Carmichael Lynch’s Stacy Janicki, Director of Account Management, Senior Partner, and Carol Haynesworth, Head of Multicultural Strategy and Inclusion, Senior Partner, discuss the future of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging and Accessibility (DEIB&A) in our industry, along with the future of ad marketing innovation, which may prioritize product development, along with creativity.
For more marketing insights and ideas, please subscribe to this podcast or visit intelligence. interpublic.com.
For updates on CI’s podcasts and Thought Leadership, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram and subscribe on Apple Podcasts.
Carmichael Lynch’s Stacy Janicki, Director of Account Management, Senior Partner, and Carol Haynesworth, Head of Multicultural Strategy and Inclusion, Senior Partner, discuss the future of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging and Accessibility (DEIB&A) in our industry, along with the future of ad marketing innovation, which may prioritize product development, along with creativity.
For more marketing insights and ideas, please subscribe to this podcast or visit intelligence. interpublic.com.
For updates on CI’s podcasts and Thought Leadership, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram and subscribe on Apple Podcasts.
Intro [00:00:01] Welcome to the Collective Intelligence podcast from IPG. We deliver marketing insights that help modern brands thrive. In this episode, you'll hear about the latest perspectives featured at intelligence.interpublic.com. Listen, then log on to find new opportunities for your brand to stand out.
Jen (Host) [00:00:22] Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of CI Conversations. I'm Jen Sain and I am joined today by Stacy Janicki and Carol Haynesworth from Carmichael Lynch to talk about Cannes 2022. And speaking of Cannes 2022, I hope you were all able to check out our previous episode about the event featuring thought leaders from McCann Worldgroup. But today we are here to talk to Stacy and Carol about their impressions of Cannes 2022. And what they think what they learned means for the future of creativity and agency work. Carol, Stacy, would you please introduce yourselves?
Carol H [00:00:58] Hi, everyone. It's such a pleasure to be here with you today and share a little bit about all the excitement that happened. And Cannes Lions this year, it was the year to be there, especially for us that work in the diversity, equity and inclusion and multicultural space. I have the privilege to lead that work at Carmichael, Lynch. And there was just a lot to see and a lot to share. So we're looking forward to this conversation.
Stacy J [00:01:21] Hello, and thanks for having Carol and I join today, great opportunity to relive our time in South of France. When asked by Carmichael Lynch, if we would go down and speak on behalf of the agency, Carol and I were just so excited to not only just be part of that creative environment, but also after, you know, lots of us were kind of grounded in our home offices for the last couple years just to be around all that creative energy and physically be in real life with people. So just as a brief aside, I'm the director of account management and senior partner at Carmichael Lynch, celebrating kind of 10 years at the agency and having a great opportunity to work on a wide range of clients that the agency has the privilege of being able to work with.
Jen (Host) [00:02:05] Excellent, thank you both so much. I would love to kind of expand on what you said, Stacy, just to kick us off about it being the first in person Cannes since 2019. Carol, what was your experience? Did you feel that energy as well? And how was it connecting live with your peers?
Carol H [00:02:22] Well, I think that that was one of the things that Stacy just mentioned, that made it so exciting that this industry is all about keeping with the pulse and energy of what is happening with the clients and with the creatives. And we hadn't done that in years. So it was amazing to see what is really happening and how everyone is really feeling and what's amazing work or creating and what is the energy that is creating that work.
Jen (Host) [00:02:51] Absolutely. So I mean, I am sure that there are so many people throughout our industry that would love to be a part of that energy around Cannes. So if there was anyone interested in attending or even presenting, could you speak to perhaps you know, what the pathways are to either being in attendance or actually presenting at an event like this?
Carol H [00:03:13] Yeah, you know, I was literally just having this conversation a couple of days ago, because I was at Cannes Can diversity collective, Inkwell Beach and Martha's Vineyard. And we were talking about how times have changed, when we first, when I first joined this industry, we had to wait many years to be considered to be able to attend this because it was all about, let's use the right term, right, almost a bureaucracy and like who should go, you know, and one of the things that came to life while we were in France, was that times have changed, we see a lot of young creatives and young individuals. So it's all about the quality of the work that you create, the expertise that you develop, and the passion that fuels that. And if you have all of that, I think in the world that we exist today, you are a candidate for Cannes Lion, you have all these fellowship programs such as the one as Cannes Can diversity collective that we do at Carmichael Lynch have a privilege to sit on that board. And there are many other programs now that are allow for younger creatives and younger people to attend Cannes Lion. And I think that's one of those big differences that we would see. Because years ago, like we said it had to be a seasoned executive that had an either an S or an E or a C before their title to be able to attend but now it is the house of all the creative minds than any generation. So I think that's part of those changes. When we say what is happening in the industry. It's not all bad. There's a lot of amazing things like that right now. Anyone really that is in that space of creating this magic is a candidate to attend whether it be a fellowship program or via their own company.
Stacy J [00:04:50] It was interesting because it's similar to that Carol, when I was sitting through the Marketer of the Year presentation at Cannes, which was awarded this year to AB InBev. It was interesting the CMO and the CEO of AB InBev were on the stage talking about this. And AB InBev had fallen on hard times, I think they'd had a couple bad runs, kind of Super Bowl spots. And, you know, I think kind of their marketing prowess was kind of under question. And the CMO went to the CEO and asked for, I think I'm getting the number right 300, to send 300 people from AB InBev to Cannes, which is a ridiculous amount of money if you just add it up with airfare, flights, hotels, but his argument was this, if they don't see what we're aspiring to achieve, and they're not there to witness kind of what the bar is, then we're never going to get there ourselves, and that CEO had kind of signed the check in and approved that. And, you know, five years later, you know, they were taking the trophy for marketer of the year, which was pretty amazing to see.
Jen S (Host) [00:05:45] Yeah, kudos to that CEO for being so forward thinking. And certainly, I would hope that would be encouraging to all people within our industry. And that I think speaks to inclusivity. And I think that's a great, you know, kind of segue into my next question. We're trying to infuse energy and new perspectives and creativity from as many different perspectives as we can into our work. diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging and accessibility kind of came, I mean, in all that I've read, and in previous conversations I had about Cannes, this year, and certainly the other CI conversations we did. You know, I think folks were expecting things like, you know, Metaverse and the future of work to be the dominating topics, and certainly they are important. But I do think that DEIB&A, were, kind of came out as the flagship topic at this year's event. Carol, you know, with your unique perspective that this is your daily work, could you speak to perhaps maybe three key takeaways from the multicultural DEIB&A perspective,
Carol H [00:06:50] There were so many amazing things that we saw, but there are three key takeaways that came out of Cannes Lion when it came to multicultural strategy, and as well as inclusion and equity in the workplace. One is that transition from a presentation to portrayal. Before it was enough to have the different groups in your campaign in your message. Well, not today, right at this point, we will everyone is has the sense of hunger and urgency to see that the whatever campaigns and messages are out there, that they are truly a representation of the needs and the values of those communities that are being portrayed in our campaigns. And I think there is some of it, that we would account to the younger generation that has the sense of activism against how they consume media, and how they consume our campaigns, and how we convert them into our clients, or our users. So let's give them some credit for that. But that was one of the things that was very loud and clear. And then that kind of takes them to the next step, right. In order for this to be that authentic, then we would, they would have to be at the table right? In the, whether it's behind the scenes of the lens. So there's a big call out of making sure that the creatives that we partner are members of the community that we are portraying in our campaigns. So that was a second one that was very clear. But you know, we couldn't do all of this in our minds before, without the super engineered plan of years, that went around 13 signatures and all of our partners. That was one of the key takeaways they came out of here. There's a sense of urgency, some, and that was also palpable. Everywhere we sat, there was even language that was used in some of these panels to say, scrap that kind of like, just do it, right. So it's not your long term plan. It's not what you're going to do next year, it's what you're going to do on your immediately next campaign, you're going to look at your directors, you're going to look at your scripts, you're going to look at your client, look at what they have in mind. And you're going to have that level of urgency to make sure that in your next campaign is, you have the proper portrayal and not representation, that the people in front and behind the lens are diverse. And that the message once again resonates with the needs of that audience today, and how they want to be communicated with and how they consume media. So that became incredibly clear. And a good example of that was when I like I mentioned earlier about who can go to Cannes Lion. We saw a lot of people there that they were like, I had a passion to be here. I had done this project and such and such company paid for me to be here. I met at least 10 people that said that they did not say and I wrote an essay, and I submitted a script. We didn't hear that story. We heard I wanted to be here. I have amazing work. And this company paid for me to be there. So that's what I said that that sense of urgency is something that we've brought to Carmichael Lynch to even advance further our efforts that it's because it's really not just urgency. It's an enthusiasm to see this work move forward in our time in real time. And now.
Jen (Host) [00:10:00] Oh, I think that's so important. And I mean, I love the distinction between representation and, you know, versus portrayals, and then how that has to come from the people doing the work. As we have this urgency, have you seen a progression, just mentioned that there were companies that paid for these people to be there? So, you know, that's making the investment on a monetary level? Is there any way else that you have seen in our industry companies, you know, pushing this work forward? And really, like, what are the changes that that companies are doing within the workplace to advance this work so that we can get to the next level?
Carol H [00:10:39] we would have to start by celebrating our own network and our own Phillipe, I have to say, which was, which was celebrated on stage, because it is the first time in history that we have the head of a holding company to be a Hispanic person. And that was celebrated at Cannes Lion, And me being also a Black Hispanic, I celebrate it every single day. And every time I see him, you know, and so it's a, I think that we are at the forefront and what a privilege it is to work for an organization that understood the call and didn't wait for someone else to do it. But we did it. We have a CEO, that's, that's bilingual, that understands different cultures, the world that speaks different languages. So let's just start by that right that if you have someone at the top that is that person, you know, it kind of it has to trickle down to the bottom in a genuine and authentic life. So, so I don't like I said, I think we're leading in that space, because I would say, there was a mention there that there was the largest representation of Hispanics at Cannes Lion that had been seen. And there was also a hashtag going around saying that it was a great year to be Black at Cannes Lion. So I would say we would add that to the so this, you can't hide the truth when you when you see those hashtags. And when you see the people and it looks different than it ever was seen before. That means that those are the people that are sitting at the table that are doing the creative. And what are we saying to the industry via Felipe and the amazing work that comes out of this network? You have to do it from the top to the bottom, it's not something that you do at one level around another. So I think that I'm the lady Claudia from We Are Humans and Phillipe we've already put it out there the challenges out there, we need more people at the C-level, we need more people at the leadership level that can sponsor these insights. So that we can truly create diverse content, diverse campaigns, and we can diversify the leadership within organizations. But that has, that's something that happens is not something that we talk about, right. So I'm excited to see us lead in that way. And like I said, I'm I'm excited to, I'm excited for Phillipe and I want more people. And I think that that's what what I think was part of that urgency that we said, and I'm just like, I can't say that enough. I'm so excited that we're leading the way with that. So I hope that Phillipe is saying this. We're so proud of you Philippe.
Jen (Host) [00:12:56] Absolutely. And just kind of you know, continuing on because I agree with you so much. I mean, I it is, it is amazing to be in an organization that values this and is, you know, really, you know, putting putting the money and the effort and you know, putting putting the work behind the top and just kind of continuing, you know, the celebration of IPG. I know the IPG equity breakfast was a favorite among many. Stacy, do you know, was that a favorite of yours? Did you have any takeaways from the equity breakfast?
Stacy J [00:13:28] Yeah, you know, was interesting. Again, this was my first equity breakfast, but I've been able to stream and listen and watch several of them from afar. And Philippe said something to kick off is that normally IPG would figure out how to bring in like a big name celebrity to sit on the panel. And they had this realization that there are so many superstars just within the organization, and within our client roster broadly across all agencies, that we had all the talent and we needed to to put the right people on the stage. So I think that was kind of a pivot moment for IPG and for those breakfasts, and it was interesting, because it felt like, it almost felt like when you go to a play, and there's multiple kind of acts of that play. That's what that breakfast felt like, I think there was a powerhouse group group of women, a very diverse group of women that spoke there were all CMO levels of clients, which was amazing to hear from them. They had kind of leaders in the, in the kind of medical space. And that was awesome to hear. We heard a lot about kind of, obviously, diversity inclusion, but the fact that it was such a broad platform. And since we brought in our clients, and we brought in our agency leaders to be on the stage, it felt that much more resonant to me in terms of how I could go back and take that information, take that knowledge, take that inspiration back to my team to my agency, as opposed to seeing kind of a celebrity, snap a picture, hopefully get a handshake and then kind of go on to the next panel. So I thought that was an important kind of transition. That IPG you know, made with kind of a very calculated move to kind of focus on our own talent within our own walls.
Jen (Host) [00:14:57] Yeah, and actually, I'm really glad you brought up about, you know, just just the idea of streaming and listening from afar. Um, just so our listeners know that the equity breakfast is available for you all to watch, and or listen to at intelligence.interpublic.com. So if you want to see, you know, for yourself what we're talking about here. That's that's a great opportunity. Carol, do you have anything to add to what Stacy just said about the equity breakfast?
Carol H [00:15:22] Absolutely. Well, I can say that I've been working in the space of audiences. And for many years, decades, and I learned a lot, a ton there, I thought it was entertaining, because we had an opportunity to to see each other and spend time with each other. But what a learning opportunity, and I would encourage anyone that has access to this information to make sure to look at it. And I'll tell you why. Because when we think of community, we think of our own community. And one of the things that was very clear there is that every one of their presentations spoke about how our work shows up in different parts of the world. It's specifically the, I'm going to use the term loosely, issues regarding multicultural strategy and inclusion. You saw how is it that how does it show up? And where the opportunities lie in that space? And I think that it's an opportunity to learn, right, from how it's how it's being handled, and how does it show up in different spaces, and also an opportunity for us to see, where is it that we must still, like develop in that space, because we're not there. Like, I'll give you an example. There was a video that was shared there that we then shared with CL and our presentation that was about this, it was a disability video. And it was about a client that had created a video that when you see it even visually, it was for the people that were visually impaired, right. But when they watched it, they would be able to see the video different. And I tell you, I literally was in tears when I was watching it because I felt like the most selfish human being. I said, all of us go out and buy the next TV and the next screen with high definition as the thing right? Like, but never do we think, how is this being better for me, but excluding others, right? It is, is the creative that we're doing. And it was so inclusive, that it wasn't just the work that was done. The talent was a person who was blind, the product that was being featured was a product that when they used it, it had like a little chip, so that they could feel it. So when I saw that I said, You know what I said that's inclusion at its best. Because you have talent that speaks for it, visually, people of that community can view that. And I will say I will put a call out to the industry. Come on, we're talking about urgency, we should not be creating anything that does not allow everyone to visually enjoy it. That's a very basic thing that we should do. Right? So that became something that I am, the gentleman who leads our creative, our chief creative officer. By the way, I think for sure we have one of the best in the industry. I just love his thinking when I showed it to him. He immediately said I love this. What can we do? So I'm saying for the entire Interpublic network, what can we do? We should not be creating things that only some of us can use, because we're not not only some people consume products and consume services, right? So when we talk about inclusion, what a basic level of inclusion to create productions, things that everybody can enjoy. And really, we talk about engaging audiences, how can we engage them if we're not even producing things they can see. So that is something that touched me and I can tell with everything I have, I'm carrying that to my last day, because it literally broke my heart that I could have never noticed that, right? Because, because of the privilege that we have to see and to see each other.
Jen (Host) [00:18:50] Yeah, that's it's powerful stuff. And, and like you said, on some level, it's just like, why haven't we been doing this? And but I mean, it's true. And, uh, but I think it's so important that that type of work is getting called out at events like this. So then you and then going forward, you know, people really now push for that. You said, so much of our work is, is visual, and to not think that perhaps everyone can, can experience it. But I think you had said just a moment ago about kind of the differences. You know, based on globally, where, you know, the speakers were, I was wondering if Stacy and Carol if either one of you or both of you could kind of speak to anything that seems particularly distinct in terms of the presenters’ geographic region.
Stacy J [00:19:36] One of the reasons I was just grateful to have a chance to be there is we just become so myopically focused on our own worlds, even being an agency headquartered in Minneapolis, and Carol, who's also a member of our, of our company, but is actually on the East Coast. Even that represents geographic diversity to have someone from a different part of even the US to bring that thinking, that workstyle different experiences they've had to bear. But when you go to, Cannes you realize you're part of a global community, everything from loving the installations and seeing the work that had won, and I always love looking at the credits down below to see where those agencies are located. To the extent even that there's large, you know, renowned creative agencies, you're not even really aware of all the different places that different cities across the globe that they've got offices. So it's, it's a, it's totally that that thought we've set, you know, like the world is a smaller place than we realize that it is. And we're all all the work that we're doing, regardless of what language we speak, is all fueled by the same things, right. It's finding those wonderful, brilliant insights that lead to these great kind of creative ideas and discoveries. And that's kind of a universal language, I think it's something that kind of translates well, and when you're there physically in person, and you're hearing people talk, as you're standing in line, and you're meeting people, you're aware just how global this industry is.
Carol H [00:21:08] I agree with everything, Stacy said. And I would add to that, that media is transformational. I always share the story. I was born and raised in Honduras. And while I had the privilege to be able to travel a little bit, because of the nature of what my father did for a living, it was there that I noticed the impact. I didn't go to any coffee shop and saw and see a celebrity or see like you would in New York City, or you wouldn't like a city like London. So every a lot of the images that I grew up to understand were things that I saw through campaigns, whether it was an advertising or television. So that is what inspired me to join media, because I knew that some of the stereotypes and perspective were correct, and some of them were not correct. So it was my life passion, to figure out how I could build a living in a career where we could address those perspectives and stereotypes, so that we can build a slightly better opportunity of life for people all over the world. So I think that when we're in situations like Cannes Lion, and we see people from all over the world, and we see the depth and the scope of our own network, and see the depth and the scope of the work that we create, globally, it is there that it becomes real to us that we have the ability to truly change the world. A lady from Uganda told me that once and I always say this, because when she told me I said, Well, how incredibly aggressive how could we really change the world. But when we are in Cannes Lion, and you see that, and you see people from different backgrounds, speaking differently, the scope and the of our network, like I said, you realize that we have the ability to do that it's more a matter of choice, right? And that's one of the call to actions that I said, when I was on the on my panel, I said, let's not let's not ask ourselves, do we have influence and we have power? We're in the south of France having a conversation. The question is, are we going to use it? Right. So I think that that would be the call to action that I would say from that observation that I would like for everyone to take away from this. Media is the most powerful tool of changes, it creates stereotypes in the dismantles the wrong ones, it opens space for women, for those that are, that have disability, for those that are marginalized. And we have an opportunity to use this tool, if we choose to have purpose, so that that tool becomes the tool that truly changes the world. And I always like to give credit a feminist in Uganda Dr. Maria Nassali was who told me that day that we could change the world and I will tell the Interpublic Group, we can change the world. We have a global CEO, who is Hispanic that speaks to our intention to do that. We have all these resources, we’re all over the world, let’s just continue to work in purpose and the purpose that we’re already seeing, so that we can truly do that, because media is transformational. And we have the ability to do that. And we we’re going to do it with the urgency and the spirit that we received in Cannes Lion. Because we can.
Jen (Host) [00:24:03] I love that so much. And I feel so energized by it to go about my daily work now keeping those principles in mind. And I definitely think it speaks to the greater reach of advertising. Because really, at the end of the day, there's likely a very small population globally, that doesn't interact with media or encounter advertising in some way. So if that's part of most people's daily life, then yeah, let's make sure it's not perpetuating the wrong things and is a force for good.
Carol H [00:24:31] Want to add one last thing? My particular panel was with Unstereotype. Alliance and it had to do with domestic violence. It was kind of like the underlying part of the conversation in terms of like, how in the study from Google truths, they spoke about one of the most searched terms was is it okay for my husband or my boyfriend to hit me? And this was like, during the pandemic and immediately post, like, not post we’re still kind of in it, but essentially 2020, 2021. And what do we know about what is democracy in terms in media, its digital, its cell phones, if I've been in Haiti in some of the poorest spaces in my own country in Honduras, some of the poorest places and people have a cell phone. So that goes back to purpose, what an opportunity we have when we create these integrated campaigns, to utilize digital and media, so that we can save lives with utilizing those platforms, because that is, that is how we democratize the opportunity to help those that are voiceless and are in greatest need, by simple things as creating polls, you know, and there's just so many things where we can get creative, because we're there, when we create these multi-platform campaigns, digital, and mobile are a part of those campaigns. So it's about thinking about it in that way, right? And thinking that what is the democracy of our platforms? And what is the opportunity that we have via those platforms, because that is the most searched term right now, there is something that we need to do, because as I mentioned, on my panel, women need to feel safe in the workplace, and they need to feel safe at home. And we have an opportunity to do that we should take every opportunity, we have to lean into that insight and lean into that opportunity to create that campaign that advances the safety of women all over the world.
Jen (Host) [00:26:25] Absolutely. And, you know, having this important platform and the ability to do this work, I think, you know, you said you said the word in different iterations. And I think we all do every day. And it's create, creativity, that is the tool in our collective tool belt that we can bring to do all the work, whether it's, you know, purpose-driven, and to enact amazing change like that, or to just entertain and amuse, and lighten. And I mean, there's just the gamut of what we have the ability to do and put forth. So kind of keeping with that in terms of creativity. This again, just the lifeblood of our industry. And then, you know, arguably some of the best, if not the best creative minds in the world were gathered here. I would love to know, you know, what kind of trends and themes did you observe amongst winning entries? Stacy, if you might have some thoughts to start us off?
Stacy J [00:27:22] Yeah, absolutely. You know, I think the first which is just a good segue from what Carol's been talking about, is, you know, the work has to matter, right? It used to be that these ideas were all about how they made a difference to a brand. And now frankly, you look at the winners, and disproportionately it's work that's made a difference to the world. And then the brand can obviously benefit from that. But like you had said before, like, you know, obviously, diversity and inclusion is at the forefront in our industry for all the reasons Carol spoke about. And while there's other trends, obviously, everyone was expecting to hear and talked about and they were, you know, the metaverse and DataStax and all the things. You know, what's different now is diversity inclusion isn't a separate topic. It's how diversity inclusion is thread throughout all of those elements of the work we do. But I think when you talk about the work has to matter. It's we saw everything, there's a lot of sustainability campaigns that are out there getting recognition, a lot of still kind of women's rights and women's equality issues, I think was interesting. The panel I had a chance to speak on was celebrating the 50th anniversary of Title Nine, which was an amazing thing to celebrate in a company of some other really great women on the panel I was on. And we had the ability at Carmichael Lynch this year to do a great program for our client H&R Block that helped recognize female athletes was called a fair shot that gave them NIL money and then helped by way of tax services to figure out what to do with these, these college athletes now that are coming in to name, image and likeness money that they previously had not come into. So again, the work has to matter. You saw a lot of brands doing that. I think another thing that I saw as a trend is this notion of activation over ads, I mean, look back only to maybe a decade ago, and it was all about the film, right and the commercial. And that's still present, it's really interesting, you don't see an idea that's made, that's award winning, even if it's a installation or a physical activation or event that doesn't have a video or visual component of it. It's still the asset and the medium that creates an evokes all of the senses. And all of the emotions like Carol spoke about the ad that we show that I believe was a pair was at a Mastercard commercial. But it's still the film, even though the idea might have might have been activated in different ways in his product development story. Which leads me to my the last thing that I thought was interesting, and I was also kind of curious if this was just where the agency world is heading, or whether this was something that was spurred on perhaps through COVID and work from home was just this notion that agencies were winning awards. By getting into the product development r&d space, you saw products being developed whether, and usually we've seen that like AI tools and apps and things like that. But I'm talking about actual physical products, whether it's a CPG company, and it's another product or a line extension, or if it's a new packaging idea. And, you know, there's been some speculation that perhaps the ability for people to work more from home allows kind of our creativity and our thinking to be more conducive to kind of engineering as well as just integrated collaborative idea development, because you can find and carve out those spaces to be thinking about how an idea extends beyond kind of just their judicial scope. So I'm sure Carol can add to that. But those were kind of the three biggies that I saw and observed.
Carol H [00:30:50] You’re spot on as usual, Stacy, we saw that amplification opportunity. And I think that was definitely something to keep in mind. And the role of metaverse. I mean, it was everywhere. Also AI was another thing that was another tool that we saw that was spoken about a lot. So I do believe that those are some of the some of the key things that I don't want to be repetitive of some of the things because really Stacy kind of nailed it also that the integration of VI as a part of the campaigns and a more in a very seamless way. That showed up very clearly, in some of the wins, most of the most of these had some sort of purpose to it. So I think I think the the key is to remove the option of whether doing purpose-driven campaign is an option. It's what the industry wants to see. It's what the audience wants to see. So I think that there's no longer I mean, there's no longer an option of that being a path to follow, I think there should be some sort of deeper message and deeper purpose, to our creativity, to our work to our campaigns, to our services, as well as to our products themselves. Like Stacy mentioned, I think it has to be a little bit of a more thoughtful approach in order for it to stand out, which eventually also means for it to convert into something that the audience will either consume or engage with, I think that became like, like Stacy mentioned, and just became something that was very, very, very clear.
Stacy J [00:32:28] Yeah, I would add just really briefly, what Carol was saying is to be clear, because we've spot spent a lot of time talking about how agencies have leaned in to kind of purpose-driven work. And I don't think we're doing it just for the sake of being like the way a nonprofit would lean into the values of being kind of a purpose driven organization. Obviously, it reflects the values of IPG and our individual agencies, but also let's not forget, because ultimately, we're creating things that have to move product, move services, we're doing it because it's what customers and prospective customers demand. They want to connect with brands, and with companies and even the companies that that work for those brands that reflect their value systems. So to me this has moved from I think the pivot we've seen over the last maybe three, five years, is this isn't even Carol's role right is not one of just an offshoot of HR, this is a business imperative, and how you take diversity, equity and inclusion, and you bake it into multicultural strategy, the way we're doing at Carmichael Lynch in terms of how we're building our creative briefs, how we're thinking about comms planning, it becomes a more business imperative as much as it is, obviously, because it's the right thing to do. So just wanted to kind of make that point even even more clearly.
Carol H [00:33:48] Yeah and it's funny when when Stacy mentioned that, because when I was interviewing for this particular role, I thought it was so critical that I say that I was like, I am a business person. I am an MBA with strategy background in marketing. I have knowledge and experience in audiences and how to engage them. And I'm saying that to say that we at Carmichael Lynch and the practice, we that is also how we structured so because we really do believe that it doesn't mean that in order for this to be have the integration that we need, it has to be that you understand the business imperative, and the marketing imperative, that essentially means it's the audience, right? Because and I do believe that that's an important transition opportunity, whether it's an externally and I think that's what's helping us at Carmichael Lynch, I think our clients, it's helping the work that we do when in the workplace that we have that understanding, I'm not quite sure that I can say that that's a commonly understood thing. I think companies are putting the person at the table. But I don't know that they're understanding that all they're doing is creating resonance with the audience. I'm not quite sure I think that it's coming soon, because we're seeing more of it. But I'm not quite sure that it's a natural understanding that it has to resonate. And in order for it to resonate, then it's all of the all of the above of what we've been talking about. But yeah, it is a business. So thank you so much, Stacy for bringing that up. Because it's like you say it's a business imperative, and it has community benefits. But it is a business imperative. So thank you for highlighting that.
Jen (Host) [00:35:25] Yeah, for sure. I mean, I do think that was such an important point. I mean, it is it it at the end of the day, it's it's good business, and I do think particularly these younger generations are going to I think you said the word earlier Stacy demand it. I mean, and again, it’s and they will sniff out if a company is just checks, you know, or a brand is just checking boxes or if it is absolutely at the core of their values and inculcated into everything from strategy to planning to execution. So yeah, absolutely. That is a really important takeaway, kind of while we’re on this conversation of the work, you don’t , just against stepping, stepping back to the winners. Carol, you had spoken earlier about Mastercard, just really, you know, triggering that emotional response in you. I would just be curious for the both of you, what just kind of wowed you in terms of innovation or entertainment or, you know, products development, what, what was just some of the stuff that just blew your mind?
Carol H [00:36:20] So I have like a selfish thing to share here. But so there was a gentleman who sat next to me on my flight, and he was with Adidas, and flew in, one of their campaigns was one of the winners. And our flight was not a pleasant flight all the way over there. And so we kept looking at each other and all kinds of the like, Oh, my Are we really going to make it to the south of France. But in any event, that created conversation, since we get it, we didn't get to sleep in our overnight flight, because we were all just dealing with the bumpiness of the flight. He was from Brazil. And to make a long story short, we and he and I spoke about the historical experience that it was for he and I from where we come from, to have the opportunity to be at Cannes Lion and to present a Cannes Lion. And he explained to me a little bit about his journey, where the part of Brazil where he's from, and everything he had to do to be seen in his in his work to be brought, you know, to this. And then when he sent me an email, we gave each other's information. And he sent me a message on LinkedIn. And he said, Hey, he said, we won. For me, it was a redeeming moment, that I cannot begin to explain to you what that meant to me. Because he and I spoke about the anxiety that we had, you have to understand and this industry has to understand that some people go to the Combine by design, the fact that he and I could even be there is a pure miracle based on where we're from, and to see him win. And to see what he sent in his message. I literally had chills when I read his message. Because I knew the whole flight. Like we said, our anxiety was not the plane, our anxiety was what we carried with us and where we came from, and what we knew what it meant to be at Cannes Lion, being a Black Hispanic, from Honduras, being a person from the community that he came from in Brazil, it just was a completely different experience. So for me, I celebrate fluid, I celebrate his journey, and I celebrate all the journeys of people like me, that were there as a miracle. You know. So that's, that's what stood out to me. And so I think of all those creatives who, whose like we said, When I spoke who the rosaries of our grandmothers and our grandparents got us to Cannes Lions, and the support and the hard work of our parents got us to Cannes Lions. So that's that's how I celebrate all those people.
Stacy J [00:38:40] I will take it to a completely different level. And I'll ground this in saying I have an 18 year old boy that eats more food than it's humanly possible for one individual to eat. And much like the rest of the adult male, young male population, the last couple years, we've seen just this spike in fried chicken consumption. And there's kind of this chicken wars, it's kind of going on right now. So the beginning of the pandemic, you take that like already inherent cultural kind of trend amongst kind of that audience, and then you marry it with all of the supply chain issues we've having. And there was basically like 2021, a chicken wings shortage, which is just hilarious to think about. And one of the Grand Prix winners was actually Wingstop, which agency of record is Leo Burnett Chicago office, and they have this idea. And this kind of taps into what I was talking about, of agencies getting into product development, and like, where's the blurry line stop between agency and packaging company and product development and r&d and brand. But they had this idea to basically create a virtual brand in response to this chicken wings shortage, and they made chicken thighs available, which were readily available and affordable to purchase, and made them available for delivery and carry out by creating a new offshoot brand called FYSOP instead of Wingstop. And they made them available for delivery or carry outs, it was a virtual experience. And it was really interesting because it turned this, you know, basically this business pain point because Wingstop wasn't able to fulfill on orders clients, and turn it into this business opportunity where they actually made money, you know, got PR, earned buzz, gathered new customers. And the thing that I think is amazing is it's so hard to pull off something like that so quickly. And to know they did that and activated and had a client partner with them to be able to turn that around quick enough to take advantage of this kind of pain point and turn into opportunity to me it was pretty impressive. And it's just I think thighstop is just sounds funny.
Jen (Host) [00:40:49] It's amazing. And and you know, and I mean And it's funny, but it does really speak to again, you know, the creativity and forward thinking, you know, and pivoting from the creative mind to the more product development mind the problems that you can solve and it just shows It goes from flipping a pain point, you know, in the supply chain on its head to also evoking change, like we've been talking about. It's just, it shows the breadth and but at but always rooted in the tenets of our industry, which is this creativity.
Stacy J [00:41:15] I think it's important to remember we can still have fun in this business, right? It's why a lot of us got into it. And we want to make stuff that puts a smile on people's faces. And I think after two years of COVID, and we saw, I think that's kind of one last creative observation I would know is I think we went through 18 months of seeing a lot of things that talked about unprecedented times and the same piano tracks during interludes that came in to every commercial we saw on TV. And it was fun to see the energy and the fun brought back into our industry and get a little flavor of that a little return to that it felt in addition to just people being in person, for the first time that like some of that energy, and that vibrancy was kind of coming back into what we do.
Jen (Host) [00:41:55] That's interesting. I mean, that was even notable, I think, this year in the Superbowl advertising, I think, you know, previous years, it was very much, you know, kind of tugging on the heartstrings, but I, you kind of did see it in, you know, the nostalgia, all the 90s callbacks, and the fun, and it's true, I mean, that definitely has a has its place, and again, just serves a purpose in this crazy world.
Carol H [00:42:15] I also think it's important to protect the platform, that Cannes Lion is because I previously the going, you hear so much that is people go there to party and to drink Rose. And the actual truth is so far from that, right. And in every one there themselves is there with so much purpose. And being there. Even the badge says that you’re delegates though everyone that goes there is a delegate of their of their work of their thoughts of the creative energy. And I think that we have to continue to conserve those platforms that allow us to have this type of interaction where great thoughts and great minds have a home, right. And so So I just wanted to flag that because that was one of the key takeaways. For me, that Cannes Lion is not a Rose party. It's actually a party of creativity. And that must be conserved and protected.
Jen (Host) [00:43:04] I love that. And actually, that's a great way to wrap up. And as we're looking to wrapping up, I was just you know, is there anything else that would just you would be absolutely remiss in not sharing on a podcast about Cannes 2022?
Carol H [00:43:17] Yeah, let's continue to make space. for others. That is a critical part of this work. Like I said, as we are moving in this direction of inclusion. Inclusion is not just in the campaigns, it's also in the types of individuals that have the opportunity, these opportunities to go to Cannes Lion, change is only transformational when you give up your seat. So I just wanted to call out out, you know, all of the people that go every single year and have 15 badges sitting in there at home, to make space for other executives so that they also can have the opportunity to go to Cannes Lion and to have this experience to be featured and exposed. I think that is critical. That is at the heart of the Cannes collective that like I said that we sit on the board of making Cannes more diverse. But in order for it to be diverse. As you all know, inclusion is about making space for others. So I am so excited, you know that I was given the opportunity. But it's only worth something if I have the conversation about allowing other people to go and other people to be exposed. You know, because that is what true equity and inclusion is it's about making space.
Jen (Host) [00:44:35] Absolutely. Stacy any any parting words?
Stacy J [00:44:40] As we mentioned, the beginning of the podcast, the power of being in person, obviously, it was the first time in Cannes since 2019 since people were together again. And just the thing that I thought about as I was getting on the plane going back is the need for agencies in our industry to be intentional about those moments when we can come back together and create that energy, create that inspiration, as we approach you know, a fresh year of award seasons, as we think about how we're purposeful about getting people in the office at the right times. For you know, work sessions brainstorms, just remember some of that magic still is happens only when we're all together. So how do we marry what we've learned about ourselves and how we can be effective and work remote with some of the magic that comes when we're intentional about also trying to be together in person. Because I mean, like the one thing that reinforced for me after being in this almost 25 plus years is I love this business. And I love this because I challenge anyone to find an industry where you can meet so many inspirational, creative people and have frankly, just so much fun. And to have more opportunities to do that. And to be to be reminded of that I think is important to think about as we all start to define what the future of work looks like at our respective agencies.
Jen (Host) [00:45:48] Yeah, I love that. Uh, definitely, it makes you know, it makes me hopeful and looking forward to the future and what our industry produces and and what happens at Cannes 2023. So thank you both so much for being here. Wonderful conversation. And thank you so much for our listeners. Just a reminder that these podcasts as well as insights and ideas from around the IPG network are available on intelligence.interpublic.com.
Outro [00:46:10] Thank you for listening to the Collective Intelligence podcast. For more marketing insights and ideas, please subscribe to this podcast or visit intelligence.interpublic.com.