As the last of the summer air fades and the school run returns, so too does the advertising industry snap back into its brisk, relentless rhythm. We’re edging into the final stretch of 2025 – a year that’s already tested agency leaders in ways they couldn’t have fully predicted back in January.
The industry’s perpetual state of flux has been supercharged by the arrival – and rapid acceleration – of AI. This is no longer a hazy future scenario; it’s here, embedded in client briefs, creative workflows, and strategic thinking. Leaders are being forced to figure out not just how to deploy it, but how to keep their agencies culturally vibrant and creatively fearless while doing so.
Overlay that with an economy that remains stubbornly unpredictable and clients whose own challenges ripple through every aspect of agency life. There are still the old headaches – payment terms stretching ever longer, budgets getting ever tighter – but they now sit alongside new demands for speed, agility, and demonstrable business impact. And after a lull, the pitch treadmill is whirring again. For some, that’s a welcome injection of opportunity; for others, it’s an exhausting test of already thinly stretched teams.
In this climate, leadership isn’t just about hitting quarterly targets. It’s about balance – steering the business through volatile waters without capsizing creativity; finding ways to inspire teams when the pressure dial is permanently turned up; knowing when to sprint and when to slow down.
So how are London’s agency bosses handling it all? What strategies are they leaning on to keep both clients and teams motivated? What have they learned to help them moving forward in the months to come?
Jenny Bust, MD, Revolt
2025 is turning out to be a challenging year for marketing. AI, in-housing, economic instability…there’s a hefty list of issues that agencies and clients are squaring up to. It calls for cool heads and smart thinking.
As an impact agency, tackling big issues is what we and our clients are all about. When it comes to climate change, we’ve been tackling a global crisis year in, year out. It certainly requires smart thinking, but it goes beyond that. It needs long-term ambition and resolve, and to be able to combine that with short-term adaptability.
A client recently talked to me about the concept of ‘anti-fragility’. Unlike resilience (which resists damage and remains unchanged) or fragility (which breaks under stress), anti-fragile systems actually improve and grow stronger when faced with disorder. For me, this is a critical learning for both impact and marketing: don’t change your goals but be ready to change the path you take towards your goal…and grow stronger.
In many ways, Revolt has always been aligned with this mantra, but maybe more so in recent months. We’re listening with new ears and looking with fresh eyes. We’re finding new ways to work with clients as they are forced to adapt. And we’re broadening the aperture of what we do as a creative business. Embrace the new, be open to change, but stay committed to what you believe.
