June 24, 2025
In the second of our events in partnership with The Washington Post at Cannes, the WMG hosted a thought-provoking panel to explore what reinvention looks like for global brands navigating fast-moving technological, cultural and economic change. The session, chaired by WMG CEO Jamie Credland, brought together three senior leaders from very different sectors: Suzi Watford, Chief Strategy Officer, The Washington Post, Navin Rammohan, VP Segment Head Marketing, Infosys, and Jamila Saidi, Global Head of Digital Commerce, Culture & Lifestyle, UK Department for Business & Trade.
Despite their different industries, there was strong consensus around one core idea: reinvention isn’t a campaign, it’s a constant state of being.
Reinvention is now a business imperative
The discussion opened with a clear observation: virtually every organisation today is undergoing some form of transformation. Whether it’s legacy retailers repositioning themselves around AI, agencies adapting to new economic models or governments modernising their global brand presence—change is the new norm.
For The Washington Post, reinvention is baked into the brand. As Suzi Watford explained, “The Post has continually reinvented itself over the last almost 150 years. We’re not new to that.” However, she stressed that reinvention must be rooted in purpose: “The most critical question we ask ourselves is why reinvention? We’re not just doing it for the sake of it.”
Watford says there are two ways to look at reinvention. “Firstly – is it a necessity? Are we doing it because if we don’t, what does the future of news look like?” The other way is to frame it as opportunity. “We lean towards looking at the huge opportunity, because in this particular moment of reinvention, when you’re a brand like the Post, and we’ve clearly set out the mission that we want to reach more people across America, and to make sure that more people have got trusted news. With a mission like that, the technology and the opportunity that’s available now mean it is very real – that opportunity to get scale.”
Honouring legacy while embracing innovation
The healthy tension between heritage and innovation is especially visible in the case of the UK’s national brand. Jamila Saidi, whose team leads the government’s global trade and investment efforts across a range of sectors, shared how they leverage the iconic “GREAT” campaign, first launched in 2012 and now activated in more than 100 countries.
She noted that while people around the world are familiar with British culture, their perceptions can sometimes lag behind the reality: “Some of those views that they have about the UK are outdated.” Saidi said the next generation of key decision makers don’t necessarily have the same connection to the UK as their predecessors, so reinvention is not just strategic, but essential. “If we rest on our laurels and what the UK was famous for in the past, we’re in really big trouble.”
At the same time, it’s about balance – not erasing history, but building on it thoughtfully. “We do some things that are linked to the old stereotypes of the UK, because people still love it. But we’re very careful about trying to make sure we put a little bit of distance between heritage and also innovation of the future.”
Reframing marketing within an organisation
Reinventing externally means changing internally too, and that’s not always straightforward. All three panelists spoke candidly about internal resistance.
At Infosys, a company with more than 300,000 employees and deep roots in engineering culture, shifting to a bold, outward-facing brand approach wasn’t easy. Navin Rammohan recalled early skepticism when they proposed sponsoring global tennis tournaments over more obvious choices like cricket. “There was huge pressure to do cricket,” he said. “But we followed up with a lot of data showing why we wanted to do tennis.”
Eventually, tennis proved the right move. Its global footprint, gender balance and tech-ready environment made it a perfect platform for showcasing Infosys’s AI and analytics. The investment has since paid off in credibility, lead generation and even product development: “Over the last 10 years, we’ve influenced millions of dollars of business just on the back of the partnership,” Rammohan said.
Purpose and performance go hand-in-hand
Rammohan also shared the framework Infosys has used to drive its transformation, built on five Ps: Productisation, Partnerships, Platforms, Purpose and Performance. While each has its role, purpose is central. Infosys was among the first in its category to become carbon neutral and is investing in digital upskilling for 20 million people globally.
But now, the company is working to make those commitments more visible: “We had never capitalised on it. So how do we actually codify the purpose and make sure that it’s visible across all our platforms? How do we impact the goals of the organisation? How do we impact the revenue [with] clear measurements around business growth?”
For Saidi and her team, ROI is equally crucial, especially given the nature of their work, which means things can change whenever someone new comes into power. “It’s really important for us to be able to say this campaign has been going for a very long time, there’s a lot of equity in this campaign. We need to talk about metrics and ROI and show that this campaign has helped to create new jobs and made the UK more prosperous.”
Experiences still matter when done differently
Experiential marketing remains a powerful lever, but the panel emphasised that it needs to evolve. The UK’s “UK House” activations at global events like South by Southwest are a great example: dynamic, creative showcases that bring together music, fashion, tech and leverages the country’s soft power.
“We had these amazing people in the creative industries and sports space who brought in a whole new audience that we don’t normally engage with,” Saidi said of a UK House SXSW event focused on UK-Africa trade. People ask, “who’s doing this event? And when they hear it’s the Department for Business and Trade, they’re blown away.”
Watford echoed the importance of live events, noting that, while panels and keynotes are great, publishers and marketers must think beyond them. “The reinvention for me is how to actually get people to do more active events or to be more hands-on,” she said. This could include innovation labs, workshops or more informal gatherings.” It’s about building connections in new ways.
Making reinvention ongoing, not episodic
The session wrapped with reflections on the nature of change itself. Is reinvention a one-time pivot or something more continuous?
For Saidi, whose department must adapt with every change in government, it’s both. “We know change is coming every four years and we have to pivot… but we have the longer term goal – we are always trying to promote UK business. We can’t avoid change, but we can’t take it for granted, so it’s about consistency.”
Watford summed up the mindset needed to make reinvention work: be clear on what stays constant (in the Post’s case, providing trusted quality journalism), but open about what’s up for change in order to meet the goal of growing the audience. “How do we get that balance right? We have to say, actually, the journalism has to remain at the core, but everything else really is on the table,” she said, whether that be audience targeting, subscription models or content discovery.
A shift from global impact to personal value
A final insight came from Rammohan, who noted a wider shift in consumer expectations. While brands once built their narratives around changing the world, today’s audiences are asking a more personal question. “Now consumers are looking at brands and saying, ‘change my world’. I think there’s a lot more trust in brands to do the right thing, to be more authentic and to be more meaningful to their lives.”
That, ultimately, may be the defining lens through which reinvention efforts are judged – not just by scale or creativity, but by the relevance, trust and value they bring to individuals.