Hiring talent with an open mind
I became president of advertising and marketing agency Grey in 2023. When you take over a new organisation, you’re thinking about talent and its importance.
I now think about temperament as much as I think about talent when recruiting. There was a time when talent reigned supreme, but if talent is technology-shy, unwilling to learn or egotistical to the point of being uncollaborative, the utility of that talent is exceptionally low. But if the temperament is one of openness with a sense that there is always more to learn, then that talent is much more powerful.
An old mentor of mine, Jeremy Bullmore [the influential advertising practitioner who died in 2023], used to talk about people with ambidextrous brains – those who are highly creative and love the science of creativity. These people are more important than ever as the worlds of technology and creativity blur to the point of being indistinguishable.
AI will never turn a good creative into a great creative, but it can make a great creative unstoppable. The creatives I know who are most fearful of AI are the ones who are least familiar with it. Conversely, those who are most optimistic about AI are the ones who use it most.
But using AI in a lazy way is risky. If AI is used as an accelerant and amplifier of an existing creative idea, it’s a wonderful thing. If, however, it’s used in place of a creative idea, it will produce bland work. People who invest in AI at the expense of human creativity will fall into that homogenous zone.
Setting ambitious goals
Our marketing team is very global, operating in 20 cities across the world. Our core focus for 2025 is to set ambitious goals and make them happen. A goal-driven culture has long been part of Canva’s success.
On the technology front, we made several acquisitions last year, including an AI-content production company called Leonardo. We also acquired Affinity – a world-class professional design suite, which is really pushing the boundaries in that space. This year will be about embedding those companies in Canva and making the most of what they have to offer. That will continue to be a big focus for us, particularly as we approach our Canva Create 2025 event in April with our big product launches for the year.
We’re also re-organising teams to encourage them to operate more like startups. Setting really clear, high-impact goals that will help propel the company forward and then empowering teams to achieve them will be crucial for us in 2025.
Staying in your lane
Yahoo has been through a big period of change over the past few years. Our big resolution this year is to stick to the plan.
We’ve simplified our approach to technology, content, consumer division and our demand-side platform. For me, it’s a case of remembering this approach is not broken, so let’s not try to fix it.
There are very few companies that have their own media, ad-tech platform and email, with more than 9 million monthly subscribers. We’ve got to remember that is good enough to compete and it can help us solve a lot of marketers’ problems.
Our main resolution is to stick to the plan. We can’t be distracted by the next shiny thing that bigger brands will no doubt be talking about. It’s about focusing on the role we can play to help marketers in the space we’re in.
Hiring talent with an open mind
I became president of advertising and marketing agency Grey in 2023. When you take over a new organisation, you’re thinking about talent and its importance.
I now think about temperament as much as I think about talent when recruiting. There was a time when talent reigned supreme, but if talent is technology-shy, unwilling to learn or egotistical to the point of being uncollaborative, the utility of that talent is exceptionally low. But if the temperament is one of openness with a sense that there is always more to learn, then that talent is much more powerful.
