Live from Cannes 2026: Real Conversations are Driving the New Consumer Decision Journey

We've never had more access to information, but we've never trusted it less. When deciding what to buy, consumers are turning to human conversations for validation and fundamentally changing the consumer decision journey - and this is all being shaped on Reddit.

Recent research shows that no matter where the customer journey starts, it's influenced and accelerated by Reddit. Nearly half of shoppers verify AI-generated recommendations on Reddit before buying, and redditors trust Reddit more than family or friends to verify AI recommendations. What's more, 1 in 4 redditors immediately buy a product after seeing their decision validated on the platform.

"Reading honest, real-world experiences is now a more important factor in the purchase decision than reviews from professional critics or influencers," said Jen Wong, Chief Operating Officer at Reddit. "Those experiences are shared at scale in Reddit's community of 127M daily active uniques, and Reddit is the only place where brands can connect with the people contributing to and absorbing these trusted conversations. Brands learn so much from Reddit's communities, whose conversations fuel more informed and current marketing decisions."

At Cannes Lions 2026, we are introducing new tools powered by Reddit Community Intelligence™, our engine that harnesses the 25+ billion posts and comments across Reddit into powerful business insights and solutions. These will help advertisers win across this new consumer decision journey, with smarter creative, faster purchases, and stronger ad performance.

Smarter creative: Reddit-native solutions in conversation with communities

The best Reddit ads are inspired by conversations happening on the platform. Our new creative features help build campaigns that are rooted in genuine human perspectives and feel native to Reddit:

• Free-form ad generator (Beta): We are making it easier to create engaging creative with Reddit-unique

• Tailored creative assets (Beta): AI identifies high-potential Reddit communities and audience personas, then proposes tailored headline and image variations for improved ad relevance. Available only for Max Campaigns.
  

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  • Redditor Highlights (GA): Now expanded to general availability, this feature helps brands build credibility by embedding real Reddit conversations into their ads. Brands with a high level of positive conversations about them on Reddit can embed Redditor Highlights in their ads and boost performance across the funnel, with brands seeing a +10.7% lift in CTR on average using the awareness objective. Eligible ads will feature a summary of what redditors think about the product or brand, and a carousel of relevant organic posts.

  
  

  Faster purchases: Tap into shopping journeys happening on Reddit

  1 in 5 shoppers put 'Reddit' into their search queries to find better information, and we recently started testing new ways for users to find and act on our high-intent conversations.

  Now, we're helping brands turn those discoveries into decisions:

  • Shopping Listing Ads (Alpha): Reddit's first multi-advertiser ad matches products from participating brands to the context of real conversations, surfacing highly relevant options to high-intent audiences in a carousel and mirroring how redditors already compare, contrast, and validate before they buy.

  
  

  Stronger results: ML-driven performance across the ad stack

  In order to select the most relevant ad for each user in each unique context on Reddit, we have been heavily investing in machine learning across our ads platform-including cutting edge deep learning architectures, user interest modeling and content understanding techniques, and real time behavior sequences. This technology, when combined with Reddit's Community Intelligence, surfaces a deeper level of understanding for advertisers that can only be found on Reddit. For example, during testing, our new six-second engaged video views optimization goal saw a 130% increase in view-through rates and 71% improvement in video completion rates. These investments are also driving performance across advertiser categories.

  Bringing human conversations to Cannes from the Community Deli

  We look forward to hosting visitors throughout the week from the Reddit Community Deli, with a menu inspired by real Reddit conversations. Reddit's Cannes HQ is located next to Le Palais at the Intersection of Prom. Robert Favre le Bret and Rue Buttura, and open Monday, June 22 to Friday, June 26 from 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM (CEST) for scheduled meetings. Our space will also be open to all Cannes Lions badge holders Monday, June 22 to Thursday, June 25 from 11:30 AM - 2:30 PM daily and Friday, June 26 from 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM. Guests are strongly encouraged to RSVP via our website here.

  For press inquiries, please reach out to [email protected]. To set up a meeting with our sales team, please reach out to [email protected].