- Mark Penn’s Stagwell aims to challenge big advertising agencies such as WPP and Publicis.
- A former pollster, he sees a huge opportunity for AI to disrupt the advertising industry.
- He said brands often fail to support social issues because they lack a balanced worldview.
- This story is part of “What’s Next?,” a series in which we ask CEOs of prominent companies across industries about how rapidly evolving trends are impacting their approach to leadership.
Mark Penn’s background in political campaigns and as a pollster for Bill and Hillary Clinton makes him somewhat of an outsider in the advertising world. He is currently Chairman and CEO of Stagwell, an advertising and public relations group aimed at competing with major advertising agencies such as WPP, Publicis, and Omnicom.
Stagwell earned $2.7 billion in 2022 from agencies including Code & Theory, KWT Global and Anomaly. Insider spoke to Penn about why he’s betting on artificial intelligence, acquiring an experiential marketing shop, and how brands should address thorny social issues.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Do you think AI will eliminate creative jobs like copywriters and art directors?
I think this process will become even more efficient. As things become more efficient, several things can happen. One is that you can reduce their number. The other thing is, you basically get more because it’s cheaper. Many people who couldn’t afford to hire a copywriter may now be able to afford one.
Big brands like Bud Light and Target have been in the news after facing backlash for supporting social causes. How should brands respond to social issues?
I think the problem is often that companies have great communications and marketing teams, but they don’t have a problem-skilled team. And when they do, it’s often someone from one party or the other, and there are no bipartisan teams.
We brought together people with polling and financial communication skills who have been involved in politics from the Democratic and Republican sides.
There are no cookie-cutter answers to these questions. It depends on the composition of your stakeholders, your values as a company, and what you stand for and what you don’t stand for. People hate Johnny these days who suddenly shows good intentions on issues. People who do such things can be exposed to a lot of danger.the biggest problem is that [companies] There is no balanced group of experts.
Part of the problem is that companies are reluctant to spend on things like this until a crisis occurs.
You recently acquired experiential design studio Tinsel for an undisclosed amount. What other acquisitions are you interested in?
This time’s topic is AI. There are clearly a lot of clients who want to know how to incorporate AI into their marketing, and I think this will create a lot of work for digital transformation teams.
We’re building a suite of technology products. We have his PROphet – we can help you write your news release, see who is interested in your news release, write your pitch, and send your pitch. [using AI].
The first thing to realize is that we are used to interacting with the links that people click. Generative AI will change the way people interact with technology and the entire way we market. We’re all used to clicking on links. Now you can get a response and then have follow-up interactions.
There are obviously production enhancements and storyboarding, but the biggest impact is [of AI] When you start incorporating that into the work itself, I don’t think people spend enough time or think about it as a fundamental change.