Trust and creativity in branding, with guest Teemu Suviala

Tell us about yourself and your background

I'm Teemu Suviala, and for the past two years I've been Global Chief Creative Officer and a member of the executive team at Landor. Before that I was on the client side at Meta, and before that I held creative leadership roles at Wolff Olins and Collins in New York. My background is in graphic design, and I originally started out as a comic artist. That's where my interest in humour and visual storytelling comes from. Comics and my current work actually have a lot in common: in both, you have to tell a story concisely and surprisingly.

At Landor I work across a wide range of very different clients. They include big tech companies such as Google and Amazon, large banks and insurers, consumer brands such as Coca-Cola, and a broad spectrum of cultural institutions and public bodies, from nations to the International Olympic Committee.

Landor and SEK have recently been working together more and more closely, on client projects and beyond. How has the collaboration gone from your point of view?

Really well, I think. Our collaboration has brought different people and perspectives together, which has helped us see things in new ways. Working with different cultures keeps a mindset of continuous learning alive. When our team visits Finland, they learn about the Finnish way of thinking and can take that thinking elsewhere, while our Finnish partners gain a fresh perspective on creative work.

You work with some of the world's biggest brands every day. What would be your key lesson from abroad for Finnish brand managers?

I'd mention David Ogilvy's quote: "Best ideas come as jokes. Make your thinking as funny as possible." That applies to big and small brands alike, whether in a creative team or with a client.

Second, I'd highlight the importance of collaboration. You need to keep an open mind and do things together.

Third, I'd say creativity is curiosity and empathy. Empathy helps you put yourself in other people's shoes, and curiosity helps you see beyond their horizon. Creative work also needs a safe environment so that people dare to take risks. We need to be trustworthy partners for our clients, and trust usually comes from working together. Nobody dares to pursue interesting but uncertain ideas without a secure foundation. When it comes to leading a creative team, safety is a key part of it. It comes from trust not having to be earned: the leader trusts the team from the start. Trust is also built through openness, where everyone knows where things stand. Finns are known around the world for being reliable, and that's an important asset that could be put to greater use on international clients' projects.

How do you see design building brand value? How can good design drive business?

Although design often relies on the power of intuition and human understanding, it should always be reinforced with forward-looking data. Design can grow brand value by making brands both relevant and distinctive. Relevance is the first stage of growth, the one that gets you into the market. Distinctiveness, in turn, grows your market share.

How has the rapid spread of AI affected design work at Landor?

It's part of everyday work just like any other tool. Of course, practices and processes are constantly changing, but it's important to be closely involved in that development. WPP has its own toolkit that brings various AI tools together in one place. We've also been thinking, from a brand perspective, about which elements could be handed over to AI. We have a project under way in which we're building so-called brand brains with the help of AI. A brand brain manages all the information about a brand, its target audience, its market and its competitors in one place.

What do you think will happen in this industry over the next five years?

This industry has always been in constant upheaval. On the technology side, AI will keep developing, and alongside it robotics and experiential design will grow stronger, as new ways for people to interact with brands. A clear trend will be a greater emphasis on humanity as a counterweight to technological progress. I'd say that over the next year, understanding humanity in a holistic way and integrating new technologies seamlessly into the human experience will become visible across the industry. It's already happening, and it will only accelerate.

How does Finnish design expertise compare internationally?

Finland has top-class expertise that should be taken out into the world more. Finns just need to actively seek more visibility and network more boldly.

Background: SEK is a strong part of an international network

Landor is a brand consultancy founded in 1941 by Walter Landor. Headquartered in London, it has 32 offices around the world.

Landor is part of the WPP network, a multinational communications, advertising and technology company. WPP is the largest company of its kind in the world.

SEK belongs to the WPP network through Grey Group. Grey is an international marketing agency network owned by WPP and headquartered in New York. SEK has been part of Grey since 1987.