🎉 Season 8 is here. Happy 2026. Brace yourselves.
🏆 The Creative Floor Awards are officially open.
⏰ Early Bird Deadline: 06 February
📅 Full entry dates and details:
👉 https://thecreativefloor.com/awards

🍀 Best of luck to everyone entering, and thank you for supporting work that changes careers and lives through our Talent & Diversity Fund.

💡 Got a life-changing idea?
🚨 Fund pitches close 30 January
👉 https://thecreativefloor.com/awards

🗳️ New for 2026: Public Vote categories.
Anyone can judge. Yes, that includes you.

🔍 Looking for work?
📣 Share your LinkedIn or portfolio and we’ll shout about you in future podcast episodes.
🆓 Free.
📩 awards@thecreativefloor.com

📢 Hiring or promoting something useful?
Open roles, services, or opportunities welcome.
👂 Same ears.
📩 awards@thecreativefloor.com

📘 Agency Tales, our new book, is out now on Amazon.
🌍 Find your local link here:
👉 https://awards.thecreativefloor.com/agency-tales

🎙️ This episode
We break down what actually happened in 2025 and what’s really coming in 2026 with Tim Jones (Klick Health) and John McPartland (Ogilvy Health), co-founders of Creative Rounds.

🔥 If LinkedIn feels like a bin fire of gloom, this is the unfiltered version.
🤖 AI in real agency life
💼 What clients are actually buying
📈 Where growth is coming from
🎨 What creative departments might look like next

⚠️ Light swearing. Parental advisory. You’ve been warned.

#NotAllAwardsAreCreatedEqual

This week our industry was shaken by nearly 4,000 layoffs, and in response we have released a special emergency episode of The Creative Floor Awards Podcast.

From the emotional shock of losing a job to the anxiety, fear, anger and confusion that follow, this episode breaks the silence around what layoffs really feel like. It offers practical coping techniques, ways to regain structure, advice on protecting your energy and a reminder that even though it may not feel like it today, this moment can eventually become a turning point.

If you have been affected, or you are supporting someone who has, this episode is for you.
You are not alone.

#NotAllAwardsAreCreatedEqual

This week we’re joined by none other than Ben Kay - podcaster, blogger, novelist, Creative Review contributor, ex-Creative Director at Apple, Droga5, AMV, Luna BBDO etc… basically, a walking awards cabinet. 🏆

Ben’s dipped his toes into the world of pharma advertising and shares his observations. In this episode, Ben breaks down what healthcare marketing can borrow from the fruit-shaped tech giants in Cupertino (spoiler: it’s not just clean design and turtle-necked presentations).

💡 What to expect:
🍎 Apple-level creative thinking
💊 Pharma truths with a twist
🙃 Advice you’ll actually use
🎤 One or two mic drops. Maybe more...

#NotAllAwardsAreCreatedEqual

This week, we sit down with the Joe Rogan of advertising himself - Dave Dye. One of the most awarded creatives, a blogging Jedi and the kind of podcaster who probably has a mic built into his soul.
We cover everything from:
🧙‍♂️ What David Abbott could do with a banner ad (yes, really)
🙌 The legends he looks up to
🪄 What it was like having David Abbott freelancing for him
🔮 And where he thinks the future of advertising is heading (brace yourself).

#NotAllAwardsAreCreatedEqual

🚨 Links from this podcast you’ll actually want to click (we know, shocking.)

🏆 2025 Awards THIS IS IT... FINAL CALL THIS FRIDAY 25th April
If you thrive on last-minute pressure and questionable life choices, this is your time to shine. 👉 https://thecreativefloor.com/awards

📚 Masterclass: Want to level up your creative game?
Think of this as your creative cheat code no Konami moves, just actual results 👉 https://awards.thecreativefloor.com/masterclass
💥 💥 BOOM CGI: Because even your ideas deserve to look award winning 👉 https://boomcgi.com/
✨ David Abbott brilliance, served fresh:

🧠 The BT Pitch. A masterclass in clarity, charm, and how to win hearts before budgets:
👉 https://davedye.com/2019/04/11/pitch-david-abbott-bt/ 📞💬💡
🚗 The VW Pitch. Proof that wit, insight, and a well-placed headline can move more than just cars 👉 https://davedye.com/2013/11/29/abbo/ 🪄📰🚘
📚 More creative gold from Dave Dye’s blog. Bookmark it, binge it, bow down:
👉 https://davedye.com/ 🧙‍♂️🔥🎯

Because why just run one of the world’s top creative award shows when you can also hijack someone else’s podcast and spill all the secrets?

In this juicy behind-the-scenes chat with our friends at Naked Voice, we reveal:

🕵️‍♂️ What it really takes to run an awards show (hint: coffee, chaos and mild existential dread)
🏆 How we accidentally became the World’s No.1 Marketing Podcast
🧠 How we created our brand new Masterclass
💣 And for the first time ever… a hack to win a TCF Award (yes, really we went there)

Hosts with the mosts:
💥 Lee Williams
🎤 Max Jackson
🔥 Raj Jangra
👑 Russell Kirk

🚨 Links You’ll Actually Want to Click (We know, shocking.)

🏆 2025 Awards FINAL CALL: Friday 25th April
If you thrive on last-minute pressure and questionable life choices, this is your time to shine. 👉 https://thecreativefloor.com/awards

📚 Masterclass: Want to level up your creative game?
Think of this as your creative cheat code no Konami moves, just actual results. 👉 https://awards.thecreativefloor.com/masterclass

💋 For sexy sound waves, follow the Naked Voice Podcast 👉 https://nkdhealth.com/podcasts

Last year we launched our inaugural Hall of Legends Award… because why just win awards when you can be immortal? 🏆👑 So this week, we’re diving headfirst into legacy. What is it? Do you need one? Is it just for billionaires and Bond villains? And most importantly, how do you build one without spontaneously combusting from burnout?
Helping us unpack this Big Existential Energy are two legends in the making:
💥 Tom Richards, Global CCO of 21GRAMS
💥 Frank Mazzola, Managing Founder of 21GRAMS

If you’ve ever dreamed of being the Charles Saatchi of our generation (minus the ‘mood swings’), plug in, press play and maybe take some notes. Your legacy isn’t going to build itself.
#NotAllAwardsAreCreatedEqual

🚨Show Notes & Deadlines (we know you usually skip this bit, but this time it might actually help you look clever.)

🏆 2025 Awards FINAL CALL – FRIDAY 25th APRIL
Due to overwhelming demand (and more chocolate-based bribery than we care to admit), we’ve caved and issued one last deadline extension. 👉 Full details: https://thecreativefloor.com/awards

📚 Masterclass: Want to make world-class advertising? We’ve basically got the cheat codes, minus the 3am existential crisis and sad desk lunches. 🎮✨ 👉 https://awards.thecreativefloor.com/masterclass
💥 💥 BOOM CGI: Turning your “this might be too weird” ideas into award-baiting visual gold. Because why look cheap when you can look Hollywood? 👉 https://boomcgi.com/

Need to plug a job or service? Hit us up at awards@thecreativefloor.com. We definitely read our emails (unless there’s cake in the kitchen). 🎤🔥
🎤 21Grams work referenced in todays conversation: https://www.adforum.com/creative-work/ad/player/34697876/tokking-their-language/hemlibra

Ever received feedback so savage it made you consider a career in alpaca farming? 🦙
☕ This week’s panel dives into the most ego-shattering, soul-crushing and (eventually) character-building conflicts they’ve survived, plus their best tips on how to dish it out and take it like a pro.

We’re talking:
🔪 Having book crits while being locked in actual cupboards (because why destroy someone’s confidence in a well-lit room?)
⬛ Clients asking for 100% black to be… er blacker (Physicists, help?)

🔥 Interview meltdowns so bad they should come with a bullet-proof vest
😂 Lessons that, somehow, turned out to be pure gold

Today's survivors:
🥊 Phil Blackmore, Create Health

🥊 Khalid Latif, VML

🥊 Brett O’Connor, VCCP Health

🎧 Listen now before you get your next "quick bit of feedback"
#NotAllAwardsAreCreatedEqual #BretterThanYou

🚨 Important Deadlines & Links (Yes, this might actually be useful. We’re just as surprised as you are.)

🏆 2025 Awards FINAL DEADLINE - FRIDAY 11th APRIL (If you’re a last-minute legend, this is your cue to panic efficiently.) 👉 Full details:https://thecreativefloor.com/awards

📚 Masterclass: Want to make world-class work? We’ve basically got the cheat codes. No Konami code required. 👉https://awards.thecreativefloor.com/masterclass
💥💥 BOOM CGI: Because even your weirdest, wildest ideas deserve to look expensive 👉 https://boomcgi.com/

Ever had a genius idea to start your own advertising agency but got stuck somewhere between “This could work” and “How do I even start?” 🤯 Well, good news, you don’t have to sell a kidney or start calling yourself a visionary disruptor on LinkedIn (yet).

Serial entrepreneur David Hunt and his Chief Creative Officer Emily Knight-Kristoffersen (KK) at The Considered, spill the beans on how to actually start an agency without going broke or burning out. Expect no-BS advice and industry secrets no one tells you before you dive in. If you’ve ever thought, “Maybe I should start my own thing?” this episode will either be your blueprint for success or a cautionary tale (either way, entertaining).

🎧 Listen now before someone else launches your idea and makes trillions.
If you want to continue the conversation with David or KK connect with them below:

david.hunt@the-considered.com

emily.kk@the-considered.com

🚨 Important Deadlines & Links (Yes, this stuff might actually help you. Shocking, we know):

🏆 2025 Awards are OPEN! Third Deadline: 4th April (Procrastinators, this is your sign). Full details: https://thecreativefloor.com/awards

📚 Masterclass: Want to boost your odds of making world-class work? We’ve got the cheat codes: https://awards.thecreativefloor.com/masterclass

💥 BOOM CGI: Because even your wildest ideas deserve to look expensive: https://boomcgi.com/

🎤 Need to plug a job or service? Drop us a line at awards@thecreativefloor.com. We promise to read it (probably) 🔥