President's Lecture

Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Chairman of the Board, Nestlé S.A. talked to Berlin School participants and selected members of the public about the latest research in consumer engagement, Nestlé's Accelerated Innovation Team and how the complex organization localizes social media efforts. Mr Brabeck-Letmathe also took questions from the audience on current issues Nestlé is facing and how to keep ideas fresh and team members motivated.

Brabeck-Letmathe tent talk

Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Chairman of the Board, Nestlé S.A. talks to Berlin School President Michael Conrad about his personal style of creative leadership, the first three moves he made as head of the company and his philosophy on keeping innovation a focal point in creative organizations.

Impressions

Impressions from the Berlin School of Creative Leadership Graduation Ceremony and Events (November 20, 2011)

iPhone testimonials (November 2010)

Impromptu iPhone interviews with Berlin School participants by Michael Conrad. (Interviews filmed November 2010).

The question: "When we were developing the concept for this program, Sir John Hegarty said that this has to be a life changing event for the participants. What was it for you?"

The Four Sources of Inspiration

Carlos TelIez won the Michael Conrad Prize for the best master's thesis upon graduation in April 2010 with this thesis on the subject of inspiration.

If you're working in a creative industry, you are selling ideas. The difference between good ideas and bad ones is the difference between success and failure. Therefore, it is crucial to come up with good ones. Carlos examined where good ideas come from and devised a brilliant methodology for causing inspiration on demand. According to Carlos, inspiration can be produced, and creativity is a discipline.

To prove his point, he devised a research project that pitted teams against each other to see who could produce the highest number of winning ideas. The results were stunning. Carlos showed that teams with proper inspiration could always beat teams without it, and that his methods could increase productivity by a whopping 300%. Most surprising, Carlos' methods showed that even college kids or lawyers could beat so-called "creatives" easily in the ideas competition -- when they had proper inspiration.

This research has already given him a competitive edge in his market. Carlos and his company are now using this work and the methods he developed to consult for agencies looking to improve their performance.

Thesis research projects at the Berlin School are an integral part of the global Executive MBA in Creative Leadership program and represent the culmination of extensive research and background work conducted individually by each EMBA program participant.  Each thesis is aimed at challenging the status quo of communication, provoking and inspiring new thinking - leading to new expertise, practices and tools. Thesis topics reflect an individual participant's fresh, practical, provocative, and radical ideas and are built around a theory, argument, assumption, premise, postulation, concept or contention that has the potential to refresh and renew communication as we know it in the fields of advertising, design, entertainment, journalism, marketing and media. As a general rule final EMBA theses are judged according to their potential to inspire new ways of thinking about the future of communication as well as their ability to encourage higher leadership standards in the creative industries.  Topics can focus on issues specific to a participant's company or general issues that relate to the creative industry as a whole.

Marcello Serpa tent talk

Throughout his career, Marcello has been noted as Brazil's most honoured art director, having won gold, silver and bronze medals in the principal Brazilian and international advertising festivals. At the Cannes Festival, in 1993, he won Latin America's first Grand Prix and 31 Lions during the last 6 years.

He is the most awarded art director in the 24-year history of the Annual of the Club de Criação; the most honored Brazilian at the Art Directors Club of New York, with Latin America's only two Gold Medals; winner of two Grand Prix at the New York Festival; Best Creative Professional at the Prêmio Caboré in 1993 and 1999; three-time winner of the Abril Advertising Prize; Professional of the Year for Rede Globo Awards in 1993; winner of Gold and Silver statues at the Clio Awards; winner of three Grand Prix at FIAP (Latin American Advertising Festival). He created two covers for Archive Magazine and is the only Brazilian art director to receive Gold at the One Show.

In 1998, he was the first Brazilian to preside over the jury at the London Festival. In 2 consecutive years, he was named Best Creative Director in Latin America and Brazil at Latin Spots magazine's "El Ojo de Iberoamerica" Awards.

Berlin School

Cannes Creative Leaders Programme

Following an intensive 6 days of classroom instruction in Berlin and 6 days of blended learning sessions in Cannes during the Cannes Lions festival, three 2011 Cannes Creative Leaders Programme participants share insights about their program experience and what the key take aways were for them (Till Hohmann, Chief Creative Officer, JWT Germany, Patrick Tom, Executive Creative Director, TBWA\Vietnam and Nina Mosurashvili, Marketing Communication Director, TBC Bank Georgia).