WMF Creators Fest

A speech to discover what brand jingles are, their purpose, and why they are significant. Featuring practical examples to construct one's own.

By now, most brands are using AI in some capacity. But few understand how and why these systems make decisions - which means they’re not actually leveraging AI. Joya Scarlata and Mara Dettmann, hosts of The Marketer’s Guide to the AI Galaxy, unpack the gap between AI adoption and real AI literacy in a session which challenges how brand leaders think about measuring AI success and what “capability” really means in the age of agentic systems. They ultimately introduce a more grounded framework for working with AI - because when everyone has access to the same tools, the real competitive edge comes from understanding what those tools are actually doing, and knowing how to steer them.

Generative AI has theoretically revolutionized content creation. In practice, however, brands face a paradox: it has never been easier to produce unlimited volumes of content and it has never been harder to ensure that this content actually looks and feels like the brand. The result is an abundance of generic, interchangeable, visually identity-less assets that rarely deliver on KPIs. In a world where content is the most powerful brand touchpoint, this isn’t just inefficient — it’s risky. This keynote introduces a scientifically developed workflow that bridges the gap between brand identity and AI. It demonstrates how brands can empirically decode their visual DNA, align generative AI with it, and predict performance before anything goes live. Three developments sit at the core and they define the future of content creation: 1. From Generic Output to Brand-Specific Signature How the visual DNA of a brand can be algorithmically captured and why this is the foundation for truly differentiated, recognizable, and on-brand GenAI content. 2. KPI-Optimized Generation Instead of Trial-and-Error How content can be guided not only by aesthetics but by data, enabling more precise targeting, stronger relevance, and higher performance across the entire consumer journey. 3. Predicting Performance Before Content Goes Live How AI reduces human subjectivity in content selection, minimizes creative risk, and enables faster, more confident decision-making. The keynote blends research insights, practical examples, and learnings from data-driven brand communication. It shows how brands will use AI in the coming years not to simply produce more content, but to create better content; content that is on-brand, KPI-effective, and scientifically validated. This is how generative AI evolves from a creative guessing game into a validated system that unifies brand identity, KPIs, and performance prediction into one scalable workflow.

The audience isn’t looking for originality. They want to recognize themselves. They seek the comfort of the familiar, the confirmation of their own ideas. They want to see themselves reflected in words they didn't know they had inside. This is why memes, tropes, jokes, and formats repeat infinitely: virality is simply rewriting what everyone already knows, with a slightly different twist. We defend the idea of originality as a measure of value because we are afraid to admit it’s not true. Admitting that a content’s success stems from skill, context, timing, and a pinch of luck strips the magic away from the myth of the "genius." It’s a less romantic story, but a truer one. If anyone can remix, then anyone can succeed. And that is exactly what scares us. The myth of originality is overrated, but imagination is not. True skill lies in reimagining, recombining, and transforming what already exists into something surprising. Ideas explode when a familiar model is bent at just the right angle. If this bothers you, then ask yourself: “Would I rather defend the illusion of being original, or create something that actually gets people talking?”

The question of whether to adopt AI is already obsolete. The question emerging now is more uncomfortable: how do we design coexistence with an interlocutor that is no longer just the consumer? Alongside them, increasingly, stands an algorithmic agent. It evaluates, filters, and decides on its own—and it does so differently depending on who it’s facing, generation by generation. This session focuses on three core directives: what "coexistence" truly means when the relationship is no longer bilateral; which trust asymmetries emerge across different generations regarding algorithmic delegation; and which concrete levers brands can activate to build narratives and positioning that withstand this new reality. The brands that survive algorithmic mediation are not necessarily the most visible; they are the most recognizable. The GENS Generations Observatory brings two original research assets to WMF 2026. Future Brands (3rd Edition) is a longitudinal study of over 6,000 respondents between 2024 and 2026, spanning Boomers to Gen Z. Agentic Moments of Truth is a new study by The Fool involving 2,000 respondents, designed to understand when and why AI agents enter consumption decisions, and what brand elements successfully break through that mediation.

Is nostalgia a seductive liar or a marketing lever? And why, in an era of distraction and infinite scrolling, should brands pivot toward the past? There has never been an era so abundant in terms of content; utilizing the lever of nostalgia signifies DESIGNING a narrative that functions within the current context: algorithmic feeds, creators possessing greater influence than brands, and short-form content. In this speech, we shall address emotional connections, storytelling, and the reminiscence bump. Furthermore, we will examine the extent to which memories generate revenue, identifying KPIs that will incentivize the adoption of nostalgia as a strategic approach. Products and campaigns that defined an era must now face a new challenge, maximizing the potential of novel touchpoints such as TikTok and YouTube, collaborating with AI, and respecting their own archetypes while simultaneously evolving. Implementing the storytelling of nostalgia is anything but simple: in this speech, we shall uncover the insights and secrets to transforming it into an effective marketing strategy.

Why is your brand on social media?Competition for attention on social media platforms is fierce, yet brands across the national landscape still invest in content without a clear schedule.It is in this context that Show Reel Agency introduces Brandcast: a new model that goes beyond the social campaign approach and builds an integrated editorial system between content, creators, and distribution.We'll see how to concretely adopt this approach to generate presence, relevance, and real business impact.

A journey through the stories of Alex, Carlotta, Emiliano, Franco, Andrea, Giulia, and many other protagonists from the world of SpecialMente, BMW Italy's social value creation program. This is a universe of common and natural gestures that hide life lessons touching our daily lives, teaching us to go beyond boundaries. These stories help us understand that the only true limits are the ones we set for ourselves. Often, all it takes is 5 seconds to move beyond them.