Observed Signal · Jun 26, 2026 · Conference Speech · Source: Adweek · Impact: 2/5 · Sentiment: Positive
Kindness Enables Better Creative Work, Says Jonathan Mildenhall
At Cannes Lions’ ADWEEK House, Rocket Companies’ marketing chief Jonathan Mildenhall argued that treating agency partners with respect and stability — rather than forcing constant pitching and financial instability — produces better creative work. He used Rocket’s Super Bowl efforts as examples: the 2025 spot “Own the Dream” drove a stadium singalong of 65,719 attendees, and Rocket’s 2026 Super Bowl creative generated about $200 million in earned media from a $30 million investment. Joined onstage by John McKelvey, co-founder and CCO of Mirimar (Rocket’s agency of record), Mildenhall said mutual trust enabled bold creative risks and better outcomes, and urged CMOs to ask whether their behavior fosters an environment where agencies can flourish.
Practical guidance on agency-client treatment affects creative quality, talent retention and campaign outcomes — relevant to brand marketers and agencies but not a major technical or regulatory shift.
Track Rocket Companies Signals & Market Shifts in Real-Time
Polaris7 autonomous intelligence agents track regulatory filings, primary sources, executive changes, and deal flow 24/7. Create your free Explorer workspace to monitor these entities.
Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Jonathan Mildenhall presented his argument about agency relationships at Cannes Lions’ ADWEEK House on June 26, 2026.
- Rocket Companies’ 2025 Super Bowl ad “Own the Dream” triggered a stadium singalong of 65,719 attendees.
- Rocket’s 2026 Super Bowl spot reportedly generated $200 million in earned media from a $30 million investment.
- John McKelvey, co-founder and CCO of Mirimar (Rocket’s agency of record), spoke onstage and said “Kindness is the secret ingredient.”
- Mildenhall warned that frequent pitching and unstable financial treatment of agencies prevents agencies from recruiting and retaining top talent.
Connected Companies & Entities
2 Entities mapped“But for Rocket Companies’ marketing chief Jonathan Mildenhall, the phenomenon was more than a marketing stunt done well....”
“At the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity this week, Mildenhall made his case for that approach at ADWEEK House....”
Related Market Signals & Shifts
Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
Creativity Moves Beyond the Traditional Agency Model
At Cannes Lions, marketers signaled a structural shift in how brands source creative work: CMOs are looking beyond traditional agencies to creators, studios and AI-driven production. Executives including Bose’s CMO and P&G’s chief brand officer described brands favoring modular partnerships, faster iteration and always-on asset flows rather than single hero ads from agencies of record. Panels and conversations highlighted creators becoming full creative partners, podcasting moving from niche to mainstream sponsor channel, and the need for agencies to adapt pricing, collaboration styles and production speed to remain relevant.
David Founder Urges Agencies to Rediscover Human Creativity
Fernando Musa, founder, partner and chairman of David and CEO of Ogilvy Brazil, told The Drum at Cannes Lions that advertising agencies must refocus on human-led creativity rather than outputs, tools or awards. Musa — whose David Miami was named The Drum’s Miami Agency of the Year 2026 and who cited recent shortlists and wins for Kotex and Dove — argued that the true creative spark happens early in the process and arises from human emotion, difference and friction. He said AI and automation are useful for removing repetition and speeding research, but warned they risk encouraging lazy, ‘vanilla’ thinking if humans stop making original connections. Musa urged agencies to reorganize around care, conviction and cross-disciplinary creative thinking rather than treating creativity as siloed to a single department.
Marketers Have 9 Minutes of Attention to Capture
At an ADWEEK Exchange event in Detroit, TVision CEO Yan Liu presented data showing that of the average 213.5 minutes of daily TV and streaming consumption, only 24.5 minutes are ads, and just 9 minutes of those are actually watched with attention. A study across 20 industries found a 1% increase in attention corresponds to nearly a 1% increase in ad awareness. Context matters: the same creative performed better in sci-fi and sports content than in news or reality shows. A panel with marketing leaders from Nutrafol, Rocket, and Viant discussed translating attention into action and the importance of creative. Tim Vanderhook of Viant advised using attention data in real-time to cut low-attention placements and reallocate budgets. Viant acquired IRIS.TV and has tested TVision's data for CTV buying.
Track Real-Time Market Signals & Shifts
Set up custom watchlists to receive automated, evidence-grounded executive digests whenever material signals or shifts occur across your tracked landscape.