The Campaign Podcast

In-house agencies have been growing over the last few years, as brands have been taking more work in-house and building bespoke teams. In the last few weeks, Allwyn launched an in-house studio, ITV shifted its retained creative account from Uncommon to ITV Creative and Uncommon’s executive creative director Richard Biggs jumped to BBC Creative. 

Campaign Red analysed this trend and last month produced an in-depth global report, The Inside Job, looking into what disciplines brands are in-housing, why they are luring agency talent and how they are collaborating with external agencies. 

In this episode, Niki Garner, director of ITV Creative, joins The Campaign Podcast to discuss the in-housing evolution, why she hires from agencies and how in-house teams can provide the most value. Garner was also named In-house Agency Leader at Campaign’s In-House agency awards last year.

Joining from the Campaign team is data journalist Jamie Rossouw, co-author of The Inside Job, and premium content editor Nicola Merrifield. This episode is hosted by tech and multimedia editor Lucy Shelley.

Further reading:

How to build a successful in-house agency

Allwyn's media director: in-house shop Studio 59 aiming for “newsroom mentality”

BBC Creative appoints Natalie Lau as head of planning

ITV Creative lead dismisses past 'snobbery' aimed at in-house agencies

ITV promotes I’m a Celebrity… South Africa with hand-drawn animation

“The darker side of water”: behind the scenes of Channel 4’s “The fountain of filth”

Lego ad calls 'play' with array of characters performed by Tom Holland

Specsavers highlights audiology services by 'rebranding'

Over four in 10 in-house agencies want to be brand’s lead agency, IHALC research finds

ITV, Reckitt and Pepsi in-house leaders to speak at Campaign's In-Housing Summit

The Lists 2025: Top five in-house creatives

Campaign In-House Agency Awards 2025: winners revealed

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In a break from the usual listen, we're bringing you the first three episodes of The Karman Line, a new podcast about the UK space industry from Haymarket Media Group, the owner of Campaign. This burgeoning sector is keen to communicate the extraordinary things it is doing to wider, complementary audiences.

How do we solve population pressure and climate crisis in space? How has GPS allowed us to provide 12% more food globally? How did the UK become a global leader in small satellite manufacture after the British Government said, “there’s no future for the UK satellite industry”? How did Elon Musk turn reusable rockets from science fiction to science fact in less than 20 years? What else are “Elon and Jeff” going to allow us to do? And why is SpaceX still “the elephant in the room”?

Join Alice as she talks to Will Whitehorn, chair of giant space tech investor Seraphim and former president of Virgin Galactic, and they discuss the implications of “The Elon Musk show” and its legacy, “the beginnings of a competitive space industry of scale”.

Contributors:

Alice Bunn, President of UKspace 

Dr Alice Bunn OBE FIMechE FRAeS CEng | LinkedIn

UKspace: Overview | LinkedIn

Will Whitehorn OBE, Seraphim Space Investment Trust

Will Whitehorn OBE | LinkedIn

Key topics covered:

• UK satellite manufacture
• UK universities
• SpaceX valuation
• Reuseable rockets
• Agricultural management
• Population pressure
• Climate crisis
• Solar power
• Data centres in space
• Industrialising in space

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Campaign's annual School Reports scrutinise and assess 80 UK agencies from across the industry, giving them each a score between 1 and 9.

Released last week, agencies across creative, media, social, digital, CRM and experiences are evaluated based on their individual history. The top mark of 9 is awarded to an agency that has had an outstanding year; 8 for an excellent year; 7 for a good one; 6 is satisfactory; 5 is adequate; 4 stands for below average; 3 is poor; 2, a year to forget and 1 warns that the shop's survival is in question. 

For the last two years, no 9s were given, but this year, there were four awarded. 

In this episode, Campaign's journalists discuss what the data revealed about individual agency health, how agencies fared in this year’s reports against difficult conditions and what goes into achieving a top score of 9. Premium content editor Nicola Merrifield, editor Maisie McCabe and media editor Beau Jackson join the episode hosted by tech and multimedia editor Lucy Shelley.

Further reading:

School Reports 2026: Top holding companies

School Reports 2026 tables: Top 100 creative agencies

School Reports 2026 tables: Top 50 media agencies

School Reports 2026: Top regional agencies

School Reports 2026: Agency billings growth slows down amid industry challenges

School Reports 2026: The end of “performative window dressing” for diversity

School Reports 2026: Which agencies got the highest marks?

What is Group M?

Do holding company solutions undermine agency brands?

WPP launches new Elevate28 strategy with four core divisions and £500m savings

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Gaming has firmly entered the mainstream, with more than three billion players worldwide and engagement levels that now rival – and often exceed – social platforms. What was once seen as a niche channel is now a dominant cultural force, commanding time, attention and participation at scale.

These shifts, and what they mean for brands, were explored in depth at Campaign’s recent gaming summit, held in London.

In this sponsored episode of The Campaign Podcast, Dentsu’s global head of gaming, Brent Koning, builds on that conversation and goes further. He delves into gaming’s role as an immersive social space, and why it remains one of the most underutilised channels in the marketing mix.

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In a break from the usual listen, we're bringing you the first three episodes of The Karman Line, a new podcast about the UK space industry from Haymarket Media Group, the owner of Campaign. This burgeoning sector is keen to communicate the extraordinary things it is doing to wider, complementary audiences.

What did the Space-Comm Expo conference and exhibition tell us about connecting space and wider business? How does this manifest as tech connectivity in telecoms and why do farmers care about that? What did we learn about the benefits of extreme cold in manufacturing laboratories and why do pharmas care about that? How vulnerable are global logistics to the spoofing of navigation signals? And why is the UK government centralising space strategy in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology?

Join Alice and Jonners as they reflect on the UK space sector’s largest trade event and the “energy, diversity and …sheer scope of what this industry has to offer”.

Contributors:

Alice Bunn, President of UKspace 

Dr Alice Bunn OBE FIMechE FRAeS CEng | LinkedIn

UKspace: Overview | LinkedIn

Jonathan Daves, The Karman Line

Jonathan Daves | LinkedIn

Subscribe to The Karman Line

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-k%C3%A1rm%C3%A1n-line/id1876605462

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3qED4CgdRDxfKKzYNKZCIH?si=lZ-I4a19SPGLAJL-dHi4DQ

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheKármánLineUK

Key topics covered:

Space-Comm Expo, London, March 2026

Conference overview

Sector integration

Insurance

Customer utility

Government role

Future outlook

Technological advancements

· Telecoms

· Manufacturing

Defence and security

· Satellite capabilities

· Current threats

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If gaming is not to be considered a media channel, what is it? Campaign hosted the Gaming Summit this month, and many speakers at the event asserted that gaming should be considered more than just a channel to activate to make the most of its 3.5 billion global audience.

In this episode, Campaign's journalists from the event discuss why media should not be considered as as media channel, some of the mistakes brands make when approaching gaming and how to capitalise on the audience's active engagement.

Tech and multimedia editor Lucy Shelley is joined by the event’s host media editor Beau Jackson and deputy media editor Shauna Lewis.

Further reading:

McDonald's taps into nostalgia with trading card promotion

Replacing the funnel: the three pillars of modern gaming marketing

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The quote “good artists copy, great artists steal” also applies to advertising. Some ads are paying homage while some simply rip others off when creatives spot a good idea.

In this episode, the Campaign team takes a look at some of the recent ads that look noticeably similar, including British Heart Foundation and Cancer Research, Crocs and the V&A, Experian and an Amazon ad from 2023, Primark and Levi's iconic denim ad and Apple Watch and Rebook's "Belly's going to get you" in 2000.

Some creatives argue that ads can get away with copying if it's "over five years old and 5000 miles away", while others suggest it is "lazy" and creatives should be "named and shamed".

Host tech and multimedia editor Lucy Shelley is joined by deputy creativity and culture editor Charlotte Rawlings, reporter Eszter Gurbicz and editor Maisie McCabe.

Further reading:

Is there such a thing as an original (OOH) idea?

Is pre-testing a ‘no-brainer’? With Martin Beverley

Coming up in the Campaign calendar:

Influencer360 on 28th April

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In a break from the usual listen, we're bringing you The Karman Line, which is a new podcast on the British space industry from Haymarket Media Group, the owner of Campaign.

The UK space industry is a significant and strategic driver of the UK economy contributing over £19 billion in direct revenues. And it needs brilliant communicators to help tell its story.

For most people, space is about rockets and astronauts. But it's actually about sustainability, infrastructure, observation, communication and increasingly, manufacturing. Not a lot of people know that. 

For the space industry to fully realise its potential it needs more of the right people to understand what’s happening and get involved. People like policy makers, investors, regulators, planners, lawyers and consultants.

In this first episode of The Karman Line, Dr Alice Bunn, the president of UK Space, and her panel of guests, Sam Alden co-CEO of Space Solar, Nick Shave managing director of Astroscale and Anushka Sharma founder of Naaut, discuss the surprising, awe inspiring business of space.

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WPP announced a new strategy and structure last week, on Thursday 26 February, as the company hopes to turn its fate around, while reporting its worst financial performance since the pandemic. 

Campaign's editor-in-chief Gideon Spanier interviewed WPP's chief executive officer Cindy Rose on the three-phrase plan "Elevate28" which includes £500m in cost savings and transitioning the business from a holding company structure to a single company with four core divisions – WPP Media, WPP Creative, WPP Production and WPP Enterprise Solutions. These will be led across four regions globally.

In this episode, the Campaign team breaks down the announcements and what it means for WPP’s agencies, look at how the company compares to its competitors and discuss if Rose's plan will work. Tech and multimedia editor Lucy Shelley hosts the episode which includes Spanier alongside editor Maisie McCabe and deputy media editor Shauna Lewis.

Further reading:

WPP Media and VML drive 8% UK decline for WPP

WPP Creative will 'not sunset' agency brands

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Campaign has released the A List – a compilation of over 200 industry leaders and their musings on the year gone and year ahead. In 2025, the advertising and marketing industry underwent some huge organisational shifts. With revenue declines and share price drops, job cuts, leadership changes and legacy agencies changing their names, 2026 marks a new era for the industry.

In this episode, the Campaign team discuss some of the A Listers' perspectives, including how to be innovative in uncertain times, and what outfits they wear to a pitch.

Hosted by tech and multimedia editor Lucy Shelley, this episode includes deputy editor Gemma Charles, editor-in-chief Gideon Spanier and deputy creativity and culture editor Charlotte Rawlings. 

Further reading:

The 2026 A List: 'Massive fuckin' traitors', 'Method Pitchers' and AI-induced boredom

Half of VCCP's current jobs didn't exist at launch, CEO says

The A List and it’s completely different but it’s also still the A List

Campaign A List 2026: How leaders are planning for success in surprising times

Can we talk about how you get into Campaign's 2027 A List?

In Pictures: Campaign A List party 2026

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