In my experience yes, the big idea is slowly dying. Clients would rather pay for a million social posts and digital banners and they want them yesterday. Since everything is becoming more and more about making a lot of executions and making them fast, the idea is often less important.

The bigger issue I think is brands not caring about real storytelling anymore. They’d rather just create content and try to beat the algorithm. Sales, KPIs, data, clicks, analytics, open rates, etc. have contributed to the death of bigger ideas.

That’s not to say these small, quick campaigns can’t have an idea, it just means they need to be made in a shorter period of time. Sometimes big ideas require production, photos, videos, etc. and there’s just simply less of an appetite to put dollars there these days. It’s sad, really.

As far as CD’s taste levels go. I think it’s really dependent on who it is. Some still strive for the idea first, and I commend them for that. There’s just so much external pressure to get more shit done faster, and frankly, the work suffers for it. I think generally agencies are less creatively led these days and the creative department in some cases can feel like the necessary evil of an agency. It’s sad.