Is There Still Space for Big Ideas?
Year on year, it feels like the expectations placed upon adland are changing. With more and more platforms gaining relevance, the ability to glean all new levels of personalised data and technologies like AI coming to the fore, it feels like many of the old practices have had their time in the sun.
This begs the question, is ‘The Big Idea’ still relevant? Do large platforms and all-encompassing campaigns actually translate well to this brave new world? Or, is it time for a focus on smaller ideas utilising all the new tricks, toys and gadgets – embracing personalisation and playing a tactically safe game?
LBB’s Jordan Won Neufeldt sat down with the people behind the ideas to learn more about what constitutes impactful creativity that influences the masses in 2024…
Danilo Boer
Global creative partner at FCB
The big idea is far more than just a ‘big platform’.
For two decades, I’ve been in meetings where people treated a ‘big idea’ as just a line, thinking that a phrase like ‘Keep Walking’ or ‘Just Do It’ was the magic solution to hold a brand together for years. We’ve been conditioned to believe that a catchy tagline was the be-all and end-all.
But, the big idea – or the platform that ties a brand together – is much bigger than a tagline.
At FCB, we call this a ‘Never Finished’ idea – a lasting series of elements that continuously shape a brand’s identity, which could be anything from a design system, tone of voice, brand truth, energy, to a vibe. Sometimes it can be a tagline, but only if it’s rooted in a timeless truth that can lead to any number of timeless executions.
Take Google, for example. It’s never had a tagline or a traditional big idea. Meanwhile, Old Spice changed its tagline with nearly every campaign for 10 years, but its unique tone remained consistent. And Michelob ULTRA continues to deliver brand entertainment in a way that’s unmistakably its own. The tagline isn’t the focus – it’s there to reinforce the brand’s core value and allows it to create advertising that often doesn’t feel like advertising.
In these cases, the traditional ‘big idea’ has become something larger. It’s become the brand’s personality, to help you recognise and love each brand immediately. And it’s this ‘brand personality’ that’s the glue holding modern brands together – the real ‘Never Finished’ idea and the new ‘big idea’.
So, if marketers build on that solid foundation, they’re opening up the ways in which they can show up in this fragmented world, all the while being consistent and coherent, because they’re staying true to a ‘personality’ that’s at the heart of their brand.
James Robinson
Chief creative officer North America at Momentum Worldwide
To completely bastardise a favourite Winston Churchill quote, ‘Big idea platforms are the worst form of advertising. Except for all of the others’.
Big idea platforms are hard. They are expensive. They are risky. They are inefficient. And worst of all, the great ones totally break the rules of everything that has worked in the past. In short, they are the exact opposite of the certain, reliable, tried, tested and cheap solutions that many of today’s brands say they want.
But in today’s shifting, data-driven landscape, they are more essential than ever.
Don’t believe me? Just ask a certain swoosh-bearing sneaker company. The undisputed heavyweight champion of the big idea pivoted away from its trailblazing, brand-building campaigns and ran headlong into the comforting arms of data-driven personalisation and direct-to-consumer sales. The result? A 20% drop in stock price, and a $28 billion reduction in market cap in a single day. That brand’s big ideas once led the consumer to buy into a lifestyle, and that led them to buy whatever the brand decided was the next cool thing. By relying solely on data, they let the consumer lead them… and the consumer led them off a cliff.
The truth is, without a big, human, emotional brand platform, all that data and personalisation is in danger of delivering a bunch of soulless, disconnected, merely functional tactics right into the brains of the people you need to reach most. Sure, it will work for a bit, but eventually those people are going to realise that they are nothing but ones and zeros to your brand, and no one will be loyal to something that treats them like an ATM.
Big ideas create brands that can live consistently across multiple platforms, in multiple channels in a way that emotionally connects and drives business, as well as that most elusive and vital quality, loyalty. Not to get too Bruce Lee on you, but a truly great big brand idea is like a truly great martial artist, able to shift and change to become relevant to and live on multiple platforms, or speak to each niche audience in the right way, all while remaining constant and true to its big powerful self. In today’s modern, multi-agency ecosystems that service big brands, they tell all those different marketers what kinds of ideas to create. Most importantly they tell them what NOT to create.
Daisy Domenghini
Managing director at VaynerMedia EMEA
Big ideas aren’t dead. People are still people, whether they’re on TikTok, Instagram, or reading a tube ad on a packed commute. We’re the same emotional, irrational and messy creatures we’ve always been, and we respond to powerful ideas that connect with our values, needs, and aspirations. While media channels may have changed, human psychology hasn’t. That’s why a big, bold, strategic idea remains essential. It serves as the glue that ties all channels and communications together. Without it, your brand risks becoming fragmented and disjointed.
The real challenge, however, often lies in how that big idea is developed. The traditional approach can be flawed; ideas are frequently created in isolation from the consumer, hashed out in boardrooms, and end up chasing trends rather than being anchored in the brand’s promise. By the time these ideas go to market, they can feel irrelevant or disconnected.
But today’s world offers real-time access to consumer feedback, and that’s a game-changer. Regularly putting content out there and paying attention to both quantitative and qualitative responses allows brands to listen closely and adjust accordingly. This ensures that your message truly resonates with the audience and stays aligned with the brand promise. Those insights can then fuel larger campaigns and help refine your messaging.
The big idea is still crucial – it’s what holds everything together. What’s changed is not the need for the big idea, but how we develop and execute it in a fragmented, digital-first world.
Chris Breen
Partner and chief creative officer at Chemistry
In today’s ad world, creating big ideas can feel like living in ‘The Upside Down’ of ‘Stranger Things’. Make them anyway.
In the last decade, our industry has shifted from the power of big ideas to the power of measurement. The truth is, big ideas and efficiency don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Still, for many marketers, the focus on measuring and optimisation has overpowered their ability to deliver ideas that disrupt. To put it simply, we have put the cart before the horse by playing it safe, and playing it safe is the most dangerous thing a brand can do today. In fact, a recent study by System1 showed that 48% of all ads elicit zero emotional response. How can this be? If we have become so proficient at optimisation and customisation, how is it that nearly half of all ads create no emotional response today?
Humans are irrational creatures, and we make decisions based largely on emotion. No one will ever optimise their way to creating the most famous brands in the world. Efficiency at the cost of impact is an oxymoron. As marketers, we can once again flip the script, and there is definitely room for big ideas today. The tools and platforms designed to help optimise need to be harnessed to help elevate big creative ideas and connect with consumers in new ways. But that can only happen if we recognise that playing it safe is a race to the bottom for almost any brand.
So, as an industry, if we continue to avoid risk, we will be stuck in ‘The Upside Down’. Kind of like those kids in ‘Stranger Things’.
Andre Moreira
Creative partner at T&Pm
Big, yes. Generous, definitely!
I often find it useful to step outside of our industry in order to make sense of it. For example, in basketball, ‘big’ is a given. Yet, the best players aren’t always the biggest guys on the court… but the most generous. Think Magic Johnson (if you’re my age), dishing out assists like candy, making everyone around him a star; I believe big ideas in advertising work the same way.
Sure, we're drowning in data and pressured to hyper-personalise across a million platforms. Well, that's precisely why a modern (and truly big) idea should be inherently generous, providing the creative springboard for countless executions across every channel.
Take Spotify's ‘Wrapped’. It's more than just another end-of-year campaign; it's a cultural phenomenon. ‘Wrapped’ transforms personal listening data into a shareable yet highly personal experience. It's a clever way to engage users, celebrate their individual tastes, and fuel social conversation around music discovery.
So, are big ideas still relevant? Absolutely. But the key is generosity. In our fragmented world, they should provide the glue that binds a brand's message, and the inspiration creative teams need to slam dunk on every platform, touchpoint, language and culture. Just like Magic did.
Guy Bradbury
Creative partner at M&C Saatchi UK
In a fragmented media landscape, it’s survival of the boldest, not the fittest.
In today's fast-paced digital landscape, our attention span for advertising has drastically decreased. And with the average person in the UK being exposed to between 4,000 and 10,000 messages per day, it’s no surprise that we’re scrolling past or screening out what we don’t need in seconds. We have to, to survive.
You see, advertising works without us paying very much attention. Our brains are able to notice things at a very subconscious level, but we only have so much energy and attention available. So, for me, it’s only the truly simple and bold brands – the ones that get attention and create memorability and differentiation – that avoid being screened out.
Brand owners need to remember that every encounter they create with a brand is an opportunity to refresh memory structures and create positive memories and associations, making a brand worthy of being stored in the first place.
So how do you create that boldness today? Well firstly, you have to be ‘the thing’ that people are interested in. It has to really matter on a deeper level, which means not just thinking about the functional role a brand plays in people’s lives, but how it makes lives better, how it helps them connect in culture, and how it enhances their everyday life. Ultimately what is it that makes a brand story worthy of being stored for when somebody actually needs it?
And then, just like any great story, brands need a brilliant front cover that makes them stand out on a shelf. Striking, innovative and original visuals that put clear water between themselves and everyone else. After all, as Bill Bernbach said, “If no one notices your advertising, everything else is academic.”
As for boldness and personalisation, both enhance each other, making brands even more relevant. But personalisation alone is not enough. In this landscape, I believe it is only those that lead with a bold story and brand assets that will ultimately survive.
Katy Hopkins
Executive creative director at Iris
If you want to build a brand that has clarity, consistency, and salience, you need a BIG IDEA – something to tie together all of the little ideas that live across a plethora of channels, and which speaks to an array of different sub-audiences.
Just to clarify, what I mean by a big idea is something that can’t be constrained to any particular medium. They are way too exciting for that. They can come to life anywhere, from PR to press, Facebook to ‘Fortnite’. And, if the execution is good enough, they should be just as effective in earned media as they are in paid. They should be built on a truth that is recognised as far and wide as you want the idea to spread – a universal truth that unites us all.
Big ideas last. They are platforms which, given the opportunity, generations of creatives can riff off for decades, each one bringing a fresh take to an old favourite. This longevity makes them stronger and more robust. They become a catalyst, creating more ideas and exciting everyone who comes into contact with the brand, so much so that even your Great Aunty Vera could have a crack at writing the next ad in the campaign. (It might not be good, but she would feel like she could give it a go).
Big ideas break out from the boundaries of ‘advertising’ into the real world. They can change the way you think, live, or even love. They make creatives tingle with delight and jealousy. They give brands a point of view, a personality, and a way to act and speak.
Big ideas are our most powerful weapon against the robots (for now…).
As the OG David Ogilvy put it, “Unless your advertising is built on a big idea, it will pass like a ship in the night.”
Rick Chant
Founder and executive creative director at WE ARE Pi
The ‘Big Idea’, the ‘Long Idea’, the ‘Creative Platform’, the ‘Unicorn Blueprint’, the ‘Infinite Idea Cannon’, the ‘Foundational Framework of Fantasmic Futures’, the ‘Glory Whole’; the tagline, logline or slogan. Whatever form it takes, there needs to be more than space for it – there must be room for it to stretch its legs so it can kick out and colonise every corner with its brilliance. The reason? The three C's: consistency, consistency and consistency.
Consistency is the key to people actually remembering what your brand stands for, and why it is relevant to them. KitKat reminds us to ‘have a break’. Snickers satisfies those who aren't feeling themselves. Specsavers remind us where we need to go.
In today's social-first world, consistency is essential because every idea has the possibility to show up anywhere. A billboard in Timbuktu, if good enough, can be shared and seen in Tipperary. Good ideas know no boundaries and your brand needs to stay in sync, no matter who's playing in the band.
In our fragmented media landscape, eyeballs ping-pong from 'bad' screens to 'good' screens, from retina embedded goggles to billboards, all while being bombarded by 6,000 plus brand messages a day. The brands that win are those who tell a consistent story across every platform. Snickers flexed its big idea from the Super Bowl to Twitter and brought it to life on the wrapper itself, but its biggest flex was letting the idea play out in the hands of the consumer. The big idea is neat, but the sign of a gargantuan idea is when people take your brand idea and reinterpret it to fit their lives – in this case in the form of meme madness.
The big (consistent) idea is the branding equivalent of a musical earworm. Get it stuck in people’s heads so that every time they encounter your brand, it’s like hearing a beloved remix of a smash hit, not some forgotten B-side no one asked for. The brands with the hits keep playing the hits. You know what you’re getting, and you love them for it.
The big idea is an organising principle that allows a brand to show up in culture consistently, while flexing enough to accommodate cultural and regional nuances. Resist the temptation to experiment with the avant-garde album. Stick to the bangers. Stick to the big idea.
Charlie Hurst
Executive creative director at JvM London
The big idea is, and always will be, king.
Don’t get me wrong, without execution and craft, it can still end up a turd rolled in glitter, but without that idea, you’re just spending time crafting said turd.
What’s changed isn’t the need for big ideas, but instead, what’s expected from them. Clue: it's more. Clients and brands still need big ideas that resonate, but they also need them to stretch further – to show up in more places across more platforms, sort of like a conceptual Stretch Armstrong.
Classically, big ideas usually graduated from page to screen (TV, let’s be honest) with a side order of print and poster. Maybe chuck some digital matching luggage on that and you’ve got yourself a simple campaign.
But today, it’s about delivering that idea across different platforms – each tailored to audiences that are more and more niche. Nowadays I just see it all as ‘content’ with different ways of expressing the same thought, optimised for the right media for the right audience at the right time.
That’s why it’s increasingly important to start with how consumers consume. Don’t flatter yourself, no-one wants to sit through your two-minute epic on their smartwatch whilst running for the bus. Big ideas need to be bigger than ever, not just to resonate and capture audiences emotionally, but to be flexible enough to thrive in more places, while still delivering the same cut-through, wherever that audience is.
Now, if you can do that, that’s a BIG idea.
John Cherry
Executive creative director at Atomic London
Is there still space for big ideas? In a word, yes.
I've always felt the problem with the term 'big idea' is that it can be interpreted differently depending on who you ask. It's a bit like the idea of a great weekend: everyone agrees they want a great weekend, but come Monday morning, everyone's 'great weekend' looks different. ‘We had a mini-break in Seville, it was great’. ‘I had a big one Saturday night and spent Sunday on the sofa. It was great’. ‘I trained some wild crows in the park, it was great. I'm their leader now’.
With the majority of people’s consumption of marketing taking place on social, brands are cutting corners, trading big ideas for quick wins. It's odd how brands now copy others' social ideas (such as the recent M&S work, copied by Matalan, John Lewis and Primark). It might get attention, but is it leadership or just a fancy game of follow-the-leader?
A real big idea sticks. It's rooted in the brand's core truth and is clear, lasting long beyond a momentary trend. Get it right and it works anywhere, in any form, still feels totally on brand – whether it's a meme or a massive campaign – and lives for years. Just think of ‘Should’ve Gone to Specsavers’, ‘The Wonderful Everyday’, or ‘Made of More’.
A big idea is only big because it's tight – clear, simple, and smart. Great ones are unmissable, unforgettable, unmistakable and unlimited in where and how they’re executed. That's how a big idea wins, and that's what lasts.
If people are questioning 'big ideas', we should stop calling them 'big ideas' and start calling them 'tight ideas'. Because, when they're tight, they're timeless.
Maggie Gross
Head of strategy and brand practice leader at Deloitte Digital
Big ideas are not only relevant, but they are also essential.
I believe creativity is (still) the most powerful force in the universe. It has the power to show us something new about the world and the human condition, while also making the unknown seem familiar.
While we’re all unique individuals who ‘demand personalisation’, Deloitte’s benchmarks show us that businesses which focus ONLY on demand-generation and lower-funnel conversion tend to see lower returns in the long run. Instead, the marketers who are winning are building cohesive brands with a big idea that scales beyond advertising (and through the entire funnel).
The best big ideas are rooted in shared values between a brand and its customers, and put differentiated messages in the market. They also are flexible enough to inspire personalised purchase and ownership experiences, and are provocative enough to enable brands to participate in culture and have unique conversations with their customers. These moments especially are where the need for personalisation in niche audiences, channels and platforms coexist best with the big idea.
Wayne Best
Chief creative officer at VML New York
The answer is yes, I’m just not sure about the question.
What is a big idea?
An activation can be a big idea, like the Coca Cola ‘Thanks for Coke-Creating’ project. The Dove ‘Real Beauty’ campaign is still going strong and is probably more relevant than ever nearly 20 years after its launch. That’s big. And, when everybody was filling their Super Bowl ads with celebrities and action, it was a big idea for Coinbase to run a quiet little low-tech QR code bouncing around on the screen.
If you look at these examples, they are all different. What is consistent is they are all smart, simple and break through the clutter. There will always be a place for those big ideas that punch above their weight.
The bigger question is, will those big ideas come from ad agencies?
That’s up to us. Many of the smarter and more talented people I know work in advertising. Many of them work with me right now. Historically, our industry has thrived on finding unique strategic insights and crafting unexpected creative solutions that you couldn’t get elsewhere. However, over the last two decades, technology and social media has given others the ability to compete with us on a more level playing field. To stay relevant, we need to continue to up our game. It’s up to us.
So, yes, the big idea will live on, but it certainly isn’t a given that it comes from the advertising industry. (I’d like to think it will though).
And on that note, I think I better get back to work…
Ben Gardiner
Head of client services at Grand Visual
While the media landscape has shifted dramatically, the essence and impact of big ideas remains highly relevant, even if their form has evolved.
Traditionally, big ideas were built on simplicity and broad appeal. Think of Nike’s ‘Just Do It’ or Apple’s ‘Think Different’. These slogans resonated across demographics and media channels, capturing the core essence of each brand. Today, however, marketers must navigate a fragmented landscape with platforms like TikTok, Meta, YouTube, as well as emerging technologies like AR. With shorter attention spans and a demand for personalisation, it’s easy to question if big ideas can still cut through the noise.
Out-of-home has long been a stage for big ideas, offering a platform for visually-impactful campaigns that reach broad audiences. Think of Spotify’s ‘Wrapped’ or Apple’s ‘Shot on iPhone’ billboards, which leveraged high visibility to reinforce simple, single-minded brand messages. With today’s programmatic OOH, it’s now possible to tailor content in real time across almost any media channel based on location, time, and audience. This flexibility raises the question: ‘can big ideas still thrive in this targeted space?’.
Big ideas haven’t disappeared, but they have adapted. I believe they now act as frameworks that provide creative consistency while allowing tailored executions for specific platforms and audiences. A successful and enduring ‘modern’ big idea is most likely modular, built around a core concept that can be reshaped for different needs.
For example, McDonald’s ‘Follow the Arches’ campaign used crops of its iconic arches to guide drivers to nearby restaurants. The approach leveraged McDonald's instantly recognisable branding while adapting to local contexts on OOH formats globally, demonstrating how a big idea can live in the physical world and engage people directly.
Niche channels don’t eliminate big ideas either – they extend their reach. A well-defined concept can serve as a ‘North Star’, allowing brands to build interconnected campaigns across various touchpoints. In a complex media landscape, brands need to strike a balance, ensuring that big ideas remain adaptable yet consistently inspiring across diverse formats.
So, is there still space for big ideas? Absolutely. They just have to be able to embrace the complexities of modern media while remaining adaptable yet powerful at their core. (I didn’t say it was easy!).
Jan Harbeck
Managing Director at Jung von Matt SPREE
Absolutely, there’s still room for big ideas. In fact we need them more than ever.
People aren’t as fragmented as you think. Sure, the platforms are… There’s TikTok Instagram podcasts and whatever new thing pops up tomorrow. But people? They’re the same. They want to be surprised, moved and entertained. They want something real to hang on to. And that’s where the big idea comes in.
A big idea doesn’t care what channel it’s on. It’s like that ‘80s Horror movie, ‘The Blob’ – it squeezes through every crack, takes on any form, and still packs the same punch, whether it’s in a six-second clip or a tweet the big idea adapts. Think about Cadbury’s ‘Gorilla’. In the old days it dominated TV. But today? That thing would be a sensation across every platform, from memes to GIFs to TikTok dances taking over in ways we couldn’t even imagine. The joy in it? That’s universal, and that is what makes it a big idea.
A big idea doesn’t have to be broad – it just has to be true. Personalisation doesn’t kill a big idea, it gives it more ways to connect. But, it still has to resonate. It still has to hit you in the gut. Because when all the content has come and gone, people don’t remember the platform. They remember how it made them feel.
So, is there room for big ideas? Absolutely. But they have to be human. They have to connect. Because people don’t change, we just have more ways to reach them.
Ben Middleton
Chief creative officer at Modern Citizens
Truthfully, the humble ‘big idea’ has been DOA for a while.
Now we have ‘weird ideas’, ‘digital ideas’, ‘deep ideas’, ‘odd ideas’, ‘performance ideas’, ‘platform ideas’, ‘social-first ideas’, ‘wonky ideas’, ‘rich ideas’, ‘‘wrong’ ideas’, ‘quick ideas’, ‘TikTok ideas’… you get the idea. All are ideas that brands and agencies claim light the fuse of growth that brands and clients crave in a quest to keep those precious pounds in our agency pockets.
But, we don’t need big ideas, we need modern ideas – ones that are unmistakably for the brand they represent, unequivocal in their message, irresistible in the action they encourage, and native to the platform where they show up. Modern ideas execute at the pace of the changing world around us, giving us a creative palette that can evolve with the volatility of the current climate and bob and weave with budgets that can vanish quicker than a crypto queen. It’s so very, very exciting.
There’s no doubt that the world we now live in is incredibly complicated, fast-paced, and frustratingly short-termist, but as modern creatives, we’re fortunate enough to have amazing methods of delivery at our disposal. With incredible, ambitious talent, mind-blowing software, and of course, the advent of AI, we’re at the dawn of a new, modern age, where we can make ideas as good, wonky and as big as they’ve ever been.
Peter Trapnell
Head of studio at TRO
What’s a big idea anyway?
In 2024, sentiment surrounding the big idea feels dated. The term carries baggage from the past, and connotations of excess/risk. Previously, the big idea was conceived as a way to build brands through earned media before ‘earned’ was even a thing. The nuance of it being ‘big’ just adds steroids to the language – big egos, big budget, and so on.
With all that said, big ideas are not dead. If we fast forward to 2024 and look at some Cannes winners across categories, it’s clear to see that ‘big ideas’ are very much alive and well: Heinz’ ‘It has to be Heinz’, Mastercard’s ‘Room for Everyone’, Renault’s ‘Cars to Work’, and Pop-Tarts’ ‘The Edible Mascot’.
Looking at these examples, to me, a big idea is a creative concept that garners media and/or audience attention, impacts culture, and motivates people… which is extremely difficult to do in a dopamine-fuelled culture where it’s harder than ever to stand out.
So, if the big idea hasn’t ‘died’, what’s changed exactly?
Firstly, we’ve stopped saying ‘look at this big idea’ until it’s actually a big idea in culture. A big idea also might actually start as a small idea, only to be reinterpreted as something more fluid. A big idea is now inherently associated with longevity and efficacy (like Dove’s ‘Real Beauty’).
The biggest shift we’ve noticed is that ‘big ideas’ don’t live in a specific channel or creative medium anymore. We’ve seen brand experiences reinterpreted into ‘big ideas’ and executed across paid media channels.
Considering this, how should you approach the big idea? We believe in thinking about its potential business impact, and how three key areas play into this.
Human motivations: Start by exploring what audiences want in their real lives and how brands can fulfil these motivations. Whether it’s through spending money on experiences or goods, being part of a community, seeking positivity, or wanting to showcase their uniqueness. We want to create experiences that transcend geography and unite cultures. Creating such profound experiences is the epitome of a big idea.
Fandoms: We’re in an age of fandom, where stans have significant influence. Amazon’s recent study found that 62% of audiences feel more positively towards brands that have been involved with their fandoms for extended periods of time. So, helping brands participate in fandoms is a crucial way we ensure big ideas foster advocacy and have longevity.
Participation: We also ask ourselves, ‘how will audiences explore and immerse themselves deeper into a big idea?’. Active participation in a brand’s story is crucial.
While the big idea may feel dated, its essence remains more relevant than ever. But for us, there is no big idea without audience participation, especially when our goal is for big ideas to travel and have big business impact.
Christoph Becker
Chief creative officer at Whalar Group
If there wasn’t space for big ideas, progress would stop. Fortunately, progress is unstoppable, because we cannot prevent people from dreaming, creating and imagining a better future. Throughout history, big ideas have fuelled a better world. And so far, it is big ideas that propel us forward, based on the progress we achieve today, shaping the future for generations to come.
Today, the way creativity is absorbed is different. Ideas must be shared, invite collaboration, and be strong enough to resonate through co-creation. This is where creators come in. Creators are essential in elevating big ideas to their full potential and blending them into culture. Therefore, the future of creativity lies in co-creation. While the nature of big ideas stays the same, how they are shared and amplified has evolved. When big ideas are co-created with creators, they reach new levels of cultural relevance.
Big ideas today shouldn't be measured by their executional value only, which, as we know, will only be immensely transformed, enriched and accelerated by AI. They should be valued as expansive, humanly-relevant creative concepts. Creators are the guides who help these ideas thrive in today’s multi-platform, invitation-based world. Creators are the key to unlocking limitless possibilities and shaping the future of creativity always inspired by big ideas.
Nick Horne
Creative director at true
When asking if there is still space for the big idea, my brain immediately went to this: ”It took millions of years for man’s instincts to develop. It will take millions more for them to even vary. It is fashionable to talk about changing man. A communicator must be concerned with unchanging man, with his obsessive drive to survive, to be admired, to succeed, to love, to take care of his own.”
- Bill Bernbach
Whilst it’s an easy one to bring out when asked questions like this, I think it’s hyper relevant to this particular point. We talk obsessively in the post-digital era about the cynicism of the consumer towards advertising. If we understood even in Bernbach’s era that the consumer needed a big idea to convince them to purchase or to sign-up to our way of thinking, it’s almost certainly imperative, now more than ever before, that we have big, bold ideas that take the consumer on a journey.
And whilst yes, the media landscape is way more fragmented, that adds even more weight to the argument. If you have a million scattered communications, it becomes even harder to make a convincing story.
In my mind, it’s more important than ever that you start with one big idea – one that all your different skill sets and media specialists can get behind. An idea with big and hairy enough legs to be told and to work in the modern world. To be tonally fitting with the modern consumer and to playout well across many varied platforms.
So no, the ‘Big Idea’ isn’t dead at all – if anything, the idea just needs to be bigger than ever before.
Lucy Bairner
Head of growth at Collaborate
Big ideas are at the heart of everything we do. That’s never going to change. And we’d argue that as platforms proliferate and AI accelerates, content will grow exponentially, making the big idea more important than ever before to cut through.
Yes, there’s a need to flex the idea depending on the platform and people you’re communicating with. The days of one-size-fits-all are long gone. We watch, we scroll, we game, we podcast, we read. Brand fight for attention and affinity is fierce, and getting fiercer.
But one thing stays the same: the need for powerful narratives that connect – for stories that resonate at a far deeper level than a fleeting doom scroll.
Big ideas that truly sing today are skilfully and exquisitely amplified to win in today’s ‘the attention economy’ – helping build equity and affinity. This means moving away from traditional above-the-line campaigns with a single message towards more bespoke, well-considered experiences that speak directly to individuals, using the overarching big idea as the common thread that each activation hangs off.
The automotive industry, for one, does this effortlessly. Take Hyundai ‘Never Just Drive’ supporting the launch of its first-ever performance EV car – focusing on emotional benefits while competitors focused on functional factors. The campaign came to life through immersive content and experiential marketing at the world-famous Festival of Speed, and playful execution.
For us, the big idea will never lose its shine. It’s the how and where it magically excites that has changed, and experiential is playing a powerful role. It’s an exciting new adventure, full of growth potential for brands and talent.
Paddy Smith
Executive creative director at Born Social
The short answer is yes, but it’s the kind of space you find on a commuter train – the one that only exists if you’re willing to find it.
What's more interesting than debating whether this space exists is how the rise of social is reshaping our relationship with ‘the big idea’. In this new era of advertising, two things seem true: the best big ideas have range, and small often beats big.
Social is forcing us to reassess what a big idea is, shifting away from seeing it simply as a blunt object hammering things home. Instead, it’s asking us to embrace adaptation and value ideas that can be broken down and rebuilt into an ecosystem. Praise should go to ideas that act more as provocations, fuelling executions across a myriad of platforms, features, and community spaces. How else are you going to stay ‘top of mind’ in what feels like the digital equivalent of a bog wash?
The ‘Michael CeraVe’ campaign is a great example of this – a brutally simple, social-first 'big idea' with range. ‘What if Michael Cera is the brains behind the CeraVe empire?’. A simple starting point that became famous because of its scope for adaptation, broken into multiple executions and drip-fed from all angles. The big idea wasn’t the Super Bowl spot; it was the breadcrumbs that led to it.
Now let’s talk about small versus big. Frankly, on social, one of the risks of idolising ‘the big idea’ is that you simply miss the boat. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, right? The same is true on social – you don’t even know how big the idea can get or where it can go until it’s real and in the wild.
Social rewards makers, not deck makers, and what may feel small at first can travel incredible distances when timed well and placed in the right hands. So, rather than fantasising about cracking it the first time or, worse, shelving things that ‘don’t feel big enough’, suck it and see.
So, when considering the role of 'the big idea’, emphasise simplicity and range – whether it has the scope to become a nuanced, layered ecosystem, or stoke co-creation. And don’t overlook the small or obvious – an authentic, small idea can bloom into something beautiful if given permission to exist.
Geoff Chang
Creative lead at eight&four
Big ideas have held brands to a higher purpose for hundreds of years. And I love the meaning they bring. We’ve just seen John Lewis revert to its century old ‘Never knowingly undersold’ line which is as much an enduring platform as a price promise, while The North Face has switched up from the intrepid ‘Never stop exploring’ to the insipid ‘We play different’.
What do these two have in common? They can both hold onto heritage, relatively speaking. In the pre-digital age, back when ‘feed’ was just a verb, with fewer lines of communication, less information and – let’s assume – a less crowded marketplace, it would’ve been easier to land a single-minded idea. And smarter to stay consistent to that message, without having to risk reinvention.
Today, could you imagine a new D2C startup launching a big idea and becoming famous because of it? Unfortunately, there’s no room for that kind of patient brand-building in the cut-throat, modern business landscape.
Nowadays, there are faster yet fragmented means of staying visible and top-of-mind, not least by showing up in people’s pockets in unexpected ways, like reacting to culture. A brand’s personality and how that plays out on social is a more relevant reference point for how an audience judges you. People look up a brand on Instagram; they rarely Google its ads. It’s easy to reserve big ideas for big brand campaigns. But if you can take the essence of that big idea and deliver it little and often, then you might get close to the longevity of John Lewis.
Ian Doherty
Managing partner at Bonfire
'What is this about BIG? You know, seeing the BIG picture, having the BIG idea, clinching the BIG deal – nobody wants to clinch the little deal… Who wants to do that?'.
Look at the first 10 seconds from Barclays’ ‘Big’, beautifully delivered by Anthony Hopkins. The commercial, which is almost twenty-five years old, was, in itself, a big idea, meant to celebrate the size of the bank rather than its products.
The big idea has always been associated with a big campaign: big productions, long commercials, and huge media spend to get the big idea in front of as big an audience as possible.
One could argue that with the numerous channels and platforms now available to target an audience, this approach isn’t necessary anymore. But the keyword here is ‘idea’. Great ideas can be equally transformative for a brand with smaller budgets, allowing them to punch well above their weight. Challenger brands have been using this technique to take on the big brands for years by being more creative, innovative and agile.
What is really important is the power of an idea to engage and persuade. I loved this quote from Greg Hahn, CCO of Mischief: “I have often told my clients they don’t have the budget to be boring.”
When Dan Wieden sat down the night before a Nike presentation and wrote ‘Just do it’, I wonder if he realised that he had just created what would become one of the greatest ‘Big ideas’ in advertising history. Three simple words that transformed Nike from a sports shoe brand to a lifestyle aspiration. Now, that’s an idea.
Ana Cavalcanti
Executive creative director at Soko
I would say that big ideas are, and always will be, not only relevant, but also extremely effective. I say this because I have firsthand experience implementing big ideas into the world through many, many powerful campaigns we’ve worked on here at Soko, now Droga5, a part of Accenture Song. And we’ve really seen results.
Even though big media platforms want you to think otherwise, pushing niche audiences and diverse channels down our throats (and OK, it can work, depending on the case), big ideas are still literally the main driving force of advertising.
Why? Because, even in this ever-changing market scenario, big ideas are able to encapsulate a brand’s philosophy, strengthen its message, and integrate it into its identity. It’s like embedding your message into consumers’ lives.
Big ideas are the key to establishing a strong brand presence, even when ‘diluted’ across different media platforms. If the big idea is solid and ownable, it will amplify the brand’s message (and what it stands for) and be able to survive in any scenario, in a timeless and consistent way.
Good campaigns drive behaviours, but big ideas drive something even more powerful.
Of course, time and consistency are necessary. Big ideas rooted in successful creative platforms can become long-term solutions and guiding lights for all of a brand’s creative efforts. And nowadays, more than ever, opting for the big idea is the imperative decision for a brand’s survival.
Jeff Bowerman
Executive creative director at DEPT®
The prevailing wind in advertising is to make more, cheaper, faster. Just feed the platforms with content, and put aside consistency and distinctiveness.
Now, I understand the short-term appeal of this – drive those metrics now. But the first casualty of this is the big idea. Contrary to our feral reputation, this is the thing that creative people love; a neat box for everything to fit into, otherwise we are just making stuff haphazardly with no anchor point.
It’s not a TV ad. It’s not a lock up or look and feel. It’s not a one-off campaign with matching luggage cutdowns. The big idea is something to rally around and, better yet, something the audience can rally around too and feel they equally own – something I feel we all need, whether you work in advertising or not.
Because of this, the big idea it’s still relevant. It's just harder to find than ever, but this makes it all the more rewarding when you crack it. And I, for one, will fight to the death to keep hold of it.
Jasmine Clark
Head of strategy at Venables Bell + Partners
All throughout time, there's always been a temptation to pit old-school paradigms against new, emerging ones – in this case, ‘the big idea’ versus today’s ever-expanding ecosystem – but the simple and maybe unsurprising truth is that neither can stand alone. In a world where attention spans are scattered and shrinking, the union of the two is critical to creating work that’s actually worth people’s time. For most briefs I come across these days, I embrace both as indispensable partners in crime.
Yes, new platforms and tech let us reach audiences with more precision, allowing us to target the right folks on the right channel with the most relevant message (praise be!). But in an opt-out world, it’s the big idea that helps us stick and stand out. It allows us to drive unreasonable love, outsized impact, and hopefully, at the end of the day, create something that people actually want to be a part of. It also acts as a necessary glue, making every highly-targeted touchpoint work harder together in a way that’s both fixed and flexible.
Honestly, the more interesting question isn't if big ideas still matter – it's how do we build, breed, and nurture them in this everchanging new age? For us at VB+P, we like rich ideas with many paths for expansion, with stories and content, and the ability to shapeshift within the ecosystem. We start with a more modern mix of touchpoints beyond just a 60-second film (though they may have a role, too) to push and pressure test. We embrace systems that are more modular and nimble in nature, knowing that data will help us get sharper. Lastly, we bring together a diversity of skills and talents across advertising, media, design and production to help us maximise the hell out of every idea and opportunity.
Jamie Bell
Executive creative director at The Maverick Group
In advertising, everyone seems to talk about how ‘noisy’ the landscape is. With countless brands vying for attention, it feels like a battle to stand out. But the reality is, most don’t. Many brands fall into the trap of thinking that more content – more ads and more posts – will somehow break through. As my colleague Simon Derungs puts it, they’ve shifted from advertising to ‘asset-ising’, believing that volume is the answer. But is it?
While channels and media have multiplied, the core challenge of advertising hasn’t changed – it’s about capturing attention. It doesn’t matter how well-targeted or optimised your campaign is, if the idea doesn’t resonate, you might as well be burning your budget.
Take a look at today – I’ve scrolled through Instagram, browsed TikTok, skimmed emails, and passed by hundreds of ads on the Underground. Yet, I can’t recall a single message. It’s not noise – it’s static. If your content is dull and forgettable, people just thumb past or tune it out. The goal isn’t to exist on every platform; it’s to be relevant and say something people care about.
So, do we still need big ideas? Of course we do. Human attention hasn’t changed – people still want to be excited, moved, and surprised. What has changed is how easy it has come for brands to be skipped through or swiped past… Which makes our job more relevant than ever, searching for the ideas big enough to stop eyeballs and deliver that emotional punch.
But, a ‘big idea’ isn’t about scale or budget. It’s not about throwing content at every channel in the hope that something sticks. Big is about being smart, original, and resonant enough to grab attention. A social post or a direct mail piece can carry just as big an idea as a multimillion-dollar TV ad. The medium doesn’t matter; the message does. Big ideas, no matter how small in scale, disrupt. They make people stop, think, and feel something. Brands that understand this can become cultural phenomena, making you laugh, cry, or even reach for your wallet. They make brands matter. Without a big idea, you’re just noise, and more of that is the last thing any of us need.
