WarnerMedia's Mary Sculley Wants Brands to Have Impact

But Sculley Vice President of Client Strategy for WarnerMedia39s IMPACT ad sales division is a bit concerned that brands aren39t telling the right stories the important ones about purposeamp160 She39s concerned that they39re not forming the right longterm relationships with consumers and by that omission progress toward social good is being hinderedThat39s also the gist of Sculley39s position during her panel today at Cannesamp160 Companies must go beyond just using the phrase quotbrand purposequot and actually taking action to fulfill that purposeamp160 quotCannes is about conversation and movementquot Sculley saysamp160 movement toward a better worldAccording to Sculley consumer relationships formed by a common cause are more vital than ever these daysamp160 quotWe39re about to see the biggest transfer of generational wealth ever between the Boomer and Millennial generationsquot she saysamp160 quotMillennials and Gen Z are deeply engaged in causeamp160 If you39re a business that doesn39t have a cause they won39t work for you or buy from you or invest in youquotCEOs are well aware of the need to show that their companies work towards social goodamp160 Something like 97 percent of them talked about quotbrand purposequot last yearamp160 And yet Sculley adds a WarnerMedia study showed that 70 percent of consumers didn39t know what brands were doing to further causes like ridding the ocean of plastic or seeking true gender equalityThat39s where WarnerMedia IMPACT comes inamp160 quotWe can help identify what cause they use what story they should tellquot Sculley explainsamp160 quotAnd then we distribute the content of that story efficiently and effectively and prove the results for the brandquotamp160 What is the right storyamp160 Sculley has three questions she asks clients to determine the answeramp160 quotIs it a natural fitquotamp160 quotIs it authenticquot and quotIs it relevantquotAs an example of a case that checked all of the boxes Sculley cites a CNN MassMutual cause partnership that delivered a 77 percent increase in engagement over the already higherthanthecompetition engagement the brand was seeing on WarnerMedia39s Great Big Story platformamp160 Great Big Story GBS is a digital arm of CNN as their brand combined with CNN39s Courageous brand studio is one of the brightest gems in IMPACT39s conversationsamp160 quotWe can have a CNN producer in Zimbabwe in a secondquot Sculley explainsamp160 quotOur footprint is truly globalquotThe ability to tell global stories branded and not is essential in this global ageamp160amp160So it39s fitting that joining Sculley on stage at the WarnerMedia House in Cannes will be not only representatives from Microsoft and SAP but also Sergio Fernandez de Cordova Director of the Unitedamp160Nations39amp160SDG Data Hub Giving Fund and founder of the SDG Media Zoneamp160 quotSDGquot is the UN39s Sustainable Development Goals initiative consisting of 17 goals to achieve a sustainable world by 2030 amp160including eradicating poverty and hungerWarnerMedia39s roots with the UN go deep back to Turner39s founder Ted Turner who announced 20 years ago that he was donating 1 billion to the organization to create the UN FoundationFor Sculley the special relationship WarnerMedia has had with the UN since then is also an opportunity to help brands fulfill their purposeamp160 In particular they lean into goal No 17 quotPartnerships for the Goalquotamp160amp160In 2016 the UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Kimoon gathered together the heads of the six major advertising holding companies at Cannes and announced a Common Ground Initiative that would see the companies working together to advance the agenda that contains those 17 goalsamp160 The intervening years though have seen more talk than action and Sculley is champing at the bit to get to the action partamp160 quotWe39ve seen movement on so many frontsquot she explainsamp160 quotPeople who are 20 years old now see things very differently than I did at their ageamp160 There really has been a major culture shift toward purposeamp160 I don39t think there39s a company out there that isn39t invested in helping the UN achieve those 17 goalsquotWith investment though must come actionamp160amp160Then comes the time for talk amp160quotIf you39re changing the worldquotamp160Sculley asserts quotthe world should know itquotClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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WarnerMedia's Mary Sculley Wants Brands to Have Impact

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Oriana Schwindt

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WarnerMedia's Mary Sculley Wants Brands to Have Impact

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