Day three: Cannes Lions 2022

With day three now complete, I am over the halfway mark of my time in Cannes for the International Festival of Creativity. This morning the day kicked off with a sell-out session on story-telling with Ryan Reynolds.

Next generation storytelling

Ryan talked about his approach to story-telling and social media and the need to move fast to keep up with the speed of what people are talking about and culture. Ryan spoke about his approach to storytelling and not harm. We are all, like it or not, social media companies. We have an image of ourselves and an image that we project to the world. He said that advertising should be fun and lighten people's load, not add to it. Finally, Ryan mentioned how diversity and inclusion make the stories we tell better. The day three kick-off was the most popular session I've seen this week and was full of great ideas around storytelling.

The first secret speaker session of today was Lisa Merrick-Lawless from Purpose Disruptors, who spoke about our approach to the climate crisis as a "crisis of imagination". Lisa said that we are thinking small and tinkering around the edges, and this tied in with the second secret speaker session with Txai Surui, who points out that "it's not just climate change, it's the everything change". How can we change our approach to global heating and the climate crisis to drive successful change for all of us? This remains an important problem to be solved for the future of the planet.

Marketing experimentation as a superpower

Romain Mallard, a Senior Marketing leader from Coca-Cola, spoke about it being time for a quantum leap in testing and learning at scale. With marketing being a critical driver of organisational growth, we need to be nimble in our approach to marketing and campaign execution.

Romain spoke through the process Coca-Cola took with Bain & Co to change beliefs and internal culture and drive growth using marketing experimentation. Key challenges in implementing this change included the need for it to be at the core of the business strategy, not as a bolt-on or 'skunk-works' programme. They also faced cultural differences in how different cultures affected how some national teams reacted to outcomes that could be perceived as a failure, with many not wanting to report on these tests. Romain pointed out that if you only test safe bets, you're only confirming what you already know, which has minimal value to the business and positive change.

Finally, he argued that you could not teach change. Instead, it would help if you gave people the tools they need to support and deliver the change. Narrow down the field and then let the players on the field execute. Please don't give them change: provide them with a tool. This session was positive, with lots of ideas to test and measure in our approaches to our work.

Emotional intelligence at the heart of brand growth

My highlight session of day three was the 'Emotional intelligence at the heart of brand growth'. This was also the first holocast session of the day, with bestselling author Daniel Goleman Ph. D. joining on stage from New York as a hologram. This session was my first experience of a holocast and hologram in person, and it was faultless.

Make it stand out

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

The presenters discussed the importance of emotional intelligence to businesses and brands. In their 2022 update to their first Brand EQ report in the weeks leading up to the Covid pandemic in 2020, they have shown that emotionally intelligent brands grow more quickly.

"Previously, we calculated the gain in value to be +682% from 2010 to 2020, and extending this to late 2021 increased the gain to +910%, boosted by stellar performances by brands like Google, Netflix and McDonalds. Our original observation has actually been amplified between the two waves."

These measures are linked directly to growth, and the emotional intelligence people attach to a brand. The team also outline in their report that Brand EQ is most strongly related to young people. The young, who is an audience that is often targetted, tend to be early adopters and advocates for the brands and essential businesses of tomorrow. This power goes beyond their current spending power and will continue to strengthen and deepen the brand relationship over time. This was a great session from the team at Craft, and both their 2020 and 2022 brand EQ reports are available online.

While I was comfortable with a speaker appearing virtually, and I think I'd have been fine if all of the presenters were present via holocast, it does raise the question if more of the event could be digital and online?

Highlight of the day

One of the highlights today was a reinforcement of the Nike presenters on day one. A presenter from Craft echoed back to the audience the power of Nike obsessively listening to one audience - athletes. There is such power in this focus that it resonated with others and was presented back in a separate session. Day three was another brilliant day full of knowledge, opportunity and insight. I am well over halfway already and know that days four and five will pass very quickly.

Day two: Cannes Lions 2022

Day two at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity was the busiest plan of my week, with eight sessions across talent, change, ESG, and user experience.

LinkedIn and the fight for great talent

Ryan Roslansky, LinkedIn CEO, walked us through changes impacting the fight for great talent with a focus on the advertising industry. Based on LinkedIn's social graph knowledge from 830 million members and 57 million companies. Ryan said that Gen Z moves more frequently than other generations, followed by Millenials, Gen X, and Boomers. He also showed the change in roles within the Advertising industry now requiring tech skills, a 25% increase, and tech skills are becoming table stakes as part of the global arms race for tech talent.

He spoke about storytelling and the invention of the term horsepower by Scottish Engineer James Watt.

"Using a complicated mathematical equation, Watt deduced that a mill horse could push 32,572 pounds one foot in a minute, which he rounded to an even 33,000 pounds. 33,000 pounds pushed one foot in a minute. The power of one horse. One horsepower!" (The Chronicle of the Horse, https://www.chronofhorse.com/article/james-watt-and-revolution-horsepower)

Watt found a way to translate scientific measurements into a unit of measure that people could relate to - that of horsepower. Horsepower was a promise of what the steam engine could do. Ryan reinforced that we are in a promise-making business and must make promises, but promises we deliver. Apple did this with the 1,000 songs in your pocket slogan introduced by Steve Jobs 21 years ago in 2001.

Brand activism - Your power as marketers to make big change

A recent study of the top 50 brands approximated that they have 72 billion opportunities to influence consumers through the sales process for their products. This means that marketers have the opportunity to have a professional purpose with the chance of having a planetary impact.

In Diageo, at Guinness, they have adopted a three-pronged approach to sustainability around reinvention, restoration, and reduction.

• What can you do to reinvent how you operate?

• What can you do to restore the ecosystems in which you operate?

• What can you do to reduce the destructive impact across the supply chain?

How can we make a change to the way that we think and the decisions we make to fundamentally change how we approach and value the impact our actions have on the environment.

Leveraging machine learning and augmented reality for experiential digital commerce

Jeremi Gorman, Chief Business Officer at Snap Inc, showcased some of the most important features available in Snap that leverage machine learning and augmented reality for experiential digital commerce. Every day more than 250 million people engage with augmented reality in Snap. Snap view themselves as a camera company and they have used technology to extend the user experience. She said that 250 million people have already tried on 5 billion products digitally.

Robert Triefus from Gucci spoke about Gucci's deep belief in digital and he encourage everyone to lean into digital hard. Gucci have used digital to expand their community and to bring new kinds of experiences to their customers. Technology also enables Gucci to give their customers a unique experience across different channels, empowering their community to express creativity, and to provide insights to the business.

A camera is a catalyst to personal creation centering the world around the user authentically. This makes cameras and digital experience a part of the future of personal storytelling with the user an active participant in creating the future.

Break the standard leading business creation with unique experience

The design team from Minna Bank in Japan spoke about how they worked to change from business leading experience to experience leading business.

Taehan Yoo, Design Director, spoke about how many times we copy and paste a design, experience, or idea for safety. But once we have copied and pasted and made our expeirence the same as others the consumer then wants the cheapest experience and this takes us to a place we don't want to be.

At Minna, which means everyone in Japanese, they're focussed on delivering a new approach to digital banking, primarily for digital natives in the Generations Z, Y, and Millenials. Minna's users are 70% from these generations, vs traditional banks whose users are 70% from older generations. [There is a video showcasing Minna bank here](https://youtu.be/irKyj-EpTzQ).

The team of designers were very passionate about their approach to understanding their customers and delivering a frictionless experience. Many of the things they spoke about the experience of banking I could relate to from my own experiences with [N26 in Germany](https://youtu.be/IWwrfkkM4iI), and [Starling Bank](https://youtu.be/E7F7s7AOFNk) in the UK who both deliver a similar frictionless digital experience.

The most interesting thing I learned today was from Snap. When Snap added the weather feature to Snap to add the current weather in as the background to a photo people engage with it and activated the feature millions of times, but didn't save the photo. Snap discovered that people were using their camera as their weather app, and were inserting the weather to get the metrics. So Snap expanded the tool to include a multi-day forecast.

A full day with a lot of ideas around using creativity for growth, and for change.

#CannesLions2022 #IONatCannes

Day one: Cannes Lions 2022

My first day at Cannes Lions was action-packed, starting with Gary Kasparov and the Regain Ukraine brand using the power of creativity to support Ukraine in the war with Russia.

The next session was with award-winning CMOs from AB InBev and Microsoft. Marcel Marcondes, AB InBev Global CMO, spoke about building great brands and that 'without trust, there is no greatness'. Trust takes time to develop, and I believe that it must be a goal that is a foundation for what you do. Kathleen Hall from Microsoft, who won the Cannes Lions Creative Marketer of the Year in 2021, spoke about the creative work Microsoft has done on inclusion in Gaming with new devices and controllers for differently-abled people. It was inspiring to see people transform when they could play like their friends using these devices for gaming and learning.

I then worked in a group led by Cindy Gallop on rebuilding the Agency model. I admire Cindy as an intelligent and thoughtful leader who, in her own words, 'likes to blow shit up. Cindy broke us out into six teams to build our agency based on new rules without reference to out-of-date models. This session was with talented specialists making a case for what is needed to achieve these goals. There are lessons I will take back with me to use with my teams.

We were then introduced to four creative industry members from Ukraine whose worlds have been turned upside down since February 24, when Russia invaded Ukraine—hearing the stories of people who lived exactly as we do in a modern European nation now suffering a war in Europe and their experience of 'creativity under bombs'. We were fortunate to be surprised with a special guest, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine. Zelenskyy spoke about how this group of Marketing and Communications leadership could help Ukraine win the war by using branding as a tool and a weapon. Brave Ukraine is a brand to build, retain, and expand awareness of the atrocities being done daily in Europe.

The creative, brand, and marketing leadership of Nike then showcased three different approaches to working with your users to produce great results. The team from Nike spoke about how every one of us is an athlete. They did not talk about users or customers but athletes. The focus on the athlete is a vital part of the vision about who they serve and what they do for athletes. I learned about the goal of achieving the first sub-two-hour marathon and focusing on making products that deliver for athletes. Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya covered 26.2 miles in 2 hours 25 seconds - just 26 seconds short of the goal. The team then showcased the value of crazy dreams and checking if your goal isn't yet crazy enough to deliver the change you want. I have an action item to review my own goals. Finally, the team showcased the difference that can be achieved to normalise through cultural awareness and the introduction of clothing, and equipment to solve bespoke needs for groups such as pregnant women, Muslim women, and other athletes and the impact this can have on civil society.

Today I managed to make it to one of the secret speaker sessions. The speaker was AY Young, and I was introduced to him with a fist bump. AY sang, danced, spoke, and inspired a room full of creatives, communication, and marketing specialists through his work as a Young Ambassador Envoy for the United Nations and the 17 Development goals. It’s not easy to have a room full of grown adults singing, ‘we can change the world’. AY is an inspiring young performer focused on improving the world by delivering the 17 Development Goals of the United Nations. Do you know what? We can change the world, and we are the only people who will do it.

We organised the day's sessions with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. Founded initially to monitor and rebalance gender and gender roles in the media, their research now examines the intersectional onscreen representation of six identities: gender, race, LGBTQIA+, disability, age 50+, and body type. In many areas, there has been significant improvement in the representation of these identities in essential roles, including speaking and being in leadership positions. I will take away ideas from this as a framework to better present all of us.

This was a huge day with a massive amount of discussion, learning, and reflection on the power of creativity to change the world. As a creative leader, I believe we can change the world.

#CannesLions2022 #IONatCannes

Big feelings ... and early signs of burnout

One of the best books I read during the pandemic is No hard feelings about emotions at work and how they help us succeed.

I read this book for perspective and tips to stop getting stuck in unhealthy patterns and build a successful team and culture. I highly recommend reading it to help improve your mindset and how you approach every day for yourself and your team.

A Swiss Army knife illustration showing different emotional tools. By Liz Fosslien.

The two authors, Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy, have a new book about to be published called Big Feelings: How to be okay when things are not okay.

The early signs of burnout

So what early signs should you look out for? Here are some of the subtle cues that you might need to reassess how much you’re taking on:

• Basic activities like going to the grocery store feel overwhelming

• Getting mildly sick and being forced to shut down for a bit actually sounds kind of nice

• You’re saying “yes” even though you’re already at capacity

• You find everyone and everything irritating

• You’re all too familiar with “revenge bedtime procrastination,” when you stubbornly stay up late because you didn't get any time to yourself during the day

We’re quick to ignore these signs because we can usually muscle through them. But they’re important alarm bells.

These are all issues that I have experienced myself, and seen in members of my team. I have pre-ordered my copy in hardback as I think it's a book I want to be able to share.

An illustration showing everything you can do, and what you can actually do. By Liz Fosslien.

There are also some great resources and helpful and inspiring images at fosslien.com. I think Liz and Molly are creating quality content that is incredibly useful for all of us, even more so for leaders. You can subscribe to Liz and Molly’s newsletter at lizandmollie.com.

Everything I write is ..

Photo by DJ Johnson on Unsplash

“I’m a writer, and everything I write is both a confession and a struggle to understand things about myself and this world in which I live. This is what everyone’s work should be…whether you dance or paint or sing. It is a confession, a baring of your soul, your faults, those things you simply cannot or will not understand or accept. You stumble forward, confused, and you share. If you’re lucky, you learn something.”

– Arthur Miller

Don’t get impatient

“This is one more piece of advice I have for you: don’t get impatient. Even if things are so tangled up you can’t do anything, don’t get desperate or blow a fuse and start yanking on one particular thread before it’s ready to come undone. You have to realize it’s going to be a long process and that you’ll work on things slowly, one at a time.”

– Haruki Murakami

Via the wonderful Swissmiss.

Rules for people and teams working together

During my weekly review and clear-out of my inboxes I did a deep-dive into the Photos app and I found this rules that I saved back in 2016.

I think they’re a great set of rules that are even more relevant after the last two years of the pandemic. With apologies for not being able to provide credit to the original author and poster.

It's ok to...

• say "I don't know”
• ask for more clarity
• stay at home when you feel ill
• say you don't understand
• ask what acronyms stand for
• forget things
• introduce yourself
• depend on the team
• ask for help
• not know everything
• have quiet days
• have loud days
• to talk, joke and laugh
• put your headphones on
• say "No" when you're too busy
• make mistakes
• sing
• sigh
• not check your email out of hours
• not check your email constantly during hours
• just Slack it
• walk over and ask someone face-to-face
• go somewhere else to concentrate
• offer feedback on other people's work
• challenge things you're not comfortable with
• say yes when anyone does a coffee run
• prefer tea
• snack
• have a messy desk
• have a tidy desk
• work how you like to work
• ask the management to fix it
• have off-days
• have days off

How to lead and support an exhausted team

We remain in challenging times. Leaders must be aware of the landscape and issues impacting their teams and the people in their lives as we work our way through this.

Two of the most important things you can do are:

1. Lead by example - which means ensuring that you are managing your own stress and recovery cycles.

2. Make sure that your team are having their own downtime and recovery periods.

A great read from HBR with recommended action points for all leaders.

Strategies for inspiring a company’s social media followers

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

I’m proud to have been admitted to the Forbes Communications Council. This is an invitation-only community where senior-level communications and public relations executives can share their professional insights and experience.

Recently, Forbes asked 14 of us how businesses can inspire their followers on social media.

For me, inspiration comes from living your values and building a brand that’s known to care. We need to communicate positive messages and empower people to implement positive change—for themselves, their families, communities and work.

You can see my contribution on Forbes here.

Finding A New Normal: Embracing Flexibility For A Better Era Of Working (Forbes)

Photo by Shridhar Gupta on Unsplash

I am delighted to share my first contribution to @Forbes Communications Council, titled ‘Flexibility For a Better Era of Working’.

Leaders across different sectors can create a ‘new normal’ working model focusing on clear communication. By enabling emerging perks around flexibility, whether working remotely or not, organisations can ensure that all colleagues feel equally included.

Joining the Communications Council has provided me with a fantastic opportunity to share personal experiences of managing office culture remotely. I look forward to continuing my collaboration with Forbes, sharing further expertise, discussing these topics with fellow Council members, and having a positive impact.

Please find the full article here: Finding A New Normal: Embracing Flexibility For A Better Era Of Working.