Kate Scott-Dawkins in 2030

A View From 2030

WPP Media's president, global business intelligence, explores the world of advertising and innovation from five years away with a first-hand account of how ads and tech evolve

By Kate Scott-Dawkins

Having produced WPP Media’s latest report ‘Advertising in 2030’, Kate Scott-Dawkins, president, Global Business Intelligence, offers her firsthand account of how the world of advertising will perhaps look at the start of the next decade. She highlights some of the tech and experiences that will probably make up her working day five years down the line, and the advertising that will be served during it.

 

Hello from 2030.

It’s Kate Scott-Dawkins here. Yes, I’m still in advertising and still obsessed with the future. And let me tell you, what you’re going to see happen over the next five years is incredible.

I’m just waking up in my smart house, where the blinds have already adjusted to the optimal light setting for my circadian rhythm, and my digital assistant, Virgil, named after the Roman poet, has gently nudged me awake with a curated news digest. Half of the headlines are AI-generated, but I’ve toggled my feed to “human-authored only” to check on the nuance, and make sure I’m not missing anything.

As I brush my teeth, my toothbrush syncs with my smartwatch, analysing my oral health and nudging me toward a new biome-friendly cereal advertised on my bathroom mirror. It’s tailored to my gut data, which my toilet also contributes to. Yes, really. The ad is subtle, almost ambient, and I nod approvingly. Virgil, who is integrated into the house and all my devices, adds it to my grocery list.

I’ve got a big pitch meeting today, but already I feel that I’m missing the right top to complete my outfit. Virgil has a quick scan of my wardrobe, checks it against data from past meetings and any references to today’s attendees, and he prompts a suggestion: a tailored cobalt blouse, couriered to my office in time for the meeting. One tap and it’s ordered. Instant commerce at its slickest.

On my commute, I opt to hop in an autonomous vehicle so I can get some work done on the way into the office. The glass surfaces inside the car double as screens, and while I sometimes choose an ad-supported ride to check out the latest creative ideas, today I use my subscription to get a curated stream of economic data, competitor news, and a few speculative forecasts from CES. I pass a billboard that shifts as I approach - programmatic outdoor advertising tailored to my profile. It’s promoting a pet wellness brand, triggered by the dog-walking data my phone passively shares. Creepy? Maybe. But I opted in, and the targeting is eerily good, so I task Virgil with deciding whether Zola, our dog, would prefer this brand.

Having picked up the top, which was delivered by drone and waiting for me in the lobby, I venture up to the office. I dive into a bathroom and put it on. The brightly lit mirror offers its approval.

I then walk into a meeting room where the screens instantly recognise me and my team. No laptops needed. Virgil pulls up last year’s Christmas campaign report, and we begin ideating for this year’s push. We’re working with both human creatives and data scientists and AI assistants. They’ve been iterating overnight, generating mock-ups and media allocation options while we slept. There’s no downtime, so projects are being done at a much faster pace.

We have settled on a concept featuring a fictional K-pop band that is fully AI-generated, of course. The voice artists are real, but the personas are synthetic. It’s a hit with Gen Alpha, who stream their songs on loop. The campaign will run across smart glass surfaces, wearable displays, and social feeds. We’ll need to navigate the “verified human only” toggle some users prefer, but the reach is set to be massive.

Lunch is prompted by a dip in my blood sugar, flagged by my health sensors. Virgil suggests a high-fibre smoothie from the place around the corner, with a discount code embedded in the ad. I accept, and it’s delivered to my desk within minutes. Frictionless, personalised, and slightly unnerving.

The afternoon will be spent refining the campaign. The team’s AI assistants will show me six more variations of the second concept before we all vote, iterate, and prep for client review. The AI assistants handle the grunt work like the data pulls, sentiment analysis, and performance modelling, while we focus on storytelling and strategy.

Later, when I get home, I’ll take Zola for a walk to clear my head. The city is alive with ambient advertising, glass bus stops, shop windows, and even pavement projections. Some are interactive, some passive. I pass a store with a 3D printing hub. I’ve been lobbying for more localised production, bespoke items printed on demand, curated from a YouTube-style design marketplace. It’s not mainstream yet, but I’m hopeful, maybe one day...

Back home, I’ll unwind with a stream of content, produced by both human and AI platforms, toggling between feeds, curious to see how the bots are evolving. The line between creator and algorithm is blurring, and while I still prefer a long-form British murder mystery, the data suggests many others spend hours swiping through bite-sized videos.

Before bed, Virgil reminds me of tomorrow’s agenda, suggests some wind-down yoga, and dims the lights. I reflect on the day: seamless commerce, ambient data, AI colleagues, and advertising that’s less disruptive, more intuitive. It’s not perfect, when was it ever? But it’s progress.

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