WEBVTT

00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:04.240
Being accelerated down a path just means
you need to be twice as sure about where

00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:07.400
you're trying to go.
Because otherwise you're going faster in

00:00:07.400 --> 00:00:08.440
the wrong direction.

00:00:10.360 --> 00:00:13.480
We're joined by Kern from Known and Janet
from BCG.

00:00:13.520 --> 00:00:14.400
Welcome, both.

00:00:14.520 --> 00:00:14.920
Thank you.

00:00:15.320 --> 00:00:15.720
Thank you.

00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:18.840
I wanted to start by asking you, both,
really,

00:00:18.840 --> 00:00:23.960
when we talk about creative being done by
GenAI, what are we really talking about?

00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:28.280
Well,
I think the most important thing is to

00:00:28.280 --> 00:00:31.080
say the capabilities have advanced
rapidly.

00:00:31.080 --> 00:00:35.840
But it's really important that we
de-average the conversation and not talk

00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:38.840
about creative in a broad brushstroke
context.

00:00:38.840 --> 00:00:40.720
There are a lot of different types of
creative.

00:00:41.040 --> 00:00:44.440
There's creative in paid social,
there's creative in video,

00:00:44.440 --> 00:00:46.520
there's creative in email marketing.

00:00:46.680 --> 00:00:51.200
I think it's important to take the pieces
apart and make sure that we're applying

00:00:51.200 --> 00:00:52.000
it in context.

00:00:52.440 --> 00:00:53.680
I completely agree.

00:00:53.680 --> 00:00:57.600
I think for us,
what we're seeing is really an unlocking

00:00:57.600 --> 00:01:03.240
and an elevation of the high craft that
people really think about to some extent

00:01:03.240 --> 00:01:05.680
when they talk about creative work.

00:01:06.080 --> 00:01:11.760
They're talking about that genesis,
that that spark of human insight and

00:01:11.760 --> 00:01:14.760
creativity. That's not getting done by

00:01:14.760 --> 00:01:15.160
GenAI.

00:01:15.360 --> 00:01:19.240
What is getting empowered and accelerated
by GenAI

00:01:19.240 --> 00:01:24.480
is the expression of that and some of the
endpoints that Janet mentioned and our

00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:28.960
ability to iterate rapidly,
to refine ideas and to really bring them

00:01:28.960 --> 00:01:30.280
to life efficiently.

00:01:31.400 --> 00:01:35.840
And do you think internal boundaries
within companies will have to shift more

00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:40.280
aggressively in order for them to be able
to actually make use of all the new

00:01:40.280 --> 00:01:41.440
potential out there?

00:01:41.800 --> 00:01:47.160
The degree to which a lot of the way
knowledge worker organizations have been

00:01:47.160 --> 00:01:50.640
organized,
and the systems that we think about as

00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:52.040
just being standard,

00:01:52.360 --> 00:01:57.600
were really built around some of the
impediments and deficits in the way that

00:01:57.600 --> 00:02:02.760
humans transmit and onboard information
and the idea that things had to move

00:02:02.760 --> 00:02:08.280
between departments or across disciplines
in the form of a PowerPoint or an Excel

00:02:08.280 --> 00:02:11.880
spreadsheet,
which is really just a distillation and

00:02:11.880 --> 00:02:16.600
kind of a oversimplification of a lot of
big ideas and conversations.

00:02:16.880 --> 00:02:21.480
And now I think with AI being embedded
into our processes,

00:02:21.480 --> 00:02:27.240
it allows us to take really rich data
sets that include a ton of granular

00:02:27.240 --> 00:02:33.560
information and move them with complete
fidelity into a new part of the process.

00:02:33.880 --> 00:02:35.760
That's not a thing a human being can do
easily,

00:02:35.760 --> 00:02:37.880
but that's the thing that an AI system
can do easily.

00:02:38.200 --> 00:02:44.040
And so I think it's not that we have to
redefine the way our orgs work for AI.

00:02:44.040 --> 00:02:49.960
I think it will allow us to work much
more seamlessly with much higher fidelity

00:02:49.960 --> 00:02:53.920
across processes and that will transform
our business.

00:02:54.080 --> 00:02:57.760
How much will the changes incorporate
sort of staffing?

00:02:57.760 --> 00:02:59.760
You know,
agency models are very sort of staffing

00:02:59.760 --> 00:03:00.080
focused.

00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:01.440
Will that have to change?

00:03:01.440 --> 00:03:06.200
We've been trying to move—and happily
are having more success in the age of AI—

00:03:06.200 --> 00:03:11.040
we've been trying to move for a long time
to a model that's more about output than

00:03:11.040 --> 00:03:12.840
it is about hours. And impact—

00:03:12.840 --> 00:03:18.360
what have we done to deliver a successful
campaign or a successful product launch,

00:03:18.360 --> 00:03:22.680
and how do we measure and understand our
value in that context.

00:03:22.960 --> 00:03:26.280
I think we're just going to see a
deepening of, first of all,

00:03:26.280 --> 00:03:30.400
the partnerships between client and
agency because they become an extension

00:03:30.400 --> 00:03:34.120
of your team first of all,
which means deeper alignment on the KPIs,

00:03:34.120 --> 00:03:37.120
true partnership,
not treating an agency like a vendor,

00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:38.720
and really blurring the lines.

00:03:38.920 --> 00:03:42.800
And that means on process,
on people—does the person at the agency

00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:46.280
work for the agency or are they badged
into your own team.

00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:50.400
It's a false dichotomy to think about
in-housing and agency scope.

00:03:50.840 --> 00:03:55.280
We need to think about connecting the
dots across the process that needs to be

00:03:55.280 --> 00:03:59.240
done in service of the business outcome
that we're trying to achieve.

00:03:59.240 --> 00:04:03.960
And what needs to change in the operating
model in order to be able to think at the

00:04:03.960 --> 00:04:04.720
system level.

00:04:05.200 --> 00:04:09.400
One of the things that is certainly a
bear is some of the commercial structures

00:04:09.400 --> 00:04:12.280
that exist today,
because they're somewhat static and

00:04:12.280 --> 00:04:16.240
they're not necessarily aligned from an
incentive model with the notion of

00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:16.720
outcomes.

00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:20.240
But I think everyone appreciates and
understands that at the end of the day,

00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:23.760
the notion of aligning around a client's
goals is going to be extremely important.

00:04:23.960 --> 00:04:28.320
I think starting to challenge the
boundaries between the teams that work on

00:04:28.320 --> 00:04:31.120
paid, owned,
and earned media becomes incredibly

00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:31.720
important.

00:04:32.040 --> 00:04:35.840
And then also thinking about the
incentives across those teams so that

00:04:35.840 --> 00:04:38.440
again,
they don't have barriers and KPI—in their

00:04:38.440 --> 00:04:42.480
own KPIs so that they work more
collectively even within the organization.

00:04:42.840 --> 00:04:44.160
I think that's exactly right.

00:04:44.200 --> 00:04:47.880
It's—we need to get crisper on KPIs,
more aligned,

00:04:47.880 --> 00:04:53.000
and then let everything flow from there.
Because having a faster car,

00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:57.880
having a better machine,
having—being accelerated down a path just

00:04:57.880 --> 00:05:02.840
means you need to be twice as sure about
where you're trying to go.

00:05:02.840 --> 00:05:07.320
Because otherwise you're going faster in
the wrong direction.

00:05:08.040 --> 00:05:08.920
Excellent advice.

00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:11.880
Well, Kern and Janet,
thanks very much for joining us here

00:05:11.880 --> 00:05:12.200
today.

00:05:12.440 --> 00:05:13.000
Thank you so much.

00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:13.360
Thank you.