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Nine’s Digital Impact: Insights from Ben Glover

Nine's Digital Impact with Ben Glover

As we approach the start of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games on August 28, where 160 athletes across 17 sports will write the next chapter in Australia's rich Paralympic history, we spoke with Ben Glover, Nine’s Editor, Wide World of Sports Digital. Glover shared his reflections on the enduring impact of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in connecting to those around us, and the opportunities that lie ahead.

From Saracens to Fox Sports: Shaping Leadership in Sports Media

Reflecting on the beginning of his career, Glover said:

"Saracens Rugby Club taught me the art of rapid match reporting for digital platforms, an invaluable skill in leading a team that extensively covers live sports. My time at Fox Sports was equally formative, teaching me the importance of creating audience-specific content and using analytical tools to learn from successes and failures. There, I also had great mentors who imparted wisdom on digital strategy and strong leadership".

Preparing for the Olympic and Paralympic Games

Preparing for an event as large as the Games involves meticulous planning. Over the past three months, I’ve led an Olympics subcommittee that meets weekly to strategise and plan our coverage to the nth degree. This includes everything from editorial strategies and content types to daily schedules and staff training to ensure we all have a strong understanding of what’s expected when the Games kick off.

Bringing the Olympic Spirit to Australia

Across the duration of the Olympics, Wide World of Sports drove 22 million page views to Nine.com.au, successfully bringing the excitement and spirit of the Games to Australian audiences through insightful, in-depth analysis and engaging content.

"By leveraging our digital platforms, we've made the Games accessible to all Australians. A strategic decision to appoint an Olympic and Paralympic Games reporter has allowed us to tell the stories of Australia’s athletes – who are they? Where are they from? What makes them great? That’s enabled us to foster emotional connections with our audience, as they get to know the athletes who will be competing on a global stage."

Strategies for Engaging Olympic Fans

Engaging Australian viewers with Olympic Games content on wwos.com.au has been a focused effort. We've identified the most popular Olympic sports among our audience, such as the mighty Matildas and Australia’s most popular Olympic sport, swimming, and concentrated our coverage on these areas. Comprehensive reporting on lead-up meets, interviews, and feature pieces on the likes of both athletes and coaches have been crucial.

"The emotive stories that emerge from the rigorous qualifying processes in these sports capture the essence of the Olympics—passion, competition, and pushing the limits of human achievement."

We've also tailored the wwos.com.au site look and feel for the Games, ensuring an efficient and customised user experience – one that makes them feel part of a special event.

The Role of Digital

Digital content plays a pivotal role in enhancing Australia’s consumption of both the Olympics and Paralympic Games.

"The sheer volume of events makes digital platforms ideal for comprehensive coverage. Tools like live blogs provide real-time updates on key events and news stories."

Additionally, being both the broadcaster and digital rights holder allows us to integrate short video clips from the field of play into our content, making our platform a destination for fans who want to watch highlights, not just read about it.

A Power that Transcends Sport

Storytelling in sport serves as a catalyst for moments of cultural significance. Whether its uniting a nation through shared victories, or inspiring resilience through athletes' personal triumphs, the strength of the human spirit makes a profound impact on Australian onlookers.

"Sports media has a unique role in uniting people from all walks of life. By highlighting stories of perseverance, teamwork, and excellence, we can inspire and bring people together in a way that transcends sport."

Promoting values of inclusion and diversity through events like the Olympics and Paralympics contributes to a more connected and empathetic world, serving as a reminder of our shared humanity and the incredible potential we have when we come together in the pursuit of common goals.

The Future of Sports Journalism

The future of sports journalism, particularly for large-scale events like the Olympics and Paralympics, is set to be increasingly digital and interactive. Technologies such as augmented reality will offer immersive experiences, while data-driven journalism will deliver highly personalised content.

"Emphasising inclusivity and representing diverse voices will be crucial for staying relevant in an evolving media landscape."

Anticipation for the Upcoming Paralympics

From both an editorial and personal perspective, I am most excited about uncovering and sharing the untold stories of athletes at the upcoming Paralympics.

"The journey to the Paralympic Games is filled with challenges and triumphs, and we plan to bring these stories to life through engaging visuals and interactive content, ensuring Australians feel connected to every moment."

Paralympians Shine on a Global Stage

"Ensuring that Paralympians are front and center of our Games coverage, alongside their able-bodied counterparts, is a priority for us. Over the next few weeks and beyond, we will use our platform to tell their remarkable stories and expose our audience to their extraordinary commitment to athletic excellence."

Golden Opportunity: Think Digital

The Paris 2024 Olympic Games have propelled record online engagement, as Australians flocked to Nine's digital cross-platform ecosystem. From 9Now and nine.com.au to wwos.com.au to our leading masthead sites (The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review), Nine’s digital brands offer a unique opportunity to reach vast, engaged audiences. With our 20 million signed-in users and a first-party data set spanning 68 segments and nine Games verticals, there’s no better moment for your brand to connect with Australia and be part of history in the making.

Stay tuned for more insights and stories from the Games as we continue our conversation with those closest to the magic.

Find out more

Source: Ipsos Iris Online Audience Measurement Service, 25-31 July - 01-12 Aug 2024, Age 14+, PC/laptop/smartphone/tablet, Website only, Text only, Daily Volumetric data, Total Minutes (000s), Page Views (000s), Visits (000s).

Looking to put your brand at the heart of the Olympic and Paralympic Games on Nine? We'd love to hear from you.

Cannes Deconstructed

Episode Nine

Cannes Deconstructed

EPISODE NINE

Gutter Tech and the Last Great Competitive Advantage

In this episode, Liana Dubois, Nine’s Chief Marketing Officer, is joined by Wade Kingsley, The Creative Coach, offering insights and strategies behind the most outstanding advertising campaigns from Cannes Lions 2024.

GUEST SPEAKER

Competitive advantage

Coming up with a better idea is the last bastion of competitive advantage.

Wade Kingsley, the Australian lead for Contagious, presented Cannes Lyons Deconstructed at This Way Up Festival with AWARD and the Advertising Council of Australia.

He was interviewed by Liana Dubois, CMO at Nine, on Talking Creativity, a special edition of Nine's podcast series, exploring creative minds at the Advertising Council Australia's This Way Up Festival.

Ideas rise to the top

“When you think about creativity, it's the last great competitive advantage,” he told Liana Dubois.

“You can have an unfair advantage by coming up with a better idea, and no one owns the mortgage on a great idea.”

Technology, in the form of the latest AI, is a shiny new thing that has everyone talking, he said.

“It's an occupational hazard of media and marketing,” he said. “And, of course, there's a place for that.

“But when we go back to the human centred truths, the great concept or campaign idea that's either changed a market, changed a category, changed the fortunes of a brand, they're the things that are going to rise to the top."

Aussie talent trumps

“I wonder if we've got a little bit of a cringe factor in Australia. I'm talking about us towards us, not outside, because generally you meet people from overseas who talk about Australian media and marketing and advertising in a very good terms.

"And sometimes I think we've got the old tall poppy thing or chip on the shoulder where we don't feel like we're up there with the world players.

“But a lot of the work featured this year, very effective in terms of results, was Australian based Australia.

“And we shouldn't forget that a lot of Aussies go and work overseas in creative endeavours in agencies or CMOs.

“Our little footprint is a bit like the Olympics. We punch well above our weight per capita.”

Gutter tech

One of the trends that this year was something called gutter tech, almost the opposite of AI.

You think of tech, that is new technology. That's different.

And then there's gutter tech.

“When you're walking down the street and you see those tactile bars that people who are vision impaired can use to find their way,” he said.

”A cement company actually came up with an idea to change the dynamic of those bars.

“When someone who's vision impaired touches one of the bars with their walking aid, it actually tells them what is there.

“A different symbol was for a bank and a different symbol was for a restaurant.

“Cement, that's not really a cutting edge technology. But that was what the campaign used.”

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The Beautiful Balance of Creative Client Relationships

Episode Eight

The Beautiful Balance of Creative Client Relationships

EPISODE EIGHT

The Myth of the Courageous Marketer Who Risks a Brave Idea

In this episode, Liana Dubois, Nine’s Chief Marketing Officer, is joined by Brent Smart, Chief Marketing Officer of Telstra and Micah Walker, founder and Chief Creative Officer of Bear Meets Eagle on Fire, to explore the insights on fostering effective client-agency relationships, the role of creativity in addressing business challenges, and how they navigate the ever-evolving advertising landscape from their respective positions. Join us as we delve into the art of collaboration and the value of big ideas in driving meaningful brand communication.

GUEST SPEAKER

Smart commercial decisions

Creativity is more about making commercial decisions rather than so-called brave calls on out-there ideas.

Brent Smart, CMO at Telstra, and Micah Walker, founder/CCO at Bear Meets Eagle on Fire, were interviewed by Liana Dubois, CMO at Nine, on Talking Creativity, a special edition of Nine's podcast series, exploring creative minds at the Advertising Council Australia's This Way Up Festival.

A culture for creativity

In this marketer and the agency chat, Dubois asked Smart: “Can you set the scene for us in terms of how you foster that all important culture of creativity in your organisation, which is a big corporate and with your team and, and sort of further to that what the role of your relationship with Micah plays in being able to do that.”

“Creativity for me is not about my vanity or winning awards,” Smart said. “It's a smart commercial decision and any marketer should approach it that way.

“I think there's an incredible misnomer of the courageous marketer who approves the brave idea.

“Creativity is a commercial decision, it's about being more effective.”

He said most corporations are geared to kill creativity.

“You have to think about what we need to do in terms of our culture? What do we need to do in terms of our way of working?” he said

“And then importantly, what partners do we need from the outside, who can bring more creativity than we could ever have at a place like Telstra.

“Who can bring an outside perspective because the thing that happens when you work in these big corporations is you very quickly become indoctrinated and you become very insular and you suddenly start talking and all these weird acronyms and stuff.

“And I think it's really important to keep that outside perspective, that beautiful perspective you had the day you started, but you lose every day that you walk into the building.”

Respect for all parties

And that's where Micah Walker and the team at Bear Meets Eagle on Fire come in.

“We don't bring anything into the room and share it with Brent until I believe it's worthy of being in the room,” said Walker.

“What we hope for in return is conviction and respect to kind of be able to commit and then believe and work around something because it always takes a bit of a village to build anything that's irreverent or different or distinctive.

“And and so it's our job to make sure that we're bringing in that kind of work and then in return, working through that with them to make sure that it lives.”

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The Value of a Big Idea: Integration and Transmedia Storytelling

Episode Seven

The Value of a Big Idea: Integration and Transmedia Storytelling

EPISODE SEVEN

Pushing Aside Creative Glory To Do Good

In this episode, Liana Dubois, Nine’s Chief Marketing Officer, is joined by Julian Schreiber, Chief Creative Officer and Partner at Special Group Australia, to unpack the value of big ideas in the context of integration and transmedia storytelling, and how these concepts are shaping the future of brand communication in an increasingly fragmented media landscape.

GUEST SPEAKER

A life of their own

Ideas, when properly formed, take on a life of their own.

Julian Schreiber, Partner & Chief Creative Officer at Special Australia, was interviewed on Talking Creativity, a special edition of Nine's podcast series, exploring creative minds at the Advertising Council Australia's This Way Up Festival.

Problem solver

Dubois: Can you talk to us a little bit about how you approach, kind of the development of big ideas, and how, how you get those big ideas to work across the spans and layers of all

Schreiber said he and partner in crime Tom Martin, fellow CCO at Special, gravitated to the idea that “we just wanted to be useful” as a basic principle.

“The way that we approached everything that was put in front of us was, what is this problem? How do we solve this problem?" he said.

“And by having a mindset of solving a problem then what happens is you come up with the solution in what we call the idea.”

Then take that idea and make it happen.

“The most powerful version of itself starts deciding what you need it to be and what channels it has to live in, and what media it has to be in, and how it's going to actually engage with people," he said.

“The idea is actually making all the decisions for you, you're going along with it.”

'Stop the Horror' campagin

Liana Dubois asked Schreiber about Stop the Horror, created to influence the formation of assisted dying laws in Victoria.

“It’s a very important piece of work, and a work that had a huge impact on everyone who worked on that, including myself," he said.

“We had already attempted to do a piece of work on voluntary assisted dying to change a vote in Adelaide, and we actually didn’t succeed.

“A key reason why that did not succeed is because we had already in our heads before we even got to that idea, had made the decision that voluntary assisted dying was so controversial and so intense a topic that if we didn’t handle it correctly, people would hate us, and … hate the work.

“And then Andrew Denton, who was in charge of the Go Gentle Project, and and still is, took us out to lunch afterwards.

“We didn’t know he was going to do this but he actually said, ‘I’d like you to go again. Would you? Would you mind having another crack at it’?”

“This time after we realised that there certainly wasn’t any creative glory in it, because it was too controversial a topic for even creatives to love.

“This time, we said ‘let’s be as brutal’, incredibly punch-in-the-face sort of style as we can about it, because we’re no longer interested in being considered interesting or proud of our idea.

“It was incredibly challenging to do and because we had to stick to the absolute honesty and to the letter of of the truth of that story

“I wouldn’t say it changed the law but it certainly contributed, which was incredible.

“At the same time as that, weirdly, it started getting creative accolades as well which is very confusing,

“It was a reminder that you should absolutely just do what you think is the most powerful and most interesting and most personally empowering thing to do.”

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The Interplay of Ideas and Information: Creative Use of Data

Episode Six

The Interplay of Ideas and Information: Creative Use of Data

EPISODE SIX

When Simple Ideas Make the Best Campaigns

In this episode, Liana Dubois, Nine’s Chief Marketing Officer, is joined by Rose Herceg, President WPP, ANZ and Mike Rebelo, CEO Publicis Groupe to unpack the process and results from their involvement with Cannes Lions. Also covered, the interlay of ideas and information and specifically how the creative use of data drives both advertising engagement and creative effectiveness. Whether you’re a marketing professional, a creative enthusiast, or curious about the power of advertising, this episode promises to inspire and challenge your thinking.

GUEST SPEAKER

Best ideas are simple

The best ideas for campaigns are the simple ones and those that win at Cannes Lions also bring business accolades.

Rose Herceg, president WPP, ANZ and Mike Rebelo, CEO Publicis Groupe ANZ, were both judges at Cannes Lions this year.

They were interviewed by Liana Dubois, CMO at Nine, on Talking Creativity, a special edition of Nine's podcast series, exploring creative minds at the Advertising Council Australia's This Way Up Festival.

Driving business success

Dubois: “What’s underpinning the kind of smartest campaigns that you’ve seen?”

Herceg said her shortlist was made up of beautifully simple ideas.

“All of them where if you’re not in this industry, you could have easily understood them,” she said.

“And the ones that won, particularly the Grand Prix winner, which was room for everyone for MasterCard managed to do several things in one campaign which was drive business metrics … revenue ... profitability ... change ... particularly with Ukrainians coming into Poland, so attacking xenophobia, knocking it on its head and then welcoming a million displaced people all in one incredible campaign.

“The ones that won did a lot but mainly they drove business success, which is a thrill when you’re looking at creativity."

Trends and insights

Dubois to Rebelo: What were some of the trends and insights you took out?

“It was a real honour to be involved in the creative effectiveness category because for me it’s really at the intersection of what we do for clients,” Rebelo said.

“It really is about the creative model that we can bring to business and drive change. And that’s what that category judges.

“You actually have had to have won at Cannes before you can enter effectiveness. So there’s a creativity filter already applied.

The four criteria

“The process is quite an enduring one. It starts about six weeks before Cannes. So we judged about 150 entries before we got there.”

This gave a shortlist of around 40, and then the judges spent two days in a room deciding on the awards. They looked at four criteria: Audaciousness, brave, causality, directional.

“The ones that won did all those four things and the Grand Prix went to Heinz and that was a five year campaign,” said Rebelo.

That showed a competitive category in decline, and how a product could change its fortunes by being very focused on its enduring equity and applying creativity to really show how product quality was superior. Reengaging love for the brand.

Hercerg said the best advice she got as jury president was that the category is a time capsule.

“When everybody else comes to apply in 2025 they look at all the winners (from now) and they get it,” she said.

“It’s like a shorthand to how good the work needs to be to win.

”And I think for our industry this year has been particularly strong because it was more than purpose.

“It was the business metrics and the success of creativity when driving a business forward.”

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What The F**k Is Creativity Anyway?

Episode Five

What The F**k Is Creativity Anyway?

EPISODE FIVE

How to Create a Campaign When Money is Worth Nothing

In this episode, Liana Dubois, Nine's Chief Marketing Officer, is joined by Damon Stapleton, Chief Creative Officer and co-founder of The Monkeys Aotearoa to dive into his keynote topic, "What the F**k is Creativity Anyway?" and explore his unique perspective on the nature of creativity, the importance of disruption, and how to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of advertising.

GUEST SPEAKER

The real question

What the F is creativity anyway.

“I think that’s the wrong question,” says Damon Stapleton, Chief Creative Officer and Co-founder of The Monkeys Aotearoa.

“Creativity is this vague word. If I say 'I’m a creative’, I could be a chef or I could be anything, a maker of something else.

“So I think a much better question is what can creativity do?”

He was speaking to Liana Dubois, CMO at Nine, in Talking Creativity, a special edition of Nine's podcast series, exploring creative minds at the Advertising Council Australia's This Way Up Festival.

Problem solver

“I’ve always thought this creativity is often just seen as something decorative or it can make things a bit more interesting,” he said.

“But I think creativity has the power to solve incredible problems.”

He gave the example of a Zimbabwean newspaper. The editor called him to say he couldn’t sell his newspapers because prime minister Robert Mugabe was beating him, and the people in the newspaper, up

And so he had to try and sell copies of the newspaper in South Africa, a bit like trying to sell the Sydney Morning Herald in Auckland.

Inflation had made the Zimbabwe currency almost worthless.

“We literally had nothing,” he said. “We had worthless money. And what we did was we made posters and we made billboards and we made flyers out of the money.

“So the money became the advertising campaign that’s now in the British Museum of Design. A good example for me of how creativity can solve a problem when you literally have nothing.”

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Navigating the Evolution of Creativity: How Collaboration Unlocks Success

Episode Four

Navigating the Evolution of Creativity: How Collaboration Unlocks Success

EPISODE FOUR

Make AI Your Slave

In this episode, Liana Dubois, Nine's Chief Marketing Officer, is joined by Matty Burton, DDB Group Aotearoa's Group Chief Creative Officer, to celebrate Matty's remarkable journey, discuss the evolution of creative process, and explore the lessons learned along the way. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or just starting in the industry, you’re sure to gain valuable insights from Matty's experiences.

GUEST SPEAKER

AI as an extension

Think about AI as a way to augment brain power rather than a bit of a computational assistant.

Matty Burton, DDB Group Aotearoa's group chief creative officer, says the first uses of AI have been as an assistant.

“If you step that further and you start thinking about it as an augmented intelligence, then you've got a tool that's not just your brain anymore,” he said.

“It actually could be an extension of anything that you want to do, your human intent … a bit like a shovel helps you dig a hole bigger. That’s the next step."

He was speaking to Liana Dubois, chief marketing officer at Nine Entertainment, on Talking Creativity, a special edition of Nine's podcast series at the This Way Up event by the Australasian Writers and Art Directors (AWARD).

Friend or foe

“One step further would be almost like augmented experience,” said Burton. ‘And that's changing the world in which we live and what surrounds us.

“And I think there's huge, huge opportunities for brands, huge opportunities for things like trans media storytelling.”

Dubois: “Friend or foe?”

Burton: “Absolute friend. If it's a foe, then you're gonna be out of work.”

He said you have to embrace change.

“That's the only constant in this world. I think you've got to make AI your slave or it will make you. That's a bad analogy.”

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Disruption in Creativity and Why Disregarding Discipline Matters

Episode Three

Disruption in Creativity and Why Disregarding Discipline Matters

EPISODE THREE

Sailing Into Advertising on a Mini Pirate Ship

In this episode, Liana Dubois, Nine’s Chief Marketing Officer, is joined by Tara Mckenty, Chief Innovation Officer and Co-Executive Creative Director BMF Australia, to talk about the importance of disregarding discipline, and how Tara’s unique perspective is shaping the future of advertising. Whether you’re a marketer, creative or simply curious, this episode is packed with insights that will inspire.

GUEST SPEAKER

Childhood influence

Tara McKenty, Chief Innovation Officer and Co-Executive Creative Director at BMF Australia, thinks her disregard for convention and rules stems from her childhood.

However, her professional start in advertising also had a big impact. McKenty spoke to Nine CMO Liana Dubois on Talking Creativity, a special edition of Nine's podcast series exploring creative minds at the Advertising Council Australia's This Way Up Festival.

Any dangerous idea needs an advocate

“I was incredibly fortunate,” she said. “I started my career in the halls of TBWA, where disruption was the network's ethos where they chose to be the pirates and not the sailors or the Navy.

“So from day one entering the industry my training wheels were on a mini pirate ship. There’s a place for rules and process and a place for disruption.

“Dangerous ideas can be disruptive, they can change behaviours, they can innovate and change the way people consume media or experience brands.”

McKenty thinks the place for disruption is once the idea is solved - because any dangerous idea needs an advocate.

“Once you have that idea, and you know it's the idea. I think for me and other creatives you can't sleep at night until that's made.

No place for rules

“I think you could replace the word disruption with hustle. What do you do next as an advocate, the mother or the parent of that idea to get it out into the world?

“That's where I think there's no place for rules.”

A good idea will stand by itself, no matter the standing of the person who has that idea.

“Once you have an idea that can change so many things, or change people's lives, a big, chunky idea, that is enough to get anyone excited, no matter who they are, no matter what level they are, no matter how good they are at their craft, no matter how intimidating they are because of what they've done previously,” she said.

“That is a power of a good idea, and as you as a creative that idea is like, do everything humanly possible to get off the ground.”

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From Drunk Monkeys to Hall of Famers: A Rapid-Fire Reflection

Episode TWO

From Drunk Monkeys to Hall of Famers: A Rapid-Fire Reflection

EPISODE TWO

The Three Drunk Monkeys On Sobering Up

In this episode, Liana Dubois, Nine’s Chief Marketing Officer, is joined by Justin Drape, co-founder, The Monkeys (now part of Accenture Song) and Exceptional ALIEN, and Scott Nowell, Co-Founder, The Monkeys (now part of Accenture Song), to explore the principles driving their success, the role of creativity in building resilient brands, and the lessons they’ve learned along the way. Whether you’re a marketing professional, a creative enthusiast, or curious about the power of advertising, this episode promises to inspire and challenge your thinking.

GUEST SPEAKER

The Monkeys

Did the Three Drunk Monkeys, which became the highly successful creative agency The Monkeys, ever really sober up?

“I’m not sure we’ve sobered up,” said co-founder Scott Nowell.

“We can’t really go out there with a name like that … it was different at the time and it seemed to work.”

Nowell and Justin Drape, who along with Mark Green, founded the agency in 2006, were interviewed by Liana Dubois, CMO at Nine, in Talking Creativity, a special edition of Nine's podcast series, exploring creative minds at the Advertising Council Australia's This Way Up Festival.

Nowell and Drape were this week inducted into the AWARD Hall of Fame during a ceremony as part of This Way Up.

Do things differently

“Everybody said we were mad,” Nowell said. “There were so many independents. The world doesn’t need any more advertising agencies.

“All you’ve got is your faith in what you’re going to do and how you're going to change things. We wanted to do things differently.”

Justin Drape’s father said, when he heard the name: “You’re a bunch of bloody Dreamers.”

However, Drape and Nowell really believed in what they were doing.

“We believed in each other,” said Drap.

“And there was a really great moment in the industry where clients were starting to be enabled by the Internet and could do longer format storytelling and experiments.

“We were at a place where we quite quickly got two TV series on air. When people were coming to us and saying, ‘Can you guys do anything beyond advertising,’ we were able to point them to watch those shows.”

Nurture abstract thinking

Nowell said the industry was undergoing a lot of change, whether via technology or the economy.

“There’s pressures everywhere,” he said. ”But what this industry does -- and it doesn’t matter if you call yourself an advertising agency or whatever you want to call yourself -- the power is in taking that abstract thinking and nurturing it and turning it into an idea that can affect the bottom lines of these billion dollar brands.

“And that's where the power lies in our industry and no matter what … that will always be true.”

What is best for the team

Drape said don’t assume the people you work with get the idea and think it’s amazing.

“What’s the goal there? What's the objective for the team? What does the account manager or marketing manager want out of that?

“Think about the budget considerations. Everybody has their own movie playing in their head about what the best outcome is going to be.

"Try and understand that when you’re sitting there and don’t just be arrogant and walk in … ‘this is going to be amazing. It’s going to win a war’.”

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The Creative Mandate: Why Playing It Safe Is Risky Business

Episode One

The Creative Mandate: Why Playing It Safe Is Risky Business

EPISODE ONE

Mandie Van Der Merwe On The Mistake Companies Make With Creativity

In this episode, Liana Dubois, Nine’s Chief Marketing Officer, is joined by Mandie van der Merwe, Chief Creative Officer at Saatchi & Saatchi Australia, to explore why creativity is now a business imperative. They discuss the risks of playing it safe in today's fast-paced market and how embracing bold, creative strategies can drive significant business success. Discover how creativity not only sets brands apart but also becomes a critical lever for growth and innovation in an ever-evolving landscape.

GUEST SPEAKER

Creativity highly valued

Creativity, a trait now highly valued in the corporate world, is often mistaken for something that can be taught.

Mandie van der Merwe, joint Chief Creative Officer at Saatchi and Saatchi Australia and AWARD chair, sees creativity as more a behaviour.

“There's this idea that you can teach people creativity, I'm sorry to say, but you can't,” she said

She was speaking to Liana Dubois, Chief Marketing Officer at Nine Entertainment, on Talking Creativity, a special edition of Nine's podcast series at the This Way Up event by the Australasian Writers and Art Directors (AWARD).

A recruitment tool

Dubois said a few recent surveys highlighted that creativity is now one of the most sought after skills among employers.

“Why do you think there's such high demand for creativity in the workforce today, and how can organisations better cultivate and harness creative talent to really maintain their competitive edge?” she asked van der Merwe

“Creativity is a behaviour,” said van der Merwe. “It's something that you decide to do every day by challenging convention and questioning why some people are just naturally wired that way.

“But if you aren't, you need to practise being uncomfortable and adopting a creative mindset.

“Now, this is important because employers often think that they need to find creative talent to maintain their competitive edge, as you've said, and then harness and cultivate them.

“I always laugh. It's like ‘quick go out there, capture the creative thinkers’. It all sounds really good in theory, but they won't stay.

“They will recognise that they are being used, much like you would use a tool or research. Creative people like to feel that they're part of a community, that they are being pushed and that they are being challenged.

“So if you really want a creative workforce, I say start with yourself. If you become more creative yourself, or at least attempt to start questioning that status quo, you will attract and retain other creative people, and then you will find that creativity not only becomes a recruitment tool, but it becomes a reason that people stay and that your business grows and that what you put out into the world evolves.”

Nine Dubois said creativity was a key differentiator for businesses.

Strategic necessity

“How do you perceive creativity playing a role in really setting brands apart? And why has it become, in your mind, a strategic necessity, rather than just a nice to have the?”

van der Merwe at Saatchi and Saatchi said creativity is absolutely a strategic necessity but most people really do think of it as a risk.

“And that in itself is kind of the riskiest thing. I'd say it's not a nice to have,” she said.

“You should double down on creativity because creativity is all about finding new ways to explain your brand, your offering, and to own a special place in consumers’ hearts.

“If brands really want to survive and excel, the only way for them to do it is by embracing creativity and newness. And it's really the newness that creativity brings.”

Problem solver

In tough economic times brands tend to pull back on marketing spend.

“And markets may change rapidly,” she said. “I always joke, it's been changing for as long as I've been in the industry. The one thing that remains is how creativity becomes a multiplier for brands when it's truly embraced.

“So sure, there's always going to be change, but creativity is the one constant that can give you that edge.”

van der Merwe urged brands not to turn their backs on the one thing that's your differentiator when times are tough.

“Creativity is not just a differentiator, but it's also actually a way of solving problems that others can't solve,” she said.

“And we find ourselves in a moment in time where there's a very interesting problem. So embrace creativity.”

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