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Cannes Lions 2025: Unshittifying the customer experience and the future of Duolingo

Duo and Duolingo's chief marketing officer Emmanuel Orssaud, Cannes Lions 2025, Courtesy of Getty UK, France

Duolingo's chief marketing officer Emmanuel Orssaud, Cannes Lions 2025, Courtesy of Getty UK, France

Yael Cesarkas, senior vice-president and executive strategy director at creative consultancy R/GA, Cannes Lions 2025, Courtesy of Getty UK, France

Unshittifying CX: Reconnecting Funnels and Feelings by R/GA and Sephora, Cannes Lions 2025, Courtesy of Getty UK, France

France – The 72nd edition of Cannes Lions marks a return to the French Riviera with a programme featuring major names in marketing and branding. LS:N Global is attending and will provide its members with the best insights from the stage in a daily recap.

In her talk Unshittifying CX, Yael Cesarkas, senior vice-president and executive strategy director at creative consultancy R/GA, argued that customer experience (CX) is at an all-time low – declining for a third consecutive year and hitting its lowest score since 2016 in the US, according to Forrester Research.

She linked this decline to ‘enshittification’, Macquarie Dictionary’s 2024 word of the year, defining the deterioration of services as companies prioritise profit. Cesarkas said marketing and CX have become dangerously disconnected: while brand marketers focus on lofty mission statements and theoretical frameworks with elaborate decks, the actual customer journey is defined by real-time digital touchpoints ranging from checkout buttons to email receipts.

CX, she warned, is stuck in the ‘optimisation basement’, dominated by KPIs such as clicks and conversions while neglecting emotional value. The result? A costly misalignment where poor CX directly affects loyalty and lifetime value. Her call to action: reconnect funnels and feelings. If every shitty experience is a brand ad, brands must show up better in the moments that matter. Read more about what your business can do against enshittification in our New Codes of Value macrotrend report.

In the morning, the Rotonde stage was filled with attendees eager to hear a keynote from one of the hottest brands at the moment: Duolingo. The brand’s mascot, Duo, made a memorable entrance on stage, twerking in a bikini. Chief marketing officer Emmanuel Orssaud later announced that the future of the company lies in multi-channel entertainment. Duolingo plans to expand into long-form content with the launch of a game show on YouTube and an anime series featuring new characters.

‘Our brand has always grown by authentically engaging fandoms, and the anime series is part of that strategy,’ said Orssaud. ‘Looking ahead, our big dream is to build an IP as culturally powerful as Pokémon. That’s going to take years, but we’re committed.’ To transition from digital to physical spaces, Duolingo plans to double down on pop-ups, real-world activations and more merchandise and collaborations.

Strategic opportunity

Explore how to transform brand lore, such as mascots or logos, into a multi-channel entertainment franchise that includes short-form content, long-form content, merchandise and events

Gen Z reverse the gender pay gap

UK – A subtle but significant shift is emerging among young men and women in the UK. New research from the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) reveals that for Gen Z in full-time work aged 16–24, the gender pay gap has reversed, with women now slightly out-earning men. While this is expected to flip later in life due to the ‘motherhood penalty’ and male over-representation in high-paying sectors, experts suggest this isn’t the full story.

The CSJ’s Lost Boys report links the reversal to long-term declines in male educational performance and job opportunities in traditional industries. Women now outperform men at every education stage, hold a slim majority of Oxbridge places and increasingly enter high-earning fields such as law, medicine and dentistry. Meanwhile, Gen Z boys are more likely to be suspended from school, excluded or disengaged from both work and education – a widening social and economic divide.

We first pointed to the growing divergence between Gen Z men and women in our Gen Z Now and Next report. In Decoding Masculinity, we unpacked the implications of young men falling behind and what brands can do to provide new routes forward for men at risk of radicalisation.

GoHenry, UK

Strategic opportunity

Audit your brand narratives and campaigns for blind spots around young male audiences, and develop inclusive, gender-progressive storytelling that reflects the shifting realities of Gen Z men and provides positive role models for masculinity

Stat: US gamers turn to esports to boost athletic performance

TMNT: Mutant Mayhem Pizza-Scented Controller by Xbox, US

US – New findings from the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) reveal that 205.1m Americans aged 5–90 are regular gamers, with 60% of US adults engaging at least weekly.

Notably, more than half (56%) of US adults now play gamified versions of real-life sports and 87% of these players believe it improves their athletic performance.

This growing belief in gaming as a tool for real-world enhancement presents fertile ground for brands innovating in health, fitness and sports. The appeal spans generations, with research showing that more than 80% of Gen Alpha and 36% of the silent generation are active gamers who play weekly.

Appetite is growing for digital experiences that blend entertainment and personal development. This aligns with foresight from The Synthocene Era report, in which we explored Metamorphosed Intelligence – an emerging shift in which AI and spatial computing create hyper-individualised, immersive learning environments.

Strategic opportunity

Create phygital gaming experiences that merge digital sports with real-world movement, transforming gaming from sedentary screen time into a next-gen wellness tool and social fitness format