From the quest for efficiency and creativity and navigating the opportunities presented by new technologies, to harnessing the unique strengths of each generation with our workforce, agency leaders share their predictions for what they hope will be a dynamic and buzzy 2025 for adland.
The advertising industry has had to navigate difficult headwinds in 2024, but this hasn’t stopped the overall growth of the industry. GroupM’s This Year Next Year report, notes that, for the first time, the industry has surpassed $1 trillion in total revenue this year, and this is only set to increase.
As with all industries, Adland is navigating the opportunities and challenges presented by AI, which is making us more efficient, but it has its complexities. Businesses that embrace technological efficiency but don’t lose focus on brand building will continue to grow. Choosing one over the other is to be avoided.
Taking on the mantle of President of the IPA next year is a huge honour. Getting the chance to help lead the organisation through a time of rapid change and vast opportunity is a great challenge - and one that I can’t wait to get stuck into.
Streamers like Netflix expanding their offering in to live appointment to view TV moments and offering new ad solutions is going to be one to watch in the new year. We’re seeing the rise of self-serve solutions, which will drive evolution in the nature of the media owner, agency and client relationship. Creative innovation and expertise will be ever more needed to create differentiation and stand out in what could become a sea of optimised same! Retail media is going to continue to gather pace too! People wise we’re keen to keep driving the agency social mobility agenda, helping bring more diversity into the industry and ensuring agencies are genuinely representative of the audiences we are speaking to on behalf of our clients.
With hopefully more economic stability, 2025 is poised for a resurgence of creativity. Human-centric campaigns, genuine connections, and compelling storytelling will be key to brand success. The industry must also tackle the challenge of a multi-generational workforce, harnessing the unique strengths of each generation to foster collaboration and innovation.
Like every other agency, much of the conversation over the last few weeks has been about the Jaguar rebrand. It has split opinion; I love the bravery and approach for a once great brand that could easily have been relegated to the history books. I’m looking out for other companies that attempt to become what we call Phoenix Brands – those that have to burn down the old to birth a new exciting future – some will succeed, and others will fail, but I’d love to chat with the CMOs that are interested in taking the risk.
In 2025 (and beyond), I’m looking forward to seeing how technology can further enhance our ways of working and creativity more broadly. AI is an easy answer, but it’s more than that, with vast amounts of data available to businesses it’s how this is analysed and packaged which is key.
As we look to 2025, advertisers are under pressure and laser-focused on efficiency, but will this be at the expense of creativity? In an increasingly complex industry, power lies in smart, often simple ideas that resonate and move audiences. Ideas that then stay with them and are memorable in this busy, cluttered world. Whether that’s achieved through raising a wry smile, elusive chuckle, easy tear, or getting them to take action, the quest for efficiency and creativity will sit at the heart of our industry in 2025. It could be our most compelling challenge yet.
They say the night is darkest just before the dawn. Really? To me, it just seems to get steadily brighter as dawn approaches. And that’s been the picture as we close out 2024: the relative stability of the new government, inflation back at 2%, supply chains getting back to normal, main media budgets ticking up, and new business springing back to life. It feels like the economy is finally picking up again and Bank of England/OECD forecasts suggest this momentum will continue. Despite ongoing worries over taxes, trump and tariffs, I’m looking forward to a more dynamic and buzzy 2025.
More creativity and innovation in OOH. The breadth of opportunities in OOH is endless and I’m looking forward to brands creating more real world experiences for consumers – as we know there is huge appetite for this type of activation. With the growth of DOOH opportunities such as Piccadilly Below the Lights, Manchester Printworks and Outernet, brands now have the perfect canvas to activate experience-based DOOH. This is where DOOH can be seamlessly blended with other online channels, such as Social, Mobile commerce and Influencer to amplify and extend the experience. Reaching broader audiences, driving sales and engaging consumers. I look forward to the continued growth of these new opportunities, and how they work alongside more mainstream OOH solutions.
Having recently announced its expansion to a 7000-strong panel, I’m really looking forward to the exciting developments available through the Barb Panel Plus initiative. By combining first-party data from a wide range of media owners with high-quality 'panel data' the Barb Panel Plus initiative will provide a unique perspective which is both comprehensive and precise. The integration of 'big data' with a representative panel will enable a detailed demographic context to co-viewing, and cross-platform duplication, which big data alone cannot offer.
What were the industry highlights of 2024? Find out what agency leaders picked as their key moments of the year.
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