Brands are facing a culture lag.
According to the 2025 State of Creativity Report, only 13% or brands feel confident in their insight development, and just 12% rate their cultural agility as excellent.
This breakdown is undermining creative confidence and slowing brands down when they should be stepping up.
So, what’s holding brands back?
- Slow approval processes (40%)
- Limited resources and investment (32%)
- Misaligned insights and brand vision (9%)
Sound familiar? Here’s how we can respond.
- Sharpen your insights. Start by getting better at spotting what qualifies as a strong insight. Dig deeper in your research, collaborate across teams, and look for patterns in culture and behavior that can unlock original creative angles.
- Be ready, not just aware.Advocate for faster sign-offs and clearer guardrails so you can jump on the right moments while they’re still relevant. Know which conversations your brand has permission to join and where it should lead.
- Build creative confidence.Push yourself and your team to experiment more. As you get better at reading the room and making faster calls, your confidence builds, and so does the work. That’s when big ideas start to land.
Dig into the full report by Lions.
