Axios at Cannes Lions 2024: Marketing, comms leaders explain why core values matter in a tumultuous world

CANNES, FRANCE – Chief marketing and communications officers gathered at Cannes Lions to discuss the risks and rewards of inserting cultural relevance into brands during a polarizing time.

Why it matters: Brands continually have to balance being relevant to cultural narratives, especially in the age of social media.

The details: Axios communications strategist and writer Eleanor Hawkins moderated the conversations.

• The event was sponsored by Weber Shandwick.

When it comes to partnering with individual brands, American Express chief marketing officer Elizabeth Rutledge and American Express chief corporate affairs officer Jennifer Skyler said it depends on values and customers.

• What they're saying: "A very important principle [is] just making sure the partners that we're with have the same values that we do, and it's all about keeping the customer at the center of all of it," said Rutledge.
• Rutledge added that American Express is in the "business of membership," pointing to its partnership with Olivia Rodrigo, access to the Centurion Airport Lounges, F1 experiences, and coveted restaurant reservations via Resy.
• Skyler said, "When I think about the way [marketing and corporate affairs] come together, it's our job on the corporate affairs side to ensure that that partnership and that those narratives are hitting both our current customer base as well as prospects on our organic channels, and that we are showing up where they are."

The worst thing a brand can do is not stick to their core values, Rutledge explained.

• "In our case, it's all about sticking to powerful backing and the brand values that we stand for. I think when you start to stray from your core mission, that's when there's challenges. So it's just sticking to it," Rutledge said.
• "I think when brands waffle and don't stay true to your values…that's when I think you see the most trouble," Skyler added.

In a separate interview, Hinge chief marketing officer Jackie Janto said they put more focus on partnering with creators rather than their own social media channels.

• "Having spent time at large brands, I also sometimes myself question the value of social channels coming from a brand. Is that a channel that needs to be activated and to what end? And who really cares– are some of the questions that I ask myself."
• "The work that we do with creators is really about better understanding what they care about and where might there be an intersection with what we care about."

• Janto mentioned that they don't look for influencers to partner with based on how much creative work they do, but they look for people that hold the same values as their company.

Content from sponsored segment below:

In a View From the Top conversation, Weber Shandwick North America CEO Jim O'Leary discussed how it is "arguably the most difficult time to be a brand" in the current political and polarized world.

• "Right now we're in this moment, especially in the United States, where you have a lot of the things that as businesses and brands that we've been pushing the pendulum in one direction on whether it's like social justice, or sustainability, DEI, etc., that are now being pushed back against by opposing forces. And that's making things arguably even more complicated for brands than it probably has ever been."
• According to Weber Shandwick's research, 75% of consumers don't want brands to play an "active role in politics this election" particularly in the United States.