The Campaign Podcast

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 biddingIPA rejects APA's call for best practice forum for production company biddingAPA launches initiative to bring brands and production companies togetherAPA report finds agencies withhold production partners information from brandsIPA ‘takes exception to the erroneous idea of gatekeeping’ in APA reportIPA, APA and ISBA launch Production Pitch Process InitiativeDoes Rattling Stick’s low-cost arm signal trouble in the production sector?Lights, camera, action: how production companies are fighting back

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 LiveCampaign Big AwardsFurther reading:What can new CEO Cindy Rose bring to WPP and what does it need?Accenture and WPP have discussed potential M&A dealWPP's 'pretty grim' profit warning: stock market analysts reactWPP closes in on new CEO as some big names ruled out

Three awards have been withdrawn from Cannes Lions 2025 over fabrication of case studies and concerns around their legitimacy. In the weeks that have followed Cannes Festival of Creativity, the integrity of advertising awards has been questioned and what was once widely accepted in advertising awards, has now been exposed.DM9's “Efficient way to pay” was the most notable withdrawal as it won the Grand Prix in the Creative Data Lions. The DDB agency was caught using AI to fabricate news coverage in the case study and misleading the jury. Two other DM9 awards were also withdrawn. The agency’s co-president and CCO Icaro Doria stepped down. Following the Cannes news, D&AD removed two pencils from the shop.However, DM9 were not alone in the scandal as other awards have also since been questioned.While the industry has been rocked by the news, many have acknowledged that embellishment, exaggeration and fabrication within awards entries is a common occurrence within adland. This episode features Campaign editor Maisie McCabe, deputy editor Gemma Charles and creativity and culture editor Gurjit Degun, who discuss what has led to this behaviour and what happens next for awards.Cannes Lions has since responded with new "integrity standards" to ban agencies that submit "wilfully false" campaignsThis episode was hosted by Campaign's tech editor Lucy Shelley.Further reading:Adland’s ‘New Year's’ resolution should be to revive its integrity at Cannes LionsLePub takes disciplinary action following scrutiny of Cannes Lion-winning campaignHavas Costa Rica’s Cannes Lions-winning ad, Lessons of Shame, needs lessons of legitimacyHavas and World Vision’s Lessons of Shame under scrutiny after Cannes Lions winDon’t hate the player, hate the gameCannes Lions rocked by controversies over AI, authenticity and licensingDM9 admits faults in case study for Grand Prix-winning work

From custom emotes to immersive live streams, this sponsored episode of The Campaign Podcast explores how Twitch is enabling brands to participate in culture firsthand versus watching it happen.

As 2025's Pride Month comes to a close, Campaign reflects on how the global DEI rollback has impacted the way brands show up for LGBTQIA+ communities.Gay Times' chief executive Tag Warner said the news outlet has lost £5m in ad revenue this year due to eight of its top ten advertisers pulling their contracts, and Thinkbox's head of marketing Chris Dunne, who is also chief executive of Outvertising, also commented on the noticeable drawback by brands. While it might on the surface seem like the changes to DEI this year have impacted brands' support for LGBTQ+ communities, the drawback actually begun years before, and this year was more a "nail in the coffin".Hosted by tech editor Lucy Shelley, Campaign's media editor Beau Jackson and deputy creativity and culture editor Charlotte Rawlings discuss what has led to brands stepping back, as well as highlighting some of the work that continues to celebrate Pride and raise awareness to wider LGBTQ+ issues. This includes TransActual UK's "Third toilet" by BBH London, Tesco's internal policies and sponsorship of Pride, Lush donating 75% of profits from the Liberation bath bomb and Marks and Spencer's partnership with AKT.Further reading:Pride needs action, not alliesAmnesty Pride campaign promotes bracelets as 'badge of allyship'E45 unveils ad highlighting trans skin that won C4 diversity awardDo LGBTQ+ PR pros think brands will ‘show up’ for Pride 2025?

Campaign asked this year’s A List cohort to name their favourite TV ad ahead of the upcoming 70th anniversary of commercial television. Guinness “Surfer” by AMV BBDO came out top.One trend that emerged from the choices was that many of the most popular ads were more than 25 years old. Armed with this finding, Campaign reporter Eszter Gurbicz wrote a feature exploring the industry’s love of old ads.This episode of the Campaign Podcast dissects the qualities that make ads stick in peoples’ minds and shares the industry’s view on whether there is any recent work that will be talked about in years to come.Deputy editor Gemma Charles hosts the episode which features editor Maisie McCabe and creativity and culture editor Gurjit Degun alongside Gurbicz.Further reading:A Listers on their favourite TV ads of all timeAre we at the start of a new era of advertising awards?Channel 4 and L’Oreal Paris scoop Film Lions Grands PrixMy Campaign: the making of Guinness ‘Surfer’Ads mentioned in the show include:The Martin Agency's Quiznos subs’ rats (chosen by Mother's Felix Richter) DDB Chicago's Bud Light "Real men of genius: really bad toupee wearer" (chosen by TheOr's Charlene Chandrasekaran)AMV BBDO's Guinness "Dreamer" BBH London's "Three little pigs" for The Guardian

Campaign’s editors from around the world come together after the Lions festival for the final episode of the Campaign Cannes global podcast in partnership with Ocean Outdoor.We review the festival and talk about the work that won, the big trends that emerged, the first year of Campaign House and the best parties.Gideon Spanier (far left), the UK editor-in-chief of Campaign, hosts the podcast and is joined by Maisie McCabe, editor of Campaign UK, David Brown, co-editor of Campaign Canada, and Luz Corona, editor of Campaign US.Further reading about the work and stories on this podcast:WPP, DDB and Publicis Conseil win creative company, network and agency of year at Cannes Lions 2025Channel 4 and L’Oréal Paris scoop Film Lions Grands PrixPublicis Conseil lands Titanium Grand Prix for Axa campaign helping women escape abuseGreat work should swim against the current, creative chiefs say

Campaign’s editors from around the world come together at Campaign House at the Lions festival for the second episode of the Campaign Cannes global podcast in partnership with Ocean Outdoor.Gideon Spanier, the UK editor-in-chief of Campaign, hosts the podcast and is joined by Maisie McCabe, editor of Campaign UK, Nikita Mishra, editor of Campaign Asia, Chris Powell, co-editor of Campaign Canada, and Luz Corona, editor of Campaign US.We talk about the buzz at the midway point during the festival, including the first Grand Prix winners, how the awards juries reach their decision and speculation about the search for a new WPP chief executive, plus we discuss some of our favourite sessions at Campaign House, our dedicated venue at Canopy by Hilton.Further reading about the work and stories on the podcast:Arthur Sadoun: Agencies should be ‘optimistic’ not ‘scared’ about futureLaura Jordan Bambach, Vicki Maguire and Kay Hsu at Cannes: ‘Lack of diversity can shut down incredible ideas’Scrutiny over media trading will be a top story in next year, Campaign editors sayVaseline’s “Vaseline Verified” by Ogilvy Singapore wins Health & Wellness Lions Grand PrixRimas Music’s “Tracking bad bunny” by DDB Latina Puerto Rico wins Entertainment Lions for Music Grand Prix

Campaign’s editors from around the world come together ahead of the Lions festival for the first episode of the Campaign Cannes global podcast in partnership with Ocean Outdoor.We preview the festival and talk about the work we want to win, the mood in the ad industry and Campaign House – our exciting new venue at Cannes. Gideon Spanier (centre in picture), the UK editor-in-chief of Campaign, hosts the podcast and is joined by Maisie McCabe, editor of Campaign UK, Nikita Mishra, editor of Campaign Asia, David Brown, co-editor of Campaign Canada, and Luz Corona, editor of Campaign US.We also discuss why Arthur Sadoun, the chief executive of Publicis Groupe and a speaker at Campaign House on day one of the festival, has called for the industry to take a “different” approach at Cannes this year and the introduction of new “safe zones” at the festival.Further reading about the work and stories on this podcastKFC “Believe in Chicken” by Mother LondonChannel 4 “Considering What?” by 4CreativeApple TV+ “Severance in Grand Central” by Kamp GrizzlyKFC “Uncle KFC’s Rice Bowl” by Wolf BKKIKEA “U Up?” by RethinkMaple Leaf “Look for the Leaf” by NFA