Having been at Saatchi & Saatchi for 19 years, Kate Stanners has been pivotal in transforming the agency. As Chairwoman and Global Chief Creative Officer at Saatchi & Saatchi, she has driven the agency’s spirit of Nothing Is Impossible to “deliver impossible outcomes and revolutionise clients’ businesses”.
Based at Saatchi & Saatchi’s London headquarters, Kate oversees the agency’s creative output, and will be speaking at this year’s Dubai Lynx which takes place on 5-6 March. She spoke to Campaign Middle East editor Justin Harper about great ads, AI, creativity and more.
JH: So what excites you about the world of creativity now?
KS: If you’re asking me about creativity then I would say that I believe that creativity is the future’s superpower. The world has many problems right now. We need to use our creativity to solve them.
The proliferation of content needed for brands to properly have impact in the right channels is hugely exciting as it allows us to experiment with different ways to create and make.
Data can give us a greater understanding of audience and their communities so that we can be acutely specific in our execution. Technology can help us innovate and make work that we hitherto never thought possible.
JH: Talk us through a recent campaign that caught your eye
KS: As we are talking straight after the Super Bowl, I really loved the Squarespace spot with Martin Scorsese.
Years ago its John Malkovich spot was one of my all-time favourites and this doesn’t disappoint. Rarely do we get a chance to see incredible craft.
And as our industry is constantly being asked to do more for less, this is an exercise in more. More ambition, more craft ,from writing ,casting, performance and of course directing. It stood out from the others that were brash, loud and followed the more obvious advertising tropes.
JH: What’s a smart question to ask a female leader in advertising?
What were the barriers in your career journey. Because only by understanding those can we pave the way for future leaders.
JH: moving onto AI. How are you embracing this gamechanging technology?
KS: As a creative I see AI as a creative partner, one that can help you expand or edit your ideas. It brings with it tools which help us craft and design in a way that really helps us bring ideas to life in people’s minds. It is a really exciting partner in our production process.
JH: What’s your view on the work that’s coming out of the Middle East?
KS: I have for a while now delighted in the sort of work that comes out of the Middle East. I think the way humour is used is very exciting, something other regions could well learn from. It also seems to have a ‘start up ‘ mindset. It is prepared to try things and experiment, which is hugely refreshing.
