Nothing can induce industry navel-gazing quite like the Cannes Lions festival. Ad folks tend to use the biggest date in the industry calendar to pontificate on the relevance–or lack thereof–of brands, agencies and, indeed, the festival itself. The notion of purpose gained its momentum in the last few years by becoming one of the industry’s…
There’s no question that we are living in extremely loud times. In business, politics, popular culture and even advertising, the biggest and brashest voices are the ones that often command the stage. It is understandable then that the most dominant personalities are thought to make the best leaders. But whatever happened to a quieter, more…
Nike’s culture-inspired sneakers are known to stir up conversation. Depending on who you ask, the sportswear giant is an inclusive company creating products that resonate with diverse communities or another enterprise exploiting said communities for economic gain. When Nike announced the Air Force 1 Low Puerto Rico would be released on June 1 ahead of…
The recently filed lawsuit against Amazon’s Alexa Voice Services fascinates me. It alleges that Amazon is recording children who use Alexa without appropriate consent. It’s a legal technicality. Even though mom or dad bought the Echo, put it in the house and taught the kids to talk to it, Washington and several other states require…
In an era rife with discussion over gender equality and diversity, traditional expectations of masculinity and femininity are changing shape. In fact, gender defiance is the new rule. Every day, trending hashtags like #LGBTQTogether, #LGBTQUnite or #LGBTQRuleTheWorld show thousands of Gen Zers breaking down stereotypes by proudly wearing and being what makes them feel good….
June is Pride Month, and with it comes a surge of corporate event sponsors and products vying for the attention of the LGBTQ community. But when it comes to corporations harnessing the purchasing power of identity politics, it’s hard to know whether it’s about the higher good or the bottom line. Dodge stepped in it…
At this week’s Cannes Lions Health, leaders from P&G and Thrive Global announced a bold new partnership designed to use the science of behavior to help customers around the world live more sustainable lives. They were just two of the many brands talking about how to make new behaviors last by adding them into the…
It goes without saying that Cannes has been and continues to be an important event for our industry. However, it’s also changed in recent years to become almost unrecognizable from a decade ago. When I first had the opportunity to attend Cannes, it was smaller, with few to no brands in attendance. Back then, it…
Last September, my Instagram feed was filled with this collage of beautiful black women on the covers of various print media outlets. However, I immediately noticed a clear and apparent flaw: Only one of the magazines were actually owned and run by a person of color (Essence). The rest, contrary to the unsolicited praise and…
Being busy is not “cool” anymore. There is increasingly talk about the benefits of wasting time, the dangers of hustle porn, the skewed economics of millennial burnout, the rise of anti-strivers. Just like Instagram photos of the unnamed variety of pink objects and avocado toasts, being “crazy busy” shifted from being a boast of self-importance…
Laura Ingraham once again got in hot water over comments on her show at the end of May. In a segment deemed offensive by her critics, Ingraham displayed a graphic entitled “Prominent Voices Censored on Social Media,” featuring many conservative people who have been banned or disciplined on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter….
Every year, the global marketing industry descends upon Cannes, France for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. It is a worthy festival and probably the most important one for anyone tied to the marketing industry. For the creative community, it is an opportunity to get inspired, learn from one another and win recognition. Marketers…
What, as advertisers, can we learn from the entertainment industry? What can we learn from an industry that is constantly creating content that people will seek out and watch instead of paying to avoid? This is a particular challenge we are facing in advertising. Over the last 25 years, I’ve been trying to work out…
It was Father’s Day on Sunday, and I frantically searched for the perfect gift for my dad. Last year, my annual search of “best Father’s Day gifts” yielded a meat thermometer. As he unwrapped an object that bore a heavy resemblance to a rectal probe at our kitchen table, he (very politely) asked what exactly…
It’s hard to believe that health only became part of the Cannes Lions family just five years ago. Today, creativity in the category is (rightly) gaining a reputation for being among the best out there. After years of living in the shadows of its consumer cousins, healthcare is shaking off its niche strapline and earning…
What if we reimagined creativity to reinvent advertising? I want to challenge us all to consider this question as we gather at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. This question may seem odd coming from the world’s largest advertiser, but it’s important to ask because the world of advertising is being disrupted. Traditional TV advertising…
The advertising industry lives on the cutting edge of culture. We’re constantly chasing and shaping the “next big idea,” but in this world of evolving technology and changing viewer habits, it’s easy to forget what matters most: the story. That’s why the Cannes Lions matters–because the festival is a celebration of brand storytelling. What’s more,…
There’s a certain kind of dad making the rounds in advertisements. He’s the hapless, good-for-fun-but-not-much-else kind of parent, great at tossing a ball in the park but can’t find his way around a teething ring. With Father’s Day approaching, it’s a good time for advertisers to rethink this lazy messaging that reinforces stereotypical family roles…
In today’s fast-paced world, it’s rare that people stay at companies for years on end. One might say this is especially true for the marketing industry. A report by LinkedIn found that marketing roles had a turnover rate of 17% compared to the global turnover average of about 11% (as defined by a percentage of…
Hours into a discussion, my friend asked what we had all been thinking: “How about print? Are you still asked to do print?” That was years ago, and we had been debating the award shows circuit, its benefits to the industry and what we thought had to change. It was natural that this kind of…
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