Soapbox 2025: James Robinson on Upholding the Principles That Make Us Better
Our LBB community is buzzing with ideas, opinions and visions for a better advertising industry. So this year, we invited you to dig out your megaphone and climb onto our figurative soapbox to share your hopes for 2025: what change do you want to see? How can the inner workings of the industry improve? How should it adapt to the tech, social, cultural, economic, and politics shifts shaping the market?
Taking the mic this time is James Robinson, chief creative officer North America at Momentum Worldwide, as he urges agencies and leaders to “hold on to our commitment to the things that are making a real difference”.
What is the one thing you would like to see change in the industry in 2025?
So much has changed already in 2025. We’ve already seen massive brands pull back on DEI and inclusion initiatives and as the year progresses, we will probably see backsliding on sustainability and wellness too. So maybe it's not what I would like to see change. Maybe it’s what I hope does not change. Don't get me wrong, I’m happy to see some of the more performative and gimmicky nods to those initiatives diminish, but I hope we hold on to our commitment to the things that are making a real difference: making sure we keep diversity in our leadership and teams, that we use real sustainable suppliers and practices, that we care for each other and our people. I hope that rather than blowing with the trend-winds as we often do, the industry stiffens our collective spine and holds fast to the principles that make us better.
What progress, if any, was made on this in 2024?
We made some really great progress on both inclusion and sustainability in 2024. My agency became the first experience agency in the world to get two ISO certifications for sustainable practices. We saw a new generation of diverse leaders take storied agencies to new heights and start their own. We saw work that destigmatised mental health and fostered understanding. We did this because it was the right thing to do – but also because our clients demanded new voices and new practices.
What challenges or obstacles do you foresee might stand in our way – and how might we address them?
As usual, we as a society tend to read too much into presidential elections, but at first glance it sure looks like the culture has shifted – and the biggest brands in the world are already shifting with it. It’s going to be easy to get cynical, to overcorrect, to give up, or just go with the flow. There will be a lot of over analysis. A lot less courage. We will be tempted to take fewer risks in both the work we do and how we make it.
Where might we look for inspiration for solutions?
We must constantly remind ourselves that not taking risks has never worked. Cynicism never works. Despair never works. Look to our audiences. The trick is to remember that most people in this world are caring, smart, honest, generous and good – and that they will always respond to work that has those qualities. Times will always change, and our industry is always under huge pressure to change to keep up. But the change I am hoping for is that this time, we think a little more about what we are changing and why.
