AI is automating creative work, production, and campaign management. Companies can handle more and more tasks themselves. And agency networks are rethinking how they operate. So where does that leave the traditional creative agency? Chris Jungjohann is surprisingly optimistic: AI could actually make human creativity more valuable.
The CEO of Ogilvy Group Germany joins Verena Gründel on the DMEXCO Podcast. And his experience with digital disruption goes well beyond the management perspective: Chris Jungjohann was one of the early YouTube creators in Germany’s gaming scene, founded his first company while still at university, and today leads one of Germany’s major agency groups.
AI Is Transforming the Agency Value Chain
For Chris Jungjohann, there is no question that AI is fundamentally changing the agency business. Repetitive, production-heavy, and executional tasks are increasingly being supported or taken over by technology. AI has therefore long been a key part of how Ogilvy operates. The agency is part of WPP, the global advertising and communications group that has developed its own AI-powered marketing platform, WPP Open. According to Chris Jungjohann, well over 70 percent of employees across his agency group now use it every day.
For Chris Jungjohann, AI does not spell the end of the agency. Instead, it gives clients more options: They can continue to have advertising developed by an agency, use AI solutions through their agency, or deploy the technology themselves. For Chris Jungjohann, agencies therefore need to be able to play a role in all three scenarios: “I want to have a seat at the table in all three options.”
Will Human-Made Creativity Become a Premium Product?
The more content AI can produce, the more valuable the things that cannot be scaled at will could become. Chris Jungjohann expects a “sea of sameness” in which content increasingly starts to look and feel alike. That is when two capabilities become even more important: genuinely original creative ideas and long-term, human-led brand building.
This gives creative agencies an opportunity to refocus on what they do best: using creativity to solve real business problems. Chris Jungjohann believes this kind of work could become more valuable in the future. His take:
“The hourly rate needs to go up.”
What Will the Creative Agency of the Future Look Like?
The podcast also explores the transformation of the global WPP agency network and how shared structures can coexist with strong, independent agency brands. Chris Jungjohann explains how cross-agency teams work in new business and which skills the next generation of talent will need. The conversation also covers data versus gut instinct, measurable business impact, and the “spark of humanity” that, in Chris Jungjohann’s view, AI cannot replace.
How much agency does advertising still need in the age of AI? Tune in to the latest episode of the DMEXCO Podcast with Chris Jungjohann.
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