If you’re a regular reader of this column, you know I talk about the need to address an audience’s knowledge, attitudes, and biases to influence new behaviors. That’s why I try to attend the Cannes Lions festival each year—to see the best ads, activations, and themes that apply to the social change sector. More importantly, though, I’m always happy to be part of the conversations in the hallways, side events, and gatherings that contribute to what’s ahead for campaigns and creative efforts to spark social change.

Cannes “celebrates creativity that drives progress,” and by their measure, that’s what we are seeing. For example, the festival received 691 entries in the Sustainable Development Goals Lions category alone. You can see all the winners here.

From behind the scenes, here are three takeaways from my conversations with leading creatives at Cannes Lions 2023:

AI is on everyone’s mind

Leading agencies and creatives were talking AI—and kept talking about it, rapidly shifting from “Should we use it?” to “We’re already using it; now we need to understand the implications for the industry.” Conversations focused on how AI can support the effectiveness of audience reach and targeting efforts of nonprofit fundraisers, leaders, and marketers, efforts that are crucial for nonprofit organizations with limited dollars. Yet, who’s to say that the people selected for targeting by AI are the right ones? What AI picks up may be a persona it incorrectly perceives our organization desires. It’s time now to check our approaches (and prompts) to ensure that AI helps reach the intended audiences, people who will respond to campaigns with dollars and actions.

Gen Z

Generation Z was by far the dominant demographic in audience conversations—especially how Gen Z is changing the behaviors of other generations in their shifting technology consumption, a common topic in any discussion about generations. But in this case, the real question was how marketers and fundraisers should be reaching this audience. While Gen Z has large consumption and consumer buying power, its financial support is as episodic and unpredictable as any generation before them in their formative years. Should fundraisers, marketers, and leaders spend their valuable and limited time competing with so many companies courting these individuals? Or should we let them use their platforms to generate attention and engagement campaigns among Gen Z they are already reaching on a cause’s behalf? My suggestion: I would find a partner to do the latter. Besides, brands have great platforms and can guarantee the execution needed for impact—something causes of all sizes can’t fully realize.

Talking ‘at’ or ‘with’ people

I was often reminded of the old saying, “Talk with people, not at them,” when discussing social issue campaigns, integrations, and influencers at Cannes. Brands and nonprofits know we need to include our audience in developing our awareness-building efforts; still, we also need to ensure 1) we have done the homework necessary to talk with people about change and not at them, and 2) our influencers are talking appropriately with their audiences on our behalf. This becomes acutely relevant for fundraisers and marketers building campaigns to engage audiences unfamiliar with our issue. Are we talking with new audiences about what they care about, the social issue we represent, and its impact on their world? Are we seeking their input during creative and campaign development to ensure the call to action (CTA) speaks to their current situation and aligns with shared values? Are we making sure influencers are truly communicating our brand’s or cause’s authentic, honest motivations for soliciting audience support? Do we enable people to be their own agents of change for the issue (and not just for us) through our campaigns? It’s about our own audiences adopting our campaign as their effort to create change. We are just the spark providing creativity and tenacity to make it happen.

New technology and younger generations have always shaped social change and creativity, largely for the better. The next step is to candidly examine the way we go about educating ourselves and our audiences and reexamining the tools we’ve traditionally used for identifying and reaching potential supporters. From my conversations at Cannes with leaders across the industry and my own experience, my view is that marketers, fundraisers, and leaders of brands and nonprofits who embrace new technology, methods, and perspectives will be the most successful.

Creativity can change culture. Pregnant Black women historically haven’t received information specific to their culture from the country’s best-selling pregnancy book, leaving them dangerously uninformed and feeling ignored. Cannes awardee Black Women for Wellness caused a shift by distributing new jackets for the book addressing pregnancy issues specific to their culture. Another awardee, tilapia producer Regal Springs, changed the culture of Yoro, Honduras, by creating ways for its people to turn the annual “rain of the fish” into profit-making ventures. To me, such examples illustrate how new technologies and fresh perspectives make change possible—but today, even the best idea for change won’t matter if we can’t use AI, social influencers, and Gen Z supporters effectively to deliver the information audiences need to understand and embrace our message.

Derrick Feldmann (@derrickfeldmann) is the founder of the Millennial Impact Project, lead researcher at Cause & Social Influence, and the author of The Corporate Social Mind. See Derrick’s related articles in Philanthropy News Digest, “Nurturing a community for the greatest impact” and “Creating symbiosis between marketing and advocacy.” He also is managing director, Ad Council Research Institute and the Ad Council Edge Strategic Consultancy.