Advertising and professional services

Advertising and law and consulting are splitting into very different stories under AI. Big law is mostly fine. Firms like Kim & Chang, Gibson Dunn, Davis Polk, Kirkland & Ellis and the Japanese and Korean elite firms keep winning complex, high-stakes work that AI cannot touch, and none of them show real client losses. The pain is concentrated at the bottom of the legal pyramid, where junior associate work gets automated, and MinterEllison already shows this in cut headcount and smaller graduate intakes.

Advertising holding companies are the clear losers. WPP, Dentsu, Interpublic, Hakuhodo DY, Clemenger, BlueFocus and HS Ad are all bleeding because platforms like Google, Meta and TikTok now let advertisers buy media and even generate creative directly, cutting out the agency commission that funded these firms for decades. Consulting sits in between: Boston Consulting Group still grows but slower, as Accenture and the Big Four out-invest it in AI delivery work.

The one thing that decides survival is whether the work is judgment on something irreversible, like a lawsuit or a merger, or execution that a platform or model can now do directly, like buying media or writing ad copy. Judgment work holds its price. Execution work is getting absorbed by the platforms that used to be clients.

Will AI replace advertising agencies like WPP and Dentsu

Not entirely, but the commission-based holding company model is under real strain. WPP already lost the $1.7bn Mars account to Publicis, and Dentsu is growing at 0.3% while Publicis grows over 5%. The mechanism is platforms letting advertisers buy and create directly, cutting agencies out.

Are big law firms safe from AI disruption

The elite firms doing M&A, litigation and complex deals show almost no pressure, firms like Kim & Chang, Gibson Dunn and Davis Polk have moat scores of 8-9 and no client losses. The risk is concentrated at the junior associate level, where MinterEllison has already cut headcount and graduate intake.

Is Boston Consulting Group losing ground to Accenture

BCG still holds a strong moat score of 8, but Accenture and the Big Four are winning more AI-implementation delivery work through bigger AI investment, which is slowing BCG's growth at that layer of the business.

Why are Japanese and Korean law firms holding up so well

Firms like Nishimura & Asahi, Mori Hamada & Matsumoto and Kim & Chang all show pressure scores of 2-3 and moats of 7-8, tied to complex M&A and cross-border work for major corporations that AI tools don't touch.

Is Edelman losing PR business to rivals

Yes, Edelman's US revenue fell 8.1% and headcount dropped 14% since 2022, with Weber Shandwick, Burson, and the merged Omnicom-IPG picking up the ground it's losing.

• Another major ad holding company account move worth $1bn or more announced
• Graduate and junior associate hiring cuts spreading to more top-50 law firms beyond MinterEllison
• A second ad holding company merger or wind-down after Omnicom-IPG and CBIZ-Marcum