Power Shifts: Women Leading the Charge in Media and Creativity

At Smartly Advance, a panel of trailblazing women leaders gathered to discuss how they are reshaping advertising, agency models, and creative leadership. Moderated by Julie Eddleman (Global Chief Commercial Officer, DoubleVerify), the conversation featured Sarah Kramer (Global & U.S. CEO, Spark Foundry), Emily Del Greco (Global COO, WPP Media), Christina Hanson (CEO, OMD USA), Jaime Robinson (Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer, JOAN), and Amy Thorne (Chief Future Officer, Dentsu Creative).

Together, they explored how agencies must evolve to meet client demands for speed and accountability, how diverse talent creates better work, and why adaptability is now the defining trait of both organizations and careers.

Reinventing the Agency Model

Sarah Kramer (Spark Foundry) argued that surface-level fixes, like shuffling silos, aren’t enough. Agencies need to “change the engine,” not just rearrange the assembly line. That means building a strong foundation of trusted data and integrated technology that fuels smarter, faster, more connected work. Spark’s model, she said, depends on data quality as the differentiator that delivers outsized brand impact.

Emily Del Greco (WPP Media) expanded the point, stressing flexibility. WPP’s focus, she explained, is not only on curating the right mix of tech solutions for clients but also on the chemistry of teams who show up. She noted a growing shift in remuneration away from traditional retainers and toward outcome-based models tied directly to business impact.

Christina Hanson (OMD USA) described her agency as “an agency of the platform.” For OMD, success comes from building ecosystems where content, commerce, and media flow seamlessly. While speed has become table stakes, Hanson argued that when delivered well, it drives significant efficiency gains, as much as 30%, and unlocks measurable growth.

Amy Thorne (Dentsu Creative) reinforced that adaptability must be hardwired into agencies. “We’re in an adaptive era,” she said, adding that breaking down historical silos and giving teams permission to discard outdated models is essential to progress.

Representation Beyond the Surface

On talent, the panel agreed: representation is only the starting point. Christina Hanson emphasized that true progress comes when diverse voices hold decision-making power from budgets to strategic investments. She cited research showing that campaigns developed by diverse teams are 25% more effective, and pointed to OMD’s own AI-driven tools that democratize access to intelligence, ensuring everyone from assistants to executives can contribute to strategy.

Jaime Robinson (JOAN) spoke candidly about the risk of losing young talent at entry levels - a challenge heightened by industry job cuts. For her, the mission is to accelerate development: making creative directors younger, teaching them to sell ideas, and giving them real responsibility. As both a business leader and a mother, Robinson argued for listening seriously to younger voices: “Sometimes the best thing you can do is hand a 19-year-old a camera and let them go make something.”

Amy Thorne added that Dentsu is encouraging its teams to see themselves as “pioneers of progress,” embedding accountability for fresh ideas and cultural relevance across all levels of the organization.

AI and the Human Factor

The conversation inevitably turned to AI. Jaime Robinson explained how her team uses AI as a prototyping tool to bring ideas to life quickly and bring clients along earlier in the creative journey. But she cautioned against creative stagnation: AI may produce “variations of the same thing,” she said, but true creativity comes from humans finding fresh combinations that spark wonder.

Sarah Kramer reminded the audience that AI is not new - it has long powered areas like search. What matters now is pairing AI with trusted data foundations so creative experiences are more relevant and effective across the entire consumer journey. She pointed to Spark’s concept of “intelligent content” - data-informed creativity that works seamlessly across media, creative, and commerce.

Emily Del Greco shared how WPP Media is rolling out Open Media Studio across 60 countries, with its own AI agent “OMA” already helping teams prepare for client meetings, distill insights from earnings calls, and collaborate across media and commerce. She noted that AI’s biggest value may not come from shaving minutes off workflows but from reimagining what it means to be a creative director when half the team is augmented by intelligent agents.

The consensus: AI can amplify speed and intelligence, but humans remain central. Talent, empathy, and originality are still the drivers of differentiation.

Power Shifts, Personal Reflections

Each panelist closed by sharing a personal “power shift” moment:

• Amy Thorne recalled the moment she realized she could turn a job into a career, spurred by a mentor who pushed her to see her own potential.

• Jaime Robinson traced hers back to age 11, when she rejected being told to be a “good girl” and decided instead to define success on her own terms - a mindset that still fuels her leadership.

• Christina Hanson pointed to research on attention metrics that shifted her focus from chasing impressions to designing meaningful ad experiences.

• Sarah Kramer remembered her days at Procter & Gamble, where she and Julie Eddleman pioneered early comms planning. It was the first time she saw media professionals influencing the full marketing mix - a turning point for her career and for the industry.

• Emily Del Greco described leaving Google for a startup, a risky pivot that broadened her perspective and taught her to value adaptability and “M-shaped” talent - people with breadth and multiple areas of depth.

Why It Matters

The panel made clear that power is shifting in three ways:

1. From silos to integrated models: Agencies must rebuild around data, technology, and flexible remuneration tied to business outcomes.

2. From representation to empowerment: Diversity only matters when underrepresented talent holds creative and strategic power.

3. From tools to talent: AI is powerful, but it is humans who turn intelligence into creativity and trust.

For marketers, the message was unambiguous: the future belongs to those willing to rethink models, empower new voices, and embrace adaptability as the defining strength of leadership.

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