Cannes Lions panel recap: The future of brand marketing with Alembic

Published: 8/22/2025

Alembic Technologies joined some of the most influential names in marketing at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. CEO and Co-Founder Tomás Puig took the stage for the Marketing Leadership Summit, Measuring Brand Marketing with Causal AI. Moderated by Michael Kassan, CEO of 3C Ventures. The conversation featured:

• Jeffrey Katzenberg, Managing Partner, WndrCo
• Rita Ferro, President, Global Advertising, The Walt Disney Company
• Gulen Bengi, Lead Global CMO, Mars Inc. & Chief Growth Officer, Mars Snacking
• Tomás Puig, CEO & Co-Founder, Alembic Technologies

Together, these leaders cut through the noise surrounding new tech advancements to share how AI’s capabilities are becoming a turning point for brand marketers. From simplifying workflows to enabling faster insights, the panel explored how causal AI and advanced attribution help marketers reclaim their role as storytellers.

Measuring marketing’s impact with AI-driven attribution

Proving marketing's revenue impact has always been difficult, especially for brand-building and awareness initiatives. Traditional attribution models fail to account for the long-term, cross-channel dynamics that drive brand equity.

What is Causal AI for marketing?

Causal AI is a set of techniques that identify cause-and-effect so you can attribute and forecast true incremental revenue impact across all marketing.

How is Causal AI different from last-touch or MMM?

Last-touch is correlational; MMM is macro and often correlational. Causal AI isolates incremental lift and works with both granular and aggregate data. Causal AI reveals what drives outcomes across online and offline channels and makes those insights actionable. This distinction was a key theme in the panelists’ discussions, where they dove into how Alembic enables a more strategic, financially grounded approach to marketing.

Alembic’s approach to measurement

Alembic empowers marketing teams by taking on the analytical heavy lifting, helping them strategically blend cutting-edge technology with the creativity and strategy that drive successful campaigns. This holistic approach allows teams to make data-driven decisions across the marketing funnel, achieving measurable impact. Alembic helps marketers:

• Connect marketing activity to future revenue with 95% confidence
• Understand what drives long-lead outcomes like brand equity and customer loyalty
• Identify the causal impact of above-the-line investments, including TV, radio and sponsorships
• Integrate first- and third-party data from sources like Google Analytics, social media, PR and in-store traffic
• Provide CFO-ready, financial-grade reporting that marketing leaders can trust

This shift allows CMOs to confidently reallocate budgets, justify spend across channels and act on insights in real time.

Unlocking creative potential with AI-driven insights

As CMOs push for both performance and creative resonance, new tools enable teams to bring bold ideas to the table while proving their business value. From real-time insights to long-term attribution modeling, advanced AI algorithms used by companies like Alembic are equipping brands to rethink what’s possible. During the Marketing Leadership Summit, industry leaders shared how AI is helping reshape their approach to measurement and storytelling.

Jeffrey Katzenberg: Reframing the era of marketing innovation

“We’ll look back on this as one of the most exciting, innovative times in the world of marketing,” said Jeffrey Katzenberg, Managing Partner at WndrCo. From his perspective as an investor and media leader, AI unlocks a level of creativity and experimentation that marketing has never seen. With technologies like Nvidia’s supercomputers and platforms like Alembic’s, the shift extends beyond measurement. Teams are now rethinking formats, narratives and what success looks like, backing creative strategies with predictive insights that forecast real business impact.

Rita Ferro, Walt Disney: Moving beyond last-touch attribution

For Rita Ferro, President of Global Advertising at The Walt Disney Company, this shift is already underway. Her team is partnering with Alembic on a proof of concept designed to reimagine marketing measurement across the Walt Disney World ecosystem. Their goal is to move away from outdated last-touch attribution models and build a framework that aligns with how marketing works today: from “one-to-one” to “one-to-many” to “one-to-outcomes.” By connecting inputs to real business impact, Alembic empowers Disney to speak the same language with partners, agencies and internal teams.

Gulen Bengi, Mars: Measuring the impact of viral moments

Gulen Bengi, Mars' Chief Growth Officer, brought the conversation to life with a real-world example. She described a viral moment when Justin Timberlake posted about loving a Snickers ice cream bar. The post sparked a cascade of reactions, with Michael Phelps and even the NFL joining the conversation. What could have seemed like a fleeting cultural blip turned out to be a revenue-driving event.

Alembic helped Mars quantify the value of going viral. The platform traced the ripple effects across retailers and mapped where the celebrity-driven buzz contributed to the customer journey as both an ignition point and an amplifier. For Bengi, it marked a turning point: creative storytelling, backed by causal insight, can do more than entertain. It can drive growth with measurable value.

Panel takeaways: Actionable insights for CMOs

In closing, the panelists offered guidance for marketing leaders aiming to future-proof their strategy:

• Embrace AI-driven attribution: Predictive and causal insights help CMOs plan with precision, especially in a complex media environment.
• Invest in measurement that reflects brand realities: Long-lead brand investments deserve the same rigor as performance marketing.
• Use pilot programs to validate new tools: Structured testing builds internal alignment and fast-tracks enterprise adoption.
• Create visibility across teams: Real-time insights foster trust between marketing, finance and executive leadership.
• Focus on storytelling, not spreadsheets: Free up your team to craft narratives that move the needle, supported by science that proves their value.

Watch the full panel on YouTube here.

See how Alembic can transform your brand’s marketing measurement

Alembic’s AI-powered Marketing Intelligence Platform is designed to help CMOs measure marketing impact, optimize investment and align outcomes with business growth. Engineered for Fortune 500 companies, Alembic empowers marketing teams to move beyond traditional attribution models and better understand how their strategies directly drive revenue growth. This allows teams to focus on their real craft – telling powerful stories – while Alembic handles the heavy lifting of marketing data analysis.

Want to explore what’s possible with Alembic? If your company is interested in setting up a pilot program, reach out to our sales team today for more information.