, first and foremost, is a behemoth. If you鈥檙e not familiar with the world鈥檚 largest innovation conference, it鈥檚 just that. 70,000 people descend on the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal, and the conference鈥檚 five custom-built pavilions in search of investors, the latest advancements in technology, and new ideas to take back to their teams across the globe.
Despite its name, it鈥檚 not really a Web summit, it鈥檚 not even a tech summit. Web Summit is a playbook for how to do business today and how to be at the forefront of what鈥檚 next. As such, I walked away with one glaring takeaway: the urgency for change (of any kind) has become penultimate.
No matter what stage or speaker stood before you in blue and purple discotheque lighting, one couldn鈥檛 help but sense an undercurrent of urgency. On the Creatiff stage there were desperate pleas for purpose, on the PandaConf stage (the cheeky, irreverent name for the marketing stage), assurance that AI was friend, not foe, and on the Corporate Innovation stage, 15-year-olds doing their darndest to convince the audience to abandon the status quo and do things differently. It was surprising to encounter so much genuine altruism at a gathering typically lauded for its platform to pitch and self-promote.
The theme of the week was stark, as it was simple: Don鈥檛 Get Left Behind. While it鈥檚 humanly impossible to make it to every session (25+ tracks with 16 sessions/day over 3 days), these were the three most impactful 鈥渢o-dos鈥 I walked away with:
1. Embrace Gen Z. Embrace Gen Z. Embrace Gen Z.
The power of Gen Z is well covered territory at 极乐视频. We鈥檝e spent the last year researching this generation鈥檚 spending power, and influence over all other generations, and came to Web Summit to showcase what it鈥檚 really like to have Gen Z in the C-Suite. In June, , Harris Reed, to run our Gen Z Lab, a consortium of 150+ Gen Z employees from around the globe to advise clients on engaging their generation authentically.
A proponent for change, Harris told 极乐视频鈥檚 Global Chief Brand Officer Jackie Cooper that brands need to embrace Gen Z, or they鈥檙e going to miss the boat, 鈥渨e are the generation that wants change now.鈥 Jackie acknowledged that in her day-to-day conversations some brands and marketers are still hesitant to engage this generation for fear of being canceled; when asked about this, Harris said that those 鈥渁ssumptions are the problem.鈥
According to Harris, it鈥檚 about asking questions, 鈥淭he conversation around cancel culture is no longer productive.鈥 Instead he believes that companies should be looking to their Gen Z employees to help keep them accountable, in order to prevent future backlash. In his words, 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 get canceled if you鈥檙e working with the individuals that you鈥檙e creating change for.鈥
2. Create Positive Impact at Any Cost (even if you have to automate it)
Anyone that鈥檚 been to a conference in the last 5 years has heard the word 鈥減urpose鈥. It鈥檚 the buzzword du jour, with each utterance becoming more and more pass茅. At Web Summit, one agency took to the stage to make the case that because of its ubiquity 鈥減urpose鈥 had become too fluffy, and performance-minded businesses鈥 have turned their nose up at it. In its place, they offered Positive Impact.
I applaud the change in nomenclature 鈥 it鈥檚 hardcore and feels much more tangible (and measurable) than purpose. I was, however, struck by their suggested mode of delivery. An automated tool that translates client briefs into brand purpose strategies. The client is asking for an idea that will increase sales of its sports retail business. Here are four potential strategies that trojan-horse brand purpose into the scope based on pre-selected categories. The audience was rapidly taking notes and photographing the speaker鈥檚 slides.
To me, this example demonstrates how desperate our industry is to affect change. We understand our important role in the equation to push clients to do more, to be better. For some though, Purpose hasn鈥檛 been convincing enough and as we head into a recession, will become a harder sell. So, we鈥檙e taking any means necessary, rebranding purpose as impact, leveraging cutting-edge technology, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, trojan-horsing purpose into sales strategies, whatever it takes to get brands on board.
3. Our 鈥淚ntentions鈥 Aren鈥檛 Getting Us Anywhere, so Practice Unintentionality
Brian Collins, the founder of the brand experience design company of the same name, came to Web Summit to evangelize 鈥渦nintentionality鈥. On stage he theorized, 鈥淭he opposite of courage is conformity, and our intentions have led us toward convention.鈥 Thus he advised practicing 鈥渦nintentionality鈥.
To illustrate this point, the audience was asked to draw two portraits of the person sitting next to us. The first one, with our dominant hand. The second upside down, with our non-dominant hand, and without lifting the pen from the page. Everyone in the audience had more heart for the second drawing, seemingly because (according to Collins) we were released from our expectations to perform. His was a commentary on the standard process yielding the standard result. If its drastic change we desire, it鈥檚 likely mere 鈥渋ntentions鈥 won鈥檛 get us there. Shake up the process, do things upside down without your dominant hand and see what it yields.
The urgency for change, for a different way is apparent, but even with AI, it's no less daunting. Here鈥檚 my advice: start small. Pick one project to experiment with, one project in collaboration with your Gen Z employees, one project where positive impact is the sole KPI, one project to try a different process. Document everything. Share what you learn, and with any luck, you鈥檒l get permission to do it again.
Kelsey Rohwer is Senior Vice President, Global Brand Marketing.
