Ari Weiss on the Daily Evolution of Brand Experience & Activation
Advertising is a practice constantly in flux. But while mediums such as film and print can evolve (somewhat at least) in a linear, manageable fashion, the ways in which a customer can interact with a brand via experience design, activation, immersive, retail and 360-degree customer engagement are doing so without such rules. To Ari Weiss, it is evolving daily.
Ari, DDB Worldwide’s chief creative officer, is the jury president of this year’s Brand Experience & Activation category at this year’s Cannes Lions. It’s early days in the judging process, but some key themes are already emerging to him and his fellow jurors: the difference between an innovative creative idea and an innovative product, the fact that some case studies already feel outdated and the use of AI - both poorly and well-executed - within entries.
LBB’s Addison Capper chatted with Ari to find out more.
LBB> How are you preparing yourself and your jury for the jury room this year?
Ari> During our jury briefings, we’ve talked a lot about bringing your whole selves to the jury room. It doesn’t sound like a lot of preparation, but the noise of our day-to-day lives is much louder than anyone thinks.
The pressure of politics, of judgement, of self-promotion all weigh heavily in the jury room. But if we’ve done our job right, the jury room removes all those pressures and becomes a truly safe space. It’s in that vulnerable state that you can share and learn and ultimately find the best work of the year.
LBB> To me, it feels like the Brand Experience & Activation category is constantly in flux. With each evolution of technology, a customer’s journey and experience of a brand can change. What are your thoughts on that, and how do you feel it has evolved since Cannes Lions 2022?
Ari> I would argue it’s evolving daily. Some of the case studies we’ve been seeing in prejudging are already outdated and they’re less than a year old. Metaverse. I think the most interesting evolution we’re seeing is the evolution from chasing technology to chasing ideas. When everyone chases the same technology, the ideas all look the same: Metaverse.
The only way to truly break through and one up your competitor is with a brilliant idea that adds meaning to the technology in a way that truly serves the brand.
LBB> What are the current big debates within that specific category - or more generally across the industry - that you expect to see coming through in the judging?
Ari> We’re early in it, but one of the debates that has already surfaced is the difference between an innovative creative idea and an innovative product. The boundaries of how an agency can bring creativity to their brands is stretching further than ever. The canvas by which brand experiences are being brought to the consumer is now virtually limitless. We’re no longer limited to communications. Great brand partners bring this innovative thinking to the product, to the user experience and beyond.
LBB> Each year at Cannes there seems to be one, new talking point that dominates conversation and entries. It’s hard to imagine this year not being all about AI. How are you expecting and planning to deal with entries where the creative idea is rooted in AI?
Ari> AI will definitely play an interesting role in this year's festival. Again, like the metaverse before it, a lot of the AI ideas we’re seeing are glorified ChatGPT experiences. And again, like the metaverse before it, a lot of them are near-identical. The ones that are truly breaking through are the ones that bring a really interesting creative idea to life that couldn’t have been brought to life without AI. Based on what we’ve seen so far, brilliant creative minds have nothing to worry about when it comes to AI coming for their jobs in the near future.
LBB> A guiding theme of our Cannes Lions coverage this year is ‘better together’, so I wanted to frame a few questions around that. The industry works best when different specialist businesses collaborate to make the most of their talents and knowledge. How can the industry work better together to ensure brilliance in Brand Experience & Activation?
Ari> The Brand Experience and Activation space begs for collaboration. There are infinite ways we can use creativity to solve our clients' business problems. We need experts in these spaces to help teach us how to do things we’ve never done before.
When we did ‘Chillboards’ for Coors Light, we had never worked with low-income housing communities, nor industrial roofing companies and government ‘chief heat officers’, to actually find a way to reduce electricity use in the hot summer months. We had to learn as we went and had to trust our partners to bring their expertise to the table to lift and evolve the creative idea. That’s what makes projects like that so enjoyable.
'Chillboards'
LBB> Looking at last year's Grand Prix winner, ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’, what collaborations do you think will have been most important to ensure that became a Grand Prix winner at Cannes Lions?
Ari> Collaborations aren’t going anywhere. Especially in the Brand Experience & Activation space. It goes back to my earlier point about bringing in experts in their respective fields to elevate the original idea. I believe this trend will only accelerate.
‘The Unfiltered History Tour’
LBB> What relationships between different departments, agencies and companies do you think are most crucial to building up and protecting at this time in advertising?
Ari> Our job is always the same. Come up with great ideas and create an environment that protects their ability to grow and stretch beyond our wildest imagination. As creativity’s ability to influence our brands evolves and expands, this responsibility becomes even more important. The more possibilities and the more voices, the more important it becomes to protect the safe space that nurtures great ideas. It all begins and ends with trust. Without trust, you can never have a safe space.
LBB> What issue or topic do you think the industry needs to find more alignment and unity on? And how do you hope we will get there together?
Ari> It’s the obvious answer but we’ve still got a ways to go when it comes to the diversity of our thinking. The only way to broaden the types of ideas you see is to broaden the type of people that come up with them. We have to keep seeking out talent in unexpected places and do the hard work of creating an environment that sets them up for success. Only then, will our industry truly thrive.
LBB> Cannes is also a time of celebration. What will you be celebrating this year?
Ari> I will be celebrating an industry I love, filled with people I love creating with.
