Everyone talks about how agencies have become too afraid to say no to clients. But when did we stop defending our ideas, and why is nobody teaching the next generation how to do it?

In this episode of The Unspoken Yes, Roberto Platas explores why creative agencies struggle to push back, what happens when experience and creative judgement disappear, and why saying no is a skill every creative professional needs to learn.

You'll get five practical tips on how to say no to a client without losing the account or your job, from choosing your battles wisely to knowing when, how and in front of whom to challenge a decision.

Because saying no isn't about being difficult. It's about knowing what the work needs, and having the guts to stand behind it.

Have you ever had to say no to a client? Tell me about it at theunspokenyes@gmail.com or find me on LinkedIn at Roberto Platas.

In 2025, Cannes Lions stripped Brazilian agency DM9 of its Grand Prix after discovering the case study had been built on AI-manipulated images and results that were, let's say, creatively interpreted. The biggest scandal in the history of advertising's most prestigious festival exposed something everyone in the industry already knows but rarely says out loud: the campaign you make for your client and the case study you enter at the festival don't always tell the same story.

In this episode of The Unspoken Yes, I break down Cannes Lions' decision to require clients to officially sign off on their agencies' entries starting this year. A move that turns what used to be a straightforward two-party arrangement into something considerably messier: a three-way dynamic where someone, inevitably, ends up standing outside looking in.

Topics: Cannes Lions 2026 · advertising festivals · case studies · agency-client relationship · creative agencies · DM9 scandal · advertising awards · ad industry podcast · advertising ethics

Agencies sell creativity. It's on every website, every creds deck, every award speech. But when it's time to choose who runs the business, creativity suddenly becomes much less important.

In this episode of The Unspoken Yes I put a name to that contradiction. Why it exists, who benefits from it, and whether the leadership model this industry was built on still makes sense in a world where everything keeps changing.

I talk about the myth that creatives can't run businesses, the Peter Pan problem nobody wants to admit, and why the agencies doing the best work today are precisely the ones that have put creative leadership at the center of the business.

If you work in advertising, this episode will make you look at the industry differently.