New research suggests brands aren’t overlooking a niche audience—they’re ignoring one of America’s largest and fastest-growing consumer segments.
The resurgence of vinyl records, CDs, film cameras, and printed books isn’t really about nostalgia. It’s a reaction to digital abundance and a reminder that convenience isn’t always the same thing as value.
Before co-founding California Pizza Kitchen, Rick Rosenfield built his career prosecuting organized crime. He says the habits that won cases in federal court became the same habits that helped build one of America’s most successful restaurant brands—and they’re lessons today’s entrepreneurs shouldn’t ignore.
The biggest lesson from Wednesday is that Cannes 2026 feels markedly more mature than recent editions. At least the discussions are anyway.
Pop culture has become one of the last forms of mass attention in a fragmented media environment. Brands aren’t borrowing cultural moments because it’s fun or trendy. They’re doing it because shared cultural moments have become increasingly rare, and attention is increasingly difficult to earn.
For all the discussion surrounding algorithms, automation, and machine intelligence, Cannes Lions 2026 increasingly feels like a festival focused on humanity.
If you spent the past year reading LinkedIn, you might have expected Cannes Lions 2026 to feel like one giant AI conference with a few advertising awards squeezed in between.
Despite being the most digitally connected generation in history, Gen Z continues to seek out experiences that feel tangible, participatory, and human.
As automation, artificial intelligence, and digital communication reshape the advertising industry, the ability to build genuine human relationships may become the most valuable business skill of all.
As advertisers seek greater clarity, efficiency and control, curated environments are becoming the connective tissue between buyers and publishers, reshaping where decisioning happens and redefining what efficient programmatic infrastructure looks like.