• by Nada Bradbury , Yesterday

As we gear up to gather on the French Riviera once again, the spotlight turns to the world’s most celebrated in global advertising. But this year, there’s a new undercurrent shaping the conversation. Amid ongoing economic uncertainty and mounting pressure to prove return on investment, the industry’s focus is shifting. Brands aren’t just rewarding the boldest, most creative ideas, but they’re demanding measurable outcomes. 

Over the past year, marketers have been forced to focus on how and where every ad dollar is being spent. WARC recently shaved nearly a full percentage point off its 2025 global ad spend outlook, amounting to a nearly $20 billion cut over the next two years. At the same time, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) reports that nearly half of U.S. advertisers plan to reduce spending altogether. In this climate, creativity can’t stand alone. It must be paired with clear, cross-platform accountability. Measurement can’t be something we fix after launch, but rather part of the foundation from the start.  

That’s why Cannes Lions 2025 is arriving at a critical inflection point. As the industry celebrates new breakthrough ideas, we must also challenge ourselves to prove that the work is delivered across every screen, in every format, at the right frequency, to the right audience. 

One promising path forward is already being implemented. NBCUniversal, Paramount and GroupM have made major strides toward unified campaign tracking through the Ad Creative ID Framework (ACIF). By applying this framework consistently across all ad tags, from digital to linear, they’ve enabled seamless cross-platform tracking of a single creative. Meaning a campaign can be accurately identified and measured across streaming and traditional TV, opening the door to clearer performance analysis, smarter frequency management, and simpler reconciliation with minimal disruption to current workflows. An important and timely topic I’ll be discussing on stage with NBCUniversal along with IAB Tech Lab and VideoAmp during a panel in Cannes. 

As brands and agencies confront tighter budgets and heightened expectations, the stakes are clear. Advertisers need answers to foundational questions: Was my message seen by the right people? How often? On which platforms? Was it placed in a safe environment? Did it deliver results? 

In a media landscape that spans formats, platforms, and devices, these questions are still surprisingly difficult to answer definitively,  largely due to the fact that consistent tracking simply isn’t in place. A recent NBCUniversal audit found that just 15% of digital creatives were tagged for universal tracking. That kind of gap is no longer sustainable, especially as more dollars shift into the digital cross-platform ecosystem. 

The Ad Creative ID Framework was built to address exactly this. Created by the IAB Tech Lab in partnership with leaders like FreeWheel, Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery, and GroupM, among other industry leaders, ACIF provides a common standard for tagging, transmitting, and validating creative assets across the entire media supply chain. Think of it as a digital passport for ads, one that follows each asset from production to final performance reporting. 

What makes ACIF particularly powerful is its simplicity. Existing registries like AD-ID in the U.S., Clearcast in the U.K., and ARPP in France are already integrated with major platforms. The technology is there. The next step is procedural: ensuring that all parties across the creative and media industries process it consistently in ad tags, logs, and reporting systems. 

Cannes has always been the global stage for the most creative ideas the industry has to offer, and that should never change. As we gather to admire the year’s most inspiring creative work inside the Palais, we must also recognize that the true power of creativity lies not just in the idea — but in its ability to perform, to resonate, and to deliver. Measurement is what turns a bold concept into a business driver.