Mark Taylor

There's a creative identity crisis in advertising. Who are we? For some time now, ad agencies, and many creatives, have been like a dog that sees a squirrel. Oh look, let's chase that. I still remember when we had a DMZ zone emerge. There were the ‘digital’ agencies and the ‘traditional’ agencies. With this division came title changes for some such as ‘Digital’ Creative Director, ‘Digital’ Copywriter, and so on. Last time I checked, everyone was using a laptop, nobody had a typewriter. Everyone was digital. Then along came social. The same thing happened, people plonked down ‘Social’ at the front of their title. And now we have AI. Yeah, you guessed it, some people are now adding things like ‘AI’, ‘AI Specialist’, etc, to their Creative Director title in a mad scramble for relevance. It's all a bit ridiculous. Whatever happened to being a ‘Creative’ Creative Director (or ECD, CCO), or a ‘Creative’ Copywriter, etc. Creativity and ideas first. Platforms, media, and tools second. I don't recall many people changing their title to 'Photoshop' Creative Director. As far as I'm concerned, creativity is not limited to one channel or tool. By adding that descriptor to your title you're effectively saying you're a one-trick pony. Imagine if musicians limited themselves like that? When Trent Reznor became Chief Creative Officer of Beats Music it wasn't 'Music' CCO. In the fashion industry, Creative Directors are not ‘Fashion’ Creative Directors, they are just Creative Directors. You're either creative or you're not. I once went from being an ECD in advertising to being an ECD in design & branding, no ‘Design’ descriptor was shuffled into the front position of my title. Why do so many agencies and creatives do this to themselves? Why make yourself a one-trick pony? A good Creative Director should be able to direct work in any field. Why? Because it's first and foremost about your taste, eye, gut, and point of view. Just as a good Copywriter can write anything they're tasked with. I honestly believe, moving forward, the successful Creative Directors won't be limiting themselves to one category, instead, they'll be multi-disciplinary. Working across all brand creativity needs and able to think beyond the tools and the media to see the bigger picture. Because, that's the job. I believe that the smart agencies, brands, and creatives who embrace that will be a step ahead. … I have spots open for my Creative Director Coaching, open to all ‘Creative’ Creative Directors. For details, DM me or email chantcreative@gmail.com … … When I'm not dissing silly titles, you'll find me running my own creative ventures, being a Fractional ECD, working on my own creative projects, or coaching Creative Directors, Creative Founders, Copywriters, and others looking for creative career direction. … ®️©️ 🤘 ⚡ … Image from Unsplash

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It’s been one year since Donut Studios was acquired by New Engen. Since then, New Engen’s been named Digiday's Most Innovative Agency of 2025 and ranked Top 5 on ADWEEK's Fastest Growing Large Agencies list. It's been energizing to be part of a team pushing the industry forward, and even better doing it with a partner moving just as fast. Having been through a few very different acquisitions, here’s what my cofounders Brian John Kim Arielle Jessel and I learned: When acquisitions do work: — You share a bias for action — Leadership styles are complementary — The vision gets bigger, not blurrier — The team gains more, not less (career growth, resources, flexibility) — You scale without losing momentum (stay operationally sharp: rethink roles, shift team structures, adapt in real time) When acquisitions don’t work: — The cultures don’t align — Decision-making slows down — Productivity gets buried under process — You spend more time in meetings than making things — What made you great gets diluted < big watch out If you’re considering an acquisition, I’d ask: — Can you move at the same speed? — Do you solve problems the same way? — Will your teams make each other better? — Will the culture scale with the business? — Can you grow without losing your edge? — What gets easier post-acquisition - and what get harder? — Will your people feel more supported, or more sidelined? — Are you merging missions or just combining headcount? We waited for the right fit, and I’m really, REALLY glad we did.

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🧠Independent Agencies often provide Big Thinking without the Big ZIP Code There’s a persistent myth in our industry: that the best creative and media talent only lives in New York, LA, or Chicago. But right now, some of the most ambitious, strategic, and award-winning work in the country is coming from independent agencies in DMAs ranked 25 through 50—the cities often overlooked, under-briefed, and underappreciated. Let’s clear that up. 📍 DMA #27 – Nashville GS&F (revived as a fully independent shop) is driving standout creative for LP Building Solutions and KFC Southeast co-ops, pairing local insight with national polish. Their recent work on the “Build Bold” platform just earned a 2024 ANA B2 Award. 📍 DMA #33 – Raleigh-Durham Baldwin& helped launch Kioti Tractor’s “Together We Rise” campaign with sweeping, cinematic storytelling—picked up in The Drum for its authenticity and edge. A brand that easily could’ve gone with a New York AOR chose Raleigh talent instead. 📍 DMA #37 – Columbus, OH Ron Foth Advertising brought home a National Addy for their work on Columbus Zoo, blending VR, TikTok creators, and traditional media to drive foot traffic in a post-COVID tourism slump. Ad Age spotlighted it as a smart regional turnaround story. 📍 DMA #43 – Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville Brandon Agency launched a hyper-targeted campaign for Fish Hippie, a Southeast lifestyle brand, combining high-impact Amazon DSP with storytelling content. Their media mix strategy was featured in a recent Digiday roundup on DTC regional growth. 🤔 So what do all these agencies have in common? They’re not in holding company cities. They don’t need a SoHo loft to win the pitch. And they’re absolutely crushing it. ⸻ If you’re an independent in a mid-sized market, here are three ways to win more national attention and new business: 🎯 Market size ≠ market value. Don’t compete with big shops on scale. Compete on focus, responsiveness, and authenticity. The best brands know a good idea can come from anywhere. 🎯 Build a national body of proof. Use targeted awards (like the Addys, Effies, and ANA B2), earned press, and platform-native case studies to showcase what makes you great. When the coasts are bloated, nimble wins. 🎯 Leverage regional wins into national momentum. Use your biggest regional client success to ladder up. Brands are watching—especially in tourism, higher ed, healthcare, and B2B verticals. ⸻ 🍾 Clients aren’t just hiring agencies in big cities anymore. They’re hiring agencies that understand their business, move faster, and make every dollar work harder. What market is on fire 🔥 that shouldn’t be missed??? Want to talk about it on our Rise of The Independent podcast? Tag your team below 👇 #solvedontsell NOTE: MiO Marketplace provides #independentagencies the tools & tech they need to succeed. Win and keep more business with MiO!

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As a creative helping build brands from scratch by naming them, shaping their stories, designing their packaging, and launching them into the world, I’ve always believed creativity is more about a collaborative discovery than invention. That’s why what Rick Rubin and Jony Ive say about AI really resonates. Rubin calls AI a mirror, not a muse. Ive says it’s like a pencil. It only works if you bring the taste and the thinking. I agree. AI doesn’t replace creativity. It supports it. Back at TAXI, Zac Mroueh told me, “The best creatives are their own planners.” That stuck. Strategic planning is vital. The best creatives build on it by connecting insight to execution. AI helps us do that faster. It unlocks insights, surfaces patterns, and lets us test and visualize ideas instantly. That means sharper thinking, faster pivots, and more confident work. AI is the assistant. The point of view is still ours. Oh, and TOA spelled backwards is OAT. Total creative accident. But kind of perfect if you're naming a Rubin/Ives cereal. NOTE: In Whole Foods Market SF, where 67% of shoppers buy based on packaging and story, TAO Collaboration could drive 2x trial vs. average new cereals. #BrandStrategy #CreativeLeadership #ChiefCreativeOfficer #CPGMarketing #PackagingDesign #AIandCreativity #CreativeDirection #InnovationInMarketing #DesignThinking #DisruptiveBrands

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"Oh hell there he go again messin with other people's IP!" So many WAN-Animate experiments are rolling through my feed but so few are focused on full-body transformation. Everyone is showing waist-up, hands and face. Why? That has already been out. WAN is better than Act-2 at waist up, but imo the unique part of WAN-Animate is that it can do full body. With unique hair motion! Here is my experiment. One piece of stock footage, body-transferred into 10 different people in 10 different outfits, all wearing the same Nike Vaporfly 4's. The shot was broken into shorter clips, start frames were generated using Nanobanana, run through WAN-animate, and then cut back together in AE with some light comp work (mostly to fix differences in the regenerated bg). I think this would be quite hard to do using any other means: maybe shoot 10 people running on a track and get them all to maintain the exact same body position/foot placement etc through the entire sequence? Or how about reskinning the same CG rig with 10 characters with different hair, skin, outfits etc? Sounds hard. At the end I pulled stills of the Vaporfly 4's and did some Kling start frame / end frame gens to get a kinetic product shot at the end. The logo break / reform at the end is also Kling with AE time displacement on top. ***The Mago beta looks amazing for this stuff, I probably should redo this whole project tomorrow 😭

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