Table of contents for June 13, 2022 in Adweek

While many entrepreneurs strike out on their own after years of learning their business, Natalie Boden began honing her skills during her childhood in Honduras, where her grandmother started a textile shop in the 1960s and ran the operations as a single mother of three before Boden’s parents took over. “My entrepreneurial nature was planted at a young age, working at my parents’ store and watching them build something, grow it and support many families along the way,” said Boden, president and founder of the cross-cultural communications shop Boden Agency. “It blossomed as I grew older because my mother and grandmother were—and continue to be—shining examples that it is possible for a Latina entrepreneur to succeed in a field dominated by men.” After graduating from Florida International University, her “first…

The all-out war unleashed by russia (yes, lowercase) has devastated Ukraine in so many ways. By mid-May, more than 6 million Ukrainians—including me—had fled their homeland, with even more getting displaced within the country. The war has taken a heavy toll on people’s lives and homes as well as national infrastructure and businesses—including the creative sector. A considerable portion of Ukrainian creative businesses and professionals had to pause work when the war began. Pro-bono assignments are plentiful, but paying projects are now scarcely available on the national market. So creatives are going global. But this path is thorny. “In Ukraine, new local agencies are rated by the team’s names and awards. A strong portfolio, even featuring national brands only, secures clients,” said Ilia Anufrienko, founder and creative director of Ukrainian…

There is never one singular entity to thank for stellar creativity. From burgeoning agency talent to industry thought leaders, prolific writers to onscreen icons, the art that sustains us is a communitywide accomplishment deserving of emphatic praise. Now in its eighth year, Adweek’s Creative 100 continues its celebration of today’s must-know creative professionals. These are the figures who are not only driving culture, but also determining its next destination. Check out this year’s roster of Creative 100 honorees. The Creative Wizards of West Wacker Congratulations for being named Adweek Creative 100 honorees.…

Derek Smith Senior art director and film director, The Martin Agency FROM FOOTBALL TO FILM DIRECTOR “My creative career started at the University of Memphis as a football player and journalism major; more so, it began with an injury. After multiple football injuries, I realized it was time to give up the game I loved. Lost and unsure of what to do next, I walked into a random church to pray for guidance. Inside, I met Trace Hallowell, founder and creative director of Memphis agency Tactical Magic. He gave me a paid internship that same week. He offered mentorship and a place to begin learning the craft before eventually moving to Atlanta to attend The Creative Circus.” RECENT WORK “I directed my first TV campaign for DoorDash earlier this year. That…

At its worst, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is an opulent boondoggle where executives from across the overlapping worlds of marketing and tech spend a fortune chasing business opportunities. But at its best, Cannes is a vital and vibrant crossroads of the global creative community, one that brings together people and perspectives that otherwise would never share a room, much less a stage or a dinner table. Cannes does have the potential to change the world for the better, but only if the creative leaders who attend it actually make time for the important conversations. To that end, Adweek has assembled five pieces on topics all marketers should be addressing in 2022: the climate crisis, inclusion, combating authoritarianism, supporting Ukraine and adapting to the new realities of work.…

For many in the marketing world, gathering at Cannes Lions this month will feel like a “return to normal” as they pack the Croisette for the first time since the pre-pandemic days of 2019. But the creative industry’s return to the Riviera masks the fact that the ad industry remains in the middle of a great upheaval. Some leaders see this period as one marked by a talent crisis. Their employees more accurately see it as a fundamental transformation in the way work gets done—from flexible hours and locations to a growing list of non-negotiable benefits. During the pandemic, the balance of power shifted from the employer to the employee, and everyone at Cannes would be wise to spend their time among peers having serious discussions about it. How (and…

Doja Cat Rapper, singer, songwriter and producer RISE TO FAME From posting on a SoundCloud account in her teens to accepting a Grammy, five Billboard Music Awards, five American Music Awards and three MTV Video Music Awards in the span of less than a decade, Doja Cat has solidified her presence as a pop rap icon. HITS UPON HITS It’s impossible to turn on the radio or listen through top Spotify playlists without hearing at least one (usually more) Doja Cat bop. Her single “Say So” featured on her second studio album, Hot Pink, and “Kiss Me More” from her third studio album, Planet Her, were both Top 10 hits. The latest song to be added to that success lineup? The lead single to Baz Luhrmann’s highly anticipated Elvis biopic,…

Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert Directors, Everything Everywhere All at Once A SURPRISE HIT, YEARS IN THE MAKING “The Daniels” spent more than five years working on the passion project that would become one of 2022’s most buzzed-about films, Everything Everywhere All at Once. The movie, starring Michelle Yeoh as a laundry business owner abruptly thrown into a multidimensional war, has been a critical and financial success, quickly setting a new domestic box-office record for production studio A24. THEIR GRADUAL ROAD TO GLORY “We started out making music videos and strange short films on Vimeo,” the duo told Adweek. “It’s been 12 years of career stepping stones taking on new challenges.” LESSONS OF THE PANDEMIC As Covid-19 slowed and even shuttered production worldwide, Kwan and Scheinert eventually saw there were…

Sterlin Harjo Co-creator, showrunner, Reservation Dogs, FX TV THAT’S NOT LIKE TV The independent filmmaker broke out last summer with FX’s Reservation Dogs, which is about four Indigenous teenagers coming of age in a rural Oklahoma town. For Harjo, the key to making groundbreaking television was … to not make TV. “One of the mantras of the writers room is, ‘That feels like TV.’ If it feels too much like other TV shows, we abandon it,” Harjo told Adweek last year. REPRESENTATION MATTERS Reservation Dogs, which is also the first series to feature an all-Indigenous writing staff, director and series regulars, has been a pioneer for representation onscreen. “I do want people to feel seen, and our communities are diverse and interesting,” said the Seminoe and Muscogee Creek creator, who…

In November 1981, a spirits importer called Carillon did something that, at first blush, seemed ordinary: It bought a half-page ad in a magazine. Carillon held the U.S. distribution rights for Absolut, a Swedish vodka that few people had heard of. The ad itself was novel. It featured the clear glass bottle and only two words of copy: Absolut Temptation. Liquor ads rarely took such a minimalist approach, but what made the ad groundbreaking wasn’t what it was, but where: Page 5 of The Advocate, a publication for lesbians and gay men. Today, Pride gets an entire month featuring a who’s who of multinational corporations clamoring for pink dollars by seeing who can hoist the rainbow flag the highest. But things were different in 1981. Ronald Reagan’s ascent to the…

Your marketing department may be in the empathy business, but it’s time to make that a company policy. Two years of disruption have culminated in the ongoing Great Resignation. But while companies scramble to fill open positions, the employees who stayed need the kind of mental and emotional support they’re not used to providing. A survey of nearly 1,500 full- and part-time workers in the U.S. by Omnicom’s brand consulting group Hall & Partners found that more than half (54%) reported feeling lonely while at work in the last 12 months, with women more affected than men (59% vs. 41%). But these workers are suffering silently. Just 7% would approach their manager about the issue, while only 39% of men would talk to a colleague about their feelings (for women,…

Maria D’Amato Executive creative director, GSD&M ON THE ROAD BACK TO GSD&M “I worked in digital design at agencies like Engage (later Moxie Interactive) and Schematic (later Possible Worldwide) but really found my footing during my first stint at GSD&M. When R/GA opened their Austin office, I left GSD&M to start the visual design practice there. I helped to grow the office, the team and the client roster, but eventually heard the siren song of my old stomping grounds as GSD&M was getting ready to launch [the] Experience Design [program].” RECENT WORK “Command the Stack,” a concept that created “the world’s first AR flight simulator game, [giving] players an exciting look at some of the U.S. Air Force’s most advanced aircraft and the missions they lead. The game is based…

Sarah Pappalardo Co-founder, editor, Reductress FROM SKETCH TO SATIRE After working as a web copywriter, blogger and writer in New York, Pappalardo got into sketch comedy and met fellow comedian Beth Newell. While satirical sites such as The Onion were flourishing, the two noticed there was no such outlet for women. They founded Reductress in 2013 “to take on the outdated perspectives and condescending tone of popular women’s media,” according to the publication’s mission statement. Since then, Reductress has published a book, “How to Win at Feminism: The Definitive Guide to Having It All – And Then Some!,” a satirical take on women’s magazines’ late discovery of feminism, and started two podcasts. POLITICAL BITE In a year when women’s rights seemed to backslide, the bitingly observant voice of satirical women’s…

Smac McCreanor Dancer, choreographer, TikTok star DANCING INTO THE SPOTLIGHT Los Angeles-based Australian dancer McCreanor began gaining her following on TikTok after uploading a series of videos where she performs interpretive dance moves mimicking unusual footage, such as a hydraulic system squashing various items. These quirky and fun dance videos have earned her more than 2.1 million followers on the social video platform. EXPANDING CREATIVELY More recently, McCreanor has continued to expand her creative and quirky dance videos into more interactive content with collaborations with other creators on the platform. She has already appeared in a few TV series, international stage productions and music videos, and has been cast in over 50 commercials in the past 15 years. TOWARD THE FUTURE In addition to uploading content on the popular platform,…

Fifty years ago this week, the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations made an astonishing request of its members: Stop flying for 24 hours. In the U.S., many pilots—including all the captains on Eastern Airlines—willingly complied. Their grievance? Hijackings. In the preceding 18 months, terrorists had seized control of no fewer than 29 flights. Most startling was the case of D.B. Cooper, who in 1971 used a bomb to take over Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305. After forcing the pilots to land the plane in Seattle, where Cooper picked up $200,000 in ransom money, he ordered the 727 back up to 10,000 feet, where he parachuted out. The 1972 pilots’ strike shut down air travel in 30 countries, including the eastern U.S., and eventually helped lead to the adoption…