The Advertising industry isn’t in a funk because of digital or AI. It is here because it lost its voice.
In India and globally, most agencies were founded by people with a voice – an opinion. This opinion is different from conventional thinking, and quite often it worked, leading to impactful communication and fantastic returns for brands.
Not everyone can have this opinion. Some people have it, others don’t. If you’ve read Malcolm Gladwell’s BLINK, you’ll understand what I mean.
There’s no way to describe this. It comes from a curious mix of brain-wiring, experience, perspective on life, ability to see things differently, brutal honesty, and a crazy fearlessness to speak one’s mind.
Good clients understood the value of that opinion and nurtured it, making it one of their most powerful weapons in the marketplace.
Some great agencies were founded by such people: Chaitra, Benson’s, Sistas, DaCunha’s, Ulka, MCM, Enterprise, Everest, Advertising Avenues, etc., much like the Ogilvys, JWTs, BBHs globally.
The thing is, you can’t speak up honestly and make money simultaneously.
But these founders, as long as they were at the helm, chose honesty over money, and as as long as they did that, they were respected. That’s how their brands were built.
Then they handed over their companies to managers, who handed them over to holding companies.
For holding companies, the choice between honesty and making money is very clear. So, the opinion that clients valued eroded. Over time, without an honest opinion and without a distinct voice, there was very little to differentiate between these agencies. And today, they’re forgotten and merged into one global ‘yes person’ agency.
As for the opinion? It’s now relegated to award shows, where agencies showcase work that never went mainstream and keep themselves happy.
Today, agency folk are a tired lot, churning undifferentiated client-stated headlines for the 50th time. A few have broken away to be independent. It remains to be seen if they hold on to their independence or mirror the biggies or sell out.
Is AI going to be a disrupter? Of course, it is. Because it will give clients what they want faster, better, with more options in a continuous loop.
After the 50th iteration too, it’ll still tell the client team: “You’re right! I never looked at it like that!” Holding companies will build Agentic AI models that'll directly interact with Agentic clients and iterate for eternity.
What it’ll never give the client is an opinion from which it doesn’t budge.
That perspective, opinion, and that stubbornness come from experience, learning, capabilities, and a certain kind of madness that is unique.
And insanely precious.
No GPT or Co-pilot or Claude or Gemini can replicate this.
Ever.