Cannes Lions 2018: ‘Technology will be the saviour of creativity’ – Samsung global CMO

Samsung’s global CMO, Younghee Lee, hoped to have answered the question on many creative’s minds about whether technology is the downfall or saviour of creativity, by stating it’ll be the latter.

 

She started her talk at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity by talking about how creativity and technology is at an intersection currently.

 

She said, “Technology is fundamentally changing the industry and society. Artificial Intelligence is further changing the way we live and work. We are currently in the fourth industrial revolution and it is claimed that 40 per cent of all jobs total will be replaced by AI systems.”

 

But she believes that technology will only be an enabler for creatives and marketers. “Technology helps with effective targeting. By the end of the year, more than 3.6 billion people will have access to the internet. And what’s staggering is that of that 3.6 billion people, 84 per cent will be using their mobile device to connect to the internet,” said Lee.

 

And while there are challenges that come with the changing technology, Lee spoke about the importance of embracing those changes. “Eleven years ago I moved to Samsung. I was working with a cosmetic company and wasn’t an electronic engineer. It was a fantastic challenge and I was in a room full of men. I wanted to change the company from being a ‘technology first’ one to ‘people first’.”

 

She then had three tips for marketers.

 

·         Spot the trends

 

·         Predict what’s ahead

 

·         Help our society

 

“Having said that, predicting change is tough. Remember, the first generation phones were only about making calls. Then came 2G, 3G and 4G. And 5G will make all these insignificant. 5G will connect to everything around you. It will change how we live and play. It promises to change how we use technology,” said Lee.

 

The CMO of Samsung then spoke about how data will not kill creativity.

 

“A lot of people ask, ‘could data kill creativity?’ Data tracks what’s in the past. Algorithms don’t account for human emotion. So, don’t trust data.”

 

She was then joined on stage by Cheil’s global CCO, Malcolm Poynton.

 

On the topic, he said, “Technology has been a big talk point here. Sixty per cent of programmatic budgets go to connect ads to context which shouldn’t be going together. That’s giving it a bad name.”

 

Giving examples of a few films made by Cheil globally, he said, “Creativity has the power to move people. At the same time, technology is moving and transforming creativity.”

 

Good Vibes Project

 

Samsung Dytective

 

KT Life Saving TV

 

Samsung’s Lee surmised, “Technology will be the saviour of creativity because it gives us tools to take it to the next level.”