 Hello and welcome to exchange for media with me today is the man who leads one of the biggest agencies across the world and Who has kept a very strong grip in all the big brands with his vision and good work? Please welcome Adam Gerhardt CEO mindset. Thank you Thank you for taking out time always for us. You've been very kind to us So, you know six months ago You were kind enough to be the keynote speaker at our eforum conclay when I remember you said that Regency is now need to focus on Growth on good growth and not just growth. Yeah, right. So would you like to define what you mean by good growth? Yeah, sure I think one of the concept that I was kind of talking about was the the notion that for many years there there was this Misnomer almost that that doing good and driving business were at odds And I think what we're starting to see actually is not only do those things need to coexist But one can propel the other and so it's not enough to do good It's not enough just to focus on the business you can do both at the same time And so that's our vision for good growth You also talk about, you know, so there that there are some 500 companies, you know Fortune companies which are not really focusing on digital transition So you think that the trend has started to change or is it still the same? Yeah, I mean so so what you're referring to is the fact that we think about 50 percent of Fortune 500 companies We'll no longer be there in the next two to three years because they can't transform fast enough We think that's only going to accelerate given the pressures and the changes that we're seeing in the landscape and the dynamics around us whether it's supply issues whether it's hyperinflation The socio-economic world around us We think that that's going to accelerate the need to transform digitally even more than what we've seen in the past You've also been talking about, you know, how brands should Work, you know, this should be more focused, you know, everything that we do in marketing work So if you can give me some examples of you know that grant that works with you or maybe that's another client with some other agency Which which can define this whole thing of you know brand focus. Yeah So I think first of all we kind of have to start by understanding what we mean by purpose because there's lots of different definitions out there The way that I like to describe it and one of my favorite definitions is where the brand or the business isn't the hero The consumer is the hero and I think that's a really important lens for us to think about what purpose actually means tomorrow Because brands can talk about how they're doing good in the world But actually at the end of the day it needs to be meaningful for consumers and when we can make them the focus It becomes much more impactful And so when we look at some of the work that we're most proud of We look at some of some of the things like what life boy did with with Swiggy in in you know in India Where actually they were driving business, but also handing out samples Every time something was delivered it's pretty incredible or you take Dove as a really good example where they continue to champion you know self-esteem and Female empowerment and the most recent work that we that we were part of That that won a titanium award here at this event Was for the reverse selfie helping women and young women Understand the significance that social media actually has on their self-esteem in their future Also, you know, I wanted to understand from you that these days everything is problematic everything is Technology which is running a lot of things. What is the role of you know Leaders in it, you know, because how it's your agency now different from the other agency because everyone has technology Yeah, so I think more and more obviously the trend is going to continue As long as the platform ecosystem continues to develop where we have the Googles the alleys, you know dominating We're going to continue to see things being driven programmatically TV becomes much more addressable Digital outdoor becomes much more addressable and in turn you can buy it programmatically That means we need to shift our focus to things that are providing much more strategic value with a strong underpinning of Digital technology that empowers and enables that So two of the things that we're leaning into we think are going to be the next frontier of what? Brands and businesses need to think about but also what consumers are expecting the first one is around data ethics Not just how we're acquiring data, but actually what we're doing with it. Are we being intrusive? Are we invading their space? Are we actually treating their data with respect and And understanding them by serving them better And the the other area that is starting to quickly Emerge is around the area of bias and as we have more machines buying for us programmatically We have to understand how we can be as objective inclusive diverse and representative as humanly possible and When the algorithms that we use are written by men That happen to believe one thing or live in a certain place There's unconscious or adherent bias written into much of the code that's in the world around us So we have to start to think about how we can use technology for good And I think that will help accelerate this notion of good growth and and the ability to actually Deliver things that are meaningful to consumers, but also business impact at the same time Yeah, I've been reading many of you from last Thank you. So I'll tell you or you talk about the compassion you talk about Consistency sustainability Future-focused serve well the society then you also talk about creating financial growth Yeah, I mean it looks straight from the Bible and I talk about so many good things all the time How do you do it all? I think it goes back to the notion that actually there isn't a tension Between business at the end of the day. It's not good. It is good growth. We're you know, we're in a commercial enterprise Brands and businesses that we represent for the most part are in the same It's a capitalistic world in that in that notion And so if we if we start with the understanding that actually good and business and good and growth can go together It serves as a beacon or a north star for everything that we do with the products that we create the technology that we leverage the people that we employ And that becomes a really important filter for the way in which we think about how we need to show up differently And that for us is serving as a huge point of differentiation even as we think about our own needs and the talent that we attract Who quite honestly want to stand for something more want to do good in the world? And we're seeing that from younger employees entering the Workforce for the first time where they don't just want to be a cog in the machine anymore and they want to do good in the world So all of these things start to converge and I wish it was You know as noble as something that's biblical But actually I think it is much more just about being human and understanding how we can support everyone that we serve All the constituents and reconcile things that were thought to be opposing forces at one time so you know last two years have been Very different from all of for all of us a lot of things change How has the industry changed? How's the business changed? How has the pitch changed? You know what what kind of brief do you get now? Or do you is it all the same or do you see some difference after pandemic? First of all, I think it depends on where you are in the world We're seeing wildly different views of things, you know parts of china just came out of lockdown again India obviously had a really difficult time for for a period, but seems to have been Rebounded incredibly strongly And then even in the u.s. There's huge disparities between whether you're in Los Angeles or Chicago So micro regions are starting to emerge But the big trends that kind of transcend all of those I think are the fact that we are a much more remote workforce That we have to lean into flexibility and understanding how we can get the most from our our talent base and our employees But at the same time we are a culture that thrives when we are together But this I understand but you know, how how has the business changed? You know, and I was saying that you know there are Very different kind of responses from different markets. So, you know, how is it affecting you as an agency? Well, I think I think the two go hand in hand to a certain extent our employees We have to respond to them in a certain way in order to deliver on the business needs that we have um, obviously from a from a client perspective the digital acceleration that happened through cove and delivery services and all of those sorts of things Transformed the way in which we think about business and what we need to deliver in terms of product services, etc So we've leaned much more into Ecommerce we're doubling down in terms of how we think about performance and outcomes. But again, not at the expense of brand There's the entire notion of short term versus long term is starting to define the skill sets the capabilities of products and services that that we create and I think The future then will start to be born out of some of the trends that actually stay And the ones that we're just bleeding and so the rapid digital transformation agenda The role of e-commerce how we think about things like data ethics and what we are doing in the world And I think those are kind of the meta narratives that'll start to start to play out over the longer term Anything about I would say keep up the amazing work One of the things that that we've noted here at can in particular is the number of entries from india are up over 30% You're on very very well. Yeah, really well. And so I would say innovation is booming in india And so I would say to my colleagues and everyone out there Please keep it up because it serves as a north star for the rest of the world Thank you. And my last question is how is it to be in camps after you? Pretty amazing I would have to say being together being able to have these types of conversations being inspired by the work again Is there's a renewed sense of energy and purpose and what we do and I couldn't be more pleased to be back Thank you so much for speaking to that