The Media Leader Podcast

Is there a more important relationship in our industry than that between the CMO and the CFO?Given the macroeconomic environment – war, inflation, AI threatening to upend entire industries – how are the the interests of financial leaders changing as they relate to marketing?Nimmi Shah is a consultant finance director for the media, marketing and PR industries and has worked with major agency groups.Sameer Modha is the outcome measurement innovation lead at ITV, and one of the individuals spearheading the broadcasters’ in-development outcome measurement solution, Lantern.The duo join host Jack Benjamin to discuss how financial pressures are having downstream effects on media investment, why outcomes-driven measurement has emerged as the way forward in the boardroom, and how AI is leading to new opportunities and new conundrums for marketers.Is media still being spent on eyeballs? Or is it being spent on, as Modha puts it, "a receipt that says I got something that I can take to the CFO which will continue to justify my budget".Highlights:1:34: How CFOs are navigating volatile macro pressures, and where the CMO fits9:24: The move to outcomes measurement as a "recepit", and how it's benefitted tech platforms23:58: Lantern, making TV show up in the nearer term, and the power of platform models36:37: Are platforms marking their own outcomes homework? How auctions work, and why "the machine knows better than you".46:48: Implications of the AI cost push: Is AI generating value? Will OpenAI compete with Google?1:05:19: What happens if finance and media decisions become automated?Related articles:How Lantern will bring outcome measurement to TV — with Sameer Modha and Matt HillHow to make marketing indispensable to the CFO? Focus on incrementalityMarketers must take an ‘investor mindset’ to bridge the CEO-CMO gap, McKinsey advisesIan Whittaker: How brands can truly ensure their CEO, CFO and CMO work together

In February, the Institute for Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) released its latest Agency Census. The findings showed an agency market in contraction: employment at creative agencies fell 14.3% last year – and that’s before Omnicom completed its acquisition of IPG and subsequently announced it would cut thousands more jobs globally.New hiring dropped over 40%, with young people especially finding careers in media and advertising hard to break into, let alone remain in.However, the Census also registered continued progress in gender representation and ethnic diversity at agencies, even if pay gaps persist and geographical diversity is lacking.Lianree Robinson is the campaigning chair for Women in Advertising & Communications Leadership (WACL). She also works as the CEO of The Marketing Academy Foundation and as a mentor for Who’s Your Momma London.If that wasn’t enough to keep Robinson busy, she’s also begun writing a monthly column for us at The Media Leader.Robinson joins host Jack Benjamin to discuss the findings of the IPA Agency Census, and provide a sense check of the progress the media and advertising industries have made with regard to gender and ethnicity inclusion.Highlights:5:38: IPA Agency Census toplines7:16: What has caused the creative agency labour market contraction?10:20: Challenges faced by under-25s employees19:24: Progress, but "relatively slow progress", on gender representation and ethnic diversity24:43: Persistent gender and ethnic pay gaps27:59: WACL's key priorities31:33: Geographical diversity neededRelated articles:Agency employment declines 6.8% as creative roles hollowed outWhy do female-founded agencies remain the exception?I didn’t take the ‘traditional’ route into media. That’s exactly why it workedAsk Nabs Anything: Handling redundancy, rejection and mental health — with Nabs’ Annabel McCaffrey---Thanks to our production partners Trisonic for editing this episode.--> Discover how Trisonic can elevate your brand and expand your business by connecting with your ideal audienceVisit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn: The Media LeaderYouTube: The Media Leader

Late last month, a group of six magazine publishers – Bauer, Future, Hearst UK, Hello!, Immediate and Time Out – launched Atria, a single marketplace through which advertisers can engage with the combined reach of those publishers’ brands, equivalent to about 33m consumers.The effort is powered by publisher-owned first-party data. It is hosted by audience platform Permutive.Cath Waller is the managing director of advertising at Immediate Media. She is also the chair of PPA Magnetic, part of the Professional Publishers Association, the trade body for publishers.A leading voice behind the Atria effort, Waller sat down with host Jack Benjamin to discuss the marketplace's launch and where it might be headed next.The pair also discussed the current state of magazine publishing, and the headwinds and tailwinds facing Immediate.Highlights:2:43: The launch of Atria: how it works and how it came together10:12: "The industry is where it is": Magazine media is disinvested and publishers are under pressure15:25: The value of trusted editorial and a cleaner supply chain20:41: Future-facing goals26:59: How to handle AI? Embracing innovation as AI search reduces trafficRelated articles:Why quality pays: the power of trusted editorial in media planning – PPA Magnetic and The Media LeaderCMOs on what makes publisher partnerships work: ‘Great partners push back’PPA asks CMA to require greater transparency of Google’s AI search featuresThe Fishbowl: Cath Waller, Immediate Media---Thanks to our production partners Trisonic for editing this episode.--> Discover how Trisonic can elevate your brand and expand your business by connecting with your ideal audienceVisit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn: The Media LeaderYouTube: The Media Leader

This month, advertising industry trade bodies the IPA, Isba and the Advertising Association are spending a great deal of combined energy highlighting the issue of trust.That includes at the annual LEAD conference, which takes place this Thursday, and in a report released last week by the IPA that found trust-building ad campaigns improve business outcomes.Trust is what drives consumers to purchase goods and services from one brand over another; to give their attention to one media channel over another. And in a world of AI slop, misinformation, and falling trust in traditional institutions — a world in which trust is increasingly at a premium — it’s no surprise that the issue has been a core topic among executives in recent months, particularly those leading media channels like publishing and audio.Matt Bourn is the communications director at the Advertising Association. James Best is chair of the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) and Credos, the Advertising Association’s think tank.On February 3rd, the duo are releasing a new book, published by Kogan Page, titled Trusted Advertising – How to harness the value of trust in your brand. Bourn and Best joined The Media Leader to discuss takeaways the book, whether advertisers are sufficiently valuing trusted media channels, and what they can do to better build trust in their brands.Highlights:7:37: How the dynamics of trust have changed in the 21st century15:27: Understanding the public's trust in the advertising industry and trust in individual ads22:40: The business case for trust28:18: The tricky phenomenon of trust in influencers34:01: The AI issue: More slop, but also more monitoring36:56: What makes a trusted advertising campaign? Media choice, creative, measuring trust as a KPIRelated articles:Trust-building ad campaigns improve business outcomes, IPA research findsBauer Media Advertising MD Simon Kilby: We’re in a world that needs to start supporting trusted environmentsWhy quality pays: the power of trusted editorial in media planning – PPA Magnetic and The Media LeaderDoes trust matter in media?Trust is essential to the future of media. But how can advertisers measure it?---Thanks to our production partners Trisonic for editing this episode.--> Discover how Trisonic can elevate your brand and expand your business by connecting with your ideal audienceVisit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn: The Media LeaderYouTube: The Media Leader

A year ago, the Alliance of Independent Agencies and the Land of Independents collaborated to launch a new initiative aimed at sharing knowledge and support for independent media agencies.Enter the Alliance of Media Independents (AMI), which has served as a single route to the indie media agency market for suppliers and media owners.The AMI has spent the last year expanding, now with over 30 members that represent combined billings that rival the global holding groups.Martin Woolley and Paul Phelps are co-founders and chairs of the AMI. Woolley also works as executive chair of indie media outfit What’s Possible Group, which owns agency The Specialist Works, and Phelps is CEO of AMS Media Group.The duo sits down with host Jack Benjamin to discuss how and why the alliance was founded, the benefits its delivered to members, their plans for expansion, and why indies might be the beneficiaries of a consolidating agency landscape.As Woolley points out, a few years ago there were “never indie-only pitch lists”. Now? “Half the pitches in our business are indie-only. So something’s changed.”Highlights:3:20: Why and how was the AMI created?13:10: Benefits of the Alliance: Media owner interest, incremental growth, resource sharing.23:00: Competing with holdcos: Loss of trust amid trading deals, lack of transparency.29:02: Could clients leave agencies in favour of self-serve platforms?35:20: Why 2026 will be the year of indies.Related articles:Shaping the industry’ next phase: One year on as AMIAlliance of Media Independents announces Experian as first official partnerAlliance of Media Independents adds 16 members and doubles billingsIndie agencies team up for Alliance of Media Independents-----> Discover how Trisonic can elevate your brand and expand your business by connecting with your ideal audienceVisit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn: The Media LeaderYouTube: The Media Leader

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Yes, yes, it’s the holiday season and we’re just days away from Christmas. But it’s also the global adspend report season. Business leaders are getting a holistic look at how the total ad market performed in the UK and around the world, and also what to expect for next year.WPP Media’s This Year Next Year report released on 8 December, and it has become something of an annual tradition to host its author and global president of business intelligence, Kate Scott-Dawkins, on this show before the end of the year.She returns once again to unpack this latest report, which forecast global ad revenue to grow 8.8% year on year to $1.14tn in 2025, despite persistent macroeconomic headwinds. Next year, WPP Media is predicting further 7.1% global growth, the majority of which is being captured by a handful of tech platforms.Scott-Dawkins offers her view on the state of the global economy, downside risks for marketers, and whether AI is likely to drive growth next year.This is the final episode of the podcast we at The Media Leader are releasing this year. Thank you to our wonderful guests and to all you listeners out there for tuning in. We’ll be taking a few weeks off the holidays but will be back up and running in the New Year.Highlights:1:50: Toplines: an optimistic forecast driven by platform growth6:12: Expect more consolidation9:33: Downside risks: tariffs, uncertain consumer spending, K-shaped recovery14:52: Advertising is leading the global economy17:56: Could the commerce market be upended by AI?20:20: Why the UK ad market is still "pretty healthy"22:33: Things to look out for in 2026: AI search, an upper-funnel correctionRelated articles:WPP Media forecasts 8.8% global ad revenue growth in 2025 but warns of ‘K-shaped economy’ risk‘Agencies may get squeezed everywhere’: US tariffs cause ad industry angstUncertainty and soft guidance as holding groups struggle for growth in Europe---Thanks to our production partners Trisonic for editing this episode.--> Discover how Trisonic can elevate your brand and expand your business by connecting with your ideal audienceVisit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn: The Media LeaderYouTube: The Media Leader

This episode was produced in partnership with The Guardian.Each year, The Guardian’s advertising team delivers a research project cheekily called Shift Happens.Blending survey data with first-party data, the study aims to unpack longer-term cultural trends in Britain that may well be of interest to savvy marketers.Imogen Fox is The Guardian's chief advertising officer. She returns to the podcast to unpack the report's key takeaways and its implications for marketers.These include five major changes consumers have made in how they spend their time throughout the week. Among them, people are waking up earlier, maximising weekends, heading to the pub early on Fridays, and taking reexamining their work-life balance priorities.Highlights:1:05: Shift Happens toplines5:00: How useful are trends reports?8:15: Lifestyle changes: joy slicing, return-to-office, weekend maximising, chatbot friends14:52: Advice for marketers20:40: The Guardian's plans for 2026Related articles:WTF happened to Friday?The Guardian promotes its creative canvas amid US investment driveIsn’t it time the ad industry embraces a 4-day week?---Thanks to our production partners Trisonic for editing this episode.--> Discover how Trisonic can elevate your brand and expand your business by connecting with your ideal audienceVisit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn: The Media LeaderYouTube: The Media Leader