Marketing & Agency News 2025 Recap | CES & More Upcoming

The Hidden Gems: Uncovered

Author

David Drexler
December 17, 2025

Welcome to The Hidden Gems Monthly Randomly timed Newsletter: #4

For more information on what The Hidden Gems is: Either click here to unveil the person behind it, and click here to get a fun “explainer” on us. If you work in advertising, production, marketing, creative, media, experiential, digital, product, orsome funky combination - we welcome you to stick around.

What’s (un)covered in this newsletter?

  • 2025 Recap - Mergers, Closes, Highlights

  • New Brands Served in 2025

  • Philosophical Musing

  • What’s in store for 2026?

Now, on with the show

Advertising Industry News - 2025 Recap

  • Omnicom and IPG Merged. A historic industry shakeup. High level:

    • Technically, Omnicom Acquired IPG. And with that, all IPG brand names are gone: IPG Lab, IPG Health, IPG Mediabrands and more.

    • Layoffs - 4,000 and counting. Friends and respected industry people come together to help. We love to see it! From Breaking & Entering Media, they created the Merger Support Network. More on the mission here. Another form from Mischief recruiter Kiana 

    • FCB, DDB, and MullenLowe are (forcibly) retiring their names and being swallowed into other agencies. Lots of people are sharing their stories being at the agencies. How do you feel about that? We’re ok with making room for new names.

  • Other M&A and Alliances:

    • Media Agency Wpromote acquires Experiential & Creative Agency Giant Spoon. Two independent agencies with vastly different services coming together… Feels like a smart, very complemenary move. Minimal if any redundancy.

    • Havas & Horizon, two mega media agencies, form an alliance

  • Retail Media surpasses traditional media - It’s a pivotal moment for media as well, and traditional mediums get hammered down and overtaken by digital, and now retail. My bet is that gaming media will also rise, as we find more ways to place messaging in games both via metaverses and custom skins.

  • Lambasted rebrands & campaigns:

    • From Cracker Barrel to American Eagle. And the Jaguar campaign blunder from 2024 led to the CEO resigning this year. Now more than ever, brands and creative are scrutinized.

    • AI is of course a major target as well, with Coca Cola putting out a divisive AI creative. Nothing more soulful and human than celebrating Holidays, so it’s ironic that AI was chosen over humans to produce the work

  • Not all is doom and gloom. So much glorious creative this year!

New Brands using Hidden Gems in 2025

Some big, small, and new brands we served in 2025. We can’t share the work publicly but feel free to message and inquire on what went down!

ELF Cosmetics (Beauty), Clockwork (B2B Tech/AI), Open Road (Auto Insurance), Zamp (B2B Tax Software), Post Cereal (Cereal), 7-Eleven (Convenience Store), Call of Duty Black Ops 7 (Video Game), Live Nation (Live Entertainment), Salvation Army (Charity), Grail (Healthcare), Honda (Automotive), Saatva (Mattress), Wpromote (Agency), Adoro (Insurance), Netflix (Entertainment), SeatGeek (Entertainment), Danimals (Yogurt), Stelo (Medical Device), Hulu (Entertainment), City of Anaheim (Destination), Merle Norman (Beauty), ASTR (Fashion/Apparel)… and many more.

Note: This only showcases creative-led work (Content, Experiential, Design) since it’s the most visibly flashy, but much much more goes on here. Curious about the teams behind any piece of work?  The cost, timeline?  Just ask!

Philosophical Musing

Instead of just one philosophical thinker, how about a slew?

Content Creator Reid Olson makes skits to cleverly share relationship wisdom through metaphors. Often using delicious food to help convey the insights we commonly overlook (but need to hear!). Here’s one on Creating Boundaries.

What’s in Store for 2026

  • So many exciting brand and campaign launches we’re excited to be serving:

    • An impending celebrity-owned longevity brand, an athlete-owned wellness & gym brand, mega financial firms, a too-fancy-for-my-taste luxury travel destination, and of course, AI Tech companies.

  • CES Coming up. Won’t be there, but do have some events to share to anyone interested.

  • Obvious predictions for 2026: More merges, closures, reorgs, new shops, AI innovations, blunders, celebrations.

  • Real Prediction: As social, digital, and AI continue to inundate us all, people will seek authenticity and connection through IRL events. Brands will follow, and Experiential will grow even more.

  • The big question: How will the Creative Industry evolve their use of Generative AI? We find there’s times where it needs to be subtle, times when it can be overt, and times where there should be none of it!

See you in 2026

What the heck is “The Hidden Gems”?

The Hidden Gems was founded by David Drexler to solve for the frequent inefficiencies in the Advertising Agency & Production landscape. We believe that smaller is often better, and the most optimal partners have yet to be discovered.

We are THE Agency & Production Matchmaker.  The secret weapon of many marketers, creatives, experientialists, innovators, and producers. When they seek recommendations on which external partners to consider for engagement… we provide them with incredible Hidden Gems worth considering, that are otherwise flying under their radar.  Literally that simple.  No paperwork nor transactions ever needed with The Hidden Gems itself. 

We find that great work and results best manifest with partners that have top notch process, people, and prices.  Reach out to us at any time for questions, needs, inspiration, gutchecks… or a laugh.

Shine on,

David Drexler

Founder, The Hidden Gems

Agency & Production Matchmaker