At this year's Cannes Lions, there is noticeably less talk about mission and values than in the past. One of the few brands embracing this brand marketing is Savage X Fenty.

Why it matters: For the lingerie line founded by Rihanna, DEI is at the center of all they do, chief marketing officer Vanessa Wallace said at an Axios event this week in Cannes.

What she's saying: "From the beginning, Rihanna has stood for inclusivity," Wallace said. "Savage X Fenty redefined what inclusive looks like in lingerie. We always say: it's not the size that defines you — it's your confidence."

Zoom in: The brand's Valentine's Day campaign, Love Your Way, exemplified the diversity, equity and inclusion ethos by spotlighting different forms of love — self-love, romantic love, sisterhood and friendship.

• "It wasn't about being disruptive," Wallace said. "It was about being true to who we are and giving people the power to define love for themselves."

The intrigue: Because the company's values are embedded and understood by its consumer base, there was very little pushback to the campaign, says Wallace.

• "The community applauded it," she says. "When I'm scrolling TikTok or reading comments, it's clear people recognized what we were doing. We're just showing up authentically — and always trying to elevate voices that aren't often heard."

Zoom in: While "The Navy," Rihanna's fan base, remains central, the brand is also growing into mainstream retail.

• Savage X Fenty can be found in Nordstrom in the U.S., Galeries Lafayette in France and Selfridges in the U.K.
• "It's our chance to meet the girl next door," Wallace said.

What to watch: Expect more creative collaborations and a push into sports.

• The brand recently partnered with rapper GloRilla and is eyeing women's sports as a new opportunity.
• "Women athletes have platforms that align with our values," Wallace said. "And there are some unexpected product collabs coming too."

Go deeper ... keep reading and watch the interview.

Sharp, clear and persuasive communications are no longer optional for investors and founders, M13 co-founder Carter Reum said at an Axios event in Cannes.

Why it matters: In a world where "everything is commoditized," Reum said, differentiation depends not just on what you build, but how you explain it and bring stakeholders along.

What he's saying: "It's never been easier to start a company, but it's never been harder to be a successful company," Reum said.

• He says their success comes from their commitment to take "a very hands-on approach and then we communicate it. In everything we do, we have to have that reason for being, that reason to win, and that has to be communicated effectively."

Between the lines: This also applies to the early-stage companies the venture capital firm invests in, he says.

• "One of the things that I look for in founders today is the ability to inspire, and what I mean by that, and why that's so important is, when you're starting off, you have to inspire or persuade a customer to take a chance on you," he said.
• "You have to persuade that key hire to come and leave their cushy job and come work for you. You have to inspire or persuade somebody like me to write you a $15 million check. And if you can do that every day, you have slightly better odds."

By the numbers: A plurality of Americans think founders and CEOs need a public persona, according to a recent Morning Consult.

• Roughly 8 in 10 U.S. adults said a company's CEO affects their perception of that company, the survey found.
• Meanwhile, executive posts on LinkedIn have surged 23% since last year, LinkedIn data shared with Axios showed.
• 70% of Gen Z want to hear from CEOs across social media, while 55% say they'd listen to CEO interviews on podcasts.

What to watch: Reum predicts AI will supercharge the way marketers and communicators work.

• Because AI can expedite the creation of content, "experiential events [will] become more valuable," he said. "I think it's people like my wife, [Paris Hilton], who prided herself on authenticity, [who] become more relevant. Because a year from now, a third of the things you look at on Instagram will be AI."

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In an era of hyper-personalized feeds and hyper-engaged micro-communities, consumer brands that go niche will break through, Robyn Delmonte, creator and creative director behind GirlBossTown, told Axios at an event alongside Cannes Lions.

Why it matters: The approach bucks decades of conventional wisdom that scale and mass appeal are the fastest route to growth.

The big picture: 88% of Americans engage in niche communities, according to research from strategic communications firm Confidant and marketing insights platform Vytal.

• 45% of Gen Z, millennials and Gen X say they feel more connected to niche communities than mainstream culture.
• Roughly half say they gravitate toward brands that cater to specific interests — rising to 53% among Gen Z.
• 51% say feeling like a part of a brand's community is important and 53% are more likely to try a brand recommended within a community.

Catching up: Delmonte built a following by merging pop culture commentary with marketing critiques and partnership predictions.

• She now advises major brands to embrace this ethos by listening to their active audience and letting them develop their own unfiltered content.

What she's saying: Delmonte offers the example of Gap recently partnering with a micro-creator who reviews hoodie sweatshirts.

• "They found a micro-creator who her entire content was just trying on hoodies and finding which one 'hoodied' the best," Delmonte says. "And Gap worked with her to design their newest hoodie and utilized her niche audience.
• "This is what legacy brands should be doing. But to find those niches and to find those micro-creators to work with as brands, you need to be a consumer of their internet."

Plus, engaging with niche trends or "internet lore" on social media offers a low-cost, high-reward experience.

• "There's a time to spend big and go timeless," she says. "But there's also power in jumping on a trend with no budget at all — because a lot of those trends are coming from creators on their couches, with green screens."

Yes, but: To do this effectively, the brand marketers and communicators must be social media savvy themselves, she says.

• "I meet with brands that spend massive budgets on campaigns, but no one in the room even uses social media," Delmonte says. "How can you understand your audience if you're not part of it?"

What to watch: Audiences also want an inside look at how their favorite brands operate, she says.

• "It makes consumers more excited about the process than even the drop itself," Delmonte says. "That's the best kind of marketing — using creators as creatives."

Go deeper ... keep reading and watch the interview.

Axios Communicators Pro members receive quarterly insight reports, in which we go deep on an important topic and its relation to brand, executive and corporate communications.

Zoom in: This week, we partnered with Morning Consult to examine how brands tap into fandoms and culture to drive revenue.

• Levi's, American Express and Nike are among those that have successfully landed memorable brand partnerships in recent months, per the survey.

What they're saying: "Younger consumers are increasingly making purchases that align with their identities — and fandom is at the core of that," Morning Consult president and co-founder Kyle Dropp said. "For marketers, that's a clear signal: Brand affinity grows when partnerships feel personal, not performative."

Go deeper ... Read the report and become an Axios Communicators Pro member to receive this report and more.

Throughout the week, Axios Communicators partnered with Mastercard, Burson, Omnicom and Yahoo to convene all of the communication and corporate affairs professionals along the Croisette to discuss reputation, relevance and brand safety.

Here's what we heard ...

• After conducting roundtables with CMOs followed by several similar discussions with CCOs and corporate affairs leads, I can tell you that, by and large, these two functions are not singing from the same song sheet. More on that next week.
• Everyone is talking about AI, but few are actually saying anything. Many AI-powered tech companies — like Adobe, Canva, Pinterest and Meta — have a large presence here, while all of the agencies are leaning into thought leadership about AI as a client offering.
• The holding companies are in limbo amid the Omnicom/IPG merger — which is being reviewed by the Federal Trade Commission — and the CEO transition at WPP.
• Sports is still big, but podcasting is bigger.

"For me, corporate values are huge. I do background checks on everybody. I'm not going to sign up for something because you've given me the whole song and dance. I need to know who's running the show. I look at board of directors. I look at the company makeup. ... You have to walk it like you talk it."