Wunderman’s Lincoln Bjorkman Is Always About What’s Next
Lincoln Bjorkman, global chief creative officer at the WPP-owned digital agency, leads 2,000-plus creatives worldwide. So naturally he has plenty of insight about the impact of digital transformation on the creative role.
This article is part of CMO.com’s October series about creativity and design-led thinking. Click here for more.
Lincoln Bjorkman, global chief creative officer at WPP-owned digital agency Wunderman, leads 2,000-plus creatives spread out over 170 offices in more than 60 countries. So naturally he has plenty of insight about the impact of digital transformation on the creative role.
“It’s now the air we breathe,” Bjorkman told me during this week’s Marketing Today podcast. “If you want to be a successful creative … you have to change and grow and learn all the time. You cannot ever be set in your ways. You have to master new tools and new disciplines.”
He also believes the future of marketing is about creatives constantly challenging themselves and raising the bar. “The changes are going to be profound. … I don’t want marketing to go away. And I want agencies to add a lot of value,” he said. “[Marketing] will only do that if we have someone saying, ‘That’s great. What’s next? Let’s do more. Let’s make it better.’”
Highlights from this week’s “Marketing Today” podcast include:
- Bjorkman describes his role: “A little bit of everything all the time.” (1:06)
- Bjorkman on the power behind Wunderman’s mantra: “Creatively Driven. Data Inspired.” (3:01)
- Achieving wantedness: Removing friction to create better engagement and better results in customer experience. (8:55)
- Bjorkman’s view on the creative craft. (11:18)
- The tools and methodology Wunderman uses to keep up with the speed and complexity of today’s creative world. (13:36)
- The “unexpected hack”—What Bjorkman admires in brands and movements. (26:15)
- The future of marketing: “Nothing is safe.” (29:25)
