Rise

Creative Alchemy: Data and AI Meet Creative

Marketecture published a Cannes Lions–themed newsletter (authored by Chief Commercial Officer Jackelyn Keller) arguing that current adtech and data tools are moving upstream to shape creative work. The piece highlights how data, AI, and more mature dynamic creative optimization (DCO) enable more relevant, responsive ads — especially in CTV — while stressing that human creative direction remains essential. The newsletter quotes marketing leaders (from Big Happy, Genius Sports, OpenX, Cadent, and Locala) and notes Marketecture’s on-site Cannes coverage and an upcoming Marketecture Live event in Chicago. The sponsor message from RISE promotes an "agentic bid enrichment" approach to enrich anonymous bid requests before they reach buyers.

Agentic Advertising Requires Media Quality and Oversight

Marketecture guest authors Erez Levin (Emet Advisory) and Andrew Lipsman (Media, Ads + Commerce) argue that the shift to agentic media buying — AI-driven, semi-autonomous advertising agents and natural-language assistants — risks automating market inefficiencies unless independent media quality signals are embedded into decisioning. The authors cite a CIMM whitepaper and industry studies showing impressions are systematically mispriced and that bot-inflated metrics (viewability, CTR) can mislead agents to optimize for non-incremental outcomes. They recommend treating quality as human-governed infrastructure: multi-dimensional quality filters, accounting for long-term brand effectiveness (not just short-term ROI), and aligning costs with true attention value. The piece stresses urgency for CTV and programmatic channels and promotes a “human in the lead” approach to govern agentic systems.

Agencies Delay Budget Growth to 2027, AI Concerns Rise

Digiday+ Research (Q4 2025) surveyed 62 agency professionals and found agencies expect near-term client spending to remain constrained, with many pushing anticipated budget growth out to 2027. For 2026, respondents’ top concerns were reduced client budgets (38%) and the effects of AI (38%). The report notes a decline in the prominence of budget worries versus 2025 (47% then) alongside a marked increase in AI-related worries, including external AI tools (29%) and internal workforce impacts (9%). Agencies say clients generally don’t understand agentic AI (73% reported this in the 2025 Media Agency Report). Holding companies (WPP, Publicis, Omnicom, Havas, Dentsu) are using similar AI messaging, leaving clients unconvinced about cost savings. The piece also highlights monetization challenges for zero-click search tools, citing discontinued products such as Lorelight.