We are in a new paradigm for advertising choices. Do they work?

We are in a new paradigm for advertising choices. As I convene the 2026 IPA Effectiveness Awards, I want to focus on a simple question: do they work? 

In a 1996 speech ghostwritten for Sir Martin Sorrell, Jeremy Bullmore made a bold prediction: 

“Brand advertising in the next 20 years is going to demand a great deal more than the ability to write, produce and place a 30-second spot on network television. If our world doesn’t increase the breadth of creativity it can provide for its clients, then our clients, out of cold necessity, will emigrate to those who can.” 

Bullmore’s prophecy took years to materialize. He understandably envisioned a world where media fragmentation made massive audiences harder to buy, requiring new forms of “spectacle” and more integrated, channel-agnostic brand-building. Yet the transformation was slow, even as the information age dawned, with marketers initially increasing their use of print and TV. And even as smartphones became ubiquitous in the 2010s, most of the decade’s signature advertising effectiveness achievements – amidst a “new creative age” – were reliant on the 30-second spots of a supposedly bygone era.

The digital tipping point

But in only a few years to 2020, the paradigm had shifted. With audiences glued to their phones, marketers started spending more on online media than offline, and increasingly focused on social media for brand-building and Google search for sales-driving; by Omnicom Media Group’s calculations, 65% of UK advertising spend in 2025 will be on these two media, up from 25% a decade earlier; big brands still invest relatively higher proportions elsewhere, particularly video, but even their share into social and search is now around 40% (itself a near-50% increase versus pre-pandemic). And with digital media requiring cohesive data, technology, and brand experience strategies, agencies were diversifying their roles in the mould of Bullmore’s original prophecy, extending their influence and becoming as likely to lead technology consulting projects for clients as book local print campaigns. 

Yet evidence that this industry-wide shift has been effective for brands remains unclear. In 2024, the IPA Effectiveness Awards gave Gold to brands like McCain and Yorkshire Tea, which had grown through conventional video advertising. Despite social media's growing usage and investment, it was mostly peripheral to the strongest cases, and there was remarkably little interest shown in search - despite it commanding £17.5B in annual investment in the UK alone.  

Industry research is inconclusive. WPP & Ebiquity's Profitability 2 tells us linear TV advertising remains almost twice as profitable than social media in the UK, yet Analytic Partners’ benchmarks suggest social and online video had 30% higher ROIs than TV just a year later. Some encourage brands to focus on media with higher attention, and claim that long-term profit ROI is still mostly associated with long-form video formats, whilst oth​er research advocates for multiple shorter exposures. And this debate isn’t just about media choices: at the same time, IPA data suggests very large business effects remain likeliest to go to the “most consistent” advertisers, social platforms often support a more diverse and topical approach to communication. It is difficult to understand what works.   

The boardroom test: In search of today's iconic cases 

Despite this confusion, adoption of new methods has only increased. In earnings calls, CEOs champion their pursuit of audiences onto smaller screens; media agencies acclaim the effectiveness of their digital targeting; platforms ask you to trust their AI capabilities. Yet the tangible evidence - proof these choices deliver outsized commercial outcomes - remains hidden, and accelerates an uncomfortable mismatch between radical action and unclear outcomes.  

In a world where three of the top five most popular media activities are “predominantly online”, the question isn’t whether audience behaviour has changed, but whether advertisers have been right to change their own in response. In the previous decade, we all – brands, agencies, platforms, creators – had ready answers for any sceptical CEO: the success of John Lewis Christmas; McDonald’s or Guinness’s unstoppable growth; Aldi’s fame. In this new creative age, what are the cases we will take into those boardrooms? 

In a world awash with anonymised brand lift studies and flavour of the month success stories, the IPA Effectiveness Awards should be where we identify the evidence of sustained, real-world impact our industry needs. Is the adoption of these new communication tactics delivering growth for brands? Are the old rules of effectiveness being challenged? And are the tools of the past – particularly the broadcast storytelling of old – being rendered outmoded by TikToks and podcasts?  

Matching practice with proof: The 2026 Awards evolution

There is only one awards programme worldwide with the rigour, the structure and the data to answer these questions. In the past, where innovative cases have been suitably rigorous enough, judges have awarded them: in 2024, they recognised the digital diversification of Guinness; the power of personalised text messages for Concierge Car Wash; the targeted, community-led approach of Permian Strategic Partnership; the global impact of better SEO for H&M. But that H&M paper is the perfect example: it remains, for all the energy and investment our industry puts into search, the only entry for SEO these awards have had. We simply need more. 

We need more real-world data on how paid social media advertising has built strong brands, the value of organic social content, and the role influencers play. We need better evidence on the benefits of creative personalization and the long-term benefits of iterating messages and content. We need to know if search (and other lower-funnel tactics) deliver incremental growth, and if LLM visibility drives business return. And we need to know if conventional video advertising remains essential, and if effective brand ideas must be consistent across channel, audience and time. If you are doing this work and, that work is thoughtful and effective, we want your entry. There is no “right type” of IPA Effectiveness Award winner. 

To match the paradigm shift in advertising practice with a paradigm shift in advertising proof, the Awards will change in 2026. Judging panels will further diversify beyond traditional specialisms to reflect new industry methods, and seek evidence of successful innovation throughout prize awarding.  

In making this effort, we hope our members will recognise that investigating the benefits of this paradigm shift is something that will benefit our people, our agencies and our industry. Some questions may never be answered satisfactorily; some entries might inspire the work of the future and others might demand a change of course. But the point is to search, to understand, to improve, so that we might keep walking through those boardroom doors with our heads held high.  

Charlie Ebdy is Chief Strategy Officer of Omnicom Media Group UK and Convenor of Judges for the 2026 IPA Effectiveness Awards. 

The opinions expressed here are those of the authors and were submitted in accordance with the IPA terms and conditions regarding the uploading and contribution of content to the IPA newsletters, IPA website, or other IPA media, and should not be interpreted as representing the opinion of the IPA.