The Media Leader Podcast

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

JC Decaux's co-CEO in the UK, Dallas Wiles, tells Omar Oakes why the outdoor media company thinks 2023 will the year of the public screen. He reveals why, contrary to what many predicted, people have not fled cities during the pandemic and we have already arrived at "the new normal".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 basic relationship between reach and business results has "eroded dramatically", Zenith UK chief strategy officer Richard Kirk argues in an opinion piece for The Media Leader. In some cases, this fundamental principle of commercial media no longer exists, the Publicis Groupe media agency has discovered.Kirk speaks to Omar Oakes about why the relationship between audience reach and an advertiser's sales has broken down, why 'Right Reach' is a better predictor of success, and what this means in practice for media planning and buying. Read Kirk's Strategy Leaders column: We can better manage media fragmentation by measuring ‘Right Reach’Strategy Leaders features on the Thursday edition of The Media Leader‘s daily bulletin with thought leadership, news and analysis dedicated to excellence in commercial media strategy.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

Kris Boger, general manager, UK, global business solutions at TikTok, talks to Omar Oakes about how and why this social media platform is going big on commerce, what advertisers and agencies are asking TikTok as they try to make sense of this platform, and whether questions TikTok parent Bytedance’s Chinese ownership are fair. Find out more about our upcoming event in London The Future of Audio and check out the outline agenda.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