Advertising Week Europe - the end of the AI grace period

By Joe Campbell, PR Account Director

Walking into Advertising Week Europe this year, it was impossible to ignore the distinct chill in the air – and I’m not just talking about the unpredictable British spring weather. A macroeconomic spectre looms large over our industry right now. War in the Middle East and volatile oil prices have compounded already-tightened budgets, restructuring efforts and cautious client behaviour. This has intensified a prevailing sense of mistrust over where spend is going and who is pocketing the margin.

Yet, for all the economic anxiety, AWE retains its unique, magnetic charm. It was a welcome chance to bump into old friends and share a collective sigh of relief that we’re all navigating the exact same storm. There’s a certain camaraderie that only emerges when the chips are down, and seeing familiar faces served as a potent reminder of the resilience woven into the fabric of our industry.

Commerce media and accountability

If there was one subject that seemed to offer a life raft amidst the uncertainty, it was commerce media. We’ve been talking about its rise for a few years now, but the conversations at AWE felt remarkably different this time around. We’re moving past the initial hype and getting down to the brass tacks of proper engagement and accountable budgets.

It is no longer enough to simply position a product near a digital point of sale and hope for the best. Brands want top-notch creative that drives genuine, meaningful interactions, complete with clear data showing discovery and purchase. Built on data collaboration and strong partnerships, the closed-loop attribution and tangible ROI that commerce media provides will be key for the industry’s next era.

There is also a wider lesson to be taken from the rise of commerce media: the non-negotiable need for relevance. It’s a stark reminder that we must back consumer research and insight to the hilt and build ads worthy of attention. When discretionary spending declines, campaigns need to genuinely understand consumers' context to deliver value.

Intelligence augmented

To see how consumer behaviour is shifting right now, we only need to look at how they are using AI, which dominated AWE and around which the tone has also shifted. We’re moving from ‘artificial intelligence’ toward what I heard referred to as ‘intelligence augmented’ - a nicer, human framework. Nevertheless, the starry-eyed wonder of previous years has been replaced by a more pragmatic and sometimes frustrating reality: the trials and tribulations of experimentation.

Speaking from my own recent experiences implementing the technology into Bluestripe’s processes, the journey with AI hasn’t been a seamless, upward trajectory. We’ve spent the last few months playing in the sandbox, testing prompts, and marvelling at the efficiencies it's created. Yet, moving from piecemeal applications to established workflows has been a long, but necessary, battle.

To win this, collective ownership is needed. Heads of AI can steer the ship, but they must then delegate and distribute that knowledge so everyone gets it. Expertise cannot remain locked up in a silo. It has to be actively evangelised across the entire team. 

We need to get this right as an industry, as the implementation grace period is rapidly closing. We’re transitioning out of the phase in which simply referencing AI integration was enough to demonstrate innovation. Clients and internal stakeholders are now asking the tough questions: How is this making us more efficient? Where is the competitive advantage? How is this impacting the bottom line?

The pressure is on to move from disjointed pilots to cohesive AI strategies - whether that’s delivering better creative relevance, bidstream outcomes, or PR metrics. We have to stop just testing the tools and start mastering them.

Ready for the fight

I’m left with a distinct sense of cautious optimism from Advertising Week. Yes, the economic headwinds are fierce, and the challenges of integrating new technologies companywide are formidable. But the sheer volume of brainpower, trust and collaboration on display was a reassuring counterweight. Commerce media is paving the way for more accountable, relevant advertising, and the potential ROI of getting AI right is exactly the kick we need to turn our experiments into value-building expertise. 

We might be facing a difficult year ahead, but if AWE showed me anything, it’s that this industry is more than ready for the fight.