For the 12th Episode of the Nordic Ad tech Review we are joined by Nike Carlstoft, CEO of Dentsu Sweden. 

Nike has over 25 years of experience in leading positions and has a burning interest for leadership. Under Nike’s leadership in Carat in 2013, the agency has achieved great success and been named #1 by the media agencies in Sweden by RECMA. In parallel with remarkable business growth, Carat and Dentsu have become one of the industry's most attractive employers.

In this episode we discuss the current state of the market, Nike picks her favorites from Dentsu’s newly launched report “market trends 2023” and shares some thoughts and insights on what she believes are some key truths about a leader’s role in business today. 

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Soundcloud.

[This episode is in Swedish.] Since the episode is in swedish we have extracted & translated some questions from the podcast below: 

We've got a year behind us that includes loads of tricky macros to get through, how does this affect brand owners heading into 2023 with their budgets?

Now that we are in a recession with different phases we of course work on our own scenario planning for Dentsu - but most importantly - how do we help our customers in the best way? We need to plan how our customers should react in this economic state and help them find their approach to their marketing and communication in relation to the situation the customer is in. 

Historically we have seen that when we are in a recession, “low price” and premium categories thrives. They become a divider, resulting in the categories in the middle needing the most attention - here we focus on the importance to continue with your branding work alongside with transactional and sales driven focus. 

With tighter budgets the investments often easily shift over to only the later and that is something we try to counteract - to continue to build your brand and gain market shares can be more cost-effective during a recession which you will benefit from when we are on the other side of it.

Dentsu recently released a report called “media trends 2023” which includes three main categories: Content, Commerce & Community - which is then divided into 10 sub categories - Tell us, which one is your personal favourite trend? 

The report includes a lot of exciting trends but I think what's happening with video is interesting. We had analog TV for a while but lately we have seen a growth of different play channels which means we are seeing a lot of our clients' investments shifting that way and it’s very interesting that there will be more AVOD inventory now that Netflix and Disney+ specifically are opening up for this. Maybe it doesn’t sound like a big deal but if all goes well this will open up a new world for us with new target groups and consumers that were previously hard to reach - and that is something I think is very exciting.  

We know that you have a strong passion for leadership - tell us what does leadership mean to you? 

That is a great question, leadership is the most important part to exist within a company and I definitely think it's a competence and skill set in itself. You can divide leadership into two categories - formal leadership and informal leadership - some call it management or leadership. 

When a company is succeeding, or the opposite, and you start to drill down on the reason this often takes us back to leadership - this is where it all starts. Especially if you are solving problems within the organisation if often leads back to lacking leadership.

The formal leadership I mentioned,  can be “easier” to exercise even if it means greater financial responsibility but you have a mandate over those who report to you or you own a business area. However the informal leadership is just as exciting because there you need to lead by influencing and is just as important to have in your skillset. You can call them ambassadors and they exist in all organizations - the people who lead without having the formal leadership and it is also an exciting discipline to take care of. 

I know you once recommended a podcast called “Dare to lead” with Benree Brown - in the first episode they talk about the importance to have a “Care Connection” to the people you lead - which simply means that you need to actually care about the people you lead in order to be successful in your leadership role - tell us how you view this? 

I think it's hard to be a really good leader if you don't really like and care about people. I think the genuine interest in someone else's well-being and someone else's development is what makes the big difference in the end.

To care, to see other people, listening properly and being present is the bases of leadership, but when you really care, that's when you also have to have courage to lead. This courage includes opening up for difficult discussions and concrete improvement feedback - basically as a leader saying “I truly wish you well so I have these difficult discussions and give concrete feedback in order for you to improve, be happier and feel better, not only because I am kind and like you” and that’s what makes the difference.