Episodes
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VCCP London’s chief executive Andrew Peake is the special guest in the studio, joining Campaign’s creativity and culture editor Gurjit Degun, deputy editor Gemma Charles and features editor Matt Barker.
Andrew explains why VCCP are moving out of their home in London’s Victoria after 23 years and heading over to Fitzrovia, prompting a conversation among the quartet around the role that offices – and crucially, office cultures – have to play in attracting talent.
That then leads to further chat about socio-economic factors, career development and other motivating factors that come into play when choosing to work for a particular agency.
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Campaign hosted its star event Media360 in Brighton this week, gathering together leaders from UK media agencies, owners and businesses to discuss and question where media is headed in 2025.
Hosted by the chief executives of Essencemediacom and Hearts & Science, Natalie Cummins and Garrett O’Rielly, the two days covered connecting with gen Z, what to do about AI and urged advertisers to support trusted journalism. Jamie Laing opened the conference in the hot seat questioned by Campaign editor Maisie McCabe.
In this bonus episode you will hear a session from the event which questions whether social media is killing TV, hosted by Debatemate. Before we get to it, tech editor Lucy Shelley is joined by media editor Beau Jackson to chat through a few highlights from the two days.
Further reading:
Media 360: Lloyds Banking Group’s marketing lead on breaking ground in gaming
Media 360: Marketers from Currys, Reckitt and Estée Lauder on how media drives growth
Media 360: Jamie Laing on why brands should 'always have a North Star'
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In this special episode of The Campaign Podcast, Charlotte Rawlings, deputy creativity and culture editor at Campaign, chats to four of the industry’s top creatives about some recent ads.
Rawlings is joined by Laura Rogers, executive creative director at AMV BBDO; Jonny Parker and Chris Birch, joint chief creative officers at VCCP; and Caitlin Ryan, creative partner at Dentsu Creative. The creatives discuss the longevity of brand mascots, their favourite type of crumpets and how the PG Tips Monkey has transformed into a loving husband.
Listen to their opinions on British Gas, Warburtons, KFC and more.
Further reading:
PG Tips brings back Monkey in campaign featuring Emily AtackBritish Gas launches brand platform with cosy charactersOlivia Colman takes crumpet duty seriously in Warburtons campaignWarburtons radio ads feature Olivia Colman denying 'crumpet heist'KFC spot launches burger with cult-like dinner ceremonyConfused.com spot turns people into helium-filled inflatablesHosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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The darker side of agency life reveals that burnout is still an issue in advertising. Adland is infamously known for late night calls, weekend pitch prep and a culture of long working hours being the norm. Four years ago Campaign launched an investigation into the darker side of agency work and in this year’s follow up, it seems little progress has been made.
This week is Mental Health Awareness week, and in this episode Campaign speaks to Sue Todd, chief executive at advertising and media charity Nabs, and David Eakins, former art director and now mental health campaigner and founder of workplace wellbeing agency Happy Sapien.
Hosted by tech editor Lucy Shelley, Campaign's editor Maisie McCabe also joins the discussion. They explore why adland has not solved the issue of burnout and what can be done to protect its people.
Content warning: this episode contains references to suicide. If you have been affected by issues raised in this episode and need a number to call, you can reach Nabs at 0800 707 6607, Calm on 0800 1111 or Samaritans on 116 123.
Further reading:
An open letter to the gatekeepers of creative greatness
Nabs helpline calls reach annual record of 5200
Why hasn’t adland tackled its long-hours culture?
Does adland wish it was ‘Severed’?
Coming up in the Campaign calendar:
Campaign Live
Campaign Big Awards
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Live experiences couldn't get more real. They provide consumers with a tangible connection to a brand. But in an era of declining third spaces, consumers need to be wowed if they are to venture out their homes to attend an event.
Louisa O'Conner if the founder and managing director of experiential agency Seen Presents. She joins the podcast to discuss the change in consumer behaviour, why consumers generally prefer grassroots events to premium and how the pressure put on live experiences makes them feel like the ultimate wedding.
Hosted by Campaign's tech editor Lucy Shelley, this episode also features deputy creativity and culture editor Charlotte Rawlings.
Further reading:
The experiential antidote to Gen Z’s dying third place
UK firms cut marketing budgets for first time in four years: IPA Bellwether
‘A tough start to the year’: IPA Bellwether adland reaction
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Women in creative leadership roles have been leaving adland. The IPA Census reported a decline in both of the last two years, down from 30% in 2022 to 25.6% in 2024. On top of this, the Census reported a widening pay gap, increasing to almost 20% in 2024.
This episode welcomes Laura Jordan Bambach to the studio, founder and chief creative officer of female founded Uncharted. Alongside editor Maisie McCabe and deputy creativity and culture editor Charlotte Rawlings, they discuss why it’s got worse, if there was any improvement seen in the first place and what needs to be done to amend the issue.
Jordan Bambach, who launched The Great British Diversity Experiment nine years ago, explained that when agencies feel under pressure from economic and other external storms, they return to "muscle memory", and rely on behaviours of the past. The industry needs to reframe what it is to be a successful creative leader and adjust perceptions, she said.
This episode was hosted by tech editor Lucy Shelley.
Further reading:
I can’t believe I still have to write columns about this shit
Under-appreciated, overlooked and misunderstood: the life of a female creative
3 great ads I had nothing to do with – #68 with Laura Jordan Bambach
My Cannes Snapshot: Laura Jordan Bambach
Laura Jordan Bambach, Hannah Matthews and Fern Miller unveil 'advanced' creative agency
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Last week, the greats of UK media gathered in London to celebrate the Campaign Media Awards 2025. The coveted Commercial Team of the Year award went to LADbible while Spark Foundry’s Mondelez Team took home Agency Team of the Year.
The winning Campaign of the Year was awarded to PHD and "Stream of (un)consciousness" for the British Heart Foundation. The gaming campaign worked with Twitch creators, interrupting their streams to teach viewers how to do CPR, and the results were powerful, with someone’s life being saved after a viewer saw one streamer’s CPR segment. Judges said they couldn’t “wish or hope for more for a client in this sector.”
In this bonus episode we are chatting to the brains behind the campaign, Tess Gullis, gaming business director at PHD. We discuss how the campaign is successful in its simplicity, the misconceptions that still exist from advertisers and answer why brands are overcomplicating gaming.
Hosted by Campaign tech editor Lucy Shelley, this episode also features deputy media editor Shauna Lewis.
View all the winners here.
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In February this year, the UK government published a consultation on AI, proposing a change to current copyright legislation. It would allow tech companies to use creative works including film, TV and original journalism to train AI models without permission of the creators, unless they have opted out.
It was met with harsh criticism, rallying "Make it fair" campaigns and rejections from both creatives and tech platforms alike, albeit for opposite reasons. Google and OpenAI responded to the consultation saying that it would cause developers to "deprioritise the market" and that "training on the open web must be free" while creative industries including Alex Mahon, chief executive of Channel 4, said that the lack of transparency and compensation would "scrape the value" from quality content.
Campaign questions if UK regulation will harm creative industries and how it will impact the country’s own advancements in AI. This episode welcomes guest Michael Horn, global head of AI at Omnicom Advertising Group. Hosted by tech editor Lucy Shelley, the Campaign team includes creativty and culture editor Alessandra Scotto di Santolo and deputy media editor Shauna Lewis.
This episode includes an excerpt from Mahon's speech in Parliament where she addresses her concerns.
Further reading:
Mark Read: 'AI will unlock adland's productivity challenge'
AI, copyright and the creative economy: the debate we can't afford to lose
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What links McDonald's "Iconic needs no explanation" by Leo Burnett, KFC's gravy take over of the BFI and Kellogg's "See you in the morning" also by Leo Burnett? These three ads are the latest in a line of out-of-home posters that zoom in on products, alter or remove logos and have minimal text. Tesco, Heinz and B&Q have also created similar ads.
While this might be a trend, it certainly isn't new. A 1990 Silk Cut ad "Slash" by Saatchi & Saatchi also had a similar minimalist style and more recently in 2023, Barbie released an entirely pink billboard with only "July 21" in the corner to promote the release of the film.
Campaign's editorial team discuss if original ideas still exist in outdoor ads and if all the good ideas have been taken. Hosted by tech editor Lucy Shelley, this episode features editor Maisie McCabe, creativity and culture editor Alessandra Scotto di Santolo and deputy creativity and culture editor Charlotte Rawlings.
Further reading:
Is the art of out-of-home copywriting under threat?
Playing with the logo is nothing new; but it might signal a return to intelligent advertising
The distinctive asset in the room
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Campaign's Agency of the Year Awards took place last week celebrating the best shops in adland across creative, media, independent, customer engagement, start-up and more.
This episode chats to three of the big winners: Mother, who took home Creative Agency of the Year, MG OMD which won Media Agency and Rapp which celebrated five awards with three golds: Performance Marketing Agency, New Business Leader and Customer Engagement Agency Leader.
MG OMG's CEO Natalie Bell talked about the importance of an entrepreneurial spirit while Rapp's CMO Tracey Barber discussed how to protect employees from being poached after award wins. Mother's chief communications officer Tom Wong spoke about the importance of independence and the agency's triad of success: make the best work, have fun, and make a living not a killing.
View all the winners here.
Coming up in the Campaign calendar:
Ad Net Zero Awards open for entries
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Principal-based media buying, which includes inventory media and proprietary media, has become a key practice for large agency groups, but it remains opaque, with finance trails and pricing structures largely in the dark.
In March this year, ISBA updated its media services framework calling out media agencies for lack of transparency and "non-compliance", which it said has been leading to "tensions" between advertisers and agencies. The IPA hit back at ISBA for suggesting "systemic malpractice" in principal-based media and painting “a misleading picture of how agencies operate”, serving "only to perpetuate the myth that agencies are acting against the interests of their clients”.
In this episode, Campaign's editorial team discuss why this topic is so controversial, shedding light on concerns that exist and the reasons that it remains so obscure. Hosted by tech editor Lucy Shelley, the chat features UK editor-in-chief Gideon Spanier, UK editor Maisie McCabe and media editor Beau Jackson.
Further reading:
Will the 'big six' become the 'big three'?
Media is key battleground for agency giants in new world order
Mark Read on WPP’s creative agencies slump, big clients spending more and four-day office mandate
Do the latest holding company results signify a shift towards media first?
The $31bn Omnicom-IPG deal has industrial logic but also many caveats
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Campaign has released its biggest project of the year, reviewing and marking the top 92 agencies in the UK for Campaign's 2025 School Reports, in partnership with Nielsen.
In this episode, Campaign's editorial team reveals its overall impression on the reports, what they divulge about the health of the industry by analysing the billings across media and creative and how diversity has been impacted in the last year. They discuss how creativity fared in 2024 and the consequence of a few huge media pitches (Amazon, L'Oreal and Ebay, to name a few).
Hosted by tech editor Lucy Shelley, this chat includes editor Maisie McCabe, deputy editor Gemma Charles and features editor Matt Barker.
Further reading:
School Reports 2025: Top creative agencies
School Reports 2025: Top media agencies
School Reports 2025: Top holding companies
School Reports 2025: Top regional agencies
School Reports 2025: Which agencies got the highest marks?
School Reports 2025: Which agencies improved their marks?
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"There is an unofficial reason why pre-testing is so popular, and that's that clients work in very complex organisations with lots of stakeholders," says Martin Beverley, former chief strategy officer at Adam & Eve/DDB.
Beverley joins the Campaign team on the podcast to discuss the efficacy of pre-testing and its contentiousness in adland: some say data can stifle creativity while others argue it’s a sure method to improve advertising effectiveness.
Marketing professor Mark Ritson said it wasn’t divisive but actually a "no-brainer", that it’s essentially infallible, and we now live in a different age of pre-testing. Beverley discusses this argument alongside Campaign editor Maisie McCabe and deputy creativity and culture editor Charlotte Rawlings, hosted by tech editor Lucy Shelley. The team consider how creatives and strategists should look at the bigger picture, what certainty does for creativity and if pre-testing denies originality.
Plus, at the end of the episode, Campaign tests the pre-testing, with Rawlings and Shelley testing their own ad ideas for Liquid Death using Kantar's Link AI early stage testing tool.
Further reading:
How do you solve a problem like… pre-testing?
The Year Ahead for Campaign
Is big data driving a short-term view?
Troy Ruhanen: 'I wouldn't have taken OAG job if it was all about efficiency and smashing things'
Former Amazon CCO Simon Morris appointed chair of new audience insight platform
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"Unprecedented","furlough" and "bubbles" are a few of the words that are reminiscent of 2020. On 23rd March five years ago, the UK prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that the UK was entering a lockdown as a result of the spread of Coronavirus.
Now in 2025, the way in which we work has been upturned and a "new normal" is being established. As for the advertising industry, has it changed for the better, or is it still looking back to years gone by?
In this episode, the campaign team will answer the question if adland has indeed changed for the better, how hybrid working has affected creative and media teams, what has happened to DEI and the impact that new ways of working has had on young people.
Hosted by Campaign tech editor Lucy Shelley, the episode includes editor-in-chief Gideon Spanier, deputy editor Gemma Charles and deputy creativity and culture editor Charlotte Rawlings.
Further reading:
Five years after Covid, live events are thriving – what’s fuelling the resurgence?
Will return-to-office mandates push back inclusion?
When will adland go back to five days in office?
WPP employees push back on return-to-office policy with petition
A year that has changed the ad industry for the better
The coronavirus crisis: countdown to the fastest advertising downturn in history
Read Campaign's May 2020 issue in full
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Holding company solutions are on the rise, particularly for large clients whose spend is in the £100 millions.
Publicis Flame is the latest to ignite, created after Santander appointed Publicis Groupe to its global creative and media business. Ongoing pitches include Natwest which is also looking for a single holding company to take on its media and creative business.
Holding companies have been expanding their offerings across creative, media, tech and data to service client needs, but do these solutions really work? And what becomes of the individual agency brands when amalgamated into one solution? Campaign's journalists gather in the studio to discuss.
This episode features editor-in-chief Gideon Spanier, creativity and culture editor Alessandra Scotto di Santolo and media editor Beau Jackson. It is hosted by tech editor Lucy Shelley.
Further reading:
Santander on its shift to one global agency, why it picked Publicis and how ‘data is key’
Will more agencies move to a holding company solution for their biggest clients?
Pfizer moves creative from IPG to Publicis after just 10 months
WPP’s Mark Read on client demand for AI and fewer agency partners
WPP triumphs over Publicis Groupe to win Centrica's integrated review
British Gas turns up the heat with media, creative and below-the-line review
British Gas appoints media and creative agencies
WPP wins majority of $4 billion Coca-Cola business
The $100m question for agencies
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One would think that the answer to "what is Group M?" would be a short one, but after many changes, mergers, shuffles and dissolutions at WPP's media arm in the last 12 months, the answer is not so.
Group M is the largest media buying group in the world and in this episode, Campaign's journalists discuss what the company was when it began in the early 2000s, what has happened in the last 12 months including losing Sky, the closure of EssenceMediacom X and axing its global agency CEO roles, and what it is now. The team examines Group M's relationship with its agency brands, their identity, and what the future holds for the media group.
This episode features media editor Beau Jackson, deputy media editor Shauna Lewis and editor Maisie McCabe. It is hosted by tech editor Lucy Shelley.
Further reading:
Henkel assigns €500m expanded European media account
Unilever announces result of global media review with six rivals sharing duties
Former Group M China executives to face Shanghai court over bribery allegations
Group M upgrades UK advertising growth forecast from 4.4% to 7.7% in 2025
WPP wants NCA's Midas touch as it battles to revive fortunes
How important are agency brands?
Amazon splits global media between two networks after competitive review
Group M builds new global growth and marketing team under Toby Jenner
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The advertising industry accounts for 3% to 4% of global emissions, twice that of the aviation industry, found research from the IAB. Is it truly making an effort to reduce its impact on the environment?
In this episode, Campaign speaks to Stephen Woodford, chief executive of the Advertising Association, on its Ad Net Zero program, the power adland holds in making positive change and whether tech platforms really doing enough.
Before we speak to Stephen, Campaign's journalists gather to discuss media's varying impact, what happens to agencies with fossil fuel clients, and AI's impact on the environment. Hosted by tech editor Lucy Shelley, this episode features creativity and culture editor Alessandra Scotto di Santolo, media editor Beau Jackson and deputy media editor Shauna Lewis.
Coming up in the Campaign calendar:
Campaign Agency of the Year Global Awards deadline
Further reading:
Vodafone cuts media carbon footprint by a third
‘Reputational damage comes from hypocrisy’: why some agencies are pulling back from fossil fuel clients – and others are not
Half of adland believes advertising has negative environmental impact
No lights, cameras or action: how adland is adapting to production interruption
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In this bonus episode of The Campaign Podcast, Charlotte Rawlings, deputy creativity and culture editor at Campaign, is joined by Maisie McCabe, Campaign’s UK editor, to discuss the ads that aired throughout the 59th Super Bowl on 10 February.
Rawlings and McCabe are joined by Lynsey Atkin, outgoing chief creative officer at McCann London; Noel Bunting, CCO at Publicis London; and David Kolbusz, CCO at Orchard.
The trio of creatives discuss Buffalo sauce, Steve Rogers’ love for donkeys and whether the Super Bowl formula of celebrity cameos is truly effective. Listen to their opinions on Uber Eats, Squarespace, Stella Artois and more.
Further reading:
‘Fast and Furious’ stars chill out in Häagen-Dazs’ Super Bowl spotDon’t study the Super Bowl ads, study the fandomNike uses its first platform on the Super Bowl stage in 27 years to challenge double standard in women's sportsChannel 4 ad takes Super Bowl literallyAre advertisers over-investing in the Super Bowl?Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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When a new boss steps in to lead an agency, they must weigh up how much they change the business and how much the business changes them.
Conrad Persons, president of Grey London, who joins the podcast team in this latest epsiode, says: "'That’s how we do things round here' is one of the most abominable phrases in business."
Persons is joined by Campaign's deputy editor, Gemma Charles, and premium content editor, Nicola Merrifield. The episode, hosted by tech editor Lucy Shelley, looks at balancing change, the importance of likability and technology's impact on leadership.
Last year a raft of CEOs in the industry swapped seats, making news headlines across adland. They included Natalie Cummins, who left Publicis Media after 17 years to become CEO of EssenceMediacom, and Kate Rowlinson, who became Group M CEO. Xavier Rees left Havas as group CEO of UK creative to lead Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, and the subject of Campaign’s Top people move of the year, James Murphy, became group CEO of Ogilvy after selling NCA to WPP.
So how does a new agency leader make their mark, and how much change is too much?
Further reading:
What advice would you give adland’s new crop of CEOs?
EssenceMediacom UK CEO says media clients want answers, not theory
T&Pm appointed Victoria Appleby as UK CEO
Neverland promoted Josh Harris to CEO
Saatchi & Saatchi hired Claire Hollands as CEO
Paul Knight named CEO at PHD UK.
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As we approach Covid's five year anniversary, much has changed about the world of work and where we do it.
After WPP's chief executive Mark Read announced that the holding company will be mandating four days a week, adland has had plenty to say on the approach to hybrid working. A petition was started by WPP employees to revoke the order and has almost reached 20,000 signatures. (It is open for anyone to sign up).
Three weeks since, the topic is still one of Campaign’s most read. In this episode Campaign's editorial team discusses what happens next and asks if and when adland will go back to a five day week. Hosted by tech editor Lucy Shelley, this episode features editor, Maisie McCabe, editor-in chief, Gideon Spanier and deputy creativity and culture editor, Charlotte Rawlings. They question whether there is a correlation between presence in the office and business success.
Further reading:
Revealed: Latest hybrid working policies across 'big six' agency groups
What does adland make of WPP’s four office days per week mandate?
Is Publicis’ dismissal of staff for return-to-office violations a sign of things to come?
WPP boss Mark Read hits back at employee vitriol over back-to-office mandate
One in six agencies increased number of office days in 2023
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