“Creativity must make a comeback. We need to revive the fundamentals of marketing. And it is we, the marketers, who must understand that,” said Stephan Loerke, CEO of the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), in his opening speech at the Global Marketers Conference at the Peoples House in Stockholm a few days ago.
All the speakers I listened to at the conference pointed to the central role of creativity in brand development and marketing.
However, many in the marketing industry interpret the word “creativity” very narrowly—as something that only relates to advertising. Of course, creativity is absolutely essential for communication to achieve its objectives. But creativity is needed in every part of marketing.
At the Global Marketers Conference, organised by the Swedish Advertisers’ Association and WFA, attention was also given to more than just Promotion in the marketing mix. Even if creative advertising featured prominently—and Andrew Tindall from System1 focused specifically on that (I wrote more about his presentation here).
TECHNOLOGY IN THE SERVICE OF CREATIVITY
In recent years, AI has been high on the agenda in many contexts. The most intense hype now seems to have subsided somewhat, and more people are beginning to see AI as a valuable tool rather than a solution to everything—or a threat to most things.
Stephan Loerke noted that AI has its place and its uses, but added:
“Don’t forget HI—Human Intelligence!”
Two of the speakers I listened to came from some of the world’s largest and most successful FMCG companies, and they provided several examples of the combination of creativity and technology—while emphasising that people must remain at the centre.
Taide Guajardo from Procter & Gamble spoke on the theme “How do we transform the transformation?”.
She noted that a great deal has happened in the 189 years since candle maker William Procter and soap maker James Gamble founded the company that is now the world’s 25th largest.
Then as now, much of the opportunity for growth lies in identifying unmet consumer needs.
“It was a much calmer world when I studied marketing and later began working in it, quite some time ago. Today, purchase decisions are made in seven seconds—and you need to be top of mind,” she said, explaining that Procter & Gamble therefore works with what they call their “Three Anchors”.
THE FIRST ANCHOR
First and foremost, it is about truly understanding people’s everyday lives. Here, AI can be a great help.
“Insights have changed over time. In the past, when we conducted market research, consumers told us what they thought we wanted to hear. Today, we may not need to ask them—we can see the answers in their behaviour,” she explained.
P&G has, among other things, the ability (and permission) to follow a number of consumers in their homes and film their daily routines. This has provided insights that are much closer to reality.
For example, they discovered that many people do not put pots or oven dishes into the dishwasher without first soaking them.
This led to the development of a cleaning/rinsing spray under the Fairy (Yes) brand, called “Skip the Soak”. By spraying the dirty cookware, soaking could be replaced quickly and easily.
According to Worldpanel by Numerator, it became the most successful new product launch of 2025.
Another insight that led to product development was the difficulty of drying laundry in rainy regions. Clothes dried indoors do not feel or smell as fresh as those dried outdoors. This led to the idea of a fabric softener with a “fresh air” scent.
The fact that men are increasingly less likely to wear ties—and many have stopped shaving—became the basis for the campaign theme “Singalong with me”.
British singer-songwriter Tom Grennan recorded a new version of Gillette’s jingle “The Best a Man Can Get” in 2024. This became the foundation of a campaign featuring Grennan and football legend Ian Wright, which quickly went viral, particularly among Generation Z.
The campaign generated six million viral views and 1.5 million streams on Spotify. At Grennan’s concerts, fans could be seen holding signs asking him to perform the Gillette song. Ordinary people joined in, posting their own versions on TikTok—from shoppers in Liverpool to crowds at football matches.
Purchase interest increased by 15 per cent. The song also won the Music & Brand Partnership Award at the Music Week Awards 2025.
BUILD SUPERIORITY OVER TIME
The second anchor is about finding the path to superiority over time.
“It is the small wins that, together, make you a winner,” said Taide Guajardo.
Success does not always require major, revolutionary launches. Solving smaller problems can be enough.
In Brazil, for example, many parents experienced sleepless nights when their children had recently stopped using nappies but were not yet able to get through the night. Large packs of nappies felt like something from the past. The solution was simple: small packs of night-time nappies, used only when needed.
When it comes to sustainability, progress is often the result of many small steps. P&G has spent ten years developing a detergent that is both easy to use and environmentally friendly—thin, soft detergent “fibre sheets” that dissolve in the washing machine: Tide Evo.
This eliminates the need to transport water in plastic bottles, while also removing the need to measure and risk spilling detergent.
The product was launched in February this year, but was tested in a limited market in Colorado in 2024, where demand was twice as high as expected.
INVEST IN REAL PEOPLE
Technology is important—but for P&G, people are the third anchor for navigating future change.
“One important way to do better work is to democratise learning. We have insourced what we believe is difficult to understand—not permanently, but while we develop and learn,” Guajardo explained.
She pointed out that the company’s size is an advantage, offering employees opportunities to grow and develop within the organisation.
“We give our people both responsibility and freedom,” she said.
Something echoed by other P&G leaders over the years. At Cannes Lions three years ago, Alex Keith (CEO, P&G Beauty) and Monica Turner (President, P&G North America) described a company that genuinely allows people to be themselves.
That also means allowing failure.
“Failure is just delayed success. Mistakes make me better at learning,” Alex Keith emphasised.
For a company that aims for greatness and sees everyone as a potential customer, understanding all people is essential—regardless of ethnicity, gender or disability. This is difficult without an inclusive culture.
P&G has extensive policies and programmes for inclusion and diversity, making it significantly easier to develop both products and communication that are inclusive.
“Between 10 and 15 per cent of people live with some form of disability. We have used AI to help make our advertising more accessible—for example through audio description,” said Guajardo, adding that doing the right thing for society also benefits the company.
“But in everything we do, we must stay focused—and stay connected to our roots.”
MARS USES AI FOR CO-CREATION INITIATIVES
Gülen Bengi from Mars also emphasised the importance of staying true to brand roots and keeping people at the centre.
“The world we want tomorrow depends on how we do business today,” she said, speaking on the theme “Iconic Brands in the Age of AI”, and added:
“We have more signals and touchpoints than ever before. Billions of people use AI. The question is how we connect all these touchpoints to get the most out of technology.”
This requires brands to be clear about what they stand for—and to work consistently with that.
Even if the future is shaped by technology, everything starts with people. The difference today is that it is easier to connect different types of data, creating far greater opportunities to define direction. Mars refers to this capability as a “crystal ball”.
“For example, we can predict when someone is about to get a pet—sometimes even before they know it themselves,” she said.
Mars has a portfolio of iconic brands.
“Brands become iconic when generation after generation trusts them. But today, the demand for personalisation is higher than ever,” she added.
Monsumers also want to participate.
“More than 80 per cent of Generation Z want to be involved in co-creation. It also makes things more authentic when consumers are part of the process—and become part of the marketing,” she said, giving several examples.
PROFESSIONAL CREATORS MUST LEAD
One example was the story of “Rick the M&M collector”, who has built the world’s largest collection of M&M-related items—more than 3,000 objects collected over more than 30 years.
But one item was missing: an old spice rack with salt and pepper shakers shaped like an apple tree.
Mars picked up on his passion and the missing item and launched a “treasure hunt”, mobilising the internet to help Rick find the salt and pepper set—under the theme “It’s more fun together”.
“The key is to find passion points—it does not matter which ones—and then nurture them. Creativity is crucial here. Professional creators must identify the right ideas, which can then be developed further at scale,” Bengi explained.
She also pointed to Snickers as an example.
The concept “You’re not you when you’re hungry” was established in the 1980s and is based on the idea that people make more mistakes when they are hungry.
Ahead of the UEFA Euro 2024, Mars worked with José Mourinho to reinforce and extend the concept. People were encouraged to share their own “hunger mistakes”, helping the campaign spread further.
“The goal is to start a conversation that others want to join. To understand what drives results, you need skilled analysts,” she said, and continued:
“You begin with paid media and then scale. Reach people who, in turn, contribute additional creativity and connection. It is about linking everything together and understanding the relationships.”
But whatever you do, you must return to the fundamentals.
“People first. Technology second.”
