Sarah Watson

The mutual enhancement of creativity and AI interaction can lead to innovative thinking and remarkable outcomes. 

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CREATIVITY IS THE WORLD’S MOST VALUABLE WORK SKILL. SO WHY IS IT IN SUCH SHORT SUPPLY? “Don’t ask me, I’m not creative”. How often have you heard that said with a dismissive chuckle in the office? Perhaps you’ve even said it yourself. As if being creative is somehow an undesirable trait. And that serious, intellectual types should shudder at the accusation. Well, I hate to break it to you, but we are all born creative. No matter how non-creative you proudly consider yourself to be, you are in-fact bursting with suppressed creativity. It’s in there whether you like it or not. Yes, even in you. Read on @ https://lnkd.in/gQmPiKcy #borncreative #worldeconomicforum #creativityinbusiness #creativecoaching #creativeeducation #creativitymasterclass

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"The opening lines of our AI policy drive this home: 'Artificial intelligence (AI), like most technology, can be used in positive or detrimental ways. We hired you. That means a lot to us. We want your ingenuity, creativity, and perspective first and foremost.' We have no interest in replacing our team with AI or software. When we hire people, it’s with a clear understanding that this role can only be successful with a human’s strategic mind. What makes Formada unique is the quality of our work." Read on to learn more in Garrett Jackson's fantastic new blog!

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In this episode, the folks at Together Equal and I chat and take a deep dive into LGBTQ+ representation in marketing and media. We explore under-represented groups, balancing profit with social good, and how we, as consumers, can drive change. Finally, we tackle pink-washing, celebrate diversity wins, and define what makes a true LGBTQIA+ ally. Andrew Milne, Sarah Aird-Mash Pink Media https://lnkd.in/eKynVPBc

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Being honest: I’ve been enjoying problem-solving more than ever recently. We’re seeing case-after-case validation of Ellipsis’ strategic approach to AI and the future of search, and it’s extremely pleasing. Our approach is to use AI for specific things (like FALCON AI for keyword research) whilst using human expertise for crafting content in order to beat the quality of stock generative AI. It’s nice to take some satisfaction from being right, but it’s also nice to keep up the pace: we continue to push hard on getting better and better so that we’re impossible for competitors to keep up with. In this week's Searching for Answers, read more about WooCommerce's latest domain change, and why pursuing SEO trends is a wild goose chase! https://lnkd.in/emNjp6UQ

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I'm curious and want your input. Today we're seeing all of these major brands stepping back from DEI-related promises they made in 2020. I imagine these brands would be supported LESS by people who care about a brand's focus on inclusion. Is there a source out there that calls out brands that are failing or back-tracking away from their efforts to be more inclusive? I could imagine myself about to make a purchase from a brand and then searching their name on this source or list only to see they are not doing a great job of being inclusive and then deciding to spend my money elsewhere. What do you think? Does something like this already exist? #inclusion #dei #brandinclusion

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This is hysterical…and scary accurate. As someone who grew up in the agency world and has received reems of feedback on my own work, is equally guilty of commenting on drop-shadows (sorry Bill), and is now client-side and has fed back to many agencies, I can relate to both struggles: 1) It’s hard to receive feedback graciously. I find it helps to prepare for it and then interpret it through a simple lens: feedback represents expectations and familiarity. It is important to present work through those lens, even if your intention is to go beyond them. 2) It is even harder to give feedback. The desire to return to what we know or what we expect is innate. Breaking from those expectations opens up your mind to new thinking. These days, my mantra is: “examine newness with care.” If it makes me or my target audience uncomfortable it's probably tapping into something new, so examine that with care. https://lnkd.in/gEZKCayj #uncovertheunexpected

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Decisions, decisions, decisions. To be a good and effective Creative Director you have to be able to make them. Fast. There's no room for "umms and ahhs" here. Or overthinking. Or - "Give me a few days to think about this." Quite often you will have to say, on the spot - "Let's go with this direction". And you'll have to live with that decision. Bad Creative Directors are bad at making decisions. This has a trickle-down effect of having creative people going around in circles, not knowing what direction to go in and working much later than they need to. Will you sometimes make a bad call? Absolutely. But that's part of being a leader. You're not omnipotent, humans make mistakes. Your goal is to make fewer of them and push past the fear of the possibility of doing it. If you're interested in HOW TO BE A CREATIVE DIRECTOR WITHOUT SUCKING AT IT maybe my new coaching programme is for you. Get in touch here to know more or email me at - chantcreative@gmail.com #creativity #advertising #creativedirector

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"As the push for 'faster' continues, putting purpose on the chopping block, CMOs can be a moderating influence. They understand the power of a brand and its ability to transcend product and have a real role in affecting issues and culture at large." More on the evolution of the CMO. I've said it before, and I'll say it again… the role is becoming more dynamic and is critical to driving long term value! CMOs can and should be the advocate for the customer, leveraging customer and cultural insights to inform business strategy, product innnovation and go to market approaches. The data they have “is essential to taking meaningful action on a variety of causes while demonstrating to leadership and shareholders how purpose is key to driving business.” There is a broader opportunity for CMOs and marketers as a whole to champion long-term impact that's good for the world and their business. “CMOs can help transform a transactional shareholder who values profit at all costs into someone with a stakeholder mindset—who understands that what’s good for people, community, and the planet is also good for employees, profit, and shareholders.” 💡 My Perspective: As marketing leaders, we need to embrace these challenges as opportunities for growth and innovation. By understanding the customer and fostering stronger relationships within the C-suite and emphasizing a balanced approach between immediate results and long-term brand building, we can redefine the role of the CMO and drive tremendous value. Let’s drive the conversation forward! What are your thoughts on the evolving role of the CMO? #Marketing #CMO #Leadership #DigitalTransformation #BrandBuilding

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This is going to be a real challenge. Recognizing the importance of authenticity in brand story telling is critical. And as the author states..."The key is to blend the innovative capabilities of AI with the irreplaceable value of human insight, ensuring that your brand tells authentic stories that resonate with your audience." #authenticity #authenticcontent

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Check out Episode 2 of "In the Loop" on effective strategies to support and help managers develop and hone their communications skills. #communications #intheloop

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Tommy’s Briefs: What is one of the best or most worthwhile investments you've ever made? Tom McManimon—Founder of StimulusBrand Communications: “One of the best investments I’ve ever made is working on myself becoming a strong creative director. In that role, I get to influence teams of people and be their mentor, help them rise, and deliver their very best. In my career, I have surrounded myself with accomplished creative directors and learned from them. Another investment I’ve made is in public speaking. It’s one thing to present creative campaigns to CEOs or boards of directors which I have done for years, but another thing to be on a stage in front of a bigger audience—in  service to them. So, I enrolled in professional speaker training (again, from some of the very best) and learned a “thing or two.” I am in a career that requires that you know your target audience. The same holds true in speaking. Creating material that is relevant and meaningful is key. It became important to me to try to share messages and emotional stories that go beyond advertising to lift people and help business leaders have one of those lightbulb moments. To accomplish that, you have to learn to write well, rehearse it, and then deliver it as the authentic you. I was wise enough to surround myself with a team of people who were great at that and they help me every day to be compelling, engaging and on point.

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No single ad, ever, has driven culture forwards. That is just a delusion. Our industry doesn’t understand what culture is. And this misunderstanding is making us hemmorage credibility. It seems every agency claims to ‘move at the speed of culture’ without understand that culture moves very, very, very slowly. When we says culture, we mean fashion. Experimentation. Fads. Subcultures. As Jonny Turnbull (né Collin) brilliantly puts it, the reason we all loved that BA work was because it *didn’t* falsely claim to be driving culture forward. Stuart Brand’s pace layers (which I’ve posted in the comments below) helps us understand Jonny’s comments even more. It’s one of those brilliant concepts that you have to sit with for a while. But in brief, it explains that the world moves forwards at different paces. The deeper, more fundamental layers move more slowly. Culture, true culture, is one of those slow moving layers. Anyway, one for a longer post another day. In the meantime, can we all please stop pretending to drive culture forwards and just make create advertising that drives commerce forwards instead? Maybe if we all do that for 10 years, we might collectively drive culture forwards just a teeny bit. #culture #advertising

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10 (ish) lessons from 10 (ish) years as a strategist Ive tried to keep these away from points about process (e.g. I think creative briefings are best if thought of as a process and not a single event) and working practice (e.g. some works is just better done in person), and more just things I’ve learned that I think really matter but don’t really go anywhere. They are (to steal from Tom Waits) the orphans, bastards and brawlers of observations from over a decade of doing this stuff. Go on, tell me where I’m wrong. 1) People will always think there is too much strategy until there isn’t enough, and then nothing works and everyone freaks the fuck out. Find the balance. 2)The quest for insight can be a fools errand that will kill your opinions. Give me one good and bloody minded opinion over 10 whatever insights. Find a hill and die on it with a smile on your face. 3) Never discount your rate, resetting the price is basically impossible. Always back the value you add, even in the face of overwhelming odds. 4) Strategists often get taken advantage of because most are, by nature, people pleasers looking for some kind of belonging. 5) Pitching isn’t a debate society, it’s a knife fight in the street where the only rule is win or die. Don’t start it if you’re not prepared to go all the way, and to be all in. 6) Genuinely new ideas are repulsive and rare. Most people hate them and don’t know what to do them because most people have never encountered them. You can do great work out without genuinely new ideas, so stop worrying about it.   7) Say thank you to client service even when things are sh*t. No one ever says thank you to CS enough. 8) Be wary of people who care about job titles more than they care about doing a good job, they normally don’t do the second and don’t deserve the first. 9) Sometimes it isn’t imposter syndrome, sometimes you just need to go away and get better. 10) The client doesn’t have to see all your work. This isn’t school and we don’t get points for showing all our workings out. Learn to edit. Kill your darlings in strategy as well as creative. 11) Fun is not the point but it really f*cking helps 

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For profit margins and speed it is indeed a powerful tool for companies to deploy. I’m seeing these short term benefits every day. I equally feel for those incredibly talented creators every day, and sad to see many serendipitous moments lost in this new way of working. And it does leave me wondering… what will the next generation of leaders look like? Today many of those at the top of the iceberg have risen up from below the waterline giving them a rich understanding of the benefits of what happens below. With that, they also perhaps have a great understanding of what to prompt AI for to get the results they’re looking for. How might the next generation of leaders gain this deep understanding in order to get the results they’ll need to stay ahead? It sure will be interesting to see how it all evolves.

When we speak of the advertising greats, so often it's the men. But today's NYTimes obituary was a great reminder of some of the trailblazing, talented and powerful women that have made their mark in our industry. Mary Wells Lawrence, who was the first woman to run and own a major national ad agency, Well Rich Greene, and first female chief executive of a company listed on the NY Stock exchange, died yesterday. Some parts of her story that struck me: 1. I didn't realize she created the 'I Love New York Campaign.' So often we speak to the very talented Milton Glaser and logo that has obviously endured, but not the campaign that also contributed to a renewed pride and shift in perspective to NYC. How we tell the story of our successes matters. Whose story is lost in favor of highlighting the contributions of a man or otherwise highly represented group? 2. She took risks and fought for herself, walking away from a corporation (now holding company) that didn't want to promote her as a woman or respect her gifts. How many great agencies have been built because talented people, along with their teams, bravely walked away from big behemoths of an agencies? What would happen if those bigger agencies took more risks with their existing people? How does leadership provide their talent with more opportunities to take risks? Where would our industry be today? 3. The work she ended up delivering for Braniff International Airways included transforming the planes themselves, the terminal and the flight attendant uniforms. Today, ad agencies are lucky if they get a chance to improve the digital experience of branded website. What would happen if agencies had more latitude to improve the brand experience or product itself, partnering more deeply with the client and design firm instead of just remitted to delivering a campaign? How much more effective would our partnership be, and even how much more fulfilling to those working on these projects? #advertising #womeninadvertising

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Slow down to Speed up. From Brand Safety & Suitability to GenAI-adoption there are numerous well intentioned efforts triggering unexpected and damaging consequences. Media performance is often framed at odds with efforts to be more inclusive and sustainable. Well intentioned industry efforts to keep brands safe have led to systemic exclusion and over blocking of socially and sustainably-conscious creators and their communities. And don’t get me started on media wastage and the myth of cheap CPMs. As everything around us seems to be gaining speed, time is fleeting, and workloads are unrelenting - I’m reminded of an adage at a former client: ‘Never seem to have time to pre-think; always have to make time to re-think.’ Please take a breath. Make time to think, assess, re-assess, and even re-imagine. And in no time at all you’ll be creating enduring and sustainable value. Slow down to speed up. Learn more about Channel Factory and #ConsciousAdvertising https://lnkd.in/eJmQBXW3

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In The Times today, from a study of 800,000 patients in the US - this has been supported by other research studies over the years. I cited this fact five years ago in my 3PercentConference talk, 'The Future For White Men In Advertising', where I presented seven ways white men's lives will be vastly improved when they welcome in gender equality, diversity and inclusion, that are true for white men in every industry (re this particular finding, see No 4: "You'll be safer.") Watch my 30-minute talk here: https://lnkd.in/ezTekEuz

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