Creativity has long been the engine of effective marketing. The campaigns that endure are those that tell compelling stories, spark emotion, and shift perceptions. Yet in 2025, creativity alone doesn’t carry the same weight it once did. Its value is amplified — or diminished — by speed. Darren Morris, CEO of Lucky Hustle, says agility has become marketing’s true currency.
Today’s audiences live in a state of perpetual scroll. Culture is shaped in moments: a trending sound, a viral clip, a breaking headline. For brands, the window to respond is measured in hours, not weeks. By the time a polished campaign emerges from a traditional process, the cultural conversation may have already moved on.
This reality is forcing agencies and marketers alike to rethink how we work. The challenge is not simply to ‘be faster’, but to build systems that allow creativity to move at the speed of culture. That means empowering leaner teams, shortening feedback loops and embracing iteration as part of the process rather than a sign of imperfection.
It also requires a shift in mindset. For decades, the industry has prized the ‘big reveal’ — campaigns unveiled after months of polish, with every element tightly controlled. But culture is fluid. It thrives on immediacy, conversation, and participation. Waiting until everything is ‘perfect’ often means missing the moment altogether.
This is where agility becomes our true currency. It’s about structuring teams so decisions don’t get stuck in endless approvals. It’s about trusting creative talent to respond in real time without sacrificing strategic intent. And it’s about seeing iteration not as a flaw, but as a way of staying in step with culture while still moving toward a larger brand ambition.
The most effective work is built less like a movie premiere and more like a series — episodes released, tested, refined, and layered to build momentum. Small, well-timed pieces of content can carry as much weight as a major campaign launch if they capture attention in the right moment. And over time, these moments compound into brand relevance.
This shift is already happening. The agencies adapting fastest are those that embrace speed as a discipline, not an afterthought. We don’t see agility as rushing; we see it as designing conditions for creativity to thrive in real time.
The task for our industry is to reconcile immediacy with integrity and to deliver work that is both timely and enduring; strategic without being paralysed by overthinking. The agencies and marketers that strike that balance will not only stay relevant but shape the conversations that define culture itself.
At this year’s Nedbank IMC Conference, Lucky Hustle will be executing on a real-time video challenge. Catch all the action on 18 September 2025 at Mosaiek Teatro in Randburg.
LUCKY HUSTLE
https://www.luckyhustle.co.za/
