🌟 What is The Key 🔑 to Great Creativity? 🌟

❝ Give creativity the space, and then back it with time, investment and people ❞

Paul Coxhill, COO & President, @Lions

🌴 After (MANY) Quick Conversations 🎤 filmed on the beach in Cannes, this one brought them all together brilliantly.

This time, I went to Lions HQ in London to ask Paul Coxhill "What is The Key 🔑 to Great Creativity?"

🧠 And his extremely informed answer has multiple levels...and research to back it up!

Here is what Paul shared:

1️⃣ Creativity needs space. Space to think. Space to explore. Space for ideas to form properly. That space only exists when leaders actively give permission for it.

2️⃣ Great creativity must be backed. Not just applauded, but backed with time, investment, and people. The work that truly cuts through is the work that organisations commit to consistently over time.

3️⃣ Creativity drives business value. New research with Interbrand shows that sustained creative investment directly correlates with improvements in market capitalisation and profitability. Creativity is not a “nice to have”. It is a growth driver.

4️⃣ Creativity is bigger than the campaign. The most successful organisations understand that creativity runs through product, experience, platform, and culture – not just advertising outputs.

5️⃣ Consistency wins. Paul referenced Apple (winner of Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity Creative Marketer of the year) as a clear example: evolving executions, but a relentlessly consistent creative platform over time.

💡 Creativity is much bigger than the campaign. It is a strategic agenda item.

🙏 Thank you, Paul Coxhill, for such a clear, evidence-led perspective on why creativity deserves leadership attention, patience, and belief.

🤯 1.5 billion YouTube views. Creating since 2006. Interviewer of tech megastars. 🤯

Justine Ezarik, aka iJustine, is one of the original GOAT 🐐 creators of the internet era. A tech & gaming creator, interviewer, event-host and podcaster she has spent nearly two decades shaping how we experience technology, with conversations featuring Tim Cook, Sundar Pichai, Daniel Ek and Phil Spencer (to name just a few) and even hosts events like the annual #CES conference.

😬 So yes… as a long-time tech geek who has watched her content for years, it was slightly daunting to be the one asking Justine Ezarik the questions.

So....we had our "Quick Conversation 🎤" with me asking 👉 What is “The Key 🔑” to Great Creativity?

💪 Justine Ezarik's answer: ❝Do not quit❞ 💪

1️⃣ Longevity is the secret weapon. Creativity compounds over time. Most people stop. The ones who keep going get better.

2️⃣ Iteration beats perfection. Some projects start badly. You keep going, refine, adjust, and turn them into something stronger.

3️⃣ Consistency creates breakthroughs. You will not love everything you make, but eventually you create something that resonates, with you and with others.

4️⃣ AI is a creative unlock when used well. AI can suggest angles and ideas you would never have thought of, opening entirely new creative doors when embraced properly.

💬 “A lot of my friends quit. I didn’t.”

That, for me, also defines the determination and tenacity often needed for great creativity.

🙏 Thank you, iJustine, for such a grounded, generous and inspiring perspective on creativity from someone who has truly lived it and demonstrated what greatness in creativity looks like.

🔥 This one's a HOT TAKE from the very newly announced Luma AI opening a London office with Jason Day at the helm. 🔥

❗ “No one should need to become a prompt engineer.” ❗

That line stopped me in my tracks for two reasons:

1️⃣ It goes against everything we have heard in the last 12months

2️⃣ Because I had just literally just flagged down Jason Day and Caroline Ingeborn from Luma AI mid-LimeBike ride 🚲 through Soho to ask them:

👉 What is "The Key 🔑" to Great Creativity?

And their answer builds very nicely from this quote…

❝ The Key is when brand strategy, creative thinking and technology finally meet. ❞

Jason Day, Head of EMEA, Luma AI

Caroline Ingeborn, Global COO, Luma AI

Here is what they shared:

1️⃣ Strategy + Creativity = The Foundation

Great creativity starts when sharp brand strategy meets world-class creative thinking.

Everything should hinge on a strong creative platform aligned to the brand.

2️⃣ Technology is now the essential third pillar

Brands need creative that works everywhere: mobile, in-store, social.

AI enables teams to create more, create faster, and create better… without losing the craft.

3️⃣ Creatives are the big winners

AI should remove the mundane and free up creators to focus on:

• Ideas

• Exploration

• Storytelling

• Craft

4️⃣ The quote that changes the narrative in my view:

“Creatives already have a language. Tools should adapt to them, not the other way around....No one should need to become a prompt engineer.”

Caroline Ingeborn

5️⃣ Why Luma AI matters

Luma is building multimodal foundational models that understand video, image, text and audio, enabling creators to move at the speed of imagination… without needing to retrain as prompt engineers.

🙏 Thank you Jason Day and Caroline Ingeborn for this 🔥 HOT TAKE 🔥 from an unexpected LimeBike interception

⚡ A really clear articulation of how strategy, creative thinking and AI should fit together for great creativity!