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Inspired by the storytelling module on Sir John Hegarty’s 'The Business of Creativity' course, the adland veteran himself and a panel of marketing experts came together at the �������� & Friends Beach at Cannes Lions 2024 to discuss what storytelling means to them, how clients can become ‘clients of choice’, the rise of independent creators, the best way to sell a great idea, and more.

You can watch the full conversation below between Doerte Spengler-Ahrens, chairwoman of Jung von Matt and ADC president; Upasana Roy, global creative strategy director at Reckitt; Philipp Schuster, agency management and marketing partnerships director at Bayer; and advertising pioneer Sir John Hegarty, moderated by MCA’s founder and CEO, Pat Murphy.

“We’re being driven by profit, not by philosophy - and that’s a very short-term way of viewing life because eventually that will fall over,” said Sir John Hegarty, exploring the current state of the industry at the top of the discussion. After looking at how creativity is perceived in the industry, the group delved into how these creative ideas translate to business - how to speak like a client and sell the idea, and the client’s perspective on this dynamic, among other topics.

The panel concluded with one of the most talked about topics of Cannes 2024 - artificial intelligence. Describing creativity as ‘the bridge between imagination and intelligence’ Sir John Hegarty warned the industry to take heed of its limitations, a sensibility shared by Doerte, who said, “It supports us, it’s the wind under our wings and nothing more.” On the other hand, Upasana declared she was part of AI’s ‘hype’ school of thought, calling it a “competitive edge”, leading to a fruitful debate about how the business of creativity is affected in an AI world.

Watch the full panel below.

All of the �������� & Friends Beach panel videos, brought to us by content sponsor MCA can be found in