On the second day of This Way Up, industry leaders and top creatives came together for a day of valuable opinions and workshops exploring the future of creativity in the age of artificial intelligence, essential components of strong client-agency relationships, and insights from judges and campaigns from the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity.
The day kicked off with Live Experiments with AI: Going Deep, Getting Weird, Pushing Boundaries, hosted by creative technologist Nilesh Ashra and presented by Nine. A packed room full of creatives, media professionals, strategists, CMOs, CEOs and producers brought their laptops to participate in a series of live demos that provided fascinating insights into how AI can accelerate innovation and imagination, enabling stronger creative and media collaboration than ever before.
In the panel discussion, ‘We’re together… but not together – the beautiful balance of creative client relationships’, industry leaders including Mim Haysom, Andy Fergusson, Brent Smart, Micah Walker, Lucinda Barlow and Tom Martin shared their insights into the evolving relationship between CMOs and CCOs. The discussion highlighted the importance of shared ambition, transparency and radical honesty in fostering strong creative partnerships, with the panel stressing that a successful CMO-CCO relationship goes beyond titles and requires a deep mutual understanding and the courage to challenge each other to deliver truly groundbreaking work.
“Cannes Lions Deconstructed” by Wade Kingsley of Contagious provided the audience with key insights into the trends shaping this year’s Cannes Lions winning campaigns. Kingsley highlighted the increasing importance of human-centered storytelling in an age dominated by technological advancements. He also introduced the concept of “guttertech,” where many of this year’s innovative ideas emerged from low-tech and imaginative approaches, as illustrated by campaigns such as “Everyday Tactician” and “Handshake Hunt.” Following Kingsley’s presentation, a panel discussion with Rose Herceg, Mike Rebelo and Tara Ford offered a behind-the-scenes look at the Cannes Lions judging process. Panelists shared valuable tips for crafting award-winning entries and emphasized the importance of strategic thinking, creativity and measurable results. They also stressed the need for clear, compelling narratives in award entries and stories that resonate with judges to stand out in a highly competitive field.
To close the day, Liz Taylor, Global Chief Creative Officer at Ogilvy, delivered a keynote that resonated with attendees, who were inspired by Taylor Swift’s career. In her talk, “What Would Taylor Do?”, Taylor explored how resilience, creativity and the will to disrupt the status quo can lead to success in the advertising industry. She encouraged the audience to take risks, embrace failure as a learning opportunity and maintain the optimism and passion that drive long-term career growth.
The This Way Up conference continues to provide the stage for forward-looking discussions and inspires professionals from across the industry to embrace innovation and creativity in all its forms.
