‘Money has a voice but it doesn’t have a soul’

TRIGGER warning: big isn’t beautiful. At least, not for many legacy brands and companies. In his session yesterday — Adapt Or Die: Why Giants Can’t Dance — industry legend Sir John Hegarty argued that, in today’s fast-moving, fear-driven world, size is no longer a benefit but an active disadvantage. “Size is now inertia,” he said. “It always kind of was, but now, with AI, it’s really being exposed. Size breeds bureaucracy and that’s a major problem. It’s the paradox of progress: size makes it harder to adapt.” All too often, big companies are throttled by process. They become “operational not inspirational”, avoiding fresh ideas and losing the spark that made them successful in the first place.

Sir John Hegarty on the Cannes Lions stage

AI, meanwhile, is democratising opportunity, meaning that “creativity is the only thing left to compete on”. And, again, creativity is not determined by size — especially in the age of AI, where everyone has access to the information, guidance and skills to be an effective creative director. 

So what can the giants do? “Go back to the future,” was Hegarty’s advice. “That’s the answer for them. They need to go back to their origins rediscover their philosophy.” But that can also be problematic, he added, because origin stories tend to die with company founders, along with passion, focus and belief. 

The good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way: “Did the Christian church go into decline after Jesus died? It didn’t. It’s still doing rather well, actually. So why can’t modern companies learn what the Christian church taught us all those years ago?”

Again, he urged creatives to see AI as a collaborator rather than the enemy, speculating that it could conceivably be used to keep the vision and inspiration of iconic founders — the likes of Coco Chanel, say, or Steve Jobs or Walt Disney — alive and involved with their corporate creations. To illustrate his point, Hegarty then had a conversation with his younger self — “John, circa 1980” — brought to life by the power of AI. Sporting magnificent hair, Young John reminded Older John of his early mantra: “Money has a voice but it doesn’t have a soul.” 

In conclusion, Hegarty urged corporate giants to embrace creative transformation:

“Move faster, build culture, empower bold ideas at scale, discover your creative philosophy, rethink structure and re-engage with wherever you came from. I think that’s the way the giants can learn how to dance.” 

It won’t be easy, he admitted: “A lot of giants won’t be able to find the right tune and embrace the opportunities out there. So my advice is, don’t aim to be the biggest, aim to be the boldest. And view AI as an amazing collaborator that will democratise creativity.” gest, aim to be the boldest. And view AI as an amazing collaborator that will democratise creativity.”