The Campaign Podcast

We are entering Christmas in adland which means soon some of the biggest ads of the year will drop across our TV screens, phones, billboards and more.

Both highly anticipated and highly speculated, this episode of The Campaign Podcast goes through what Campaign knows so far about the ads, from Lucy Punch and James Norton featuring in the M&S ad to McDonald's not creating a hero film for the second year, as well as looking back at previous years to predict what trends might appear in this year’s crop of xmas ads.

Hosted by Campaign's tech and multimedia editor Lucy Shelley, Campaign's creative team join the episode: creativity and culture editor Gurjit Degun, deputy creativity and culture editor Charlotte Rawlings and senior reporter Eszter Gurbicz.

Further reading:

Coca-Cola hires Ajaz Ahmed start-up for Christmas campaign

Is the World Cup a bigger opportunity for brands than Christmas?

Oxfam appoints creative agency for 2026 Christmas campaign

The Lists 2025: Top 20 film ads

Peta “Happy Christmassacre” by Grey London

Sainsbury's set to make it three Christmas ads in a row for the BFG

Shelter awards Christmas campaign to Meanwhile following pitch

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WPP Production opened its first global flagship office in September with an AI-powered high-tech studio in Devon’s Point, East London. Deputy creativity and culture editor Charlotte Rawlings attended the opening and gives her perspective on the facility.The opening comes as WPP’s Q2 results showed WPP Production was the only one of the holding company’s four units that reported positive growth.

Also in September, internal guidance from WPP Production was seen by campaign which asked staff to convince clients to insource all production, and avoid traditional commercial bidding by providing all three bids from WPP. This caused furore among independents and reignited a longstanding debate between in-house agency production companies and independents.

In this episode, Campaign's editorial team is looking into why production is such big battleground, and if WPP’s investment marks a step change for the sector. Tech and multimedia editor Lucy Shelley hosts the episode which features Rawlings, alongside creativity and culture editor, Gurjit Degun, and UK editor Maisie McCabe.

Further reading:

WPP Production takes down insourcing guidance

'A risk the work becomes narrower and worse': adland reacts to WPP Production insourcing guidance

WPP closes Hogarth and launches WPP Production

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What is the true balance between human spaceflight and robotic exploration when it comes to science, inspiration, and decision-making capabilities? How is space transitioning from a niche frontier to an everyday commercial workplace? What role do regulatory frameworks, such as the United Nations, the Artemis Accords, and the Astra Carta, play in keeping orbit and the lunar surface safe and sustainable? And how can the UK Government act as an "anchor customer" to bridge the commercial "valley of death" for domestic space startups?

Join Alice and Jonners in this special episode recorded in Chichester Marina with British astronaut Tim Peake as he shares insights on space adaptation syndrome, commercial space stations, lunar research bases, global space traffic management, and the future of human exploration to Mars.

Contributors:

Alice Bunn, President of UKspace

Dr Alice Bunn OBE FIMechE FRAeS CEng | LinkedIn

UKspace: Overview | LinkedIn

Jonathan Davies, The Karman Line

Jonathan Davies | LinkedIn

The Karman Line | LinkedIn

Tim Peake, Astronaut

Tim Peake | LinkedIn

Key topics covered:

• Human spaceflight vs. robotic exploration
• Space Adaptation Syndrome (nausea & gravity adjustment)
• Normalising space as a commercial workplace
• Transition from space stations to commercial Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
• Artemis programme & sustainable lunar research bases
• Astronaut selection mindsets, psychological profiles, and stress testing
• International space cooperation & soft power (ISS legacy)
• Governance, leaseholds, and regulatory frameworks on the Moon
• The Astra Carta & space sustainability
• Human exploration of Mars
• Government as “anchor customers

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Campaign's TV Advertising Summit took place in September, in partnership with Netflix, Sky Media and Dailymotion, questioning how the TV ad landscape has been remodelled, and what advertisers need to do to get ahead.

Brands, media owners and agencies spoke at and attended the event, which ended with a session hosted by Lindsey Clay, chief executive of the TV marketing body Thinkbox, with three panellists: Elisabetta Farroni, brand director and executive creative director at Visa; Regan Warner, executive creative director at M&C Saatchi UK; and Aidan McClure, co-founder and chief creative officer at Wonderhood Studios.

This episode features a recording of the session, where the panellists take us through their top TV campaigns that have defined the medium, both from their own work and the ads they wished they made.

Before the session, Campaign’s deputy media editor Shauna Lewis joins tech and multimedia editor to discuss the top takeaways from the day, including competition with Big Tech and how Sky's acquisition of ITV impacts media buying.

The ads mentioned:

Waitrose & Partners "The perfect gift" by Wonderhood Studios

Visa "Level up your game" by VaynerMedia EMEA

The Department for Education “Get out of the everyday. Get into teaching” by M&C Saatchi Group UK

Magnum ad shows how buying copycat ice-cream can destroy a relationship

Confused.com brings familiar sayings to life through puppetry

Monzo “Get busy living” by BBH London

Nike “Stairs” by Wieden & Kennedy Portland

Anthropic Super Bowl ad highlights its AI assistant Claude

Twix "Camping" by Adam & Eve/DDB

Further reading:

Netflix UK's Ed Couchman: You can build a whole media plan on SVOD

Channel 4 calls for 'robust scrutiny' of ITV-Sky merger

UK competition watchdog launches inquiry into Sky/ITV deal

Will ITV generate enough ad revenue to earn £200m payout from Sky?

'One of the biggest shake-ups in UK TV': the potential impact of Sky-ITV

'I don’t think advertisers care enough yet': ITV's Kelly Williams on Meta

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Omnicom has moved to centralise impact and inclusion capabilities at group level. This led to Lucky Generals cutting its social impact lead Lameya Chaudhury.

Other holding companies including WPP and Publicis also have central DEI teams, so in this episode we are asking what it means to “centralise inclusion” and the impacts of doing so.

Hosted by Campaign's tech and multimedia editor Lucy Shelley, this episode includes Dino Myers-Lamptey, founder at The Barber Shop and trustee of Brixton Finishing School, former media editor Beau Jackson and data journalist Jamie Rossouw.

Further reading:

Professor Arday’s death should make brands consider the media ecosystem they fund

Podcast: Should an agency be judged by its diversity?

Xavier Rees: Adland leaders have “responsibility to speak up for inclusivity”

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Over the last two weeks, adland has seen some major changes for two of the biggest global media accounts: PepsiCo and Coca-Cola. 

In a shock move, Publicis Groupe took PepsiCo’s global media account from longtime incumbent Omnicom without a pitch, and pulled out of the contest for Coca-Cola’s international media, tech and data account in a two way pitch against WPP. As a result of Publicis taking rival Pepsico’s global account, Coke’s North America media account is now set to review with Omnicom and Dentsu understood to be in the running, and WPP not competing.

In this episode, Campaign's tech and multimedia editor Lucy Shelley is joined by editor-in-chief Gideon Spanier and UK editor Maisie McCabe to look into how Publicis managed to swipe PepsiCo's business without any pitch and what it means for purpose and value of the pitch process.

Further reading:

Omnicom ‘proud’ of PepsiCo media work as it reels from global loss and stock drops 5%

WPP closing in on Coca-Cola’s international media, data and tech account

Pepsi-Publicis coup will change how other brands and agency groups behave

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The final three months of the year are some of the most important in adland. Known as the golden quarter, the year closes with a final push to meet targets, helped by some of the biggest commercial moments of the year including Black Friday and of course, Christmas.

In this episode, Campaign is looking into how agencies and advertisers should approach the final three months, what their top priorities are and how this golden quarter will be different from previous years.

Hosted by tech and multimedia editor Lucy Shelley, the episode includes Campaign's editor-in-chief Gideon Spanier, UK editor Maisie McCabe and creativity and culture editor Gurjit Degun.

Plus, Campaign has today (8 September) launched a new website with a refreshed look and revamped navigation.

Further reading:

Will Andy Burnham’s social media strategy work?

UK competition watchdog launches inquiry into Sky/ITV deal

Will ITV generate enough ad revenue to earn £200m payout from Sky?

'One of the biggest shake-ups in UK TV': the potential impact of Sky-ITV

Is there a new 'big four' in adland?

Publicis pulls out of Coca-Cola global media pitch after PepsiCo win

PepsiCo appoints Publicis Groupe to global media without a pitch

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Waitrose's branded podcast recently passed one billion downloads, views and listens, staking a claim as the world’s most successful branded podcast, while also receiving the most nominations for this year's British Podcast Awards. Media and entertainment are becoming more ever closer, so in this episode, Campaign digs into why branded content is on the rise, what makes it good and questions whether Dish’s success can be achieved by other brands. 

The team discusses how brands don't want to "rent" their audiences, but own them, the struggle of too many chief executives wanting to be on the podcast and how branded content performs compared to other forms of media.

Hosted by tech and multimedia editor Lucy Shelley, this episode features Lucinda Rouse, multimedia editor of Campaign’s innovation team, deputy media editor Shauna Lewis and deputy creativity and culture editor Charlotte Rawlings.

Further reading:

Aardman moves into branded content partnerships

LBC sees record quarter amid geopolitical unrest

British Podcast Awards 2026 shortlist revealed

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Since Andy Burnham became Prime Minister in July, he has been producing social media content with creators and has garnered over half a million followers in TikTok and over 700,000 on Instagram. But will a social media-focused strategy work for the PM?

Benedict Pringle, partner and global client lead at T&P and host of The Political Marketing Podcast, joins the episode this week to discuss why Burnham has chosen social media to speak to voters, the risks involved and if it will work or not.

Hosted by Campaign's tech and multimedia editor Lucy Shelley, this episode also includes UK editor Maisie McCabe and deputy creativity and culture editor Charlotte Rawlings.

Further reading:

What Andy Burnham's social-first strategy teaches agencies

Andy Burnham is 'proactive' towards online safety, Ian Russell says

Adland reacts as Andy Burnham reappoints Lisa Nandy as culture secretary

Could Andy Burnham's rise put the accent on regional pride in adland?

Which party won the social media election?

Alastair Campbell on combative politics, social media and who will lead the UK

‘A headache to enforce’: What does adland think of Andy Burnham’s subscription crackdown?

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WPP reported its Q2 results in the last few weeks, six months after chief executive Cindy Rose launched its three year Elevate28 plan to turn the holding company’s fortunes around. Now almost a year into her role, Rose said the network has “everything it needs” to achieve its plan, with analysts calling the results “better than expected” and a “glimmer of hope”.

In this episode, Campaign's journalists look at how Rose is “fighting” for business, whether the Elevate28 plan is actually working and how the holding company and its competitor set are doing. Hosted by tech and multimedia editor Lucy Shelley, this episode features Campaign's UK editor-in-chief Gideon Spanier, UK editor Maisie McCabe and deputy media editor Shauna Lewis.

Further reading:

Five key charts behind WPP’s Q2 2026 results

Cindy Rose more than doubles WPP's bonus pool

Can we talk about WPP's cuts?

Is the agency sector ‘in a good place’?

Havas' Yannick Bolloré: Agency sector is now ‘in a good place’ as perceptions have ‘flipped’

Omnicom records 6.1% increase in organic growth in Q2 2026

Publicis raises 2026 guidance and reports 4.8% growth in Q2

Publicis’ Arthur Sadoun: 'We have never wanted to be an AI company'

Havas reports 2.5% expansion in Q2 but UK growth 'slightly negative'

Will Cindy Rose's plan save WPP?

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