When Karen Howe and I first chatted over dinner at the 2025 Cannes Lions, she described the emotional arc she felt after arriving in a somewhat cautious headspace. By Day 3, she was reinvigorated by the festival, its speakers and the conversations she had throughout the week.
Howe is the founder of The Township Group and a Canadian Cannes Advisory Board Member. She’s attended the festival 12 times and knows about change within the industry. This year (yet again), AI is top of mind, which may be a harbinger of some of the biggest change human beings have ever seen. While that can be an unsettling prospect, Howe says her optimism comes from a deeper place – the value of humanity in the creative work.
On Day 5 at Cannes, strategy interviewed Howe on what inspired her throughout the week, Canada’s status at the festival and the impact of AI on the industry. The below Q&A has been edited and condensed.
What was your mindset was when you arrived in Cannes?
I felt that we (the Canadian industry) were largely in a defensive posture, and that’s been a stance against the whole AI revolution, what it means to us, where this business is going. Will it replace us? All those existential thoughts that we are all having. And I came out of it in a different place. I’m judging this from two places, from sessions I’ve been to and from work that I’ve seen, but also people I’ve spoken to. I felt that (Tor Myhren, VP of marketing communications for Apple) nailed it. He said, ‘AI should be a co-pilot or should ride shotgun for us, but the ideas have to be propelled from us.’
I think that’s very true. And I see it in the work. There’s some brilliant stuff that is AI-fuelled. It gives you the data behind the things you’re thinking to create. But I think that what I’m hearing is, emotion is going to be the new ROI, the humanity, empathy, emotion and humour, because those are the things that AI cannot replicate. And those are the things that motivate a decision. We are not rational people … we fall in love with an idea, a brand of thought.
I think you will see an ascendancy … of empathy-, emotive-based stuff, that humanity will be coupled with AI. I don’t think one is a replacement for the other, but I think they’re going to be like very steady companions. So I feel a lot better than I did coming in, because I really felt like, oh my god, it’s doom and gloom.
What helped you out of that mindset at Cannes this year?
I particularly liked the session with Jimmy Fallon, believe it or not. (His new show) ‘On Brand,’ it’s a reality show; it’s real advertising brands being given campaigns by real advertising people. And to me, it was like a love letter to our industry at a time when we really needed it. I think we all feel like we all have the boot on our throat, like AI is going to kill us. So, I feel like that was a really interesting and bold idea at a perfect time in our lives.
It’s a different kind of inspiration every year. I enjoyed seeing Tor (Myhren) speak from Apple. I think that what he gave me would be my rallying cry for the year – optimism. It’s been a very hard year for Canadians, politically, in so many ways, and I felt that people are so scared of it. I mean, our default position to change is typically caution. And I felt I came out of that session through such tremendous optimism, and beyond our business, but as a human being.
What can Canadian marketers and brands learn from other countries at Cannes?
That’s a funny question, because I think we’re pretty damn hot. I mean, I think we are one of the top five countries in the world in terms of creativity and awards. I think we’ve got some pretty great clients. And bravery is the hallmark, right? I think the thing is, when you have a smaller budget, you’ve got to compensate with a braver footstep. And I think that I see a lot of that out of Canada. I think we’ve got a lot to teach the world, rather than we’ve got a lot to learn.
I think there’s a very big movement this year called the democratization of – fill in the blank. The democratization of opportunity, which is what AI gives the smaller players, so they can now compete with the bigger players. And I think it was the democratization of winning this year. Often in Cannes you have what I call a juggernaut campaign. And (this year), there wasn’t; it was the democratization of winning this year. I think a lot of great campaigns went evenly across a lot of countries. There’s a lot of great work out there, but there’s nobody kind of commanding the stage. And I think that’s healthy. I think that’s okay, like we get our great years, we’ll have other great years, but this was a solid year, but we didn’t own the Palais this year, but nobody owned the Palais this year.
What is your mindset leaving Cannes as it relates to AI?
People are very unsettled, don’t know what AI means to us. We can’t possibly know; it’s the parallel to Gutenberg, and movable type, what made the Bible accessible to everybody, encyclopedias. It changed the world. I think we don’t know where it’s all going, but I came out of it with a feeling of positivity versus (what) some people are calling it, seeing the iceberg right in front of the boat. I don’t feel that way. I feel quite the opposite. I feel like there’s going to be a rejuvenation of creativity and humanity and empathy, and the accelerant will be AI.
My number-one message is optimism. That’s where I landed the plane. I feel a ton of optimism, not a ton of pessimism. Change is hard, it’s always hard, but I’m going full throttle, and I think that the people who go and embrace it, the brands that do that, the organizations that do that, the marketers who do that, will be the ones who will be standing strong five years from now.