John O’Keeffe: DDB is a creativity powerhouse Omnicom can’t lose

Admittedly, I gained’t burst into tears if Mullen Lowe is not any extra. Has TBWA had its day? Maybe.

That mentioned, it, together with DDB and BBDO from the Omnicom aspect, and IPG’s McCann and FCB, all proceed to do nice work.

However do they do sufficient of it for sufficient shoppers? Extra importantly, is there as huge an urge for food for that type of factor any extra? And have they been as adept as Publicis has lately at proudly owning the obvious new world the place AI will do every part?

Or so we’re advised. Nonetheless, it appears to me that everybody has exactly the identical AI capabilities as everybody else. So, at an company v company aggressive stage, it actually isn’t the nice differentiator its proponents would have us imagine.

And as stalwarts like me usually say, AI can’t have an thought.

However that’s really its stealth benefit. Concepts are onerous to return by. They’re onerous to promote. They’re more durable to purchase. And a bit secret: most shoppers neither need nor want a breakthrough huge model thought. They will do very properly with social media, direct-to-consumer or simply nice finance presents. AI can package deal that up and optimize it extra effectively than any human. And Bezos and Zuckerberg can do it higher than an advert company. Therefore, all this consolidation, downsizing, redundancy and disappearance. It’s a narrative as outdated as The Spinning Jenny.

And but, and but…

DDB is the one which most individuals with an curiosity in such issues will likely be maintaining a tally of.

One may argue that DDB is behind almost each nice promoting marketing campaign of the previous half-century. Earlier than anybody else, it dared to indicate how wit, humor and even self-deprecation could possibly be extremely highly effective enterprise instruments.

Once more, so what?

Enterprise is hard-headed. There’s no time for nostalgia or sentimentality. ‘Present me the numbers!’ And so forth.

And is DDB actually nonetheless doing the nice work that made it soooo well-known?

Er… sure, really. Try the web site. Ask who was Cannes Community of the Yr. I might argue that each one it is because it stays a vacation spot company. Younger creatives proceed to wish to work there. These shoppers nonetheless out there for a Massive Concept are probably starry-eyed as they stroll right into a DDB workplace and see the world-famous work adorning the partitions.

Shoppers like P&G, the horny sport and automobile manufacturers, the beers and spirits and some extra moreover – who will rightly discover each attainable benefit AI can ship – will nonetheless proceed to depend on nice creativity.

And, as ex-chief government officer Alex Lubar mentioned, “it’s essentially the most highly effective power in enterprise.”

DDB, greater than every other company model, is virtually a synonym for creativity.

Why on earth would you select to lose that?