At Cannes, saying "no" becomes the new mark of marketing strength

As part of its live coverage from Cannes Lions, Adweek aired the latest episode of its "Marketing Vanguard" series. Host Jenny Rooney sat down with Edelman's global president and chief operating officer (COO) Mainardo de Nardis and Unilever's chief growth and transformation officer for personal care, Rani Al Hajji.

The conversation centered on a pressing problem in modern marketing: today's marketers face a nearly endless array of channels and opportunities, yet the most successful ones win not by expanding those options, but by making a sharp, decisive choice among them.

The guests noted that "visibility" and "attention" aren't the same thing — a product can be visible and still instantly forgotten. The real goal is to turn visibility into sustained attention, and then into a deep connection that matters to the brand. De Nardis argued that one of the biggest shifts in marketing is moving from rapid learning in an era of limited opportunity to knowing what to say no to in an era of limitless opportunity. "One of the biggest shifts in marketing is learning to say 'no,'" he said. Rather than trying to seize every opportunity, he said, strategic focus prevents resources and attention from being wasted, and clear KPIs (key performance indicators) help filter out distractions.

Turning to paid media strategy, de Nardis offered an unexpected take: in his estimation, 60, 70, even 80 percent of what drives results comes down to the message, the creative idea, the visuals, and the quality of the content. Paid media, at best, amplifies content that has already earned recognition organically — it isn't the primary engine that can replace it.

Rani Al Hajji, who brings more than 25 years of experience across Europe, the US, and China at companies including L'Oréal, Colgate, and Unilever, stressed that today's "big ideas" need to travel much further. In her view, an idea has to extend beyond expression in a single campaign, giving influencers, creators, and communities room to adopt and reinterpret it in their own way — while staying connected to the original concept. As an example, Al Hajji points to Unilever's partnership with FIFA, where the brand achieves genuine cultural relevance not through massive spending but through strategic partnership.

The guests closed by emphasizing that every brand needs a deep understanding of its core purpose and values — that's the foundation real cultural relevance is built on. Winning in marketing today isn't about doing more; it's about choosing the right things and staying genuinely committed to them.