Darin Brown of WPP agency POSSIBLE on digital-focused advertising and the rise of gamification September 14, 2014 WPP has been rapidly building up its digital presence in recent years, partly by acquiring smaller agencies worldwide and folding them into POSSIBLE. Darin Brown, POSSIBLE’s Europe, Middle East and Africa chief executive, talks to City A.M. about creating digital-focused advertising, and why brands are increasingly looking at interactive campaigns. You’ve worked on both [...]
Wieden + Kennedy’s Neil Christie: The man behind Three’s Dancing Pony on the secrets of good viral marketing September 7, 2014 As one of the biggest independent agencies in the world, Wieden and Kennedy (W+K) is an increasingly rare variety of heavyweight in a media industry frequently characterised by its consolidation. Over three decades after its inception in Portland, Oregon, the firm now has eight offices around the world, and a solid reputation for its creative [...]
EngageSciences CEO Richard Jones on the science of social media marketing August 31, 2014 Between 2011 and the end of 2013, social media ad spend in the UK rose from £265m to £585m, according to PwC and the IAB. Last year alone, it increased by 71 per cent. Amid the boom, however, marketers have voiced concerns that increased spending has not been accompanied by a commensurate rise in effectiveness. [...]
Chris Hirst of ad agency Grey London believes it’s all about talent August 10, 2014 Liam Ward-Proud talks to Chris Hirst, chief executive of ad agency Grey London. It's fair to say that Grey London is one of the hottest creative agencies around at the moment. After a spell in the wilderness, the WPP-owned company returned to the limelight in 2012 with a series of gripping pieces, including the [...]
Sally Weavers of IPG Mediabrands’s Initiative agency on thinking laterally August 3, 2014 Liam Ward-Proud talks to Sally Weavers, UK managing director of IPG Mediabrands’s Initiative agency. Initiative holds a fairly unique place among UK media agencies. It’s big, placing thirteenth in last year’s rankings, with billings of over £169m, but nowhere near the scale of the outfits owned by the industry’s behemoths. According to Sally Weavers, [...]
ITN Productions’ Mark Browning on content marketing and the challenge for brands July 27, 2014 Most people know ITN as the producer of ITV and Channel 4 news, or as the maker of heavyweight investigative shows like Dispatches. But over the last four years, creative production division ITN Productions has been busily building up a content marketing operation, grabbing a slice of brands’ fast-growing content budgets so hotly pursued by [...]
Magicians and mathematicians: Rocket Network’s Mark Girling on media agency challenges July 20, 2014 Established in 1997, Omnicom-owned Rocket Network has grown its business to include media planning and buying accounts with brands such as the Co-operative Group, Harvey Nicholls and Porsche. Mark Girling, its managing director, has now worked at a senior level in London media agencies for over 20 years. He talks to City A.M. about [...]
The in-house agency: Oliver Marketing CEO Simon Martin on the new media model July 13, 2014 Traditional ad and media agency models are under pressure – this everyone knows. But while some executives are nervously looking over their shoulders at the tech giants and consultancies, the in-house agency model is also shaking things up. According to the Association of National Advertisers, nearly 60 per cent of clients used in-house [...]
Beyond digital: What will the future look like for marketing services? July 13, 2014 WPP’S Sir Martin Sorrell released his list of the top 10 trends shaping the global advertising business last week. Alongside a shift in power to the South, East and South East of the world, and a brewing battle for talent, Sorrell discussed the continuing role of the internet in transforming marketing. While calling it [...]
Customer science: Dunnhumby CEO Simon Hay on the importance of data in online advertising July 6, 2014 Liam Ward-Proud talks to Dunnhumby chief executive Simon Hay. Before media agencies started making serious strides into consumer data and personalisation, customer insight firm Dunnhumby was busy helping Tesco (now its owner) reinvent the customer loyalty programme with Clubcard. Now, after buying German ad tech firm Sociomantic Labs this April, it’s planning on [...]