VML's Future 100...Their 1st Event as the New VML
As a specialist in the Advertising & Marketing Industry (with regards to Agencies, operations and relationships) I have the enjoyable task of keeping in contact with many people in many agencies and attending frequent relevant and interesting events.
So, it was a great pleasure to attend the VML's #Future100 event at WPP's Sea Containers campus yesterday, hosted by VML's new CEO Pip Hulbert with VMLs Global Director of Intelligence Marie Stafford presenting the Future 100, and Daniel Hulme, WPP's Chief AI Officer, talking about all things AI.
The Future 100 is based around VML's consumer data survey of 9000ppl in 9 countries spanning the globe, and analysed by Marie Stafford and team.
There were some standout stats that I felt were worth highlighting:
Stress and mental illness are now seen as the top 2 challenges for human health. This was above pollution, epidemics and chronic disease (amongst others).
The Cost of Living is seen as the top pressing issue facing society. This was above Climate (2nd), Violence (3rd) and War/ unrest (7th!). And bear in mind that this is a global survey.
83% of people believe "Tech can make the world a better place", and 59% of people "Trust in AI to act in humanity's best interest". Which felt very optimistic.
Social media is the biggest influence on GenZ's purchase decisions (46%) after Friends and Family (53%)
And then importantly, how people feel brands are key to making things better in the world:
79% said the role of brands has changed over the past 5 years
The top three roles of a brand are "To make the world a better place", "Improve people's health and wellbeing" and "Create a more hopeful and positive future"
Regarding the world of relationships and trends relevant to meetings and pitching, I thought these were trends worth noting:
80% agreed that people are behaving worse than ever these days....and that etiquette is needing to be re-learned by many.
Loneliness is the new epidemic and people want to reconnect and have joint experiences.
63% of consumers want brands to provide them with multi-sensory experiences...with 73% saying they expect as many of their senses as possible to be engaged when experiencing something new. This supports in-person experiences for better building of relationships.
73% said work comes second to the rest of their life...Wellbeing is no longer sacrificed on the alter of ambition.
81% think brands should be making an effort to help improve people's mental health...Hustle and grind is no long aspirational.
And finally, something quite worrying was a great demonstration of how good deepfakes are now, when a recording of "AI Pip" (see the picture of "AI Pip" bottom right in the collage with the white graphic on her T-Shirt) was played at the beginning of the event and only those who know Pip Hulbert very well were able to tell that it isn't her!
It was definitely a thought provoking event and futures report.
Thank you VML and team, and congratulations on your first event as the newly created VML.
Find the Linkedin Article and post here