The British Motorsport Valley businessman taking Formula 1 by storm March 12, 2025 Have you watched a McLaren going around a Formula 1 track in recent seasons and thought you’d seen the sponsors changing? Spoiler alert: you have. Much is said about the success of Britain’s Motorsport Valley, an area of the country at the heart of Formula 1 – and wider racing – development, technology and entrepreneurship. [...]
Watchdog brands Next ad ‘irresponsible’ on body image concerns February 12, 2025 The UK’s advertising watchdog has upheld a complaint that Next used an “unhealthily thin” model to advertise a pair of leggings online. The ruling comes just weeks after the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Eating Disorders published a report describing the “alarming” rise in disorders such as anorexia and bulimia over the past decade, adding that [...]
Super Bowl LIX: The adverts that cost $7m for 30 seconds February 8, 2025 Steve Howell of sports marketing agency Dark Horses takes us through this year’s Super Bowl LIX ads, featuring Beckham, Keoghan and Meg Ryan It’s a strange time for brands wishing to advertise. Technology designed to help consumers avoid commercials has never been more pervasive, whatever medium you choose. There are adblocker apps, browser extensions, unsubscribing [...]
Hyper-personalisation: Has AI finally made retail’s ‘holy grail’ possible? February 8, 2025 Hyper-personalisation has long been the holy grail of retail: to recreate the customer experience of a local, everyone-knows-your-name store on a global scale. Now, with the combination of data tracking, AI and our ever-increasing tendency to consume online content, genuinely personally-tailored ads are just about within touching distance. These ads, introduced in their earliest form [...]
CMA and ASA probe Chelsea-linked Vivid Seats over ticket touting February 7, 2025 Consumer group FanFair Alliance has reported Vivid Seats, a company part-owned by Chelsea chair Todd Boehly, to watchdogs for alleged illegal ticket touting. Chelsea fans have described the involvement of Boehly, the highest-profile member of the club’s US ownership group, as a “breach of trust” after it emerged this week. Vivid Seats offers tickets to [...]
Petition against WPP four-day office policy hits 10,000 signatures January 13, 2025 A petition demanding that WPP revokes its new four-day office policy has attracted over 10,000 signatures in just four days, as backlash from staff grows against the ad giant’s decision to mandate a higher level of attendance at its offices worldwide. The Change.org petition, which claims to have been set up by a group of [...]
WPP staff made to work from the office four days a week January 7, 2025 Staff at FTSE 100 ad giant WPP will be made to come into the office four days a week under a new policy announced to staff just weeks before it is set to lose its crown as the world’s largest advertising firm to Publicis. Boss Mark Read confirmed the policy change at the London-listed media [...]
Hit or miss? The best and worst football club Christmas adverts December 22, 2024 Creative type Steve Howell casts his critical eye over Christmas adverts produced by Chelsea, Liverpool, West Ham and Celtic. Think of a Christmas advert and your mind may conjure memories of “A dog is for life…” or any number of classic John Lewis commercials that have become synonymous with this time of year. Whatever brand [...]
Omnicom and IPG staff fret for their future after $13bn mega merger December 12, 2024 Omnicom and IPG sent shockwaves through the advertising sector when they announced a $13bn merger on Monday. Ali Lyon looks at what the deal means for the firms’ agencies, staff and the ad industry as a whole. Advertising, according to Mad Men’s Don Draper, is based on one thing: happiness. Happiness, the protagonist of the [...]
Omnicom scoops up media giant IPG in $13bn deal December 9, 2024 US advertising giant Omnicom Group has bought rival media holding company Interpublic Group in a $13.25bn (£10.4bn) deal that has uprooted the media industry and will make Omnicom the world’s largest advertising agency. The tie-up between the third and fourth largest media holding giants, both of which employ tens of thousands of staff in the [...]