CANNES – One of the nicer extensions of Cannes 2015 is the Lions Beach in front of the Carlton. It provides a proper by-the-beach feel to some of the seminars and – in the case of the Economist – serves breakfast too. The first day brought together Bruce McColl the Chief Marketing Officer of Mars and Jonathan Mildenhall (CMO airbnb) together with Pete Blackshaw (VP Digital and Social Media) from Nestle to be interviewed by Daniel Franklin, Executive Editor of The Economist.
All were in a agreement that ‘if agencies don’t have a good profit they won’t get the best people.’ And that long-term partnerships work best. And that as the editor said should have made all the agency people feel good because as he put it “we’re all going to make plenty of money and we won’t get fired.”
However there was more to it than that. Mildenhall said his CEO described coke as a 19th century brand being sold using 20th century techniques. Whereas air bnb was a 21st century brand – and did not need any old baggage. The service has grown from 0-1 million users in its first two years and then from 1 – 37 million in its second two years. And they have agreed a simple compensation scheme with their agencies based purely on the increase they manage to achieve in guest nights.
Mildenhall sees one of the key attributes of a 21st century brand is the belief that ‘policing’ marketing will never lead to excellence. That ideas are not pre-tested. But post-evaluated. And that “the human race is more similar than different.” McColl agrees that “Big brand ideas tap into human truth.“
They concluded by outlining the various distinct challenges facing their brands. For nestle it was around consumer trust and keeping the consumer at the centre of the business. For mars, thinking ahead about the way the world shops – for marketing and retail partnerships. And for airbnb it was about the community – of people travellers and hosts that share the 1.2 million homes in their system.
And for the audience–replete with coffee, bacon sandwiches and plenty to think about – that was a good enough start for the day.
