Critical need for creativity as businesses prioritise continuous growth

As Jury President for the Creative Business Transformation Lions category at this year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Jane Lin-Baden, CEO Asia Pacific of Publicis Groupe, had a front-row seat to some of the world’s most compelling work. Leading a globally diverse jury of strategists, clients, and business and creative leaders, Lin-Baden oversaw entries that went far beyond traditional advertising to demonstrate how creativity is now central to how businesses operate, adapt, and grow.

“The Creative Business Transformation Lions category recognises the powerful impact of creativity on our clients' businesses,” Lin-Baden explained. “We looked for brilliant creative ideas that are core to business operations, where transformation not only delivers proven results but also shows the potential to scale in future.”

Creativity at the Core of Change

Under her leadership, the jury identified three overarching themes that characterised this year’s strongest entries.

The first was the evolution of purpose. While some brands still use purpose as an add-on to raise awareness for a cause, the most impressive work showcased purpose embedded into the operations of a company, driving both commercial and social value in a sustained way.

Second, there was a clear migration from ads to ecosystems. Lin-Baden noted that today’s most transformative creative ideas are no longer confined to marketing. “They impact everything from commercial models to supply chains, legal contracts, suppliers, patents, and stakeholders,” she said. “In other words, the entire ecosystem that supports products and services.”

Third, truly transformative brands are leading category reinvention. The most impactful ideas didn’t just help brands grow; they fundamentally redefined the playing field. By changing the rules, these brands reshaped entire categories and claimed leadership in doing so.

The work that particularly stood out from this year’s awards was the Grand Prix-winning campaign by AXA: "Three Words". The campaign added just three words to a home insurance policy, broadening the definition of household protection to include fire, flood, and even domestic violence. “By redefining the category, AXA now owns ‘household insurance’ , creating business and societal value,” said Lin-Baden.

But what truly impressed the jury was the campaign’s scale. The change was retroactively applied to 2.5 million existing contracts, involving legal, commercial, and operational shifts across AXA’s business. “It is a complete system overhaul that sets the benchmark for organisational change,” Lin-Baden said, noting the campaign’s direct contribution to sales growth and brand impact.

Another strong entry, Heineken’s “Backing the Bars”, demonstrated ecosystem-level thinking. The campaign supported bar owners and distributors - the stakeholders most essential to Heineken’s business. “The Jury appreciated the longevity of Heineken's support for its beer ecosystem,” said Lin-Baden. “Building bars is building Heineken.”

Suncorp’s “Building a More Resilient Australia” also left an indelible mark. Rooted in the brand’s purpose of helping customers prevent household damage from extreme weather, the campaign went beyond insurance to deliver real utility and resilience tools. “It brings value back to the business through increased market share, consideration uplifts, and customer lifetime value,” she noted. The jury was particularly impressed by the brand’s five-year commitment to these resilience initiatives.

While all Cannes Lions categories celebrate creativity, the Creative Business Transformation Lions category requires a higher bar: evidence of enduring business impact.

“Our jury asked whether we should reward proven results, or future potential or both,” Lin-Baden said. “The brands that achieve both deserve higher recognition.”

She also noted that not all longstanding brand platforms made the cut. “We saw some textbook examples that had long-term impact but hadn’t evolved with today’s social and political climate,” she explained. One successful example of evolution came from Cheetos, whose long-running “It’s a Cheetos Thing” platform continues to stay fresh and funny, embracing creativity and humour to remain culturally relevant.

Why business transformation is crucial

In Lin-Baden’s view, creative business transformation has never been more essential. “Agencies are playing a pivotal role in helping brands reshape how their business operates, engage customers and deliver business value,” she said. The days of one-off campaigns are fading. “The most impactful agencies are mobilising entire business ecosystems that are affecting everything from supply chains and legal contracts to company culture and stakeholders.”

She believes this shift reflects broader economic and social realities. “This year’s Cannes winners showed the expanding role of creativity in navigating change and solving business problems in a time of uncertainty.”

At Publicis Groupe, this belief in transformation is not theoretical, it is backed by significant investment. “We’ve invested hundreds of millions of euros into a suite of AI applications and agents, built specifically for marketing intelligence and transformation,” Lin-Baden shared.

At the heart of this ecosystem is CoreAI, a proprietary system that unifies Publicis’ consumer and business data. CoreAI allows trillions of data points to be shared across the Groupe and integrated directly into clients’ own business environments. “It brings our creative solutions even closer to their business outcomes,” she said.

Cultivating a culture of change

“Winning requires bravery,” says Lin-Baden. “I believe there is a creative solution for every universal problem we face today.”

For brands and agencies still hesitant to embrace transformation, her message is direct: “Staying still is no longer an option.”

She believes success comes to those willing to experiment on the road to meaningful change. “Clients are seeking insights, intelligence and creativity to make informed decisions in an increasingly shifting landscape. Agencies must innovate and commit to their clients' success.”

Publicis has continuously innovated though its Power of One model - a unified structure that removes silos across disciplines. “Media and creative capabilities are integrated with data and tech, social, CRM, influence, commerce and performance,” she said. This connected culture ensures a seamless, cross-functional approach to solving complex client problems.

She also highlighted the company’s investment in high-growth areas like influencer marketing, commerce, and social media. “These accelerators allow our teams to leverage data to drive transformation,” she explained.

But above all, Lin-Baden points to people as the true engine of transformation. “When we create a connected ecosystem for our people, they’re equipped with the mindset to grow all aspects of our clients' business.”

Looking ahead: creativity in an AI-induced world

As the industry embraces AI and automation, Lin-Baden is clear-eyed about its role: a powerful enabler and not a replacement.

“From the shortlist of Creative Business Transformation Lions contenders, there were only a few works that used AI,” she observed. “But we saw that AI can change how we evolve from ideas to implementation. The right AI prompt is a form of creativity in itself.”

She believes the ability to ask the right questions is becoming one of the most critical skills in marketing. “AI can enhance solutions with deeper analysis, but it cannot replace the creativity and collaboration between clients and agencies.”

As brands navigate a world of increasing complexity, creativity is no longer a ‘nice to have’, instead, it is the engine that powers business reinvention. This year’s Cannes Lions entries show that the most enduring brands are those that turn creativity from a message into a mechanism, one that rewires their systems, empowers their people, and engages their ecosystems. For Lin-Baden, this isn’t just the future of advertising. It’s the future of business.