Advertising Week Europe quotes marketers need to know
The Drum picks out the best quotes heard on Advertising Week Europe Day One so that you don’t miss out on any insights.
Selma Hayek
Hollywood star Salma Hayek issued a rallying cry to the advertising industry to take notice of the power of older women on the opening day of Advertising Week Europe. Speaking during a one-on-one interview with Facebook’s European Vice President Nicola Mendelsohn yesterday (23 March), the actress, director and activist said “advertisers are making an effort [to represent powerful women]
“First, women in their 50s have a lot more of the means to buy things. It is not like before [when marketing] people said ‘If you are 50 then you are finished’.
“I think advertising is beginning to discover who we are and what we want [rather than] before when they were saying ‘this is what you are supposed to be’. We are empowering ourselves more and more and the consumer is changing the advertising."
Maurice Levy
Publicis Groupe chief executive Maurice Levy’s session spanned several topics, including his retirement plans and the company’s bid to be digital 60 per cent within the next three years but it was his comments on certain rival that proved the most provocative.
Commenting on his long-running rivalry with WPP chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell, Levy said: “We can compete without having nasty, small, naughty ways of dealing with the press. But it seems like it’s [a case of] the frog and the scorpion and one has the nature to pinch.
“The only issue is you have to spend time if suddenly you see a nasty comment. What can I do? I cannot teach him to be elegant.”
Alastair Campbell
Former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell used his session to point out the struggles politicians face in galvanising voters ahead of the General Election. Poor media plans and blunt strategies are hampering the reach and power of campaigns that are bound by “command and control” approaches to marketing, he added.
“I get the feeling looking right across the board that modern politics is still operating like we’re in that era, when actually we’ve moved on.
Yannick Bolloré
Havas chief executive Yannick Bolloré's session struck a controversial chord yesterday when he suggested that women are “too cautious” in business. It is the reason, he claimed, why there are more men than women in top roles in the advertising industry.
“I’m a huge believer in gender equality and it’s very important to be able to find a way to integrate more women into top management.
“[But] the problem lies in the people themselves, they [women] are too cautious. Men are taking more risks…I think it’s important that women become confident about themselves.”
Nestle's digital lead Gawain Owen called on agency networks to dig deeper to provide the fees necessary to get the best-skilled people into their companies to guide clients on programmatic trading, adding "we pay you enough".
His comments were triggered by Walker Media's managing director Steve Butcher who said it is difficult to get enough people with the right skills in programmatic.
Owen responded: "Get your cheque books out. If you want these network agencies to be as good as the likes of Infectious Media and other independents then you need people who are as skilled as a specialist programmatic company within the agencies, to help educate the clients or we will all make mistakes and say that programmatic is the worst thing we have ever done."
Jeremy Paxman criticised broadcasters over their handling of the General Election TV debates saying they behaved in a "pathetic, high-handed manner".
Meanwhile he defended The Times editor John Witherow's comments that the BBC has become a publisher, not just a broadcaser, adding that the world would be an impoverished place" without it, and that it is "cheap" compared to some broadcasters.
Image courtesy of Getty Images.
Speaking on a panel alongside The Drum editor-in-chief Gordon Young and presented by Channel 4 News anchor Jon Snow, Dennis Publishing chief James Tye spoke about the Heart of England Forest charity, which was set up bu Dennis founder Felix Dennis in 2003.
"The forest is a terrible business you’re buying expensive farm land and turning it into a forest which means you devalue it immediately. But our job is really straight forward it’s to provide money for the trust," said Tye.
"Every new starter has to go and plant a tree. It gives us purpose. So many companies are owned by bland investors, but the forest is making a difference for the long term. I'm sure he wouldn't even mind me saying that the forest has given us more purpose then when we were run by Felix... we've cut out the expensive middle man," he added.