The AI Shift Every Marketer Needs to See

Media Minute is WPP Media's series, specifically crafted to empower our clients and marketers for their intelligence era.

The biggest AI theme at Cannes this year wasn't about technology. It was about value. 

Not AI for the sake of it. AI that actually improves decisions, experiences, and outcomes for brands and the people they serve. That reframe changes a lot, and it was front and center at FutureWeek, one of the standout programming tracks at Cannes 2026. 

In this recent session, Katelyn Taylor, Head of Search at WPP Media, gets into the questions marketers are genuinely wrestling with right now and offers some practical ways to think about them. 

Here's a taste of what Katelyn covers: 

• GSO is the new SEO. Generative Search Optimization (GSO) builds on familiar principles, but the audience has changed. LLMs can't experience your brand the way humans do. They piece it together from your data. That means consistency across every touchpoint, from product pages to creator content to customer reviews, is more important than ever. 

• Zero-click search has already crossed 60%. A consumer can now discover, compare, and decide to buy entirely inside an answer engine, without ever visiting your site. The old traffic metrics don't tell the full story anymore, and brands need new ways to measure what's actually working. 

• The agentic shelf is tiny. In an agent-driven world, the consideration set shrinks to just two to five pre-vetted products. Getting into that shortlist means understanding not just what your product does well, but what your specific growth audiences are asking their AI assistants to find for them. 

• Measurement and organizational readiness are the real challenges. Knowing AI matters is one thing. Having the right frameworks, budgets, and internal ownership to act on it is another. The brands making the most progress are treating this as a dedicated function, not an afterthought. 

Watch the full session below. 

The brands winning right now aren't just experimenting with AI. They're rethinking how they show up, how they measure success, and how they're structured to move at the speed this moment demands.