This Week's Agency News Round-Up

February 26th 2026 - Mergers, Movers, and Campaign Creators

26 FEBRUARY 2026

1. Top Stories

Appetite Creative, in partnership with Koenig & Bauer AURAVEO, has released results from its fifth annual Global Connected Packaging Survey 2026. The research reveals that 92.3% of those surveyed say that connected packaging will be increasingly important to the packaging industry in the next 12 months and beyond, up from 88.8% in 2025. Find out more about what this means for QR codes, NFC tags and more by reading the story from Little Black Book Online.

The Drum’s World Creative Rankings 2026 is out. Did you, your agency or your campaign make the list? Take a look and find out.

2. Account Moves & Launches

New Agency & brand partnerships

WPP is launching WPP Creative, a new entity meant to simplify how the holding company’s numerous creative agencies show up to clients, without merging them. Jon Cook has been appointed CEO of the new unit and remains CEO of VML. Ad Age has the latest on this move.

In this exclusive update, PR Week reveals that soft drinks brand Schweppes has appointed a comms agency to handle its global creative strategy following a three-way pitch. Get the details from PR Week here.

3. People & Leadership

Hires, promotions and notable exits

Pull the Pin (PTP), which was founded by marketing expert Sam Hufton in 2021, has promoted Prenam Gill and Jack Boulter to its leadership team, recognising the two industry professionals for their commitment to the business and their outstanding performance. Express and Star have the details.

Two new shareholders have joined a Newcastle-based video-first marketing agency, B7, which was established in 2020. Read more at Insider Media.

4. Big Collaborations of The Week

Standout campaigns, launches or stunts

A leading Cheshire-based creative advertising agency, Thrive, has announced the launch of 'Create Good', a new initiative providing high-impact marketing services free of charge to one exceptional local non-profit organisation. Learn more about their Charity of the Year programme launch here.

5. Trends & Talk

Graphic detail on the state of the agency sector - Digiday

Level Up or Fall Behind: The Fastest-Growing Marketing Skills of 2026

LinkedIn’s Skills on the Rise list for 2026 is a wake-up call for agencies and brands alike: technical know-how alone won’t cut it. AI literacy, visual storytelling, performance analysis and collaborative strategic thinking are leading growth, and teams that invest in these capabilities now will be the ones shaping the next wave of creative, measurable work.

Check out LinkedIn’s 10 fastest-growing skills in marketing here, and join the conversation using #SkillsOnTheRise.