The Omnicom–IPG merger didn’t just create the largest advertising group in the world. It also came with a quiet bombshell: DDB, FCB and MullenLowe will be retired as global brands and folded into BBDO and TBWA in 2026.

On paper, it’s about efficiency and synergies. In reality, it’s a symptom of a deeper shift in how creative industries work.

We’re living in a strange mix of fragmentation and homogenisation:- Audiences are shattered into micro-segments, subcultures and local contexts. One global message fits almost nobody.- At the same time, our tools push everything toward the same safe, optimised output: automated media, AI content, templates, best practices. AI makes creativity scalable — and dangerously similar.

In that world, giant global networks lose their old superpower. Reach is cheap. Relevance isn’t. The value moves from “one big idea for everyone” to many precise ideas for specific people, cultures and moments.

So what do we do with this as mid- and senior-level creatives, strategists and marketers?

Actionable takeaways:

1. Double down on local and cultural literacy. Scroll less award sites, more real local feeds.
2. Train your “context radar”. Not just is this idea cool? but for whom, where and why now?
3. Sit at the intersection of ideas and data. Use numbers not to kill bold work, but to aim it.

The industry isn’t dying. It’s being rewired. And the ones who can think globally, but work precisely and locally, will be the ones writing the next chapter — whatever replaces DDB.