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 [...]
Ad market set to pass $1 trillion as UK readies for boom December 9, 2024 The global advertising market is expected to sail past $1 trillion (£783bn) in value this year as the British ad market supercharges growth into 2025. “The UK advertising market will experience significant growth in 2024,” a new report from WPP-owned Groupm said, which estimated that global ad revenue will have grown 9.5 per cent throughout [...]
Junk food advertising ban defies common sense December 5, 2024 The government’s ban on advertising foods deemed unhealthy is a big fat win for the nanny state, but it will end up costing us, says John Oxley Christmas is coming, and that means a deluge of seasonal advertising and, for most of us, overindulgence. This might be the last time we can enjoy those two [...]
From porridge to pizza: Junk food ban will have ‘inevitable impact on growth’ – advertisers warn December 3, 2024 A pre-watershed ban on advertising junk food will have an “inevitable impact” on the UK’s “wider economic growth”, an advertising industry body has warned. The government claims the new policy, which will come into force from October 2025, will prevent an estimated 20,000 cases of childhood obesity. Legislation published on Tuesday afternoon reveals the broad [...]
ECB chair Thompson: I’ve found myself in an extraordinary moment for cricket November 19, 2024 "A lot of the next 10 years will be determined almost by what happens in the next 10 weeks," said Thompson.
Will an algorithm generate the next big Christmas ad? November 18, 2024 Christmas is coming and algorithms are at work, pushing the boundaries of creativity to ensure the tills keep ringing. But can AI tools ever really craft an ad that resonates on a deep, human level? Asks Paul Armstrong The Christmas ads have arrived, including a fake – and viral – John Lewis one, flooding our [...]
Festive advertising set to reach record high this Christmas November 7, 2024 Corporate spending on advertising is set to reach a record high this Christmas as brands look to cash in on consumers’ appetite for festive storytelling. Companies are set to spend a record £10.5bn in the UK on advertising over the Christmas season, according to industry trade body the Advertising Association and data provider WARC. Many [...]