Futureproof or Fall Behind: Why AAR Loves M-Shaped People

Moving On Up

In the noughties, T-shaped people were all the rage: specialists with a clear focus on their niche, connecting everything they did to a "north star." But times have changed, and marketing challenges today need more than a lone “T” or group of “T’s”.  At AAR, we believe it’s high time to “Move on Up” (M People, anyone?) and evolve towards a model of M-shaped talent - marketers who bring multi-dimensional expertise to meet today’s complex and connected marketing challenges.

In this piece, AAR’s Relationship Management and Upskill Lead Consultant Vicky Gillan, known for driving high-performing partnerships, and AAR’s Media Lead Consultant Hannah Astill, who’s guided countless brands through the media maze, have teamed up to explain why the shift from T-shaped to M-shaped matters now. From pitch preparation to long-term performance and pivot points, they show how M-shaped people are better set up to transform both brand and agency growth.

The Marketing Mandate: Today's Challenges 

With multi-layered expectations, today’s marketing demands are broader and more interconnected than ever. Customers expect a seamless experience across every touchpoint, and CMOs know that this requires a model where collaboration, strategic insights, and adaptive expertise come together in real-time.

M-shaped people are uniquely suited to this challenge. Unlike T-shaped marketers, who bring a single deep expertise and basic cross-functional understanding, M-shaped individuals can navigate multiple domains, whether it’s brand, data, CX, or innovation, creative or media; agency or in-house.

They’re adaptable, collaborative, and connected —a trio of qualities that match the evolving needs of today’s marketing discussion, challenges and debates. 

Holding Up a Mirror: Why Brands and Agencies Must Evolve Together

Where T-shaped people once thrived in siloed set-ups, client challenges now demand a more holistic view. Just as brands are investing in new skills and structures to future-proof their teams, agencies must mirror this shift. Gone are the days when a narrow brief passed down the line could drive great results. Agencies, too, need their own M-shaped talent—people who can blend insight and strategy, anticipate challenges, collaborate across teams and still have a handle on how a campaign is performing and drive actionable insights.

In short, brands and agencies need to meet in the middle. Specialists are moving upstream to better understand big-picture strategy, while generalists are diving deeper into execution. This synergy brings benefits across the board—from agile project management to quicker, more informed decision-making. Better thinking, better work, and better outcomes.

All About the HOW: Making Marketing Work

The benefits of M-shaped people aren’t just theoretical; they’re highly practical. Here’s why having multi-faceted team members makes such a difference:

1. Mastering Complexity
   M-shaped people thrive in environments where complexity is the norm. They’re able to connect the dots across customer data, content, and market trends, ensuring that each idea, project and campaign isn’t just relevant but truly connected to the challenge.  
2. Blending Teams
   These are the people who bring disparate ideas and people together, understanding the challenges on both the brand and agency side. Their deep, multi-layered skill sets foster alignment across all departments, breaking down silos in favour of true collaboration bringing the best from all in the team, and ensuring T-shaped focus isn't to the detriment of the holistic intent and end goal.
3. Maintaining Momentum
   In a rapidly changing world, speed is essential. M-shaped people keep the momentum, pivoting quickly without sacrificing depth. From strategy sessions to last-minute changes, they keep everything moving, relevant, and responsive.  

In one recent agency assessment, Vicky Gillan worked with a client and their two lead agencies with a brief to reduce time spent by all involved getting to better, sharper recommendations and an agreed comms strategy. On initial assessment, the problem soon became obvious. Multiple specialists were needed to present their analysis and channel recommendations, as well as the account leads, the planner, the performance team, the campaign manager, the marketing director - you get the picture.

All had wonderful opinions and knowledge, but that led to more than 20 people being in the room (and it was an IRL room!) and a very long, channel by channel, T-shaped series of specialist 20-minute presentations. Of course, that detailed work was needed but there has to be (and there was!) a better way. Cue M people amongst some other changes. 

Developing M-Shaped People: some upskill ideas to help 

Building an M-shaped team requires investment, but the investment pays for itself when you have a more efficient and effective team at the end of it. Beyond skills training, developing M-shaped skillsets means allowing people the time and space to immerse themselves in different roles, different challenges and different paths. Here are some ideas for fostering M-shaped talent in your team:

1. Embed Cross-Functional Experiences
   Empower team members to spend time across departments; not just observing but actively participating. This drives a practical understanding that can’t be matched by theory alone.  Sabbaticals (and maternity covers) are perfect vehicles for this and a real opportunity to develop and enhance knowledge.  Think ‘AND’, not ‘OR’.  Brand AND performance, long AND short, creative AND media, client AND in-house AND agencies.  
2. Design Blended Upskilling Programs
   Create programs that blend digital and in-person learning, project work, and mentorship. Recognise that different people learn in different ways and tailor your development approach accordingly. 
3. Encourage Strategic Stretch
   Give team members the opportunity to tackle projects outside their usual scope. Encourage data analysts to be part of strategy meetings, for instance, or have account managers sit in on data analytic deep dives.
4. Cultivate Emotional Intelligence and Creativity
   Marketing is about connection, both with customers and colleagues. Focus not only on building skillsets but on nurturing emotional intelligence and creativity, crucial traits that help people thrive in the M-shaped model.

Mind the Gap: A Few Provocations We Should all be Asking Ourselves 

As you think about the future and encouraging everyone to thrive and deliver high performance, take a minute to think about M-shapes (and T-shapes too).  Remember it's AND not OR.  And consider what this means for the challenges of casting, chemistry, interviewing, recruitment, promoting, developing and assessing your people and your teams:

1. Are you cultivating T-shaped or M-shaped talent?
2. Is your 2025 people strategy aligned with a multi-layered, multi-skilled approach, or is it more of the same?
3. Where are you on the M-shaped spectrum—are you keeping up, or falling behind?
4. For agencies: Are you adding real value with an M-shaped approach at pitch when casting, in team shapes and dynamics, and at moments of change and reset?
5. For brands: Could your teams’ silos be holding back innovation; are you moving the problem around when you change your organisation design or truly transforming?  Do your ways of working, PCAs, reporting lines and budget management systems enable M’s or keep everyone in their established T-shaped lanes? 

Time for More Than One Night in Heaven 😉

At AAR, we’ve seen first-hand the difference M-shaped people can make, whether it’s selecting the right partner or helping a brand meet evolving expectations. For those looking to cultivate M-shaped teams, we’re here to help you build the right talent strategies. This includes everything from upskilling programmes to organisational design, to inspire sessions and client: agency swap-shop sessions. 

Interested in hearing more? Please contact us or message Vicky Gillan or Hannah Astill today. We are always here to help 🎶 search for the hero inside of you.  Too much?  Never we say!