David Droga's Legacy and Creative Effectiveness at Cannes Lions

David Droga, known as the "Prince of Cannes", has had a profound impact on the advertising industry through his work that has been reflected in extraordinary achievements at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Over the years, he and his agencies have won more than 180 Cannes Lions, including five Grand Prix and 14 Titanium Lions, making him the most awarded creative at the Festival.

The recent announcement of David Droga's retirement is a significant moment for the industry and a reminder of the importance of creativity. More About Advertising, has shared some of the advice Droga has given over the years that continues to be relevant for professionals in the industry.

"Most advertising, most marketing, most journalism, most music, most architecture-it's pedestrian and garbage anyway. And it's written by something worse-scarier than Al. It's written by compromise and research."

- David Droga

This declaration underscores the necessity of transcending the ordinary and pursuing creative efficacy in all our pursuits.

It's a compelling directive for the industry to shun the allure of the mediocre and instead invest the requisite time and resources into crafting genuinely impactful work.

Post Cannes Lions 2025, it's more important than ever to champion creative effectiveness and the value of creativity in driving business results. By doing so, we can ensure our work cuts through and continues to have a lasting impact on culture.

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Published on June 26, 2025, at anthonykennedy.com

Cannes Lions 2025: Hegarty Warns “Giants Can’t Dance” Without Cultural Courage

Sir John Hegarty and me at Cannes Lions 2025

At Cannes Lions 2025, Sir John Hegarty returned to the Croisette with a provocation that cut through the AI noise with characteristic clarity: size is no longer a competitive advantage—creativity is. Addressing a packed audience, the BBH co-founder made the case that legacy institutions are structurally ill-equipped to thrive in the AI era unless they undergo radical cultural reinvention.

“It’s not the big that beat the small or the small that beat the big. It’s the bold that beat the bureaucratic.”

This central thesis—delivered with Hegarty’s signature wit and steel—has clear implications for CMOs and agency leaders. As WARC has previously reported, organisational agility and creative bravery are outperforming traditional scale economics (a). Hegarty’s framework clarifies why bureaucracy and process, once the hallmark of durable enterprise, are now liabilities in a landscape shaped by speed, signal, and strategic improvisation.

The Collapse of the Creative Pyramid

Hegarty contended that the traditional triangle of leadership—where decision-making is concentrated at the top—is outdated. Instead, he offered the metaphor of the inverted triangle, where leadership serves from below, unlocking the distributed creativity of the organisation.

In the age of AI, everyone becomes a creative director. That shift necessitates more than upskilling—it demands a wholesale rethinking of structure, culture, and philosophy.

AI as Collaborator, Not Tool

Rejecting the reductive view of AI as a “tool,” Hegarty framed it as a collaborator. This nuance matters: AI can preserve and evolve founding philosophies, keeping a brand’s original vision relevant long after its originator is gone.

“Maybe one of the functions of AI is that the founder never dies.”

This reframing invites serious consideration from brand stewards. If AI can embody the sensibility and philosophy of a company’s origins—Chanel, Ford, Apple—then strategic brand leadership must shift from protecting the past to actively operationalising it in real-time.

Rebuilding from First Principles

For Hegarty, the path forward for large enterprises lies in rediscovering and reactivating their original philosophy. This rebuilding from first principles is not a nostalgic exercise. It is strategic regeneration. As he put it:

“Go back to what built you.”

This approach aligns with a trend WARC has observed in post-pandemic brand strategy: a return to essential values, often codified in founding principles, used as a compass for navigating transformation (b).

Hegarty cited Patagonia, Oatly, and Apple as examples of brands whose philosophies were not marketing lines but business doctrines—creatively interpreted through product, communications, and culture.

The Strategic Imperative for Brands

Hegarty’s presentation was a call to action, particularly for global brands under pressure to remain culturally relevant in a fragmented, AI-powered landscape. His advice:

• Rethink structure: Flip hierarchies to empower bottom-up creativity.

• Rediscover your philosophy: Make it central to innovation and brand behaviour.

• Use AI to scale culture, not just content.

• Stop aiming to be the biggest. Start aiming to be the boldest.

Final Thought

Sir John Hegarty may be a familiar voice at Cannes, but his message this year felt newly urgent. For organisations struggling to keep pace, his challenge was simple: either dance or die. And in the AI era, the pace is only accelerating.

I have recently completed the Creativity for Growth Course. It was a brilliant opportunity for insight and learning from an industry legend.

Sources:

(a) Building Belief: What It Takes to Instill a Culture of Creative Effectiveness

(b) WARC Asian Strategy Report: Staying relevant amidst changing tides

Also published to Medium.

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Published on June 25, 2025, at anthonykennedy.com

Effie Awards Judging Panel

I’m honoured to share that I’ve been invited to join the judging panel for the Effie Awards UK 2025. The Effies are among the most prestigious accolades in the marketing and advertising industry—celebrating ideas that work, campaigns that drive measurable impact, and creative strategies that deliver real business results. It’s a privilege to contribute to recognising and rewarding effectiveness at the highest level.

This builds on my ongoing experience as a judge for the Oystercatchers Awards, where I’ve had the pleasure of serving on the panel for the past three years. Both judging experiences are a welcome opportunity to learn from the best in the industry, engage with bold ideas, and uphold the standards of marketing excellence we all strive for. I’m excited to play a part in spotlighting work that truly moves the needle.

Event planning experience at IMEX 2025 in Frankfurt

Frankfurt from the MainTower observation deck

IMEX Frankfurt is the European home of the world’s leading trade show for the meetings, incentives, conferences, and events (MICE) industry. This was my second time at IMEX Frankfurt looking for inspiration and updates to keep the events we execute at world-class levels.

On the Monday I was fortunate to be invited to the Events Design Collective education session on planning events using the Events Design Canvas. This was presented by Ruud Janssen and sponsored and hosted by Marina Bay Sands Singapore, a premier destination renowned for hosting world-class conferences and serving as a hub for innovation in event design and experiential strategy.

A mouse's-eye view of the Event Design Collective Event Canvas workshop

The Event Design Collective is a global network of event design professionals founded to promote strategic, outcome-driven approaches to designing events. At its core, the collective teaches a methodology rooted in design thinking, systems theory, and business strategy to help teams co-create impactful, intentional event experiences. Rather than focusing solely on logistics or creativity, the approach emphasises aligning events with organisational goals, stakeholder outcomes, and measurable behavioural change. The Collective also trains and certifies professionals in its methodology, aiming to elevate the role of event designers as strategic contributors within organisations.

Central to the Collective’s methodology is the Event Canvas, a visual strategic tool inspired by the Business Model Canvas. It guides teams through a structured process of mapping stakeholder expectations, defining desired behaviours, and evaluating the change required before and after an event. The canvas captures elements such as entry and exit behaviour, pain points, gains, commitment levels, and cost/revenue considerations. By working collaboratively on this one-page visual framework, stakeholders can clarify objectives, align on purpose, and ensure that event design decisions—from format to content—are purposefully crafted to drive the intended transformation.

We worked through the approach to planning an event for identified stakeholders and I was very impressed with the comprehensiveness of the model, but amazed at the simplicity. Across just a few hours we mapped out an approach to planning and delivering the Opening Ceremony of the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane, Australia.

This was a great session and a great reflection on both the Event Design Collective and Marina Bay Sands who have certified their Events team in this methodology. Many thanks to Ruud, Tracy, Kenneth, and Sherman.

Two books on The Event Canvas methodology rooted in design thinking, systems theory, and business strategy to help teams co-create impactful, intentional event experiences.

Making better choices

“A mistake repeated more than once is a decision.”

— Paulo Coelho

Independent Agency Awards Judging

I’m delighted to have been invited to judge the Association of Independent Agencies (AIA) Awards—a celebration of the creativity, agility, and impact delivered by the UK’s leading independent agencies. The awards shine a spotlight on the bold thinking and entrepreneurial spirit that define the independent sector.

Round one judging is now complete, and I’m pleased to see the shortlist now live, reflecting the depth of talent and innovation across the industry. Judging these awards has been a rewarding opportunity to engage with inspiring work, and I look forward to seeing the winners revealed in due course.

Systems

A key area of my focus at the moment is around process efficiency and I am reading Get Scalable by Ryan Diess.

Get Scalable has a complete framework to building a valuable function/business and will be implementing the frameworks and approaches in this book.

As part of the reality of my landscape at the moment this quote stood out to me:

“Good people don’t fix broken systems. BROKEN SYSTEMS BREAK GOOD PEOPLE”.

2025 will be a year of working to fix broken systems to improve the working life for my teams, team members, and myself.

Creative Industries inspiration

I am really excited to be working with industry leaders today for the Oystercatchers Awards Day judging.

We’ll see the best agencies, people, and ideas in the creative industries landscape. It is a day of inspiration and ideas.

#Oystercatchers24

Honoured to Judge the Oystercatchers Awards 2024 for the Third Year Running!

I’m honoured to serve on the judging panel for the Oystercatchers Awards 2024 for the third year running!

It’s inspiring to see the record-breaking number of entries and the incredible talent in our industry. I look forward to recognizing the agencies setting new standards to foster impactful client relationships.

Stay tuned for the shortlist reveal!

You have one life

“You have one life. Don’t settle for mediocrity.”
– Naval Ravikant