We cannot wait to see what happens next week in the contest for this new Lion, and what people will say about it on the Croisette. Stay tuned!