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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Sneezing, coughing and catching a cold from the other side of the Atlantic might be this year's theme for UK advertisers.

In this episode of The Campaign Podcast, host and tech editor Lucy Shelley is joined by deputy editor Gemma Charles, features editor Matt Barker and culture and creativity editor Alessandra Scotto di Santolo. The team discusses brands' reaction to Trump's re-election, after his inauguration on 20 January, and to Meta's overhaul of its global DEI programmes and US fact-checking policies. From purposeful ad campaigns that will bridge divides in society, to the re-adjustment of media spend on social media platforms, the Campaign team reveals industry leaders' reactions to US politics' effects on adland. 

Further reading:

• Meta scraps fact-checking on Facebook and Instagram 
• Outvertising announces it will no longer work with Meta
• Advertisers need not fear a heightened political climate 
• The short-sightedness of caving to the culture war
• From inauguration to insight: how brands can bridge divides in a polarised world
• How can UK adland champion DE&I in the Donald Trump era? 
• The Year Ahead 2025: Brands

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"It's time to ditch the 'R' word," said Nik Wheatley last year in an article on Campaign that exposed the regional divide that exists in adland, and the danger of categorising everywhere outside of London as the 'regions'.

It was revealed that £250m in billings has been lost from the North West to London in recent years, due to agencies relocations and advertisers bulling their business from northern agencies.

In this episode, Wheatley dials in from his Manchester media agency Notorious Communications along with deputy media editor Beau Jackson and editor Maisie McCabe. The episode is hosted by tech editor Lucy Shelley. They discuss the regoinal divide, its impact beyond client wins and media investment and what role intermediaries play. They evaluate the edge that agencies outside of London have over shops in the capital, what is needed to level the playing field and if we will see a battle of the independents this year.

Further reading:

Popping the London bubble

Manchester's media boom: 'Mancs genuinely believe they can change the world'

London media should wake up to the power of the regions

Why brands should look outside the London bubble

Brexit: It's time to get out of your London bubble and understand the nation

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At Campaign's Year Ahead Breakfast Briefing this Tuesday 14 January, industry leaders took to the stage to give their predictions, concerns and excitement for 2025.

This bonus episode includes the final panel of the event, moderated by deputy creativity and culture editor Charlotte Rawlings, with Chaka Sobhani, president and global chief creative officer of DDB Worldwide, Iain Tait, co-founder of Food Arts & Technology and Jonathan Kneebone, co-founder and director of Glue Society.

The discussion ranged from AI’s impact on creative processes to the importance of fostering individual talent and the evolving role of experiential marketing.

Further reading:

'Tap into the desire for individuals to be more individual': Year Ahead's creativity panel on 2025 ideas

Why 2025 could be the year brands move away from Meta

EssenceMediacom UK CEO says media clients want answers, not theory

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After dominating news headlines throughout December, and likely well into 2025, it is all still possible for the Omnicom-IPG merger to fall through, repeating history from 2013 when Omnicom failed to merge with Publicis Groupe.

Campaign's editor-in-chief Gideon Spanier sat down in a global exclusive interview with John Wren, CEO of Omnicom, and Philippe Krakowsky, CEO of IPG, after they announced the all-stock deal on 9 December to create the world's biggest agency group. Since then, the share price of Omnicom declined 15%.

In this episode, Spanier is joined by editor Maisie McCabe and media editor Beau Jackson to ask the $31bn question: will the merger really happen?

Hosted by tech editor Lucy Shelley, the team discuss the regulatory obstacles the holdcos need to hurdle, a shrink in share prices, and the potential for divergent performance of Omnicom and IPG in 2025. Is the merger an attempt to "fight scale with scale", says Spanier, to compete with the power of tech companies. The team asks where it leaves R/GA and Huge after being held for sale last year and any signs that adland might see a repeat of the attempted Publicis merger.

Further reading:

The $31bn Omnicom-IPG deal has industrial logic but also many caveats

Omnicom-IPG merger: how the holdcos stack up in the UK

Interpublic sells digital experiences agency Huge

'The industry doesn’t need another behemoth’: Stagwell CEO on Omnicom-IPG

Publicis Groupe CEO Arthur Sadoun says Omnicom-IPG deal is 'real opportunity'

Omnicom and IPG 'huddling together as cold winds blow': Martin Sorrell

Everything we know so far about the Omnicom-IPG mega merger

Coming up in the Campaign calendar:

Media Week Live, 29 January

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How is adland going to change this year?

To get listeners ready for the year ahead, Campaign's editorial team give a taste of adland's predictions for the next 12 months, including which resolutions to give up and which take on in 2025.

Tech editor Lucy Shelley hosts the episode alongside editor Maisie McCabe, culture and creativity editor Alessandra Scotto di Santolo and deputy media editor Shauna Lewis.

After revealing their personal resolutions for the year, the team asks adland to give up cheesy collaborations for 2025 as well as the dream of certainty. McCabe hopes that brands might reconsider where they put their media spend and questions if "be bolder" is a good enough resolution.

Campaign will be releasing more Year Ahead content and agencies to watch over the coming weeks.

Further reading:

The Year Ahead 2025: Media owners

Eight media agencies to watch in 2025

Snog, marry, avoid: what kind of year was 2024?

Was 2024 the year of AI?

Will media buyers be the first victims of AI?

Barclaycard series was a credit to advertising

Coming up in the Campaign calendar:

Year Ahead Breakfast Briefing, 14 January

Media Week Live, 29 January

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"A lukewarm snog" might be how one Campaign journalist describes 2024, but how would you?

In the final episode of the year for The Campaign Podcast, the editorial team gathers one last time to recap the year and answer a very important, hard-hitting question: would you snog, marry or avoid 2024?

From the Post Office scandal and dartsman Luke Littler, to the Jaguar rebrand and a year of elections, a lot has happened in the past 12 months both inside and outside adland's walls.

Features editor Matt Barker tells us of his appreciation for (non-Saltburn) Barry Keoghan in Adidas' "You can't beat original" by Homeground. Premium content editor Nicola Merrifield recounts the year's most controversial moments including the banning of a Calvin Klein ad featuring FKA Twigs. Deputy editor Gemma Charles gets ready to sell her soul to Cadbury's and AI while editor Maisie McCabe remembers the brilliance of Channel 4's "Considering what?" campaign for the Paris Paralympics.

This episode was hosted by tech editor Lucy Shelley.

Further reading:

• The Lists 2024: Top 20 film ads
• The Lists 2024: Top five advertisers
• The Lists 2024: Top 10 campaigns
• The Lists 2024: Top five people moves
• The Lists 2024: Top 10 brands
• The Lists 2024: Top 10 commercial chiefs
• The Lists 2024: Top 10 mishaps
• The Lists 2024: Top 20 creative leaders
• The Lists 2024: Top four digital innovations

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Maisie McCabe, editor of Campaign UK and David Droga, founder of Droga5 and chief executive of Accenture Song, sat together on stage at Ciclope last month to discuss creativity, the evolving landscape of advertising and how to build meaningful connections between brands and audiences in the digital age.

"Creative to the bone," said Droga describing himself and how he feels holding a CEO role. He explained how the job of an advertising creative is to "do more" with the briefs they are given, creating transformative work.

In the 50-minute chat they discuss why Droga took the "stupid job" as chief executive being a creative, how adland should let AI be a part of what we do and who inspires him today.

Further reading:

• 'Creative people make the world worth living in': David Droga on advertising's future
• Expanding in-house production won't rescue ad agencies' drowning business models
• Droga5 appoints Mark Green as global CEO and adds The Monkeys to network
• David Droga on moving from being a creative in business to building a business on creativity

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2024 had big expectations when it came to artificial intelligence, but did the year live up to the hype... was it a year of "AI in action" as the IAB predicted or AI inaction?

Campaign's editorial team gathers in the studio in an episode hosted by Maisie McCabe, UK editor, while tech editor Lucy Shelley (and usual host) swaps over to be in the hot seat.

Also joined by features editor Matt Barker and deputy media editor Shauna Lewis, the four discuss the highs and lows of AI this year, including Coca-Cola's Christmas ad made by AI, which was Campaign's Turkey of the Week. They compare it to Vodafone's AI Christmas ad and recount other controversial AI moments from the year including Publicis' AI BS Bot and Under Armour's AI ad with Anthony Joshua.

The team discuss how AI has shaped the adland this year – Lewis reveals insights from her interview with Johnny Hornby, founder and chief executive at T&Pm, after it was fully acquired by WPP last month. He cited AI as a main driver for the sale.

Further reading:

Will the Coca-Cola ad deter brands from using AI in film?

Will media buyers be the first victims of AI?

Media buying among 'first areas to go' with rise of AI, says MediaMonks co-founder

Is 2024 a vintage year for Christmas ads?

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