Liz Caselli-Mechael, global head of digital and content at Nestlé, is looking forward to reconnecting with industry colleagues after moving from the US to Switzerland during the pandemic and taking on a global role with the organization. She will be speaking at the Brand Innovators Marketing Leadership Summit at Cannes today.
“In such a big company, it can be easy to spend your full time job trying to navigate within the company,” says Caselli-Mechael. “But I think you really miss something if you don’t carve out the opportunity to connect with others across different industries and refresh your perspective and bring in something a little bit different from the outside in.”
Caselli-Mechael will likely be asking colleagues, “what’s the biggest, fundamental thing you’ve changed in your digital communications over the past two years? Because, there are certainly lots of things about consumer behavior that have changed, but lots has maybe changed less than we would have liked, or the change felt bigger than it was in practice.”
Two of the themes that stick out to David Sandstrom, CMO of Klarna, who will also be on BI’s stage today, are brands’ environmental focus, as well as how brands will balance big data, tech, and creativity.
“Sustainability is a word we keep hearing across every industry vertical and now is a more important time than ever to make that word meaningful with action,” explains Sandstrom. “Klarna’s data reveals there is a growing demand for ethically sourced products, with 35% of consumers in the US placing sustainability in their top 5 considerations when shopping. The authenticity and action taken around this topic will be key for brands. Additionally, I believe most companies today want to be at the intersection of creativity, technology and data, but the ones that are consumer-centric and offer real value will win.”
Danone’s head of marketing Linda Bethea, also on stage today, is excited about Danone’s submission for a Cannes Entertainment Lion for Branded Content for Sport in Digital. The work focuses on content strategy developed in partnership with Whistle to amplify the Oikos Super Bowl campaign.
“As a company committed to bringing health through food to as many people as possible, this Oikos campaign highlighted strength and nutrition in a surprising way for sports fans’ social feeds, starting on football’s biggest night,” explains Bethea. “We were really looking to build on the brand equity we have established with our Oikos Stronger Makes Everything Better campaign, in a way that broke through the digital clutter, and resonated with a digital and social audience.”
Rob Bullough, director of global brand marketing at Electronic Arts (EA), cannot contain his excitement at the prospect of joining the network of conversations at Cannes that will inspire him, until it’s time to do it all again.
“The thing I’ve really missed about events is where you get lots of different people coming together, sharing and chatting,” said Bullough. “Whether it’s somebody presenting a keynote, or it’s a panel, or it’s just someone who you’ve met in a bar; live events create this network of conversations which doesn’t happen anywhere else.
