Tag Archives: Advertising

What I’m taking home from Cannes—takeaways from Editor-in-Chief Jeanine Poggi

Just a week or so ago the Cannes International Festival of Creativity was held in Cannes, France. Below is a write-up from AdAge’s Editor-in Chief on her impressions. Interesting reading!

Jeanine Poggi, editor-in-chief at Ad Age, speaks on stage with executives from Sephora US, Hinge and Heineken Mexico.
It’s me! (at right) Moderating a panel at this year’s Cannes Lions

ByJeanine Poggi, Ad Age editor-in-chief

June 27, 2026 07:00 AM EDT

On my way to Cannes, Delta offered a $7,000 voucher to switch to a later flight because my red-eye was overbooked. I almost abandoned the festival altogether. In truth, I was already exhausted by the idea of yet another conversation about AI anxiety and another debate about how the heart of the festival—the creative—has been replaced by data and technology. 

I begrudgingly got on the plane (at least I had the rosé to look forward to). 

And yes, there was plenty of hand-wringing over AI, plenty of debate about how exclusive and closed off the festival has become and, of course, plenty of complaints about the unbearable heat. 

This year, though, Ad Age took a bit of a different approach to the festival. Instead of filling the week with back-to-back panels, we convened chief marketing officers, creators, agency executives and marketing leaders for smaller roundtable discussions. We gave them the space to talk more freely, and they went deep on the challenges they are facing (it wasn’t just AI):

  • In our CMO roundtable, marketers spent a meaningful amount of time talking about convincing CFOs that creativity matters. 
  • During our creator-brand discussion, creators challenged brands to stop treating them like media buys and start treating them like strategic partners. 
  • At our Leading Women Network roundtable, a conversation about career visibility quickly became one about the invisible work required simply to be in the room.

Each of those conversations, without fail, ended with talking about trust, community and what it means to build genuine connection. It was these conversations that made dealing with what the French consider air conditioning worth the trip.

Here’s what else I’m taking home from the conversations at this year’s festival:

Marketing is becoming more human, not less.

One of my favorite moments from the week came during a CMO Spotlight panel I moderated at the Palais. I asked each of them the same question:

In one word, what’s the future of marketing?

Zena Srivatsa Arnold, CMO of Sephora, answered: community.

Tamika Young, CMO of Hinge, said: heart.

Marta Moreno Gómez, senior marketing manager, Heineken and international premium brands, Heineken Company, chose: human.

Three different answers, but the sentiment was the same: the future of marketing is built on stronger human connections.

Richard Edelman, CEO of Edelman, described a world that’s becoming more insular, where consumers increasingly rely on smaller networks and trusted voices. His advice to marketers: shift messaging from “we” to “me.” Build trust by making people feel seen, understood and represented.

That same thinking surfaced elsewhere throughout the week:

Pinterest’s “Less URL. More IRL.” activation reflected a desire for deeper, real-world connections. Netflix centered its Cannes presence around fandom. Even conversations about creators weren’t really about creators—they were about the communities they’ve built and the trust they’ve earned.

Again and again, technology was discussed as an enabler, not the strategy itself.

The creativity conversation has changed

For years, one of the recurring debates at Cannes has been whether creativity—the very thing the festival was built to celebrate—has taken a back seat to performance marketing.

That conversation is still happening.

But this year, it felt secondary to a different one: how marketers can convince the rest of the organization that creativity is a business driver, not just a marketing function.

It showed up in different ways throughout the week. The new Creative Brand Lionsrecognized companies that have built creativity into the way they operate, not just those that produced a standout campaign. Procter & Gamble’s Marc Pritchard spoke about using AI to accelerate creativity, not replace it. And across conversations with marketing leaders, the focus was less on choosing between brand and performance and more on building organizations where creativity can consistently drive business results.

The question is no longer whether creativity matters. It’s how organizations create the conditions for it to thrive and how marketing leaders make the case for it across the business. Creativity is increasingly being viewed not as a campaign outcome, but as an organizational capability.

Creator marketing has grown up

Five years ago, most creator conversations revolved around reach, engagement and follower counts. That isn’t what I heard this week. 

Brands talked about bringing creators into annual planning before a brief exists. Creators described themselves as consultants, product advisors and entrepreneurs. Compensation discussions extended beyond sponsorships to licensing, equity and long-term partnerships.

Edelman argued that brands should be investing less in celebrity and more in trusted creators with deep credibility inside smaller communities. The common thread was trust. 

AI is moving from novelty to infrastructure.

Last year, many of the conversations around AI centered on disruption.

This year, marketers were asking much more practical questions: How should teams be organized? What work belongs in-house? Which workflows should AI handle? Where does human judgment still matter most?

Pritchard described AI as a way to uncover insights faster and accelerate creative development, not replace it. One participant in our roundtable captured the sentiment in a single sentence: “You still need people with excellent taste.”

That may have been my favorite quote of the week because it recognizes what technology still can’t replace.

Leadership isn’t just built at work

But the conversation that personally had the biggest impact on me came during our Leading Women Network roundtable. 

We started by talking about networking, personal brands and career visibility. We ended up talking about everything it takes just to be in the room.

Women shared stories about partners rearranging schedules, grandparents flying in to help with childcare and the weeks of planning required simply to spend a few days in Cannes. One participant admitted she rarely talks publicly about those realities because she worries they’ll be interpreted as a lack of commitment. I suspect that’s true of many women leaders in this industry. 

We spend a lot of time talking about how people become leaders. We spend far less time talking about what it takes to make leadership possible in the first place.

That conversation was a reminder that visibility isn’t just about raising your hand or building your network. For many leaders, it’s supported by an invisible layer of planning, tradeoffs and care work that rarely gets acknowledged but makes showing up possible.

The conversation that matters: Trust

If there was one thread running through nearly every conversation I heard, it was trust.

Edelman talked about consumers relying on smaller circles and trusted voices. CMOs talked about community, heart and being more human. Brand leaders talked aboutgiving creators more ownership. Marketers also talked about earning buy-in from their own organizations.

As the industry becomes more complex, technology alone isn’t going to solve the hardest problems. Those solutions come from people sharing ideas, challenging one another and learning together.

That’s why Ad Age keeps bringing this community together—not just to report on what’s changing, but to create space for people in the industry to make sense of it with one another. 

I’m glad I didn’t take that $7,000 voucher. 

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog,Joe’s Journey, for selected short stories and personal insights on life and its detours.

10 QUESTIONS

Wieden+Kennedy’s Jessica Apellaniz on Mexico finding its creative voice

This is a recent interview I found enlightening and interesting. I trust you will, too.

The chief creative officer of W+K Mexico also discusses crafting one’s creative process and the real magic of creativity. (W+K)

Jessica Apellaniz became Wieden+Kennedy Mexico’s first chief creative officer when the agency opened its Mexico City office in 2023. Since then, she has shaped the office’s creative vision and work for clients including Nike, Ford, Uber and Anheuser-Busch InBev.

Previously, she served as Ogilvy’s CCO for Latin America, leading award-winning campaigns for brands such as Coca-Cola, KFC, Mondelēz and American Express.

Apellaniz began her career in production, including a stint at MTV Latin America, before moving into copywriting and creative leadership. One of the few women to hold a regional creative leadership role in Latin America, she has also been an advocate for building more representative and inclusive teams across the industry.

We spoke with her about deadlines, crafting one’s creative process, Mexico’s creative voice in the region and the real magic of creativity.

Jessica, tell us … your first job in advertising, and your current job.

My first job was actually at Blockbuster, which tells you how long I’ve been around. My first copywriting job was at Terán\TBWA, working on Palacio de Hierro, basically a headline paradise. More than 20 years later, I helped found W+K Mexico.

An ad or campaign that inspired you coming up in the business.

Telecom’s “La Llama Que Llama.” I loved the absurdity of it. Funnily enough, they just brought it back, which makes me feel inspired and old at the same time.

The last ad that made you jealous.

“Viva La Vulva” and “Never Just a Period.” I used to hate getting the “girly brief” just because I was the girl in the room. After Libresse, all I wanted was a tampon brief.

A recent project you’re proud of.

“Who’s Waiting for You?” for Victoria Beer is a film that reminds us someone is waiting on the other side. It made me think of death not as an ending, but as the day I get to hug my dad again.

Something exciting that’s happening in the Mexico creative scene.

I think Mexico is finally finding its own voice. Argentina became known for brilliant scripts, Brazil for extraordinary craft. We’re embracing our own maximalism—proudly rooted, beautifully messy and deeply human.

One thing that can make anyone a better creative.

Craft your creative process. Figure out how to get yourself into that state where ideas can roam freely. The process is different for everyone.

How you personally get inspired. 

I walk with headphones on. I read books that somehow connect to whatever I’m working on—and, of course, deadlines—they’re underrated creative directors.

What most brands still don’t understand about creativity.

The biggest misunderstanding is that creativity is the output. The real magic is in the way it helps you see the problem differently.

Something people might not know about you.

I’m an introvert, an overthinker and dyslexic. Which means every idea gets tested a thousand times before it leaves my head.

Where advertising is headed next.

We might finally see Dan Wieden and Phil Knight’s dream come true: advertising that doesn’t feel like advertising at all.

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog,Joe’s Journey, for selected short stories and personal insights on life and its detours.

Kotex confronts art world taboo with ‘Art’s Missing Period’ campaign

The art world has succumbed to controversy via a graphic outdoor display of the menstrual period. Continuing education of health issues is in the public interest so why is this display so disturbing to some?

Singapore – Kotex has launched a global campaign highlighting the absence of menstrual blood in mainstream art, positioning it as a long-standing form of cultural censorship.

Developed with DAVID London and Ogilvy Singapore, “Art’s Missing Period” brings together works that were previously rejected by galleries or removed from public display due to their depiction of menstruation. 

The campaign reframes the issue as one of visibility, arguing that while violent imagery involving blood is widely accepted, menstrual blood remains excluded.

Kotex revives banned art showing period blood

“Visibility shapes culture, and we set out to change both,” said Genevieve Gransden, Executive Creative Director at DAVID London. 

“This is not just a campaign. It is a restoration of voices, narrative and art that deserves to be seen,” said Selma Ahmed, Executive Creative Director at DAVID London.

The campaign includes a short documentary directed by Emmy award-winning filmmaker Kathryn Everett and narrated by journalist Noor Tagouri. 

The film examines how depictions of blood tied to violence are widely shown, while menstrual blood is treated as taboo, and features accounts from artists who have faced rejection linked to the theme.

Beyond film, Kotex has rolled out mobile billboards and street posters outside major museums, including the Guggenheim, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Museum of Modern Art. 

The placements position the campaign directly at the doorstep of institutions central to shaping public art discourse.

QR codes embedded in these placements direct audiences to a virtual gallery hosting more than 40 artworks centred on menstruation. 

The online platform, launched on April 6, 2026, will run for one year and is designed to provide a dedicated space for artists and exhibitions exploring the subject.

The campaign marks Kotex’s latest effort to address stigma around periods, shifting the conversation from product messaging to broader cultural representation.

Thanks to Sharona Nicole Semilla of Marketech APAC for contributing this article

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog,Joe’s Journey, for selected short stories and personal insights on life and its detours.





How AI made the end of the creative process the beginning

Creatives can lead in the AI era by reclaiming foundational skills such as editing, packing, lighting and overall execution.  Adobe Stock

An opinion piece I found interesting and thought it best to share. Hope you find it worth the read.

The traditional creative process began with a client brief. From there, strategy was developed, and only then would the creative process start. Teams brainstormed, then collaborated with creative leads until a deck was prepared. Once the client approved the deck, there was a sense of relief: the idea was greenlit. 

AI fundamentally altered this process. Now, once an idea is approved in a deck, AI sets creatives on a new journey—an extension of the original process. 

What felt like the end is now just the beginning. 

Greater need for clear vision

I won’t argue the well-worn territory that AI is just a tool and that people must lead creative processes. But having established the importance of humanity to lead, it’s important to determine where people fit in the new creative process for situations where AI will be used.

It’s been asked: Is our new role solely to be the very best prompt writers we can be, knowing that the output will be determined by precise inputs, phrased in a way the computers can metabolize? 

I don’t think we simply become “creative prompters.” It’s not about being on a pedestal and giving direction; it’s about being where the work is actually shaped. This exciting shift makes us creatives more professional again, relying on technical knowledge rather than just intuition.

In the AI era, approval marks the start of a new creative process, where creatives need to become a kind of artisan again, despite using technology. Specifically, evolving creatives must know exactly what to ask for—providing references from art, cinema, fashion, architecture and advertising itself—to direct the AI. 

Jarring? Perhaps. Beautiful? Indeed.

Precision and exploration

Traditional creatives are all about precision, while AI is about exploration. In the AI era, creatives must double down on precision while being open to exploration. That means rethinking the creative role altogether.

This shift requires creatives to adopt more than a sensibility; they need technical expertise and holistic vision. Here are the fundamentals you need to succeed:

1. Story fundamentals

Creatives must be articulate about what they feel and think in executing the approved concept: Clear story references, resources and vision that once belonged to directors or producers must now come directly from the creative’s mind. 

To become true craftspeople again, creatives must be immersed in advertising history while studying modern techniques and resources. This forces you to rely on technical knowledge rather than just intuition, experience or criteria. Transcend the suggestion that creatives will become prompters. Go beyond that; it’s more than just giving well-referenced instructions.

In a way, this is where the terms “creative” and “creator” converge. With each iteration of instructions, the work is being shaped, changed, evolved and improved. It’s precisely about shaping the work as it’s being created.

2. Visual fundamentals

Creatives need strong visual literacy even more in an AI era. Studying other arts like photography, cinema, fashion, architecture and design is a foundation. Bring clear aesthetic references from the idea stage to define the original visual look. On a more technical level, understand and apply concepts like composition, lighting, tone, texture and more.

When creatives acquire these skills, they move beyond simply prompting visuals and begin shaping them. Each iteration becomes an opportunity to refine the idea. Again, creatives become both thinkers and makers, using AI not just to generate images but to actively build a distinct visual language as the work is being created.

3. Direction fundamentals

Finally, creatives need strong direction skills: the ability to translate an idea into vision, then vision into reality. It all comes down to what the audience sees. Creatives must speak the language of camera, editing, pacing, cinematography, lighting and overall execution details.

Refine this skill by thinking like directors earlier in the process. Move from proposing ideas to actively shaping how those ideas come to life. In this, AI becomes a collaborative execution partner; with each iteration, creatives can guide performance, refine tone and evolve the work in real time, ensuring the final result reflects a cohesive, intentional vision.

Amid the AI revolution, embrace your own renaissance. The traditional era’s end is your new beginning, too. 

Because AI transformed creative approval, making the end the beginning, creatives must evolve from executors into true creative professionals. Reclaim foundational skills and you’ll lead in AI-driven execution. Clear references, resources and vision—what once belonged to directors or producers—now come directly from the creative’s mind.

David Castellanos is creative lead at Erich & Kallman.

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog,Joe’s Journey, for selected short stories and personal insights on life and its detours.

The Fountain of Filth

This was one of the more unusual campaigns I’ve read about recently. Definitely an attention getter.

The U.K.’s Channel 4 unveils a vomiting public fountain

The U.K. broadcaster is promoting its new drama “Dirty Business” with a provocative public installation on London’s South Bank titled “The Fountain of Filth.” Created by 4Creative in partnership with Glue Society and Biscuit Filmworks, the 10-meter-wide fountain features bronze-style statues of men, women and children appearing to vomit murky brown water, while a suited executive stands above them with pockets stuffed with cash, symbolizing the alleged human toll of Britain’s sewage scandal.

(Water companies routinely discharge raw sewage into rivers and coastal waters, leading to public outcry.) The activation directs visitors via QR code to firsthand accounts tied to the series, which aired over three consecutive nights. Over 100,000 people saw the installation live and the work reached millions being featured in The Times, The Guardian, The Independent, The Mirror, Time Out and Secret London.

A wide view reveals a large sculptural fountain featuring multiple bronze figures and a suited man standing atop the center pedestal, with London’s skyline in the background.
​ (Channel 4) 
A close-up captures two bronze childlike figures in the fountain, water arcing from their mouths into the pool.
​ (Channel 4) 
A low-angle view shows multiple bronze figures around a large fountain, each spouting water into the basin beneath a suited statue standing on the top tier.
​ (Channel 4) 

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog,Joe’s Journey, for selected short stories and personal insights on life and its detours.

Creativity: Alive or Dead?

Late last year ADAge’s Tim Rudd penned an article about the alleged death of creativity. Well, some argue that its death may be premature. The campaign described below illustrates that point of view. As Tim reports . . .

Creativity may not be six feet under, but D&AD (Design & Art Direction) is still here to poke it with a stick.

The global creativity nonprofit is kicking off its 2026 award season with a global campaign from Uncommon Creative Studio that pushes the industry to stop hovering over the “think” button and start hitting “make.” Its centerpiece is a manifesto that challenges the too-common habit of watching ideas drift by rather than shaping them into something tangible. The work signals a shift toward more hands-on creative energy at a moment when the industry seems increasingly cautious.

The campaign leans on stark visuals and a single provocative question: Is creativity alive or dead? It stretches across D&AD’s awards, learning initiatives and talent effort, inviting practitioners to respond through action instead of commentary. The rollout also introduces a refreshed identity for the 2026 awards, turning the manifesto into a design brief for the entire program.

A massive Times Square billboard displays a bold message about misjudging bad adverts as the death of creativity, illuminated above the city at night.
​ (D&AD)  A massive Times Square billboard displays a bold message about misjudging bad ads as the death of creativity, illuminated above the city at night.

Alongside the identity comes the reveal of the 2026 jury presidents, a slate of creative leaders drawn from a mix of global brands and agencies such as Dentsu Tokyo, Airbnb, FCB Global, 72andSunny, Havas Health & You and others. Their remit is to steer the judging with the manifesto’s call for experimentation and decisiveness in mind. D&AD positions the jury presidents as creative figures who already operate with a bias toward making.

“Creativity doesn’t die, it drifts. It gets buried under deadlines, data and fear of taking risks,” said Lisa Smith, D&AD president and Uncommon’s global chief design officer. “This manifesto is a reminder to the industry that ideas are only as powerful as the people brave enough to make them real. As creative leaders, we have a responsibility to protect that spirit—to keep making, experimenting and proving that bold, human ideas still matter. D&AD exists to champion that pulse. To show that creativity isn’t just alive—it’s vital.”

A storefront covered in black-and-white posters displays bold gothic text declaring “Creativity is Dead” and “Creativity is Alive” alongside graphic logos.
​ (D&AD) A storefront covered in black-and-white posters displays bold gothic text declaring “Creativity is Dead” and “Creativity is Alive” alongside graphic logos.
A row of black-and-white street posters on a graffitied wall presents stark slogans about creativity and work beside the D&AD logo.
​ (D&AD) A row of black-and-white street posters on a graffitied wall presents stark slogans about creativity and work beside the D&AD logo.

This year’s D&AD awards also introduce new categories meant to reflect the ways ideas move through culture. Brand Transformation spotlights work that blends strategic thinking with the craft of execution. Cultural Influence highlights projects that shape conversation or find a place in the wider cultural bloodstream. Sports Entertainment covers creative output tied to sport from campaigns to content to fan engagement.

“Creativity today is more decentralized than ever, coming from makers, creators, in-house teams and a new wave of independent studios. Our role is to ensure all these voices are equipped and inspired to keep pushing creative excellence forward,” said Donal Keenan, D&AD’s chief operating officer. “Yet in this abundance, creativity risks becoming diluted. Brands are finding it harder than ever to cut through and truly engage audiences, which is exactly why this provocation is needed.”

D&AD is also launching an editorial hub that digs into the same big question at the heart of the campaign. The platform collects commentary from designers and advertisers who are looking at how creativity has changed in a landscape of nonstop feeds and constant distraction.

A minimalist white typographic poster lays out a manifesto proclaiming “Creativity is Dead” before urging readers to revive it with intention.
​ (D&AD) A minimalist white typographic poster lays out a manifesto proclaiming “Creativity is Dead” before urging readers to revive it with intention.

As long as there are people who continue to push boundaries, creators who are never satisfied, folks who are always curious and a consuming public who always want refreshing and innovative ideas, creativity will never die. It will always be alive and thriving.

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog,Joe’s Journey, for selected short stories and personal insights on life and its detours.

5 reasons it’s gotten harder to do great work—and how to get back to it

I came across this article last month in one of the industry trade pubs and thought it quite relevant, not to mention interesting. The author, Wayne Best, chief creative officer of VML New York, cites one of the pioneers of creativity in advertising, one Bill Bernbach, as a major force during the sixties. The industry during that time is totally different than it is today. Mr. Best offers some viable suggestions as to how to resurrect, if you will, that creative zest so pronounced during Bernbach’s time.

I’m in total agreement with what Mr. Best suggests. I’ve been thinking the same for years and used to speak on these topics when on the AAF speakers’ junket. Today, with the advent of AI, they have been much more difficult to be realized and put into practice.

Mr. Best writes . . . I have no personal connection to DDB. I have never worked there and have very little knowledge of the culture at the time its name was “retired.” I do, however, have a great deal of respect for Bill Bernbach. I still use quotes he uttered from before I was alive. He ushered in the power of creativity in advertising.

That led me to wonder if his name disappearing (well, the B in DDB) was the end of the era of creativity. I have decided the answer is no.

Advertising executive, William Bernbach at press conference discussing his stance against cigarette advertising. Original caption: NO SMOKING—William Bernbach, newly named “The man who contributed most to advertising in 1963,” said Thursday that advertising cigarettes amounts to “just selling sickness.” He voiced several other strong opinions on advertising at a press conference here, but denied being a crusader.
Photo: Jack Carrick, Los Angeles Times

I will admit that I miss the days when smart, insightful advertising was prolific and opening an awards book was like unwrapping a gift. That’s not to say great work isn’t still happening, but lately it feels like the priorities have been put on data, systems and efficiency. And learning how to best use AI. 

These are good things. They are changing advertising for the better. Yes, some jobs will change as a result. For instance, it’s a hard time to be a storyboard artist. But the best storyboard artists have visual taste and can tell a good story. Those skills are still needed; it’s just that the tools that get you there have changed. 

So, embrace change and adapt. 

Resistance is futile.

That last line is not meant to be eerie. It’s just true. The sooner you acknowledge it, the further you’ll go. After all, the path to great work is to kill good work. Progress requires you to kill your darlings so you’re free to think in less expected ways.

Which brings me to the question: Has “brand” become irrelevant?

I don’t think so. 

Yes, media and production efficiencies can optimize our budgets. Customization and transcreation will continue to improve. But there is still an itch that all of that can’t scratch. And that is love.

Great brands have a place in our hearts, and that love still needs to be earned. It starts with a great product, but that’s just the beginning. Steve Jobs didn’t just produce great products; he also found a way to connect with people on a very human level. “1984” isn’t just an ad for a computer, it’s a celebration of individuality and a middle finger to corporations. “Here’s to the Crazy Ones” is about honoring the misfits who are daring enough to think they can change the world. The brand has a distinct point of view.

Data doesn’t do that. And AI aggregates the past rather than finding the unexpected. It doesn’t have the soft skills. It doesn’t have empathy. 

That said, I don’t think our quest for data or AI are to blame for our current creative lull.

We’ve made it hard on ourselves to do breakthrough work. 

We’ve added layers and layers of decision-makers. We’ve tried to be all things to all people. We’ve become afraid to make hard decisions and take chances, and that’s dangerous, because when you don’t make hard decisions, you sit in the middle. And the world ignores the middle, no matter the media budget.

I’m sure there are things I’m leaving out, but here are five things I know absolutely get in the way of building a great brand. None of them have to do with AI:

1. There are too many people involved in the decision-making. While it’s important to listen to opinions, a camel is a horse designed by a committee. Listening to people is fine, but somebody needs to be the decider, or you will build that camel.

2. If you try to please everybody, you will excite nobody. To be a great brand, you need to have a distinct POV. This means there are a lot of things you need to not say. Deciding what not to say is harder than deciding what to say, because different stakeholders care about different things.

3. Building a brand the right way takes time. We are always in a rush today, and the speed of AI and digital production has us moving faster than ever. Technology helps with the daily work, but to crack the bigger brand work, you need to be thoughtful and deliberate. Impatience is not a virtue.

4. Write shorter briefs. It’s hard. Writing long-winded briefs that everyone can read and find the “thing” they care about covered in the many pages is easy. Finding that sharp, pointed thing you can own in a sentence is hard. But until it gets sharp at the brief stage, you’ll be wasting expensive creative time. Make the hard decisions on what matters, and what doesn’t matter, at the brief stage. Or it will create endless swirl.

5. Never forget the problem you’re actually trying to solve. It’s easy for Walmart to promote deals on its website, but the bigger challenge is making consumers feel good when their neighbors see that Walmart box on their porch. It’s not an accident Walmart started using popular music and celebrities and buying high-profile media. When you keep the bigger goal in mind, it makes daily decisions easier. 

I’m still sad when I see the greatest names in advertising dropped into a six-foot hole. But hey, those people were already dead. It’s what we learn from them that matters. If Bill Bernbach were alive today, he wouldn’t be moaning about the death of the print ad, he’d be figuring out how to build a real connection between a brand and the humans who need it given our current environment. 

I am bullish on 2026. 

As we learn to work with AI, it gets less scary and more helpful. The weirdness of the pandemic is wearing off. Mergers have become less of a shock and more of a way of working. And the best minds I know are anxious to be more creative again. They’re excited to do unexpected and wonderful things. 

Let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work.

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog, Joe’s Journey, for selected short stories and personal insights on life and its detours.

The end of mid-size agencies? Inside the shifts that will reshape the ad business

This story is part of Ad Age’s Future of Advertising 2030 series exploring how marketing, media and creativity will evolve over the next five years.

Advertising agencies are in the process of setting strategies for the next five years despite numerous unknowns—the impact of AI, speed of consolidation and increasing ease of in-housing among them. These variables may have wide-reaching impact, including the potential demise of mid-size agencies, that marketers should be preparing for now.

On Ad Age Insider, Ad Age reporters look at the future of ad agencies and strategies that industry leaders are putting into place now to prepare.

“A lot of [agencies’] executional work becomes commoditized by AI, and a lot of marketers will have pretty robust in-house systems. So the real value and agency lie in their strategic thinking and being able to bring an outsider perspective to the equation.” –Ewan Larkin, agency reporter, Ad Age

Ad Age Insider podcast transcript

Parker Herren, host: How will the agency landscape transform by 2030? What has surprised you guys the most in your reporting on the future of agencies?

The demise of mid-size agencies

Brian Bonilla, senior agency reporter: It’s hard to be surprised, but I would say something that might surprise people in general—the role of the mid-size agency might go away by 2030, meaning we’re already seeing a lot of small, independent agencies get a lot of business, but we’re now starting to see those same agencies competing with each other and competing with large agencies and seeing a leveling of new business opportunities. And at the same time, mid-size agencies, which typically range from like 100 to maybe 250 employees, are competing with large holdco networks of like 5,000 employees for the same business. 

So by 2030, you’re going to see those mid-sized agencies either merge with other entities or sell to private equity firms or things like that. That’s going to be something that might be surprising for a lot of people, and I think will happen quicker than people realize.

How agency structures will shift

Ewan Larkin, agency reporter: This is interesting. For a couple of years, agencies have been trying to market themselves as consultants, and it hasn’t really stuck. To some degree, it has, but I think it’s obvious they are still service providers fundamentally. But I actually do think now we might see that shift start to stick a little bit. A lot of the executional work becomes commoditized by AI, and a lot of marketers will have pretty robust in-house systems. So the real value at agencies lies in their strategic thinking and being able to bring an outsider perspective to the equation. 

I think that puts them in direct contact … with the likes of Deloitte Digital and Accenture Song. So the focus for agencies really should be building up some of those consulting capabilities and commerce consulting capabilities. Agencies like VML are already starting to do this. They rolled out a unit earlier that encompasses consulting, CX and other things, and that already accounts for about 40% of their overall global revenue. So, I expect more people to make moves like this. This is one of the early stages of holding companies really being able to package up one of those offerings.

Parker: For Ad Age’s Future of Advertising package, media reporter Brandon Doerrer wrote about 2030 readiness. And chief technology reporter Garett Sloane dug into the 2030 tech stack. That sounds pretty thrilling. What did you guys find in your reporting?

Brandon: People tend to think that there are just going to be more and more integrated accounts, especially between creative and media. The walls are really coming down between those two functions. We are seeing brands increasingly hire the same agency to handle both of those functions. So, agencies are going to need to get used to those two functions not being in silos anymore, not having walls exist between those two teams.

Garett: We’re already starting to see these roles change. We’re seeing shifting ways of billing clients, different business models, different services agencies have to cater to. So, it’s already happening. It’s going to happen more and more where agencies are going to have to operate as platforms and services that can interact with brands and help brands build their ad tech stacks, acting as consultants, acting as facilitators into this futuristic landscape.

That’s where agencies need to go, and they’re starting already by developing new products and services. Whether that will work is still an open question, and if they can adjust and change—some will, some won’t.

The social AOR resurgence

Parker: Let’s talk influencers. Gillian Follett covered the future of the social and influencer space. Is there any way the future of influencers will impact agencies in 2030?

Gillian: Experts that I talked to for the story said that they predict the spectrum of influencer agencies will stretch to the extremes. So, we’ll see more brands working with influencer functions within larger holding companies, or we’ll see brands looking to very specialized boutique agencies who specialize in specific platforms or types of creators, like gaming creators, for example.

We’re also going to continue to see influencer budgets increase, not at the same meteoric rate that we’ve seen over the past couple of years, but based on forecasts from intelligence companies like eMarketer, it’s definitely on an upward trajectory. 

We’re also seeing a resurgence of social agency of record assignments from brands across different categories. Something that I spoke to one marketer about was this idea that it’s not just the brands that are trying to target Gen Z or want to be social-first anymore that are looking for social AORs. It’s brands that they wouldn’t expect, like more established legacy brands are looking for social AORs. And a lot of these brands are seeking the insights that social media can provide in terms of what consumers are looking for, the types of products that they’re craving and using social as the foundation for their marketing campaigns rather than having social be a tacked-on piece at the end.

Parker: Okay, Lindsay, I’m going to let you round out this group with some intel from your reporting on the RFP process in 2030.

Lindsay Rittenhouse, senior agency reporter: Within the RFP process, agencies are going to have to stop the theater—the glossy presentations, the pitch decks, and really showcase how you’re working as a team. Get ready to be in more chemistry meetings—enough with the showboating and the theater in the pitch.

Parker: Tell us how marketers should begin preparing for that now.

Lindsay: Well, they have to set up the process so that there are more chemistry meetings and more time for the meatier stuff, the interviewing, the briefings, the working together, and just get rid of some of the processes. You don’t have to do these massive pitch presentations. [Marketers] are the ones who set the process for the RFP, so don’t allow the theatrics.

Agencies in 2030—how to plan ahead

Parker: I want to hear everyone’s advice for how marketers or agency leaders can begin prepping for their 2030 strategy. Why don’t we just go round robin, starting with you, Brian.

Brian: Start thinking about what type of agency model do you want as a marketer. We’re seeing roster agency models become way more popular, meaning instead of having just one AOR handle everything, I’ll have a social agency here, I’ll have a creative agency here or I’ll have a roster of five creative agencies. 

If you’re an agency, start thinking about what model makes the most sense for you to be in—should I be more niche or should I broaden my capabilities? And as a marketer—same question but on the flip side. If I’m going to be spending less on marketing, but I’m expecting to have more outcomes, what is the best model that makes sense for my external partnerships? Because I do think agencies will still be necessary as much as we’re talking about in-housing and things like that.

Ewan: They need to clarify which functions they want done in-house, which ones they need outsourced, very clearly defining what they can do themselves versus what is essential that they get from an external partner. There is a push for efficiency, and, obviously, everybody wants to save costs, so they want to bring it in-house, but you are going to need an external partner. You always do need that outside perspective. So, very clearly define what needs to be done yourselves and what you need an agency for. 

But rethinking agency relationships in general—they’ve always been seen as providers, that’s what they are, but now a lot of them are going to be actually helping build those internal capabilities. So identify which agencies are high-level strategic thinkers, which ones really understand your brand and your challenges, which ones can help me build my internal chops. Those are the ones that I think are likely to have long-term value.

Brandon: On the agency side of things, if you’re a creative agency and you don’t already have media capabilities, really digging in and evaluating if it would be worth building that out. If you have a unique angle, something to offer brands to make yourself stand out from the plethora of media agencies that can do the same thing. Media is probably in a similar boat. At least having an understanding of various creative processes is going to be helpful.

On the marketer side of things, brands can just not be afraid to ask. I did a story not too long ago about how indie creative agencies can respond to requests for media services. And the reason why agencies are starting to think about either building these capabilities internally or which media agencies they can partner with is because they’re getting these requests. Marketers—don’t be afraid to ask if you have an indie creative shop that you’re working with that doesn’t do media. They’re getting used to getting that question already, and they are starting to think about how to best answer that question. So, no dumb questions is the advice.

Garett: They could start developing the services and tools, and some are. We’ve seen agencies launch AI agents—the trading bots that they can all of a sudden potentially give out to brands to start to use. A lot of these tools that agencies are building are internal, but eventually, they’re going to make them external and start shipping them to brands to use as part of their suite of services. So, agencies start building internally and then will start giving it out to the masses.

Gillian: Brands should start considering whether they want to look to agencies to help them with sharpening their social strategies to adapt to this new way of seeking consumer insights from social and using social as a starting point for marketing. For some brands, it might make more sense to develop a social media team in-house to lead these efforts for the brand. Some brands have sought social media agencies of record because of the wide range of functions that are involved in social media marketing today, like paid social, creator marketing, social media intelligence gathering. There’s just a lot that goes into it these days.

Brands should start considering whether that’s something they can do in-house, or if they need to find partners to help them develop those strategies as social becomes more and more important.

Key Takeaways

  • Mid-size agencies will likely disappear by 2030, either merging or selling to private equity firms
  • Agencies are shifting from ad makers to consultants and platform builders
  • Creative and media functions will merge as brands increasingly hire one agency for both services

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog, Joe’s Journey, for selected short stories and personal insights on life and its detours.

8 agency leaders divulge the most pressing issues facing their business—and how they’re navigating them

The 4As hosted a roundtable with Ad Age and seven industry leaders from holding companies and independent agencies at Advertising Week New York to discuss some of the most pressing issues facing executives today.

Lindsay Rittenhouse reported that the roundtable included a lineup of executives spanning a wide range of roles and companies: 4As CEO Justin Thomas-Copeland; Stacey Hightower, CEO of Omnicom Specialty Marketing Group; Frances Webster, CEO of independent agency Walrus; Tracey Faux-Pattani, CEO of independent shop Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners; Chris Foster, CEO of Omnicom Public Relations Group; Ian Grody, chief creative officer of independent shop Giant Spoon; Joe Baratelli, executive VP and chief creative officer of independent agency RPA; and Nada Bradbury, CEO of Ad-ID, which sets a standard for the industry to identify advertising assets across all media.

These leaders discussed a wide range of topics, including how they are using AI in their day-to-day; how they are driving value in their agencies; the means to stand out in an increasingly crowded market; and what talent they are hiring.

Some takeaways from the conversation:

How agency leaders are using AI

Webster said Walrus is using AI to respond to an “RFI right now … it’s helping us with upfront strategy and segmentation.”

“It’s like the internet from the ‘90s, you’ve got to surf the wave and you can’t have a two-year plan,” she said. “It’s a three-month plan or a six-month plan. But if you’re not engaging with it, you’re out.”

Hightower said Omnicom Specialty Marketing Group has been using AI in Europe “for quite some time.” He said the agency created a call center that has been using AI to speak with customers who dial in on branded hotlines. It’s also now bringing internal efficiencies. For example, Omnicom Specialty Marketing Group uses AI to sift through resumes.

“We do probably 5,000, on average, hires a year in Europe … We can’t get to every resume that comes into our inbox,” Hightower said.

“We’re an indie shop, so we’re bootstrapping everything,” Baratelli said. “We’re using it around the stuff no one wants to do, reporting, scoping.”

The conversation came on the heels of Madison Logic releasing new research from a Harris Interactive survey of more than 300 business-to-business marketing leaders. It found that three in four of those surveyed believe the future of advertising will be defined by AI-driven creative processes (73%) in the next five years. Two in three of those surveyed predicted personalization at scale and immersive advertising (66% each) will become more prevalent, and 84% believe traditional advertising will be dead by 2030.

Still, all of the executives agreed that advertising is a relationship business and nothing will change that.

“It’s important to point out that these are all really responsible uses of AI,” Ad-ID’s Bradbury said. “What we are seeing on our side is folks trying to understand the various uses of AI. So everybody does all this great work [and] we’re getting calls saying, ‘Can you help verify this for me? Is this a product that came out of an agency? There’s this other layer that you just can’t control [AI] that we need to start to wrap our arms around it.”

Strategists are in demand

AdAge asked what jobs are most in demand right now and strategy was the one definitive.

Faux-Pattani said BSSP is always on the hunt for great strategists, but noted that the shop sometimes struggles to find truly top candidates in that space. She said curiosity is always needed in that role, but the agency has had a hard time finding candidates who have curiosity that is “intuitive” versus “data curiosity.”

The strategy role is also shifting and putting more pressure on professionals in those roles.

Since clients are buying more “connected solutions,” agencies need strategies to be adept in everything from “commerce to brand, to media, to analytics, to creative understanding,” Thomas-Copeland said. “I don’t know any strategies that can do all of those things really well. And then at the same time in the room there was a call for strategy as a function to be front-of-house with clients. So suddenly they’re in a new environment.”

Webster argued that strategists and account people now have to “battle together … as an account strategist, you really need to understand your client’s business much better than they do.”

Hunting for new business opportunities

Most of the executives said there is a lot of opportunity to win new pieces of business, but they are far-ranging in size. Industry and agency leaders also have to be strategic in deciding what accounts to go after. 

Health care agency reviews are on the rise, for example, and Faux-Pattani said she sees a lot more “emerging brands” looking to hire shops right now.

In terms of the boon in health care agency reviews, Thomas-Copeland said that category has always been more “resilient” to macroeconomic factors. Still, 4As agency members have told the organization that even within health care marketing, “projects are not being solidified … in terms of planning and commitments, there’s a bit less of that,” he said.

Thomas-Copeland said agencies are having to place “their bets on where they’re going to look for opportunity, and trying to get really good at judging what is an opportunity that looks like it has some longevity, versus the one-and-done.”

“We’ve been very selective over the past 18 months or so in terms of the clients that we pursue from a business perspective and it’s worked,” Giant Spoon’s Grody said. “Over the last six months, we’ve won 67% of our pitches. The reason is we go after fewer, bigger, better and then we find smaller clients where we see that profound growth potential.”

Webster said Walrus has had success going after emerging brands that have reached $200 million to $400 million in revenue and are “ready to spend. They’re either getting ready for an IPO or sale, or they’ve just sold and need to show return on that investment,” she said.

For Omnicom Public Relations Group, Foster said it’s a much different situation.

“We will probably chase 2,500 RFPs in the course of a year,” he said. “We’re doing 100 or so a week as a network, if not more. The deal flow is very different in PR than advertising and media … in Europe, I’m seeing competitive consolidation in the marketplace, and so the deal sizes are small because there’s just a lot more competition.”

How to stand out in a crowded market

Faux-Pattani said she’s starting to see more intimate pitches with two or three competing shops, versus somewhere between four and six, which she welcomes. She said she sometimes will turn down a pitch if there are too many shops vying for the account.

That might be good for the agencies invited to pitch, but that means there are even fewer opportunities to get a foot in the door. The executives discussed how they are standing out in an increasingly overcrowded market that sees new agencies popping up seemingly every day to compete with holding company shops and independents alike.

“There are 14,000 agencies out there,” Webster said, making it more pertinent to understand your niche and where it makes sense for you to show up as an agency. Walrus, she said, goes after the opportunities it wants, rather than waiting for them.

“We have a robust sales department, PR program and outreach program,” she said. “For these smaller pieces of business, too, it’s much easier to hunt—to prospect, build, identify opportunities and make relationships, so we’re not actually having to go into a pitch. We close a lot of business that way.”

Hightower said Omnicom Specialty Marketing Group promotes itself through “product innovation and storytelling.”

“In Europe, we will pitch a suite of modalities, so we’ll say, ‘Give us your budget and we’ll figure out the best way to implement your spend across a number of modalities,” he said. “That has resonated well in that marketplace. In the U.S., it’s been through technology, building platforms where we are able to acquire data about the client, about their value chain, and then providing them feedback that can help them reduce costs and get more bang for their buck.”

Despite the conservative backlash to diversity initiatives, the executives said they remain committed.

The state of DEI

“From a 4As standpoint, the focus will continue to be on inclusive teams, and inclusive teams are great for business, they’re great for being an economic multiplier, they’re great for brands being much more in tune with the market,” Thomas-Copeland said.

Webster reiterated that point, saying companies with diverse boards and teams outperform those that are not.

“We’ve always been committed to inclusivity,” Grody said. “We remain committed to inclusivity. Nothing has changed.”

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog, Joe’s Journey, for selected short stories and personal insights on life and its detours.

Ideas, not AI, will decide who survives in 2030

In a world where everything can be personalized and optimized, there’s only one true differentiator left: ideas. (Adobe Stock)

AI will undoubtedly shrink the marketing services industry. Or so that’s the opinion of industry paper Ad Age via author Barry Lowenthal in a recent piece a few weeks back. Thought it worthwhile to share again especially to those of you who may not have seen it yet.

Many of the functions agencies are paid for today—targeting, media planning, asset versioning — are already being handled faster and cheaper by machines.

Yet the most successful agencies in 2030 won’t be those with the biggest AI budgets; they’ll be the ones still capable of original thought.

Since the explosion of generative AI, holding companies have raced to future-proof themselves, pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into the technology. They’ve hired engineers, signed vendor deals and built proprietary tools. The logic is that automation improves margins by enabling more work to be produced with less overhead, and it’s attractive to clients.

But here’s the problem: Everyone is doing the same thing.

AI platforms might look different, but they’re powered by the same foundation—similar models, trained on similar data, offering similar outputs.

AI is a great equalizer. While early investment and enterprise deals offer short-term advantages, the tools are ultimately accessible to all. As technology becomes commodified, there’s only one true differentiator left: ideas.

In a world where everything can be personalized and optimized—where every ad element, from celebrity to color palette to music cue, is engineered for conversion—what cuts through is the unexpected.

Zany, emotional, human ideas. The kinds that make people laugh out loud, tear up or text a friend because it hit a nerve. The kind no algorithm can predict because they come from life experience, not data.

Those ideas aren’t born from prompts or dashboards, but from humans living messy, interesting lives—wandering museums, walking unfamiliar streets, swapping stories at a dive bar.

The agencies that stay relevant in an AI era will be the ones that protect this kind of cultural immersion. They’ll hire for life experience, not just technical literacy. They’ll measure inspiration like they do performance, instead of grinding their teams into creative exhaustion. They’ll reward originality over speed and efficiency. 

If the goal is to survive the next five years, curiosity and creative instinct must be treated as core competencies.

That means rethinking workflows to allow time for discovery, not just delivery. It means protecting those unproductive long walks and deep rabbit holes.

The payoff won’t always show up neatly in a dashboard, so it will be a challenging pitch to the CFO. But in a world where AI devours everything else agencies in once thought made them valuable, it’s the only bet worth making.

That’s the future. And no, you can’t buy it; you have to nurture it.

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I agree with Mr. Lowenthal, original thought leading to creatively inspired ideas will and must lead the way. I’ve been involved in this business for several decades and I realize that the industry has turned into a young person’s game. Most have grown up with AI and consider it the “standard.” That is unfortunate. It still must be considered a tool in the work belt of the creative person who’s developing the idea. It can’t be used as the end-all. That is unless sameness is one’s idea of creative thought.

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog, Joe’s Journey, for selected short stories and personal insights on life and its detours.