Creative LIAisons in Las Vegas: Conversations can move ideas and careers forward
The London International Awards Creative LIAisons educational program continued in Las Vegas yesterday with day two of their highly regarded program.
Sunday brought about a presentation by Pum Lefebure, CCO / Co-founder, Design Army. Pum, with undeniable style and a presence that grabs the attention of the group, presented “Undeniable: Creating Images that Can’t Be Ignored”. Her advice to the attendees: “Creatives need to be visually fluent. Put yourself as the audience and start observing.”
The LIAisons program spent their Sunday hearing from Spotify’s Head of Creative, Oriel Davis-Lyons. His presentation, ‘Side Quests: Why Every Creative Journey Needs A Detour’ offered the guidance to “work on creative projects that allow you to gain skills that make you better.”
Creative LIAisons energized the room with a special panel featuring highly esteemed leaders!
The Transformative Business Impact Panel featured Daymond John, CEO of FUBU and The Shark Group, TV Personality on ABC Shark Tank, Public Speaker, The Shark Group; Bianca Guimaraes, Partner/ECD, Mischief and Adrian Mills, Partner, Creative, Brand Advertising, Deloitte Digital.
The session was moderated by none other than Alfred Edmond Jr, SVP/Executive Editor-at-Large of BLACK ENTERPRISE, an award-winning multi-media journalist, widely recognized expert on business and economic trends, and accomplished public speaker, moderator and live-event interviewer.
The session began with Edmond conducting a one-on-one fireside chat with John, who shared his expertise and lived experiences drawn from launching the iconic urban fashion brand FUBU, as well as investing in business innovators as a star on ABC’s Shark Tank. Edmond and John were subsequently joined by Guimaraes and Mills for a candid conversation on the mindset required to deliver transformational business impact as creative professionals.
Key takeaways:
You don’t need to know it all to deliver creative impact. Prior to joining with her current partner to start Mischief, Guimaraes described her experiences working for major New York agencies as “fear-based,” with preparation for client meetings focused on “arming for battle” to keep the business, as opposed to working in partnership to understand and meet the clients need. Today, Mischief is known as one of the most creative independent shops in the world. “Asking the right questions, the right way,” says Guimares, “is more important than having the right answers.”
Prepare in advance to be told “No.” John, Mills and Guimaraes all agreed that delivering transformative impact means recognizing that your ideas will be challenged and even rejected, at least initially. Developing the courage and resilience to keep pushing and developing ideas you believe in are non-negotiables. “The word ‘No’,” says John, “is just the beginning” of selling or making the case for innovative ideas.
Be willing to receive as well as give. Transformative creative thinking is not a one-way street. “Very often, when people object to your ideas, they may be right,” says Mills. It’s important to be receptive to the feedback of others, and to be as open to the innovative ideas of others as you want them to be to yours. “Impact is not delivered by the lone-genius, operating in isolation,” Mills asserts. “Innovation is collaborative.”
Chief Creative Officer of the UN development program, Boaz Paldi, took our Creative Liasions through the UN’s latest campaign #DontChooseExtinction. With a target market of “the whole world” resulting in 1.9 billion impressions, this campaign was hugely successful.
Boaz described how they created a character, Frankie, that is gender fluid and speaks 53 languages. This character, a dinosaur, allowed the program to communicate with a diverse group of people, without being affected by a language barrier or gender bias. All thanks to Frankie the Dinosaur.
Before attending statue discussions of select juries, the Creative LIAisons group and jury members had an evening cocktail party and were immersed in the experience of Omega Mart, getting a little taste of Las Vegas before being brought back to reality upon their return to their respective agencies, to utilize the information and inspiration they amassed in 72 hours for the rest of their creative careers.