Weekly Roundup: The Good, The Bad, The Unbelievable
Another week of relentless speed of change, ups and downs in the creative industries and in the world of marketing and branding. Let’s review some highlights.
It’s Friday. Here’s a quick pulse on creative industry highs, lows, and jaw-droppers.
The Good 🥂
Wins, sparks, and creative bright spots from the last week.
Escapism is back in fashion marketing — Vogue Business reports that brands like DSquared2 and Valentino are embracing surrealism, big-budget cinematic storytelling, and fantasy as a counterbalance to “authenticity fatigue.” The pendulum has swung from “relatable” to “otherworldly.” (Vogue Business)
Independent agencies are thriving despite AI hype — The Financial Times highlights shops like Mother and VCCP that are winning clients with creativity-first work while big networks wrestle with bureaucracy and scale. (FT)
Creative awards are still a growth engine — Campaign UK points out that for agencies who use them well, award-winning work still converts into new business faster than any paid ad. Proof that “earned” still trumps “bought” in this industry.
PR is now the new SEO — Search Engine Land reports that in the age of AI search, brands with high-quality PR mentions are more likely to surface in AI-generated recommendations. It’s a rare case of PR and SEO playing nice together.
Boutique consultancies are taking market share — AdAge shows data on the rise of small, expert-led consultancies winning corporate strategy and brand work that once went to the McKinseys and the big agency holding companies.
The Bad 📉
The not-so-great news making creative leaders wince.
WPP’s bumpy AI transition — While investing heavily in AI-driven ops, WPP’s revenue is under pressure and investor confidence is shaky, according to the Financial Times. (FT)
Big network margins are thinning — Publicis Groupe posted an 18% operating margin for the first half of the year, which is still strong, but down from historic highs. Large-scale efficiency is proving harder to sustain. (FT)
AI trust gap — A Kiplinger analysis found Google’s AI “Overview” on life insurance was wrong 57% of the time. If AI search is the future, misinformation could be the industry’s biggest headache. (Kiplinger)
Creative burnout still rampant — The Drum reports rising burnout rates in agency creatives, tied to “always-on” pitches and rapid-turn work cycles. AI hasn’t slowed the pace—it’s just shifted the stress.
Client churn is accelerating — Forrester data shows brands are changing agencies faster than at any point in the last decade, driven by in-housing, procurement pressure, and the search for “faster and cheaper.”
The Unbelievable 🤯
Stories that make you say, “Wait…whaat! Seriously?”
A one-person agency lands enterprise clients — Adweek profiles a solo creative who uses AI tools to run entire brand campaigns alone, winning against agencies with 10x the staff.
A campaign made entirely from deepfakes wins awards — The Guardian reports a PSA that used AI deepfake tech to “resurrect” historical figures for climate advocacy — sparking both admiration and ethical debates.
TikTok shop sales explode for niche creators — Business Insider reveals micro-influencers selling six figures of merch monthly, showing direct-to-consumer creativity is alive and well outside the big brand ecosystem.
AI-generated fragrance launch — A luxury brand unveiled a scent whose formula was co-created with AI analyzing 1M fragrance reviews. Early testers swear it smells like “nostalgia and ambition.”
Cannes Lion-winning campaign cost under $2,000 to produce — Campaign Live broke the story of a micro-budget idea that relied entirely on cultural insight and clever media placement, proving you don’t need big spend to win big.
Takeaway for Creative Entrepreneurs, Agencies, And Marketing Pro’s
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Good: Creativity and small-scale agility are winning.
Bad: The pressure for efficiency, speed, and trust is relentless.
Unbelievable: The game is wide open — the tools and platforms have leveled the playing field in ways that seemed unthinkable five years ago.
In other words: it’s a good week to stay curious, stay nimble, and maybe… try something that sounds impossible.