Performance Marketing Unlocked

Performance marketing is officially at an impasse. Employers are squeezing budgets and reconsidering headcount, while employees are ready to walk away entirely. How has adland found itself trapped in a state of mutual unrest?

On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, PMW's Editor Robin Langford joins host Joe to break down the core findings of PMW’s 2026 Workforce Report. The pair explore the stand-off between junior talent and AI, how the economy is killing salary growth, and why a market that was supposed to stabilise is feeling more volatile – and less diverse – than ever.

This podcast was hosted by PMW's Deputy Editor, Joseph Arthur.

~ Episode breakdown ~

(4:30) How under threat is your role from AI?

(10:35) The rise of fractional jobs

(19:12) Have we seen the death of the generalist?

~ Further reading ~

The State of Hiring: Is a restless workforce at risk of losing out to AI?

The State of Diversity: Why is so much of adland's diverse talent abandoning the industry?

The State of Pay: Stable salaries are masking the real change at the heart of adland

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Performance marketers are desperately trying to master ever-changing algorithms in the pursuit of securing attention in an attention-poor economy – but where are they going wrong?

On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, Orlando Wood, Chief Creative Officer of System1, joins host Joe to discuss how shifting from 'salesmanship' to 'showmanship' can build a brand that performs in the both the short and long-term.

This podcast was hosted by PMW's Deputy Editor, Joseph Arthur.

~ Episode breakdown ~

(3:26) How do the left and right brain impact advertising?

(8:05) Are we focusing too much on salesmanship and not enough on showmanship?

(23:34) Who is getting the 'brandformance' balance right?

(28:47) Overrated or underrated

(31:24) PMW's Resell Me a Pen Challenge

~ Further reading ~

Top 6 adtech tools this week: System1, Airship, GlobalData, Ampd, Talon.One and DAIVID

Top 10 Easter ads: How are brands navigating the junk food ban?

Top 10 Winter Olympics ads: Michelob, Peacock and Corona take the podium

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The marketers seeing real results with AI aren’t worrying about implementing the right tech – they’re rethinking how decisions get made, who makes them and what role human instinct should play.

This Performance Marketing World podcast episode, produced in partnership with Upp.ai, unpacks why so many AI-led media strategies stall before they scale – and what it actually takes to close the gap with the brands pulling ahead. We’ll share practical advice on where performance is really being lost, and how to realign teams, governance and ways of working to get the most out of AI.

The industry is having plenty of AI conversations, generative AI, agency AI washing, in-housing, measurement, productivity savings. 

All real, all familiar to the people listening. But the conversation that actually determines whether AI-led media performs is the one nobody is having. 

This podcast was hosted by PMW's Deputy Editor, Joseph Arthur.

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The agency model is facing a perfect storm: in-housing is gutting the middle, independent agencies are winning on agility, and AI is automating the ‘making’ part of marketing. So how is the big six responding?

On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, Jessica Tamsedge, UK CEO of Dentsu Creative, joins host Joe to outline how Dentsu is blowing up traditional silos to prepare for a world where a brand’s survival depends on being ‘machine-readable’ and ‘human-referenceable’. 

This podcast was hosted by PMW's Deputy Editor, Joseph Arthur.

~ Episode breakdown ~

(2:58) What does it mean to be ‘machine-readable’?

(12:23) How does Dentsu keep itself agile?

(19:51) Overrated or underrated?

(25:00) PMW's Resell Me a Pen Challenge

~ Further reading ~

ChatGPT Ads to hit the UK

IPA Bellwether: ‘Where is the confidence coming from?’

Top 6 adtech tools this week: Reddit, SMG, Merkle, Lifesight, Adform and Dentsu

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Zero party has search killed the click. At least, that's the narrative marketers have been sold – but is it true?

On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, PMW's Editor Robin Langford and Senior News Reporter Bethany Lee join host Joe to talk about the future of the click, and why Google might be trying to bring it back for the sake of publishers and advertisers.

Also on this episode, the trio discuss some standout winners from the 2026 PMW Powerlist, which is available in its entirety here.

This podcast was hosted by PMW's Deputy Editor, Joseph Arthur.

~ Episode breakdown ~

(2:30) The click is dead... right?

(14:55) PMW Powerlist 2026 highlights

(22:00) What makes a good Powerlist winner?

~ Further reading ~

Google expands AI Search features to boost website and community discovery

The PMW Powerlist 2026

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We’ve entered the ‘synthetic era’ of social media. AI can now try to generate a viral video, clone a creator’s voice, and optimise a hook for the algorithm in seconds. But there's a catch, consumers want more authentic content, not less.

On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, Chris Parnell, co-founder and CCO of social-first creator agency NewGen, joins host Joe to discuss how advertisers can use AI to enhance their social media marketing and creator partnerships, without removing the 'human in the loop' and jeopardising consumer trust.

This podcast was hosted by PMW's Deputy Editor, Joseph Arthur.

~ Episode breakdown ~

(2:18) How is AI impacting social media marketing and the creator economy?

(18:05) Does AI help or hinder brand safety on social media?

(27:52) PMW's Resell Me a Pen Challenge

~ Further reading ~

IPA Bellwether reaction: 13 experts on AI’s tipping point, live events comeback and beating the cookie-free rush

What Unilever's influencer-first strategy means for marketers

‘It's a land grab for talent’: Meta, YouTube and Goalhanger bet big on creators

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POSSIBLE Miami is the pretty new thing in the world of advertising events, but is it already becoming a mini-Cannes?

On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, PMW's Editor Robin Langford and Senior News Reporter Bethany Lee join host Joe to discuss whether there is scope for POSSIBLE to carve out a necessary niche in an already oversaturated roster of annual advertising events.

Also, retail media's growth is quietly beginning to sputter and the top brass among some key UK players have been let go as a result – what does this mean for the channel's future?

This podcast was hosted by PMW's Deputy Editor, Joseph Arthur.

~ Episode breakdown ~

(2:54) The 2026 PMW International Powerlist 100 is here

(10:59) Why has POSSIBLE made such an impression?

(19:10) PMW puts retail media under the microscope

~ Further reading ~

Exclusive: Is retail media running out of road? ‘Surviving this crunch requires a rapid pivot’

The PMW International Powerlist 2026

PMW to host Powerlist Watch Party live at Cannes Lions 2026

‘It’s landing at a strange time’: Can POSSIBLE shed light on adland’s black boxes?

Five things adtech will be debating at POSSIBLE this week

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Search is becoming increasingly fragmented for users, spread across traditional browsers, largue-language-models (LLMs), social media platforms and more. In turn, search competition is increasing among advertisers, leaving many marketers looking for new ways to reach audiences.

On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, Andy Squire, RVP Sales, EMEA at Brave, outlines how brands can stop feeding the blackbox oligopoly and learn to reach high-value audiences on the open web, without the walled garden tax.

This podcast was hosted by PMW's Deputy Editor, Joseph Arthur.

~ Episode breakdown ~

(2:15) How can businesses stop relying on walled gardens?

(17:10) Balancing personalisation and privacy

(25:03) Overrated or underrated...

(27:34) PMW's Resell Me a Pen Challenge

~ Further reading ~

Does the open web have a glass ceiling?

‘A severe blow’: Adland’s take on Dentsu and WPP abandoning The Trade Desk’s Openpath

Are AI platforms starving untapped audiences of ad investment?

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Experts have billed 2026 as 'the year of the independent agency', so what does this mean for the future of holding companies?

On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, PMW's entire editorial team is in studio to talk about everything going on in the world of marketing that doesn't involve AI. From an uptick in agency mergers and acquisitions to the channels marketers continue to ignore, the team discuss all you might have missed during AI's takeover of your psyche.

This podcast was hosted by PMW's Deputy Editor, Joseph Arthur.

~ Episode breakdown ~

(2:32) Why does it feel like M&A activity has gone into overdrive?

(9:00) Everything marketers have been ignoring in 2026 so far

(21:35) Overrated or underrated...

~ Further reading ~

Publicis wins Microsoft’s AI biz and Anthropic’s revenue surges: Latest industry moves

ROAST expands to US and impact.com helps YouTube launch Creator Partnerships API: Latest industry moves

Global consumer media usage to rise after 2025 slump

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The need for AI-literacy has never been higher among marketers, but how can anyone stay on top of the ever-changing AI-landscape?

On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, Lee Henshaw and Dino Myers-Lamptey, co-founder of The Marketer in The Loop AI certification course, outline why getting back to basics and focusing on the foundational knowledge from marketing's past is the best way for preparing to acquire the skills needed in marketing's future.

Also, the pair of industry veterans talk about some of advertising's most hotly debated topics, deciding if things like 'first party data' and 'the traditional marketing funnel' are overrated or underrated.

This podcast was hosted by PMW's Deputy Editor, Joseph Arthur.

~ Episode breakdown ~

(2:58) Why is now the right time to invest in AI-literacy?

(10:03) What do we need more of and less of from marketing in 2026?

(21:26) Overrated or underrated

(28:35) PMW's Resell Me a Pen Challenge

~ Further reading ~

Industry moves: Omnicom reportedly sunsetting DDB brand

Barb appoints partner for third phase of its API as Twilio partners with AEG: Latest industry moves

Jamie Laing, Grace Miller and Jon Evans to speak at PMW Unlocked 2026

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