Business Leaders Descend on Cannes in Show of Chicagoan Strength

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Aug 01, 2023, 11:52 ET

Over the past two years, big business in Chicago has helped contribute to the decline in unemployment in Illinois (6.4% May 2021 to 4.1% May 2023 – US Department of Labor)
Marketers from sector-defining Chicago-based entities Abbott, Discover, Gatorade and McDonald's united for a memorable panel at Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity
The session explored the challenges and opportunities facing the industry today and firmly positioned Chicago as a global business powerhouse

NEW YORK, Aug. 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- This summer, some of Chicago's biggest names in business - Abbott, Discover, PepsiCo's Gatorade and McDonald's —joined TBWA, The Disruption^® company at Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity.

Swapping Lake Michigan for the Mediterranean Sea, four Global Brand Leaders discussed the power of brand, innovation and AI and creative excellence - key ingredients in their recipe for attracting new talent into the creative industries. Brought together by TBWA\Worldwide Global Chief Executive Officer, Troy Ruhanen, Vivek Mohan, Divisional VP, Global Corporate Marketing, Abbott; Jennifer Murillo, SVP and CMO, Discover; Anuj Bhasin, Chief Brand Officer, Gatorade; and Erwin Dito, VP Global Brand Leadership, McDonald's came together for an exclusive session at the high-profile Omnicom stage.

On the third day of the festival, panelists were optimistic about the state of the industry and eager to examine that optimism, beginning squarely with brand.

The power of brand
With a storied legacy of being at the heart of - and creating - culture, Erwin Dito, VP Global Brand Leadership, McDonald's, described the role of the agency in building the brand platforms driving marketing performance today; "If you really want to be relevant in culture, you need to understand what is true about your fans… Guidance and leadership from our agencies is crucial…"

Talking further to the power of brand, Dito emphasized the importance of overall unity, while acknowledging the differences between global and local, providing brands a road map of sorts. "If you want to be a global brand and compete well, you want to ensure the whole is more than the sum of its parts, otherwise you're competing like any local competitor." Vivek Mohan, Divisional VP, Global Corporate Marketing, Abbott echoed Dito's view, noting, "You want to be relevant locally…and the strength of the core idea (at the global level) is critical."

"Share, speed and scale - that's the game for global brands."- TBWA\Worldwide Global Chief Executive Officer, Troy Ruhanen

Innovation and AI
Addressing the role of innovation in their work, Anuj Bhasin, Chief Brand Officer, Gatorade explained the brand is committed to always changing, never standing still; "Innovation and evolution is paramount to who we are as a brand, and who we have to be in this day and age."

This rings true for TBWA as it takes an 'always in beta' approach to innovation. Discussing the new technologies emerging in the industry - in particular, generative AI - Ruhanen announced TBWA's partnerships with Adobe, Google and Microsoft to ensure the very best technologies are available to agencies and clients. "It's very significant we are partnering with our clients, [and] with experts in their field… to start building a plan together to incorporate that technology into our workflow," he said.

Talking to the advancements, Jennifer Murillo, SVP and CMO, Discover noted, "I'm really intrigued by the idea of what infinite content will do to accelerate creativity, to push the limits and the boundaries of how creative we can be to rise above that sea of sameness… Without breakthrough, nothing we're doing is going to matter."

Hyper aware of ensuring the consumer is front and center in every decision, Murillo shared the rationale behind the exploration and intrigue."I think the best and only reason to challenge convention with technology like this, is centered around meeting consumer need."

Creative excellence
While the power of brand, innovation and AI may be appealing to prospective talent, consistent creative excellence is the uniting factor. To close the session, the group explored why Chicago has such an important role to play in driving world class brands. Vivek Mohan, Divisional VP, Global Corporate Marketing, Abbott commented, "I think that Chicago is a talent magnet in many ways. The vibe of ingenuity and creativity paired with that discipline of getting it done, making it happen, and not stopping at anything until you do, is very much a part of the city's culture."

Anuj Bhasin, Chief Brand Officer, Gatorade added "We're investing heavily to create change in equity in sport, to create a much more sustainable outcome for our business, our brands, our future – that's where people want to work and that's what retains top talent."

Ruhanen believes we are on the verge of the golden era of creativity right now; "We have to do a lot of navigation to get through it, and make sure we're doing the right thing to get there. I still like to create the thing that's never been seen before and there are many more possibilities out there… Certain towns are known for certain things, but Chicago seems to be the marketing powerhouse and it's a really exciting time."

The entire panel can be viewed in full here and to learn more about TBWA visit https://tbwa.com/

About TBWA\Worldwide
TBWA is The Disruption® Company. We use creativity to help businesses challenge the status quo and capture an unfair share of the future. Named one of the World's Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company in 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020 and 2019, Adweek's 2022, 2021 and 2018 Global Agency of the Year and AdAge's A-List 2022 Network of the Year. We are a disruptive brand experience company that uses trademarked Disruption® methodologies to help businesses address their challenges and achieve transformative growth. Our collective has 11,000+ creative minds in over 40 countries, and also includes brands such as Auditoire, Digital Arts Network (DAN), eg+ worldwide, GMR, TBWA\Media Arts Lab, TBWA\Health Collective and TRO. Global clients include adidas, Apple, Gatorade, Henkel, Hilton Hotels, McDonald's, Nissan and Singapore Airlines. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. TBWA is part of Omnicom Group (NYSE: OMC).

About Omnicom Group Inc.
Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) (http://www.omnicomgroup.com) is a leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom's branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, digital and interactive marketing, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 100 countries.

SOURCE TBWA\Worldwide