• by Bill Duggan , 2 hours ago

ORLANDO -- In advance of this week's Association of National Advertisers' Advertising Financial Management Conference here I spoke with Ralph Pardo, CEO of Omnicom Media North America and a speaker at the event, about today’s ever-changing media environment. 

Bill Duggan: What most excites you about media in 2026?

Ralph Pardo: Omnicom Media North America: We have been talking about how AI will be reshaping the industry for a long time, but we are now starting to see tangible benefits. We have empowered and democratized how technology can help teams better connect information and action on it at speed. This is leading to competitive advantages for many of our clients and more time spent focused on strategic tasks that have a disproportionally bigger impact on business performance. This year I am excited to see the growth of more integrated operating models driven by a new alchemy of human and machine collaboration. I expect we will also start to see more significant shifts in commercial approaches, opening the door to new flexibility and commercial approaches to deliver business results. 

Duggan: How will AI change media agencies?

Pardo: The next three years will compress more change into the agency model than ever before. The fundamental shift will have agencies deliver advanced capabilities and elite expertise amplified by AI infrastructure. Agencies will operate a more balanced approach between human and machine thinking.  Only a handful of companies have the combination of proprietary data, distribution, capital, and conviction to build this at enterprise scale. 

Duggan: And what will that mean for the clients?

Pardo: For clients, this transformation translates directly into competitive advantages. AI will significantly improve the analytical, production, and coordination labor, freeing our best minds to focus on strategy, creativity, and the human insight that actually drives business growth. The result: faster time to market, deeper strategic engagement with your business, and marketing that's increasingly aligned with your core objectives.

The agencies that will lead the next decade are the ones with the clarity and courage to become something genuinely new. And the clients who will win are those partnering with agencies ready to move forward and build together.

Duggan: What medium is most underrated right now and why?  

Pardo: I’d say audio and is still undervalued. It’s incredibly intimate, it’s growing fast across podcasts and streaming, and it reaches people in moments where other media can’t – commutes, workouts, daily routines. When you combine that with improved targeting and measurement, it becomes a very effective channel for both brand building and performance.  It’s a space where the consumer behavior is already there, but the marketing experience and investment hasn’t fully caught up yet. 

Duggan: Pick one –retail media, influencer marketing, or gaming – and discuss the opportunity.

Pardo: The opportunity in influencer is to remove silos.  We need to plan horizontally across media, comms, brand and commerce. Influencers create impact in all of these areas. They are giving high-attention, mid-funnel reach as media channels, they're improving brand sentiment through culturally resonant content, they're driving commerce reactions. Brands have embraced influencer as a valuable business channel; now it needs to be a more integrated part of the marketing mix … grounded in better measurement and rigor so you can fluidly shift between brand and creator content and better optimize message to the moment.

Duggan: Media has become so complicated and fragmented. What can clients do to be better stewards of their media investments?  

Pardo: Let’s not forget the most important part. When you spend money in media, the business should be seeing a positive impact for that money.  As a steward it is important to have clarity on the key questions you want answered and a great measurement approach to provide those answers. There are more pathways to reach people the ever before, that is a good thing. This has now become a problem that data, technology and clear business strategy can solve.  You will have to test your way into the right approach for your business but once you crack the code the results will guide you the rest of the way.

Duggan: Do you have thoughts about the value procurement brings to media?  

Pardo: We are in a highly disruptive moment driven by AI.  Organizational structures and service relationships are being rewired for a new world. Procurement teams play a critical role in the speed and success of transformation efforts. I often find procurement teams bring valuable and objective perspective to the agency relationship. Great procurement teams understand how important the media model is to the overall business model it is a growth lever not a line item. Especially as digital touchpoints have become the dominant driver for how people discover, learn and explore new products and services.  We are going to have try new things to together across compensation models, staffing structures and the role agency investments in technology and data contribute to those outcomes. The most productive partnerships we see are where procurement, marketing and finance are all aligned around outcomes, not just inputs and the agency has the flexibility to deliver those outcomes.