#AdForumSummit Toronto & NYC: A tale of two cities
By Johanna McDowell. Forty global pitch consultants had the most interesting of AdForum Worldwide Summits in May 2026, where we were warmly welcomed for the very first time by the Canadian Advertising Association and 12 Canadian agencies, coupled with three days in the US with a further 10 New York City agencies. We learnt an enormous amount, some of which I share below, along with some very instructive comparisons between the two.
In Toronto, we met with Iris, King Ursa, Pigeon, Response Innovations, Broken Heart Love Affair, Cairns O’Neil, 72 & Sunny, The Collective, Sid Lee, Publicis Groupe Canada, Lg2 and Zulu Alpha Kilo.
In New York, we met with Publicis Production, MSQ, WPP Creative, Dentsu Creative, Stagwell Group, Critical Mass (Omnicom), Brandtech Group, Dept, PMG and Monks.
Key themes from the Canadian agencies
#1. Independence as a creative & commercial strategy
A disproportionate number of Canada’s most innovative agencies are proudly independent and they’re growing faster than their holding company counterparts.
#2. Artificial intelligence as an amplifier, not replacement
Canadian agencies consistently frame AI as a tool for doing more of what humans do well, not as a substitute for craft and cultural intelligence.
#3. Cultural diversity as a competitive advantage
In a market where half of Toronto’s population was born outside of Canada, bilingualism and multicultural fluency are genuine creative assets, not box-ticking exercises.
#4. Performance accountability without sacrificing brand
Canadian agencies are building tighter links between creative ambition and measurable commercial outcomes, rejecting the false choice between brand building and performance marketing.
Key themes from US agencies
#1. From selling services to selling infrastructure
The most structurally significant shift we observed is the move from selling services to selling infrastructure. Every large agency is building or has built an AI-powered marketing operation system designed to run across the entire client workflow.
The implication for clients is significant: choosing an agency partner is increasingly also choosing a technology infrastructure. This raises the stakes for agencies that haven’t yet built this layer.
#2. Creative is now the no. 1 performance driver
Perhaps the most counterintuitive finding — in an era of data, targeting and algorithmic media — is that creative content has re-emerged as the dominant driver of campaign performance, and that the historical separation of media and creative is now dissolving. Those agencies that are still handling those creative and media briefs separately are working at a structural disadvantage.
#3. Authenticity is the scarcest asset in an AI world
As AI-generated content is now everywhere, the value of genuinely human, emotionally resonant, culturally specific creative work is going up, not down.
Several agencies mentioned how AI generating content might be technically flawless but it’s causing consumer distrust precisely because of its perfection. So, while clients might have been tempted to flood channels with cheap AI content, agencies that can deliver cultural intelligence and emotional craft at scale will be more valuable than ever.
#4. Large Language Models (LLMs) are a new marketing channel
As consumers increasingly evaluate and choose brands through AI-mediated interfaces such as ChatGPT and Grok, the question of how a brand appears within those systems becomes a core marketing concern. It’s not paid social or SEO.
#5. Change management is the real bottleneck
Every agency we spoke to has more AI capability than their clients are currently using. The constraint is organisational readiness, ie the ability of marketing teams to change workflows, incentives and habits to capture the value that AI makes possible.
This means perhaps that the most valuable service an agency can provide is helping their clients build the organisational capacity to use the platforms that already exist.
Toronto vs New York: A comparative reading
Having reviewed 12 Toronto agencies and 10 NYC agencies in the same period, a number of contrasts are clear:
AI posture: New York agencies are selling AI infrastructure and operating systems. Toronto agencies are integrating AI as a creative amplifier within craft-led practices
Scale vs craft: Toronto conversations were centred on creative discipline, attention and cultural resonance. New York conversations focused on scale, volume and platform architecture
Independence: Toronto has a significantly higher proportion of thriving independent agencies than New York, where holding group companies consolidation dominates
Diversity advantage: Toronto’s demographic makeup gives its agencies an advantage in multicultural production and adaptive storytelling that New York agencies are beginning to seek from Canadian partners
Commercial maturity: Both markets are building tighter accountability between creative and commercial outcomes but the Canadian approach is more incremental — test, prove, scale — vs the US preference for platform-first, then adoption.
Learnings for South Africa
There are some key learnings for the South African agencies here. SA is certainly not behind in the AI evolution and I think that the lessons from the Canadian agencies, which struck me as so similar in nature and cultural importance to our independent agencies here in this country, can be easily applied — and with positive outcomes.
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