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

Admittedly, I won’t burst into tears if Mullen Lowe is no more. Has TBWA had its day? Perhaps.

That said, it, along with DDB and BBDO from the Omnicom side, and IPG’s McCann and FCB, all continue to do great work.

But do they do enough of it for enough clients? More importantly, is there as big an appetite for that sort of thing any more? And have they been as adept as Publicis has in recent years at owning the apparent new world where AI will do everything?

Or so we’re told. However, it seems to me that everyone has precisely the same AI capabilities as everyone else. So, at an agency v agency competitive level, it really isn’t the great differentiator its proponents would have us believe.

And as stalwarts like me often say, AI can’t have an idea.

But that is actually its stealth advantage. Ideas are hard to come by. They’re hard to sell. They’re harder to buy. And a little secret: most clients neither want nor need a breakthrough big brand thought. They can do very well with social media, direct-to-consumer or just great finance offers. AI can package that up and optimize it more efficiently than any human. And Bezos and Zuckerberg can do it better than an ad agency. Hence, all this consolidation, downsizing, redundancy and disappearance. It’s a story as old as The Spinning Jenny.

And yet, and yet…

DDB is the one that most people with an interest in such things will be keeping an eye on.

One could argue that DDB is behind nearly every great advertising campaign of the past half-century. Before anyone else, it dared to show how wit, humor and even self-deprecation could be incredibly powerful business tools.

Again, so what?

Business is hard-headed. There’s no time for nostalgia or sentimentality. ‘Show me the numbers!’ Etc.

And is DDB really still doing the great work that made it soooo famous?

Er… yes, actually. Check out the website. Ask who was Cannes Network of the Year. I would argue that all this is because it remains a destination agency. Young creatives continue to want to work there. Those clients still in the market for a Big Idea are doubtless starry-eyed as they walk into a DDB office and see the world-famous work adorning the walls.

Clients like P&G, the sexy sport and car brands, the beers and spirits and a few more besides – who will rightly explore every possible advantage AI can deliver – will nonetheless continue to rely on great creativity.

And, as ex-chief executive officer Alex Lubar said, “it’s the most powerful force in business.”

DDB, more than any other agency brand, is practically a synonym for creativity.

Why on earth would you choose to lose that?