The Media Leader Podcast

Host Jack Benjamin welcomes editor-in-chief Omar Oakes and reporter Ella Sagar to examine Thinkbox's new members, headlines from the consumer ABCs and what is happening with GB News and Ofcom.The group also discusses why every media channel should have a Clearcast, BuzzFeed exploring a licensing deal with The Independent and Apple's potential fine from the European Commission. Highlights:3.47: BuzzFeed's licensing deal with The Independent8.05: Thinkbox's new members – Amazon, Disney, Netflix, Vevo and Warner Bros Discovery17:41: What is happening in magazine publishing? Headlines from PAMCo and consumer ABCs26:13: Quick hits: Apple's potential fine from European Commission, RedBird IMI acquires All3Media, Ofcom opens new investigation into GB News and Global's Capital Breakfast gets a new presenter.---Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn: The Media LeaderThreads: @TheMediaLeaderTwitter: @TheMediaLeader YouTube: The Media Leader

Milka Privodanova, head of Europe, Middle East and Africa at Pinterest, joins Omar Oakes to talk about the next step in the picture-sharing platform's journey as it reaches nearly 500m users and progresses ecommerce deals with Amazon and Google.Privodanova, who was known as Milka Kramer before announcing her name change in The Media Leader two years ago, is clear about how Pinterest can succeed as an ecommerce enabler while avoiding the "toxicity" that has plagued social media. She insists its user base is much wider than "housewives and mothers" and is proud of a significant Gen Z cohort that advertisers crave.She is also candid about ad load and responds to questions about why Pinterest's shares declined in response to its recent earnings report, why the company shedded 5% of its workforce last year and, of course, why she is passionate about media.Privodanova says: "When you look at explicit signals, which people are telling you what they like, so they're telling you what they pin, what they save, what they search for… the type of content that comes on top, it's like 'How do I make a dinner tonight for my family?', 'What do I wear?' – it's that more positive content. Throughout our history, as a company, we have had industry-leading initiatives around mental wellbeing and really preventing toxicity from coming on to the platform."Highlights1:46 Pinterest's Q4 earnings, digital media market trends in 2024 and partnerships with Amazon and Google6:41 Pinterest's appeal to Gen Z and efforts to maintain a positive platform11:54 Growing business through user retention and international markets15:43 AI, ad load and partnerships in the digital advertising industry21:10 Pinterest's growth, audience and advertising---This episode was edited by our production partner Trisonic.Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn: The Media LeaderThreads: @TheMediaLeaderTwitter: @TheMediaLeader YouTube: The Media Leader

As TikTok continues to develop what it says is a full-funnel advertising solution, such as through increased commerce capabilities, how it measures its advertising and drives effectiveness becomes increasingly important to marketers.TikTok’s head of client measurement for Europe, Israel and global gaming, Steve Lockwood, joins Jack Benjamin to discuss the company's approach to measurement and how the industry needs to rethink the practice for the contemporary era.Lockwood reveals, for example, why he has soured on last-click attribution and explains what new measurement standards need to be considered in the post-cookie future. The pair also discuss TikTok’s ongoing research into attention measurement and how the platform is working to collaborate on cross-media measurement initiatives like Project Origin in the UK.Highlights5:57: Why TikTok views itself as an entertainment platform more than a traditional social platform8:21: Why last-click attribution is an outdated model for measurement and what a better model is19:57: Where does attention measurement come into play for TikTok, given its short-form focus?24:36: How much TikTok is like TV from a user perspective and a measurement perspective29:05: TikTok as a true full-funnel offering---This episode was edited by our production partner Trisonic.Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn: The Media LeaderThreads: @TheMediaLeaderTwitter: @TheMediaLeader YouTube: The Media Leader

Former prime minister Gordon Brown, culture secretary Lucy Frazer, shadow culture minister Chris Bryant and Ofcom chair Lord Grade had lots to tell the UK media and advertising industry at the LEAD 2024 conference on 8 February.But what do senior industry professionals really think of what they heard from the politicians and what will likely happen next?Omar Oakes and Jack Benjamin discuss conference highlights from the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London and get instant reactions from Thinkbox CEO Lindsey Clay, IPA effectiveness director Laurence Green, UM chief strategy officer Enyi Nwosu, IPA research director Belinda Beeftink, and ITV's business development director Jason Spencer. Excuse the audio quality being less than perfect amid the hubbub!With thanks to the conference hosts: the Advertising Association, the IPA and Isba.---Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn: The Media LeaderThreads: @TheMediaLeaderTwitter: @TheMediaLeader YouTube: The Media Leader

Columnist Nicola Kemp joins host Jack Benjamin, editor-in-chief Omar Oakes and reporter Ella Sagar to unpack earnings results from swathes of Big Tech companies, including Meta, Amazon, Google, Spotify and Snap.The group discusses the big winners of earnings season and whether media has become too concentrated in fewer, more dominant players. As US senators ponder regulation of social media, Kemp and Oakes consider moral and business arguments for doing so."We have this huge existential crisis as an industry in terms of what we are actually doing to adequately police these [social media] platforms, because clearly what we're doing is not enough, particularly when it comes to the impact on children's mental health," said Kemp.Also mentioned: TikTok and Universal Music Group's fallout; Fox, Disney and Warner Bros Discovery's new live sports streaming service; what the latest Barb figures say about streaming growth; Apple Vision Pro's upsides and downsides; and whether Super Bowl ads matter as much as they used to.Highlights:5:13: Disney, Fox and Warner Bros Discovery's live sport offering7:27: Meta's impressive earnings and an "unprecedented moment" at last week's US Senate hearing14:10: Why Snap doesn't want to be considered "social media"18:30: Spotify's new non-exclusive podcast distribution strategy and growth in audiobooks23:23: Is Amazon more of an advertising company than a retailer?27:33: Does Google have a future-proof business model?31:10: Adspend is continuing to consolidate: is this healthy for the industry?34:50: Quick hits: Spotify takes aim at Apple; Apple Vision Pro reactions; TikTok and Universal Music Group's fallout; UK SVOD dips despite global uptick; Super Bowl Sunday.Note: During this episode there were two mentions of United Music Group. This was supposed to be Universal Music Group. ---Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn: The Media LeaderThreads: @TheMediaLeaderTwitter: @TheMediaLeader YouTube: The Media Leader

At The Year Ahead 2024, Charlene Williams, Pearl & Dean's group senior operations and business analyst, and member of our Future 100 Club, pleaded with industry leaders to renew their focus and care towards diversity, equity and inclusion. Was the message received?Williams discusses this on the podcast this week alongside host Jack Benjamin and special guest Sam Tidmarsh, Adwanted Events' head of conference production.The trio also delved into cinema's road to recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic, how advertisers are leaning in to in-person events and experiences, and whether stay-at-home habits die hard when it comes to movies.Highlights:2:30: Why stagnating progress on DEI is leading to a talent exodus11:54: How are advertisers leaning in to the high-attention environment in cinemas?15:30: The slow but continuing post-pandemic box office recovery26:57: Impact of the writers' and actors' strikes on cinema this year31:50: Awards season predictions---Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn: The Media LeaderThreads: @TheMediaLeaderTwitter: @TheMediaLeader YouTube: The Media Leader

At last month's The Year Ahead 2024 event in London, media's current and future leaders convened to discuss what is likely to happen in 2024 and what they would like to happen over the course of the year.Editor-in-chief Omar Oakes and reporter Ella Sagar were on the scene to interview a number of delegates. One key question they asked was: if you could wave a magic wand, what would you do to improve the media industry in the year ahead?Responses varied greatly. Some called for a creativity renaissance, while others warned of the need to be better on sustainability and DEI practices.Interviewees included: TikTok UK general manager Kris Boger; UM London CEO Kara Osborne; Clear Channel UK managing director Richard Bon; Newsworks insight director Heather Dansie; Pearl & Dean group senior operations and business analyst Charlene Williams; Initiative chief digital officer Lauren Ogúndèkó; and Acast managing director, international, Megan Davies.---Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn: The Media LeaderThreads: @TheMediaLeaderTwitter: @TheMediaLeader YouTube: The Media Leader

The medium is the message. A well-known phrase in this industry, but how do you quantify how much that is true?Richard Kirk, joint chief strategy officer at EssenceMediacom, sat down with Ella Sagar to unpack what this means in practice through new research into "signal strength," which Kirk explained "is very likely to be an enduring thing that does not change much."Kirk also debunked some misconceptions about the correlation between time spent and actual cost of media with how special or trusted consumers perceive a media channel to be.Read Kirk's corresponding Strategy Leaders column: How to map media quality for physical and mental measuresHighlights01:04: What can we learn from God's agency brief?04:40: Signal strength and peacocks08:55: Four big findings13:09: Young people much more open to suggestion of advertising16:39: Two key ingredients for signal strength18:51: Communicating signal strength and outcomes to clients20:19: How to use signal strength in planning31:38: EssenceMediacom's eight "out there" 2024 predictions35:25: Why are you passionate about media?---Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn: The Media LeaderThreads: @TheMediaLeaderTwitter: @TheMediaLeader YouTube: The Media Leader

Columnist Nick Manning returns to the podcast alongside host Ella Sagar, editor-in-chief Omar Oakes and reporter Jack Benjamin to discuss the latest results from Netflix and why Omnicom's recent acquisition of Flywheel reflects the increasing importance of digital commerce and retail media.The group also looks at a number of recent industry reports, including last month's US Association of National Advertisers programmatic study, last week's IPA Bellwether Report and, out this week, the Advertising Association/Warc Expenditure Report and the IPA Agency Census.Highlights:0:40: Why Omnicom's acquisition of Flywheel could change the face of adland6:32: Is marketing a "bellwether" sector any more?12:29: Netflix's financials: where is growth coming from?21:36: ANA programmatic study shows staggering digital waste34:35: IPA Agency Census – nothing to write home about37:36: S4 Capital lowers forecasts38:50: BBC Mid-Term Review – reports of lack of trust in the organisation are overblown---Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn: The Media LeaderThreads: @TheMediaLeaderTwitter: @TheMediaLeader YouTube: The Media Leader

Like other social media companies, Reddit has made big changes over the past few years as it seeks to become a more attractive digital platform for advertisers. These include a redesign in 2018, changes to its API last summer and a broader focus on sharing video content. A subset of Reddit users has at times decried such changes, even as they make Reddit a more commercially viable platform.Much like TikTok and Pinterest, Reddit is billing itself as the place for communities to form online. The old saying goes that there is pretty much a subreddit for anything you could imagine, from the Premier League to celebrity gossip to global news. That also includes unseemly topics, for which Reddit tackles using volunteer community moderation.Reddit says it can offer opportunity for brands looking to reach audiences in ways that are often hard to find elsewhere. Gamers and tech enthusiasts, for example, go to the platform for news, product recommendations and crowd-sourced knowledge.Paul Peterman, Reddit’s senior managing director, large customer sales, North America, joined host Jack Benjamin to discuss the future of the platform, its usefulness to advertisers attempting to reach niche communities and whether changes made to please advertisers risk alienating its existing user base.“If traditional social media is people you know really well talking about things that you may not care that much about, then community is people that maybe you don’t know talking about things you care deeply about," said Peterman.Highlights3:22: Impressions of CES5:29: Why Reddit sees itself as a "community of communities" as opposed to a more traditional social media9:14: How should marketers target hard-to-reach audiences like gamers?18:01: The relationship between AI and Reddit communities20:48: Reddit's embracing of the ad community and its relationship with users23:31: Reddit's content moderation strategy27:10: The transitioning of social media from "me" to "we"---Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn: The Media LeaderThreads: @TheMediaLeaderTwitter: @TheMediaLeader YouTube: The Media Leader