Should Cannes Lions Add A Space Marketing Category In The Near Future?
Cannes, France - June 21, 2011: Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity by Ascential with ... More the Grand Prix Trophy Awards at the Palais des Festivals. Award, Lion, Advertising, Trophäe, Werbung, Marketing, Loewe. Mandoga Media Germany (Photo by Mandoga Media/picture alliance via Getty Images)
In the past, the idea of a brand campaign reaching space might have sounded like science fiction. As private spaceflight becomes commercially viable and space becomes a platform for storytelling, marketing is preparing for liftoff.
It's time to ask:
Should Cannes Lions introduce a Space Marketing category some time in the future?
The answer is yes.
I've closely tracked and helped shape the future of emerging technologies for years. Space marketing, naturally, has been part of my career. I usually say that I dabble in it. I've covered space tourism from being buried in space to billboards in low Earth orbit, and even space hotels. Let's not forget how Pizza Hut became the first company in history to deliver a Personal Pan pizza to the International Space Station 25 years ago (thanks to oven-ready vacuum seal technology).
I wrote about how space marketing starts on Earth, like at MarsWorld in Las Vegas, and underwater 'space stations' like Fabien Cousteau's Proteus (dubbed 'ISS of the Ocean'). Plus, I was interviewed about what space tastes like and the future of food brands in space on the Proof - America's Test Kitchen podcast.
CMOs must keep one eye on the future as the mechanisms for storytelling and where customers are are ever-changing. Space marketing is no exception.
For the past several years, we've written and spoken about the rise of space marketing: the use of orbital, suborbital, or lunar environments for brand storytelling, product placement, and immersive experiences.
In 2020, her in Forbes outlined how space could become the next great media frontier, from branded payloads to sponsored lunar missions. Today, this isn't a distant idea. It's a present opportunity. According to Morgan Stanley, the space economy could reach $1 trillion by 2040. Marketing will be part of that trajectory.
In early 2024, the Intuitive Machines IM-1 lunar mission successfully delivered a range of payloads to the Moon, including those with commercial and brand tie-ins. Intuitive Machines used Columbia's Omni-Heat Infinity insulation to outfit its Nova-C lunar lander in a 2024 mission to the moon. Companies like Uplift Aerospace and Space Perspective are offering brands the chance to participate in near-space activations like immersive zero-gravity experiences and branded suborbital journeys. Brands have done early experiments with NFTs sent to space, orbital product shoots, and lunar memorabilia embedded into both physical and digital campaigns.
Brands don't have to be technologically focused to embrace space marketing. Hilton became the official hotel partner for Voyager Space to design the interior of Voyager's free-flying space station. Prada was tapped to work with Axiom to design the space suit for NASA's Artemis 3 mission planned for 2026. Earlier this year, Nokia Bell Labs delivered the first cellular network to the Moon. They'll also build high-speed communications into next-generation Artemis 3 space suits. These companies are laying the groundwork and infrastructure for future space missions.
Cannes Lions has long recognized that creativity doesn't stand still. Over the past decade, the festival has added categories like the Glass Lion for Change to recognize work that challenges bias. They also added Innovation Lions, which celebrate tech-enabled brand breakthroughs, and most recently, Social & Influencer Lions, which reflects the shift to the creator economy.
Space marketing is a natural extension of this evolution. It brings together innovation, storytelling, and experience design. Plus, it's already happening.
Brands are not just watching space from afar. They have embedded themselves in it. Estée Lauder sent a skincare serum to the ISS for a product shoot. Red Bull's Stratos jump remains one of the most iconic space-adjacent campaigns ever. And Lunar Outpost's MAPP rover, part of upcoming NASA missions, has already explored brand partnerships. I imagined what brands could do with AI and augmented reality in space.
The work is there. The creativity is there. What's missing is recognition.
A dedicated Space Marketing category would do more than reward a few ambitious campaigns. It would signal that space is no longer off-limits for marketers. Instead, that space is open for innovation, narrative, and presence.
It could include various topics such as branded payloads and sponsored missions. XR/AR experiences tied to space environments would be another good category, along with space-themed content that integrates real orbital footage or mission data. Finally, cross-medium campaigns linking Earth and space audiences through immersive storytelling.
These strategic placements align with broader shifts in technology, especially as spatial computing, smartglasses, and generative AI begin to merge the physical and digital worlds. Space activations will soon be part of how people experience brand narratives in mixed reality environments.
Space has always inspired wonder, curiosity, and ambition. For brands, participating in space means aligning with those values and earning cultural capital that's hard to match anywhere else.
But this moment is also fleeting. The brands and agencies willing to invest now (while it's still novel) stand to own the narrative long before space becomes just another media channel.
A Cannes category would help spotlight those first movers.
Creativity is about boundaries and the courage to cross them. For decades, Cannes has honored those who dared to tell stories in new ways, on new platforms, with new tools. As we move into an era where the Moon becomes media and orbit becomes opportunity, it's time for Cannes to look up.
The question isn't whether space will become a new place where storytelling will take place. That's already happening.
The real question is: will Cannes Lions be bold enough to celebrate it?
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