Ad Consolidation Kills Creativity: Industry Veterans Warn of 'Creative Cleansing'

• Ad holding company consolidation, exemplified by Omnicom-IPG, prioritizes media efficiency, data, and short-term financial performance over creativity.
• Industry veterans like Naresh Gupta and Soumitra Karnik lament this shift, calling it a 'funeral for advertising' and 'creative cleansing'.
• The focus on immediate metrics and platforms like Meta and Google has marginalized creative services, which lack strong margins.
• Critics argue this leads to 'sterile efficiency' and 'automated noise' that fails to build long-term brand equity or emotional connection.
• While some brands are rediscovering creativity as short-term metrics falter, the industry risks cultural erasure by prioritizing what's easily counted over what truly counts.

Why It Matters: Ad consolidation's focus on efficiency is sidelining creativity, risking long-term brand value for short-term gains.