What should a brand be in 2016? "Authentic." That's the watchword everyone is using these days, and Omnicom's OMD media agency is no different.
As the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity got underway this week, OMD camped out at what it's calling its "OMD Oasis", a terrace on the Croisette where it will host more than 20 panel discussions, boardroom discussions, air-conditioned meetings - and Beet.TV's production center for the week.
Modern agencies are coalescing around the fact that clients can no longer just pump out salesy messages, they have to portray a point of view and an authentic raison d'être, if they want to be appreciated.
"If you Googled 'brand authenticity', you'd probably get 15,000, 17,000 articles,which probably means that we don't yet have the final answer," OMD Worldwide CEO Mainardo de Nardis says. "What is the magic rule? I don't know. I don't think anybody does. That's why we're in Cannes."
OMD's Oasis will host a discussion on that topic with Gwyneth Paltrow, the actress who is also named as a curator of the weekly lifestyle magazine cum ecommerce site Goop.
It will also host discussions with executives from Twitter, Guardian News & Media, Daily Mail, CNN and others.
Editor's Note: During Cannes Lions, Beet.TV's production will be based at the OMD Oasis. Many thanks to them for their kind hospitality.
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