Creativity takes courage

The festival of courage and inspiration is what I call Cannes Lions. Because “creativity does take courage”, spoken by the great Henri Matisse.??The festival is a gathering more than an awards show where people get recognized for some great looking Lions. And they should get recognized as that’s what our industry needs more than anything to grow; to better and to advance positive ideologies and help eliminate negative influence.??

It is indeed a privilege to be amongst a few from many, that gather every year to celebrate, debate and encourage work and thinking. And it happens to be the time of the year that I always fall in love again.?

·???????I fall in love with ambition.?

·???????I fall in love with daydreams that have turned into real day solutions.??

·???????I fall in love with the culture of bravery- one that reminds me every year and every time that anything is possible through the power of human ambition and intuition.?

·???????I fall in love with magic of creativity and the logic of creativity.??And every year this intersection of magic and logic inspire us and takes us to places we have never been.?

This intersection is what this festival of courage is all about and represents. And when these two representations come together you see our industry at its best. You see brands flourish and ideas that solve real world problems.?

And in the spirit of Magic and Logic- here are a few of my takeaways from this year’s festival of courage.

1-??????Perspective:?I saw perspective.?An intentional perspective to evolve marketing thinking and brand ambition. I don’t think all brands and CMO’s were on the same level field but there were lots of examples where marketing really transformed itself with a perspective to move to the future using enablers such as AI, Machine learning and data centricity to advance a point of view resulting to a point of difference. From creative commerce that showed AI and algorithms to predict your food order, to using data points to assess a brands worth going back 100’s of years and lots more. Perspective is a key CMO trait today. It should be what drives us all and it starts by understanding that the future is for the brave, the future is for those that use enablers to enhance their creative story telling- and embracing the unknown to stand out. Those brands, those agencies and those CMO’s are ethe ones we need to look at and get inspiration from.??

2-??????Humility:?I witnessed humility.?About bringing a sense of purpose in everything created for long term commitments. We are responsible for brands that are there to serve a purpose bigger than profit- if marketing is done right, that’s what it should do. Utility and humility were on display at the festival. Lots of great examples that showed brands and marketing helping humans find homes, resolving fair migration, pushing for inclusion, helping end wars, creating a better planet, breaking down stereotypes- and promoting basic humanity. The great examples and stories were all about brands being humble and knowing that they are there to do something more. And that was breathtaking to see. Humility grounds us so we can never get ahead of ourselves.?

3-??????Empathy.?I sensed empathy. Empathy is the first?step of design thinking. All about putting the consumer and audience in the forefront of your thinking. Empathy is about crafting and building brands that are for all and not for some. Marketing on display at the festival showed how brands can be uber empathetic and put the user first. Brands that acted human by making sports democratic and accessible for all to enjoy. By creating a mouth pad for folks with quadriplegia so they can interface with their computers (that was one of ours by the way- and so proud of it) and a great example of a brand that used spatial audio technology to allow a visual impaired journalist to follow his dream about broadcasting a sports game! This is empathy. This is the true definition of magic and logic. This is putting others first; and when done right- it really ensures our marketing can push share-holder value and things important for the high street. We are always torn between wall street and high street KPI’s. Separate streets; difference values in most cases.?But focusing on empathy for the high street- will benefit both streets in the long run.?

4-??????AI-our shiny talking point.?No point of view from this year’s festival will be complete if you don’t talk about AI. The festival was AI branded from start to finish with conversations around its application as a content creator, as an efficiency player, as a transformation technology and so on. But for me; it’s a small piece of a bigger story- all around its application around humanity and values. I learnt earlier this year at our Graduate degree program on AI & Business at Said Business School- Oxford University, that AI is not a thing; it’s an enterprise solution that needs feedback loops, it needs an infrastructure with defined?complementarities so it can help its adoption, and it needs marketing practitioners that don’t look at AI as an efficiency play only. AI will not take over creativity- but it will enhance it. AI will also enhance our data optimization process, help us identify trends faster, so we can make better predictions and better final decisions for our brands and marketing. And that marketing should go on to create greater value for the brand and society at large.?

I’m a CEO, Global brand guardian, creative strategist, father, citizen, and a devoted believer that AI technology can impact people in many positive ways. But I certainly hope that we continue to believe that AI is not just for brand building and business; but for bringing more happiness into people’s lives and making our world a more inclusive place. I’m hoping Cannes Lions 2024 will be less AI selling; and more used cases that show how we have adopted AI to enhance creativity and humanity, together.?

Cannes 2023 was the festival where empathy, humility and perspective were shining and on display. And no other industry in the world can perhaps bring these human values together to ensure we create ideas and inspiration that serve a bigger purpose.?

I am in love with my job and my industry more than ever, and Cannes Lions helps with this love affair every year.?

I can’t wait to see what next year has in stock and we are certainly working on some brave ideas already.?

Let’s go!?

à bient?t