Brands & Beyond July 2026

July 29, 2026
3:27 pm

DURATION: 5 minutes time read

Luuk Goenee

Founder / Strategy Director

☀️ Welcome to the July edition of Brand & Beyond

This month, we’re bringing you insights straight from the biggest stages in marketing. From the key takeaways of Cannes Lions 2026 to the growing power of Founder-Led Ads. We also have two very exciting updates from our agency Deluux.

July is the perfect moment to step back, reflect on what’s working in the industry, and sharpen your strategy for the second half of 2026. Enjoy the read!

Founder-Led Ads: why putting yourself in the spotlight works

Founder-Led Ads are a form of advertising where the founder or owner of a brand takes centre stage — instead of the product alone. And the results normally speak for themselves. In the market, we see that this model consistently outperforms traditional brand advertising in both engagement and conversion.

Why? Because people buy from people. A founder communicating directly with their audience builds trust, authenticity, and emotional connection in a way that polished campaigns simply can’t replicate.

You see it working in the Netherlands with brands like Coolblue (Pieter Zwart) and Upfront — and internationally, the pattern is even more visible with examples from Ryan Reynolds, Kim Kardashian and even George Clooney with his Tequila brand. The formula is surprisingly consistent: be direct, be specific, be yourself.

At Deluux, we’re will start putting this into practice ourselves — because we believe in leading by example.

What this means for your brand: Is your founder visible enough? If not, you might be leaving your most powerful marketing asset unused.

👉 Ready to take the stage yourself?

Industry Game-changer

🎬 Cannes Lions 2026: the 5 signals that matter for your brand

The world’s most prestigious advertising festival is yearly held at the beautiful coast of Cannes. This year delivered a clear message: the era of AI hype is over. What replaces it is measurable, systemic value — AI that actually works, integrated into real marketing systems.

👉🏼 Learn more

Here are the five biggest takeaways from Cannes Lions 2026:

1. Rise of Agentic AI

AI moved beyond content generation. It now makes automated marketing decisions, optimising spend and shaping consumer experiences in real time.

2. Creator-Led Ecosystems

Influencers are no longer campaign tactics. They’re permanent distribution channels woven into a brand’s core infrastructure.

3. Beyond Identity-Based Targeting

The industry shifted toward contextual relevance and attention-based advertising, reaching people in premium environments without relying on third-party data.

4. Integrated Marketing Systems

One-off campaigns made way for connected systems that link creativity, first-party data, and commerce into seamless customer experiences.

5. Maturation of Commerce Media

Retail media grew up. Connecting measurement tools with cultural relevance to drive results beyond the transaction.

What this means for your brand: The brands winning in 2026 aren’t running louder campaigns. They’re building smarter, valuable and trust quality systems.

👉🏼 Learn more