The ANA in Cannes

By John Wolfe

The Association of National Advertisers kicked off its participation in the 2019 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity this Monday with a series of events focusing on the ANA CMO Growth Council and the ANA's #SeeHer gender equality initiative.

ANA president Christine Manna was first up on Monday afternoon when, fresh off her flight from New York and after checking into the Martinez Hotel (across the street from the infamous Gutter Bar), Chris introduced a panel discussion organized by #SeeHer entitled "Increasing the Visibility of Women in Sports."

Early reviews were that she did great job. The event generated a lively debate among panelists including Stephanie McMahon, chief brand officer at the WWE, Jodi Harris, VP marketing culture and learning at Anheuser-Busch, and Nadine McHugh, SVP at L'Oreal, among others.

Later in the day, key members of the CMO Growth Council gathered at the Goals House, a venue that sits at the highest point in Cannes and offers a sensational view of the Croisette and the Mediterranean.

The event was led by ANA EVP Nick Primola, who reminded the attendees that the purpose of the meeting was to refine and polish some of the goals that were discussed at last year's first-ever meeting in Cannes where four key workstreams or "pillars" of attention and focus were identified.

Last year in Cannes, 25 members of the Global CMO Growth Council identified the key barriers to driving growth. They identified four "growth priorities" and are now working to identify global marketing objectives and tangible outcomes. The four growth priorities are:

• Brand Innovation, Creativity, and Experience: Tasked with reframing marketing and the role of the CMO as related to the enterprise-wide customer experience, and developing the launch of a first-of-its-kind Global Center for Brand Innovation and Creativity
• Data, Technology, and Measurement: The team is creating a CMO's guide and universal best practices for martech that drives business growth
• Talent Development and Organization: Planning to launch the first-ever industry-wide campaign to "market marketing" and develop career paths for modern marketing's most important roles
• Society and Sustainability: The team is building the gold standard to help CMOs drive innovative outcomes that are good for both society and business

Four working groups were established to identify objectives and create tangible solutions that will benefit the wider, global marketing community. The outcomes of their efforts will be shared and presented live in Cannes on Thursday in a presentation at the Palais.

ANA CEO Bob Liodice also addressed the group and said driving growth has been the core mission of the ANA and the Growth Council for the past two years, adding that the four pillars of concentration were established after the Cannes Lions organization approached the ANA about joining forces on a global initiative designed to drive growth.

"What we are attempting to do is establish sustainable business machines that will exist into perpetuity if necessary to make progress against the goals we are setting out this week to make," Liodice said.

Stay tuned for more dispatches from the ANA at Cannes Lions.