STAGWELL IS BECOMING HARDER TO IGNORE... In Cannes this year, I had several conv
By Ivanfernandes1 · October 8, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
STAGWELL IS BECOMING HARDER TO IGNORE...
In Cannes this year, I had several conversations with Stagwell, including Jay Leveton, James Denton-Clark and Fiona B..
One point kept coming up in my discussions:
👉 If you want to compete seriously in today's agency landscape, media matters.
A lot.
Media isn't simply another agency capability anymore. It increasingly sits at the intersection of data, technology, AI, commerce, identity and, importantly, client economics.
That's why I found today's announcement interesting.
👉 https://lnkd.in/ejPNdtEy
Stagwell has launched Stagwell Media, building on Assembly and bringing more than 2,300 people across 50+ markets into the new global media agency.
For me, this is bigger than a rebrand.
I've written several times about Stagwell because I think it has been developing one of the more interesting challenger models in the market.
→ Agency capabilities.
→ Media.
→ Technology platforms.
→ Products.
→ AI.
→ Data.
And something that increasingly resembles a venture-style approach to building and investing in new capabilities. Now, those pieces are starting to connect. The Palantir Technologies partnership is particularly important.
👉 https://lnkd.in/e5x45MRW
Stagwell isn't simply talking about using AI inside agencies. It has been developing an AI-driven marketing platform with Palantir, alongside The Machine, its agentic operating system, and a growing portfolio of marketing technology products.
Now, it is strengthening the media layer.
Agency + Media + Data + Platforms + Products + AI.
That architecture matters.
Because one of my long-running arguments about HoldCos is that media remains one of the most influential parts of their economic and strategic model.
It provides...
→ Scale.
→ Data.
→ Client access.
→ Technology investment.
And increasingly the infrastructure around which other marketing capabilities can be orchestrated.
Which brings me back to the conversations in Cannes.
I've said for some time that, within the challenger group, Stagwell stands out.
Not because it has replicated the traditional HoldCo model.
Quite the opposite.
It increasingly looks like it is trying to build a different version of one.
I think more global brands running agency reviews should have Stagwell on the consideration list.
The interesting question now isn't whether Stagwell can build credible capabilities.
It has.
The next question is whether it can connect those capabilities into a system that competes at global scale.
Because the real competition ahead may not be:
→ HoldCo vs challenger.
It may be:
→ Traditional HoldCo architecture vs a new type of marketing company.
That is why I think Stagwell is becoming increasingly interesting to watch.
ivanfernandes.me