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CANNES — From Broadway stages to business meetings, storytelling can really change how people see the world and one's brand. Just like the popular hit movie Wicked reimagined The Wizard of Oz, by challenging familiar stories, communicators can open up new creative possibilities.
At a panel discussion at the Palais des Festivals’ Debussy Theater for the Cannes Lions festival last week, VML CEO Jon Cook sat down with Debbie Vandeven, chief creative officer at VML, actor and comedian Bowen Yang and Jon M Chu, director of Wicked to discuss how brands can connect with modern audiences by drawing from cultural touchstones.
"Brands have an essence, and they need to reinvent, repurpose and modernize, all while never losing the original essence of themselves. And if you think about it, if you take the Wizard of Oz as a brand, or Wicked as a brand, there's a lot of responsibility that comes from that too," said Cook as he opened the discussion.
"That's a brand that's had to reinvent. It's got all sorts of different interpretations from stories, movies, shows, books and cartoons. Some good, and some not so good. But the common denominator between all of that are creators and storytellers putting their best effort into taking a brand like the Wizard of Oz or Wicked, and using modern technology or using modern storytelling techniques, or using cultural zeitgeist of the moment to make it land just right for that particular creator at that particular time," he said.
He added that what was really important though was having authenticity in communicating your branding and also bringing a layer of humour and relatability to it all.
"My parents came from Taiwan to America, and so the Wizard of Oz, the American fairy tale, was always a part of our lives," said Chu. "They felt this was the American dream of the yellow brick road leading to a wizard. If you followed the rules and just follow the road, that you would get your heart's desire. So that meant a lot growing up."
" So eventually, it meant a lot to me getting into cinema, because we'd watch it every year, and so as a movie lover, going into it was a huge responsibility. How are you going to paint it?" Chua asked rhetorically.
He added that while there certainly were legal obligations riding on his interpretation of the Wizard Of Oz, for him, it was about growing up in a place where the American dream was set, and now as an adult, seeing how it has changed. "How does that American dream change? How does it retain the optimism and the yearning of something brighter at the horizon? But maybe there's another idea about it, that that road wasn't meant for everybody. Maybe we have to take another road. Maybe we have to fly," said Chu.
Vandeven then added that when we talk about brands, we reframe narratives all the time. "So if you think about the long history of our brands, some of you may know the Kit Kat work. So Kit Kat, have a break. Have a Kit Kat, has been around since the 1950s so when you think about a brand having a really strong brand essence, and then how it's going to be reframed and reframed generation after generation, it's the kind of thing that we do every single day," she said.
"So that's why I love this narrative too. It's like looking at the Wizard of Oz and seeing how you can tell the story in so many different ways. So we do that every day with our brands," she added.
Another key aspect for communicators to look at is the importance of humor and relatability in storytelling without it seeming like a forced checklist of things to do, according to Cook.
"It's clear when somebody does it with authenticity, as opposed to just trying it," said Cook. "It needs to be in your DNA as a brand."
"Sometimes to anchor all these things, you need to be silly, be frivolous and stupid. In the best sense, kind of ground this in some sort of reality that is recognizable to an audience, that is legible to an audience, so that they can sort of suspend their disbelief," advised Yang, talking about the funny and realist role of Pfannee he played in Wicked.
Vandeven summed up the conversation by stating that at the end of it all, its about remember that a person is in the centre of everything that you are creating for the brand.
"So if you're thinking about being authentic, I think the brand has to do the same thing. Just remember that you're creating a new product or a service or getting people to buy and motivating them to do something. It's all about the person and all the tools around that are awesome to make creativity better, but not at the expense of the creative," she said, referencing the use of AI in creative work.
At a panel discussion at the Palais des Festivals’ Debussy Theater for the Cannes Lions festival last week, VML CEO Jon Cook sat down with Debbie Vandeven, chief creative officer at VML, actor and comedian Bowen Yang and Jon M Chu, director of Wicked to discuss how brands can connect with modern audiences by drawing from cultural touchstones.
"Brands have an essence, and they need to reinvent, repurpose and modernize, all while never losing the original essence of themselves. And if you think about it, if you take the Wizard of Oz as a brand, or Wicked as a brand, there's a lot of responsibility that comes from that too," said Cook as he opened the discussion.
"That's a brand that's had to reinvent. It's got all sorts of different interpretations from stories, movies, shows, books and cartoons. Some good, and some not so good. But the common denominator between all of that are creators and storytellers putting their best effort into taking a brand like the Wizard of Oz or Wicked, and using modern technology or using modern storytelling techniques, or using cultural zeitgeist of the moment to make it land just right for that particular creator at that particular time," he said.
He added that what was really important though was having authenticity in communicating your branding and also bringing a layer of humour and relatability to it all.
"My parents came from Taiwan to America, and so the Wizard of Oz, the American fairy tale, was always a part of our lives," said Chu. "They felt this was the American dream of the yellow brick road leading to a wizard. If you followed the rules and just follow the road, that you would get your heart's desire. So that meant a lot growing up."
" So eventually, it meant a lot to me getting into cinema, because we'd watch it every year, and so as a movie lover, going into it was a huge responsibility. How are you going to paint it?" Chua asked rhetorically.
He added that while there certainly were legal obligations riding on his interpretation of the Wizard Of Oz, for him, it was about growing up in a place where the American dream was set, and now as an adult, seeing how it has changed. "How does that American dream change? How does it retain the optimism and the yearning of something brighter at the horizon? But maybe there's another idea about it, that that road wasn't meant for everybody. Maybe we have to take another road. Maybe we have to fly," said Chu.
Vandeven then added that when we talk about brands, we reframe narratives all the time. "So if you think about the long history of our brands, some of you may know the Kit Kat work. So Kit Kat, have a break. Have a Kit Kat, has been around since the 1950s so when you think about a brand having a really strong brand essence, and then how it's going to be reframed and reframed generation after generation, it's the kind of thing that we do every single day," she said.
"So that's why I love this narrative too. It's like looking at the Wizard of Oz and seeing how you can tell the story in so many different ways. So we do that every day with our brands," she added.
Another key aspect for communicators to look at is the importance of humor and relatability in storytelling without it seeming like a forced checklist of things to do, according to Cook.
"It's clear when somebody does it with authenticity, as opposed to just trying it," said Cook. "It needs to be in your DNA as a brand."
"Sometimes to anchor all these things, you need to be silly, be frivolous and stupid. In the best sense, kind of ground this in some sort of reality that is recognizable to an audience, that is legible to an audience, so that they can sort of suspend their disbelief," advised Yang, talking about the funny and realist role of Pfannee he played in Wicked.
Vandeven summed up the conversation by stating that at the end of it all, its about remember that a person is in the centre of everything that you are creating for the brand.
"So if you're thinking about being authentic, I think the brand has to do the same thing. Just remember that you're creating a new product or a service or getting people to buy and motivating them to do something. It's all about the person and all the tools around that are awesome to make creativity better, but not at the expense of the creative," she said, referencing the use of AI in creative work.
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