Flock and Screendragon recently hosted a roundtable on Marketing Automation and AI for leading brands from pharma, travel, financial services, CPG, entertainment, and beverages. The event was held in the opulent surroundings of the private dining room Fortnum & Mason.
Creator marketing has become one of the most significant structural shifts in modern marketing.
What began as an experimental channel built around a relatively small number of influencers has evolved into a highly complex commercial ecosystem involving agencies, platforms, production partners, media amplification, affiliate infrastructure, analytics tools, and increasingly vast creator networks.
Flock Associates recently hosted a roundtable with senior marketing and communications leaders to discuss the impact of Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO), AI search, and evolving consumer behaviours. One theme became clear throughout the discussion: this is no longer simply a search conversation, it’s an operating model conversation.
Marketing in financial services is under increasing pressure to deliver growth, efficiency, and accountability at the same time. Most organizations have invested heavily in digital channels, data platforms, and new capabilities over the past decade. Yet many senior leaders still feel that marketing is not delivering against its full potential.
Pharma and healthcare marketing used to be built around a relatively stable rhythm: launch planning, salesforce alignment, medical congresses, HCP education, patient support, access materials, field-force enablement, and, in the US, direct-to-consumer advertising.
That rhythm has broken. Totally.
GEO is starting to show up in real ways. Not as a future trend or something to keep an eye on, but as a shift that is already changing how decisions get made.
We recently hosted a webinar with leaders from search, media, and digital to talk about what this actually means in practice.
AI is becoming default, its footprint is non-trivial and CEOs and CMOs need governance. According to PWC only one in eight (12%) of CEOs say AI has delivered on cost and revenue benefits. In today’s tech landscape, it is almost impossible to not interact with some form of AI model online or in our day to day lives, it has become the ultimate disruptor, much like the internet once was.
We recently reviewed a $7m scope using our fee and scoping module within our platform Optima. Our analysis was able to deliver $1m in additional value that could be saved, or reinvested elsewhere.
For many marketers the use of influencers and creators has become a key part of their marketing mix, with some sources suggesting that the influencer economy may reach $43.9 billion in 2026.
It’s not news that many agencies make a lot of money from media planning and buying to most marketers. It’s been in the open for decades. It’s widely reported they make more money from non-client income derived from client media spend than from the fees they charge. But how can clients avoid the dreaded ‘triple dip’?
A smarter way to optimize fees, maximize performance, and drive measurable value from agency partnerships.
Automotive marketing used to be built in a predictable way: model launches, minor changes and sales events, broad reach, dealer co‑op, a lot of linear TV, lower funnel PPC, paid social and CRM. That rhythm has broken…