Adobe MAX came and went this week in LA, bringing creative professionals together with hundreds of sessions, workshops and talks. Aiming to inspire the current and next generation of creatives, the event offered rousing insights into the state of creativity today—and opportunities that artists, entertainers and brands alike can look forward to in the near future, including the next stage in storytelling defined by MediaMonks Founder and COO Wesley ter Haar, who presented at the event.

The conference began with Adobe unveiling a slew of new product updates and features, each bringing the company closer to its vision of enabling “Creativity for all,” which served as a bit of a rallying cry at the event. These announcements included Photoshop Camera, which uses machine learning to offer advanced photo filters and quick, intuitive editing; Premiere Rush, which notably lets users create and share out content to creative social platform TikTok; Adobe Aero, which lets anyone develop AR experiences without coding knowledge; and much more.

One of the biggest conferences on creativity, this year’s Adobe MAX offered much to think about in terms of identity, voice and emotionally resonant experiences. As Adobe aims to unlock creativity for everyone, it will become even more essential that brands differentiate by building emotional resonance through the experiences they offer.

At the heart of software like Photoshop Camera is Adobe Sensei, the company’s decidedly not-very-humanlike assistant. At a time when many have concerns over how AI will influence professional (and creative) life, Adobe markets Sensei as simply a tool that helps humans focus on what only they can do: be creative, with Sensei handling the manual processes that function as a barrier to that. But when everyone has advanced creative tools at their fingertips, what does it take to stand out? We’ve extracted a handful of key creative insights from the course of the event.

Know Your Message and What You Stand For

Of course, being a conference centered on creativity, Adobe MAX featured several voices from the world of arts and entertainment. While their insights were delivered to an audience of creatives and designers, a lot of what they had to say serves as good advice for business, too—after all, being an artist in the modern world requires a bit of an entrepreneurial edge.

Visual artist Shantell Martin opened day two’s keynote segment with an inspiring talk about stylistic voice and identity. “You have to make people care for you by caring for yourself first,” she told the audience. Further in her talk, she noted that “You don’t discover your style, you extract it.”

The advice applies well to brands still defining a sense of purpose. For anyone to adopt your brand—and to truly differentiate it—you must first have a good hold on what its purpose is and what you stand for. This also makes it useful to consider how that purpose might resonate differently with different audiences. Digital-native brands in particular have succeeded in this by defining themselves out of a specific need or white space, then leveraging digital channels to align with consumers through that shared sense of purpose.

Take Comfort in Discomfort

Earlier in the conference, illustrator Lisa Congdon offered her own excellent advice on artist voice: “[Finding your voice is] both an exercise in discipline and process of discovery that allows for—and requires—loads of experimentation and failure.” While that’s certainly true for brand voice, it also applies to the innovation imperative.

Innovation requires you not only understand what your brand aims to achieve, but also have an intimate understanding of your audience and how they interact. In an age of hyperadoption, real innovation comes from evolving your brand experience in lockstep with user behaviors and continual experimentation. Congdon recommends that creatives adopt a learner’s mindset that’s open to risks and embraces discomfort—an attitude that not only fosters a creative environment but can also kickstart more agile ways of working.

Open a New Chapter in the Story of Storytelling

All of the above boils down to ensuring your message truly resonates with your audience. Throughout history, humans have used the power of narrative and storytelling to achieve this, but interactive digital culture has upended the storytelling norms that had traditionally prevailed. In an on-stage interview with Jason Levine, Principal Worldwide Evangelist for Adobe Creative Cloud, famed director M. Night Shyamalan remarked that “Everything in today’s society goes back to storytelling. Right now, we’re split between fighting for the old story, and fighting for the new story. It’s time to bring in the new story.”

What does that new story look like? That’s what Wesley ter Haar aimed to define in his talk, “Augmented Creativity: Emerging Platforms that Drive the Next Generation of Storytelling.” Ter Haar railed against the variations of storytelling that frequently pop up at conferences—like “storydoing” or “storymaking”—by noting that each still relies on the same form of linear narrative that today’s marketeers should break away from. “We’ve taken what is this amazing medium for creativity and innovation—the web, the internet or what we now call digital—but we’ve made it about traditional linear formats,” he says.

Netflix’s Bandersnatch might have brought interactive film to the masses last year, for instance, but it was hardly groundbreaking or immersive compared to what’s come before it; video games had already explored what ter Haar calls the “interrupt to interact” narrative model for decades, and we’ve moved away from truly personalized experiences enabled by an API-driven open web. And when it comes to personalization as it’s commonly used, says ter Haar, “There’s a lot of engineering, but very little empathy.”

In a new era of ecosystems and total brand experience, ter Haar calls for a new definition of storytelling: “A journey focused on the user that creates a personal path, driven by design and distinction, powered by innovation.” And these stories should show no end, either: “Digital storytelling is more input-based, trying to get the next ‘yes, and…’ moment,” says ter Haar, noting how each piece of content ideally leads into the next step within a content ecosystem. To offer stories that truly resonate, brands must use storytelling to bridge together creative and media. This requires breaking away from big ideas that function like film, and instead drive impact by recognizing user behaviors and shifting toward an insight-driven focus on the customer experience.

This week, New York welcomed not only foreign leaders and dignitaries at the United Nations headquarters—the city also embraced some of the best and brightest in the world of advertising, marketing and technology. Yes, Advertising Week New York—one of six Advertising Week events held around the world—came to offer thought leadership, workshops and more with 1,216 speakers and over 290 different events.

There was much to ponder and celebrate throughout the week. At the Clio Awards, eight awards were distributed among three projects that we contributed to: the Uncensored Playlist, Mind the Gap and the geolocation-based revamp of the “Runaway Train” music video. We also made placement on Adweek’s 100 Fastest Growing Agencies list, and our VP of Marketing Kate Richling was shortlisted for Advertising Week’s Future is Female platform.

But that’s enough patting ourselves on the back. What were the brands up to in all the fray? Our recap explores three big topics from one of the biggest weeks in advertising—namely what’s driving the in-housing trend, how brands are working creatively with data and the new collaborative partnerships that are helping brands respond to both those opportunities.

Getting Closer to Consumers through In-Housing

One thing that’s become undoubtedly clear across the course of the week is that brands are seeking ways to take back control. For many, this has manifest in a trend to take their creative and media capabilities in-house. Often attributed to goals like lowering cost or time to market, there are in fact many reasons why brands feel they can do creative better on their own terms and turf, as explored at the Brand Innovators summit, which coincided with Advertising Week.

A major goal behind the in-housing trend is a need to get closer to the consumer. As traditional brands grow with widening product lines and more channels to communicate through, they risk losing coherence or consistency within the brand-consumer relationship.

At a panel on in-housing, Spencer Gordon of Anheuser-Busch discussed how going in-house ensured that a dedicated team in the brand would always be thinking about creative. This enabled them to pursue consumers with greater relevance and brand understanding. But Gordon noted that the initiative achieved big results by first starting small; with four employees focused on providing social assets solely for the Michelob Ultra product, the team has since scaled to 63 members that deliver for all of AB InBev’s brands.

In the same panel, Ryan Riess, Director of Social Strategy and Content at the Hershey Company, similarly discussed how supporting such a large variety of brands (15 of them!) drove them to become more consumer-centric. Hershey felt they could do creative better on their own—particularly in creating platform-specific content that would better connect with their customers. That’s a very specific way that brands can better drive relevance by maintaining an always-on relationship with their consumers, requiring brands to have a clear idea not only of themselves, but their consumers as well.

Purposeful Use of Data for Empathy and Impact

How brands can gain that understanding of the consumer was another major topic of discussion throughout the week. But businesses have come up with interesting ways to accomplish this; a notable example is Target’s internal media company Roundel. In the Advertising Week panel “Climbing Over Walls: Real People Data in an Automated World,” Roundel’s VP Dave Peterson noted: “The data is extremely important, but it’s as much on the human side as it is on the data. We call it the IQ side for data and the EQ for the human side of things.”

This purposeful interplay between both the technical and emotional sides of data provides Roundel with learnings they can use to strengthen the relationship between the retailer, their customers and the CPG partners whose products line the shelves. “Going back to our enterprise view at Target about putting our guests at the center of everything we do, our goal really is to enhance the shopping experience,” Peterson said. “Media works best when it’s in everyone’s benefit.”

And that’s a point that resonates well with MediaMonks founder Wesley ter Haar, who gave a keynote address at the Brand Innovators event on Tuesday afternoon. Exploring the challenge between what he calls “personalized pleasure versus personalized panic”—that delicate balance between consumers’ desire for relevance and concern for privacy—he honed in on the need for empathy to become a driving force in everything you do. “We can never stop prioritizing empathy,” he said. “Empathy and engineering must work hand-in-hand in the future.”

Closing the Creative and Data Divide

While Roundel is an interesting example of bridging together the intelligent and emotional quotients in data, they’re not alone: several brands noted the need for marketing and IT to come together to deliver unforgettable customer experiences that build brand love. On the panel “Rethinking TV: Driving Growth, Relationships and Experience Through Data,” Sir Martin Sorrell joined GM’s Global CMO Deborah Wahl, where the two examined how brands must look beyond the typical TVC approach for more scalable, personal and relevant creative.

Wahl gave her brand’s perspective on how impact and effectiveness are table stakes today, and how she works closely with data to achieve it. “We have a chief data officer at GM. We spend a lot of time together, really understanding: ‘What are you learning, what are the insights, how are we going after it?’” she said. “That helps you form better creative briefs so you get a big idea, and then really make sure we can execute that across different channels.”

It sounds like GM has a good rhythm going, but for many brands, closing that IT and creative gap can feel like a struggle. Showing teamwork in action, the S4 family—Sir Martin, ter Haar and Emily Del Greco (President of the Americas, MightyHive)—came together the following day to join Joana Coles (Founder and CCO, Boudica) in a panel discussion about the S4 Capital model and its place within the future of advertising. Coles set the scene for discussion: if you’re not a holding company, she asked, “What the hell are you then?”

The trio’s responses became a multi-faceted examination of collaboration and partnership. Sir Martin drew a line between how S4 operates versus holding companies that impose constraints around the businesses they contain. Instead, he suggested, S4 took inspiration from tech companies who are disruptive by nature. Ter Haar added: “With traditional work, there’s a conservatism that you can’t marry data with being creative.” It’s precisely that challenge that brands are grappling with now, driving that need for control examined above.

Del Greco noted how aligning data and creative so closely together enables brands to take more risks with confidence. “MediaMonks is about taking the risk, and MightyHive comes quickly with feedback [backed by data],” she said. As iteration and agility have become key to success in today’s always-on environment, this ability to experiment and take learnings will become crucial for future-focused brands.

As Advertising Week draws to a close, we’re energized by the creative wins that brands have have been able to share. Looking at the next year into the future, it will be interesting to see how the landscape further evolves—and how new partnerships will enable brands to achieve a more customer-led focus by closing the gap between data and creative.

Excitement is drumming up for Cannes next week, and our Monks are attending in both judges’ robes and diplomatic attire.

MediaMonks Founder and COO Wesley ter Haar will help identify the year’s most ground-breaking work on the Titanium Lions judging panel, while Digital Creative Director Sophie te Pas will serve on the Mobile Lions Jury. We spoke to both about their experiences and insights as jurors, but not without getting a sneak peek at what to expect from this year’s diplomatically themed MassiveMusicxMediaMonks party: the MMMMbassy, where creatives will be recognized as diplomats from unique, new nations.

Wesley ter Haar, MediaMonks Founder and Titanium Lions Juror

Which trends are defining the Titanium Lions this year?

Titanium is an interesting mix. We’re looking for great work (duh), but what all Titanium contenders must have is a certain unique element — one that makes them both hard to categorize or to forget — that shows the industry the way forward. So yeah, simple stuff.

Trend-wise, we’ll see. More than most categories, I think Titanium will see robust discussion in the room help shape the outcome.

Which metrics wow you in a case study, and which ones don’t?

In my mind, metrics don’t make a winner — great work does. But metrics can definitely limit how far a case will go. In the end, you’re looking for a great idea, a concept that’s been executed to perfection, at scale and with real-world impact. In that specific order.

Which cases are going to collect more Titanium Lions than ever?

Ah, not getting tricked into that one! Cannes’ jury guidelines might be lengthy, but I know better than to share info on potential winners.

You’re visiting the MMMMbassy this year. Which fellow representatives are you looking forward to meeting most?

For me, this is all about celebrating and commiserating with our clients and colleagues depending on the results of the week. It’s also a great place to run into random friends and frenemies for a beer and a high-five.

Lastly, when have you ever wished you had diplomatic immunity to do whatever you wanted to do?

My only reason for diplomatic immunity is to get to use the special lane at the airports… imagine the time saved.

Sophie te Pas, Digital Creative Director and Juror of Mobile Lions

What does it mean to you to be a jury member for Cannes?

We all know perfectly well how much blood, sweat and tears go into creating and producing a digital campaign. Wanting to respect that, I definitely feel the weight of the responsibility that comes with the job (insert Uncle Ben meme). But that doesn’t stop me from feeling incredibly proud to judge the world’s best work with some of the industry’s most innovative minds.

Which campaigns are going to collect more Mobile Lions than ever this year?

I can’t name names, but I believe in campaigns that serve a purpose, manage to connect with the brand, have meaning and put the consumer first by using technology to enhance the user experience rather than making use of it to win awards. Creating a good campaign takes courage and bravery from everyone involved.

What do you expect to learn from judging?

As a creative on several MassiveMusic x MediaMonks parties of festivals past, I’ve seen my fair share of promenades and parties. But this year, attending Cannes as a juror, it’s different. What I’m looking forward to the most is sharing passionate discussions about the work and gathering insights and different perspectives from my fellow judges’ creative minds.

You’re visiting the MMMMbassy this year. Which fellow diplomats are you looking forward to meeting?

For me, the party is less about meeting high-profiled peers, and more about those completely irrational, passionate stories with beautiful strangers and pulling some awkward dance moves for the greater good. Plus, if you’re not just in it for Insta-fame, you’re a winner in my book.

Lastly, when have you ever wished you had diplomatic immunity to do whatever you wanted?

Free Your MMMMind. I faintly remember wishing for a helicopter to pick me up and transport me to a nearby rooftop pool the day after.