How creativity shaped the success of Iris - and how it can navigate the AI landscape cover art

How creativity shaped the success of Iris - and how it can navigate the AI landscape

How creativity shaped the success of Iris - and how it can navigate the AI landscape

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Winner in the Creating & Marketing category of the 2024 Signal Awards, Entrepreneurs In The Wild unveils the second part of the Iris 25 festive mini-series. Host Ian Millner explores how Iris has become one of the world’s most influential creative marketing agencies over its 25-year history. This episode dives into the intersection of creativity and culture in an industry undergoing a major shift due to AI.


The panel includes four pivotal figures: Grant Hunter and Shaun McIlrath, who bring 30 years of senior leadership at Iris, and two rising stars, ECD Katy Hopkins and Global CCO Menno Kluin.


The conversation reveals how Iris’s early, anything-goes spirit still thrives today. Once an upstart challenging the industry’s conventions, Iris now proves its creative expertise in an era where clients are more informed, and AI plays a growing role. Yet, the human connection remains vital, with Iris continuing to challenge the status quo.


Grant and Shaun share memories of navigating the industry’s changing landscape, while Katy discusses Iris’s role as an outsider and disruptor. Menno offers a unique perspective from his career journey from The Netherlands to the US, now landing in the UK.


Ian Millner orchestrates the conversation, drawing parallels between Iris’s past and future. Despite industry changes—cultural influences, emerging tech, and shifting consumer behaviour—his lessons from Iris’s evolution feel like timeless truths.


Ian Millner / EITW

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianmillner/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/entrepreneurs_inthewild/

TT: https://www.tiktok.com/@entrepreneursinthewild

X: https://x.com/EitW_podcast


Executive Producer Addi: https://addi.london/

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/addi-merrill/


Iris Worldwide: https://www.iris-worldwide.com/

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/iris/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/irisworldwide/


Katy Hopkins

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katy-hopkins-6422a747/


Grant Hunter

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/granthunteriris/


Menno Kluin

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mennokluin/


Shaun McIlrath

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaun-mcilrath-842564b/


Music courtesy of Filmstro | Music that Moves

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