For branding agencies that want to reach tech clients, Web Summit is the place to be - our report

For branding agencies that want to reach tech clients, Web Summit is the place to be. It takes place every November in Lisbon, and sees 70,000 tech professionals gather over four intense days of talks and networking in the vast MEO Arena followed by four intense evenings and nights of partying and networking in the many very cool bars of Lisbon.

The main stage is vast and attracts the big name acts. This year I got to see Tim Berners-Lee close the Summit there. Earlier in the week it had featured Maria Sharipova, Armin van Buuren, Meta’s CMO, and many other high profile names.

However, in the vast hall there are 14 smaller stages, each with audiences well into the hundreds, and each focused on a particular area: Government Summit, Healthcare Summit, People Summit, AI Summit (isn’t it all an AI Summit?) and so on.

On my afternoon there I headed for Creative Summit. I saw some awesome examples of FX in movies from Perry Mason, Head of Digital at Territory Studio, as well as Mel Sullivan, CEO, and Lincoln Warren, CTO, of Framestore. The latter offered an interesting distinction between Directed AI (using it to optimise existing processes) and Generative AI (using it to present creative options).

There was also an interesting conversation between Ben “RVBBERDUCK” (who knows?) Doyle of After Party Productions and YouTuber Will Lenny, about their work together launching Lenny’s Rodd Iced Coffee. Their core message was that legacy brands still haven’t fully comprehended the extent to which they need to be authentic on social platforms. Lenny started showcasing his love of coffee a full 18 months before launching his iced coffee range, and it meant the launch felt authentic. Too few legacy brands are prepared to make that sort of investment and so they fail to maximise the channel’s potential.

However, the stand-out talk was Max Ottignon, Co-Founder of Ragged Edge. Full disclosure, Ragged Edge is a Red Setter client, and has been for almost a decade, so technically, yes, I am paid to say this, but genuinely his talk is brilliant. He is a rare voice of considered dissent in a sea of AI orthodoxy. His message is simple - AI is turbocharging to downgrading of branding from a tool for business transformation to a repeatable formula for aesthetics, and we as creatives need to make the case for the value we bring – but it’s one the world needs to hear.

This year, for the first time in ten years of Web Summit in the city, it was raining in Lisbon. It felt strange, discombobulating, but it also gave me a fresh perspective on the city, one that will stand out in contrast to the many sun-drenched days I’ve spent there. In the same way, when you’re on the creative stage at a tech summit it’s easier to follow the crowd and talk about how you’re using AI to improve your work, but it’s the talk that diverges from this script that people end up remembering.