With an estimated 5.6 billion people using social media worldwide, you’re probably aware that maintaining your brand’s presence across multiple platforms is critical if you want to compete in this ever-progressing digital landscape.
A strong social media presence not only offers new opportunities for leads and sales, but also strengthens customer loyalty, enhances your networking, and opens the door for more partnerships and customer feedback – all the while driving traffic to your website and raising awareness of your brand.
However, the steps needed to assert or improve your presence on socials may feel unclear. Many businesses assume that social media management is easy to take on at first, due to the deceptively simple user experience on most platforms.
But in actual fact, it’s a very different, more intricate experience than managing a personal account. And, if handled incorrectly, it can even have a detrimental impact on your brand.
So here are seven steps that any modern business can take to ensure their brand is making the most of social media.
By monitoring the performance data of your competitors, you can gain insights into what works and what doesn’t, driving smarter decision-making and building a more robust strategy.
Researching and analysing competitor behaviour means you can stay one step ahead and be inspired by new ideas. You can detect any threats to your business by identifying gaps in your strategy, emerging trends, and missed opportunities.
After all, why reinvent when you can circumvent?
There are a number of social competitor analysis tools you can use to do this, including FanPageKarma, Awario, Brandwatch, and Iconosquare. You then need to decide which audience, engagement, and content metrics are useful to you.
Some of those metrics might be percentage of engagement per media, followers gained, follower growth, comments, likes, the most used hashtags, average posts per day and so on – whichever insights will help you define your own goals.
If you don’t know who your social media audience is, how can you serve them the content they want to see? It’s important to learn your audience’s needs and motivations, as well as their behaviours. What social media platforms do they use? When and why do they use them? And what are they looking for?
With the answers, you can tailor your content to ensure you are serving the right message, at the right time, in the right place.
Different audience demographics – for example age, gender, geographical location – will exhibit different behaviour online. So knowing who uses which platform aids your researching, advertising and marketing decisions, and ensures you’re providing the most relevant content to achieve your business goals.
Once you have an understanding of your audience’s needs and preferences, as well as those of your competitors, it’s time to select which social media channels are most suited to your audience, products/services and business needs.
Each social network provides unique delivery opportunities for you to entice your audience. For example, Instagram is a highly visual, creative platform. It can be a great place to showcase your products and services in a more imaginative or artistic manner.
It’s also considered to be less formal than other platforms– perfect for showing off your brand personality and company culture. Similar with TikTok: this is a platform popular with Gen Z, so it’s a great place to share fun, short videos.
LinkedIn, on the other hand, is arguably the most useful social platform for B2B marketing or targeting a professional demographic.
Consider your channel selection carefully to ensure your messaging is broadcast in the most effective way, reaching the right prospects and generating leads.
It’s common for marketers to spread themselves too thin, so bear in mind your staff resources as part of the selection process. If you have only one team member, attempting to establish a brand presence across six different social media channels may be unrealistic.
Your presence on social media is an extension of your brand. It should, therefore, align with all your other brand messaging. Maintaining a consistent voice across every platform helps your brand strengthen its trust and reliability, creating a distinct personality among your competitors.
To help you adhere to this, developing brand guidelines can be a helpful tool when maintaining consistency in your tone of voice. Consider why your brand exists, what its values are, and how you want customers to feel when interacting with your brand.
The overuse of internet terms or trendy slang can actually damage your reputation, making you appear out of touch or ‘cheap’, and subsequently hurting engagement.
In your guidelines, you may consider creating an emoji palette or limit their use if your tone of voice is less playful. Without such consistency, there’s a lot of room for error.
A content calendar is also a good way to ensure you’re maintaining consistency. Viewing all your upcoming posts at once will give you a sense of how they fit together. Plus, it ensures you’re posting regularly enough that your audience (and, importantly, the algorithm) don’t forget about you.
Arguably the most important aspect of social media strategy is your willingness (or availability) to engage with your audience.
Posting regularly and capitalising on customer interest is a necessity in today’s social climate if you want to keep your followers invested in your brand – and it’s crucial for the growth of your business. As we all get more and more used to interacting with generative AI and chatbots, human to human engagement and community building will help brands stand out and retain share of voice.
No one wants to receive an automated message or talk to a robot. So, interacting with customers and responding to them quickly is essential if you want to humanise your brand, nurture relationships and increase customer loyalty.
Ensure your account looks active with real-time updates, through Instagram stories or updated YouTube videos, for example. Avoid cheesy iStock imagery, and instead opt for authentic, original content that reinforces your brand personality and culture.
In order to remain active and engage, you’ll need to monitor your channels as often as possible, at least daily, and post regularly. There are plenty of social media management tools that can help you do just this. Pre-scheduling social posts is a huge time-saver, rescuing you from posting manually at all hours of the day.
It’s also good practice to keep your ear to the ground, through social listening. Social listening is the process of monitoring social media channels for mentions of your brand, product, competitors, and more, providing the opportunity to track, analyse and respond to conversations.
Understanding how people feel about your brand helps you keep your marketing and product/service development efforts on track.
Without social listening, you might be missing out on a big piece of insight about your brand or industry that people are talking about.
It also allows you to outline pain points, and better your crisis management tactics by responding right away to negative posts (should there be any). It can also help you identify social influencers, providing opportunities for partnerships and advertising.
The final step in any digital marketing campaign is measurement. As with your initial data-gathering exercises, measuring the effectiveness of your social media marketing activity will help you to optimise your approach and guarantee ongoing success. And luckily, there are a range of analytics tools you can use to gain these insights.
Social media is a vital tool that all businesses should take advantage of in order to maintain optimum brand loyalty, reach, and engagement.
If you would like to fine-tune your business’s social media activity, boost your reach and get noticed, get in touch with us today at [email protected].
Beeston Media, a video production agency with a team of six friendly videographers, has three dedicated desks available to sublet in our spacious private office on the 5th floor of Hamilton House, Stokes Croft BS1 3QY.
We really value being part of the creative community here, which includes other production companies and freelancers in motion graphics, web and marketing.
These desks would be a good fit for individuals looking for a more private space than open coworking, and one that’s available 24/7. Individuals with complementary or adjacent skills to content creation would be a particularly good fit as we enjoy sharing innovative practice.
What our office offers:
Dedicated desk, secure office, tea & coffee making facilities, WiFi, air conditioning, separate private meeting room available, 24/7 access. £200 +VAT pcm.
Hamilton House benefits:
Shared kitchen, bike store, shower, event and meeting room spaces (hourly hire), Orchard Cafe and The Canteen, parking spaces £120 +VAT pcm (separate lease arrangement with Hamilton House service team).
Contact [email protected] if you’d like to know more about the space.
With the European Accessibility Act (EAA) coming into force in June 2025, website accessibility is no longer optional.
It’s a legal requirement across the European Union and will affect every part of how we design and develop digital products.
The aim? To ensure a wide range of products and services, including websites, comply with accessibility standards that allow equal access for people with disabilities.
According to the 2025 WebAIM Million Report, only 5.2% of the world’s top one million websites meet basic accessibility standards.
In other words, 94.8% still fall short of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), which underpin compliance with the ADA, Section 508, and now the EAA.
The good news? Designing for web accessibility is not about restricting creativity or overhauling your codebase, it’s about building better, clearer, and more inclusive experiences for everyone.
The bottom line is that you will need to meet the WCAG 2.1 AA standards. These guidelines form the basis for accessibility across the web, covering everything from colour contrast and readable text to keyboard navigation and assistive technology support. Your design and development teams will need to make a plan to address any areas that fall short.
Design is typically the first step towards website accessibility. A well-designed interface can prevent many accessibility barriers from ever appearing. Here are the accessibility best practices for inclusive design:
Text and interactive elements should have sufficient contrast to remain readable in all conditions. For example, pale grey text on a white background fails to meet web accessibility standards and is hard to read for many users. We use tools such as color.review, to ensure that our designs match colour contrast requirements.
Legible typography benefits everyone. We choose fonts that are clear and scalable. We also use consistent heading levels – heading levels (H1 to H6) help organise content into a logical hierarchy and structure that helps both users and assistive technologies navigate the page. We always start with a base text size of 16px (or 1rem) to make sure that the most important text is always legible.
Interactive elements such as buttons, links, and form fields should always provide visible feedback when hovered over, focused on, or clicked.
Clean layouts, clear labelling, and straightforward navigation create a smoother experience for all users, including those with cognitive impairments.
When communicating information, it’s important to use multiple cues such as icons, text labels, or patterns in addition to colour.
Even though website accessibility is a requirement, a site can still look and feel engaging while remaining functional and accessible for all. The same principles that improve usability for users with disabilities often enhance the overall user experience.
Although good design lays the foundation for web accessibility, development plays an equally important role in making sure that a site is accessible. Here are some of the key principles to follow:
Structure content with proper headings, lists, buttons, and landmarks. Semantic elements communicate meaning to browsers and assistive technologies, improving navigation and comprehension.
Instead of using PX-based measurements, using REM is best practice as it ensures that the type and element sizing scales with user preference. REM stands for ‘root-em’ and is a fundamental unit of measurement in web design.
All interactive elements should be usable with a keyboard. Users must be able to navigate, select, and submit information without relying on a mouse or touch device.
Every form field should have a visible and programmatic label. You should provide clear error messages and ensure they are announced by screen readers.
An ARIA label is a HTML attribute which provides descriptive text for web elements when the visual label is absent. It can enhance accessibility when used correctly, but it should not replace semantic HTML. Use it only when there is no native element that conveys the same meaning.
Regularly test your site using screen readers, keyboard-only navigation, and accessibility tools such as Lighthouse, Axe, or WAVE. Manual testing is essential for a complete picture.
Given the figures from the 2025 WebAIM Million Report, there is a high chance that your site won’t comply with the EAA. We recommend the following steps to ensure that your site reaches Web ContentAccessibility Guidelines:
The EAA is an important step towards a more inclusive digital world. For designers and developers, it represents an opportunity to create better products that serve everyone, regardless of ability.
Accessibility in web design is not a constraint but a mark of quality, professionalism, and care. By embedding accessibility best practices into both design and development now, you will not only meet the 2025 requirements, but you can also build digital experiences that are clearer, more usable, and more human now and for the future.
Is your website welcoming to everyone? We can work it out! Let’s talk about creating a digital experience that includes all users. Get in touch at [email protected].
At Spark AI we are big believers in continuous market research – for us its to make sure our AI literacy and AI business transformation programmes are exactly on point to what the industry needs right now. Understanding where agencies really are – not where they think they are – helps us build the right support.
That’s why a couple of months ago we set out to research the future of skills and hiring in the age of AI alongside The Industry Club, and what we found reveals an intriguing dynamic playing out across UK agencies right now.
There’s a growing confidence-capability gap, and understanding it could be the key to unlocking your agency’s next phase of AI adoption.
Our report surveyed 149 MDs, CEOs, founders and department heads to understand how AI is reshaping agency capability, hiring and culture. Whilst 63% of agency leaders feel confident their organisation is ready for AI, 37% admit their use remains sporadic with no formal strategy.
Here’s the paradox: amongst those who describe themselves as “very confident”, 36% admit their AI use is actually unstructured – a higher proportion than the 26% amongst “somewhat confident” leaders. Confidence is outpacing capability, and sometimes the most confident may be the least aware of what structured AI adoption actually requires. But this isn’t a problem – it’s simply different stages of the same journey.
The research shows agencies splitting into two camps: 37% are still experimenting ad hoc, whilst 19% are building structured programmes with measurable outcomes. The good news? Moving from experimentation to structure is entirely achievable with the right approach.
Laura Jackson, Board Director at Not Actual Size, saw this transition firsthand: “Before, everyone was experimenting on their own, one person on ChatGPT, another on Midjourney. It felt exciting but chaotic. Having a plan, even a light one, made it much more manageable.”
The confidence-capability gap isn’t a problem to fear – it’s simply about recognising that feeling ready and being structurally ready are different stages of the same journey.
Here’s where the picture becomes genuinely encouraging: AI literacy has become a core business investment, and those who are committing to it are seeing real results.
Two-thirds (68%) of agencies anticipate spending up to £15k on AI-related training in the next 12 months, with only 5% planning to spend nothing. Perhaps most tellingly, a further 16% are investing over £15k, with 11% in the £15k–£50k range and 5% investing over £50k.
The data reveals an important insight behind these spend figures: the most confident agencies are also the highest investors. Capability builds through continuous learning, not one-time workshops. These organisations are spending more because they understand that maintaining fluency requires ongoing development, and because they’re clear on how that learning links to client and commercial outcomes.
As one Head of Production at an independent agency puts it: “Getting (and understanding) the balance between the different types of AI applications and how they work together is more critical than ever. The consistent pace of application updates can make training ‘programmes’ hard to implement, so it needs to be a company-wide commitment to consistent, continuous learning opportunities.”
AI isn’t triggering a hiring boom, but it is reshaping whom agencies hire and why – and the findings here are genuinely positive for agencies.
Whilst 71% say AI hasn’t changed headcount, 46% have already hired or plan to hire specifically for AI capabilities. Here’s the encouraging part: when they do hire, 65% prioritise curiosity, adaptability and problem-solving over fixed expertise. Only 6% actively recruit for specific AI skills.
The detailed breakdown reveals a clear shift in priorities: 43% consider AI skills “nice to have, but not essential” at point of hire, whilst 22% say they’re “not important – we hire for aptitude”. A further 25% seek a mix of both aptitude and specific skills, with just 6% viewing specific AI expertise as “very important”.
As AI tools evolve faster than people can keep up, agencies are recognising that mindset trumps mastery. Learning agility matters more than technical proficiency.
Vix Jagger, Head of Creative Innovation & AI at Droga5, captures this perfectly: “My 63-year-old retired mum got into AI, she’s proof curiosity beats credentials. AI is for people who learn faster not the ones who aren’t scared to break things.”
The real opportunities for growth lie in mindset and approach, not technical proficiency. This has important implications for how agencies can approach AI readiness. You don’t need to hire data scientists or machine learning engineers – you need to cultivate curiosity, adaptability and strategic thinking across your existing team. Like it’s always been – success is down to how engaged your people are and the behaviours that underpin your culture.
Whilst AI’s current impact is most visible in creative work – with strategy (13%), creative (13%), and design (12%) leading today – the research reveals that agency leaders are looking to operational areas next, transforming how agencies scope, price, and deliver work.
This evolution is particularly relevant for independent agencies with leaner teams and tighter margins. AI is becoming a competitive equaliser, helping smaller agencies deliver more strategic value per person and close the capability gap with larger network agencies.
The agencies making the most headway with AI aren’t necessarily those with the most expertise today – they’re the ones building structured approaches, measuring outcomes, and prioritising learning mindsets.
If you’re feeling confident about your AI readiness, the next step is ensuring that confidence translates into structured implementation. When hiring for AI capabilities, focusing on adaptability and curiosity over specific technical skills will serve you far better in the long term.
The confidence-capability gap isn’t permanent, and with honest assessment and deliberate action, it’s entirely bridgeable.
Explore all the findings and see where your agency sits using the Spark AI Maturity Model framework: https://www.wearespark.ai/future-of-skills-hiring-ai-agencies
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About Spark AI
Spark AI helps creative and brand leaders turn AI curiosity into confidence through structured training and business transformation. We have worked with 60+ agencies running AI Fundamentals workshops and AI Accelerator programmes based on our # 1 bestselling book in the UK and US Shift – AI for Agencies. Trusted by Oxford University Saïd Business School and backed by Innovate UK. https://www.wearespark.ai/
About The Industry Club
The Industry Club is one of the most trusted creative talent partners in London, specialising in matching the right talent to the right teams and helping the industry prepare for the future. https://www.theindustryclub.co.uk/
Weston College is pleased to launch a new Level 1 Awareness of Safeguarding & Prevent in the Workplace course designed specifically for employers, line managers, and staff supporting apprentices, T Level students, or King’s Trust work experience learners.
This one-day course provides essential knowledge on safeguarding and Prevent, tailored to each employer’s own policy. For those without one, we signpost to the NSPCC policy template to help get them started.
The qualification is fully funded for individuals earning under £25,000, or 50% co-funded (£88.20) through the Adult Skills Fund.
This training is ideal for roles such as receptionists, HR, pastoral, care, or education staff, and is a fantastic addition to your organisation’s commitment to safe and supportive learning environments.
Explore all our employer training opportunities here: Funded, Co-funded and Commercial Training for Businesses | Weston College
Having just completed our third six-monthly benchmark on AI in creative agencies, I’m fascinated by what we’re seeing emerge across the industry. We spoke to 60+ agencies and did an extensive review of all the recent industry studies, and whilst we found that 80% of creative agencies now actively use AI, only approximately 5% are genuinely innovating with it – building proprietary IP, launching new services, and completely transforming how they work.
The conversation has definitely shifted since our last report in the spring of 2025. Six months ago, agencies were asking “Should we use AI?” Now it’s “How do we transform client value with AI?” But whilst the questions have evolved, most agencies still feel stuck in what we’re calling “the experimentation trap.”
Through our work with creative agency clients, we’ve identified a four-stage AI maturity model that the most successful agencies follow:
Experiment – scattered dabbling with various tools
Adopt – structured training and AI taskforces
Optimise – automation and reshaped roles
Innovate – proprietary tools and new client services
What we’re finding is that it’s really easy to get stuck between stages one and two. Meanwhile, the 5% who’ve reached stage four are building capabilities that genuinely set them apart.
Some of these innovation-stage agencies are doing remarkable things. Brave Bison’s AudienceGPT creates synthetic audiences with award-winning accuracy, effectively replacing traditional focus groups. Eight&Four has built Platform12, a complete proprietary ecosystem. OLIVER’s Seance achieves 85% correlation with human focus groups, whilst Monks.Flow reports 97% cost savings through agentic AI workflows.
One agency leader we spoke to put it perfectly: “AI hasn’t made our work cheaper, but it has made it better. Now we are exploring more territories, testing more ideas, and then refining them more.”
The barriers have shifted quite a bit since the first edition of this 6 monthly benchmark research 12 months ago. Early on, it was all about tool overwhelm – there were just too many options and people didn’t know where to start. Now it’s more fundamental: 43% cite lack of proper training, whilst 48% point to privacy and IP concerns.
The thing is, the ROI on structured training is genuinely compelling. Our research shows that just 4 hours of training can save each person 3-5 hours weekly. For a 50-person agency, that works out to 7,800-13,000 hours freed up annually – that’s huge.
Perhaps more telling is what happens when agencies get their governance right. Those with proper frameworks report 40% fewer client concerns, 60% more pricing confidence, and 80% stronger internal alignment. We’re seeing client conversations shift completely – from “Do you use AI?” to “What’s your governance framework?”
One of the most interesting shifts we’ve tracked is in expectations around AI’s role. 95% of agencies now expect AI to enhance creativity rather than simply improve efficiency, with 85% expecting higher quality outputs. That’s a massive change in mindset from simply focussing on doing things faster and cheaper.
The agencies that are succeeding are reinvesting any time they save through AI into exploration and strategy. Instead of producing one polished pitch, they’re analysing thousands of data points and exploring 20 concepts in a day.
On the employment side, we’re seeing role evolution rather than job displacement. Demand seems to be growing for creative problem-solving, emotional intelligence, and strategy, whilst completely new hybrid roles are emerging: AI creative directors, prompt engineers, and creative technologists.
Through our research, we’re seeing the early emergency three distinct competitive categories forming:
Pricing models are evolving too. The old “time × rate = fee” approach is giving way to “impact × expertise = value.” Some agencies like Dept are experimenting with hybrid retainers and revenue share, whilst others like Pod London are moving to efficiency-based pricing.
This research raises some interesting questions for creative agencies. As the ~5% continue to build proprietary capabilities that competitors can’t easily replicate, what happens to traditional agency partnerships? When volume production becomes AI-driven and innovation requires significant investment in new capabilities, where does this leave full-service agencies?
What we might be witnessing is the emergence of a new agency landscape – one where the winners aren’t necessarily the largest or most established, but those who’ve successfully transformed their business models for the AI era.
If our findings are accurate, this is the window for competitive advantage, but it won’t stay open forever. Agencies need to move beyond experimentation to systematic skill development, with proper governance frameworks and structured AI adoption programmes becoming key differentiators to enable real innovation.
What’s your take on all this? Do these findings match your experience of how agencies are approaching AI? Are you seeing this kind of divide, or does the reality feel different from where you sit?
The Spark Report: AI in Creative Agencies A/W 2025/26 is available to download and includes the full AI Maturity Model, detailed case studies, and practical frameworks for agencies looking to move beyond experimentation. Download The Spark Report.
Having just completed our third six-monthly benchmark on AI in creative agencies, I’m fascinated by what we’re seeing emerge across the industry. We spoke to 60+ agencies and did an extensive review of all the recent industry studies, and whilst we found that 80% of creative agencies now actively use AI, only approximately 5% are genuinely innovating with it – building proprietary IP, launching new services, and completely transforming how they work.
The conversation has definitely shifted since our last report in the spring of 2025. Six months ago, agencies were asking “Should we use AI?” Now it’s “How do we transform client value with AI?” But whilst the questions have evolved, most agencies still feel stuck in what we’re calling “the experimentation trap.”
Through our work with creative agency clients, we’ve identified a four-stage AI maturity model that the most successful agencies follow:
Experiment – scattered dabbling with various tools
Adopt – structured training and AI taskforces
Optimise – automation and reshaped roles
Innovate – proprietary tools and new client services
What we’re finding is that it’s really easy to get stuck between stages one and two. Meanwhile, the 5% who’ve reached stage four are building capabilities that genuinely set them apart.
Some of these innovation-stage agencies are doing remarkable things. Brave Bison’s AudienceGPT creates synthetic audiences with award-winning accuracy, effectively replacing traditional focus groups. Eight&Four has built Platform12, a complete proprietary ecosystem. OLIVER’s Seance achieves 85% correlation with human focus groups, whilst Monks.Flow reports 97% cost savings through agentic AI workflows.
One agency leader we spoke to put it perfectly: “AI hasn’t made our work cheaper, but it has made it better. Now we are exploring more territories, testing more ideas, and then refining them more.”
The barriers have shifted quite a bit since the first edition of this 6 monthly benchmark research 12 months ago. Early on, it was all about tool overwhelm – there were just too many options and people didn’t know where to start. Now it’s more fundamental: 43% cite lack of proper training, whilst 48% point to privacy and IP concerns.
The thing is, the ROI on structured training is genuinely compelling. Our research shows that just 4 hours of training can save each person 3-5 hours weekly. For a 50-person agency, that works out to 7,800-13,000 hours freed up annually – that’s huge.
Perhaps more telling is what happens when agencies get their governance right. Those with proper frameworks report 40% fewer client concerns, 60% more pricing confidence, and 80% stronger internal alignment. We’re seeing client conversations shift completely – from “Do you use AI?” to “What’s your governance framework?”
One of the most interesting shifts we’ve tracked is in expectations around AI’s role. 95% of agencies now expect AI to enhance creativity rather than simply improve efficiency, with 85% expecting higher quality outputs. That’s a massive change in mindset from simply focussing on doing things faster and cheaper.
The agencies that are succeeding are reinvesting any time they save through AI into exploration and strategy. Instead of producing one polished pitch, they’re analysing thousands of data points and exploring 20 concepts in a day.
On the employment side, we’re seeing role evolution rather than job displacement. Demand seems to be growing for creative problem-solving, emotional intelligence, and strategy, whilst completely new hybrid roles are emerging: AI creative directors, prompt engineers, and creative technologists.
Through our research, we’re seeing the early emergency three distinct competitive categories forming:
Pricing models are evolving too. The old “time × rate = fee” approach is giving way to “impact × expertise = value.” Some agencies like Dept are experimenting with hybrid retainers and revenue share, whilst others like Pod London are moving to efficiency-based pricing.
This research raises some interesting questions for creative agencies. As the ~5% continue to build proprietary capabilities that competitors can’t easily replicate, what happens to traditional agency partnerships? When volume production becomes AI-driven and innovation requires significant investment in new capabilities, where does this leave full-service agencies?
What we might be witnessing is the emergence of a new agency landscape – one where the winners aren’t necessarily the largest or most established, but those who’ve successfully transformed their business models for the AI era.
If our findings are accurate, this is the window for competitive advantage, but it won’t stay open forever. Agencies need to move beyond experimentation to systematic skill development, with proper governance frameworks and structured AI adoption programmes becoming key differentiators to enable real innovation.
What’s your take on all this? Do these findings match your experience of how agencies are approaching AI? Are you seeing this kind of divide, or does the reality feel different from where you sit?
The Spark Report: AI in Creative Agencies A/W 2025/26 is available to download and includes the full AI Maturity Model, detailed case studies, and practical frameworks for agencies looking to move beyond experimentation. Download The Spark Report.
We are delighted to be a co-creator of BTF+, the Bristol Festival of Tech, Creativity and Culture, taking place in Bristol on 6-11 October.
It’s a bold expansion of Bristol Technology Festival, an event from techSPARK which first took place in 2019. With creativity and culture added to technology, it’s a huge celebration of all three in a city that specalises in all of them.
For our part of BTF+ we are delighted to announce BCI House, a dedicated hub where creative, media and tech come together for four days of events. Workshops, talks, panel discussions and networking will spark collaboration and amplify the festival experience.
BCI House is open from 6-9 October at Unit 11, TCN Temple Studios, Temple Campus, Lower Approach Road, Bristol, BS1 6QA. Please note this is a different venue to the one we originally announced.
Tom Harber, founder of Aer Studios and Bristol Creative Industries board member, said:
“It’s finally here, and we couldn’t be more excited. Bristol Creative Industries is proud to play our part in bringing the city’s first festival of creativity, technology and culture to our members and the wider community.
“Our involvement marks a key milestone in our growing partnership with TechSPARK, as we work together to unite Bristol’s creative and tech sectors in meaningful ways.
“BCI House will be a vibrant hub at BTF+, hosting dedicated panels, keynotes and exhibits that showcase the power and potential of the creative tech scene in the region. It will be a place for our members, collaborators and the wider community to connect, share ideas and be inspired.”
Heather Wright, co-chair of Bristol Creative Industries, said:
“The convergence of creative and tech has now become embedded in many areas of business as we all strive for user friendly, AI driven tools, not only to improve our internal processes but also in the products and services we sell to clients.
“BCI House is the melting pot where we will look at how this works in practice and what the future looks like. We’re excited to swing open the doors of this new event programme to our members as well as looking forward to welcoming new connections.”
There are five BCI events at BCI House plus events staged by our fellow BTF+ creator and BCI member MyWorld.
The BCI events are as follows. Click on the links for booking details.
7 October, 9.30am – 11am: Roundtable – Harnessing AI for creativity and impact
An invite only event led by Jules Love and Emma Wharton Love from BCI member Spark AI
7 October, 1.30 – 2.30pm: Aardman – 50 years of tech and tradition
With Peter Lord, the co-founder of the legendary company and BCI member Aardman.
More details
8 October, 9.30 – 10.30am: Mindset shift – A journey from agency leadership to tech start-up
Dominic Mills, co-founder of Bristol-based experiences marketplace and BCI member Yuup, in conversation with Tom Harber.
More details
8 October, 1.30-2.30pm: A peek behind the curtain – What it takes to succeed at some of the world’s most creative companies
Ex-Apple creative director Sam Oliver in conversation with Laura Lear, managing director of PR led communications agency and BCI member AMBITIOUS.
More details
8 October, 5pm – 6pm: BCI House Happy Hour networking drinks
Sponsored by BCI members Aer Studios and Noble Digital Performance.
More details
MyWorld events will take place at BCI House on 6-9 October covering areas including immersive technologies, skills and training, and animation. See the BTF+ schedule for full details.
We can’t wait to see you at BCI House!
There’s loads of great stuff taking place at BTF+. Other highlights include:
The BTF+ Summit is a five day event with premium sessions featuring national-level speakers and exclusive networking opportunities designed to inspire and connect the tech, creative and cultural community.
The Summit is one of the few paid elements at BTF+, but BCI members can take advantage of a 25% discount on tickets. Email [email protected] for your exclusive code.
Step inside the sun at Bristol Cathedral on 6-8 October with Helios, a stunning illuminated sculpture by Bristol-based artist Luke Jerram.
Measuring seven metres in diameter, this breathtaking installation features detailed imagery of the sun’s surface, allowing visitors to explore sunspots, filaments, and solar flares safely. There’s also a specially created surround sound composition by Duncan Speakman and Sarah Anderson.
While the advertising world obsesses over AI’s potential to revolutionise creativity, I witnessed the most brilliant campaign of the year this past weekend – and it had nothing to do with machine learning, programmatic targeting, or predictive algorithms.
I was ankle-deep in mud at End of the Road Festival (which, by the way, was as outstanding as ever even despite the deluges), when a waste management truck trundled past, emblazoned with luxury brand advertising. There I was, filthy, tired, probably (definitely) smelling questionable, and suddenly confronted with pristine imagery of the very lifestyle I’d temporarily abandoned for three days of musical bliss in a muddy field.
It was perfect. It was contextual. It was human.
The advertising industry is currently drunk on AI promises. Every conference, every pitch, every strategy document now includes some variation of “AI-powered personalisation” or “machine learning optimisation.” Don’t get me wrong – these tools have their place. But in our rush to embrace the algorithmic future, are we forgetting the fundamental truth that great advertising is about understanding moments, not just metrics?
That rubbish truck campaign worked because someone – a human someone – understood festival psychology. They knew that by Sunday, we’d all be romanticising our normal lives. They understood that luxury feels most appealing when you’re living without it.
AI excels at pattern recognition across vast datasets. It can tell you that 18–34-year-olds who attend music festivals also engage with luxury content 67% more in the week following the event. But it takes human insight to realise that the optimal moment to reach them isn’t through their Instagram feed – it’s when they’re watching that rubbish truck haul away their weekend of excess.
The advertising industry’s AI obsession reminds me of every previous “revolution” we’ve lived through – programmatic, social, mobile, time shifted tv (Sky +/Q), video, influencer marketing. Each time, we declared the fundamentals obsolete, only to rediscover that great advertising remains great advertising, regardless of the delivery mechanism.
The real revolution isn’t in our tools; it’s in remembering that context creates meaning, that timing trumps targeting, and that understanding human nature will always matter more than optimising algorithms.
AI will undoubtedly make advertising more efficient, more measurable, more scalable. But will it make it more memorable? More moving? More muddy-festival-rubbish-truck brilliant?
I’m not convinced.
This isn’t a luddite manifesto. AI belongs in our arsenal, particularly for data analysis, creative versioning, and media optimisation. But let’s not confuse operational efficiency with creative effectiveness.
The brands that will win aren’t those with the most sophisticated AI stacks – they’re those that use technology to amplify human insights, not replace them. They’re the ones who understand that the best algorithm for understanding people is still empathy, seasoned with experience, and deployed at exactly the right moment.
Sometimes that moment is when you’re standing in a muddy field, watching a rubbish truck, dreaming of clean sheets.
And no machine saw that coming.
The International Public Relations Network (IPRN) celebrated its 30th anniversary with a convention held in Porto, Portugal. Around 50 members from 30 agencies, across four continents gathered to present case studies, share best practice, and discuss the future of the sector in light of changes in international politics and the rapid growth of Artificial Intelligence.
Significantly, IPRN has now relocated its headquarters from Madrid to Brussels, in a move aimed at bringing the network closer to European institutions. The move positions the network closer to the heart of European decision-making and supports its ambition to be more actively involved in European Union affairs. As part of this transition, IPRN has also been listed in the EU Transparency Register.
Rodrigo Viana de Freitas, IPRN Executive President commented: “This step is fundamental to preparing the organisation for the years ahead.” He adds: “The goal is to equip IPRN with management capacity to continue expanding into new geographies and to support members in generating international business with brands and institutions across all sectors.”
Sarah Woodhouse, director and co-owner of strategic communications agency, AMBITIOUS, commented, “As PR Professionals, we need to stay on top of dynamic global and domestic events and sentiment to provide consultancy and work with the C-suite. The IPRN Convention in Porto highlighted the importance of agile planning – using phased strategies that evolve as external conditions change.”
Rhodri Harries, managing director tech and health at Cavendish says, “It was fantastic to connect with peers across markets and sectors. The conversations around AI and data-driven trust were especially valuable, and we’re excited to bring fresh thinking into our work at Cavendish.”
Harvey Choat, managing director at Nexus, explains, “Having strong international partners is one of the most powerful assets in our industry. IPRN continues to connect us to trusted local expertise across the world.”
Mayor of Porto welcomes the group
The annual meeting programme included a morning at Porto Business School, an event partner, with two international keynote sessions: “Donald Trump’s Foreign Policy: Impacts on International Relations,” by Jorge Rodrigues, coordinator of PBS’s Geopolitics Observatory, and “Artificial Intelligence and the New World,” by Ricardo Ribeiro, Director of Digital Transformation at Banco Montepio and professor in postgraduate and MBA programs at various universities.
The group was also welcomed by the Mayor of Porto, another event partner, with a formal reception at Casa do Roseiral. On the occasion, Rui Moreira emphasised Porto’s cultural and international dimension, explaining the city’s transformation process over the past 12 years. The event concluded with the annual awards ceremony, which this year honored a breast cancer awareness campaign from Puerto Rico as the best of the year.
About IPRN
The International Public Relations Network is a global network of independent public relations and communications agencies, with around 50 members in over 100 major cities and more than 30 countries across five continents. It represents all sectors of the industry and has a combined turnover of approximately USD 150 million, with over 1,000 staff and 4,000 clients across its member agencies.
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