Leadership Insights with Keith Reinhard

Forget Don Draper, real-life Mad Man Keith Reinhard has a few pieces of leadership advice for you. We asked the advertising legend a few quick questions as he prepares to join us and other celebrated industry leaders in Cannes for this year’s Cannes Creative Leadership Programme (June 12th-24th). 

What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone striving for longevity in this industry? 
Love what you do, stay current and persevere.

You’ve crossed paths with countless industry leaders, what do you think is one common characteristic great leaders have?
A unique ability to inspire.

How do you think storytelling will evolve in the digital age? Is the future 140 characters or less?
Storytelling will continue to evolve as surely as it has evolved from cave paintings to Netflix.  Since time began, stories have engaged us, inspired us and connected us to each other, and stories will continue to do so.  Short stories may become even shorter—140 characters or less—but Hemingway showed us how to tug at heartstrings with only six words:  “For sale. Baby shoes.  Never worn.”  At the same time, given high-quality content, we can hold people’s attention for long stretches of time.  Millions of listeners, including millennials, tuned in to the famous 'Serial' podcasts, each of which ran more than 30 minutes.  And people will continue to binge-watch their long-form television favorites.  With the advent of VR and other immersive techniques, we will be able to involve people even more deeply in our stories, placing them in the middle of the action rather than on the outside looking in. We may also see an increase in interactive story-making where the viewer helps shape a story’s plot.  So yes, storytelling will evolve.  In fact, it will become even more important now that neuroscientists are providing empirical evidence that stories are uniquely powerful in changing behavior. 

About Keith Reinhard:
Keith Reinhard is Chairman Emeritus at DDB Worldwide and long-standing member of the Berlin School of Creative Leadership Board of Governors. During his epic decades-long advertising career, Keith Reinhard shaped the industry with both his creative work and his visionary approach to how agencies work. 
Keith helped craft the first three-agency union that would become Omnicom, while also shaping the merger that would become the present DDB Worldwide­. Needless to say, Keith has received countless awards and accolades and has worked with some of the most storied leaders in the industry including DDB founder Bill Bernbach. 
For more leadership insight from Keith and other industry luminaries including Marcello Serpa, Michelle Klein, Bob Greenberg and more, be sure to join us for the Cannes Creative Leaders Programme June 13-25. It’s the two weeks you need to get your leadership strategy on the fast-track to success!

Register today: Cannes Creative Leaders Programme 2017