The New Leadership Mandate for Next-Gen CMOs

In 2003 as P&G’s Global Marketing Officer, I took the advice of an Australian creative director at Saatchi & Saatchi, and went to the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity with about 30 P&G people. It was the first time a large client contingent came to the Festival. We went with the objective of becoming the most creative, awarded marketing company in the world. When you are among the best, you attract the best. That is how a company grows.

The decision to take the large group to the Festival shook the industry. There were a few positive pieces mixed within an overload of negative press. But we weren’t fazed. My team and I came back inspired, with new expectations and new goals. We came back changed – and P&G changed as a result. We began working with different agencies, and working differently with current agencies. The hard work paid off. In 2008, P&G was awarded the coveted Advertiser of the Year for the first time in its history.

Since that provocative decision in 2003, client companies began to follow suit. And, now many client companies come to Cannes Lions every summer with their agencies seeking to raise their game in creativity and ultimately accelerate their business growth.

I left P&G in late 2008 to start my own consultancy and think-tank, but stayed in touch and inspired by the impact Cannes Lions had on my career and myself as a business leader. And in 2010, Terry Savage, Phil Thomas, and Steve Latham of Cannes Lions called me to discuss what more we could do for clients at the Festival. Out of those discussions came The Young Marketers Academy and, a few years later, The CMO Accelerator Program.

Our research about CMOs had revealed that they really wanted some curation of Cannes, help in synthesizing the learning and trends, and opportunities for peer to peer discussion. They also wanted to learn from marketing thought leaders in a more personal way. 

The CMO Accelerator has become one of the easiest ways to build valuable relationships and learn from some of the most influential and disruptive marketing leaders of today. Attendees have heard from thought leaders like Sir Martin Sorrell, Madonna Badger, David Droga, Jonathan Mildenhall, Janine Gianfredi, and leaders from past Marketer of the Year honorees. The CMOs who have attended go back to their organizations energized and inspired; we’ve seen them revamp their marketing organizations and change their agency structure. The CMO Accelerator has inspired real change.

Designed for CMOs and senior marketing leaders, the CMO Accelerator is an immersive two-day course scheduled for the latter half of the Festival. "The New Leadership Mandate for Next-Gen CMOs" is the theme for this year's CMO Accelerator. We will look at how to courageously lead with purpose and how to confront risk and the fear of failure, the elephant in the room in many brand-building organizations and a factor which has not been addressed significantly. We aim to change that this summer.

This year's course will cover the following:

• Tools to manage risk and fear of failure
• Cases of breakthrough creative work and how it happened, from the creators themselves
• Real-time ideating on real-time issues
• Discussion about what top talent young marketers want from a CMO
• Building brand equity
• Getting the absolute best from your agency
• Individual CMO 'nightmare' presentations and group work to provide solutions 

In addition to the CMO Accelerator, Suzanne Tosolini and I are entering our eighth year of the Cannes Lions Young Marketers Academy, which is considered the most intensive development program in the marketing industry. When we started the academy in 2011, the core idea was to begin to prepare the next generation of brand leaders to embrace creativity and learn how to lead breakthrough ideas in the creative process. Over the past seven years, we have filled the class with top talents from the best brands like Unilever, P&G, Heineken, Kraft, Adidas, Pepsico, VISA, IBM, Ancestry.com, Red Bull, S.C. Johnson, ülker, and more.

The Young Marketers Academy is designed for under-30 professional marketers from client companies. The ideal candidate will be a top talent young marketer with a desire to bring creativity into all aspects of their work. They have a passion for brands and are always looking to improve their skills and experiences to be the best in their field.

This summer’s academies are lining up to be our best yet – and spaces are limited. You can find more information on both programs at the links below. We look forward to seeing you in Cannes!

Young Marketers Academy

CMO Accelerator Programme