Cannes Lions: Luis Miguel Messianu, MEL on Why Culture Will Win in the Age of AI Video
Business of MarketingShow Notes
Recorded live at Cannes Lions 2026, Justin Cooke sits down with Luis Miguel Messianu, Founder, President and Chief Creative Officer of MEL, for a conversation about cultural intelligence, creativity, AI and where brands will find their next wave of growth. Luis has spent decades challenging the way brands think about multicultural marketing, building award-winning agencies and leading creative work across some of the world’s biggest brands. His argument is increasingly relevant far beyond multicultural marketing: the brands that win will be those that understand culture deeply enough to make people feel genuinely understood. Luis explains why specificity creates authenticity, why multicultural thinking belongs at the centre of the brief rather than at the edge of a campaign, and why brands looking for growth need people inside their organisations who have actually lived the cultures they want to reach. Justin and Luis also explore the impact of AI on creativity. Luis describes AI as “augmented imagination” and argues that, as technology makes execution faster and easier, human nuance, taste, cultural insight and the quality of the underlying idea will become even more valuable. They discuss: • Why multicultural marketing can no longer be treated as a niche• How cultural intelligence creates stronger brand connections• Why changing the brief is often the first step towards changing the work• What leading McDonald’s creative work across 46 markets taught Luis about human behaviour• Why AI could make cultural insight and creative originality more important, not less• How agencies can protect their creative soul while still building successful businesses They also talk about agency reinvention, creative standards, mentoring the next generation of talent and why Luis believes advertising is ultimately “the business of optimism”. A wide-ranging conversation about culture, creativity, growth and what will differentiate great brands in an increasingly AI-powered world.
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