What Do Creative Agencies Want For Christmas? To “Kill Boring”

Creative agency leaders, including Stephen de Wolf, Micah Walker, Kimberlee Wells, Suzie Shaw, and Catherine King, want joy and partnership, commitment, and curiosity for Christmas.

The CEOs, CSOs, and CCOs alike all have teamwork on their Christmas wishlists.

Stephen de Wolf is closing out his first few months as chief creative officer at Clemenger BBDO, and is looking for more joy in 2026. “We are an industry of wonderful people, so finding more joy in our partnerships would be brilliant. As far as the work goes, great ideas are born of great partnerships. Great partnerships are open, honest and shared -- let’s keep building on these together.”

Kimberlee Wells, the recently-promoted CEO of TBWA Australia, wants her people to know the business inside and out, and says “curiosity and hustle” are her top priorities for her people, plus a “drive to question norms” that will encourage innovative approaches to solving business problems.

“Curiosity will keep us restless about our client's business and indeed our own as we spin up new models and combine capabilities across TBWA and Omnicom to meet market demands,” she says.

“As for hustle, it isn’t about clocking longer hours -- rather pushing ideas forward, clearing obstacles, and getting them out into the world for their real moment of impact.”

Micah Walker, CCO and founder of Bear Meets Eagle on Fire, has had a brilliant year. His agency won a Cannes Grand Prix and arguablyled the market in creative ambition. He wants “continued belief in, and commitment to, creativity” from clients.

Micah says he wants “more puppets” from the work in 2026, a reference to Telstra’s recent ‘Codemates’ campaign. It features an animatronic puppet named ‘Patch’, designed to teach students coding and digital skills.

Suzie Shaw, APAC CEO at We Are Social, would prefer “fewer siloed briefs” next year, as she believes the best work derives from the combined effects of owned, earned, and paid. She also wants people to show agency in their career development.

“We’re in a time of rapid change, and we need people who take ownership of their own development -- who stay curious, proactive, and ahead of the curve.”

Stephen wants the industry to “head into 2026 with confidence and the right amount of swagger, because [we] can make this work,” while Catherine King, chief strategy officer at Leo Australia, wants to hear from “strategists who don’t sound like strategists”.

They might be people “who come in sideways, from poetry, from policy, from the pub, even from media” and “who ask questions that unsettle and illuminate. We need them. We always have.”

Catherine had a good year too -- taking home the Grand Effie for Leo’s work with Suncorp. Making work that moves people and moves the needle requires “relevant reinvention” and the ability to “whip away boredom”.

“The kind [of reinvention] that sees the world as it is, shifting, splintering, and still wants to shift what matters for our brands. We’ve all sat in rooms where big promises are made, and some of us have had to clean up the subsequent messes, too. So, my offer is ruthless focus. A quiet refusal to shout just because we can.”

Suzie is just as clear on what she doesn’t want: a “race to the bottom”. Instead, she wants a “focus on impact” as opposed to reach or noise, and “work that earns attention, changes behaviour, and moves brands forward in culture”.

Stephen adds, “I want to see more big ideas transform our client's business in authentic ways and the global industry looking to AUNZ as leading the way in modern, fresh thinking once-again.”

Kimberlee is especially passionate about transcending boredom. She wants clients “to kill boring” and says together, agencies and clients need to “elevate creativity as a commercial advantage and build customer experiences that stand out, provoke conversation, and capture people’s attention”.

“Beyond campaigns, we are excited to have bigger, bolder conversations with our clients that focus on fundamental business growth and transformation,” she adds.

“The new Omnicom Oceania strategy offers the scale, depth and connected thinking to do just that. With greater collaboration across disciplines and markets, we can unlock genuinely integrated solutions to service the entire marketing ecosystem. It's going to be a very exciting year.”

That doesn’t mean 2026 will be easy -- within Omnicom, the IPG merger will result in significant ripple effects, as will the fledgling Omnicom Oceania model -- but Kimberlee is approaching it boldly.

“I really hope to see agencies, of all shapes and sizes, stand with confidence and support each other as we navigate this next era of growth. There will be discomfort along the way, but it’s worth remembering those are just growing pains -- something better is waiting on the other side.”

In addition to providing her wishlist, Catherine reveals what she wants to give: commercial partnership. Specifically “the kind that shows our creative problem solving can move markets [and] that strategy is not a stage gate but a growth engine.

“Creativity, in the right hands, is a commercial tool.”