I ditched my creative agency for AI and, yes, I'm sleeping just fine

"GymNation CMO Rory McEntee offers a confession most creative agencies won't want to hear: he's getting better results out of AI than he has from any partners. Let's face it, we've crossed a threshold. The creative world once revered, populated by brilliant minds with expensive taste and corresponding agency invoices, is shifting. I'll admit it: I'm reaching out less and less to my human creative peers and instead leaning into AI. Do I feel guilty? Not particularly. And that's a confession I'm happy to unpack."

"For years, there has been a romanticism about human creativity. The kind that paints the copywriter as a tortured genius, the designer as an eccentric magician, and the creative director as a visionary leader. And while that may still hold true in some corners, on the brand side, we've endured a reality that doesn't quite match the myth. Over the years, I've paid eye-watering fees to agencies, often for output that passed through too many hands, got watered down by junior talent"

"Enter AI. Swift, tireless, and increasingly sophisticated. Suddenly, I can generate a press release in five minutes, draft video scripts tailored to audience segments, create dozens of ad variants in one afternoon, and develop strategic social content plans that with a touch of polish and my creativity baked in are indistinguishable from those handed to me by an agency team after three weeks of work."

GymNation's chief marketing officer reports shifting reliance from human agencies toward AI for creative work, citing superior results and efficiency. He describes longstanding romanticism around human creatives contrasted with frequent agency delivery of diluted, overcomplicated, and safe work after costly pitches. Agencies often begin boldly then constrain briefs to justify hours, producing forgettable outputs. AI is characterized as swift, tireless, and increasingly sophisticated, capable of producing press releases in minutes, drafting audience-tailored video scripts, generating dozens of ad variants in an afternoon, and assembling strategic social plans that only require minimal polish. Tight budgets, higher expectations, and non-negotiable speed drive this change.

Read at The Drum