The indie agency world just spent three days navigating some genuinely thought-provoking territory. From TravelBoom Hotel Marketing explaining how 80% of travelers now use AI to plan trips (hello, Generative Engine Optimization) to Fohr putting uncomfortable truths about creator economics on the table, this batch of member content felt less like business updates and more like necessary conversations the industry keeps avoiding.
AXM landed at No. 4 on Ad Age’s Best Places to Work list by doing something radical: treating remote-first work and boundaries like actual operating principles since 2005, not pandemic pivots. Special Australia turned Jim Courier into an Uber Eats courier (because when your name is Courier, delivery is in your DNA), while Curiosity dropped a bonus podcast revealing every pitch secret from Mercer Island Group’s new book. And somewhere in Maine, Campfire reminded everyone that the state shapes people the same way it shapes food—simple, honest, no shortcuts.
The through-line? Indies asking harder questions than “how do we scale?” They’re asking “how do we actually work?” and “what if the old playbook is the problem?” Scroll through what caught our attention.
🤖 The Search Shift No One Saw Coming
TravelBoom Hotel Marketing laid out the math: more than 80% of travelers are using or considering AI tools like ChatGPT and Google SGE to plan trips. If your hotel isn’t showing up in those results, you’re missing high-intent guests at the start of their journey. That’s where Generative Engine Optimization comes in—making content clear, consistent, and built for AI-driven recommendations. SEO isn’t dead, but GEO might be the new operating system.
Meanwhile, Worldwide Partners shared billups Global CTO Shawn Spooner’s ZDNet piece on AI and boredom, exploring how automating routine tasks reshapes where creative inspiration actually happens. The article reminds us there’s real value in the quieter moments where new ideas take shape—which feels like the antidote to the “automate everything” crowd.
Eight Oh Two Marketing cut through the noise: AI can write SEO content fast, but sounding human still takes a real writer. If you want content to rank and resonate, you need clarity, perspective, and a point of view AI can’t fake. The fundamentals still win.
💸 The Creator Economy Reality Check
Fohr put uncomfortable truths on the table: that sinking feeling when you pay a creator tens of thousands of dollars, watch the post drive minimal interest, and then see that same creator unboxing luxury items a week later. They’re fighting for creators doing great work while refusing to let the industry be damaged by those treating brand budgets like cash cows. Their predictive technology uses 13+ years of data to anticipate which creators’ influence justifies their fee—because budgets should fuel growth, not handbag collections.
Not content with just creator insights, Fohr also earned a callout in Clare Moore McDaniel’s roundup of what’s actually working, spotlighting how predictive forecasting helps brands cast the right creators before campaigns go live. From IRL experiences to community-led storytelling, the read covers what’s landing in 2025.
🎬 Campaign Work That Actually Delivered
Special Australia kept busy with multiple launches. First, they turned tennis legend Jim Courier into an Uber Eats courier for the Australian Open, building on their “Get Almost Almost Anything” platform. If your name is Courier, delivery is in your DNA. They also created the “Backseat Arcade” for Uber—a retro gaming playground built into the app where nearly 20,000 riders played Snake, Meteors, and Brick Breaker mid-trip, competing for high scores and unlocking up to 30% off their next ride. Downtime became playtime.
Special U.S. delivered new work for Instagram with the message that content worth watching shouldn’t just be contained to phones—let’s get it on your TV too. The campaign from Special New York with director C Prinz and SMUGGLER keeps sharing and scrolling central.
FUSE Create announced American Student Assistance is now Britebound after 70 years and a full rebrand with design partners Jacknife. “Brite” reflects optimism and untapped potential while “bound” captures direction and determination—evoking purposeful progress toward education, opportunity, and growth. The campaign launched nationally with the truth that when it comes to careers, the right fit means everything.
Worldwide Partners highlighted Zambezi’s second spot with Anna Kendrick for LPL Financial—smart, relatable storytelling proving financial advertising doesn’t have to feel like financial advertising.
🏆 Recognition Worth Noting
AXM landed at No. 4 on Ad Age’s Best Places to Work 2026 list for companies up to 150 employees. They built AXM to challenge old agency norms and prove great work doesn’t require burnout: remote-first since 2005, boundaries that protect focus, trust over control, and culture rooted in empathy, autonomy, and flexibility. This recognition belongs to their employees who log in every day and make AXM what it is.
Highdive had a Campaign US Agency of the Year Awards morning worth celebrating: Kaley Lambeth and Suzanne Stovall as Account Person of the Year finalists, two creative team finalist nominations (Patrick Seidel and Chris Rose; Sydney Cohen and Jordan Fishel), plus shortlists for Independent Agency of the Year and Fastest Growing Agency.
Brandon earned a VETTY Award for their Primal Pet Foods campaign “More Time in Their Prime”—recognition for work that genuinely connects in the pet care marketing space.
Clever Creative received VETTY Award Silver for their VCA Trade Show Booth—a space designed to feel open, welcoming, and unmistakably VCA Animal Hospitals.
📚 The Pitch Secrets Finally Spilled
Curiosity dropped a bonus episode of Question Everything where Mercer Island Group’s Robin Boehler and Steve Boehler revealed all their favorite pitch secrets, celebrating their new book “It’s Not About You: Winning New Business in a Crowded Agency World.” Is it a little silly to drop all the secrets? Maybe. But some things are too good to gatekeep. Fair warning: your pitch strategy might never be the same.
🎯 Strategy & Operations Updates
VaynerMedia launched SMASH—a new service delivering high-volume, native social content that actually gets views for brands’ biggest priorities. When brands can’t engage in an AOR relationship, this is how they still get access to the Vayner secret sauce. It’s their pass at making surge-capacity content accessible.
PJX Media explained how innovation has made OOH more measurable. With MAIDs (Mobile Advertising IDs), brands can understand consumer behavior through attribution studies and even retarget those exposed to OOH ads. Out-of-home advertising isn’t just for awareness—it drives outcomes and magnifies other channels.
Left Hand Agency welcomed Neil Kelly Company as their newest client—one of the most respected design-build firms on the West Coast with locations in Portland, Seattle, Eugene, and Bend. Working with a local, iconic Pacific Northwest company makes this collaboration especially meaningful for their Oregon-based team.
Uncharted announced following a competitive review, they were appointed by TopCashback as creative agency of record ahead of a major brand push for the UK’s leading cash back site. New year, new client win.
🎙️ Conversations Worth Your Time
Beers With Friends asked CMOs what hill they’re willing to die on, and the answers were refreshingly direct: Solve a real problem. Don’t dismiss work just because it’s harder to measure. Growth comes from reaching new consumers, not only serving loyal ones. No matter what AI does, strong writing remains non-negotiable. The fundamentals still win.
In a separate conversation, CMOs reflected on their biggest regret: waiting too long to move and missing early TikTok momentum during COVID. Now that the platform evolved into a powerful brand awareness engine, the lesson is clear—channels move fast, and the cost of hesitation can be higher than the cost of experimenting.
Obsessed Media founders Barry Dan and Danny Weisman joined Breaking and Entering Media for a conversation on modern media plus a competitive round of trivia.
🌲 The Culture Question
Campfire shared a piece that hit home: Maine shapes people the same way it shapes food—simple, honest, no shortcuts, grit without ego. That spirit shows up in how they think, plan, and show up for partners across the country. They’re building a world-class media team inspired by this place and its people. If you make it up that way, they’re inviting you to call—lobster bake, campfire on the beach, always.
Curiosity dropped their social hot or nots for ’26 with AJ Overstreet’s takes on why the future of social is intimacy, not scale. The predictions challenge the bigger-is-better narrative that’s dominated platform thinking.
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Kyle O’Brien is managing editor of Indie Agency News.
