Over the past couple of weeks, events have been held across London as our industry leaders discuss their expectations for the year ahead in advertising. From the current mood amongst consumers to the continued conversations around AI’s impact on advertising, below we share our key takeaways on what we should look out for over the next twelve months.
Consumers are feeling the lasting impacts of Covid and the cost-of-living crisis
In an eye-opening study from Leo Burnett shared at Campaign’s Year Ahead it was found that, “48% of people agree that life feels so intense and the moment that I often find myself reacting emotionally.” This same Pop Pulse 2024 study also revealed that, “31% of people feel emotionally overwhelmed in day-to-day life.” For Deputy Chief Strategy Officer, Tom Sussman, this means that as an industry we shouldn’t overwhelm consumers with unnecessary information but instead keep it simple.
It’s a sentiment that was echoed by AJ Coyne, VP of Marketing, Monzo who said, “It’s crazy to ask consumers to look at and plan for their future when they’re dealing with their day-to-day problems.” The brands that will see the most success this year are the ones that consider the current mood amongst consumers and find ways for their brands to be relevant and additive to people’s lives.
There’s a tension amongst clients between short-term results and long-term growth
Campaign’s Media Editor, Beau Jackson, kicked off a panel on the year ahead for media agencies saying, “There’s a tension between clients asking for long-term but also caring about short-term results.” So, how can media agencies navigate this to strike the right balance between the two? For Natalie Cummins, CEO, EssenceMediacom, “We can only find the answers by doing large- and small-scale tests,” as she has found that clients are saying ‘don’t talk to me about the theory’ but are instead asking what is right for them based on their own data. Later, in a panel on the year ahead for creative agencies, Larissa Vince, CEO, TBWA\London pointed out that, “We as an industry can lack confidence in the brilliance of what we do.” As an industry we need to show conviction in our test-and-learn strategies which will deliver both immediate results and long-term growth.
AI is still the word on everyone’s lips
You would be forgiven for thinking we’d reached peak AI, but our news headlines are still saturated with it and these events were no different. At The Media Leader Year Ahead, panellists were asked what they thought would happen with AI in the advertising industry. Chloe Davies, founder & CEO of It Takes a Village questioned if AI is still a hype or if this will be the year when we face the reality, saying, “AI is still a tool, it’s there to be guided. AI can be anything we want it to be, we are the ones that need to shape the stories.” Meanwhile, Susan Kingston Brown, Brand President at UM lamented that, “Businesses see it as cost efficiency, but the problem then is that everything become bland. We should be training AI and asking questions. Bring back the power of humans. Bring back creativity and collaboration.” Human creativity was a sentiment echoed at Campaign’s Year Ahead, as Monzo’s AJ Coyne said, “I will always be an advocate of craft over technology. How I view AI is that you should never see it. It should be in the background.” At MI, we are inclined to agree with Katie Jackson, CMO, Channel 4 who said, “As long as we use AI to be additive and not reductive or replicative, then I think we’re in a good place.”
What will make 2025 more rewarding?
Finally, when asked ‘what will make our jobs more rewarding in the year ahead in advertising?’ panellists answered: ‘honesty’, ‘positivity’, ‘curiosity’ and ‘celebration’. By keeping these words in mind, we can approach the year with the fantastic ‘What If…’ mentality that Jackson has introduced to her team at Channel 4. What if 2025 turns out to be a really great year?
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