The Campaign Podcast

As the "happy new years" ring out, what resolutions are those in adland setting for 2026?

Last year unleashed a relentless wave of change across the advertising and media industry, from agency mergers and closing shops to restructures, the growing prominence of social and tech platforms, and some great creative work. 

Now, in 2026, Campaign begins the year with a look at what adland’s new year resolutions should be, what...

Does January feel like a week ago or five years? The past 12 months have brought with them a lot – a mega-deal, cyber attacks, agencies renamed, new chief executives, trends fading in and out, redundancies and, of course, AI.

In the final podcast episode of the year, Campaign takes a look back over 2025 at some of the most memorable moments of the year, revisiting the top stories, reviewing who was the most talked about and pick...

Waitrose, John Lewis, Tesco... the Christmas ads are all out and it's time for them to start selling. But what do adland's creative leaders make of the campaigns?

Creativity and culture editor Gurjit Degun hosts this extra Private View episode of The Campaign Podcast, reviewing the top festive ads with David Kolbusz, chief creative officer at Orchard, Chaka Sobhani, the newly appointed global chief creative officer at TBWA\World...

Omnicom completed its acquisition of IPG on Wednesday 26 November after clearing EU regulation. On the Monday that followed (1 December) the new holding company revealed a huge restructure including 4000 job cuts to happen by the end of the year, agencies merging, new leadership announced and some networks ceasing to exist.

In this episode of The Campaign Podcast, Campaign's editorial team discuss the shape of the new holding co...

At the start of the year, 2025 was predicted by some adland commentators to be the year for independent agencies. Omnicom was beginning to acquire IPG to make the largest holding company, redundancies occurred across some of the networks and WPP had a more-than-difficult year on top of a new chief executive.

2025 has seen the launch of many independent agencies including Ace of Hearts, Studio.One and Baby Teeth, while Ark Agency...

Christmas ads keep snowing down across TV, social, live experiences and digital channels. With the multiplicity of formats and audiences fragmenting, does TV still reign as the top channel for festive films?

In this episode of The Campaign Podcast, Campaign's editorial team gather to discuss the next round of Christmas ads, including Waitrose's "The perfect gift" by Wonderhood Studios, Tesco's "That's what makes it Christmas" by...

Where are all the mince pies? Still in Christmas advertising it seems, despite the Less Healthy Food and drink (LHF) restrictions.

The voluntary period banning foods that are high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) began on 1 October this year for paid online ads and TV with a 9pm watershed, just in time for a snowstorm of Christmas advertising. As of 5 January 2026, the voluntary period ends and it will be compulsory for brands.

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Christmas has hit adland like a snowball in the face, with the festive ads coming in thick and fast, so what can be gleaned from the first phase of holiday advertising?

In this episode of The Campaign Podcast, the editorial team break down the themes that emerged in the first batch of Christmas ads and the industry’s reaction to the campaigns so far. Tech and multimedia editor Lucy Shelley is joined in the studio by creativity a...

Advertisers have been pulling investment from newsbrands and trusted journalism for years. The latest AA/Warc figures show that national and regional newsbrands, along with magazines, have suffered the steepest declines in adspend across all channels, while tech platforms continue to claim a growing share of the market.

However, the figures suggest this decline will slow in 2026, and this year's Media Week Awards was a successfu...

WPP, Publicis Groupe, Omnicom, Interpublic, Havas and Dentsu have hitherto been known to adland as the "big six". However, the past year has brought the announcement of a proposed merger between Omnicom and IPG, while Havas and Dentsu have become comparatively smaller.

So, the "big six" become the "big three", but is there another challenger? Accenture Song's latest results reported revenues of $20bn (£15bn) in the 12 months to ...

This episode of The Campaign Podcast explores whether marketers are using AI to do work traditionally done by their agencies and examines what clients are – and aren’t – doing with AI.

It comes as Campaign launches the Power 100, the list of the most powerful marketers in the UK. This year they were asked questions designed to tease out where they are on their AI journeys.

Presented by deputy editor Gemma Charles, guests on t...

Campaign published its Faces to Watch list for 2025 last month and also canvassed the cohort on a range of topics both on and off-the-record. From hybrid-working and salary through to the rise of AI and diversity, the Faces – all of whom have worked in adland for eight years or less – gave their views freely.

This episode not only dissects their thoughts but also offers the perspectives of adland leaders on the lot of their juni...

Neurodiversity exists in between 15 and 20% of UK adults, but recent All In data counts over half of adland’s UK workforce as neurodiverse, at 55%.

This week is dyslexia awareness week, and to mark the occasion this episode looks into neurodiversity in adland, and how the industry supports people with different ways of thinking, both internally and in the ads it produces. 

Hosted by Campaign's tech and multimedia editor,...

Ndidi Oteh, the new global chief executive of Accenture Song, was interview on stage by Campaign's editor-in-chief Gideon Spanier at Campaign Live in her first UK interview.

24 days into the new job, Oteh discussed navigating change and scale, plans to expand in media buying, and how the agency arm of consulting giant Accenture compares to the big holding companies. This episode features the full session from the event, wit...

Cars, airlines, FMCG brands and banks used to be some of the most desirables clients to have for an agency. Some clients are still more desirable to agencies than others, but is it based on size, market, sector or another factor? 

In this episode, Campaign's editorial team question if prestige sectors still exist and to what extent agencies actually choose their clients. Tech editor Lucy Shelley hosts the episode alongside ...

Podcast: What will the next 70 years of commercial TV look like?

This September, the UK celebrates 70 years of commercial TV since the launch of ITV on September 22 1955.

A lot has changed since the very first TV ads. Not only are they now in full colour but the very definition of TV has evolved and keeps on changing with the addition of new formats and introduction of new digital competitors.

In this episode, Campaign’s tech ...

Media platforms, including Meta, TikTok, X, Spotify, Pinterest and others, have been advancing their own AI capabilities to improve the advertising process of creating and serving ads to an audience. So where does this leave media and creative agencies?

Meta, has gone so far as to call itself a “one stop shop” for advertisers, by reportedly aiming to fully automate advertising, including the creation and targeting of ads, by the...

Omnicom and IPG have kept their cards close to their chests while nearing completion of the biggest acquisition in advertising history. 

Set to close in the second half of this year, the merger-acquisition has now secured 15 out of the 18 regulatory approvals required, including recently with UK watchdog the CMA, in early August. Under the terms of the all-share deal, Omnicom said at the start of August it was set to p...