At Advertising Week, Ipsos Exec Says Empathy is Marketing's Next Competitive Edge

At Advertising Week, flat budgets and mounting pressure to prove value have redefined the AI conversation. Leaders no longer ask if they should adopt AI, but how to implement it with discipline. This urgent need to do more with less fuels a clear shift from AI hype to measurable ROI. The emerging strategy leverages AI-driven efficiency not to replace human connection, but to enable a deeper, more authentic focus on it. In the age of AI, empathy is emerging as the next competitive edge.

Manny Flores, EVP, Head of Commercial Transformation and Partnerships at Ipsos, affirms this strategic pivot. A senior executive with a history of managing P&Ls up to $180 million+ and accelerating growth for world-leading brands like Meta and Google, Flores explains that as AI automates marketing's mechanics, it frees human talent to focus on what truly builds brands. As he puts it, “Empathy is what makes communication feel like a connection, not just a message.”

• Let the Robots Work: The first step in practical AI implementation, however, demands a disciplined focus on tangible returns. Brands and agencies now embed AI into core workflows to automate manual processes and reduce costly media waste. This enables real-time optimization, allowing agencies to improve campaign performance while in flight, a critical shift from reactive post-campaign analysis of years past. "Manual tasks take the most time, so automating them delivers immediate ROI. Time saved is the obvious metric, but the real value lies in downstream impact, like improved quality rates and end-to-end reliability for the clients we ultimately serve," Flores outlines.

• Agent Advantage: AI agents are already delivering significant, measurable efficiencies, according to industry discussions. Flores points to data shared at Ad Week and another recent event, Dreamforce. "AI agent case studies showed an 80% reduction in costs and 90% faster support times when agents integrate into workflows at a high level," he says. For marketers, these efficiencies provide a direct path to immediate, tangible ROI from AI investments, offering concrete benchmarks for operational improvement.

But AI efficiency delivers more than cost savings. It creates the strategic and financial space brands need to invest in the human side of the business. This shift elevates empathy from a buzzword to a core performance indicator, with research directly linking connection to revenue. In fact, ads grounded in empathy are 79% more likely to drive brand choice.

The focus on authentic connection also reshapes a key part of the industry's talent structure. A central theme surfacing from Advertising Week is how creators are now seen as key strategic collaborators. "Creators are no longer just content producers. They've become strategic partners who co-create authentic narratives, enabling brands to embrace a less polished, more relatable reality," Flores explains.

• Permission to be imperfect: The permission to be a little messy and boldly human extends into traditional advertising channels, too. Take the celebrated "Life is Not an IKEA Catalog" campaign, as an example. It featured real-life occurrences, like spilling wine on the couch and pet accidents to reflect audiences' lived experiences. "The IKEA campaign was successful because it made imperfection okay. It was bold enough to reflect how people really live, not some curated, perfect world. Brands just need to reflect that reality," Flores shares.

• Act Fast: So, how do leaders deliver on empathy and authenticity? Flores points to a dual investment in a robust technical foundation for speed and a flexible organizational culture for agile insight. "The foundation needs to get stronger around data and the signals you get from it. Brands and media owners investing in their foundational data spine, with elements like First-Party Signals, Conversion APIs, and Unified IDs, will move faster and optimize in real time," he states.

Flores advises brands to adopt a challenger mindset: test faster, make smaller bets, and move beyond performative gestures. Brands can build real dialogue by serving communities in cultural moments that truly matter. In his view, strategic advantage no longer goes to scale, but to speed of insight. "When budgets are flat, speed and flexibility are what deliver greater outcomes," he emphasizes. "We have to streamline operations, create test-and-learn processes, and pivot faster to keep pace with a dynamic culture."