HAQM Ads announces new research and partnerships during star-studded first day of Cannes Lions

Oscar-winner Jamie Lee Curtis and Jason and Travis Kelce joined HAQM on day one at Cannes Lions 2025, headlining an impressive lineup at HAQM Port—HAQM's immersive venue offering attendees a one-stop destination for inspiration, education, and entertainment.

HAQM Ads unveiled global research showing that traditional demographic-based marketing approaches are failing to connect with consumers, with insights from 26,400 consumers across 11 countries revealing that nearly 3 in 5 people believe brands try too hard to appeal to specific age groups.

"At HAQM Ads, we believe creativity is most powerful when it resonates with consumers' authentic passions," said Claire Paull, Vice President of Global Marketing, HAQM Ads. "At HAQM Port, we're showcasing how our full-funnel capabilities help brands move beyond impressions to connect with what truly drives consumers' decisions. Cannes Lions is the perfect backdrop to demonstrate how HAQM's unique blend of content, commerce, and technology transforms creative inspiration into measurable business impact."

The four-day activation features thought leadership sessions on the Plaza Stage, interactive experiences in the "Plaza of Passions," and opportunities to explore HAQM properties like Prime Video, Wondery, and Twitch—illustrating how advertisers can align with consumers' interests through authentic storytelling and partnerships.

Today, HAQM Ads and Roku, Inc. announced a new integration that gives advertisers access to the largest authenticated Connected TV (CTV) footprint in the U.S. exclusively through HAQM DSP. The new collaboration creates a shared ad identifier delivering logged-in reach to an estimated 80M U.S. CTV households, representing more than 80% of U.S. CTV households according to ComScore data. Unlocking an addressable CTV audience at such unprecedented scale will drive improved performance, planning, optimization, and measurement for all advertisers, further enabling CTV as a true performance solution. The exclusive partnership between two leaders in CTV enhances addressability across major streaming apps including The Roku Channel, Prime Video, and other leading CTV streaming services on Roku and Fire TV operating systems, popular streaming services already available, and all premium publishers. The new solution will be available in the U.S. to all advertisers that use HAQM DSP by Q4 2025.

HAQM Ads also announced the launch of HAQM Live signals in HAQM Marketing Cloud (AMC). These signals, including impressions, views, and clicks, enable advertisers to gain new insights into their live shopping campaigns and generate a deeper understanding about their customers’ journey to drive full-funnel campaign results. HAQM Live signals complement the range of comprehensive campaign insights advertisers already have in AMC including streaming, shopping, and browsing signals, which help drive incremental performance and measured outcomes across all of their marketing strategies. HAQM Live signals are available in AMC for U.S.-based advertisers in a limited beta period with several customers already using the capability, with open beta beginning later this summer.

HAQM Ads unveiled its "Beyond the Generational Divide" research on day one of Cannes Lions, revealing traditional age-based marketing approaches are increasingly ineffective. The game-show-style presentation on the Forum Stage delivered key findings from analysis of 600,000+ news articles and 26,400 consumers across 11 countries.

Research findings revealed that 1 in 4 consumers identifies with a different generation than their birth year indicates, while nearly 3 in 4 believe their interests, passions, and hobbies define them more than their age.

"As a marketer trying to navigate an extremely complex media environment, I think it's important that we are using the tools and insights that are available to us today that were not available 5 or 10 years ago to personalize your messaging and ensure that you're not disrupting customers' lives but rather adding to them," said Claire Paull, Vice President of Global Marketing, HAQM Ads, who led the discussion with experts from Strat7 Crowd.DNA, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, and Nothin But The Music Limited.

When speaking to why communities are such a powerful force in uniting audiences compared to demographics like age, Paull adds, “There are more digital communities today than ever before and that presents so much more opportunity for customers to be inspired by different people's lifestyles, the products they buy, their travels, the food they eat, their wellness recommendations, and more.”

The research identified three factors creating stronger connections than generational labels: shared values, communities, and behaviors. The session provided marketers with insights-backed alternatives to demographic targeting, emphasizing interest-based approaches for more meaningful consumer engagement.

The HAQM Port programming kicked off with impressive star power on day one, as entertainment icons and marketing leaders discussed the power of entertainment, and how it helps brands connect with audiences through storytelling.

Oscar-winning actress, producer, author, and activist Jamie Lee Curtis captivated the audience during the "Storytelling that wins hearts and minds" session alongside Sue Kroll, Head of Global Marketing at HAQM MGM Studios. Curtis is attending Cannes Lions on behalf of the Prime Video series Scarpetta.

"There's been a paradigm shift in the way we as consumers take in our content, and now we just want our content when we want it," said Jamie Lee Curtis, emphasizing the evolving relationship between entertainment and advertising.

Curtis, who has successfully starred in and been a spokesperson for numerous brands, addressed the need for authenticity in advertising, "I hope we can tell the truth and sell shit. That's the partnership I'm looking for," she stated candidly, emphasizing her commitment to balancing commercial success with authentic messaging.

"We're in a room full of marketers and advertising executives here and the one thing that we always talk about is how audiences are more emotionally connected to entertainment than ever before," Kroll added, highlighting how brands that successfully integrate authentic narratives see measurable business results.

The evolution of podcast advertising commanded attention during the "Mic drop moment: The new era of podcast advertising" session, where Wondery's Head of Advertising Angie More shared compelling insights about audience engagement.

"Nearly 60% of Wondery fans consider podcasts a part of their daily routine," said More, citing recent research findings from Wondery, Dentsu, and Edison Research that demonstrates the medium's deep integration into daily consumer life.

When asked to give advice for first-time podcast advertisers, Vinny Rinaldi from Hershey's said, "It's about relinquishing control. What I mean by that is more co-creation and collaboration, not 'Here's what you're going to go say and do,' because it doesn't work. That's our biggest takeaway and learning from a variety of different partnerships we've done. Letting [creators] be [themselves] is the most important part of having your brand integrated into a show. If you try and control the narrative, it is going to be very inauthentic and feel like an ad."

"I think the stuff that we have the most fun with is when we can just kind of riff and be very organic with these products. When it is more structured, it does come off more like an ad, and viewers are getting more ads thrown at them than they've ever gotten in their lives across all platforms," said Jason Kelce.

Travis Kelce added, "Being able to relate to the product and [being] excited to talk about it—maybe have your own spin on a story or something that was useful—that's probably the most organic way to get something out there."

Wayne Purboo, Vice President of HAQM Shopping Video, discussed how content and commerce are converging in unprecedented ways during the "Advertising in the retail-tainment era" session.

"Customers want to be entertained—even while shopping—and shopping behaviors have been upended. Livestreaming is transforming shopping experiences through video storytelling, giving creators the ability to go deeper on the products they love. This presents an opportunity for brands to connect on a level deeper than a 30-second spot," Purboo noted.

Media personalities with experience hosting livestreams with HAQM Live also discussed how they make decisions on the brands they work with. "Do I use it? Would I spend my own money on it? And then on top of that, do our views align?" are some of the questions two-time Forbes top creator, viral comedy star, and host Haley Kalil asks herself.

Kalil also shared some advice for brands: "It's knowing you're creative but also trusting them. Allow them to come to the table and really have that conversation with you as a brand. We know our audiences very well."

HAQM shifts its attention on day two to the transformative power of sports, with an all-star lineup including NBA legends Blake Griffin and Dirk Nowitzki, Call Her Daddy podcast creator, host, and executive producer Alex Cooper, NBA on Prime Host Taylor Rooks, and key executives discussing how streaming technology is revolutionizing fan experiences.

Stay tuned for highlights from day two at HAQM Port at Cannes Lions 2025. Follow along for real-time updates on Instagram and LinkedIn.