As 2024 comes to an end, Media in Canada is reaching out to media leaders to take stock of which trends and innovations had created the most change in the industry this past year, and where the industry is moving, looking forward to 2025. Karine Courtemanche, EVP of Plus Company, is the first leader in our end-of-year series. 

What did you observe as being one of the more surprising events, trends, shifts or demands over the last year?

Like many in the industry, I was surprised by the announcement of the Omnicom-IPG merger. While I may not fully understand the realities of serving global giga-clients, my perspective is shaped by working within a challenger network like Plus Company. Our clients prioritize speed, agility, and tailored solutions. They value a structure that embraces innovation and responds quickly to the unique needs of Canadian advertisers – something that aligns with the pace of AI-driven advancements. This makes me question how a larger, centralized organization can maintain that same level of responsiveness and adaptability.

Since the news broke, I’ve been reflecting on the benefits this merger might bring to the companies involved, their employees, and their clients. In our industry, bigger is often seen as better – but only to the extent that scale doesn’t stifle innovation. In times of rapid change, agility is key. At what point does “bigger” lead to inefficiency, slower decision-making, and more bureaucracy? The challenge for any large organization is finding the balance between scale and nimbleness. As the industry evolves, the true test of this merger will be its ability to stay innovative and client-focused without being weighed down by its own size.

If you, or the industry, could go back and re-do one thing in 2024, what would it be?

In hindsight, I wish I had spent more time advocating for one of the most essential principles of marketing: the need for balanced investment across the funnel to ensure sustainable growth. While lower-funnel efforts yield immediate results, over-reliance on these tactics risks depleting the pipeline of new leads – ultimately constraining future conversions. This imbalance is a critical issue that demands more attention across our industry.

To effectively drive this conversation, we need hard evidence to back the case for upper-funnel investments. This is where the integration of AI into our measurement frameworks holds incredible promise. By leveraging AI, we can gain deeper insights into the long-term impact of brand-building activities, quantify their contributions to the sales funnel, and provide a more comprehensive view of marketing effectiveness.

AI-powered tools have the potential to bridge the gap between intuition and evidence, enabling marketers to make more informed decisions about budget allocations. As these technologies continue to evolve, I’m excited by their ability to reinforce the importance of strategic balance and help us build a stronger foundation for future growth.

Another pressing concern has been the state of pitch practices within the media industry… The process has crossed the line of what constitutes good business ethics. This is an area I am passionate about addressing in my role as Chair of the CMDC. Our goal is to establish a guide for fair pitch practices, helping create a healthier and more productive environment for agencies and their clients alike. In hindsight, I wish we had tackled this issue earlier. However, the time to act is now, and I’m optimistic about the positive changes we can bring to the industry moving forward.

If you could bet on the next big media opportunity for advertisers in 2025 – what would it be?

Synthetic populations – data-driven, simulated representations of real-world populations – are poised to revolutionize advertising in 2025. By combining demographic, behavioral, and contextual data with advanced AI modeling, synthetic populations offer advertisers a way to explore new opportunities with unprecedented precision and efficiency. As privacy regulations tighten and access to real-world consumer data becomes more limited, synthetic populations provide an ethical and compliant alternative. Because these populations are generated from anonymized and aggregated data, they eliminate the risk of privacy violations while still offering detailed insights into consumer behaviour.

Synthetic populations allow advertisers to test campaigns on realistic, simulated audiences before deployment. These populations can mimic the behaviour of highly specific target groups, enabling advertisers to refine messaging, optimize creative assets, and predict campaign outcomes more accurately than traditional A/B testing methods. They can model how audiences might engage with new media formats or platforms, helping advertisers identify emerging trends early.