‘Try slow’: Bloomberg Media global CRO says advertising industry has ‘false belief’ that it needs all the answers now
In an Australian exclusive wide-ranging chat, we sat down with the global chief revenue officer of Bloomberg Media, Christine Cook.
Having flown from New York to Australia this week for SXSW Sydney, Cook appeared on this week’s one-on-one podcast series and discussed a range of topics, including the state of publishing in 2024 and why, despite the many challenges, it is an exciting time to be working in advertising.
“I think it’s always a good time to be in advertising,” Cook told host Neil Griffiths.
“Look, I studied literature. I was a high school English teacher. I didn’t know I was going to be in this business until I got in this business. And I realized it’s all about narrative storytelling.
“So, I’m doing narrative storytelling with clients in marketing against narrative storytelling and journalism, which is recording history.”
One of many slogans Cook believes in right now is ‘what’s old is new again’ and that applies directly to media and marketing.
“The whole ‘what’s old is new again’ thing is, like, the more history you study, you start to realize that societally, patterns recreate themselves,” she explained.
“So, we know about the psychology of people advertising should engage people in emotional and inspiring ways. It can also be entertaining. It has been entertaining. I think it should get back to those roots because that inspires brand affinity and makes people want to lean in.”
Cook acknowledged that post-pandemic has not been an easy time for many, if not most, industries and there has been an understandable rush to get workforces back on their feet.
However, as she noted, we are all learning in “real time”.
“The speed that all of us are being put under maybe isn’t serving us, but there’s this rush to have all the right answers,” she said.
“So, I did buy a hat last year that has a turtle on it that says, ‘Try slow’. It’s a little bit of my own personal mantra that’s probably coming through.
“I don’t know if I’m going to be able to slow the pace of change, but I think if all of us could just slow down a little bit… I don’t think our false belief that we have to have an answer right now is serving us.”
Listen to the full podcast here.
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Neil Griffiths is the Managing Editor of Mumbrella. He joined the company in October 2023.
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