Cannes in Cairns: The View From Two New Digital Marketers
Ruchi and Reshika’s most inspirational talks at Cannes in Cairns
Ash Barty. Her goal is an inclusive world where everyone is comfortable in themselves. When considering brands she works with, the key prerequisite is authenticity. A quote from her we will never forget, when engaging with new people (or your client’s audience), you should “always be interested, not [just try to be] interesting”. In order to gain the trust of your audience and make a positive impact you need to be interested in them, as well as memorable and honest, so that your audience will relate to and believe your message.
Lilian Ahenkan aka FlexMami brought so much energy to the stage on the second day, when many attendees were nursing hangovers from the amazing Pinterest cane farm party the night before. As an influencer for so many brands, it was interesting that she’s never actually seen a good brief. The best briefs in fact were not briefs, but when the client asked her what she could do and what her audience wanted. She also warned, to be truly inclusive in advertising, more thought and care was needed in planning – if the diverse talent is the one telling you on shoot day that you’ve missed the mark, it’s too late.
Embracing the Female Gaze panel session reminded us that traditionally content and advertising is skewed to the male gaze. Tara Mckenty, creative head, Google APAC gave us some amazing data that overall, inclusive creative teams had a 17 per cent better chance of winning an award, because their work is so much more creative and impactful. Lucille McCart, communications director APAC, Bumble told us the importance of diverse leadership, but even if it isn’t (yet), senior leadership needs to be seen driving the diversity agenda. 30 under 30 grand prix winner Anais Read, copywriter, Ogilvy wants to see more inclusivity at every level and role at agencies and clients – so do we!
Ruchi & Reshika’s most informative talks at Cannes in Cairns
Mark Bouris, executive chairman, Yellow Brick road, gave away top tips to build a business:
- Interest – stay consistently interested and eager to learn
- Persistence – stay committed and don’t give up.
- Trending – build in a growing field. There’s no excuse these days not to know the trends.
- Failure – failure is a precondition for success – it proves your resilience.
- Story telling – a captivating story will draw in your audience and build your business.
- Authenticity – key to genuinely connect and create a relationship with your audience.
