Episode 189 / Claire Graves / The Webby Awards / President
How Brands Can Push Forward Responsible Technology
In her role as President of the Webby Awards, celebrating excellence on the internet, Claire Graves gets to see the best of digital marketing and initiatives. It’s through this lens she’s been able to see how brands are becoming more accountable for their content and for the way they use technology. And it’s why her Shiny New Object is responsible technology.
Responsible technology means considering accessibility, equality, data governance, addiction, and thinking holistically about what impact your work is having on the world. It’s something that Claire is passionate about, which is why at the Webby Awards, they have also created the Anthem Awards – recognising purpose and mission driven work.
Brands need to own the influence they have online
Through their decisions on where they spend their marketing budget, brands legitimise and fuel certain platforms over others. While it’s not reasonable to expect that brands stop spending money on Facebook ads altogether, they need to understand and explore the influence they have and how they can make a positive impact on the world as a result.
Audiences will begin to support mission driven brands first
Moreover, as people overall become more aware of and focused on their impact in the world, Claire believes that they will gravitate towards brands and organisations that also have a mission and that can exhibit this mission in how they behave online and offline. Therefore, being more sensitive to having a positive impact in the world is also good business for the longer term.
Move away from addictive technology and towards responsible tech
It’s difficult to know the best way and the quickest way to make positive impacts in the world of tech. However, there are some good examples of brands looking to move away from addictive social media and into a more inclusive and genuine space. For example, the Be Real app encourages users to be authentic and share their true self with their social network – in opposition to the drive to be an influencer on Instagram.
Claire advises brands to consider what platforms they work with, how they spread their message, and also which types of communities they’re tapping into. We are now at a pivotal moment where this can be done – where brands can truly start thinking about the work they create and the technology that underpins it, before moving into web3 and the next phase of online advertising. So, why not take advantage to build inclusive teams, diversify the perspectives around the table, and reconsider your online marketing strategy?
Listen to Claire explain responsible technology further, as well as give her top marketing tips, on the latest podcast episode.
Transcript
The following gives you a good idea of what was said, but it’s not 100% accurate.
Tom Ollerton 0:05
Hello, and welcome to the shiny new object podcast. My name is Tom Ollerton. I'm the founder of automated creative. And this is a weekly show where I have the absolute treat of speaking to our industry's leaders about what they think is gonna happen next in the industry. And this week is no different. I'm on a call with Claire Graves, who is president at the Webby Awards. So very excited to have Claire on the show. And they've been a part of us, as you probably heard their ads over the last month or so. So thanks for that, Claire. But anyone who doesn't know who you are and what you do, can you give the audience a bit of background?
Claire Graves 0:40
Yeah, sure. Thank you for having me, Tom. And thank you for our partnership. It's, it's been great so far. So I'm Claire, I'm president of the Webby Awards. I have been in this role for the last 12 years. And I lead the teams who run the Webby Awards, which is our flagship award. It was started 27 years ago, when the web was really in its infancy. The Lovie Awards, which is our award honoring European internet, which, which we found a 12 years ago. And then the anthem Awards, which we launched last year, we're super excited about the anthem awards, we're recognizing purpose and mission driven work with the awards, both online and off. And I started my career actually in advertising. I went to university up in Scotland in Edinburgh. And then I moved down to London to join the advertising industry in London. I worked at a big advertising agency, and I was kind of like looking at the industry and seeing what was interesting. And to be honest, the most exciting work, the most exciting work that I thought was most exciting work was happening in digital. And I think the most fun people were in digital. So I quickly moved over to a digital agency called Poke. And I worked there for about five years, making communications. I started producing emails there. We made emails for The Guardian, and for American Express Red and then moved on quickly to making apps for Facebook, for companies like Topshop. And then big kind of integrated campaigns for Orange and Barnardos and the BBC.
Tom Ollerton 2:33
Facebook apps, you are taking me back!
Claire Graves 2:36
Uh huh. I've had a great view of the industry changing.
Tom Ollerton 2:40
Wow, wow. Yeah, emails and Facebook apps. Man, that was it. That was digital marketing back in the day, wasn't it? But anyway, sod that, it's about the future. So a couple of quick questions. What have you spent your own hard earned cash on? That has been really beneficial for your work life?
Claire Graves 3:01
Um, well, I think the probably the most beneficial thing that I have spent my money on is a yoga membership, an annual yoga membership, I find that when I the more Yoga I do, the more relaxed I am at work. And actually, I think that I'm the most creative when I'm on my mat kind of zoned out but also thinking about solving one or two problems at work as well.
Tom Ollerton 3:28
And who's the membership with?
Claire Graves 3:32
It's with Modo yoga, it's actually hot yoga. Down in the West Village in New York.
Tom Ollerton 3:37
Alright, so it's physical. It's not like...
Claire Graves 3:41
Yeah in the room yoga.
Tom Ollerton 3:43
I am a massive hot yoga fan. Although running a business and having a small child means that I can't do any more. I just have to go for a run. But I yeah, I'll get back to it. But yes, I completely concur. Yeah, the more yoga you do, the happier you are. So moving into marketing, what is your top marketing tip? What is that bit of advice that you give most often?
Claire Graves 4:12
Well, you know, I have the, I think the privilege of being able to see a lot of work from all over the world. Last year across our awards across the Webby group awards, we received about 20,000 entries. And I also see what is the best out of that work. And there's a few trends that kind of rise within the work that gets the top nods at the Webbies: work that is either really entertaining and engaging in that way. Work that's useful. So apps and software or even the creative marketing that's useful that people kind of come back to and share that helps them in their lives. And then work that has a social impact that is personal, purposeful, it's mission driven. And that's actually one of the reasons that we started the Anthem was that we saw that the work that was being created in this space that has an impact, actually is really resonating with audiences. And as audiences become become more focused on their impact on the world, they're gravitating toward brands and organizations that also have a mission.
Tom Ollerton 5:28
So be entertaining, be useful and have a social impact. It's so easy to say hard to do. But yeah, great bit of advice, nonetheless. So let's get to your shiny new object. And I was excited when we first talked about this, and your shiny object is responsible tech. Sounds like it makes sense. But what do you what do you mean?
Claire Graves 5:53
Well, you know, I said, I have the privilege of seeing a lot of work. Also, in this role, I have the privilege of really seeing how the industry is changing, and what is becoming really important to the industry, and how it's shaping how it's being shaped in different ways. You know, we get to it, the web has been around for 27 years. And so we really get to see how money is being spent, where content is moving, how different content is being created. And one of the trends that we've been noticing that the industry is really spending more time and effort thinking about is responsible technology. So when people are creating new technology and thinking about how they create that technology, they're considering the harm that it may have on on the world. And that's really what Responsible Technology is, it's considering accessibility, equality, data governance, addiction, all of those things and thinking about holistically how what impact the work is having on the world.
Tom Ollerton 7:04
So what are your favorite examples of responsible tech?
Claire Graves 7:09
There's so much going on at the moment, but I think like, look, it's a super pivotal time. It's really what more and more work is being created. And I think there's some great examples in terms of new communities that are being created. So one of our favorites, which is kind of really exploding at the moment is the Be Real app? Have you played with the Be Real app? Check it out.
Tom Ollerton 7:39
I'm gonna download it right now.
Claire Graves 7:41
And so you can see it's really, Gen Z is really into the Be Real app. And what it does is it it kind of gives you an alert one time a day to open the app and be authentically the person that you are at that exact moment.
Tom Ollerton 8:03
So it really kind of makes you feel really nervous even you just say that, but it's...
Claire Graves 8:09
Well, it's the opposite of some of the other kind of bigger platforms that at the moment where you know, it's all about influence. And it's all about creating a perception of who you are. It's just being the authentic person that you actually are at that moment.
Tom Ollerton 8:26
Okay, so yeah, I'm not convinced. Having never been on that. But it says Be Real your friends for real, not another social network. It's definitely a social network. So there's another app that came out recently that like, you can't post on your feed, you can only post on your friends' feed. You can like to view you and I do something we go to yoga together. I'll go Oh, yeah, here's me and Claire having a great time. But I can't put on my own feed. Is it tapping into that?
Claire Graves 9:01
Yeah, it's what a lot of the new apps are doing is they're trying to move away from a addictive technology. And that and that kind of model. So another one is Marco Polo, which is where we went to we really love Marco Polo, it's a another, it's another social network, but it's creating videos and you send videos to the people in your network as messages. So it's not a feed, it's kind of you're just sending videos, updates to your friends.
Tom Ollerton 9:37
Right. Okay. And so it's lovely to hear that this is a trend and that people are thinking about, you know, the potential harm. And it really does make you think back to when we were talking about Facebook apps and stuff and the things he could get away with really, pretty much anything as long as it got signed off by Apple. Sorry not Apple, Facebook, you can just do it right and looking back to things like Cambridge Analytica, which was, I think it was a Facebook app or something along those lines, wasn't it that it just sort of pulled in everyone's data and crunched it for their own purposes without anyone signing any of that stuff off? So we've come a long way, I think from those kind of wild times that you're referencing back in your Poke days, not that Poke were responsible for any of that stuff, not at all, to this responsible tech environment. So what I'm keen to know is how can responsible tech be used by brands, right? So brands are very keen to put themselves in a place of purpose, and a place of respectability and responsibility. But I don't hear much about responsible Tech, I don't hear much about brands using this stuff. So you've given me a great example, with the be real app. But how can brands use responsible tech? When they're heavily reliant on things like Facebook and Google? And you know, they have huge carbon emissions and all that kind of business? But what's your thoughts on that?
Claire Graves 11:09
Oh, yeah, I think you're, I think you're really hitting the nail on the head, when you're talking about the history of where we have been with the internet, and what has grown from those times where we were, you know, making apps for Topshop on Facebook, the back then, when the internet was being created, and these networks would be, you know, really growing, we weren't really thinking about what Responsible Technology is. And that's not to say that we haven't always thought about how to make websites accessible, or, you know, the teams that are behind those websites, but it really wasn't at the forefront of the thinking that we were doing when we were thinking about what we were going to create, and the teams that are going to be created creating them. So I think that there, it's a moment for brands to start thinking about the work that they create, and the technology that they create, and the teams that are and the teams that they using, and the teams that they're building, and who's involved. So what perspectives are at the table when when they are strategizing, and then actually building new technologies. And then also thinking about the companies that they work with and how they reach the communities and consumers that they're going to that they need to reach. So what kind of what, what kind of platforms they could be working with, but also how which types of communities they're tapping into. And we're at this, like, we're at this, you know, when not only are we at a pivotal moment in the thinking of how we create things, but we're also at this incredible moment of where the internet is going and what is being created. Right now there's new, you know, there's new worlds that are being created with the metaverse and web three. And so it's time to say, hey, we didn't get a lot of stuff right? With web 2.0. And we really need to like stop and level set and think about, okay, how do we create this new technology in the right way, in a holistic way, thinking about all of the important things that we've learned?
Tom Ollerton 13:28
So from an ethical purist, perspective, no one is going to argue with you unless they're like some crazy evil genius that wants to manipulate and hurt people. Wish there was some, but what about the business pressure here? Right? So like, we work with a client, they're like, right, our job is to increase performance by 50%, or half the cost of sale or double the amount of sales or, or whatever it is. And it's like, right, we're working on these platforms, this job has to get done, that's my job, and if we went, ah well actually, you know, from an ethical perspective, maybe Pinterest isn't right, or, or whichever platform that they're suggesting, like, is there a danger that this is going to get in the way of getting the job done? And if so, how do you mitigate against that balancing the will to do the right thing, but the necessity to get the job done?
Claire Graves 14:24
Yeah, you know, it's definitely a challenge. It's definitely a challenge. And it's not necessarily going to change like tomorrow. But brands have, you know, we've seen it over the last few years brands have huge influence on companies' policy, and, you know, they made a huge difference when the big brands took their money off of Facebook and decided to spend it in other ways. And so it's important for us to be considering other ways of reaching the audiences. And I'm not necessarily saying like everybody has to, you know, not spend their paid media budgets on big technology companies, I'm just saying that it's important to be thinking about the influence that we have as brands and, and the way that we use that money.
Tom Ollerton 15:26
But look, I think that is a lovely way to end the episode. Think about the influence we have and what we can do with that money to make the world better with responsible technology. So Caire, that's a really good challenge to all of us, myself included. So thanks for that. If someone wants to talk to you about responsible tech, what's the best way to get in touch with you and what makes a brilliant outreach message to you?
Claire Graves 15:51
I'm Claire Graves on everything so you can find me pretty easily but I think the email is a pretty good one. Um, Claire.graves@webbyawards.com. And just be genuine. Just be just be who you are. I don't need any more emails that say Hi, Claire. I've just landed upon the Webby Awards website. And I'm interested in talking to you about your content. That's not necessarily going to work. But just tell me who you are and how you want to work together.
Tom Ollerton 16:24
Brilliant. Thank you so much for your time.
Subscribe to the ‘Shiny New Object’ Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and Soundcloud.