There is nothing more delicious than giving one thing your full attention. In our working lives, filled with the dopamine hits of LinkedIn, Slack and Teams notifications, our attention is often only ever fleeting and partial. 

In this always-on ecosystem, making the space to stay creative, curious and connected is not easy. Yet the best marketers are increasingly ambitious about how they spend their time. Rather than making generic statements on creativity being their competitive advantage whilst doing precisely nothing to nurture it, 2025 was a year when a growing cohort of progressive leaders recognised the fundamental truth that lifelong learning is key to continual success.

With this growth in mind here are the Top 10 long reads of 2025. We hope they spark your thinking in new and unexpected ways.

People are overwhelmed because they are not in control.

Strategy Consultant, Trainer and Public Speaker Kevin Chesters, on why pace setting and individual optimism are vital tools for marketing leaders in navigating a challenging year.

How the Defender put women in the driving seat.

Victoria Gabriel, Global Communications Manager at Defender and Discovery, on luxury, innovation and AI.

'You need to be comfortable with change, not constantly distracted.’

Ade Onilude, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Women in Marketing Community Interest Company, on the glimmers of hope of 2025 and the power of intergenerational creativity.

Random acts of creativity

Javier Campopiano, now Global Chief Creative Officer, Global Clients at Omnicom Advertising, opens up on the importance of making things, creating room for the random and building cultures of creativity. 

‘To succeed you need to be able to shortcut decision making’

Jo Bacon, Group CEO at M&C Saatchi UK, on cultural power, simplification and why the answer isn’t always advertising.

‘Being consistent demands a lot of bravery’

Fabio Ruffet, VP Brands and Content Europe and Central Eurasia at Mars Snacking, and André Moreira, Global Chief Creative Officer at T&P, on why consistency is still underrated in marketing.

‘A lot of people feel stuck at the moment’

Sara Tate, European Transformation Practice Partner at TwentyFirstCenturyBrand, on why storytelling drives brand transformation.

How the ECB is propelling women’s cricket into the mainstream 

Ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup, Charlotte Meijer lifted the lid on a new campaign designed to inspire a new generation of cricket lovers.

Lifting the lid on the British Gas school of brand platform building

Leaders at British Gas and T&P shared how they embraced brand fluency with a family of brand mascots, fuelled by human creativity and Generative AI.

Puncturing the pressure of modern motherhood

Real insights and an open-minded approach to marketing have successfully driven a step change in marketing at Organix.