Next is Now: Why Proactivity and Speed In AI-Led Marketing is Business Critical
Joe Procter
Joe Procter is Open Partners' co-founder and Executive Chair.
Over the past 25 years, marketing has undergone two major transformations. The first was the shift to digital (2000–2017), where brands raced online. The second was the rise of programmatic media, automating how ads were bought and sold. Now, we’re in the midst of the third—and most disruptive—transformation: AI-led marketing.
Transformation #3 is here, reshaping how performance is achieved across organic search, paid media, and creative. It’s happening faster than analysts predicted—and its impact is already hitting bottom lines.
We can talk about what’s ‘next’ in marketing, but at this rate, next is now, and most brands are already behind. Whether they lack capabilities in-house or are held back by their agencies, businesses must find ways to navigate these challenges at speed.
Below, I’ve shared on why proactivity is key, what’s changing in the key marketing channels, what’s at stake, and why you can trust Open Partners to guide you through this transition.
Open Who? You Might Not Know Us, But We Know What’s Next
Before we dive into what’s next, I want to acknowledge that we are not well known. Regardless, we’re amongst the leading authority figures in this industry – here’s why you can trust what we’ve got to say:
Since our 2017 inception, we’ve rapidly evolved from a two-person start-up into the UK’s largest and fastest-growing fully independent media agency.
Today, we comprise approximately 150 professionals, manage over 50 client accounts, and oversee billings exceeding £70 million across five international offices.
Our consistent high performance is evidenced by our inclusion in the top quarter of the FT1000 in 2025 and the Sunday Times 100 in 2024. We also hold Alpha Partner status with all major advertising platforms, including TikTok, Google, and Meta, ensuring direct access to cutting-edge innovations.
Our success is intrinsically linked to our clients’ growth; our remuneration model is directly tied to their performance outcomes. This client-centric approach, prioritising tangible results over self-promotion, has earned us a reputation as the industry’s best-kept secret over the past eight years.
This deep engagement has provided unparalleled insights into effective growth strategies. We are not merely adopters but leaders in channel innovation, collaborating directly with media platforms and developing proprietary AI tools to enhance client performance.
Our team comprises not just marketing experts, but also tech leaders and seasoned business professionals dedicated to navigating and capitalising on the seismic shifts in the AI and marketing landscapes for our clients’ benefit.
Read our full credentials deck here.
Our Work
Diving In: The New Marketing Playbook
The pace of change has outstripped many organisations’ ability to adapt. As transformation #3 gathers momentum, performance marketing teams that fail to evolve will see:
- ROI erosion across channels
- Loss of organic traffic and revenue
- Decline in market share and brand relevance
- Overall wastage and continued declines across the marketing dashboard, tearing down business critical performance
This is no longer a technical adjustment—it’s a strategic imperative. CMOs and CEOs alike must respond to this shift now or risk losing relevance, revenue, and market share.
Below is a snapshot of what’s changing and what it takes to get and stay ahead.
Organic Search Is Being Rewritten
Search behaviour is rapidly moving from Google to generative AI platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and others. Gartner predicts 50% of organic traffic will vanish by 2028—but that curve is steepening fast.
What this means for your business:
- SEO strategies must evolve to account for AI-generated answers
- Brands need to optimise content for visibility in LLM ecosystems—not just traditional SERPs
- AI-native content frameworks and architecture are now essential
Paid Search Is No Longer Human-Controlled
Google Ads has entered its ‘black box’ era—campaigns are now run by algorithms, not through them. Success in paid search is no longer about micromanaging keywords and bids, but about training the algorithm better than anyone else.
What businesses need to do:
- Feed Google’s AI high-quality, structured product and customer data
- Align messaging, audience signals, and performance metrics around training inputs
- Think like trainers, not controllers—those who teach the machine win
Creative Is Now the Primary Performance Lever
With AI determining delivery and targeting, the final—and most decisive—variable is creative – by that we mean the assets, otherwise known as the brand touchpoints that consumers see and interact with.
According to Meta, over 50% of ad auction outcomes are determined by creative assets, and content demands are exploding: Deloitte projects a 10x increase in need over just two years.
How to stay competitive:
- Shift from brand-led to creator-led models
- Leverage influencers and user-generated content to scale production and humanise your messaging
- Use AI not just to create—but to test, learn, and optimise creative at scale
The Biggest and Fastest Growing Channels Matter
Search, Social, Display, and Connected TV (CTV) aren’t just ad channels; they’re the world’s largest and fastest-growing engines for brand growth. Platforms like TikTok, Meta, Amazon, and Google are at the forefront of this revolution, constantly innovating and offering unprecedented scalability, particularly with the rise of AI.
Maximising partnerships with these media platforms and developing a focused strategy around their capabilities is essential for any brand aiming to significantly expand its reach.
What brands need to do:
- Prioritise strategy on key platforms; build robust advertising plans specifically tailored for TikTok, Meta, Amazon, and Google
- Partner with an agency like Open Partners that can properly leverage relationships with these platforms to maximise performance and advertising innovation for your business
What’s Next? Next is Now. Reactivity is A Risk
Winning in this new era means building AI-ready marketing systems—not just campaigns. At Open Partners, we help brands pivot quickly and strategically, combining deep expertise across media, data, and creative to unlock performance in the AI age.
Our team – true innovators in this space – have developed a suite of dynamic marketing tools and AI-driven strategies to empower businesses to handle this transformation at speed and scale.
This transformation is the most significant shift in marketing since the move to digital. The brands that move first will shape the landscape. The rest will be left behind. Now is the moment to act.
