Ad Week NY 2025: Creativity, Humanity, and the Return of the “Why”
By Daniel Leira (IG @dleirando)
Walking into Ad Week New York this year felt like stepping into a parallel universe where optimism and audacity dared to outshine fear. In a time when headlines scream caution, in the Penn District this October (6–9), the vibe whispered possibility.
Here’s what lit me up — and why this edition might just be one for the books.
1. Scale that feels intimate
Over 1,200 speakers, 500+ sessions, and 28 content tracks crammed into four days of pure creative velocity.
Yet, between big stages and packed rooms, the magic happened in whispers: hallway talks, random lunches, and the “swipe to match” feature on the app, where marketers could connect with speakers by swiping right. Yes, seriously — your next collab started with a photo and a swipe.
They launched fresh zones: a Gaming Summit exploring the crossroad of esports and marketing (hello, new frontier).
The Creator Experience was born — Creator Upfronts, Big Creator Challenge with Adobe, bridging creators directly to brands.
It felt bigger… yet somehow more human.
2. The power of purpose over performance
Brands didn’t just pitch — they revealed intention.
McDonald’s elevated limited offers into immersive experiences.
Duolingo leaned into behavioral psychology and purpose.
New Balance embraced cultural authenticity, not as a marketing veneer, but as its foundational DNA.
The talk that stuck with me: the VEEP team demystifying how they’re helping independent artists monetize tiny desk concerts via streaming. It wasn’t flashy; it was meaningful, real, and grounded in creating infrastructure that enables creators to thrive.
3. Strategy
One standout moment: “TikTok: Inspiration with Aspiration” by Ann Nguyen. She didn’t sell virality — she taught how emotional resonance can be engineered, how creative sparks can be scaffolded into strategy.
Because in 2025, content that merely performs is table stakes. The ones that inspire — those win souls.
Also in the mix: panels on AI, retail media, measurement evolution, and how brands can break out of the silos — topics not just for technologists, but for storytellers too.
What got me feeling hopeful
That despite noise, people still crave connection, meaning, surprise.
That creators are not footnotes anymore — they’re co-architects in brand narratives.
That marketers are daring to be weird, to fail, to try, to push back.
Behind the dashboards, we remember that there are faces, emotions, and stories.
So yes, I left Ad Week 2025 not with dozens of slides, but with a few bright truths:
Creativity is never obsolete — it’s the oxygen no algorithm can replace.
Purpose is competitive advantage.
Culture wins — vectoring brand value in organic, messy, human ways.
Connections still matter more than clicks.
And more than anything: this industry is far from afraid. It’s alive, restless, alive with possibility.