If Cannes was the showroom floor, this week’s stories were what got swept under it. CMOs are now running research through AI-generated avatars who will tell you exactly how they divide household finances — without ever needing a sandwich tray. Retail data firms like Crisp are snatching up analytics companies to map shelf space like it's battlefield terrain. And while agency execs smile through gritted teeth, Meta and TikTok are quietly automating them out of relevance. Somewhere, a robot is running a creative brainstorm. Somewhere else, a strategist is wondering if it’s time to learn prompt engineering.

And that’s just the start. The FTC greenlit the Omnicom/IPG merger, but with a leash tight enough to make publishers nervous. Meanwhile, marketers are still measuring everything but seeing nothing — five dashboards, zero clarity. Cannes handed a Grand Prix to a campaign that used AI to manipulate news footage. And no one blinked. So, yes — advertising is still full of big ideas. It's just unclear if any of them involve humans anymore. Welcome to the uncanny valley of media, where everything looks familiar, but nothing quite feels real.

The scene: A CMO, some sparkling Perrier, 30 feet from the Mediterranean, discussing generative AI like it’s mezze. That’s Cannes — where strategy comes with sea views. But Michael Lacorazza wasn’t just lounging; he was mapping the future of brand storytelling at US Bank.

Forget six-month research cycles. US Bank partnered with Supernatural AI to create fully trained AI avatars representing target customer segments. These digital doppelgängers are faster than human panels, cheaper than focus groups, and answer uncomfortable questions without flinching. Want to know how couples split finances? Ask the bot.

AI lets brands probe deeper and move faster — but it also raises a question: when your insights come from synthetic personas, are you listening to your customers or simulating them?

The new focus group doesn’t eat snacks or sign NDAs. Just don’t forget to ask a real human once in a while.

While adtech’s been chasing cookies and consent banners, Crisp’s been snapping up analytics firms like Planogram Pokémon. Its latest catch: Cantactix, an in-store wizard that turns shelf placement into profit strategy.

Retailers want dollars per inch of shelf. Brands want better position than the guy next to them. Crisp’s tech maps it all — not to make recos, but to prove value. Think: Here’s why we deserve this row, and why our yogurt’s sexier than theirs.

This isn’t martech, but it fuels it. Placement insights drive demand forecasting, pricing, and yes — your next display ad campaign.

If data is the new oil, Crisp is Exxon — and it just bought another rig.

JP Morgan Chase’s Tracy-Ann Lim summed it up: Cannes panels were optimistic, but backstage? Stress, uncertainty, and “how do we not get replaced by prompts” energy.

Behind the AI lovefest is a fearfest: no one knows how to scale, what the new team model should look like, or how long their job descriptions will still exist.

If marketers can’t have honest convos about AI in public, innovation will be a game of whispers. That’s not leadership — that’s survival mode in fancy sneakers.

We’d all be better off if the real panels started after the panel.

TikTok and Meta swear they “value their agency partners.” Meanwhile, they’re building ad automation tools that do exactly what agencies used to — just faster, cheaper, and without lunch breaks.

AI tools are turning essential roles into nice-to-haves. After Meta’s latest automation push, agency stocks fell up to 4%. Coincidence? Please.

Advertisers still crave hand-holding — but also love slashing fees. And while agencies still provide creative and strategic glue, they’re facing the very tools they once sold to clients.

AI won’t replace your agency overnight. But it is quietly updating its LinkedIn to “freelance strategist.”

Brazilian network NN Brasil filed a formal complaint after it discovered one of its broadcasts was altered with AI and used in DM9 and Whirlpool’s Cannes-winning video. DM9’s co-CCO has now stepped down.

The segment, spliced and stylized, helped win the Creative Data Grand Prix — until it unraveled. The agency apologized. The network isn’t pressing charges. But the whole thing smells like strategic silence wrapped in creative license.

Manipulated media used without consent is no longer a deepfake horror story — it’s award bait. And the industry isn’t quite sure how to respond when the line between homage and hijack blurs.

When the campaign wins awards but loses integrity, the only thing being optimized is reputational risk.

TV, digital, social — everyone’s tracking impressions, attention, and engagement like it’s Pokémon Go. But measurement frameworks are broken, and no two vendors agree on what a “view” even is.

ACR signals, clean rooms, attention data — it’s a Frankenstack of methodology. And marketers are sold “cross-screen truth” that’s more like interpretive dance than science.

MRC accreditation is now a baseline, not a badge. Without measurement sanity, ad spend becomes wishcasting.

If your campaign looks “great” across 5 dashboards, it might mean your budget’s been sliced 5 ways — and no one’s being honest about the return.

Omnicom and IPG’s $13.5 billion merger got a qualified yes from the FTC. But here’s the kicker: they can’t steer clients away from publishers that ruffle reputational feathers.

This isn’t just antitrust by the book — it’s Washington whispering, “We’re watching you.” For the first time, the government gets a say in how ad dollars flow. That’s new. That’s chilling.

Ad spend is political now. And this precedent could tie holding companies’ hands when clients get skittish — about news, controversy, or even satire.

It’s like giving the government the remote and asking them not to change the channel.

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