How Philips is doubling down on making humans’s lives higher

Speaking on level on the Insights Lighthouse observe in Cannes, a two-day convention staged through the worldwide insights skilled community Insights Lighthouse, Léautier outlines how Philips is rewriting its advertising playbook round a easy however tough concept – if advertising isn’t making improvements to anyone’s lifestyles, then what’s the purpose? And to make that venture paintings at scale, the emblem is combining AI, creativity and deep human perception to make sure each and every marketing campaign it releases does extra than simply promote, however helps, resonates and makes a distinction.

“We’re not here to just talk product,” Léautier says. “We want to make a meaningful impact on people’s lives. That’s our brand purpose and our marketing has to deliver on it.”

From operate to feeling

For Philips, a legacy electronics emblem very best recognized for its toothbrushes, child screens and grooming gadgets, that intended transferring past conventional, function-first comms. While the ones commercials frequently examined neatly in lab environments, they weren’t breaking via emotionally or construction the long-term emblem salience had to force enlargement.

“Our creatives performed well under forced exposure,” says Léautier. “But we were underperforming on breakthrough and that meant we weren’t staying top of mind with consumers.”

To alternate that, Philips re-engineered its complete method, beginning with the patron, now not the product. The crew partnered with DVJ Insights to construct a repeatable, insight-to-impact framework. Every marketing campaign now starts with a deep dive into human wishes – now not simply what humans purchase, however why they behave the best way they do.

“It’s not about relevance in the category, it’s about relevance in people’s lives,” says Léautier. “We needed to go deeper, to really understand the emotional tension points.”

Creativity + AI = efficient empathy

That people-first shift used to be temporarily subsidized through construction. Philips now pre-tests each and every advert – non-negotiable – and makes use of a mixture of conventional KPIs and AI-driven research to fine-tune concepts sooner than they ever achieve the marketplace. It’s a mix of generation and instinct that goals to ship ingenious paintings that lands with surgical precision.

One of the emblem’s key equipment is cognitive call for research, which makes use of AI to evaluate how mentally taxing an advert is to procedure, body through body.

“If the demand is too high mid-commercial, your message is getting lost,” Leautier says. “Now we can catch that early, before the consumer even sees it, and fix it.”

That method is already handing over effects. Across its private well being department, Philips has observed its emblem impression ratings upward push sharply since introducing the brand new procedure. The industry grew 7% in 2024 in spite of marketplace headwinds and far of that momentum has come from a clearer, extra resonant ingenious route.

‘Share the Care’: a marketing campaign constructed to subject

The maximum putting instance of this new considering at Philips is ‘Share the Care,’ a marketing campaign constructed round a common human fact – moms are anticipated to do all of it, frequently on the expense of themselves.

The perception got here from a world learn about of over 7,000 folks, which published that many moms combat with guilt round self-care, despite the fact that it’s necessary to their wellbeing.

“Self-care came through so clearly,” says Leautier. “One mum told us, ‘If I don’t look after myself, I can’t look after my baby.’ That insight hit hard.”

The ingenious crew took that fact and constructed a marketing campaign that challenged the old-fashioned trust that placing your self first is egocentric. Anchored to Daylight Savings Time, a second when much more time is ‘taken’ from mums, the marketing campaign introduced with a takeover of Times Square and a big virtual push throughout the USA.

“We showed the tension real mothers feel, between being everything for their child and having nothing left for themselves,” Léautier explains. “It was emotional. It was liberating. And it worked.”

In checks, the advert hit inexperienced throughout nearly each and every marketplace – no iterations wanted. Consumer comments used to be quick and emotional, with many pronouncing they after all felt observed through a emblem. “It takes a village to raise kids,” mentioned one girl interviewed in Times Square. “Anything we can do to give time back to mums – we should be doing that.”

AI that empowers, now not erases, creativity

While a lot of the business nonetheless debates whether or not AI is an inventive danger or software, Philips is already construction its long term round it. Responsibly. The emblem is the use of AI to not exchange ingenious considering, however to optimize it, establish friction issues and take away inefficiencies.

“AI alone only explains about 10% of ad success,” says Léautier. “But when you combine it with traditional measures and human insight, that’s where the magic happens.”

That mixture of tech-backed self-discipline and emotional storytelling is what’s powering Philips’s new advertising engine. And it’s making sure the emblem doesn’t simply attach, however connects in tactics which might be unique, repeatable and, most significantly, actual.

“We’ve moved from product advertising to helping solve real problems for real people,” she says. “And that’s what drives effectiveness – not just emotion, not just data, but both.”

A blueprint for contemporary advertising?

For entrepreneurs chasing cultural relevance, Philips’s method feels an increasing number of instructive: get started with a human perception that issues, construct with ingenious ambition, take a look at with rigor, optimize with AI and decide to long-term impression, now not simply non permanent achieve. “Structurally implement pre-testing,” Léautier urges. “Use AI where it helps. But never forget the human voice – that’s where the emotion lives. That’s where your brand comes alive.”

Philips isn’t simply looking to promote extra gadgets; it’s looking to make the on a regular basis meaningfully higher. And in a global the place consideration is scarce and expectancies are prime, that may simply be the one advertising that issues.