If marketers thought 2024 was a tough cookie, 2025 is that same cookie thrown into a blender, microwaved, deep-fried in AI-generated oil, and served on a budget-slashing platter with a side of CEO exits.
It looks like 2025 is beginning to be a full-blown marketing earthquake.
With tremors still rattling the foundations of the world’s most iconic brands and agencies.
From shock account moves to C-suite exits, corruption scandals to campaign flops, this is not just another year of “disruption.”
This is the year nothing and no one feels safe.
And we’re only halfway through.
The Great Agency Tectonic Quake of 2025
We opened the year with tremors and quickly realised we were standing on a fault line.
WPP’s media unit, freshly rebranded and refocused, saw its billion-dollar house of cards collapse in a matter of weeks.
Coca-Cola North America yanked its US$700 million account and handed it to Publicis.
Paramount walked out after 20 years without so much as a formal review.
Then Mars dropped its US$1.7 billion global media brief — the big one — straight into Publicis’ waiting arms.
But WPP’s not alone.
Omnicom Took a Hit Too
While BBDO and DDB clung to Mars’ creative business, Omnicom Media Group lost key regional assignments from auto giant Hyundai, which consolidated its APAC media under Dentsu.
Dentsu’s Dual Crisis
Even as it celebrated Hyundai’s win, Dentsu found itself battling a corporate identity crisis in Japan, with media-buying irregularities in two prefectures now under regulatory investigation.
The story is still unfolding and reputations are fraying.
The China Media Rebate Corruption Shockwave
As if 2025 needed more chaos, China delivered one of its most explosive industry stories in recent memory.
A corruption crackdown that led to the arrests of multiple senior executives across holding companies and local media agencies.
At the centre: widespread abuse of media rebates with individuals allegedly siphoning off millions in undeclared kickbacks from media buys, funnelled into personal accounts or side businesses.
Several high-ranking agency leaders were detained under investigation, with authorities expanding the probe to cover media vendors, brand-side marketers, and digital platforms.
The fallout is already altering how contracts are structured and how brands engage with agencies in China and, by extension, across Asia-Pacific.
More than just a local scandal, this has triggered global compliance reviews, internal audits, and a visible shift toward transparency and traceability.
For global brands operating in the region, trust has become transactional, and procurement departments are now enforcing digital audit trails with surgical precision.
The message is clear: Corruption is no longer business as usual in China’s adland.
Brands Behaving Badly or Just Fading Fast?
The volatility isn’t limited to agencies.
Brands, too, are wobbling on unstable ground.
Unilever began 2025 by announcing a major restructure, slicing off nearly a third of its marketing workforce in the avowed name of efficiency.
The unintended outcome is a morale drain that bled into campaign quality — with its much-hyped “Clean Planet” platform flopping across Europe.
Shein, once a Gen Z darling, saw its reputation implode after whistleblower revelations about its AI-driven manipulation of influencer content.
Peloton’s attempt at an edgy rebrand — pairing spin classes with luxury booze — was pulled within 48 hours after public backlash.
It now lives on as a cautionary meme.
Even Disney has struggled.
With streaming subscriber numbers falling and investor pressure rising, the company slashed Disney+ marketing budgets and halved its in-house creative teams.
The fairytale seems fraying at the edges.
Creative Paralysis in the Age of AI
Meanwhile, AI continues its march but not always for the better.
Across agencies, efficiency is winning over originality.
Risk-taking has been replaced by risk-mapping.
Even Cannes Lions this year felt eerily safe — a bit like watching a fireworks show where all the colours look beige.
Let’s be honest: AI can amplify creativity.
But left unsupervised, it sterilises it.
The results are bland, algorithmic campaigns that check every box but light no fire.
What’s Fueling the Freefall?
This chaos is structural, not seasonal.
Global economic anxiety is causing brands to pull back or pivot mid-flight.
Leadership churn is up — new CMOs, new CEOs, new strategies.
Consumer scepticism is rising — especially among Gen Z who reject polish in favour of purpose.
Corruption and compliance concerns in key growth markets (hello China) are making brands rethink how and with whom they do business.
How Do We Survive and Even Thrive?
In a year like this, marketing can’t play defence.
It needs to fight back — strategically, creatively, and culturally.
1. Prioritise strategic bravery.
In chaos, brands that dare to be bold, clear, and human cut through the noise.
2. Put creative people back in charge.
Use AI, sure. But never forget: originality and cultural intuition still require messy, magical humans.
3.Think ecosystems, not just campaigns.
Marketing is no longer episodic. It’s relational, immersive, and always-on.
4. Rebuild trust everywhere.
From consumers to compliance, rebuild with transparency, empathy, and accountability.
5. Localise with intent.
In ASEAN, cookie-cutter global campaigns won’t cut it. Nuance matters. Culture matters. Context matters.
The Only Constant Now is Courage
Let’s be clear
2025 won’t reward the cautious.
It will reward the creatively defiant.
The old way — bloated agency rosters, vague vision decks, and brand-safe ideas — is being dismantled in real-time.
What rises in its place is up to us.
So embrace the chaos.
Reclaim the creativity.
And remember: in the wildest year in marketing, the boldest survive 9and the most imaginative thrive.
