Creative Intelligence - Issue 4

Hello and welcome to Creative Intelligence, Formative’s monthly LinkedIn newsletter.

January is always an incredibly busy time at Formative – and the start of 2025 was no exception.

For a decade, we’ve been privileged to kick off the year by sending a team to Davos to support the World Economic Forum’s communications teams during the Annual Meeting.?

It really is an event like no other, that brings together political and business leaders from across the globe to discuss how to navigate collective challenges and opportunities.

This time, Kate Whiting, Tom Crowfoot and Megan Jones all ascended the snowy slopes to attend sessions and share insights across the Forum’s website and social platforms.

As well as working with the Forum itself, we provided on-the-ground and remote support for a number of other clients - while our CEO Gay Flashman was on hand in Davos for advice.?

Here are some of the highlights from what proved to be another captivating and thought-provoking week.

The week in a nutshell

If you’re short on time but want to understand the big discussion points, Kate’s round-up of the whole week will bring you swiftly up to speed.

From the need for constructive optimism in geopolitics to the future of jobs, these key takeaways are a great starting point to help you glean what forces will shape the world in 2025 and beyond.

And if you want to see what a week in Davos actually looks like, watch Meg’s short highlights video below.

Climate in focus

The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2025 – launched just before Davos week – ranks extreme weather events as the most severe threat over the next decade, so the climate crisis was naturally a big discussion point across the week.

Tom attended the State of Climate and Nature session – featuring former US Vice President Al Gore, Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez and Gim Huay Neo, Managing Director, World Economic Forum – which discussed the crisis in detail.

AI, improving energy system infrastructure, and the importance of inspiration were all highlighted as key areas of opportunity. You can watch the full session or read five of Tom’s key takeaways here.

Big names make a splash

As well as global business and political leaders, cultural leaders from the worlds of sport and entertainment were in attendance.

In his role as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, David Beckham took to the stage to discuss children’s rights. He was honoured for his advocacy and used the opportunity to highlight the importance of providing better access and opportunity for girls around the world.

Elsewhere, Kate and Meg attended a discussion on domestic abuse featuring former Spice Girl Melanie Brown. She spoke candidly about her own experiences while highlighting steps that can help tackle gender violence. Read Kate’s round-up of the session here.

And Olympic diver Tom Daley opened up about the highs and lows of his life and career, revealing how he handles high-pressure situations. Our own Tom was in attendance and shared the key learnings here.

Driving resilience and collaboration

We were delighted to support global logistics solutions provider DP World again, as they welcomed visitors to DP World House on the main promenade.

Across the five days, our seven-strong on-the ground team delivered thousands of photos and 16 videos – including daily highlight reels – showcasing DP World’s work on making supply chains more resilient.

Human intelligence must lead technology

It wasn’t just teams on the ground sharing stories across the week. Back at base, Team Leader for Editorial Strategy, Emma Charlton, supported the team from Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

Throughout the week, TCS shared insights on the importance of adaptability, optimism that technology can help solve some of our biggest challenges and why it is vital for human intelligence to work hand-in-hand with AI.

You can read about their week: here.

We love capturing live events for clients, with a strong track record of amplifying client messages through compelling content. If you want to find out more, get in touch: [email protected].