Jack Benjamin and Omar Oakes discuss the major stories of the past week, including the proposed sale of The Observer to Tortoise Media, scenes from recent Radiocentre, Thinkbox and Who Cares? events, and product updates from Meta and Snap.Highlights:1:04: Guardian Media Group shares earnings and considers sale of The Observer to Tortoise12:35: Takeaways from Radiocentre's Tuning In conference15:53: Broadcasters express concerns over Isba's use of Barb data in Origin19:18: Who cares about Who Cares?22:32: Instagram's changes for teens and the age-verification problem26:54: Snap's new Spectacles and the appeal of smart glasses31:29: Programmatic DOOH market growthRelated links:Guardian ad revenue plunges as it plans Observer saleCommercial radio revenue grows 5% in H1Who cares about advertising? Those who are willing to say ‘no’ITV warns advertisers over Isba plan to launch Origin without BarbProgrammatic DOOH grows as advertisers move budget from other channels---Visit 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

Social media gets a lot of buzz and an increasingly large slice of media budgets. But is that spend optimal compared with other media channels?In an article for The Media Leader last week, EssenceMediacom's chief strategy officer Richard Kirk revealed new research that suggests brands are spending three times as much on paid social than is most efficient.Kirk and Olga Zaitseva, EssenceMediacom's head of media science and modelling, join Jack Benjamin to unpack the findings.According to the pair, paid social receives more attention from marketers than is strictly necessary, and if AV budgets were increased, campaign effectiveness would likely improve."We're starting to see multiple pieces of research all pointing in quite a specific direction," says Kirk. "And I would hope that those things combined start to lend real credence to this idea that maybe the industry has gone too far in one direction and needs to correct."Highlights:1:09: How surprising are EssenceMediacom's findings?5:00: Reasons brands are overspending on social media18:46: Caveats: different results for SMBs, production budgets23:14: AV channels are underinvested. A look at other media channels30:20: How research should be communicated to CMOs and CFOsRelated articles:Brands could be spending three times too much on social. You read that rightAdvertising generates profit, but not all media channels are equalThinkbox's Media Mix Navigator tool, which uses the same data as the EssenceMediacom study, can be accessed for free here. It provides econometric data for 2021-2023 from 141 brands across 14 product categories and 10 media channels, enabling advertisers to explore the impact of budget allocations on revenue and return on investment.---Visit 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

Jack Benjamin and Omar Oakes discuss the major stories of recent weeks following a brief summer hiatus. Key stories include Google's second antitrust case in the US this year, Sir Paul Marshall's purchase of The Spectator and the dissolution of EssenceMediacomX.Highlights:1:32: What to know about Google's adtech antitrust trial11:56: The Spectator sale – what's Sir Paul Marshall's aim?15:46: X's lack of appeal to mainstream advertisers17:49: EssenceMediacomX dissolves19:13: TV no longer the top place for news21:56: News Corp's activist investor23:30: August box office boom25:28: The importance of the TfL account to Global and JCDecauxRelated links:CMA suggests Google has abused dominant positions in adtechEssenceMediacomX is no moreMarketers’ trust in ads on X drops to historic lowTfL reappoints Global and JCDecauxAugust box office tops £120m as summer ends on high note---Visit 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

Terry Hornsby, founder and executive vice-president of Mantis, joins Jack Benjamin to discuss how keyword blocklists remain in use by advertisers to the detriment of publishers.Hornsby explains that blocklisting is being used irresponsibly by too many advertisers, many of which often add words to their blocklists without sufficiently checking which may be worth taking off.These could include adding "Paris" after the 2015 terrorist attacks or "Taylor Swift" after her Vienna concert was nearly attacked, and then never remembering to take these keywords off.The result? Publishers having much of their brand-safe work demonitised.Hornsby also discusses why this keeps occurring and what needs to change for publishers to earn revenue on articles that brands would in fact want to advertise against.This episode was recorded earlier this summer, before the Paris Olympic Games began.Highlights2:00: Why Hornsby founded Mantis5:12: The problem with keyword-blocking11:38: Are brands being too cautious?19:54: The importance of contextual advertising regardless of the future of the cookie26:41: Other brand-safety verification vendors29:23: What needs to 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

Jack Benjamin hosts a live panel where three media strategists field questions about common challenges in advertising.Speakers: Jackie Lyons, chief planning officer, Havas Media Network UKRaj Mahon, director of client partnerships, MiQAmy Caven, head of media and strategy planning, BootsThis was recorded at our Future of Brands event in April. You can watch it on the Adwanted UK YouTube channel here.Do you like this AMA format? Let the editor know what you think: omar.oakes@uk.adwanted.comMore from Jackie in a previous episode: The Future of Marketing – episode 2The podcast is about to take a short summer break before returning in September.---Visit 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

Sue Unerman, global chief strategy officer at Brainlabs, joins Omar Oakes to discuss leaving WPP's EssenceMediacom after 34 years and "reinventing" herself at a very different agency.Unerman is well-known across the industry and beyond as a progressive thinker and media strategist, thanks to the books she has written as an author about workplace culture and inclusion.She is a Cannes Lions Creativity for Good winner and 2024 Glass Lions judge, a fellow of the IPA and has co-authored three bestselling books: Belonging, The Glass Wall and Tell the Truth. A fourth book, A Year of Creativity, is due to be released next month.HighlightsUnerman on… AI: "Businesses that are built on AI, rather than businesses that are kind of importing AI as a last-minute thing, are going to have some advantages."Unerman on… strategy: "What has changed is the ability to gather signals and understanding and intelligence about the right time, the right place, the right message, the right person, has gone up exponentially, and finding a way to digest and see the signals in all of that data and all of that noise. That's the task of the strategist."Unerman on… her new book: "There has been a lot more promotion of both people and techniques that fall within the left-brain bucket, the analytical bucket. And the right-brain techniques and ideas around creativity tend to get a bit squashed by left-brain thinkers."---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

Jack Benjamin and Omar Oakes discuss the major media and advertising stories of the week, including the verdict in Google's US antitrust case, how social media companies have been implicated in the spread of far-right violence across the UK and the latest financial results for WPP, Amazon, Snap and Meta.Highlights:00:20: Google is a monopoly. So what happens next?6:38: Elon Musk spars with Sir Keir Starmer; X sues advertisers13:59: Meta earnings and the future of smart glasses17:35: News round-up: Warner Bro Discovery sales; Evan Gershkovich goes home; US sues TikTok; July box officeRelated links:CMA urged to move against Google following US antitrust decisionSocial media isn’t solely to blame for the shameful riotsMeta’s on a mission to become an advertiser’s one-stop shop---Visit 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

Elliott Clayton, managing director of international sales at Epsilon, delves into the impact of Publicis Groupe's $4.4 billion acquisition on Epsilon's data-driven marketing. He discusses the shift toward first-party data and the necessity for brands to build genuine customer relationships amidst changing privacy laws. Clayton also compares the connected TV landscape in the UK and US, pointing out the rise of ad-supported streaming. He outlines Epsilon's strategies for future growth, emphasizing a commitment to operational independence and tech integration.

Jack Benjamin and Omar Oakes discuss the major media and advertising stories of the week, including YouTube rejoining Barb, TV audience trends from the latest Ofcom Media Nations report and why Warner Bros Discovery could end its HBO exclusivity deal with Sky in the UK.Highlights:00:30: YouTube rejoins Barb, why it matters and Media Nations reaction07:00: Should WBD end its HBO deal with Sky in the UK?11:00: OpenAI's challenge to Google17:30: Omar's debut for the news round-upRelated links:YouTube rejoins BarbOpenAI seeks to reassure publishers over SearchGPT---Visit 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

Dr Grace Kite, a business economist and founder of Magic Numbers and Magic Works, joins Omar Oakes to discuss the importance of independence in media consulting, trends in effectiveness, Cannes Lions and what it takes to be a successful business founder.Kite is one of the industry's most respected voices on what makes advertising effective and has just sold Magic Numbers to US-based tech consultancy Analytic Partners.She says: "My experience as an independent is that the client themselves will tell you more stuff and they'll treat you more as a partner because you're not trying to sell them the next media campaign, you're not trying to steer them towards your media partners who can get you a better deal and you can get more commission on them."---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