The news: Richard Glasson, CEO of WPP creative shop Hogarth, contends that generative AI has heightened, not diminished, the value of craftsmanship. “Craft has never been more important,” he said in a recent EMARKETER interview, dismissing the idea that AI is a threat to creativity.

To meet rising demand for high-volume, high-quality content, the agency launched genAI studios staffed with specialists who deliver “extraordinary craft, extraordinary content” across channels. With brands now requiring continuous output rather than a few hero assets, Hogarth is rethinking production to “feed the beast” more efficiently.

Why it matters: AI is now embedded in marketing, but adoption pain points remain. The biggest fear—shared by 54% of marketing decision-makers—is that AI will diminish creativity and human touch.

Public sentiment reinforces this caution. Nearly half of US adults are “very concerned” about AI replacing jobs (48%), diminishing oversight in decision-making (47%), and eroding creativity (44%).

Inside companies, resistance is palpable: 33% of employees who actively undermine AI initiatives say it is because AI diminishes their value or creativity.

Even younger workers—who lead in AI tool adoption—focus much of their use on content creation and design (37-39% and 36%, respectively). These patterns suggest that creative professionals are experimenting with AI in ways that still rely heavily on human direction.

Hogarth’s solution: The agency's hybrid model uses AI to save time and cut costs without replacing human creativity in a number of ways:

• Combining AI-generated backgrounds with lifestyle photography.
• Integrating digital product twins into human-shot footage and using VFX pipelines to produce product placements at scale.
• Automating localization for cultural moments across markets.

Our take: Glasson’s observation that “not all content is equal” is crucial. While AI can produce volume, premium brands need work that reflects cultural nuance, brand voice, and emotional resonance—elements requiring expert craft. Hogarth’s position as both a global language service provider and a production powerhouse shows how human expertise and AI can be orchestrated for both scale and quality.

The next competitive frontier will not be about who has AI, but about who can wield it to elevate craft while meeting relentless content demands. Agencies that integrate AI as a creative amplifier, rather than a replacement, will own the premium tier of the market. Those that chase automation alone will risk being commoditized. For brands, the differentiator will be partnerships that blend cultural fluency, creative vision, and machine efficiency—at speed and at scale.