VCU Institute for Contemporary Art
601 W Broad St
Elizabeth Paul
Chief Strategy Officer / The Martin Agency
Topic: KILL THE UNICORN — HOW THE MYTH OF INDIVIDUAL GENIUS DESTROYS CREATIVE (AND OUR SOULS)
Our industry worships at the altar of individual genius. The problem is: there’s no such thing. If you study the history of great artists and innovators you almost always find a creative culture that has incubated the names we all worship in lights. So how do we find those cultures? Or better yet? Make them. Hear from an industry leader whose specialty is incubating talent, lighting the match of hot streaks and creating space where diverse voices can make beautiful things.
Bio:
Her approach to running an integrated strategy group like an R&D lab has netted a social content studio that generated tens of millions of dollars in earned media for Burger King, a data arts lab that fueled a 92% new business win rate, and cultural insights that landed E*TRADE among the top Super Bowl spots in industry rankings. In recent years she’s had the opportunity to work on brands like Jet Blue, Grey Goose and “Change the Ref,” a youth movement that uses urban art and non-violent communication to raise awareness about mass shootings.
Elizabeth has led teams that have won lions at Cannes, pencils at the One Show and Effies at… well, the EFFIEs. She is a three-time winner of the Jay Chiat Award, the industry’s highest award for strategic excellence — and is a contributing writer for Fast Company , AdAge and AdWeek.