The news: Cannes Lions is evolving and expanding its creator awards track for 2025.

• The Social & Influencer Lions have been rebranded as the Social & Creator Lions.
• This year, there will be five new creator-driven subcategories: Creator Collaborations, Content Strategy, Community Building, Cross-Platform Storytelling, and Excellence in Craft.

What Cannes Lions is saying: “The new categories will recognise creator-led work that is shaping brand narratives in meaningful ways,” said Marian Brannelly, global director of awards, LIONS in an interview.

Between the lines: Creators’ impact on the advertising industry was already palpable in 2024 due to their heavy presence at the festival, but many creators felt that their work wasn’t reflected in the awards.

Ogilvy won the 2024 Grand Prix in the Social & Influencer category for the “Michael Cera-Ve” campaign, which went viral for suggesting that skincare brand CeraVe was developed by actor Michael Cera. While creators participated in the campaign, Cannes Lions was criticized for awarding the top prize to a campaign centered around a traditional celebrity, rather than creator-produced work.

The new award categories seem to take that feedback into mind.

Why it matters: As the premiere event for media and advertising, Cannes Lions can help shape the narrative about creator work in the broader industry.

Zooming out: Creators have reshaped what consumers watch and buy. But their work is still often dismissed or misinterpreted by industry executives.

• Over half (56%) of Gen Zers and 43% of millennials find social media content to be more relevant than traditional TV or movies, per October 2024 Deloitte data. That includes both creator-produced and user-generated content (UGC). Yet seeing creators and their work on non-social channels is still the exception rather than the norm.
• We expect US brands to spend over $10 billion on sponsored social content in 2025, per our latest forecast. But many brands still approach those deals transactionally, rather than as a true partnership where creators also have a seat at the table.
• Creator content is the most effective at driving sales from social media, per our March 2024 “US Social Commerce” survey. Yet creative constraints and excessive content revisions remain top pain points for creators when working with brands.

Yes, but: Cost and time are still big barriers to entry, especially given that content creation is a part-time job for most creators. Just 12% of US creators produced content full-time, per a Q3 2024 survey by Influencer and Crowd DNA. Cannes Lions offers a discounted pass for creators, but travel and expenses add up.

Our take: Taking home an award is a major mark of prestige for any creator. But the real win for creators and brands at Cannes Lions is the chance to meet, learn from each other, and strike a deal. The access that creators and top brands can have to each other at the festival is unparalleled, even as creators have started to see more opportunities to go direct to advertisers in 2025.