Over the last few months, Pinnacle team members traveled across the country to attend some of the industry’s biggest conferences, and some even took to the expo floors to support client activations firsthand. From AI innovation to media trends, multicultural marketing, and boots-on-the-ground customer insights, each experience brought back new learnings that will shape how we work, create, and partner with our clients.
Here’s a roundup of the Top 5 things we learned in 2025.
- AI Is Reshaping Everything, And Agencies Must Evolve (Mirren AI Conference), Megan Boveri
The Mirren AI Conference made one thing crystal clear: AI isn’t just another tool. It’s a full-scale transformation of agency operations, client expectations, and the value we deliver.
Key themes included:
- The shift to intelligence-driven value. Agencies must move from deliverables to insight, orchestration, and strategic decision-making.
- Creative workflows are changing fast. AI accelerates iteration, early prototyping, editing, personalization, and content atomization—expanding what’s creatively possible.
- Systems matter. Leading agencies are building AI councils, prompt libraries, workflows, and training programs to ensure consistency and governance.
- Clients now expect speed, personalization, predictive insights, and transparency around how AI is used.
- Data is becoming the next big revenue opportunity. Agencies that can transform data into meaningful guidance will win the future.
Bottom line: AI doesn’t replace creativity, it multiplies it. Agencies that empower people with AI (not replace them with it) will lead the next era.
- Strengthening Media Partnerships Through Connection (BPDMI), Colleen Ellsworth & Andrea Moore
While not a traditional conference, Colleen and Andrea met with 20+ national DR network partners, from NBC to Paramount to Univision, to discuss current client needs and upcoming opportunities.
It was a valuable chance to build relationships, explore new inventory, and strengthen partnerships that will directly benefit clients in 2026.
- Elevating Multicultural & Digital Strategy (National Automobile Dealers Association + Additional Training), Anna Dujakovich.
Across sessions focused on dealership marketing, Anna walked away with two standout lessons:
- Marketing to Spanish Speakers:
- “Be as picky with Spanish as you are with English.”
- The customer journey matters. Sites, showrooms, phone trees, and visuals must all reflect the language accurately.
- Google Translate isn’t enough.
In practice: Sharpened Spanish-language audits ensures authenticity across copy and creative.
- Mastering Digital Marketing
- GA4 is helpful, but real performance lives in the dealer’s CRM (Customer Relationship Management).
- Understand the client’s goal: more calls? more form fills? text-friendly leads? Optimize to their strengths.
In practice: This has led to stronger conversations with dealers and more effective lead strategy direction.
- Insights You Can’t Get From a Stage (Offshore Technology Conference), Ashley Sparks
At the Offshore Technology Conference (one of the biggest global gatherings for the oil and gas industry) Ashley skipped the sessions and went straight to the source: the MEYER booth. MEYER, a leader in pressure control equipment and industry-proven pipe inspection solutions, attracts operators, engineers, and field teams who rely on their products to keep operations running safely and efficiently.
By standing in the booth and hearing real, unfiltered conversations, Ashley gained insights no panel could offer.
Key takeaways:
- Customer questions and pain points shared in real time offer deeper insights than panels.
- Seeing how prospects interact with MEYER products clarified how critical their solutions are in day-to-day operations.
- This frontline exposure will shape more relevant, empathy-driven creative and strategy.
- AI Adoption: Proceed With Curiosity, Not Blind Faith (DigiMarCon Midwest), Dino & Emilie
At DigiMarCon, AI dominated the conversation, but with a balanced, responsible lens.
Key insights:
- Develop a philosophy of use for AI internally and externally.
- “Keep a human in the loop.” AI is powerful but not a replacement for expertise.
- Train teams on limitations to reduce errors and maintain accuracy.
- Understand the spectrum of client comfort with AI, then guide them.
- Practice responsible disclosure. Transparency builds trust.
AI isn’t a shortcut; it’s a junior teammate. Treat it like one.
Listening, Learning, and Leveling Up
Across all conferences, one theme stood out: our industry is evolving faster than ever, and so are we.
Whether it’s:
- embracing AI
- strengthening media relationships
- refining multicultural messaging
- digging deeper into CRM data
- or listening directly to customers
…every insight helps us deliver smarter, sharper, more human work.
Stay tuned for even more conference takeaways as our team continues to show up, learn, and bring those learnings back home to Pinnacle in 2026!
