CHICAGO — What are the biggest and most exciting trends affecting advertising and communication today? Mobile, quicker time to sale, and the fusion of creative advertising by customer data, according to the boss of one of the world’s biggest ad agencies.

Speaking with Beet.TV in this interview ahead of her visit to the upcoming Cannes Lions festival, SMG CEO Laura Desmond says:

  1. “It’s a mobile-first world – it’s undeniable. Anyone who thinks that today’s youth are not mobile-first is wrong.”
  2. “We’re starting to see the journeys of media to content to commerce collapse. Companies need to think about … the exposure, the engagement and acquisition all at the same time.”
  3. Using technology and data to fuel creativity and data all at the same time as media. There’s been a lot of hype around how data, data, data, data, data is driving the new media propositions of the future. But data, data, data doesn’t mean we pursue data and not people.”

We interviewed her as part of the series The Road to Cannes, our lead-up to the Cannes Lions Festival presented by Coull. Please visit this page for additional segments.