303 MullenLowe’s Post

A whopping 82% of Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity attendees feel that the festival has become more geared to tech companies than about creativity. "The overwhelming agreement that focus has shifted from creativity towards tech is, if not surprising, still a startling fact. I’d like to think creativity will always remain at the heart of the festival, and be the central tenant of what we do as a sector" - MullenLowe UK chief growth officer, Lucy Taylor. More insight's from MullenLoweUK's research here >>>https://lnkd.in/evcieU7r #advertising #creativity #marketing

Cannes In Cairns has come to a close! Known as the “Antipodean Festival of Creativity,” the Cannes in Cairns Festival has established itself as one of the premier industry events in Australia. Supported by several partners, including News Corp Australia, some of our News Xtend team had the privilege of participating in this special four-day event. With over 100 speakers and 10 fantastic networking events, the festival brought together experts in advertising, media, marketing, tech, and more. Here were some of the key takeaways: 1. Accessibility in #advertising: Advertisers are potentially missing out on $13 trillion globally by not making ads accessible. Adding captions or using easy-to-read fonts can help businesses engage with a wider audience. 2. "One way in, one way out" approach: Hushidar Kharas, Head of Prime Video Australia and New Zealand, shared this innovative strategy. It involves testing new ideas in teams with calculated risks and quickly moving on if they don't work. Hushidar emphasised that some of Prime Video’s/Amazon’s most significant successes have come from this approach fostering a culture of continuous improvement and minimising resource waste. 3. Inclusivity, diversity, and responsibility: There is a strong emphasis on these values in advertising. It’s important to think about where your brand or business can make the most impact and focus on providing solutions. We can’t wait to attend next year. Thanks, #CannesinCairns for having us! #NewsXtend #NewsCorpAustralia #CannesinCairns2024 Belinda MacPherson Karen Gill Matt Paine Edgardo (Jed) Tallada Amelia Faulkner Lisa Gillman Medha Mittal Mady Mitsoulas Anthony Christian Jacob Hoskins Sophie Madden Tristan Paul C. Andy Reeves Hannah Myers Emily Walker James Comino

Topics considered polarizing will likely not find centerstage at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Marla Kaplowitz, CEO of the 4A's, put it like this: “People like to go [to Cannes] and escape and avoid the realities of what's going on in the world for a few days. There's so much that we're all dealing with as an industry…but if [people] have a glass rosé in their hand, they're really not going to want to get into a serious discussion about it. We're in an industry where it's easy for people to put blinders on and not really think about those things." Read more on Campaign US: https://bit.ly/3zfw8Kc #canneslions #cannes #cannesfilmfestival #cannesfrance #advertising #marketing #cannesisyours #cannesfestival #festivaldecannes #creative #creativity

It's almost time for Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity.   For most attendees, the event is about toasting the efforts of creative departments, and getting a few deals underway (with some employing an approach of rosé-powered persuasion).   I love Cannes because it's a bellwether for the ad industry - and for business more broadly.   This week I wrote a column for The Drum about that very thing.   You'll find the link - as always - in the comments.   #cannes #advertising #creativity #ape

A recurring topic at this year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity I believe deserves our attention was the growing disconnect between agency fees and perceived brand value. Many brands voiced concerns that agency fees are too high while they view a lack of value in the work delivered. On the flip side, agencies argued that they are not being compensated enough for their efforts and creativity. Where is this disconnect originating and what could be a proper solution forward? This disconnect seems to stem from several factors: 🚩 Expectation vs. Reality: Brands may have high expectations for the impact of creative campaigns, sometimes unrealistic given budget constraints. 📊 Measurement of Value: There is often a lack of standardized metrics to measure the true value of creative work, leading to subjective evaluations. 🧐 Transparency: A lack of transparency in how fees are structured and how the value is delivered can cause mistrust and dissatisfaction. To bridge this gap, both brands and agencies could benefit from: 🤝 Longer-term Partnerships: Stronger creativity stems from longer-term partnerships, if brands embark on this they can lock in their fees multi-year. 📈 Value Metrics: Developing and agreeing upon the right standardized metrics to assess the value of creative work effectively. 💸 Transparent Pricing: Creating transparent fee structures that both parties understand and agree upon for better or worse. Addressing these issues collaboratively can lead to more successful partnerships and better outcomes for both brands and agencies. What are your thoughts on finding a middle ground in this ongoing debate? #CannesLions2024 #CEOinsights #CMOinsights #Marketing #Branding

This is WPP picking up Creative Company of the Year at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity last week. In this weird and wonderful world of ours, this is the biggest prize of them all at the biggest show of them all. Now look at the guy holding up the trophy. He's surrounded by some GREAT people - some of the very best ever to do what we do. I'll pick out Rob Reilly, Liz Taylor, Devika Bulchandani, I bet the legendary Pandeys are up there, and Debbi Vandeven, and leaders from across all the group's agencies. Mark Read of course. They're obviously very happy. They're also saying thank you to the guy with the trophy. That's the orchestrator, connector, assessor, right-hand, left-hand and all-round creative excellence mastermind who played a role no-one outside the group will see. WPP won 160 Lions last week. That needs an extraordinary volume of great work of course. But that's not enough. It can't happen without the kind of intelligence, planning and diligence that Eric brings to that team. He and his team have done it before. They'll do it again. And while he might not be as 'visible' as a Rob or a Nils or an Anselmo or a Piyush or a Rob'n'Lol or a Colleen or a Jeff or a Dave or a Liz or a Margaret or a Cindy - everyone on that stage knows it it wouldn't have happened without him. I love the visibility of this industry, and our collective ability to make change happen. I love many of those leading the charge at the front. I also love that there can be less visible heroes too: the quiet influence and the soft power. Eric Monnet - chapeau mon ami.

Recently I spoke with Ad Age about all the news, drama, and big takeaways from Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. We all know the weeks after the Festival are the beginning of our New Year. Everyone’s fired up, talking about inspiration, determined to have brave conversations, motivated by being pissed off at not winning a Lion, pouring through copious trend wrap-ups, promising to do work that makes a difference. Then we bring on the ‘big idea’ meetings, the how we win action plans, the hack sessions, the unpack the work workshops. Now, I'm not mad about this. This is a very good thing. We all need this kick in the arse to power us forward BUT... I would stress one big thing as we take our New Year's vigor to the table. Let's save the business before trying to save the world. This year, we saw a healthy body of work awarded Lions that used the power of creativity to transform businesses - AND people's lives, communities, and maybe even the planet. Work where the purpose was real, demonstrated at scale, and delivered tangible outcomes for both business and cause. We finally, hopefully, have gotten over being completely drunk on ‘purpose', and awarding advertisers with Lions simply for paying lip service to causes and social well-being. Let's go make more of this work, please! Happy New Year.

Being on the ground at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, here’s my initial dispatch: In 2010, Cannes Lions dropped the word “advertising.” It made sense at the time because there were starting to be so many new forms of advertising that didn’t fit the old mold. Branding-wise, I believe it was a great positioning move. Since then, the festival has grown tremendously. It now attracts so many people from so many different job functions and companies, not just agencies and production companies. So many new categories have been added also. Naturally, I thought there would be way more creative work entered into the show. Not so. Almost 40% less creative work. Does that mean this industry is now less about the work and creativity? Creatives used to own the word creativity. That may have been true in the context of advertising. However, in a borderless, always-on world where anyone can create, creativity no longer belongs to creatives only. I made this point to a strategist friend of mine near the Croisette today. He said candidly. It never did. #CannesLions #creativity #advertising

VML’s Debbi Vandeven is the most-awarded CCO in the world in this year's World Creative Rankings. The Drum's Amy Houston managed to pin Debbi down to find out more about her creative career and what has kept the year's most-awarded creative chief at VML for over two decades. Read it here: https://lnkd.in/eb6rEspf Check out which companies made the World Creative Rankings here: https://lnkd.in/ectTDakt #advertising #creativity #mycreativecareer #worldcreativerankings

🔸 The creative industry IS in a crisis of confidence, BUT it shouldn't be 🔸 ⬆ There is a wealth of brilliant creative talent, who when fully unleashed on creative problems for brands, can change the trajectory of a business. This is as true today as it has ever been. ⛔ But some networks have a myopic focus on awards, and dedicate huge budgets to try and secure them, and it's doing that talent and those brands a disservice. At worst, that myopia is paralysing for creative thinkers as priorities get increasingly twisted and their confidence eroded... 🔊 Awards were always a happy underline on brilliant thinking. Not the end goal in itself. The more we remember it's about unleashing our brilliant creative talent on solving problems, the more stand out and unique the answers will be. 📣 Give your talent confidence and invest in them before awards - they are worth so much more than a trophy... #campaign #ARKAgency #brand #agency Matthew Goff / Goffy