News Corp's Cannes Young Lions winner in the marketing category, Jemma Wong, is the senior marketing manager at The Australian Ballet. Wong is part of a team representing Australia at the 62nd Cannes International Festival of Creativity and shares her views below...
The greatest thing about being in Cannes is being swept up in the ideas vacuum. You’re overcome with inspiring leaders, industry-breaking case studies and long Rose-fuelled musings with creatives about ‘where are we going to next?’ However, it seems to me the difference between the good ideas and the excellent ideas is purpose.
Brands are competing for airtime, for customer share and for the coveted gold lion. But those who strive for something higher and lead with purpose first are successful in motivating talent and creating ideas that stick.
I lined up today (Fri June 26) to hear the triple-threat team from the podcast sensation Serial; Sarah Koenig, Julie Snyder and Dana Chivvis. Three extremely powerful minds who are changing the way we report news and tell stories. Not only was it reassuring to see intelligent women dominate the stage with both humility and determination, but it was inspiring to hear them champion purpose over outcome.
Their intention was not to reinvigorate the podcast medium, but to tell a compelling story with conviction and with purpose. The case of Adnan Sayed was about locating the truth. The fact that it became the most downloaded podcast, made 90% of listeners talk about it with others and made 57% of those first-time podcast listeners fall in love with the medium, was the unexpected result of what good content can do.
How did they tap into this higher purpose? For Julie Snyder, Serial’s executive producer, it wasn’t about being ‘right’ or having authority in the story, it was about embracing the uncertainty. According to Snyder, women in media have a natural ability to tap into the uncomfortable uncertainty, ask the hard questions and confess that sometimes ‘we don’t have all the answers’. As a young female professional, this was empowering to hear.
One of the best examples of purpose was a piece I saw today in the Lions Gallery (a pretty incredible place where you observe the work and watch the shortlisted case studies). Delta Airlines created ‘innovation class’, a new program that connected high-flyer entrepreneurs with budding mentees eager to learn from the best in their field via profile matching on LinkedIn. Delta didn’t want to just fill inventory or shift dollars, they wanted to build experience and foster connection. They led with purpose and heart first, product second. And the outcome was remarkable, that also scored them a Lion at Cannes.
This really hit home in an earlier talk with Matt Eastwood, JWT global chief creative officer. Eastwood interviewed Academy Award Winning Producer and New York Times Best Selling Author Brian Grazer on his unique method for finding purpose.
For the last 35 years Grazer has carried out ‘curiosity conversations’ every two weeks with interesting people from different fields (remarkable that he’s not missed one conversation in the past three decades).
From Michael Jackson and Eminem to Lady Di and the head of the CIA, he’s built a career on conversing with different people, learning different perspectives and funneling it into his work in Hollywood. Grazer’s found his purpose in seeking knowledge outside the category where ‘all brilliant ideas start’.
Some key take-outs:
- Step outside the category to sharpen your perspective
- Think about what greater human purpose you brand could stand for
- Seek truth and story over a result
Jemma Wong