The Advertising Industry's Identity Crisis

Consolidation, Culture Loss & The Human Cost of the Race to the Bottom

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.  But in 2024 and beyond, 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.

But 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:

• Morale is shaky

• Employees across all levels fear job security

• Leadership turnover is high

• 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.

We’re watching a race to the bottom, where price trumps value, AI takes over the heavy lifting, and leaders are too stretched to offer real coaching, meaningful development, or cultural care.  But, automating output doesn’t automate insight, courage, or conviction.  Those still demand human hands and hearts.

So What Now? Rediscovering Our True North

At True North Executive Coaching & Leadership, I work with leaders across agencies, brands, and startups—and the most common theme we hear?

“I’m losing the why.” “My team’s disconnected.” “I don’t feel like myself anymore.” “I feel devalued.”

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.

We 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.

The Path Forward

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”?

• Start with leadership development grounded in emotional intelligence

• Recognise that legacy isn’t a burden—it’s a beacon

Let’s stop lying to ourselves

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.

At True North, we work with the leaders who still give a damn.  Because those are the only ones worth following.

This piece published in the Australian Marketing & Advertising trade publishing:

• AdNews

Sources & Further Reading:

• WPP retires GroupM brand to simplify media operations (Campaign, 2024)

• VMLY&R officially merges with Wunderman Thompson under VML (Adweek, 2023)

• IPG and Omnicom merger discussions signal major consolidation (Digiday, 2024)