There’s something I’ve noticed lately, and I say this with nothing but respect for the people doing the work, agency creatives are peacocking hard. It’s constant with the award wins, the jury invites, the case studies, and the same campaign reposted across your circles timelines. I get it, you’re proud, as you should be. But it’s almost always done in service of the agency rather than yourself, and that’s where I think we’re getting it wrong.
I understand the loyalty and I admire it to an extent, but I think it’s a wasted opportunity. Agencies are shrinking, holding companies are consolidating, teams are being cut, clients are pulling spend, and the game is shifting faster than anyone wants to admit. Amid all of this, creatives continue to fly the agency flag like it means something permanent. The truth is, it doesn’t, not to them anyway. They will let you go when it suits them, they’ll restructure, reorganise, and reassign. The only person who doesn’t really benefit from your public allegiance is you.
This isn’t an attack, it’s frustration mixed with a bit of sadness. I love advertising, I always have, but I’ve always struggled with the way the industry treats its people. That’s one of the reasons I chose a different path. I had to put distance between myself and an industry that often burns the very talent it relies on. Even now, I find myself drawn to it, not for the industry, but for the work and its people, for you, for the brilliant, hilarious, sharp, emotionally intelligent humans that make this business better.
But here’s the problem, the industry has gotten smaller, not just in size but in spirit. It doesn’t feel like the creative playground it used to be, the energy has shifted, and the opportunities feel narrower. So in the kindest way possible, I want to offer a bit of advice, not because you’re doing it wrong, but because you deserve more than what you’ve been given.
Start thinking about yourself, not your department, the agency, or the holding company. Think about you, your voice, your point of view, and your experience. For too long you’ve been an advert for the company you work for, it’s time to become the poster for yourself.
You don’t need to be promoting your own work every week, you don’t need to become an influencer or sell a course. Just start showing us what you care about, share the work that moved you, the ads that fuel your passion, the campaigns you wish you’d made. Talk about your process, share your taste, teach someone how to craft a line, how to build a deck, or how to navigate feedback from a client who doesn’t get it.
You’re a better storyteller than you think. Whether you’re a writer or an art director, you already know how to engage people, you understand tone, rhythm, aesthetic, and timing. Use that, make us laugh, make us think, tell us the stories from the pitch room, from the late nights, from the edits that almost didn’t land. And yes, give us the saucy ones from the agency Christmas parties while you’re at it, that’s part of the lore.
Creatives are full of commentary, and the world needs more of it. Your feed doesn’t have to be polished or strategic, it just has to be yours. There’s a lot of talk about personal brands, but that’s just another way of saying own voice. You have a perspective, let us see it.
Think of your LinkedIn like a tactical campaign. The cleverest, boldest, most relevant post that will stop our doom scroll. That’s all this is, a place to connect, to remind us who you are, not just who you work for.
I know this platform isn’t your favourite. Most people only come here to repost their agency’s latest flex or to flick the switch to open to work when another merger leaves them behind. But this place matters, it’s worth investing in before you need it, and it’s worth showing up on as yourself, not just your agency’s echo.
So if no one’s told you this lately, let me. You are not a job title, you are not a line item in the awards submission deck. You are the reason the work exists, start acting like it. We need more of you, not less.
You’ve been flying someone else’s flag long enough, time to fly your own.