Author Roy T. Bennett once said: “It’s only after you’ve stepped outside your comfort zone that you begin to change, grow, and transform.” Now, I don’t think Mr. Bennett was referring to marketers when he said this – I’m thinking this is more of a general, overall human declaration but it is absolutely applicable to marketers in the context of growth.

These days, about two in every three people around the world use some form of mobile phone, and around four in every five of those devices are smartphones.

After a two-year hiatus, Cannes Lions came roaring back in a way that was more emotional than I would have ever anticipated possible.  Sure, all of the business that needed to be transacted was, there were innumerable speeches, fireside chats and panels, those who wanted to could dance the night away on the Plages teeming with Brigadoon like platform hospitality installations, each one more impressive than the next and, of course, the coveted Cannes Lions were handed out for the very best work across a litany of categories to the delight of the recipients.