This year, Fifty Thousand Feet chose not to attend Cannes Lions.
That decision may seem surprising for an independent agency whose business is built on creativity, storytelling, and brand building, and it’s not one that we take lightly.
As we discussed whether to attend this year, I found myself reflecting on the origins of the festival itself. Cannes Lions was founded in 1954 – not in Cannes, but in Venice – as a celebration of creative excellence in advertising. For the next 30 years, the festival moved between locations before finally establishing a permanent home on the Croisette in 1984 – the same year Apple's iconic 1984 commercial won Cannes Lions' highest honour.
More than 40 years later, most people still remember that ad. Few could tell you anything about the media strategy behind it.
In 1984, brands faced a relatively straightforward challenge: earn attention. They did so through ideas, storytelling, and craft. There were no algorithms, attribution models, content engines, or AI tools to rely on. Just good, old-fashioned creativity.
An inflection point
Today, however, we find ourselves at an inflection point. As AI accelerates content creation, production, analysis, and execution, many of the capabilities that once differentiated organisations are becoming widely available. So how does an agency rise above the noise?
The future of marketing may look far more like its past than most people realise. As technology becomes abundant, creativity becomes rarefied. As content becomes easier to produce, original thinking becomes more valuable. As execution becomes commoditised, imagination becomes a competitive advantage.
This industry spent the last 20 years building the infrastructure of marketing. We will spend the next 20 years going back to basics and rediscovering the value of creativity.
So why skip Cannes?
So why skip the world’s biggest celebration of creativity?
The creative industry likes to celebrate its winners, but we should also remain committed to discovering what’s next.
In our nearly 25 years of business, we’ve learned that the future rarely emerges from the centre. It tends to emerge from the edges – from independent creators, up-and-coming designers, architects, artists, filmmakers, founders, and small studios that are experimenting before the rest of the market catches on.
The next generation of category-defining brands will not distinguish themselves through access to technology alone. Everyone will have access to technology. The brands that survive will be the ones with the strongest ideas, clearest points of view, deepest understandings of culture, and the ability to create something genuinely worth remembering.
Events we recommend
That is why in 2026 and 2027, we are focusing on events that are a little closer to the edges of our industry. We are spending more time in design-led communities, architecture and design festivals, founder networks, and interdisciplinary gatherings where new ideas are emerging before they become industry consensus. A few that we recommend:
3daysofdesign: Celebrating the design history of Copenhagen and Denmark at large, 3daysofdesign brings together emerging and established talent from all over the world who are influencing today’s creativity and innovation.
Creative Week: Hosted by The One Club, this event runs during NYCxDesign, which shines a light on multidisciplinary design across the city. Programming caters to everyone from entry level to C-suite, making it a worthwhile experience no matter your role.
Design Days Chicago: A Chicago-based celebration of the transformative power of the design industry, featuring showrooms, pop-up activations, and community gatherings.
Paradigms: An invitation-only event in a vibrant location that changes every year with a distinct focus on experience, bold ideas, and new connections. This year’s event is happening in Obonjan Island, Croatia.
The WIE Suite New Guard Summit: Another invitation-only event for women in business, this year’s summit focused on providing its leaders with the tools to achieve Health, Wealth, and Influence–without apology.
While many of these events cater to agencies and creative folks, we would argue that executives on the client side should consider attending, too. Where else are you going to find the right partners on the cutting edge if you’re not following them to the edge of the industry?
The brands and agencies that will define the next decade are forming their points of view right now–not in Cannes, but in the rooms, studios, and conversations that haven't made it onto the main stage yet. If you want to find them, you have to go where they are. We’ll see you there.
The Brand Impact Awards 2026 are now open for entries! If you have a standout branding project from the last year that you think deserves recognition, you need to enter the BIAs. You have until July 9 to enter and you can do so on the Brand Impact Awards website.
