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Fast Company
08-07-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
Why holding companies are losing their grip on brands
Ever notice that companies making the most money rarely talk about just money? Perennially successful companies are led by management obsessed with customer experience, product performance, talent, and culture. They focus on better, and healthy margins occur naturally from creating something so great that customers are willing to pay more. Even investment bankers talk about the client's business before they start counting the cash. A sure symptom of a company in trouble is when management meetings are consumed by margins, debates over timing for the next round of layoffs, or consensus on cutting back on bagels in the breakroom. When an outbreak of financial fever infects the biggest players in the category, it's only a matter of time before everyone feels queasy. This type of earnings epidemic is rampant across the marketing world, especially at the big advertising networks known for making brands famous. Old models are dying, legacy companies are being disrupted, and clients are desperately searching for something new. Most iconic advertising agencies founded during the Mad Men era sold their Madison Avenue marquees to holding companies years ago. In the short term, that seemed like a good idea, as holding companies offered more choice to potential clients—and Wall Street always rewards size—but in the long run, it hasn't worked out so well, either for agencies or their clients. Salaries have been flat or declining for almost a decade, margins are tighter than ever, and agency models are breaking faster than plates at a Greek wedding. Clients are reevaluating where they spend time and money. Navigating an ever-changing media landscape requires an adaptable model rarely found at monolithic agency networks. Too many platforms, not enough content, and no silver bullets left in clients' media arsenals, which once only consisted of TV, radio, and print. Holding companies are collapsing under their own weight, having bought too many redundant agencies during the boom years, only to find themselves with limited cash flow and no clear path toward reinventing themselves. Clients are finding big agency partners distracted or conflicted—unreliable navigators at a critical juncture. WHERE THE AGENCY MODEL WENT WRONG This malaise is a consequence of a flawed business model that's taken almost two decades to fail. The full catalogue of sins is too long to list here but includes splitting the media business from creative and production, charging for hours instead of services provided, cutting senior talent to make margins, and ultimately selling process over people. Marketing isn't a process; it's a meeting of minds, a collision of creativity, collaboration, and craft. Once you commoditize a category, it becomes a race to the bottom or a battle for scale, but now that a market reckoning has arrived, discerning clients are realizing that size isn't always an advantage. Creative agencies should be valued for the size of their ideas, not the size of their organization. Technology has levelled the playing field, so a chance for clients to work with experienced talent in close collaboration seems a better bet than paying for an army of eager but inexperienced foot soldiers at a global network. A BETTER WAY FORWARD FOR CLIENTS AND CREATIVES That's why there have been so many launches of smaller, independent agencies, as well as the arrival of VC firms onto the scene, investors looking to buy just the right pieces— no more and no less —required to build integrated campaigns for clients. Disruption means a chance to build something better, a model less familiar but more suited to solving modern marketing challenges. These emerging models are reshaping client expectations by offering expertise in often-neglected but critical moments of the customer journey. A renewed focus on in-store displays, product design, and activations are driving retail. Audience-obsessed media partners are helping clients choreograph their campaigns to ensure each ad isn't just a disposable one-off moment. Savvy strategists are reinventing brands from the inside-out by mining the DNA of what made that company special in the first place. That sort of introspection on what makes a company special is ironically what the agency business lacks right now, a reminder of the soul of the business—creative solutions to business challenges. Art as commerce. Media that matters, and content that people actually want in their feed. Agencies are in the business of helping clients grow their business. Holding companies are in the business of making money. Two entirely different goals which naturally lead to contradictory decisions. The consequence of almost two decades of compulsively buying agencies is that holding companies have run out of new sources of revenue, so two of the biggest players are now acquiring each other. Like two neutron stars colliding to create a black hole, it's unclear if anything good will escape this merger other than senior talent who don't fit below the bottom line. This is the proverbial last straw, the juniorization of an industry. Experienced talent is dismissed when too expensive, and junior talent becomes so distracted by rolling layoffs that they can't focus on the work. Clients responsible for big brands are unlikely to wait around for the dust to settle. They want a partner focused on their business, not one squinting at spreadsheets. Dinosaurs had their day but didn't evolve as the landscape changed, and that's okay, because as they decomposed, they ultimately became the fuel that powers our modern world. Even now, the diaspora of talent from decaying networks is reenergizing the marketing industry, and it's only just begun. FINAL THOUGHTS There's never been a more exciting time to work in marketing. Clients are eagerly searching for 'other' models—alternative approaches that brings top talent together. New ways of working, more investment in innovation, and a welcome return to people over process. If you take care of the people doing the work, usually the work takes care of itself. That's an easy investment that even the folks counting the money should want to make.
National Post
16-06-2025
- Business
- National Post
97% of Agencies Faced Major Creative Campaign Challenges, According to New PMI Survey
Article content Article content As campaign complexity surges, new research spotlights how project professionals are powering marketing creativity and business impact Article content Article content CANNES, France — Creative leaders today face mounting pressure to deliver bold, fresh experiences that boost brand awareness and keep customers engaged in an increasingly saturated market. A new survey from Project Management Institute (PMI) highlights that 97% of respondents faced at least one major campaign challenge in the last year, including: Article content Going over budget (55%) Overdue deadlines (54%) Constraints on creativity (47%) Article content The survey, conducted among 130 U.S. marketing and advertising agency professionals, also found that a third of campaigns (34%) don't resonate with their target audience or generate new leads (35%). Article content In a tough marketing climate, with rising demands, tighter budgets, and shorter timelines, the execution side of creativity has never been more critical. The survey reveals that 9 in 10 (90%) creative professionals agree: 'Great creative campaigns do not happen without great project management.' Creative leaders also say project management professionals: Article content Allow the organization's leaders to focus on driving growth (52%) Ensure campaigns contribute positively to the brand over time (52%) Get all the different parts of the campaign working together (50%) Manage increasingly complex campaigns (45%) Ensure campaigns are long-lasting (45%) Article content By keeping teams aligned, stakeholders engaged, timelines on track, and encouraging creative momentum, project management helps strong ideas grow into powerful brand activations. Article content 'Today's CMOs are juggling more platforms, priorities, and pressure than ever before—and it's easy for even the strongest campaigns to lose focus and veer off-track,' said Menaka Gopinath, Chief Marketing Officer at PMI. 'Effective project management provides the structure and clarity creative teams need to drive momentum, work collaboratively, and deliver results that align with business goals. By bringing order to complexity, project management empowers marketing leaders to stay focused on strategy and turn complexity into opportunity.' Article content Project Management Professionals Drive Creative Momentum Article content Project management professionals are no longer viewed as back-office schedulers—they're emerging as team motivators and strategic leaders. While most agencies rely on them to keep projects on track (60%), more than half (52%) say their greatest impact lies in energizing creative teams. Article content As creative work grows more complex, expectations for project managers are shifting. Inhouse marketing teams and agencies now prize strategic skills like innovative thinking (67%), growth strategy (60%), and adaptability (57%) over budget and resource management (49%). Project managers today aren't just delivering campaigns—they're helping teams evolve. Article content This is why, despite the rise of AI and automation, agencies are doubling down on people. Nearly all (98%) say they're growing their project management capabilities —primarily through talent, not tools. 32% are training current staff, and 28% are hiring—reinforcing the belief that successful campaigns begin with skilled, empowered professionals. Article content Yet their contributions often go unnoticed. Nearly half (48%) of creative leaders say project managers are the unsung heroes of campaigns – delivering critical, behind-the-scenes value, from steering complex activations, to aligning teams and keeping everything on track. Article content The survey also found that sharpening project management skills gives marketing teams the edge. Teams led by certified project managers outperform those without certification, delivering stronger results and audience-aligned campaigns. Article content 'Marketing matters more than ever, but it also has to perform, in spite of its increasing complexity', said Pierre Le Manh, President and CEO of PMI. 'Every dollar must drive measurable impact, and every great idea must scale. That's where project professionals become a force multiplier. They don't constrain creativity, they operationalize it. They fight waste, play an essential role in managing complex assets, teams, cultures, tech stacks – and turn ideas into results. Ultimately, they drive more execution efficiency and speed, which translates into more profit for both agencies and clients.' Article content PMI will be on the ground at Cannes Lions to share how project professionals are reshaping creative outcomes—connecting campaign strategy to business impact. To see how you can connect with PMI at Cannes Lions, visit Article content About the Survey Article content Commissioned by the Project Management Institute (PMI), an online survey was conducted by PSB Insights from April 28 to May 6, 2025, among creative campaign professionals in the United States working at an advertising, marketing, creative, PR agency or in-house agency/department. Article content About Project Management Institute (PMI) Article content PMI is the leading authority in project management and is dedicated to guiding the way to project success. Since 1969, PMI has shone a light on the power of project management and the people behind the projects. With a global community, gold-standard professional certifications, and career-long learning opportunities, PMI empowers current and aspiring project professionals, as well as organizations, with knowledge and resources to lead effectively and create an impact in the communities they serve. Article content Article content Article content Article content Media Contact: Article content Article content Article content
New York Times
12-06-2025
- Business
- New York Times
F.T.C. May Hit a Mega Ad Merger With an Unusual Rule: No Boycotting
As the Trump administration considers approving a proposed merger between two of the world's largest advertising agencies, Omnicom Group and Interpublic Group, regulators may impose unusual conditions. A proposed consent decree would prevent the merged company from boycotting platforms because of their political content by refusing to place their clients' advertisements on them, according to two people briefed on the matter. The restrictions being discussed by the Federal Trade Commission as part of its merger review are part of an effort by the Trump administration to use federal agencies to root out what it considers political bias in corporate America against conservative voices and causes. The two people, who requested anonymity because the talks are confidential, said that the terms of the merger review between the F.T.C. and the two advertising companies were not finalized and could change. A spokesman for the F.T.C. declined to comment. Spokeswomen for Omnicom and Interpublic did not have an immediate comment. Omnicom and Interpublic announced their plans to combine in December, setting them up to create an advertising goliath that would generate around $25 billion in annual revenue. Analysts quickly questioned whether antitrust enforcers would approve the deal because it brings together two of the largest advertising agencies. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
