AI is no longer just a tool, it’s a transformational force reshaping industries at an unprecedented pace. Last week we attended the FutureWeek Forum conference with industry leaders exploring how AI is influencing everything from content creation to media planning. With both great opportunities and challenges emerging here are our biggest takeaways from the event.
Sir Martin Sorrell: The Five AI Shifts in Advertising
Sir Martin Sorrell, founder of WPP plc, outlined five major changes AI is bringing to the advertising and agency industry:
- Visualisation and Copywriting: AI is accelerating the creative process, reducing the time required to bring ads to market. However, agencies that traditionally sell time will need to pivot towards output-based models.
- Hyper-Personalisation at Scale: AI enables brands to create and distribute more content, at a lower cost. Streaming platforms, for example, can now produce millions of ad variations instead of a few, shifting pricing models from time-based to asset-based, which could increase revenue and employment.
- Media Planning and Buying: AI’s role in media planning is less clear. While algorithms enhance decision-making, fewer planners and buyers will be needed, making access to platforms even more critical in a highly disrupted space.
- General Efficiency: AI is driving operational efficiencies across broadcasting, agencies, and client-side marketing.
- Democratisation of Knowledge: AI has the potential to break down agency silos, making information more accessible and flattening hierarchical structures, but at the same time automation also threatens jobs.
Disruptions in Media: Doug Shapiro’s Perspective
Doug Shapiro, an independent consultant, mapped out the evolving media landscape from his own research. As he sees it, the internet disrupted the past 15 years of entertainment and media, and AI will shake up (at least) the next 15.
- First 15 years: Disruption focused on distribution - the internet eliminated distribution costs, allowing platforms like Netflix and Spotify to thrive without owning media.
- Next 15 years: Disruption is shifting towards content creation, with AI drastically lowering production costs. We’ll likely see:
- Explosion of content: Platforms like YouTube now receive 20,000 times more uploads annually than Hollywood produces, which could grow even further.
- Changing definitions of quality: Quality films and TV were once synonymous with big budgets and prestige, ‘quality’ today is increasingly defined by relatability, social currency, and trendiness, which AI could adapt to easily and quickly.
- Disintermediation of traditional players: AI and new technologies are bypassing traditional media gatekeepers, empowering creators directly.
- Concentration of power: The most successful entities will be those that control distribution, own proprietary data, leverage technology, and build strong fan communities.
The Generative AI Frontier in Media and Advertising
We then heard from a panel across the TV and advertising industry on how AI has been integrated into their practices and AI’s potential. However, they agreed there’s a fine line between leveraging AI and succumbing to ‘blandification’ - a homogenisation of creative output.
Key Takeaways:
- AI should be used to enhance creativity, not replace it.
- We might see agencies begin to offer a tiered approach: premium content remains human-led, while AI handles efficiency-driven production.
- Hybrid models - blending AI-generated and human-crafted content - will likely become the standard.
- Agencies could develop their own proprietary AI tools to maintain a competitive edge.
- Generative AI is democratising content creation, allowing talented individuals to create without relocating to traditional media hubs, however, distribution and marketing will remain key challenges for those creators.
Conclusion
AI is reshaping media, advertising, and content production in real time. While efficiency gains are undeniable, creativity remains a human domain. The challenge moving forward is to use AI not as a replacement, but as a catalyst for innovation.
As AI continues to evolve, businesses and creatives alike must ask: how do we harness its power while maintaining originality, authenticity, and artistic integrity? The answer will define the next era of digital media.
