Our Monthly Round-up of the key pieces in Marketing for January – we’ve chosen six key articles, a piece on the Holdco merger, AI and a Podcast, which we hope keeps your finger on the pulse of what is going on. TLDR: All our monthly reviews are available on our website. www.haiconsulting.com

Our January highlights:

1. Our top pick this month we pick a great piece from the Harvard Business Review, January/February magazine edition on Leadership. Leaders shouldn’t try to do it all. AG Lafley (former CEO of P&G) and Roger Martin (former dean of Rotman School) argue that many important tasks can be done by other people. Unlike a company, which can expand capacity to meet increasing demand, a leader is constrained by nature: As they say, there are only so many hours in a day. Focus on what you can do a lot better than anyone else.

Here is the link: https://hbr.org/2025/01/leaders-shouldnt-try-to-do-it-all

2. Secondly, we had to pick the Top 25 Predictions for 2025, that comes from the Digital Native substack written by Rex Woodbury. We start with Part 1 (1-13) and the following week Part 2, he delivers 14-25. How many will come true, he did pretty well in 2024, though some AI apps are still yet to be developed.

Here is the link: https://www.digitalnative.tech/p/25-predictions-for-2025?utm_source=post-email-

3. Thirdly, we’ve picked a piece from the Creative Salon, on Agency trends for 2025. 2024 saw many agencies begin to plan for what is coming, upping their technological capabilities through partnerships and developing inhouse tools. Many changed leadership in both the C-suite and creative departments, hoping that new blood, ideas and connections would be a futureproof measure that would make an impact even in the short term. An array of obstacles lie ahead – some new, some as old as the industry (and indeed business) itself; from budget uncertainty and project delays to tight deadlines and uncompromising clients and the rise of AI – the list of challenges is long.

Here is the link: https://creative.salon/articles/features/agency-trends-2025

4. Fourthly, we wanted to highlight this piece on Luxury marketing from Fortune. The luxury goods market has created its own crisis, and it won’t recover until after 2027. Now is the time for brands to strategically reset to restore desirability, creativity and exclusivity — the cornerstones of luxury. In the shift back to instore shopping, retailers need to remind consumers of what they love about the instore experience.

Here is the link: https://fortune.com/europe/2025/01/13/luxury-goods-market-slowdown-state-of-fashion/ and the link to the McKinsey report: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/state-of-fashion

5. Fifthly, we have chosen a piece from Marketing Week written by Mark Ritson on Glenmorangie – This year’s ad can be a three-year investment – ask Glenmorangie – Longer-running ads are more effective, research shows, so rather than starting each year with a blank slate, invest more now in creative that can be consistent, and run and run.

Here is the link: https://www.marketingweek.com/ritson-investment-ad-glenmorangie/

6. Sixthly, with thanks to Tina Fegent who produces an excellent weekly “Tina tells”: on LinkedIn – we have picked a piece written for the LLBOnline by three female London agency CEO’s. It gives a flavour for how each agency is cautiously approaching the challenges of 2025.

Here is the link: https://www.lbbonline.com/news/3-uk-ceos-weigh-in-on-the-state-of-creativity-and-advertising-for-q1-2025/

Omnicom/IPG: It was great to get a view from the top this month with: John Wren and Philippe Krakowsky. Omnicom & Interpublic Group (IPG). My pre-read for this meeting was an excellent piece written by Ivan Fernandes. https://lnkd.in/eN5rKCQb? Our summary: ‘this merger is ambitious and exciting, subject to all the regulatory approvals, this could change the agency landscape for the next 30 years, unleashing the joined up creative & tech potential of both companies.’

AI: A great read from Mckinsey on AI was released last week. Almost all companies invest in AI, but just 1 percent believe they are at maturity. Research finds the biggest barrier to scaling is not employees – who are ready – but leaders, who are not steering fast enough. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/superagency-in-the-workplace-empowering-people-to-unlock-ais-full-potential-at-work

Podcast: Our Podcast pick this month is an interview with M&S boss Stuart Machin. Marks & Spencer is probably the best-known business in Britain. But when Stuart Machin joined in 2018 it had been struggling for years. Since then he has led an extraordinary turnaround of the high street retailer. This is the story of how he did it, in his own words. Listen here on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Z5MsfXPYhOTVnOPwUIE1v

Time for the Work: An outstanding winner this month, an easy decision for us, top rated by System One, and the work continues to get better and better. It’s congrats to client Cadbury and the VCCP agency team, for their latest tv spot and a creative partnership that really works. https://www.alzheimersresearchuk.org/news/cadbury-launches-moving-portrayal-of-dementia-in-new-ad-and-extends-partnership-with-alzheimers-research-uk/

Back to Henley: And the idyllic environment, my side hustle for the last few months has been working & supporting James Cracknell OBE become a County Councillor. With elections scheduled for May he is a very strong candidate. My weekly column in the Henley Standard continues where we interview local entrepreneurs. It’s called Let’s Get Down to Business. We were delighted this month to interview Alice Strange, an award winning luxury event florist from London who has just moved to Henley. https://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/let-s-get-down-to-business/194792/lets-get-down-to-business-alice-strange.html

If you are looking to review your agency relationships and resourcing structures in 2025, please do get in touch, so we may help you.

Kind regards

Will