OPINION

Price isn’t the grubby bit at the end of the funnel, it’s the moment when brand truth gets put to the test.

Audience segmentation is failing brand experience leaders.

Advertising is training AI on what culture is. Are we comfortable with what it’s learning from?

The switch from people basing their decisions on what they think is right to guessing what the boss will like most, is harmful both to the enterprise and its teams.

The brand's consistency around how people think, feel and decide has allowed it to sustain its success.

Comedy isn't universal and it is not about chasing the biggest laughs. Instead, brands should be building something their audience wants to be a part of and have community buy-in.

How can we offer millions of young men something that resonates as strongly with their hopes and fears as the manosphere does?

To value our collective creative craft, we must stop subsidising our own obsolescence, says the chief executive of Uncharted Studio.

Passive reassurance isn’t a leadership strategy.

To answer the question in the headline it makes sense to look back on AI’s impact so far.

Holding companies and their progressive allies have used purpose and diversity and inclusion strategies to achieve their aims, while doing little to fix a bigger problem that’s killing our industry.

Women in advertising need community which is why Lollipop Mentoring is now open to a wider group.

Bold work dies because it's inconvenient and too uncomfortable to defend up the chain.

Despite the persistent rise of Generative AI, women’s adoption rates remain significantly lower than men’s.

There is a trio of principles about which brands should be aware before entering the gaming space.

Better representation on screen isn’t just the right thing to do – inclusivity also unlocks new audiences, increases positive brand affinity and ensures an increase in sales.

The sandwich years are hard. Parenting, parents and a high-pressure professional role, all at the same time.

It’s time to usher in an age of “frictionmaxxing”, so that brands can embrace the sweat, not the smooth

Ahead of Mother's Day a freelance director writes about her experience as a new mother.

Simply having a funny or unhinged tone of voice is not enough.

AML Group creatives review the posters for this year's Oscar-nominated films.

Advertising has been on an apology tour for so long we should start earning air miles.

Following the broadcast of Molly vs the Machines on Channel 4, the broadcaster's chief commercial officer makes the case for responsible advertising choices and how they can align with effectiveness.

An external force could yet shape WPP’s destiny before the end of Elevate28.

This year's theme for International Women's Day is “Give to Gain” – it should mean paying women more.

Mascots must be nuanced, well thought out and most importantly, reflect the realities of the audiences they serve.

Almost 70% of women don't feel confident by the way marketing portrays them. Brands need to stop looking at women as a neat little segment.

Understanding anticipation, its value and what drives it, is not just interesting, but essential.

Images are powerful tools in advertising but finding archetypal examples, without nuance or complexities, can really add to the work's impact.

AI is reshaping how people think, choose and buy – and, in doing so, it’s elevating the importance of brand-building.

Long gone are the days when brand experiences were one-off tactical moments in which success was measured by attendee numbers.

Brands can prosper by using their collective strength to navigate the common obstacles they face, the new boss of ISBA says, after his first 100 days in the role.

The rise of AI is undermining the confidence of creatives. But human traits such as vulnerability and intuition – which can never truly be replicated by machine learning – are often what power great creative output.

Now more than ever strategists need to commit to thinking like an outsider.

Winning business and creating work featured on this site are the easiest ways to make the list next year.

At this time of change and complexity, ad agencies need great people on the work, whatever their title.

Brands should be as concerned about the content alongside their ads as they are about the other advertisers.

Navigating restrictions is a creative challenge, but it can also be a moral one.

In a culture of constant exposure, brands aren’t just fighting for attention – they’re fighting to matter.

"Creative" as a noun is slapped on to any and all advertising, regardless of merit. Adland has lost touch with its use as an adjective, one that distinguished between the run-of-the-mill and the creatively inspired.

Emerald Fennell isn’t aiming for literary fidelity; rather, the film serves as an incredible example of the art of disruptive adaptation.

Why future advantage belongs to systems with a soul.

If sexualised banter or “just joking” is part of your culture, you’re already at risk.

Taste has become an unfashionable concept but the industry should be embracing it as something that gives it a stake in the future.

Poll at Lead conference found 85% of audience felt people might trust advertising less due to AI.

Take a look through the four stages of adult competence and what shines through is the value of experience, particularly salient in times of disruption and change

Responsibility and investment must be shared across the ecosystem, rather than subsidised by some – while others do less or look to ride for free, the advertising boss of Bauer Media argues.

Global warming's impact on the Winter Olympics should give would-be sponsors pause for thought. Brands should think long-term, by contributing to and protecting the fragile ecosystem rather than accelerating its demise.

Adland has conflated activity with effectiveness and exposure with meaning.

People don’t split themselves into B2B and B2C versions. So why do we design work as if they do?

EssenceMediacom's executive creative director offers an unconventional response.

From Labour’s need to establish an identity and the Tory Party’s apparent implosion, to Reform’s clear message but dubious credibility, 2026 is a critical year for political party brands.

Agencies will need to decide whether they want to maximise profits in the short term or reinvest to create better tools, operating models and training.

Gaining and keeping public trust in advertising is largely within the control of our industry, the co-author of a new book on the subject says.

The age of nonchalance is officially over.

Culture isn’t just peaks, it’s depth.  

Adland risks relegation to the colouring-in department if it closes its eyes to the wider world.

When you think about the brands you truly love, that fondness is often based on shared memories with others.

Dry January and Veganuary are all very well, but what about the wellness that creativity can bring to body and mind and, of course, your work.

In an industry that has some way to go towards gender parity, planning ahead of retirement is crucial for women in adland. A trio of female figureheads share sage advice.

The '2026 is the new 2016' trend is not about nostalgia but a response to how social media feels right now.

There’s a lot of noise around the idea of women in business supporting each other. But the reality often says otherwise.

As we all huddle together from shared shocks, Gen Z are the micro-influencers in every home on everything from fashion to finance.

Strategists should be less cocky and bring more value to the table.

Running an independent agency, it is always going to be much harder to get those wins. We have to put everything we have into it, every single day.

The current system risks excluding a new generation of creative minds.

Cutting back on communications teams in adland is shortsighted.

It may be Blue Monday, but the growth mindset in January beats the dopamine that December delivers.

It seems as though many of us in adland have forgotten how to make campaigns that last.

A recent Sunday Times article praising the comeback of Waitrose & Partners on the basis of its Christmas performance was symptomatic of a pervasive problem: a disregard for the part played by audience insight, marketing strategy and creativity.

With this year's Fifa World Cup set to be the most-watched sporting event around the globe, brands should be focusing their attention on community fan groups rather than geography.

Creativity’s worth is subject to what people are willing to pay for it. In order to command more, we have to make what they’re paying for worth more.

Networks continue to provide the plumbing, but the talent they trained runs the independent agencies that marketers now contact for creative magic.

An email exchange between the IPA's director of effectiveness, Laurence Green, and Saatchi & Saatchi’s former chair and CSO, Richard Huntington, dives into a recent piece written by Huntington for Campaign, entitled 'Ring the alarm bells for adland.'

The best way to start on a brief is to writing down every problem, limitation and constraint that it presents.

Agencies should feel like an extension of the client team, not a service provider wheeled out for big moments.

Here is the case for a more innovative form of media planning, where planners, creatives and technologists must be willing to sit down together in the same room.

Here is a list of 25 things I have learned during 2025 about great leaders, politics, AI, leaning in and more.

Sometimes the smartest way to capture attention isn’t about building your own space, it’s about crashing someone else’s.

The antidote to mass-produced AI content for brands lies in identity-driven data.

Too many brands are still treating social media as a sidepiece to the hero film.

When women are heard, everyone benefits.

As an introvert, I assumed for years that it meant I couldn't lead an agency.

Changing how Omnicom operates and collaborates in post-IPG era requires shift in mindset and incentives.

Next year's football tournament taking place across the US, Mexico and Canada could offer brands in the UK an opportunity to approach watch parties in new ways.

Culture isn’t disappearing; it’s being de-contextualised.

Set in the 1970s and late 1990s, the novel reflects a glorious era in advertising with some major plot twists along the way.

From taking ownership of your pension to using spare time to learn new skills, freelancing is a change from working at an agency.

When there is a lack of care for people, the casualties are our work, talent and clients.

Agencies don’t just create great ads, they build connections and ensure brands are front of mind for years to come. Remuneration needs to change to reflect the ongoing value they deliver.

Why we need to stop performing cleverness and embrace the power of stupidity.

The neat handover between spring/summer and autumn/winter simply doesn’t exist. Yet the marketing calendar marches on, stubbornly unchanged.

Why are ad agencies creating offices that are fun-free warehouses with all the appeal of a battery farm with desks? 

Cindy Rose has steadied WPP in the short term but has the tech-heavy strategy overlooked the strengths that once made it great?

Christmas ads work, because it is Christmas, and the newspapers, the media in general and social media in particular are talking about Christmas ads.

Sexual harassment still exists, and it is almost certainly happening in your organisation.

To entertain is something that we used to instinctively understand and collectively pursue as an industry.

How Wonderhood Studios and Waitrose worked to 'inject food love into popular culture'.

It has been a hard year, so perhaps as we look ahead to 2026, it's worth considering that the key to achieving more is caring less.

People make better work when they feel unbeatable, so let's stop the insidious narrative in the industry ringing our own death knell.