🌟 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!

🤯 When you start by asking about "The Key 🔑" to great creativity… and end up getting blown away by a life-saving nutritional ice cream!!! ⚕️ 🍦

In this “Quick Conversation 🎤” I spoke with Eric Weisberg, Global Chief Creative Officer at Havas Health Network and asked "What is They Key 🔑 to great creativity?", and what he shared is one of the most wonderful demonstrations of great creativity. 💥

So to make sense of that, here is what Eric Weisberg shared about "The Key 🔑" to great creativity:

1️⃣ Curiosity keeps creativity alive.

Great creativity today means understanding where culture, media, technology and human behaviour are going next. Curiosity is the engine that keeps ideas moving.

2️⃣ Resilience drives breakthroughs.

Creativity comes with setbacks, rejection and struggle. The ability to get back up, push again, and refine the idea is what separates good from great.

3️⃣ And then… Creamotherapy. ⚕️🍦❄️

One in five cancer patients do not die from cancer itself…

They die from malnutrition.

During chemotherapy, appetite collapses and patients rely on nutritional shakes that are a challenge to stomach. So much so that 83% of cancer patients suffer with malnutrition.

🧠 So the team discovered a way to encapsulate essential protein, vitamins and minerals…make them flavourless and odourless

…and put them inside tasty ice cream.

⚕️🍦 Creamotherapy was born.

Now being tested in 12 hospitals across the UK ❗

With the potential to save two million lives every year ‼️

🦁 A Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity Lion winner, but more importantly, a piece of creativity with real, profound human impact ❗‼️

💡 The Key 🔑

Curiosity + resilience = creativity that matters.

Creativity that helps.

Creativity that can literally save lives.

🙏 Thank you, Eric Weisberg, an unforgettable reminder of what creativity can truly do.

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

❝ A shared North Star… and true partnership. ❞...wonderfully demonstrated by the Nike film that was 7 years in the making!!!

Patrick Garvey (Paddy), Founding Partner, WE ARE Pi

🎤 For the next contribution to this series on great creativity, I had the chance to have a “Quick Conversation 🎤” with Patrick Garvey to ask:

👉 What is "The Key 🔑" to great creativity?

Here is what Paddy shared:

1️⃣ A shared North Star. 🌟

Great creativity begins with a clear, aligned ambition. When both client and agency agree on what they are truly trying to achieve, breakthrough work becomes possible.

2️⃣ Partnership above everything. 🤝

Honest conversations, a shared journey, and the willingness to push each other are essential. Creativity thrives when the conditions for success are created together.

3️⃣ Good is no longer good enough. 💥

With AI producing “good enough” work, agencies must aim for the standout, the remarkable, the work that makes people stop and say, “That is incredible.”

4️⃣ A powerful example: a 7-year odyssey with Nike. 🏃‍♀️‍➡️

WE ARE Pi created a 1hr40 feature film "Crois Pas Qu’on Dort ('Don’t Think We’re Sleeping')" following Parisian athletes chasing their Olympic dreams.

A national cinema release in France, streaming to follow, and multiple Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity shortlists…

🤯 All made possible because everyone involved shared the same North Star, even across seven years of production.

🙏 Thank you, Patrick Garvey a brilliant reminder that great creativity thrives when both sides align on a shared ambition and stay committed to it....even for 7 years!!

❓What is "The Key 🔑" to Great Creativity ❓

❝ Our desire to populate culture... through creating distinctive brand assets ❞

Stephanie Brimacombe, Chief Exec EMEA & Global Growth Lead, VCCP

☀️ Now that it is getting colder here in the UK, it felt like the right moment to warm things up with a little sunshine from back in Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, where I caught up with Stephanie Brimacombe on the VCCP terrace overlooking the Croisette 🌴 for a “Quick Conversation 🎤”.

👉 So… what is "The Key 🔑" to great creativity?

Here is what Steph shared:

1️⃣ Populate culture, do not just participate in it.

"Great creativity earns its place in culture by building distinctive brand assets people recognise instantly."

2️⃣ Integration is the engine.

"For VCCP, the magic happens when strategy, creative, media and technology work together from the very start and not in silos. Integration fuels creativity at scale."

3️⃣ Start with the brand issue, not the channel.

"Before deciding where work should live, step back and ask:

What is the core brand problem? What will truly resonate?"

4️⃣ Examples speak loudest:

Daisy vs. Scammers (O2 (Telefónica UK)): a brilliant use of AI and character IP.

Cadbury UK “Made to Share”: creativity with heart and generosity at its core.

🔥 And now that Cannes is wrapped… the results speak for themselves.

At Cannes Lions 2025, VCCP won 7 awards, including:

🏆 Gold Lion for Daisy vs. Scammers (O2 (Telefónica UK))

🥈 3 x Silver Lions

🥉 2 x Bronze Lions, including wins for Cadbury UK – Made to Share

Proof that creativity grounded in insight, craft and integration works.

🙏 Thank you Stephanie Brimacombe Brimacombe — for the conversation, the candour, and an inspiring look at what makes VCCP’s creative engine run.

❓ What is The Key 🔑 to Great Client–Agency Relationships?

❝ Authenticity. You are either in or you are out. ❞

David Villa-Clarke BEM, MBA-Clarke, CEO of the Aleto Foundation:

🏎️ I first met David at The Marketing Society’s Performance, Purpose and Partnerships event at the Aston Martin F1 Team Headquarters, where he was on stage discussing his work as the Aston Martin F1 Team’s diversity consultant with The Aleto Foundation.

🎤 The work David Villa-Clarke BEM, MBA is doing is so valuable to ensure inclusion "is always in the driver's seat", so I was very pleased to continue the conversation with him on a sunny day in London for this “Quick Conversation 🎤 ".

Here is what David Villa-Clarke BEM, MBA-Clarke shared:

❗Authenticity is the Key❗

1️⃣ Authenticity is non-negotiable.

A relationship cannot be a win–lose dynamic. If either side walks away diminished, that is not a relationship. Both sides must feel supported, respected, and trusted.

2️⃣ You cannot ‘fake’ authenticity.

“If you are trying to be authentic… you are not in the right position.”

People can see it instantly. Organisations must show up with genuine intent, not box-ticking or convenience-driven values.

3️⃣ When values shift, authenticity (or lack of it) is exposed.

David shared a powerful example: organisations who championed LGBTQ+ inclusion publicly… until political pressure arrived, and then disappeared from the conversation.

You are either in or out.

4️⃣ Authentic relationships last. Inauthentic ones collapse under pressure.

This applies to client–agency partnerships, internal teams, charities, and communities. Authenticity creates the conditions where trust can grow, even when the work is challenging.

🙏 Thank you, David Villa-Clarke BEM, MBA-Clarke, for such a clear, values-led perspective on what makes relationships work and for the crucial work you lead at The Aleto Foundation supporting future leaders and organisations.

🔆 Here's to a future where these considerations are developing and growing vs. being under threat!

#QuickConversations

#TheKey

#ClientAgencyRelationships

#Authenticity

#Leadership

#AletoFoundation

#Booster

🏅 🏃‍♂️ Movember is nearly here… and who better to talk about connection, community, and conversation than Sir Mo Farah 🏃‍♂️ 🏅

I still can't believe that I got to have this "Quick Conversation 🎤" with THE Sir Mo Farah at Stagwell’s Sport Beach at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, right after he’d been out for a run with a big group of people, raising awareness for Movember.

As a big fan and keen runner myself, this was a huge moment...and I'm happy to admit, I was a bit starstruck!!

For this "Quick Conversation🎤" in dedication to Movember, I asked Sir Mo:

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

Here is what Sir Mo Farah shared:

1️⃣ Find your place of belonging.

“For me, that was my running club, where I felt loved, welcomed, and part of something.”

2️⃣ Connect by talking.

“If I hadn’t talked about the challenges I was facing, I wouldn’t have succeeded as much as I did.”

3️⃣ Create spaces for men to open up.

“We all face challenges but too often there’s nowhere we can go to connect and talk.

Movember is changing that.”

4️⃣ Drop the ‘strong and silent’ act.

“As men, we sometimes think we can’t talk about it.

But we can talk about it. And we should.”

🏃‍♂️ Movember reminds us that connection can save lives, and that talking is strength, not weakness.

🙏 Thank you, Sir Mo Farah, for your honesty, warmth, and leadership in showing that vulnerability is a superpower...and for saying 'Yes' to me when I asked if you would be up for a "Quick Conversation"!

🥸 Time to grow a moustache!

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hashtag#TheKey

hashtag#Movember

hashtag#Connection

hashtag#MentalHealthAwareness

hashtag#Booster