Cannes Lions: The Inspiration

Brand builders from around the world come to Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for inspiration.?This year I was one of those lucky attendees. ??In my previous three blogs on Cannes Lions I wrote about the work, the innovation and the people.?Today, I want to share a little about the Inspiration I received.

Inspiration is everywhere at Cannes Lions.?The hardest part is to decide which speaker’s session you want to attend. I was fortunate enough to attend speaker’s sessions for the general audience, Omnicom Cove, the brilliant CMO Accelerator and hot Young Lions Academy.?Here are some highlights of speakers I found inspirational when it comes to brand building:?

Not Marketing Masterclass

Fernando Machado believes “marketing is data and science.”?He shared a study of Marketing Effectiveness in the Digital Era from IPA (picture below) that shows sales activation causes immediate spikes in sales that eventually go back to the baseline.?Brand building activity builds sales over time, but you don’t get the immediate effect that you get from sales activation.?Ultimately, the two together create a compounding effect.?As Fernando said, “Sales is our duty and building the brand is our legacy.”

When new to a job, Fernando advises that marketers make sure to deliver the short term by starting with the basics.?Get some quick wins and layer long long-term sales growth activity.?Set money aside to test and learn.?Include legal and finance in the journey.?They need to be as invested in the results as the marketers.?

Creativity that Grows Markets

Marc S. Pritchard discussed the importance of “delighting more people for more value.”?Currently P&G is reaching 60%-70% of consumers.?He recognizes that serving different “ages, genders and race requires precision.”

For example, they grew the razor market by addressing more shaving needs (those with hair and without.)?They grew the feminine protection market by talking about the category in insightful, inclusive and engaging ways to each market (India Whisper- direct education, North America Tampax- humorous education).??P&G adjusts its offering for unique haircare needs in each market (Brazilian curley hair, Black is Beautiful offering).

To P&G, growing markets also applies to the diverse multi-cultural creators.?For example, in addition to the Queen collection, Old Spice partnered with LOL Studios and Kevin Heart to create humorous content in the Writers Room.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YScEvWqfIqU

Building a Culture of Creative Effectiveness, Mc D’s: @TariqHassan

Mc Donald’s learned that it was more important to be “brand fans” rather than pushing out messages from the brand.?The brand was experiencing a decline with multi-cultural youth, a market that is growing quickly.?By 2030, 50% of McDonald’s traffic will be multicultural.?According to Tariq H. he team internally was “over focused on the haters, lost confidence and swagger.”?They lost meaning of ‘I’m loving it’ culture.”?Getting closer to their customers and fans changed the trajectory. Whether it be the fans that were celebrities, bands, roadies, pastors, dreamers, there were universal “Fan Truths” which became the heart of the creative strategy.?For example, people have a habit of eating bits of cheese stuck to the wrapper.?Another universal truth, the golden lights of McDonalds are seen as midnight salvation.?

They drove both single executions and global platforms. They found it important to 1) live in the target’s creative universe (ie- menu hacks, app only deals), 2) shape the way the culture tastes (imported and exported sauces, McRib farewell tour), 3) participate in culture (future nostalgia- bring back Grimace and birthday parties.) and 4) unleash data to shape the way (adjusting creative live based on pop culture).?

Today Mc Donald’s has experienced 9 quarters of consecutive same-store sales growth.?

Crisis Management in a Divided World

Whether it be Bud Light, Disney or Nike, brands are feeling the backlash of the divided world we live in.? Jim Joseph claims, “a crisis should never be a surprise to brands.?If you are going to be highly creative and purposeful, someone will say something.”?He recommends brands do scenario planning and have responses created ahead of time.?If leadership is not comfortable with the potential response, the effort should not be activated.

Digital media and online platforms changed the game.?Consumer reactions come in minutes, not hours.?“Brands don’t need to respond to everything. Companies that back down too quickly get in trouble”. It shows a lack of conviction and alignment. When the risk is not clear, brands should not take down their message.?It is important for brands to be consistent and stick with promises, or they will lose credibility overnight. News cycles are quick.?Monitor and track how loud the response is.?If it is a small sidebar, let it go.???If you don’t make a stand, you stand for nothing.”

When Marketing Speaks Better Finance and Visa Versa

Brands are an intangible asset similar to trademarks, franchises, copyrights, licenses and patents according to Chris Burggraeve . Since 1974, the contribution to S&P 500 market value from intangible assets as continued to increase.?

The ultimate value of a brand is sustainable pricing power.??Pricing power, defined by Warren Buffet, is “The ability to raise prices without curtailing demand or loosing share to a competitor.”?In practice, this means to take price increases above inflation.?The typical economics of an S&P 500 company shows that pricing impacts profit 6.7% (versus variable costs at 4.0% and volume at 2.7%.). Ultimately pricing is the strongest top line growth lever.??

Brands with pricing power drive the highest sustainable margin potential.?Consumers have a higher willingness to pay.?Employees and suppliers have a lower willingness to sell.?Employees join for less and stay for longer (higher engagement at lower HR costs). Banks offer lower interest cost for lower risk (lower debt).?Investors pay more for your shares (higher equity). Suppliers accept better payment terms and customers accept better payment terms (lower working capital.)

As I reflect on these examples, and so many more that I loved, I saw a common theme.?I loved these speakers because they all focused on the value of brands to grow the business.?As brand builders, these two areas need to be intrinsically linked.