Melissa Hobley

After reading five articles on the Omnicom–IPG restructuring, I still can’t keep the new, overlapping Omni-clature straight. But the agencies that were sunset or merged? Those names I remember. They mattered in a way that a corporate "Branded House" naming architecture never will.

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Babak, your comments in Joao-Pierre Ruth InformationWeek piece from Davos, and your BBC News interview this morning, really struck a chord. That article made a strong point that AI was front and centre for business leaders at Davos, while still feeling more peripheral for many politicians. The commercial world clearly sees where this is heading, but the reality on the ground is moving far more slowly. The Wall Street Journal recently noted that AI adoption across companies is still “slow and uneven,” with most organisations stuck in pilot mode rather than real, scaled deployment. Lots of noise. Plenty of decks. Not nearly as much real impact in the day-to-day customer journey. That idea that the future of AI isn’t one giant assistant, but lots of specialised agents working together behind the scenes, feels exactly where things are heading. The retail leaders and agency teams I’m speaking to aren’t asking if they should use AI anymore. They’re asking where it improves service, conversion, and customer confidence right now, especially across the direct-to-consumer journey, and who ultimately owns the first-party data coming out of it. Working from London with the Silicon Valley-based team Mind Over Media , I’m seeing real traction from practical, brand-owned agents that sit inside the customer journey, remove friction at the exact moment it matters, and keep the relationship and the data with the brand. As founders Andy Anderson and Jamie Parker put it: “As commerce moves toward agents and agent-to-agent interactions, every brand will need its own intelligence representing it. We build for the brand, not the channel, so that brain sits with the company, and they keep ownership of the customer relationship, the data, and the commercial outcome.” And this isn’t about replacing people. It’s about giving teams better tools that actually work in the real world. As someone who’s dyslexic thinker, AI has genuinely transformed my day-to-day working life. As Sir Richard Branson often says, it can be a powerful co-pilot, but human creativity still matters most. That balance between human judgement and agent-driven systems feels like the real direction of travel. Much of the work around Mind Over Media AI sits right in the middle of this shift. Let me know what you think? #ArtificialIntelligence #AI #GenerativeAI #AgenticAI #Davos #CustomerExperience #DirectToConsumer #FirstPartyData #DigitalTransformation #Retail #Ecommerce #MarketingTechnology #FutureOfWork

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CMOs Are More Focused On Growing Revenue Than Brand Awareness https://lnkd.in/g8jyVmuY Chief marketing officers are increasingly prioritizing direct revenue outcomes over traditional brand awareness efforts, influenced by economic pressures, performance measurement demands, and AI‑enabled tracking. This shift reflects a need for more measurable impact on business performance, with revenue growth becoming a leading strategic metric for modern marketing leaders. #CMOInsights #RevenueGrowth #MarketingStrategy #BrandVsPerformance #BusinessImpact #DataDrivenMarketing

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If anyone is looking for an independent report and analysis on what's ahead in 2026 for the hottest business sectors, look no further than the latest annual report from Activate Consulting. This year's report highlights key trends across the industry, including: Massive Growth in Tech and Media: The global internet, media, and B2B technology sectors are forecast to see $1.3T in incremental revenue over the next four years, with B2B tech and software alone growing by $907B to become a $3.9T market. The 32-Hour Day and the "Attention" War: Multitasking has created a 32-hour, 17-minute day, where consumers spend over 13 hours on media, blurring industry lines. Social is now 71% video, retail media is a $100B+ business, and gaming is a social hub, forcing companies to expand into new territories to capture fractured attention. AI Is Rewriting the Rules: With adoption now at over 60% of US adults, Generative AI (GenAI) is the single biggest driver of change, monetization, and investment. It is fundamentally altering online search, with 72 million U.S. adults expected to use a GenAI platform as their first stop by 2029. The "Super User" Demands a New Strategy: A highly engaged 28% of the population disproportionately drives media consumption, tech adoption, and 59% of e-commerce spend. As high-value brand advocates who are 87% comfortable sharing data and willing to pay for premium experiences, they require a dedicated strategy. The Post-Smartphone Future: Major tech companies are investing in spatial computing as the next platform shift. The goal is to merge VR/MR's spatial power into AI glasses, unlocking new behaviors and monetization models on par with the smartphone's arrival. Gaming Becomes Universal: By 2029, virtually all online adults will be gamers, driving the global gamer population to 3.7B. This massive, universal audience will fuel a $214B global market, with mobile remaining the largest and fastest-growing segment. New Digital Markets Are Surging: The legalization of sports betting is creating a massive new market, with the total amount wagered in the U.S. projected to reach $215B annually by 2029 as it becomes legal in an expected 48 states.

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Still buzzing from this morning’s Creator Rooftop session at Cannes Lions! Thank you to everyone who joined us—and to my powerhouse co-panelists Val DiFebo and Diana Hong-Elsey—for helping unpack the future of creator-led innovation. The truth is: creators aren’t just making content—they’re shaping culture, strategy, and business outcomes. And if brands want to survive in this attention economy, they need creators at the core, not the edges. I broke it all down in the Creator Darwinism Field Guide—a no-fluff resource I wrote to help creators (and the people who hire them) navigate the shift from content to command. 📥 Download it here and hit the ground running: https://lnkd.in/etaN_U6C Let’s build something better—together. #CreatorDarwinism #CannesLions2025 #SociStudio #DNY #CreatorEconomy #FieldGuide #CannesLions #CreativeLeadership

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BCG study finds only about 5% of firms worldwide are “AI future-built” and seeing strong revenue, cost, and operational gains. https://lnkd.in/ef4gDsmi

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Spend some time with this one: Soyoung Kang and Vineet Mehra, two Founding Members of ADWEEK Marketing Vanguard, share deeply insightful opinions, reflecting on their unique career journeys, the evolving CMO role, and why they joined forces to help rewrite the narrative around marketing leadership. From efficient capital allocation to building trust in the C-suite, they share candid insights about what it really takes to succeed as a modern CMO. What you'll learn: 📝 How non-linear career paths can lead to CMO success 📝 Why "efficient growth" should be every CMO's unifying mandate 📝 How to understand different "love languages" of PE, VC, and public companies 📝 Why experience beats traditional education in marketing leadership 📝 How to navigate the constant platform shifts that make marketing uniquely challenging 📝 What makes Marketing Vanguard's approach to CMO community-building different Thank you, Soyoung and Vineet, for your bold takes and calls to action. And thank you for helping us build Marketing Vanguard. #leadership #cmo #marketingvanguard https://lnkd.in/eScqbggS

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