„Advertising should be different everywhere you go.“

Liz, you manage global campaigns on the daily. How do you relax? 

Weekends are big. I claim as much of them for myself and my family as I can. Bike rides, dog walks, family dinners. My son graduates high school this spring, my daughter is already in college. Needless to say, I’m soaking up my time with him in the house. Through COVID I designed my ideal home office. You should see the Pinterest boards from that process. That may have been more distraction than relaxation. Stories are my all-time favorite way to retreat. Piles on piles of books and an endless queue of movies and shows. Can’t ever have enough.

You have more experience in the creative industry than hardly any other woman. Do you have any advice for young professionals on how to grow in this still male-dominated world? 

Use your voice. When you have a good idea, fight for it. Know your value. Ask for what you deserve. Be willing to stretch and grow. Not just willing, but be intentional about it. Go big, be bold. And always, always, celebrate others and bring them with you as you rise.

Use your voice. When you have a good idea, fight for it.

What are you looking forward to the most when you think of the ADC Awards 2021? 

We are in a watershed moment – what’s not to look forward to? Following a year that pushed both creativity and innovation to the limits, it feels like we’re benchmarking an era. We’re bringing creativity into the future.

Are there distinctive differences between advertisement in Europe and the US? What do Americans do differently than Europeans? 

Every culture has its own quirks, in humor, in sentiment, in style. Advertising, anywhere in the world, is about tapping into that culture, making work that resonates with the people who live within it. In that sense, advertising should be different everywhere you go. The ultimate test is whether it’s changing people’s lives. That’s the great unifier of our industry.

What was your favorite campaign from the last year? 

Am I allowed to pick a Leo Burnett or Publicis campaign? Kidding, kind of. I regularly marvel at the work coming out of our global network… Country Time Lemonade’s Littlest Bailout, Leo Burnett London’s work for McDonald’s delivery service, Cadillac’s ScissorHandsFree that ran in the Super Bowl, JIF vs. GIF for settling a critical digital debate.

But part of making great advertising is jealousy. Those moments you wish an idea had been yours. A couple ideas I coveted this year were Libresse Womb – Stories building on Viva La Vulva, which I was obsessed with; Vertical Cinema by Damien Chazelle; Michelob Ultra’s NBA Courtside Fan Experience; Burberry’s Singing in the Rain – that choreography!; Patagonia’s Vote The Assholes Out, for the discovery those little tags invited; Match.com Match Made in Hell – what a way to capture 2020; Twitter’s Black Lives Matter campaign, a brilliant combination of UGC and OOH; and who could forget Pringles’ Zombie Frank?

We can’t be too precious about what we’ve always done or how we’ve always done it.

What are the most striking trends in creative communication and did the pandemic have any influence on that? 

Our work hinges on human behavior more than anything else. If that wasn’t already clear, the pandemic made it so. You have to meet people where and how they are spending time, to make work that’s accessible. And you have to make it worth their while. Trends are trends because they capture people’s attention. I think that’s a big part of where we are now, one year into COVID and all the always-at-home-and-online fatigue that comes with. So, how are we solving for that antsy-ness and anticipation.

What mindset do agencies have to adopt in order to stay competitive in the future?

Transformation. Agility. Resilience. We can’t be too precious about what we’ve always done or how we’ve always done it. At the same time, I would say Confidence. While we have to be ready to change with the world, and even anticipate that change, agencies also have to know who they are and be confident in their brand promise.