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The Campaign Podcast
School Reports 2024 special
Campaign's deputy editor Gemma Charles chats to editor Maisie McCabe and premium content editor Nicola Merrifield to find out what's new in this year's School Reports.
They discuss the agencies that received the highest scores, why Campaign is highlighting the shops that are Living Wage Foundation accredited and those that are All In Champions, plus why some agencies only received a provisional mark.
We also hear from agency bosses at Spark Foundry, Mother, Wieden & Kennedy, Goodstuff Communications and Dentsu Creative on two issues explored in new Campaign features: how to deal with the loss of a major client, and the ways agencies can grow their workforce sustainably.
Further reading:
School Reports 2024: Economic headwinds slow agency billings growth
School Reports 2024: One step forward, two steps back for diversity
Now takes ‘heart-breaking’ decision to close after 13 years
More episodes
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25. When will adland go back to five days in office?
33:28||Season 4, Ep. 25As 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 groupsWhat 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 mandateOne in six agencies increased number of office days in 202324. Will Trump's re-election change how brand's behave in the UK?
30:16||Season 4, Ep. 24Sneezing, 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 MetaAdvertisers need not fear a heightened political climate The short-sightedness of caving to the culture warFrom inauguration to insight: how brands can bridge divides in a polarised worldHow can UK adland champion DE&I in the Donald Trump era? The Year Ahead 2025: Brands23. What’s the answer to solving the regional divide in adland?
42:23||Season 4, Ep. 23"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 bubbleManchester's media boom: 'Mancs genuinely believe they can change the world'London media should wake up to the power of the regionsWhy brands should look outside the London bubbleBrexit: It's time to get out of your London bubble and understand the nation22. Chaka Sobhani, Iain Tait and Jonathan Kneebone at Campaign Year Ahead Breakfast Briefing
20:32||Season 4, Ep. 22At 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 ideasWhy 2025 could be the year brands move away from MetaEssenceMediacom UK CEO says media clients want answers, not theory21. Will the Omnicom-IPG merger really happen?
39:14||Season 4, Ep. 21After 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 caveatsOmnicom-IPG merger: how the holdcos stack up in the UKInterpublic sells digital experiences agency Huge'The industry doesn’t need another behemoth’: Stagwell CEO on Omnicom-IPGPublicis Groupe CEO Arthur Sadoun says Omnicom-IPG deal is 'real opportunity'Omnicom and IPG 'huddling together as cold winds blow': Martin SorrellEverything we know so far about the Omnicom-IPG mega mergerComing up in the Campaign calendar:Media Week Live, 29 January20. What are adland's new year's resolutions?
35:42||Season 4, Ep. 20How 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 ownersEight media agencies to watch in 2025Snog, 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 advertisingComing up in the Campaign calendar:Year Ahead Breakfast Briefing, 14 JanuaryMedia Week Live, 29 January19. Snog, marry, avoid: what kind of year was 2024?
48:25||Season 4, Ep. 19"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 adsThe Lists 2024: Top five advertisersThe Lists 2024: Top 10 campaignsThe Lists 2024: Top five people movesThe Lists 2024: Top 10 brandsThe Lists 2024: Top 10 commercial chiefsThe Lists 2024: Top 10 mishapsThe Lists 2024: Top 20 creative leadersThe Lists 2024: Top four digital innovations18. Interview with David Droga: What is creativity in 2024?
53:08||Season 4, Ep. 18Maisie 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 futureExpanding in-house production won't rescue ad agencies' drowning business modelsDroga5 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 creativity17. Was 2024 the year of AI?
37:14||Season 4, Ep. 172024 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-founderIs 2024 a vintage year for Christmas ads?