Matt Garbutt, Director of AI and Creative, Brave Bison

When a brief shifts or a platform rule changes, don’ t scramble, do prototype.

Why empathy is the edge

As AI moves into more parts of the process, human understanding becomes more important, not less. Creative effectiveness now depends on understanding mindsets and moments, not just segments and demographics. The best-performing campaigns we’ ve seen are those that speak to mood, attention span and platform behaviour, not just job titles or locations.

This is shifting how empathy shows up in agency work. Teams are using behavioural and contextual data to shape creative ideas. Outputs aren’ t just about reach, they’ re about resonance. It’ s also reframing empathy as a practical skill, something built into how we brief, test and deliver, not just a buzzword for brand values.

The cost of standing still is rising

Signals of change are arriving every quarter. Meta’ s automation plans, generative campaigns built by SMEs and clients trialling AI tools on their

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