CANNES — Fortune opened its flagship Fuel Up event at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The event included a panel discussion focused on authentic brand engagement, featuring content creator Gstaad Guy, Darnell Strom, and Kamal Ahmed, alongside CMOs from various brands.

Gstaad Guy, a content creator with 3.1 million followers on Instagram and TikTok, has collaborated with Bentley. "I was talking about the brands I work with today long before working with them. That's where the authenticity comes in," Gstaad Guy said. He added, "People are buying the things I'm speaking about playfully, without me trying to sell them." Regarding the perception of commercial content, he stated, "People assume that when you become more commercial, the content may lose that feel. That actually never happened…it was quite the opposite." He concluded, "When a connection is authentic and real, it's obvious to both parties. And when it's artificial or forced, it's equally obvious. The audience always knows."

A 2026 Clutch report stated that 97% of consumers say authenticity is a key factor in deciding whether to support a brand. The same report found that 81% of consumers have stopped supporting a brand that no longer felt genuine.

Todd Kaplan, North America CMO at Kraft Heinz, discussed brand engagement efforts. "The idea isn't just to slap on a logo and say, 'presented by X.' It has to go beyond the logo," Kaplan said. He noted, "A lot of our best ideas are unbriefed ideas." Referencing the Wienie 500, an event where six Oscar Mayer-branded Wienermobiles race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the Indianapolis 500 weekend, Kaplan said, "Someone had the idea of racing them at Indianapolis to mark the start of America's grilling season." The inaugural event drew 85,000 attendees and millions of livestreamers. The winner is doused in mustard and handed the Borg-Wiener Trophy. Kaplan also commented on the medium, stating, "Live sports is the last great lean-in moment. If you can find a way to organically, authentically connect, that is what we've been focusing on."

A survey of 1,100 marketing and finance decision-makers across the U.S., U.K., and Canada was conducted by Fortune in partnership with Morning Consult. Lucinda Barlow, head of international Marketing at Uber, discussed the role of human creativity. "What I'm feeling this time is a deep acknowledgment of the power of human creativity…that this is actually seen as a competitive advantage for your brand, for your business," Barlow said. She added, "Those feelings are really hard to replicate with AI."