What happens when creatives stop fearing data and start using it? In conversation with The Drum at Cannes, Adverity and Reckitt unpack how AI and analytics can spark – not stifle – big ideas. Watch now.
Adverity at Cannes 2025
“Imagine you're a five-year-old and your parents have locked up all the Lego in the world in this secret cupboard… you know that you want to build some stuff, but you've only got limited access to it,” says Lee McCance, chief product officer at Adverity. He uses the metaphor to describe the still-evolving state of data democratization in many organizations: “That’s what we’re really focused on – how do we break down those barriers?”
“It’s not about how you decide who gets access to which data... it’s more about how you ensure that the data that you provide access to is meaningful for people's day-to-day job,” adds Bastien Parizot, senior vice-president, IT and digital, Reckitt.
As marketing evolves, the pressure to be both creative and data-driven is greater than ever. We’re told to break down silos, democratize access to data, and embed AI everywhere – but where does this leave human creativity? How can creative teams thrive in a world where AI and analytics are part of the daily toolkit – and what does it take to make data genuinely actionable, not overwhelming?
The session answers those big questions, digging into how creative teams can access performance data, consumer insights and even AI-driven knowledge in ways that enhance, rather than restrict, their ideas.
“The most important thing is obviously trust,” says McCance: “We want to make sure that the data we're bringing together has trust built into its core, but we do that in a really transparent way.”
The pair are clear: the myth that data stifles creativity needs to go. “Data and creativity go really well together,” Parizot says, “the access to data that we have right now is giving us a lot of power to have even more creative ideas.”
Want to hear how leading brands are combining insight and intuition to unlock creative advantage? Watch the full Cannes session now on The Drum TV.
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Adverity
Adverity is the integrated data platform for connecting, managing, and using your data at scale. The platform enables marketing and analyst teams to blend disparate...