Less Talking, More Making: Golden Drum 2026’s Creative Wake-Up Call
At Golden Drum 2026, some of the industry's boldest creative minds challenged the rules, questioned the obsession with perfection and reminded us why great ideas are worth taking risks for. From unexpected inspiration to wonderfully stupid ideas, one message stood out: creativity is meant to be made, not just talked about.
Less Talk. More Action.
Xavier Blais, Executive Creative Director at Rethink, had a wake-up call for the creative industry: stop hiding behind presentations and start making things. Somewhere between endless brainstorming sessions, polished case studies and the fear of getting things wrong, creatives have lost some of their confidence to simply create.
His advice? Experiment, embrace imperfection and don't wait for permission. Sometimes the biggest creative risk is doing nothing at all.
Small Resources. Big Thinking.
Who says great creativity needs a big budget? Certainly not David Guerrero, Creative Chairman at BBDO Guerrero and member of the BBDO Worldwide Creative Council.
From brand names and packaging to product formats and passionate fans, Guerrero demonstrated how extraordinary ideas can emerge from the most ordinary resources. His session was a reminder that brands often already have everything they need to stand out. They just need someone creative enough to see it.
The secret isn't having more. It's doing more with what you've got.
Make Stories, Not Just Content.
Mihnea Gheorghiu, Global Chief Creative Officer of LePub Network and the newest member of the Golden Drum Hall of Fame, wasn't afraid to call out the industry's biggest problem: mediocrity.
In a world where brands compete with everything on the internet, simply producing more content won't cut it. Mihnea championed social media as a playground for experimentation, cultural relevance and ideas that people genuinely want to engage with.
His message? Forget chasing formats. Find a story worth telling, and the formats will follow.
Stupid Ideas Welcome.
What do a pen, a weird sketch and a rejected sticker have in common? For Benjamin Simon and Dirk Schuster, Co-Founders and Creative Directors of FOREAL, they can all be the beginning of something brilliant.
The duo took audiences inside their wonderfully unconventional creative process, where sketches become experiments, passion projects become opportunities and even rejected ideas can go viral.
In an age of AI-generated everything, their session celebrated the unpredictable magic of human imagination. Sometimes, the stupidest idea in the room is the one worth pursuing.
Everything Is a Brief.
For Carl Ewald Jannerfeldt, Creative Director and Founder of Rocket—Science, the best advertising doesn't always look like advertising.
A clever product feature, an unexpected delivery method or a tiny detail hidden in the fine print can become the starting point for something extraordinary. Through inventive examples, Carl showed how creative opportunities exist far beyond traditional campaigns.
His takeaway was simple: look closer, think differently and remember that everything can be a brief if you're curious enough.
Creativity Isn't a Spectator Sport.
Six creative minds, countless ideas and one shared challenge: stop waiting for the perfect moment to make something extraordinary.
Whether it's making more with less, turning a ridiculous sketch into something brilliant or finding inspiration in the unexpected, Golden Drum 2026 reminded us that creativity thrives on curiosity, courage and action.
See the photos from the sessions here.
