Wednesday was the third day of Cannes Lions 2025. A day when leaders from many iconic companies spoke about how they build brands so well. And then, to top it all, we had the iconic Reese Witherspoon speaking about the media brand she has built.

Mathilde Delhoume, the Chief Brand Officer of LVMH, the world’s largest luxury company, titled her session “Savoir Faire Rever” or the art of crafting dreams. She defined four C’s that help LVMH shine light on every facet of the DNA of their brands – craft that is exceptional, customers who are delighted, creativity that is extraordinary and culture that is elevated. Using real-life examples from LVMH brands such as Tiffany, Belvedere Vodka and Louis Vuitton, Mathilde wowed the audience. She ended her session by pointing out that every marketer, across categories, can consider using these four Cs.

Sassy Strategy

Unilever was an excellent counterpoint to LVMH – shampoo and soap, you will agree, are quite different from diamonds and champagne. Nonetheless, the themes put forward by both companies were quite similar. Esi Eggleston Bracey, the Chief Growth and Marketing Officer of Unilever explained how the company focuses on creating “desire at scale”. Just like LVMH, Unilever wants to go beyond consumer needs to meet, exceed and even create consumer desires.

She spoke about translating such desirability into brands through a combination of Science, Aesthetics, Sensorials, Sharing and ‘Young-spirited’ – which come together in a lovely acronym, SASSY. SASSY drives feelings of trust, longing, relatability, happiness and delight, all of which create desirability for the brand. Once again, her examples – ranging from Dove to Hellmann’s – brought SASSY to life.

Think STEAM

In a very different space, Shantanu Narayen, Chair and CEO of Adobe, spoke of the future of creativity in the age of artificial intelligence. He highlighted how ideas that cut across and dominate the media landscape are likely to win, in contrast to ideas that impact a single touchpoint. He explained how the fusion of creativity and artificial intelligence can unlock new frontiers and create magic. And I simply loved it when he spoke about his strong belief in science and technology, but also pointed out that a world without art would be an incredibly boring space. He therefore urged us to think “STEAM” (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) and not “STEM”.

Reese Witherspoon, American actress, film producer and bestselling author, took us on a fascinating journey through “Hello Sunshine”, the media platform she founded a few years ago to shine a light on women and their stories, and to help them chart a new path ahead. Witherspoon spoke so persuasively. Her definition of joy will never leave my mind. “Joy”, she said, “is the ability to tell your story in your own words. Joy is being seen, joy is people knowing who I am.” This will surely resonate with millions of people across the world.

(Harish Bhat is an avid marketer and bestselling author. He was previously the Brand Custodian at Tata Sons)

Published on June 18, 2025