For years, marketing has tilted towards performance: measurable clicks, immediate conversions and short-term returns.
But is the pendulum swinging back towards brand?
Recorded live at Cannes Lions, John Horsley sits down with John Morris, CEO of Design Bridge and Partners, to explore why long-term brand building is returning to the boardroom agenda, and why creativity and design need to be understood as drivers of business growth, not simply marketing outputs.
John argues that the strongest brands combine something timeless with the ability to remain timely. They know what they stand for, build distinctive assets around that truth and tell the same story consistently enough to earn recognition and trust.
That becomes even more important in an AI-driven world. As LLMs increasingly influence discovery and shortlisting, brands with a clear, consistent meaning may have a significant advantage over businesses trying to communicate dozens of competing messages.
The conversation also explores the changing role of the CMO, why marketers need to speak the commercial language of the boardroom, the relationship between CMOs and CFOs, and why CEOs increasingly need to become their organisation’s chief storytellers.
They discuss:
• Why marketing is shifting back towards long-term brand building
• What AI and LLMs mean for brand discovery and distinctiveness
• Why brands need a single, repeatable truth
• Whether the traditional CMO role is becoming obsolete
• How marketers can make the commercial case for brand investment
• Why CEOs need to become better storytellers
• Creativity, inspiration and the value of keeping things simple
Plus, John shares three pieces of advice he would give his younger self: don’t seek perfection, remember that careers are marathons rather than sprints, and smile a little more along the way.
A conversation about brand, creativity, commercial growth and what it takes to build businesses that endure.
Recorded live at Cannes Lions.
