AI Drives 24% Fee Cuts, Reshapes Global Advertising Industry

The media and advertising industries are undergoing significant transformations driven by artificial intelligence, reshaping how content is created, distributed, and monetized. News outlets face declining traffic due to AI-driven changes in search and consumption behavior, prompting them to pivot toward subscriptions, live events, and direct reader engagement, while PR professionals are urged to adopt a strategic, partnership-oriented approach with media rather than focusing solely on earned coverage. In advertising, AI is enhancing creative production, automating routine tasks, and optimizing sales processes, although concerns about trust, transparency, and brand cohesion remain critical. Agency workflows are expected to become more efficient, with AI potentially reducing the need for human creatives by automating adaptations and originations, necessitating a fundamental rethink of agency pay structures. Industry leaders emphasize that technology should serve as an enabler of creativity rather than a replacement, advocating for the integration of human empathy and intuition to maintain brand essence and relevance in AI-generated content. Overall, the evolving landscape requires advertisers, agencies, and media companies to balance speed, scale, and precision with purpose and human insight to thrive in an AI-powered environment.