Kevin Kivi.
The advertising industry has always prided itself on reinvention. It’s weathered the rise of digital, the dominance of platforms, and now, the sweeping impact of automation and AI.
However, right now, we’re facing a different kind of disruption, one that’s not just technological or creative, but existential.
What do we stand for when our most iconic names fade away?
What happens when scale becomes strategy, and people are treated like cost centres rather than culture carriers?
From titans to tidy portfolios
There was a time when names like J. Walter Thompson, Young & Rubicam, and Leo Burnett weren’t just agencies; they were institutions. Symbols of creativity, mentorship, legacy, and craft.
Now, they’re being quietly folded into holding company umbrellas; Wunderman Thompson absorbed into VML, Y&R restructured, Leo Burnett increasingly submerged under Publicis Groupe’s ‘Power of One’ model. What once signified heritage and identity is now relegated to memory for many industry veterans.
Meanwhile, WPP’s rebrand of GroupM into WPP Media, and the looming mega-merger discussions between Omnicom and Interpublic Group signal a clear direction: consolidate, simplify, scale.
This isn’t just housekeeping; it’s an identity erasure. And while these moves may delight shareholders with promises of “synergy” and “operational efficiency,” they leave a far more complicated legacy for the people inside.
The human fallout of consolidation
Consolidation isn’t inherently bad. In fact, when done with intention and empathy, it can enable resource sharing, innovation, and smarter structures.
What we’re seeing isn’t that.
We’re seeing agencies cut talent to hit EBITDA targets. We’re seeing internal cultures diluted by homogenised leadership structures. We’re seeing identity stripped in favour of holding company convenience.
Ask anyone inside and you will hear: Morale is shaky, employees across all levels fear job security, leadership turnover is high (Clemenger is living this right now), rising stars are burning out or bailing, and many mid-level leaders; those crucial glue people, feel entirely disconnected from the direction of their agencies.
Some call it transformation. But for too many, it feels like evaporation of purpose, of connection, of legacy.
Efficiency ≠ effectiveness
We must stop confusing scale with strength.
Just because you can run ten markets through one operating system doesn't mean you’re building a culture of innovation. Just because you can centralise buying power doesn’t mean you’ve empowered great thinking.
We are in danger of becoming fast, cheap, and soulless. A race to the bottom on price, with AI doing the heavy lifting and leadership stretched too thin to offer real coaching, development, or cultural stewardship. And let’s be clear: automating output doesn’t automate insight, bravery, or belief.
Rediscovering our True North
The most common themes I hear are “I’m losing the why.” and “My team’s disconnected.” or “I don’t feel like myself anymore.”
This isn’t soft. This is critical; an industry built on ideas can’t thrive if its people are adrift.
Leaders can’t inspire when they’re unclear on who they are or where they’re going. Culture can’t thrive when it’s tacked onto a slide deck and not embedded in daily decision-making.
So, what now? Keep trimming costs until there’s no one left to lead? Keep merging names until there’s nothing left to remember? Keep pretending “efficiency” is the same as “excellence”?
The industry needs to start with leadership development grounded in emotional intelligence and recognise that legacy isn’t a burden, it’s a beacon. This industry is at risk of cannibalising the very thing that made it valuable: its people.
You can centralise operations, automate output, rebrand till your logos blur, but if you gut your culture, disempower your talent, and erase your identity, you’re not building a future. You’re staging a slow funeral.
Leadership isn’t just about margin management, it’s about meaning. Direction. Decency. Courage. And right now? That’s in dangerously short supply. The question isn’t, “Can the industry evolve?” It’s “Who’s got the courage to lead it somewhere better?”
If someone doesn’t change course soon, the only thing left of this business will be pitch decks, procurement calls, and empty offices echoing with what used to be.
I believe this moment calls for a reset, not just a restructure. An invitation for agency leaders, holding company execs, and creatives alike to ask the hard questions:
- What do we stand for?
- How do we retain legacy while embracing evolution?
- How do we honour people, not just process?
Because when identity disappears, people follow.
And without people, bold, diverse, emotionally intelligent humans, this industry is just automation in a pretty font.
Kevin Kivi, Founder, True North Executive Coaching & Leadership