The Media Leader Podcast

Why are media and creative so siloed?That was the question implicitly posed by our editor Omar Oakes in his latest column. Referencing industry veteran Laurence's Green's speech at a recent Thinkbox conference, Oakes questioned Cannes' reason for appearing separately as both a celebration of creativity and as a tech and media industry conference.Oakes and Green both joined Jack Benjamin on The Media Leader Podcast to unpack the argument. In a wide-ranging conversation, the trio also spoke about the importance of creative in driving effectiveness, the industry's struggles to promote sustainability and pessimistic trends in digital news consumption unveiled by this week's release of the Reuters Institute Digital News Report."The mood music in the industry is firstly, can we just have that richer mix of work," said Green. "Yes, reward the purpose stuff, but find a way to the great stuff that pays the mortgage. But also, can we just make sure that we're not using our creative skills to greenwash rather than using our creative skills to more profoundly change business. Those are the things that are in the ether around Cannes this year."The episode kicks off a new panel format for the podcast, which includes a 'quick hits' section covering recent stories from the around the industry.---Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn - The Media LeaderTwitter @TheMediaLeader YouTube - The Media Leader

"There's so much change all the time in terms of new channels popping up, the way ID and privacy fit together and create challenges; there's just so much to constantly be on top of and ahead of."AudienceProject's UK commercial director Martin Bentley was one of several Future of Brands conference delegates reflecting on the biggest challenges and opportunities facing the media industry in the near future.Speaking with reporters Jack Benjamin and Ella Sagar at London conference in April, Bentley, as well as Neil Robinson, EMEA advisory for media, tech, sports, and entertainment at Salesforce, Nick Henthorn, UK VP of sales at InfoSum, and Mark Cross, engagement director at JICMAIL, also gave personal takeaways and learnings from the event.This episode was edited by our production partner Trisonic. For more on our events, including our upcoming The Future of Media conference, check out our events portal.---Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn - The Media LeaderTwitter @TheMediaLeader YouTube - The Media Leader

Are people even paying attention to the ads they are being served? That question has opened up a can of worms for an industry that is intensely concerned with return on investment.Two leaders of the attention economy, Lumen Research's Mike Follett and Amplified Intelligence's Karen Nelson-Field, joined reporter Jack Benjamin for a discussion on the positives, pitfalls, and recent developments within the evolving space.---This episode was edited by our production partners Trisonic. You can find and listen to all our episodes on our website or wherever you get your podcasts. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to be notified when we release our next episode.

Are ambitious marketers suffering from a 'Steve Jobs complex'? Is Sir John Hegarty right to say that marketers and most marketing is simply "boring"? Is there any point doing "purpose" in marketing"?These are among the key questions answered by a trio of media and advertising leaders who joined The Media Leader editor Omar Oakes to discuss the state of marketing and key themes from The Future of Brands.Craig Tuck, chief revenue officer at Ozone, Rachel Forde, former UK CEO of media agency UM, and Chloe Davies, head of social impact at ad agency Lucky Generals, joined Oakes in front of a live audience at the Future of Brands venue in central London.The panel discussed key learnings from the event's invite-only brand leaders' club, in which some of the UK's top brand marketers discussed their challenges and how to improve the conditions for sales and advertising, as well as key insights from Oakes' interview with advertising legend Sir John Hegarty.---Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn - The Media LeaderTwitter @TheMediaLeader YouTube - The Media Leader

Lee Brown, head of advertising business & platform at Spotify, speaks to Omar Oakes about how the global audio giant hopes to significantly grow its advertising revenue in response to founder Daniel Ek's "20% challenge".Brown had been on a salesperson hiring spree, but then the digital media market slowed down and the company began making layoffs like most of the big tech giants in recent months. Ek, meanwhile, admitted Spotify had over-invested in podcasts in particular, after acquiring big names such as Joe Rogan and Barack Obama.Brown speaks candidly about how Spotify has ambitions to build ‘the world’s #1 audio network”, as well as its strategy around talent, technology and content. He also pulls no punches when it comes to how digital audio should be measured and how it should be traded by media agencies and advertisers.This interview was recorded at The Future of Audio Europe in London in March 2023. For more on our events, including our upcoming The Future of Brands conference, check out our events portal.---Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn - The Media LeaderTwitter @TheMediaLeader YouTube - The Media Leader

"Reframe the problem," says renowned marketing consultant and author Richard Shotton in his new book on behavioural psychology and its impact on advertising and media.In his new book, The Illusion of Choice, Shotton describes the various psychological biases (16-and-a-half, to be precise) that influence what we buy.Reviewing the title in The Media Leader, VCCP Media's joint chief strategy officer Steve Taylor called it a page turner and an “antidote” to “a sea of increasingly ineffectual sameness” in marketing.Shotton came on The Media Leader Podcast to discuss the book, and how knowledge of psychology can be a benefit to any media professional.---Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn - The Media LeaderTwitter @TheMediaLeader YouTube - The Media Leader

The Media Leader's new columnist Nicola Kemp joins Omar Oakes to talk about the progress women have made in making media a more equitable career and the barriers which still remain. Kemp, who is editorial director of Creativebrief, warns if we want to stop women from being edited out of the media industry, we must be honest about addressing burnout and "fake flexibility".What advice does she have for women in media and what more can leaders do?Read the first in her new monthly column: "Face the truth: women are still being edited out of the media industry"---Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn - The Media LeaderTwitter @TheMediaLeader YouTube - The Media Leader

Have you ever thought about moving across the pond? Two media industry Brits that have recently made the jump over into the massive, frenetic media environment in America—more specifically, the Big Apple. They’re eager to share what they feel is different about the media industry Stateside as compared to the UK.Wayne Blodwell is the founder and CEO of digital advertising consultancy TPA Digital, formerly known as The Programmatic Advisory, as well as a podcast host in his own right for The AdPod. His new monthly column for The Media Leader, ‘An Englishman in New York’, debuted in February. In it, Blodwell discusses the challenges and opportunities that the American media market offers.Making her second appearance on the podcast, Amy Williams is the founder and CEO of purpose-powered ad platform Good-Loop, which she began in 2016 to help brands do charitable work at scale. Williams moved to the States earlier this year, where she hopes to grow Good-Loop.---Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn - The Media LeaderTwitter @TheMediaLeader YouTube - The Media Leader

We're back for Season 2 with a banger!Advertising legend Sir John Hegarty speaks to Omar Oakes in the first of a two-part interview - the second of which will be at our Future of Brands event in London (25/26 April). Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn - The Media LeaderTwitter @TheMediaLeader YouTube - The Media Leader

Jamie Barnard, former Unilever in-house lawyer and CEO of privacy and data governance platform Compliant, joins Omar Oakes to discuss what he learned from his time at the coal face as a large global advertiser grappled with data privacy and media ethics and how he is now trying to help brands develop ethical media policies for an advertiser-funded internet.Merry Xmas + see you in the new year for Season 2!Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn - The Media LeaderTwitter @TheMediaLeader YouTube - The Media Leader