There is a misconception about the values people and companies need to push boundaries. It’s assumed it’s all about risk-taking, ball-busting, maverick tendencies and a determination to stand out from the crowd.
But, in essence, it’s all about safety.
That was Sue Unerman’s message in Foresight’s closing fireside chat. She discussed her vision for the coming year alongside a romp through her career to date. She revealed that springboards that have taken her from Head of Strategic Planning at the then MediaCom to Chief Transformation Officer of EssenceMediacomX, leaving GroupM after 34 years to move to Brainlabs and her current role Global Chief Strategy Officer. Her career, including as an author and speaker extraordinaire has been defined by the creation of a supportive environment, leadership and colleagues invested in success and the continued need to push for more equitable environments.
“It was only when I first started working in media that I understood the beauty of being competitive as part of a team,” she reveals. “I’m a reasonably competitive person but it didn’t really have an outlet. Everything in my early experience was about succeeding by beating the other people at your level. When I joined the team that became Mediacom Worldwide, I saw that the way you become successful is by lifting everyone else in the team. I love that.”
People power is important – no, vital – to Unerman’s success. First with 34 years at the same company, and now latterly in her new role at Brainlabs as a global chief of strategy, she says growth isn’t about theory, it’s a state of mind. “It’s about leadership, about how you do things. How things succeed lies in how good people are in teams, and how good that team is at working towards a good solution, and how much psychological safety there is.”
To stretch the sporting analogy, she says, getting the most out of that team is “having a playbook”. “How do I play everyone to their best strengths?”
That’s assuming, of course, that everyone is starting from a level playing field. Unerman insists, despite all the work that has gone before, despite even the books she has already written, there is still a long, long way to go.
She, along with co-author Catherine Jacob, are approaching the tenth anniversary of The Glass Wall, their book about success strategies for women at work. Their agent is proposing they do a reprint because these conversations still need to be had.
“What makes a company successful is getting the absolute best out of the super bright people it employs because they feel comfortable enough to challenge decisions as part of the team. They’re not there conditionally, they don’t have to pretend to be something they’re not. They can say what they think.”
Unerman is at pains to say this is not a witch hunt. “I don’t want people to feel they’re on the wrong side of the argument because that doesn’t help either. It’s something we’ve all got to be conscious of and actively help make sure there is an environment of belonging for all diverse people in an organisation.”
That talent is going to be needed because there’s a sense the industry is at an inflection point. The will they, won’t they about cookies is over – for now. AI is still finding its feet and the media industry is circling it cautiously, poking the beast to find out what it’s all about.
“I don’t shy away from using AI to make the practice of what we do in creative and planning better, simpler, smoother. This time next year we’ll be in a different position. And there are also going to be dead ends. There will be wastes of time. And I do worry for organisations that aren’t innately already good at using AI.”
How will technology fundamentally change media, according to Unerman? Totally, and not at all. “The job hasn’t changed. The job is to persuade you to buy this product instead of that one.
“Now, there is so much more information to understand the customer journey. It’s about having systems and processes in place to understand and interpret that information and try things out so much more quickly.”
That said, Unerman does believe that the communications and advertising ecosystem is undergoing change, a reimagination rather than a reinvention. The next five years will be critical, particularly when it comes to the ability to predict and improve outcomes – music, no doubt, to brand and agency leaders’ ears.
Unerman won’t be stepping back from the media or publishing worlds any time soon. October sees the release of her latest book, A Year of Creativity: 52 smart ideas to superpower your business. Co-authored with favourite collaborator, Catherine Jacob (Palandi CEO), it features a foreword from Barbie movie CMO, Josh Goldstein. Why? Because you want to find out what sort of brain releases a movie about a children’s toy that isn’t a children’s movie at the same time as Oppenheimer, the most anticipated blockbuster of 2023.
And as far as Brainlabs is concerned, is she set to replicate the £44 million to £2 billion growth of EssenceMediacomX?
“Watch this space” she says.
