The Media Leader Podcast

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

It's nearly the end of January, and from a macroeconomic perspective, it’s been an absolutely wild month. The US threatened to invade Greenland and institute tariffs on European countries mobilising to resist that effort. In Davos last week, Trump appeared to walk back some of those threats, but it’s safe to say uncertainty is and will continue to be at very high levels.Uncertainty raises questions for the media industry, which sits at the centre of global business activity.Earlier this month, The Media Leader convened its annual Year Ahead event in London. The invite-only event is always a great way to kick off the year. This year, Tom Standage, The Economist’s deputy editor, gave a fantastic run-down of some of those macro factors to look out for, and we separately interviewed him afterward to ask a couple follow up questions.In addition to Tom, The Media Leader's content director James Longhurst and senior reporter Jack Benjamin to the stage both to recap some of the key themes from last year, and also raise key questions to industry leaders on their plans for 2026.The duo wanted to involve the audience, so they also asked Mail Metro Media’s commercial chief Dominic Williams, Thinkbox CEO Lindsey Clay, Bauer Media Advertising MD Simon Kilby, and World Media Group CEO Jamie Credland to share their predictions for the year ahead, too.Highlights:2:02: Key themes from 2025 in media: Consolidation, getting "easier to buy", AI search5:30: Stories to watch in 2026: European-American business relations, trust, ROI on AI9:30: Dominic Williams: The World Cup opportunity11:12: Lindsey Clay: A return to brand building13:39: Simon Kilby: Valuing trusted media amid AI slop and harmful images16:05: Jamie Credland: Quality journalism in an age of AIRelated articles:2026 will be the year of…The Economist: A look at the political economyInside the Grok CSAM scandal and how brands have faced ‘weaponised political pressure’ to spend with XWorld Media Group members on how AI will reshape the media industry in 2026Nine AI tool announcements from CES 2026

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

Last month at the Future of TV Advertising Global event in London, three key brand marketers spoke about how they view the strengths of TV, particularly as they compare to other audio-visual platforms.Richard Brooke is the global media trading and operations director at Unilever. Sorin Patilinet is the global marketing effectiveness lead at PepsiCo. Alison Keith was until recently the head of global marketing effectiveness at Kraft Heinz and, before that, the VP of global media at Coty.The trio sat down with event producer and Media Leader contributor Justin Lebbon to discuss what brands want from the TV and where TV is now situated in their marketing strategies compared to other video platforms.Is TV still "cool"? Does it have a narrative problem with ad buyers? Is YouTube TV? Brooke, Patilinet and Keith unpacked a media channel in flux.Brooke also discussed why Unilever moved to increase its spend on social media platforms last year – a bold move that could well have heralded in a new era of confidence for the creator economy.Highlights:1:25: Reactions to TV consolidation3:40: TV is effective, but the creator economy is the shiny new thing8:21: The definition of “TV” is changing, but the standards of quality aren’t the same15:19: Is ad investment consolidation in Big Tech platforms healthy?22:56: Less adspend is going through JICs. Does independent measurement still matter?Related articles:Comcast Ads president: Uneven measurement standards create an ‘existential’ challenge for TVChannel 4, ITV and Sky commercial chiefs ask advertisers to ‘turn down the toxic’Watch: TV trends to look out for

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 Roku.It's been a busy past few months for Roku: in the US, it launched a new low-cost subscription service, Howdy, which aims to be supplementary to the likes of Netflix and Disney+; in the UK, Roku launched 40 FAST channels on its platform.Last month, The Media Leader sat down with Roku’s content distribution director, Tom Price. If you haven’t listened, it’s worth your time – Price spoke about those developments, as well as how Roku works with its content partners to support their programming within the Roku platform.But that was only part 1 of a 2-part series produced in partnership with the company, timed to coincide with The Media Leader's focus on the future of TV at our annual Future of TV Advertising Global Event, held this week.For part 2 of the series, host Jack Benjamin is joined by Mike Shaw, the director of EMEA ad sales at Roku.Shaw discussed Roku's commercial strategy more broadly. He chatted about where Roku sits within the wider CTV ecosystem, how it’s working with retail media partners, innovations it would like to help drive in measurement, and how the TV market is changing to become more data-led and programmatic.Highlights:1:37: What will define the future of TV advertising?5:00: Growth and growing pains in CTV9:09: How to use data for brand and performance alike14:20: Linking CTV with retail media and driving innovation amid 'democratisation' of TV20:38: How Roku aims to grow market share in Europe: using TV OS for incremental reach26:36: The future of FAST and bundling amid subscription fatigueRelated articles:How Roku is piecing a fragmented TV landscape back together — with Tom PriceRoku launches FAST channels in UK marketHowdy confirms Roku’s growing interest in subscription streamingRoku eyes app bundling opportunity as next-gen aggregator---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

Last December, Phil Smith, the director-general of Isba (the trade body for advertisers), announced he would be stepping down after eight years.Succeeding him is Simon Michaelides, who most recently worked as the interim chief customer officer of Great British Racing.Both Isba's outgoing and incoming leaders joined host Jack Benjamin on the podcast to discuss Smith's legacy and Michaelides initialy priorities for Isba and its members.During Smith’s time at Isba, he was one of the key architects of Origin, the cross-media measurement service that he will now continue working on as its chairman. The trio spoke about Origin's next stage plans now that it officially launched this year.They also discussed a wide range of topics relevant to Isba's members, including the issue of principal media and whether it has reduced agency-client trust, the shifting TV market, and challenges facing CMOs.Highlights:5:17: Smith's legacy at Isba8:26: Making sense of the changing TV market12:55: The roadmap for Origin and early feedback from advertisers and media owners26:13: Michaelides' "relevance" agenda31:06: The agency-client relationship: consolidation, AI, principal media and trust42:00: Challenges for CMOs: rapid turnover, balancing the short and long term52:31: Should we have an Isba for SMEs?Related articles:Isba appoints Simon Michaelides director generalOrigin’s cross-media measurement solution has landed: A view from the bridgeIsba’s Phil Smith: Advertisers should take a bigger stake in OriginThree ways to access £15bn in adspend---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

PMG, an independent challenger ad agency, has gone on an investment spree. Over the past few months the agency has hired top talent, and in recent years it has acquired a number of businesses to build out a full-service offering for brands as it looks to challenge holding groups and other indies for business.One major addition it made last month was Josh Krichefski, the former GroupM EMEA and UK CEO, who is now PMG’s EMEA president.Krichefski is also notable for working as the president of IPA from 2023 to 2025, a role in which he championed industry talent and the importance of both acquisiton and retention.He joined The Media Leader recently to discuss his new role, PMG’s growth strategy and what sets it apart from competitor agencies amid a rapidly changing agency landscape.Krichefski also reflected on his time as IPA president and at WPP, and spoke about his views on the future of the agency model.Highlights:4:30: What attracted Krichefski to PMG after more than a decade at WPP9:43: PMG's go-to-market in EMEA: Transparency, consultancy, data27:01: Reflecting on Krichefski's time as IPA President and his People First agenda32:12: Agency consolidation and the future of the agency model38:26: Why AI is an opportunity, not a threatRelated articles:Josh Krichefski joins PMG as EMEA PresidentIPA president Josh Krichefski: ‘Put health and wellbeing at the forefront’WPP CEO labels group’s performance ‘unacceptable’ as it looks to SMEs‘We are in a crisis’: Advertising: Who Cares? suggests media business models must change---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

One of the key topics of industry research we at The Media Leader have been following is how media companies – be they agencies, owners or brands – can and should restructure themselves to become more fit-for-purpose in a changing media ecosystem.Independent marketing advisory MediaSense has been examining these issues for several years, and last month it released its latest report, in partnership with the World Federation of Advertisers, titled, The Future of Media Organisations. Based on responses from many of the world’s largest companies representing $52bn in annual media spend, the report found that media is emerging as a key way to connect disparate marketing functions – from creative to brand strategy. Media, in other words, is becoming less siloed.But that begs the question: how do businesses and their agencies reorganise to fit that new model?Ryan Kangisser is the chief strategy officer at MediaSense. He joins the podcast once again to explain the details of the study, their implications for marketers and agencies, and why integration – rather than scale – is the key to media success going forward.He remarks: "I think [brands] want full-service thinking, not necessarily full-service doing."Highlights:1:48: Toplines from The Future of Media Organisations report: breaking down siloes6:07: If media is taking a bigger role, who owns strategy?11:39: Developing the right data infrastructure to improve audience planning16:20: Global versus local: why there is an erosion of regional specialism24:03: How is the agency model changing?Related articles:Media’s strategic role in integrating marketing functions for brandsWhat’s the future role of media? It’s complicatedRethinking agency remuneration in 2025 — with MediaSense’s Ryan Kangisser---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