#18: Mediahub’s Place in IPG’s Media Model, With Nicole Estebanell

Apr 21, 2025

Nicole Estebanell, the U.S. CEO of Mediahub, shares her insights after a successful career in media roles, including leadership positions at Nike and Initiative. She highlights the challenge of leading a challenger agency within a giant media network and discusses the importance of blending creativity with performance. Estebanell reveals how Mediahub adapts to evolving client demands and maintains its innovative spirit while scaling. The conversation also dives into the landscape of influencer marketing and the strategic decisions media agencies face in this dynamic environment.

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ANECDOTE

Nicole's Media Career Journey

Nicole Estebanell shares her career journey starting at Digitas in digital media in 1999.
She highlights her international experience leading Lenovo globally and building teams through new business wins.

INSIGHT

Mediahub's Challenger DNA

Mediahub combines media and creativity, disrupting conventional agency methods.
It maintains a challenger mindset with a culture rooted in innovation and talent.

INSIGHT

Client Focus Beyond Size

Mediahub works with clients who seek to challenge convention rather than size alone.
Longstanding relationships fuel innovation across industries like entertainment, sports, and retail.

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Nicole Estebanell, U.S. CEO of Mediahub, joins co-hosts Olivia Morley and Brian Wieser to talk about what it means to lead a challenger agency inside one of the world’s largest media networks.

Nicole walks through her career journey, beginning with her early media roles at Digitas and Neo to later leading the Nike account at Mindshare, serving as global chief client officer at Initiative, and now taking the reins in the U.S. for Mediahub. She reflects on the client and agency-side experiences that shaped her commercial instincts, what it means to build integrated teams today, and how to preserve Mediahub’s challenger DNA even as it scales.

She also shares how Mediahub is positioned within IPG’s Mediabrands group, how the agency evaluates inbound RFPs, and why clients increasingly ask their media agencies to solve for more than media.

Plus, Olivia and Brian discuss:

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A Note From Our Sponsor

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