Creativity remains our greatest advantage

 

Good evening, everyone!

Thank you for braving the storm. I know I'm Irish, but I'm not responsible for that weather. I didn't put it on just for this moment, but I did hope it might detract some of you from coming. But for those who have, thank you so much.

So 2025. Jeez, I barely made it out alive.

I'm assuming you had a brilliant rest and a break and you're all back in here tonight, brimming with enthusiasm and hope and optimism and confidence. Because we need it, and we need all of us in the room to do that.

I came here last year, and I heard Josh's last speech, which was absolutely lovely and a celebration of his time here. And I remember going, that's gonna be me next year. And kind of thinking it was so far away, and here I am doing it, but it all kicked off in March.

I started off wanging on about creativity, and you'd be glad to know that I have not stopped, and I don't intend stopping anytime soon until I'm kicked out of this job.

Creativity matters. It remains our greatest advantage. It matters for our people, for our agencies, for our clients, for their business and this UK economy. And with all the noise about efficiency and speed, creativity is still what drives real value for us. That unexpected idea, that beautifully crafted execution, that channel, that media placement that you never thought could exist before, that's the spark people can bring. It's our most single engine and reliability for growth.

But I think what I want to say is a huge thank you to everybody. You've all been really, really kind and nice and generous. And more importantly, I think it felt like we could galvanise ourselves around something.

This is something we understand. We understand creativity. We do it every day. It's why we got into the business.

And what I got was so much offer of help and support from everyone that I've roped you all in. And I'm going to be here all night. So I'm going to come to the rest of you and go, 'how are you gonna help this creativity agenda next year' because it's really, really important to all of us.

And I think it was, it felt like everybody was talking about it last year, and I think that's maybe where we've reminded ourselves of this is our superpower, this is what we're good at.

I'm also very grateful to the IPA because in moments where things feel a bit all over the shop, the IPA is a great institute to help all of us in here to look after each other and protect each other and for all the people who work here tirelessly to do this and who've been brilliant to me.

Thank you very, very much.

So over the last year, I have been doing some stuff, and this is for anyone here from BBH. I haven't been just at one long lunch. Okay, I have been doing stuff.

But what happened?

So in April, we kicked off, we shone a spotlight on the future talent at the Talent and Diversity Conference. And this was a reminder of how we need to create environments where creative people can thrive and grow.

In June, we celebrated our CPD Gold and Platinum agencies. I kept on saying that when I presented it, and then I found out what CPD stood for, which I should have found out before I went there. But it's continuous professional development.

So their celebration started off at lunch and they got stuck in celebrating Platinum and Gold. But more importantly, these are the people who look after our people and, quite rightly, should be celebrated.

I visited the north of Ireland twice. Yeah, there we go. I went to an awards thing.

I went to Edinburgh, and it was great because loads of creative people came to the discussions, and we stayed after and we had a great time. Not to say that you're not great, but it's a big competition of who's the most fun. We'll see what happens here tonight.

But I guess everybody came in and was just really passionate and going, yeah, I'm excited about this, let’s talk about, let's make creative directors feel as important as they should be.

Then we went to Cannes. That was grand. We hosted a stage there where we talked about the importance of brand investment and how creativity really does fuel growth back at home.

We did a brilliant Business Growth Conference. Many of you were there. We celebrated a landmark 25 years of the IPA Bellwether Report. I don't know about you, but I use it to make myself look intelligent all the time.

We had a fantastic Advertising Unlocked where all of you agencies opened your doors to the next generation and brilliant new talent that were gonna come in.

I spoke to them with some of BBH who were talking entry-level roles, and one of them went, 'Hi, what do you earn?'

And I thought, fair play. I am not gonna say, but there you go. Not even what was the entry-level position? It was like, 'oh, you, what do you do? I want your money.' She's gonna do well, I would say.

Then of course there was the Greatest Ad Show, which was a huge celebration of what makes UK advertising - the craft, the storytelling.

I think some of us, you were there, some of the stories were absolutely brilliant, probably unrepeatable, but I think it's just a reminder of this fabulous industry where the ideas come from.

And then we watched everything on the screen, which sometimes we don't watch enough ads, we should do more of that.

So it was an amazing year. Thanks to all that helped out.

But I'm not, you know, deluded. It was a bit of a challenging year as well. It asked an awful lot of it all. The market shifted, mega-mergers happened, and expectations changed. New technologies came in, quicker than we could talk about. Although LinkedIn did a pretty good job.

If you look back on the AI conversation, that was nonstop.

But through it all, a few truths have become clearer than ever.

Strong relationships matter.

When clients and agencies work together with openness and a long-term perspective. The work gets better. So does our relationships and so does this industry.

Technology matters, of course, but taste matters more.

AI brought enormous excitement this year. It helped us test ideas faster, stretch creative thinking and unlock new possibilities, endless possibilities.

But the standout work always had something that no tool could mimic. And that was human direction, taste, care and perspective. All the things that we need to hang onto in this crazy new world.

People matter.

People want meaning, they want support and they want progression.

In an era where we're seeing businesses dial back all their D&I initiatives, it's more important than ever that we protect the business and the people that make our industry grow.

And in the end of last year, it was a difficult year, and we are a kinder industry than we give ourselves credit for. I know the outpouring of love and support for everybody who was going through whatever; no one went unscathed last year.

And I felt really brilliant that the kindness of let's all look out for one another. And I think we need to remember that in its okay when we're pitching against each other, then it's on. But when it's not, let's look out for each other.

And, of course, creativity matters.

It remains our greatest advantage. It matters for our people, for our agencies, for our clients, for their business and this UK economy. And with all the noise about efficiency and speed, creativity is still what drives real value for us.

That unexpected idea, that beautifully crafted execution, that channel, that media placement that you never thought could exist before, that's the spark people can bring. It's our most single engine and reliability for growth.

And it's not me just saying that because all the brilliant people at McKinsey, you only really report McKinsey when they say something that you agree with. But I am fully into this.

One is that creativity and uniqueness are now the number one investment priority for CMOs over the next two years. And, are those people at McKinsey, right?

So, it really is more important than ever. And it's down to all of us to protect that.

So, these aren't dramatic headlines, but they're things to remind ourselves of and to keep ourselves incredibly focused.

So, if that was the kind of agenda last year coming into this year, then I've got two things that I'm delighted about that I'm doing this year, which I hope you're all going to be as excited about as me.

The first one is the President's Prize for Creative Effectiveness.

Okay? So this is deadly. So launching as part of the 2026 IPA Effectiveness Awards for all the strats in the room. Come on, this is your year.

This new prize is designed to celebrate the kind of work we often talk about but don't always reward. Work where creativity itself is the engine of commercial impact. So basically, we're gonna have a creative award at the IPA Effectiveness Awards in October, which is deadly.

I hope then that will just inspire some more interest from creative people into the importance of why our work needs to work and why it matters.

And the other thing which I'm so excited about, which launched today, is the IPA Creative Essential Certificate.

Now the IPA has trained most people in this room through amazing strategic and account management and production.

Now we have our very own Creative Essentials Certificate. It's launching in April 2026. Anyone can apply if you've got that inner creative in you.

Why don't you do this course? You might find me at it. It's eight weeks and it's a qualification for early career creatives.

It's going to be brilliant. It'll give the talent, the tools, confidence and real-world understanding. They need to build ideas, shape ideas and sell ideas. And we're bringing in creative leaders from brilliant places such as Weiden+Kennedy, Biscuit Filmworks, BBH, and the IPA.

And we're going to be hosting these sessions across all of the agencies. So, lots of very practical and very important that it's in-room. We want people to be together to learn from each other because I think that's when both of those things work best.

So both of these initiatives are practical ways to get involved, learn and champion creativity. And they're just the start.

Because the rest of 2026 has got lots of big IPA moments and I'm gonna list them all really quickly.

The IPA Effectiveness Awards. Now, the early entries are closing tomorrow. So after this, you need to all go home. And you need to put in all the awards that you're entering. Because I know doubt after this session you're going to be inspired.

The Q4 IPA Bellwether Report will be out soon, as well as the Agency Census results, and Advertising Unlocked opening again for agencies to sign up.

This month, we've got the LEAD Conference with the AA and ISBA, and that's gonna focus on trust, and the IPA Insight Summit will bring more brilliant minds to the stage.

And then there are the flagship conferences. The Talent and Diversity in April, Business Growth in July and Effectiveness in October. So keep your eyes open for all of them. Lock them in their diary 'cause you're gonna have a great time.

And finally, we have the 2026 iList submissions closing on the 16th of January. So please nominate somebody brilliant from your team. D&I is really important. It’s under threat, it's under risk.

Make sure you champion all the fabulous people in your business so they can feel proud and proud of the business that they work in.

Okay, so let's finish.

This year reminds us of something very important: no matter how fast things move, our industry works best when creativity leads, our relationships are strong, people feel supported, and we stay curious about what's next.

So that's all I have to say. Thank you so much. Thank you for coming this evening.

If you wanna get involved in anything that I've spoken about, please come and talk to me. The more the merrier. You're all brilliant.

Happy New Year. Let's make this one an absolutely brilliant one. Thank you.

View photos from the IPA President's Reception 2026