Ad Industry Agenda 2025: Vision, Priorities and the Year Ahead
As we step into the new year, the advertising industry braces for another dynamic year. Leaders from agencies large and small have set bold agendas, striving to balance creativity, innovation, and responsibility in a rapidly-changing world. Priorities range from harnessing the transformative power of AI to redefining how brands connect with audiences through culture and emotion.
The challenges ahead are as daunting as they are exciting: economic pressures, technological upheavals, and evolving consumer expectations demand agility and vision. Yet, the consensus among CEOs is clear – this is a time for growth, collaboration, and fearless creativity.
The industry’s leaders share their plans for the year ahead – from fostering inclusivity and sustainability to crafting work that inspires and connects – and they are ready to adapt, innovate, and thrive.
Jon Goulding, CEO at Atomic London
2025 will be another year of exciting growth for Atomic despite a backdrop of tough market conditions. It should be the year that social will go from exploding at a rate far greater than brands can keep up with to being fully embraced as a grown-up brand building tool for marketers – as it becomes the dominant media of the age. There are very few channels that can grow brand and drive performance in one place and now, it’s the biggest channel we have at our disposal.
Let’s hope 2025 is the year that the creative output of the industry finally improves and we see again why the UK maintained such an incredible creative reputation for so long. I’d like to see a return to creating work that genuinely connects with people emotionally – that’s humorous and entertaining, while resisting the temptation to write formulaic work that plays the System1 game. I’d like to see more work that real people in the real world actually like that delivers real ROI.
We built Atomic to provide the very best capabilities in brand strategy, advertising, performance, social and creator talent management, and we’re committed to finding new ways to transform brand growth through the collision of creative disciplines – which is why we’re so optimistic for the year ahead.
Donnalyn Smith, global CEO at Momentum Worldwide
2025 will see an even greater pace of change. Brands and their agency partners will need to masterfully adapt to the rapid advancements in new technologies, economic shifts, media fragmentation and consumer expectations for authentic connections and live experiences that truly matter.
Our commitment remains focused on leveraging the power of data to personalise meaningful experiences. By continuously pushing creative boundaries, we aim to create engaging and impactful content to enrich consumer journeys – whether they’re in the stands of a stadium or browsing store shelves.
Chris Camacho, CEO at Cheil UK
As we look ahead to 2025, our focus is on evolving creatively, responsibly, and intelligently. The next 12 months will be defined by an industry-wide push to balance authenticity, innovation and purpose. Consumer expectations are shifting faster than ever, so we must meet audiences where they are: on emerging platforms, through immersive technologies, and with messaging that genuinely resonates.
At the heart of our approach is our +1 strategy: rather than depending on massive leaps, we’ll keep adding one bold new idea, skill or capability at a time. This incremental approach ensures we remain agile, future-focused, and capable of responding quickly to evolving market needs.
We’ll invest in the right tools, from generative AI to advanced analytics, while never letting technology eclipse human insight. At the same time, we’re prioritising ethical leadership and aligning client values to their comms. By blending strategic innovation, continuous learning and principled action, we’ll stay ahead of the curve and create a more meaningful, inclusive and impactful future.
Chris Falconer, group managing director at McCann Central
Remember five years ago? Barely I hear you say… Late 2019, all the talk was of another 'roaring twenties'. We're nearing the halfway point and it's fair to say, there have been more screams of agony than aural shows of prosperity. I think it's time to stand on the proverbial mountain and find our Simba-like voices again. We are an industry defined by hard work, courage, non-conformity and relentlessness. We shouldn't be scared of those superpowers.
It’s going to be challenging as we face significant headwinds and clients continue to reduce, divert or delay spend, not to mention as we grapple with continued macro factors of war, AI and new governments. But we are equal to it. We are great, we are fast, we are smart, and we are entrepreneurial. We need to constantly innovate – like we always have, bringing expertise from across disciplines, geographies, sectors and teams to build broader and deeper relationships with clients and prospects.
And more than anything, we need to continue proving the enduring value of our work to clients. Creatively-effective work which gets to the heart of their unique truths and produces enduring impact that can foster innovation and unlock further growth. In 2025, I'm calling for great teamwork and an appetite for adapting, training and constant upskilling, making good use of new tools and operating systems. I hope that human value will continue to make the difference, that we can adopt a mindset that positively embraces change rather than feels threatened and scared by it. I’d like for optimism, entrepreneurialism and confidence to power us into a year of revival and rejuvenation.
Zoe Eagle, CEO at Iris London
2025 is shaping up to be a massive year for Iris. I write this during my fourth week working at the agency; the final piece in a shiny new leadership team that’s bursting with energy and creativity. We feel good about 2025, and it’s not just that new job glow! While big networks get even bigger, the need for nimble agencies that can partner closely, move fast, think creatively, and deliver tailored solutions only grows. The Omnicom/IPG merger is set to change the agency landscape, creating new possibilities for smaller, more agile teams like ours. With more pitches expected next year, we believe brands will be looking for partners who can keep up and push boundaries.
We’re setting ourselves up for success by staying curious, adaptable, and focused on work that connects on a deeper level. Working with our clients to create brands that do more than communicate – they participate. By tapping into culture and embracing technology, we’ll keep striving to craft work that resonates with the communities our clients care about, and delivers the commercial impact they rightly demand. Our top priorities in 2025 are simple: listen closely, act boldly, and bring together the right skills to solve our clients’ challenges. We’re here to raise the bar. Let’s go!
Tom Dunn, founder and CEO at Toaster
In 2025, we’re investing in evolving our services to help our tech brand clients stay ahead, especially in product marketing. We’re living in interesting times – audiences are the savviest they’ve ever been and they can sense the lack of authenticity in waves of AI-generated content. Misinformation is also a huge issue that we’re learning to navigate as a society. The value of real creativity and originality only increases in this environment, and my feeling is that people are craving realness more than ever. The most effective marketing will be by brands that know when to leave AI at the door and when to invite it in – to add unique value to an idea, whether it be in the craft or amplification of it.
At Toaster, we’ve built a successful model for creative and tech-powered marketing with brands such as Google, Netflix, YouTube and Verily, and we’re integrating AI to enhance this model – be it at the insight idea or execution stage. Our aim is to integrate the most effective AI solutions to increase the value we offer to our clients, and to help drive connections between products and people.
Steve Denekas, CCO at Crispin
Ideas and visual expression will dominate the future of advertising. The worlds of art and digital creativity have officially collided, and creatives with knowledge of the world’s most interesting cultural movements and art will soon become some of the most valuable assets for companies. Ideas that once faltered due to a lack of storytelling are now more essential than ever. Culture demands that brands not only sell to consumers but inspire them. We are entering another era of advertising, and the landscape is ripe for bold ideas and fresh thinking. It’s the perfect moment to shape the industry’s evolution, and I’m honoured to have a seat at the table.
Nasser Sahlool, SVP of strategy at DAC
As we step into 2025, my top priority is leveraging the transformative potential of AI to scale and enhance our capabilities. At DAC, we’re focused on aligning creative and media strategies seamlessly to delight audiences at every interaction. AI allows us to move faster, smarter and with precision, crafting scaled, meaningful experiences that resonate deeply with consumers. This isn’t just about optimising what we do – it’s about fundamentally redefining how we approach marketing. By empowering our teams with cutting-edge AI tools and insights, we can unlock opportunities that drive transformative business outcomes for our clients. In a rapidly-evolving landscape filled with twists and turns, staying ahead requires agility, creativity, and an unwavering commitment to delivering value.
Our vision for 2025 is rooted in the belief that technology and talent together can elevate not only the work we produce but also the impact we make. By bridging the gap between data-driven media strategies and emotionally-resonant creative, we aim to build campaigns that inspire, connect, and convert – all while helping our clients navigate the complexity of today’s advertising ecosystem.
Stephen Woodford, CEO at Advertising Association
The year end is always a good time to reflect on priorities for the year ahead. For the Advertising Association team, it is all about how we deliver on our mission to promote the economic and social value of responsible advertising – that’s trusted, inclusive and sustainable – to the UK. Let’s start with trust. Public trust in advertising has long been a cornerstone of our work and this year, we published our Value of Trust report which supported the latest wave of the ASA ad awareness campaign, a key driver of increasing public trust. But trust is something that needs to be continually-earned, so continuing to build trust is a vital priority.
Equally pressing is the need to champion inclusion. Improving representation in advertising – across those who work in our industry and in the work that we make – is a business necessity. The third All In Census next March 12 will play a critical role in helping us assess our industry’s progress and prioritise further areas for action. Sustainability, too, remains very high on the agenda. The climate crisis demands urgent action, and the Ad Net Zero programme will continue to promote the vital need and value of sustainable change, whether that’s driving more use of AdGreen to manage and reduce production emissions, or further developing the Global Sustainability Media Framework, or showcasing what work that is commercially- and sustainably-successful looks like through our awards.
Meanwhile, AI is having a transformative effect on advertising, offering opportunities for greater personalisation, effectiveness and efficiency. The AA’s AI Taskforce published a report outlining best practices in AI use and in 2025, we aim to expand on these insights, equipping the industry with the tools to harness AI’s potential responsibly. All of this and more will be covered at our annual summit, LEAD, which takes place at the QE2 Centre in Westminster, London on February 6. With the new Labour government – the first in fourteen years – at the helm, our focus for the industry is to work with policymakers to forge the best conditions for our industry to thrive and deliver responsible growth across all nations of the UK.
Adam Foley, CEO at Bountiful Cow
It’s impossible to predict with any certainty what’s going to happen in any given year, but at Bountiful Cow, we’re going to stick to our key principles. In a world of greater consolidation, the value that independents can bring is to be a home for brands who value craft, differentiation and transparency. As an industry, we often over-complicate our work, but one thing that will never change is that we want people to see our work and remember it. Advertising can become wallpaper to people, so our focus is to create work that’s genuinely different and entertaining.
Our clients are often not the biggest spenders in their category – but we believe that you’ll never achieve great things by doing the same as everyone else with less budget. We’ll continue to focus on proving the business value of doing things differently. We’re also going to be focused on proving the value of transparency. It’s not just another buzzword, our ‘no bullshit’ approach means more working media in better environments and less money wasted. That needs to translate into profitability generated by client relationships built on shared goals.
Sarah Mehler, co-founder/CEO at Left Field Labs
In 2025, balancing technological excellence with a human-centric approach will be essential as we create experiences that drive meaningful business growth.
This year, we tackled increasingly complex challenges by crafting digital ecosystems that respond and adapt to human interaction. The connective tissue across our work has been helping clients create meaningful connections through story-rich experiences that seamlessly merge media, and digital and physical touchpoints. With Google, we launched 'Best Phones Forever,' the first-ever genAI interactive campaign celebrating Pixel's newest launch. For Hasbro, we blended AR and AI to reimagine the classic 'Twister' into 'Twister Air' that connected families and won Toy of the Year.
Looking ahead, we're applying our expertise in immersive as cross-media storytelling becomes the language of brand experiences. At Qualcomm's Snapdragon Summit, we brought 'on-device AI' to life through interconnected LED floors, LCD tables and 3D spaces, demonstrating how harmonious systems can create extraordinary experiences. These breakthroughs reveal something profound: when we blend technological precision with human imagination, we create experiences that flow naturally across platforms and touch lives in powerful ways. Our vision for 2025 is clear – technology must transcend code to create experiences that open doors to connection, spark joy and reshape how we engage with the world.
JJ Schmuckler, global chief growth officer at VML
2024 has sparked the beginning of a renaissance for agency networks. The diversity of thought, geographic presence and capability that networks bring is most important for CMOs today to manage the complexity of audience channel and technology. As we enter 2025, clients will focus their agency relationships on the following key areas:
- The intersection of creativity and commerce
- Access to increased data science to inform personalisation at scale
- Harnessing AI capabilities for inspiration and efficiency
Clients will only continue to double-down on their agency partnerships against these key areas. The renaissance continues and I have every reason to be optimistic about our industry and our business.
Shai Caleb Hirschson and Gordian Gleiss, CEO and COO at The Eight Six Holding
2025 marks a transformative era in advertising. Technology, once peripheral, is now central to reshaping how brands connect with audiences. Automation and machine learning are evolving outdated models into adaptive, meaningful systems, enabling creatives to focus on what truly matters: ideas, emotions, and cultural resonance.
Machine learning, understood more deeply than ever, amplifies creativity with real-time insights into audience behaviour. Yet, while it enhances storytelling, it will never replace the core of innovation: human creativity. As we move beyond the ‘AI’ buzzword, 2025 will highlight the synergy between human ingenuity and machine intelligence.
At The Eight Six Holding, we’re embracing this evolution through these three entities:
- IMAGINE, which crafts emotionally-resonant brand campaigns powered by music.
- 86Tales:, which elevates storytelling through bold, independent soundscapes.
- 86, which redefines visual storytelling with adaptive technologies.
We’re interested in cultural relevance at scale, real-time adaptation, and sustainable innovation. Together, they form the foundation for a future where brands embrace both emotional depth and analytical precision. At The Eight Six Holding, we aim to change the way we see, hear and experience our world, fusing technology and creativity to transform advertising forever.
