The sun-soaked Croisette at Cannes Lions 2025 set the stage for bold ideas and big announcements. Roku showed up in full force—connecting with advertisers, making headlines, and laying out a clear vision for the future of TV streaming.
Here, we recap the big moments and buzzy themes touching on Roku and the streaming landscape.
Teaming up with Amazon
Everyone we met with was eager to talk about Roku’s new partnership with Amazon to unify logged-in TV audiences across both of our platforms.
With this move, we’re creating the largest authenticated CTV solution in North America by accurately resolving audiences across the Roku operating system, The Roku Channel, Amazon Fire TV, and Amazon Prime Video. This enables advertisers to reach the same viewer across different streaming channels and devices, leading to more accurate and performant campaigns. Viewers meanwhile will enjoy a better TV experience thanks to improved ad frequency management. Learn more in our blog post.
Solving the sports scavenger hunt
As streaming services multiply, even die-hard fans struggle to find their favorite games. Roku sees this not just as a pain point, but a brand opportunity to lead in live sports discovery.
During a panel at The Female Quotient Lounge, Sarah Harms, Roku’s VP of Ad Marketing and Measurement, told a relatable story about her husband’s 88-year-old uncle, a devoted New York Yankees fan who sometimes can’t find his favorite team on TV.
“His game could be on four different apps in five days,” she said. “We should make TV easy for everyone—including Uncle Joe.”
Watch Now: Sarah Harms, VP Ad Marketing & Measurement, ROKU in the SPORT BEACH Content Studio
To solve this, Roku created the Roku Sports Experience, a centralized hub for live and upcoming games, replays, highlights, and more. Themed Sports Zones—like the National Women’s Soccer League Zone and MLB Zone—further refine the experience.
In an interview with Axios, Roku Media President Charlie Collier underscored the company’s role in shaping how fans discover live sports.
“Before Caitlin Clark blew up, we absolutely made sure that we got our viewers to those games on ION,” said Collier. “It wasn't our rights, but it was absolutely our right to elevate that pop cultural moment.”
Full-funnel power: creative meets CTV
At The Drum Studio, Jordan Rost, Roku’s Head of Ad Marketing, spotlighted how connected TV can power full-funnel performance—not just top-of-funnel reach.
Take Hellmann’s Big Game commercial, “When Sally Met Hellmann’s,” starring Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal. The campaign extended beyond the 30-second spot into a shoppable, interactive experience with custom recipes shoppable via Roku remotes, a branded deli inside Roku City and a Marquee Ad on the Roku home screen.
The takeaway? Brands that embrace immersive, native formats on CTV can extend campaign lift and brand engagement far beyond one-time airings.
Shoppable TV isn’t the future—it’s now
At the Dentsu Beach House, Lindsay Pullins, Director of Business Development & Partnerships, presented new research showing the power of shoppable streaming:
- Roku users are 118 times more likely to press OK on their remote than scan a QR code.
- Shoppable ads lead to a 47% increase in purchase intent.
- 45% of streamers who bought through Roku ads were new-to-brand.
Pullins’ message was clear: Consumers are increasingly open to shopping directly from their TVs especially if they get value in exchange.
Roku’s major announcements at Cannes
Cannes 2025 wasn’t just about conversations. Roku delivered tangible progress on our commitment to help agencies and brands achieve precision at scale by aligning with our position as the lead-in to all TV. Here’s more of what we shared last week:
- Ads in free streaming drive comparable attention to paid: Our study with MAGNA also found Gen Z is 4.7x more likely than Boomers to modify subscriptions. Read the whole thing to understand how marketers can garner attention across a fragmented video landscape.
- Dick’s Media Network: Dick’s became the first partner to use Roku Data Cloud to engage with customers and do closed-loop measurement.
- Dentsu on Commerce: Viewers are more likely to engage with shoppable ads when the value exchange is clear. Think time savings or exclusive offers.
- Amazon Ads + Roku: Advertisers can now reach 80 million U.S. households via Roku’s logged-in data and Amazon’s DSP, forming the largest authenticated footprint in CTV.
CTV’s future—now in focus
From live sports and AVOD scale to shoppable experiences, Roku showed our full breadth of offerings in Cannes. As streamers and advertisers alike learn that “it's all on Roku,” we look forward to helping our partners precisely reach their audiences at scale in the guided age of TV.
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