How Real-Life Connection Is Fuelling Creative Growth

For all the hype around automation, platforms, dashboards and AI, the thing that’s consistently delivered the biggest shifts for our clients this year has been in-person events.

The catch-ups over coffee that turn into partnerships. The chance meetings at MAD//Fest that spark a new brief. And those moments where you realise the “big idea” has been sitting next to you the whole time.

Change and tech growth is amazing. It helps to make us all much more efficient.

But in a sea of email automation, outreach tools, and templated LinkedIn posts, the brands and business developers who are standing out right now are the ones putting themselves in the room.

Everyone’s inbox is full. Everyone’s getting hit up with AI-generated copy and cold outreach that all sounds the same. It’s never been easier to create content, but it’s never been harder to cut through the noise.

And that’s where face-to-face wins.

You’ve got their attention. You’re not a thumbnail in a social feed or another InMail sitting unread for days. You’re right there, listening, responding, sharing ideas, being human. Building relationships!

What we’re seeing (and placing into) right now is agencies who aren’t really leaning into this. Global client lists, well-earned reputations, and years of consistent delivery are giving them a huge edge as the budgets come flooding back into experiential.

And the numbers back it up:

• +12.3% growth in event spend in Q4 2024, the highest across all marketing categories (IPA Bellwether)
• Projections are even stronger for 2025/26, with a +15.5% increase in event marketing budgets
• +18.7% of marketers had already planned to boost event budgets earlier in 2024
• Globally, the event industry is flying and set to surpass $1.5 trillion by 2028, with a 52% jump in events last year alone
• 67% of execs plan to increase meeting budgets this year
• Major organisers like Clarion Events (backed by Blackstone) are doubling down on in-person events and aiming to double revenues by 2030

Even in Q2 2025, when we saw marketing budgets wobble a bit, events held firm and right up there with PR as one of the most resilient channels.

And it’s not just the spend. We’re seeing the shift in roles too:

BDs who can flex across ATL and activation, project leads who know how to work a room as well as a Gantt chart, and a fresh wave of experiential specialists who blend presence and purpose.

Some of the best conversations I’ve had this year were at the BD100, at MAD//Fest, in Cannes, on judging panels, and the train station at the end of the day, and they have all circled back to the same theme. People are craving real ideas, real dialogue, and real relationships.

You don’t get that from behind a screen. You get that from being in the room.

2026 is going to reward the brands who put people first. Not just the ones chasing performance metrics, but the ones who show up, lean in, and make it personal.

Big thanks to everyone who’s shared a coffee, a pint, a post-panel laugh or a delayed train journey with me this year. You’ve all made it loads more fun.

And I look forward to even more of it over the next 12 months.