Final Thoughts on Advertising Week Europe

As the curtain draws to a close on the final day of Advertising Week Europe, we take a look back at the absolutely mammoth amount of talking that has occurred over the past four days. It’s amazing how, with so much going on, there were a few core themes that managed to weave their way through every talk.

It was great to see a strong outdoor presence with plenty of people talking about digital outdoor, particularly in Mindshare’s Huddle Hack. The Hack was a week long series of sessions aimed at producing a creative tech solution to help tackle homelessness in London and the majority of ideas put forward used DOOH, including the winning idea which will see Clear Channel help modify bus stops to create mobile charging points. You can watch the final pitches here.

Across the week there were three key themes that stood out to us – Collaboration, Creativity and Technology. These words have to be the most consistently used throughout the week, we take a look now at each of these themes and discuss what we have learnt.

Collaboration

Moving to a full service agency model (even creating bespoke agencies for large clients), breaking down silos and the need to all work together were common talking points. Whether that be simply across departments, or across companies but all working together towards the goal of producing the best service for clients. Whilst ideas like this are great, we can only hope that these sentiments will be taken to heart by all those in attendance this week, and that in the coming months we will start to see some of these inspiring words being put into action.

Creativity

Industry leaders from across the creative landscape shared some of their most famous work and gave insight into the creative process behind the scenes. The thing we heard over and over again was to keep moving, keep experimenting and don’t be afraid of taking risks. At the heart of the creative experience is the person, and that we should not lose sight of this in the quest to find a ‘great’ idea.

Technology

As a company with creative technology at our heart it was interesting to hear what other people had to say about it. It was reassuring to hear that our views were shared across the industry, with the general consensus being that you shouldn’t overshadow a good idea with technology – the story or idea has to come first and the technology is just there to support and enhance it. Something we try to bring to every project we work on, so it was great to hear people preaching this message.

High Points: Apart from expanding our minds with the many inspiring sessions, seeing the smiling faces (despite the rain) of all the Advertising Week Europe staff and the free Pick ‘n’ Mix courtesy of Google…

Low Points: Having the “Epic Strut” now burnt into my brain after seeing it countless times at the start of every session.

Here’s to taking all that we have learnt over the past four days and putting it into practise . . . it’s going to be an exciting journey!