This June, as the global marketing industry gathers on the French Riviera for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, one independent agency is making waves by offering a fresh perspective.
Social Revolt, a rapidly emerging cultural connector agency headquartered in Dallas with a strategic presence in Mexico City, is taking the global stage to highlight what sets it apart: a focus on blending cultural fluency, strategic insight, and creative storytelling to drive meaningful and measurable impact.
For founder and CEO Marty Martinez, Cannes represents an opportunity to showcase how an agency built on grit, vision, and cultural relevance can not only compete with the industry’s biggest names but also inspire them to elevate their work.
A Return to the Global Stage
Social Revolt is no stranger to the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The agency’s last entry, a global campaign in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme, highlighted the climate crisis through Don’t Choose Extinction, a compelling and culturally attuned narrative that garnered worldwide attention.
The campaign achieved significant reach and engagement, amassing 9.5 billion digital impressions, 4.2 million engagements, and over 4,000 media mentions across 98 countries. It was a notable milestone, demonstrating what a culturally intelligent, independent agency can accomplish on the global stage.
For 2025, Social Revolt returns to Cannes with a new submission. The spotlight is on Tonight, a cross-promotional campaign built around the first single from the soundtrack of the box office hit Bad Boys: Ride or Die. Developed in close collaboration with Grass Roots Music, the management team behind the Black Eyed Peas, the campaign was submitted in the Breakthrough on a Budget category and aligns with Social Revolt’s core belief: big impact doesn’t require big spend—it requires big insight.
By overlaying fan listening data with per-channel audience behavior, the agency leveraged the global reach of the Black Eyed Peas, Becky G, and El Alfa to transform a single-track release into a multi-market, cross-cultural moment. With authentic fan engagement, millions of impressions, and a strategically efficient media plan, the campaign achieved results that stood out.
In a space dominated by massive budgets, Social Revolt demonstrated that cultural intelligence, smart data, and creative agility can often compete with—or even surpass—higher-budget efforts.
“Our partnership with Grass Roots Music is built on a shared belief—culture drives everything,” Martinez says. The Los Angeles-based management powerhouse launched the Black Eyed Peas and has shaped nearly three decades of chart-topping success across Urban, Pop, EDM, and Latin. From industry accolades to a legacy of relentless hustle, they’ve established themselves as tastemakers.
The Cultural Pulse Advantage
At the heart of Social Revolt’s approach is Cultural Pulse, a proprietary insights system that helps decode the nuances of identity, behavior, and belonging. It’s not enough to know your audience is Gen Z or Latino—you need to understand their values, their humor, what they scroll past, and what they share with pride.
“At Social Revolt, our mission is to help brands tap into the immense business value and cultural impact of historically underestimated audiences. One clear illustration of this is the growing influence of Latino culture on US mainstream media and beyond,” says CEO Marty Martinez.
This depth of cultural intelligence is particularly important as the U.S. continues to become more diverse. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, over half of all Americans under 18 are now people of color, and by 2045, the country is projected to become “majority minority.” The Latino population alone has surpassed 62 million, representing nearly 20% of the total U.S. population and accounting for more than half of the overall population growth in the last decade.
In this landscape, Social Revolt acts as cultural interpreters, helping brands engage with relevance and respect. In an era where representation is expected, not optional, that level of fluency isn’t just a differentiator—it’s increasingly essential for success.
From Dallas Roots to Global Reach
In just over a decade, Social Revolt has grown from a determined Dallas-based agency into one of the fastest-rising cultural connector agencies in the U.S., earning recognition among Inc.’s Top 100 Fastest-Growing Agencies. Today, the agency partners with brands around the world while staying grounded in the cultural intelligence and community connection that shaped its earliest wins.
Founded in 2014, Social Revolt quickly gained traction with regional brands seeking innovative and inclusive strategies. As momentum built, the agency expanded its operations beyond Texas, extending into national and international markets.
Its most recent expansion into Mexico City is both strategic and symbolic. More than a geographic move, it represents a long-term investment in Latin American talent, creativity, and cultural fluency.
“We chose Mexico City because it demands authenticity, rewards precision, and teaches you to move at the speed of culture. Here, we’re focusing on local talent, amplifying Latino voices, and pioneering digital strategies that don’t just catch attention—but hold it,” says CEO Marty Martinez.
Building for the Future
Social Revolt is focused on innovation, designing AI-enabled systems that enhance a cultural edge instead of diluting it.
From intentional infrastructure to community-rooted creator partnerships, every initiative reflects a clear vision: grow with purpose by unlocking audiences that others overlook. AI plays a key role in that vision, not as a replacement for creativity but as a tool to refine insights and efficiency. The agency is integrating AI tools to streamline delivery, sharpen insights, and enhance performance transparency, always under human oversight. These tools are built to support smarter decisions while preserving cultural nuance and strategic thinking.
Behind the scenes, Social Revolt is developing large-scale operational frameworks, proactively building what most agencies scramble to fix later. The goal is to stay agile at scale while preserving the hands-on, high-touch service the agency is known for.
“We know we’re not the biggest agency in the room, and that’s exactly where our power comes from,” says CEO Marty Martinez. “Future-proofing is about embedding intelligence into every process so we can move faster without ever losing our greatest asset: human creativity. That balance between speed and insight is how you stay ahead in this industry.”
Why Cannes Matters
For Social Revolt, Cannes is about visibility and demonstrating what’s possible. It’s a chance to show that a culturally driven, independently built agency can compete with the industry’s biggest players—and that purpose-led work, strategic depth, and cultural fluency can stand alongside the scale and shine of legacy networks.
It’s also a reminder: small doesn’t mean small clients, and it certainly doesn’t mean small stages. Social Revolt is playing a key role in major brand moments, shaping global conversations, and bringing a new kind of energy to the table—one that’s agile, intentional, and deeply connected to culture.
Final Thoughts
As Social Revolt prepares to walk the Croisette in Cannes, they do so not just with a campaign in their back pocket, but with a decade’s worth of insight, intention, and impact.
They’re an agency pointing toward where marketing is going next.
Is your team headed to Cannes? Connect with Social Revolt by emailing lacey@socialrevoltagency.com.