Cannes Lions Puts CMOs In The Spotlight: Risk Taking Needs A Reframe

CANNES, FRANCE - JUNE 21: Asmita Dubey, Chief Digital and Marketing Officer- Member of the Executive Committee at L’Oréal Groupe, Diana Frost, Chief Growth Officer at Kraft Heinz, session moderator Johanna Botta, and Arjan Dijk, Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President at Booking.com, speak on stage during the 'CMOs in the Spotlight: L’Oréal Groupe, Kraft Heinz, Booking.com' session at the Cannes Lions on June 21, 2023 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images for Cannes Lions)

Day 3 at Cannes Lions opened with the “CMOs in the Spotlight” panel, sponsored by Deloitte Digital featuring some powerhouse CMOs including Arjan Dijk, CMO and SVP at Booking.com, Asmita Dubey, Chief Digital and Marketing Officer at L’Oréal and Diana Frost, Chief Growth Officer at Kraft Heinz. Chloe Noel De Kerbrech was in the audience and filed this report.

The panel opened with a discussion on risk taking and all CMOs agreed that in modern day marketing teams, risk taking needs a re-frame. Frost spoke about the concept of ‘risk taking and failure’ not being something that is fostered well in most organisations, and at Kraft Heinz, they “re-framed risk taking into learning”.

She went on to say that because the marketing function needs to constantly innovate, it needs to make room for failure and learning. She’s sees part of her job as CMO is ensuring the business has processes and systems in place to allow for both risk taking and failure.

The panel then moved on to the theme of creativity, and all panellists agreed that it needs to flow through the entire marketing function.

Dijk reflected on the concept of “truth telling” and explained that this was – in essence – what creativity needed to do, and that he encourages his team to question “What are we actually selling here, what are we trying to achieve?” to help drive the creative conversation.

Dubey said that she sees creativity through the lens of technology, the consumer and brands, and that at L’Oréal, “health science and technology are converging, and (their) brands are responding with unbounded creativity”. She further added that “investment in brands (and creativity), always pays off, allowing us to be at the forefront of creative innovation”.

Diversity and Inclusion was the next theme and Dijk said that at Booking.com they have a “foundation purpose of D&I” and that the beauty of it is that it “makes it easier for everyone to see the brand”. When asked about how he measures effectiveness with D&I, he added: “We measure everything, but certain things are just the right thing to do”.

When asked about L’Oréal as a legacy brand, the changes in technology and how they’re speaking to the consumer, Dubey said “we think of it as the perfect intersection of science, technology and creativity”. She added that what they’re trying to achieve is “beauty for all, powered by beauty tech”.

Dijk advised that at Booking.com, they believe that technology changes can tackle sustainability and inclusivity challenges across the industry.

Further on Generative AI, Dijk said: “Right now, it feels like 1995 when the Internet was invented, however, we need to remember AI is a predictive truth and it is still developing” and because of this they “keep it small but take risks” in that space.

When pressed on the ‘price’ of creativity, the panel agreed that creativity is priceless.

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Cannes Lions 2023