Performance Marketing Unlocked

PMW's editorial team is back for its annual Christmas Special. A podcast where we reflect on the biggest themes, trends and stories from the year and look ahead to the future, making some predictions for what the next 12 months might hold.From AI's impact on search to Amazon's booming DSP ecosystem and everything in between, PMW's Editor Robin Langford, News Reporter Reem Makari and host Joe leave no stone unturned, also revealing some hot takes and fast favourites from 2025.This podcast was hosted by PMW's Multimedia Editor, Joseph Arthur.~ Episode breakdown ~ (3:57) Reflections on 2025(21:50) Predictions for 2026(35:01) The PMW team's fast favourites from the past 12 months~ Further reading ~ ‘We are still only at the tip of the AI iceberg’: Adland’s 2026 predictions‘Marketers don’t care where consumers buy, only that they buy’: Adland’s 2026 predictions‘People won’t trust AI – but they’ll use it for everything’: 15 expert marketing predictions for 2026‘2026 will drop a brutal marketing truth’: 18 experts on adland's biggest challengesPerformance Marketing World Awards: All 26 winners announced

Consumers are more concerned about privacy than ever before and yet they are demanding more personalisation from advertisers. How can brands walk this tightrope and balance privacy and transparency with an effective strategy for gathering and utilising data? The answer is simple, trust. Unfortunately, building trust is not quite so simple. On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, Zac Eller, General Manager, Global Partnerships & Business Development at ExpressVPN, joins host Joe to detail exactly how marketers can make privacy a unique selling point for their brand and crucially, use it to build and maintain customer loyalty. This podcast was hosted by PMW's Multimedia Editor, Joseph Arthur.~ Episode breakdown ~ Why has privacy become even more important in 2025? (1:55)What exactly does a VPN do? (14:59)PMW's Resell Me a Pen Challenge (26:35)~ Further reading ~ AI browsers, Netflix's advertising boom and Apple's privacy warning85% of agencies are turning to third-party data to reduce reliance on advertisersCould 2025 be the start of the golden age of marketing measurement?

The annual Black Friday Cyber Monday weekend is regularly bookmarked on marketers' calendars as one of the biggest sales opportunities of the year, but with 2025's edition coinciding with tax increases from the UK Labour Government's latest budget and increasing levels of "sales fatigue" among Brits, are consumers going to be willing to spend?On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, PMW's Editor Robin Langford joins host Joe to talk about Black Friday 2025, and why retailers' fears over whether or not shoppers will respond to their advertising is not the biggest talking point of the upcoming event, positing that a much bigger trend is looming over the weekend – AI-fuelled shopping. With AI agents such as Amazon's Rufus now at consumers' disposal, we are about to see an early litmus test for the AI-era of commerce. This podcast was hosted by PMW's Multimedia Editor, Joseph Arthur.~ Episode breakdown ~ How are brands feeling ahead of BFCM 2025? (2:15) Is AI about to uproot everything we know about shopping? (8:19)Are marketers losing the freedom to experiment? (15:22)~ Further reading ~ OpenAI introduces shopping research within ChatGPTAlmost half of consumers 'trust AI summaries without clicking'Black Friday Cyber Monday weekend set to deliver £9.52bn for retailers

Product sampling has often been maligned as one of marketing's dirtiest habits – simply palm off your samples to whoever you can find and call it a day.However, on this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, Matthew Huntly, co-founder and CEO of Sampl, explains exactly how the practice has modernised and why the digital-first reinvention of Sampling is one of the best kept secrets for advertisers to leverage ahead of 2026.This podcast was hosted by PMW's Multimedia Editor, Joseph Arthur.~ Episode breakdown ~ What happened to product sampling's reputation? (1:47)Digital sampling in action (17:43)PMW's Resell Me a Pen Challenge (29:27)~ Further reading ~ ‘Digital sampling is a great way for brands to get data’: Q&A with Matthew Huntly, SamplTop 5 adtech tools this week: VideoAmp, Hightouch, Sampl, DoubleVerify, and UnileverMatthew Huntly

New data has revealed that retail media adspend is set to surpass $200bn by 2027, but where does this place the channel compared to others such as connected TV and social media?On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, PMW's Editor Robin Langford joins host Joe to talk about the future of retail media, from its potential to hit an investment ceiling to whether or not it, and other popular advertising channels, are becoming too fragmented. This podcast was hosted by PMW's Multimedia Editor, Joseph Arthur.~ Episode breakdown ~ Is retail media about to hit its peak? (1:54)How will agentic AI impact retail media? (13:03)~ Further reading ~ Retail media adspend to clear $200bn by 2027 – but is a plateau on the horizon?Are you ready for retail media 2.0?

Where have marketers missed out in 2025? And more importantly, how can they avoid leaving growth opportunities on the table in 2026On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, Esme Robinson, Director of Platform Solutions at Epsilon, and PMW 2025 Powerlist member, reveals where marketers have gone wrong this year and how they can remedy things over the next 12 months.From neglecting the basics to building out AI models on incomplete data, she details the areas marketers are over-emphasising and where their attention should be going instead.This podcast was hosted by PMW's Multimedia Editor, Joseph Arthur.~ Episode breakdown ~ What has been the biggest missed opportunity in 2025 for marketers? (2:30)How can marketers avoid missing out in 2026? (17:41)~ Further reading ~ How to stop survivorship bias haunting your marketing effortsEsme Robinson

AI browsers are here, streaming giants have become ad platforms and tech giant's are warning of being 'forced' to remove privacy regulations – how's that for news?On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, PMW's News Reporter Reem Makari joins host Joe to discuss several of the industry's biggest headlines from the past couple of weeks. In an attempt to help you keep up with a news cycle that never stops, consider this a quick-fire round-up of everything marketers need to be aware of heading into November.This podcast was hosted by PMW's Multimedia Editor, Joseph Arthur.~ Episode breakdown ~ Does the introduction of ChatGPT Atlas represent a paradigm shift in search? (2:17)Netflix's ad sales are booming, so why are its earnings down? (11:43)~ Further reading ~ OpenAI launches ChatGPT’s first web browser, Atlas‘A new milestone in the AI browser arms race’: What ChatGPT Atlas means for marketersNetflix records ‘best ad sales quarter ever’ despite disappointing earningsUS and China ‘nearly finalise’ TikTok sale dealApple claims it may be ‘forced’ to disable ATT across Europe

Retail media is no longer a plucky, upstart new channel. It's rode the first wave of investment and excitement, but now is the time to prove its staying power. On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, host Joe sits down with two retail media experts, Ollie Shayer, Senior Director, Global Strategy and Innovation at SMG, and Daniel Knapp, Chief Economist, IAB Europe, to talk about the future of the channel.Recorded on the ground at Retail Media Summit UK 2025, the respective interviews dive into what the "second phase" of retail media is going to look like, from deployment of the channel in the UK versus the US to its growth prospects amid a turbulent economy. This podcast was hosted by PMW's Multimedia Editor, Joseph Arthur.~ Episode breakdown ~ Ollie Shayer on his move to SMG and the challenges surrounding retail media (1:29)Daniel Knapp forecasts retail media's future and talks differences between the UK and US (9:03)~ Further reading ~ Six spicy predictions for retail media in 2026Rory Sutherland explains everything wrong with performance marketingIceland expands retail media network through Epsilon partnership

Rory Sutherland famously dislikes much of what performance marketing offers, acknowledging that while the lower-funnel is important, many marketers are "painting themselves into a performance corner" to justify their existence.On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, Sutherland explains what marketers are doing wrong and how they can better utilise performance-orientated data to generate sustainable brand building. He also outlines retail media's role in generating 'brandformance' and why the success of the frozen paratha should propel a return to frozen food in Britain.This podcast was hosted by PMW's Multimedia Editor, Joseph Arthur.~ Episode breakdown ~ What's wrong with performance marketing? (1:48)How retail media can build a bridge between brand and performance (23:15)Why frozen food needs to make a return in Britain (31:31)~ Further reading ~ Investing in performance marketing is not enough, a view from Rory SutherlandHavas Market’s Alex Walker on navigating adland in a time of ‘information overload’