The Campaign Podcast

Neurodiversity exists in between 15 and 20% of UK adults, but recent All In data counts over half of adland’s UK workforce as neurodiverse, at 55%.

This week is dyslexia awareness week, and to mark the occasion this episode looks into neurodiversity in adland, and how the industry supports people with different ways of thinking, both internally and in the ads it produces. 

Hosted by Campaign's tech and multimedia editor, this episode welcomes guest Wayne Deakin, former global executive creative director at Wolff Olins, as well as media editor Beau Jackson and deputy media editor Shauna Lewis from the Campaign.

They discuss why advertising attracts people with different ways of thinking, how it impacts the work and the barriers and taboos that still exist making agency life challenging for those with neurodiversity.

Further reading:

‘More than just clothes’: Vanish builds on autism awareness work

How leaders can build a neurodiversity-friendly workplace

How I got diagnosed with ADHD at age 38

Great minds don’t think alike: How to tap the neurodivergent talent pool

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ndidi Oteh, the new global chief executive of Accenture Song, was interview on stage by Campaign's editor-in-chief Gideon Spanier at Campaign Live in her first UK interview.

24 days into the new job, Oteh discussed navigating change and scale, plans to expand in media buying, and how the agency arm of consulting giant Accenture compares to the big holding companies. This episode features the full session from the event, with an introduction from Campaign's tech editor Lucy Shelley.

Oteh divulged Song's acquisition strategy, focusing on talent and partnerships, and how the creative shop is actually changing the consultancy giant.

Further reading:

Four agency groups in race to win Jaguar Land Rover global marketing account

Dentsu appoints bankers to seek buyers for international business

Accenture and WPP have discussed potential M&A deal

WPP hires AKQA global CEO from Accenture

Accenture Song dropped from TfL creative review for 'not meeting DEI criteria'

Accenture Song appoints Ndidi Oteh as North America lead

David Droga to step down as CEO of Accenture Song

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cars, airlines, FMCG brands and banks used to be some of the most desirables clients to have for an agency. Some clients are still more desirable to agencies than others, but is it based on size, market, sector or another factor? 

In this episode, Campaign's editorial team question if prestige sectors still exist and to what extent agencies actually choose their clients. Tech editor Lucy Shelley hosts the episode alongside premium content editor Nicola Merrifield, news editor Will Green and editor Maisie McCabe.

Further reading:

‘Old-fashioned and irrelevant’: how the dominance of retained accounts is on the turn

‘Take the learning from the losses and the fun from the wins’ – how agencies deal with losing a lucrative client

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Podcast: What will the next 70 years of commercial TV look like?

This September, the UK celebrates 70 years of commercial TV since the launch of ITV on September 22 1955.

A lot has changed since the very first TV ads. Not only are they now in full colour but the very definition of TV has evolved and keeps on changing with the addition of new formats and introduction of new digital competitors.

In this episode, Campaign’s tech editor Lucy Shelley is joined by the Campaign editorial team to discuss how TV is adapting and defending its position in the media mix, how creativity has changed and what the next 70 years of TV will look like.

She is joined by UK editor Maisie McCabe, deputy creativity and culture editor Charlotte Rawlings and media editor Beau Jackson.

Watch some of the ads mentioned in this podcast below:

Cadbury's Smash “Martians” 

Three “Pony”

John Lewis “The long wait”

John West “Bear”

Guinness “Surfer”

Cadbury's “Gorilla”

Marmite “End Marmite neglect”

Sony Bravia “Bouncy balls”

Lloyds TSB “The journey to London 2012”

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Media platforms, including Meta, TikTok, X, Spotify, Pinterest and others, have been advancing their own AI capabilities to improve the advertising process of creating and serving ads to an audience. So where does this leave media and creative agencies?

Meta, has gone so far as to call itself a “one stop shop” for advertisers, by reportedly aiming to fully automate advertising, including the creation and targeting of ads, by the end of the year. After this was reported, Meta’s stock price went up, while Publicis, Omnicom, IPG and WPP’s all took a dip. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said: “Over the long term, advertisers will basically just be able to tell us a business objective and a budget, and we’re going to go do the rest for them.”

In this episode, the Campaign editorial team discusses how much of a threat media platform’s advancement of AI poses and how agencies are adapting to not lose their role in the advertising process.

Hosted by tech editor Lucy Shelley, the episode features deputy media editor Shauna Lewis and editor Maisie McCabe.

Further reading:

You can’t just tell an AI to create ads like a CCO

Why is principal-based media buying so controversial?

Buckle up for the ride as agency world will look significantly different in two years

UK TV commercial chiefs on 'radical collaboration' and ‘bullishness’ in the face of LHF

Sir Martin Sorrell: Tech platforms are encroaching on clients of large agencies

Will media buyers be the first victims of AI?

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

Google’s EMEA president urges adland: ‘Don’t wait for magic AI moment – it’s here’

Microsoft AI CEO: Bigger organisations are ‘starting to feel the pressure’ from AI

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Omnicom and IPG have kept their cards close to their chests while nearing completion of the biggest acquisition in advertising history. 

Set to close in the second half of this year, the merger-acquisition has now secured 15 out of the 18 regulatory approvals required, including recently with UK watchdog the CMA, in early August. Under the terms of the all-share deal, Omnicom said at the start of August it was set to pay only $9bn for IPG, down from $13.3bn when the takeover was first agreed on 9 December, as the stock prices of both companies have fallen. But the actual price will only be decided once the deal is finalised.

In this episode, the Campaign team discuss what’s next for Omnicom’s takeover of IPG, how it fares against its holding company peers and the priorities for the current chief executives John Wren and Philippe Krakowsky, plus what it means for the agencies and people within the soon-to-be biggest holding company in advertising. 

This discussion follows on from a previous episode which asked: Will the Omnicom-IPG merger really happen?

Hosted by tech editor Lucy Shelley, this episode features Campaign’s editor-in-chief Gideon Spanier, editor Maisie McCabe and media editor Beau Jackson.

Further reading:

Omnicom and IPG’s leaders could learn from WPP’s 2025

IPG cuts 2400 jobs in first half of 2025 ahead of Omnicom takeover

IPG profits drop as UK growth falls 9.7%

Omnicom’s Duncan Painter to lead data reorganisation ahead of IPG takeover

James Temperley leaves IPG as part of restructure

Andrea Suarez becomes latest media agency chief to leave IPG Mediabrands

John Wren on his vision for a bigger, better Omnicom

IPG downgrades UK ad market growth to 6.4% in 2025

Troy Ruhanen: 'I wouldn't have taken OAG job if it was all about efficiency and smashing things'

Omnicom and IPG chiefs visit UK to sell merger to staff and pitch consultants

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Campaign releases an unpublished recording from the inaugural Campaign Live conference last year.

Unilever's former chief marketing officer Keith Weed and chief financial officer Graeme Pitkethly are interviewed on stage by Campaign’s editor-in-chief Gideon Spanier. They discuss how to keep the peace in the infamously tense CMO and CFO relationship that they said requires "mutual respect" from both sides. Weed says: "If you can create a good atmosphere between the CFO and the CMO, it creates a good atmosphere in the company."

Coming up in the campaign calendar:

Campaign Live

The In-House Agency Awards

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It is the summer of women’s sport, or ‘simply sport’ as Campaign's deputy editor Gemma Charles put it, and records are being broken both on and off the pitch.

The Women’s Euro’s, which was viewed by 16.2 million people during the final, has been touted as the most commercially successful football tournament ever — women’s or men’s — with 30,000 more ads per day than last year’s men’s tournament. The women’s rugby world cup takes place this month and has targeted viewing hours of 50 million versus just under 18 million in 2021, but the board expect it to be nearer 100 million.

In this episode, the Campaign team is joined by Laura Weston, co-founder of sports consultancy See You At Jeanies and a member of the board of trustees for Liverpool FC. Alongside Campaign's deputy editor Gemma Charles and Campaign Red's data journalist Jamie Rossouw, they discuss what’s next for women’s sport and its sponsorships, the gaps that still exist and ask if this is the moment that brands finally get on board.

This episode is hosted by Campaign's tech editor Lucy Shelley.

Further reading:

Women’s sport is the greatest growth opportunity for the sports industry.

Roundup: How brands are celebrating England’s Euros win

How soon before brands build their own women’s football teams?

Women’s Euro 2025 round-up: Watch the ads

Tesco “Receipts” by BBH London

Sports Direct Women's Euros ad enlists stars for park football match

BBC creates stop-motion ad for Uefa Women’s Euro 2025

BBC "Names will be made" by BBC Creative

ITV's Uefa Women’s Euros film travels through history of women’s football

Making sports ads interesting again

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The long-term row between independent production companies and those that sit within holding companies has resurfaced in recent weeks over best practice when it comes to bidding and being selected for work. 

Production craft festival Ciclope ended its sponsorship contracts with holding companies, which began an online debate between the Advertising Producers Association and the IPA on LinkedIn. The APA’s chief executive Steve Davies suggested a forum to establish best practice in bidding, while the IPA’s head of production, Eliot Liss, said “There is no need for an industry forum of the type the APA are suggesting”. He added “we don’t accept there is an issue with transparency or propriety in how IPA members are providing their production services to clients.” 

In this episode, Campaign's editorial team dig deeper into the debate, what has been leading up to it and question whether independent and in-house production companies can co-exist alongside each other.

Tech editor Lucy Shelley hosts the episode with Campaign's editor Maisie McCabe, creativity and culture editor Gurjit Degun and deputy creativity and culture editor Charlotte Rawlings. 

Further reading:

APA: Brands 'won't be content' with IPA rejection of forum for production company bidding

IPA rejects APA's call for best practice forum for production company bidding

APA launches initiative to bring brands and production companies together

APA report finds agencies withhold production partners information from brands

IPA ‘takes exception to the erroneous idea of gatekeeping’ in APA report

IPA, APA and ISBA launch Production Pitch Process Initiative

Does Rattling Stick’s low-cost arm signal trouble in the production sector?

Lights, camera, action: how production companies are fighting back

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

WPP announced this month that Microsoft executive Cindy Rose will succeed outgoing chief executive Mark Read. Rose is currently chief operating officer, global enterprise, at Microsoft and will be WPP’s third CEO and the first female leader of a major agency holding company. 

The announcement, which came sooner than expected, came one day after the holding company issued a shock profit warning to the stock market, and follows major losses for WPP including the Mars account and a portion of the Coca-Cola business.

Analysts have responded to the appointment saying that the Rose era “has to be transformational” and “WPP knows it needs a reboot”.

In this episode, the Campaign editorial team will discuss the reaction to Rose’s appointment, what WPP needs from its new CEO, or whether WPP is “too far gone” as former CEO Sir Martin Sorrel has suggested. The chat features Campaign’s editor in chief Gideon Spanier, editor Maisie McCabe and deputy media editor Shauna Lewis. The episode is hosted by tech editor Lucy Shelley.

Coming up in the Campaign calendar:

Campaign Live

Campaign Big Awards

Further reading:

What can new CEO Cindy Rose bring to WPP and what does it need?

Accenture and WPP have discussed potential M&A deal

WPP's 'pretty grim' profit warning: stock market analysts react

WPP closes in on new CEO as some big names ruled out

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.