Sir Martin is a British business leader and founder of WPP and S4 Capital, widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the global advertising industry. He built WPP into the world’s largest marketing services group and now leads S4 Capital (Monks), focusing on tech-driven, digital-first marketing transformation.

Brandon is the Founder and CEO of Studio B, an independent creative studio. As one of Europe’s most-watched digital creators, he has built a global audience of more than 28 million followers and generated over 18 billion views across his content. Through Studio B, he helps leading brands including Google, Netflix, Disney, Adobe, LEGO, and O2 create creator-led content, branded entertainment, and social-first campaigns designed to earn attention and drive cultural relevance.

In the first of our ‘Audience with’ interviews from this year’s Cannes Festival, NDA’s editor-in-chief Justin Pearse gets Kawaja’s latest takes on live events, AI and the evolution of the media marketplace…  

This year's MAD//Fest, for which NDA is a long-time partner, theme is "the human touch", a deliberate counterweight, Brain explains, to an industry currently obsessed with AI. As the pendulum swings from hype to widespread implementation, MAD//Fest's line-up is focussing on human creativity, craft and connection rather than chasing the robots.

The trio also dig into how AI is changing perceptions in content, PR and marketing. Press releases obviously ChatGPT createdd are increasingly ignored, and we discuss a growing sense that audiences can spot, and instinctively devalue, anything that looks AI-generated. 

On the speaker front, Brain reveals Louis Theroux will appear at MAD//Fest for the first time, off the back of his Netflix Manosphere documentary, to explore the role brands play in funding online content. He's joined by comedian Munya Chawawa, plus the CMOs of Burger King and McDonald's.

Brain discusses the sheer scale of pulling MAD//Fest together: coordinating 560-plus speakers, navigating the quirks of the Truman Brewery as a venue, and the year-round sales and rebooking effort behind a three-day show. 

Looking ahead, MAD North will expand beyond Manchester into Leeds, Newcastle, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Glasgow, with Amsterdam mooted as a possible future market.

And we discover they Dan Brain's spirit animal is a seal.

O'Brien and McGee dive into the complexity of the current media landscape, how advertiser outcomes are defined, and the challenges of solving for fragmentation, while also exploring the so-called 'collapse' of the funnel and how the advent of AI has upended the traditional customer journey.

They then take a close look at a case study that shows how brands - not solely well-resourced, major brands but also smaller, nimble emerging brands - can reach consumers and resonate amidst this fast-moving landscape. Working with Goodstuff and MiQ, challenger men's grooming brand Dr Squatch managed to successfully land its message with its target young, male, urban demographic via YouTube and CTV.

O'Brien and McGee also reveal how commerce data allowed them to understand exactly who the campaign resonated with and to link the upper-funnel messaging of the video campaign to retail sales.

The conversation is a brilliantly detailed 'under the hood' look at exactly how an effective online video and CTV campaign is built and executed and how it can translate into measurable results for brands.

Pulling back to look at the bigger picture, MiQ's Meredith O'Brien also explores the challenges of linking channels such as CTV to tangible ROI, how performance metrics can be brought into an awareness-focused ad medium, and how an openness to experimentation and innovation helps advertisers to stand out.

The episode opens with Rebecca sharing some of the latest developments from the retail media sector, including new editorial initiatives at Retail Media Age focused on highlighting emerging talent and agency perspectives across the industry. The discussion also focuses on retail media’s biggest current challenges, from buying complexity and performance pressures to the growing importance of brand building.

Drawing on more than two decades in communications, Lydia discusses the dramatic transformation of the trade media landscape, from the heyday of print publishing to today’s fast-moving digital environment, where algorithm-driven discovery have made it harder than ever for brands to stand out. 

Despite the technological change, the conversation makes clear that the fundamentals of strong communications remain rooted in expertise, relationships and genuinely-useful storytelling.

The episode also examines the growing role of AI in PR workflows, from media monitoring and discoverability analysis through to understanding how brands appear in large language models such as Claude and Perplexity. But Lydia argues that while AI can support efficiency and measurement, it cannot replicate the experience, judgement and credibility of an expert spokesperson or communicator.

And we take a deep dive into the impact of AI on publishers with Ezoic's John Cole.

The conversation kicks off with a debrief from Possible Miami and a discussion the of the chaging purpose of different industry events for attendees hoping to drive ROI from the often not insigifcant investment needed.

This week's special guest is John Cole, Chief Customer Officer at Ezoic. With over 25 years of industry experience, Cole provides a sobering yet optimistic look at the "world-documented battle" publishers face today. Key discussion points include:

• The Impact of LLMs: How Google’s "no-click searches" and AI-driven content are fundamentally altering organic traffic patterns.
• The Shift to Unique Value: Why "commoditised content" is a losing game and how publishers must pivot toward unique, high-value newsletters and web apps to survive.
• AI as a Solution: Using AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) not just for content, but as a tool to disentangle complex "Frankenstein" tech stacks and provide clear, actionable data for business growth.

*Sound warning: Tech issues mean Justin's audio quality is very poor but luckily Fi and Andy's is crystal clear.

The discussion includes:

• AI's Impact on Publishing: Exploring how artificial intelligence is currently affecting the industry and strategies to get readers to "arrive and stay".
• The Surge in Video Budgets: Discussion on the significant increase in video investment, with some agency groups allocating up to 80% of revenue to video content.
• The "Bus Chat": A deeo dive into the team's favourite London bus routes, including a particular fondness for the 227.
• Brand Safety vs. Suitability: Moving the conversation from basic safety to "suitability," acknowledging that every brand has a different tolerance level for content.
• YouTube's Evolving Audience: How YouTube is increasingly attracting an older demographic through long-form sports broadcasting like county cricket.
• Conference Season: A look ahead to the Possible conference in Miami, debating the "shorts vs. trousers" dress code and the rise of the content creator.
• The Q1 Downturn: Reflecting on the "slow start" to the year and the impact of holiday timing on industry momentum.

The team kicks off with the positive news from the latest IPA Bellwether report, which shows UK ad spend is up by 7.3. This positive shift is mirrored by the return of several industry veterans who are launching innovative new ventures, proving that experience and entrepreneurship remain the driving forces of the sector.

The conversation then turns to the "growing up" phase of retail media. Rebecca explains that as the sector matures, we are likely to see a consolidation of networks as the market moves away from explosive growth toward a more sustainable model. They explore how formats are evolving, particularly with Tesco’s introduction of video placements, which marks a shift from simple sponsored listings to high-end creative storytelling.

This week's special guest is Matt Barash, a veteran of the adtech world, who shares his perspective on why the industry needs to refocus on the "art" of advertising. Barash argues that while data and science have dominated the last decade, real creativity and authenticity, especially within social creative, are what truly drive consumer engagement.

Finally, the podcast previews the upcoming industry calendar, including the Possible event in Miami and the return of the Trinity lunch in London. With Claire Enders set to provide a macroeconomic view of the market at Trinity, the team emphasises that despite the rise of AI and automation, the most valuable currency in media remains in-person relationships and human connection.

 The discussion touched on the growing intersection of retail data and audio advertising through major tie-ups like Amazon’s partnership with Global and Kroger’s collaboration with YouTube; the highlights of Advertising Week, including Graham Norton’s keynote on the effectiveness of podcast advertising and the power of authentic celebrity-brand connections. 

We discuss the value and purpose of industry staples like Possible in Miami and the highly anticipated Maison NDA at Cannes Lions, which promises to be a central hub for networking and thought leadership. 

Despite a challenging first quarter influenced by global events, the team finds reasons for optimism in the resilience of adtech and the rapid evolution of the creator economy. 

And we take a deep dive into Easter egg flavours and chocolate orange. 

Rebecca joins us from Econsultancy to take the helm at Retail Media Age (RMA), a title that is going from strength to strength as the sector booms.

Rebecca began her career in radio before she transitioned into digital journalism with foundational roles at ClickZ and Search Engine Watch.

This deep expertise in search and SEO laid the groundwork for her seven-year tenure at Econsultancy, where she covered everything from digital transformation to the sudden emergence of Generative AI.

The discussion with NDA Editor-in-Chief Justin Pearse, includes:

• The Full Funnel Journey: Why home improvement brands like Wickes must be present at the "inspiration" stage (Pinterest, TikTok) as well as the point of sale.
• The Store as a Canvas: The fascinating overlap between in-store retail media and programmatic Digital Out of Home (DOOH).
• A Supportive Community: The unique, collaborative spirit within the retail media space, including the growing Women in Retail Media network.

What’s Next for NDA?

The podcast discusses a packed 2026 calendar, including:

• The RMA Lunch in Manchester (July 16th) and London (September 10th).
• NDA MENA: Our continued focus on the booming Middle East ecosystem, including a virtual round table in April.
• Cannes: Our return to the NDA Maison for a week of panels, podcasts, and parties.

In the latest of our NDA Meets podcasts, Muche outlines how POSSIBLE has grown from a high-potential debut into what he calls the "Davos of the marketing world." But this isn't just about growth in numbers, it’s about a fundamental shift toward quality, ROI, and hyper-personalisation.

Beyond the main atage: A custom experience

Muche highlights that for industry leaders, time, not budget, is the most precious currency. To respect that, Possible, for which NDA is once again media partners, has moved away from the "one-size-fits-all" panel model. Instead, the 2026 event focuses on:

• POSSIBLE Connect: A matchmaking programme facilitating over 3,000 pre-scheduled, opt-in meetings between brand marketers and solution providers.
• The CMO Experience: A curated, peer-to-peer program designed specifically for the industry’s most senior leaders to solve real-world problems behind closed doors.
• Granular Learning: Moving beyond broad keynotes into intimate workshops and academies of just 20 people.

While comparisons to Cannes Lions are inevitable, Muche is quick to point out the distinction. Possible is a "domestic" powerhouse for the US market (though increasingly global), housed in a centralised footprint at the Fontainebleau and Eden Roc hotels.

"It’s a highly efficient setup," Muche said. Whether you are on the beach, where meeting tents sit on the sand, or on the "street side" among the yachts, the entire ecosystem is designed to minimise travel time and maximise networking.

In the podcast we discuss the changing face of industry events, the role of Miami itself and the industry trends this year's event will explore. 

This week's special guest is Joe Evea, SVP Advertising and Retail Media EMEA at Titan OS, which this week announced it had raised €50 million in Series A funding, in a round led by Highland Europe.

We discuss the creative potential of CTV, such as the TV Home Screen, the chaging needs and demands from the buy side, and the vital of proving incremtality. 

"We work with a agency which spends a lot of money on Netflix but they're only buying 30% of the Netflix customers on our devices because only 30% buy into the ad tier," he pointed out. "We're able to use data to enable them to reach the other 70% and that incrementally is very important. But we need more focus on the creative. It's great that. you've got incremental reach but how can you use the medium to create advertising that really resonates and I think that will be a major discussion point in 2026."

And with Christmas starting to hit, we discuss the critical role of industry socialising in building and strengthening the relationships the drive this industry. 

"We're doing team-focussed meetings at agencies more and more now and this is so much more efficient and productive," said Evea. "We've even started taking a TV into agencies to demonstrate the home screen and it's really working."

The podcast is an irreverent take on a week in digital media and marketing, hosted by NDA Editor-in-Chief Justin Pearse and Publisher Andy Oakes.

To kickstart the news series we are joined by not only Fiona Salmon, MD, Mantis, in her guise as the newly-crowned Adtech Personality of the Year, awarded each year by Exchangewire, but also last year's winner Zuzanna Gierlinska, now Partner at our new Panel Power training scheme. 

In a rare Peppa Pig-free episode, we discuss what such an accolade really means in practice, and the importance of community in our industry, currently being borne out by the retail media sector. And Fiona provides fascinating insight into the changing focus of publishers she is witnessing as they continue revenue stream diversification. 

And on the day before NDA's Trinity Winter lunch, we discuss the vital role of industry events and, shameless plug here, our Panel Power training programme's mission to raise the quality bar of industry panels, for both audience and participant's company's ROI.

Will’s media journey began almost 20 years ago at New Media Age, where he and Justin first worked together. From those early days of the dotcom boom and social media’s infancy, Will has seen the digital industry transform dramatically. Today, at Adform, he leads efforts across CTV, digital out-of-home, and audio, helping advertisers bring these channels together seamlessly.

“Buyers are facing huge challenges,” Will explains. “With so many new channels emerging, resources are stretched. Brands need partners that make activation simple, transparent, and consistent across markets.” He points to Adform’s Campaign Planner as a key innovation. enabling clients to plan, activate, and measure campaigns across multiple channels from one place.

The conversation also explores data sovereignty and the importance of maintaining transparency and control over where ads appear and how data is used. “We’re passionate about giving clients visibility,” Will says. “They need to know exactly where their media is running and how their audiences are reached.”

Creativity remains a crucial part of omnichannel success, particularly as formats like CTV and digital out-of-home mature. “These are immersive, emotional environments,” Will adds. “Getting the creative right is what makes omnichannel work.”

Looking ahead, Will sees enormous potential: “If we can connect these channels effectively, standardize measurement, and keep experiences premium, the next few years will be truly exciting.”

O’Kelley discussed how technologies developed back when less than 10% of ads were digital will need to evolve and adapt to a “post-programmatic, post-web world”.

One of the most respected tech advisers in the industry, Kawaja talks through the key events of the past year and addresses the “confusing world” facing agency leaders in 2025. 

The podcast was sponsored by RAAS Lab and recorded at Maison NDA, our dedicated hub at this year’s Cannes Festival.

In this episode, we discuss Travis’s dual role leading global connectivity and international growth for LiveRamp, roles that have him clocking thousands of air miles while shaping the future of data collaboration across continents. With almost a decade at LiveRamp, Travis has been at the heart of some of the company’s most groundbreaking developments, including the launch of its Authenticated Traffic Solution (ATS), a response to the demise of third-party cookies.

We talk about how LiveRamp’s vision has evolved from enabling first-party data activation to powering a new era of safe, scalable data collaboration between brands, publishers, and retailers, through tools like clean rooms and new AI integrations. Travis explains how data collaboration has moved from an abstract concept to a practical, performance-driving solution embraced by pioneers like Boots.

Travis also gives us a global perspective on marketing innovation, highlighting the nuanced differences between the US and European markets, and the potential for emerging regions like the Middle East to leapfrog older data strategies.

We discuss how companies in the media and markerting industry continue to make huge stides towards decarbonistion on the path to net zero, despite recent moves in the US.

"There is distinction between news headlines and what real people think. In the US the 80 million consumers who are passionate about this topic are still passionate about it," he said. "There is no slowdown in what companies are doing on the ground, maybe just a reduction in talking about it from a PR point of view."

Crucially, we talk about how companies in this space can take their first steps on this journey and how to imbue a sense of accountability to ensure successful transformation strategies.

"The biggest challenge if not a technical one but a behavioural one," he said. "The underlying challenge is a a behavioural one, both among the workforce and from the top."

With Advertising Week Europe 2025, for which NDA is a media partner, fast approaching, Katie discusses how the event has evolved over the years, what it represents today, and why it remains one of the most significant gatherings in the industry calendar. 

In a wide-ranging conversation, Katie reflects on the power of storytelling and celebrity in advertising. She also discusses the Future is Female Awards, taking part at Advertising Week itself for the first time year, an initiative designed to champion exceptional women making a difference in the industry.

Beyond Advertising Week, Katie talks about her personal passion for advocacy around baby loss awareness, and how marketing and communications can play a critical role in driving conversations around difficult but important social issues. 

With optimism for the industry’s future, Katie sees creativity, innovation, and community as the driving forces behind the industry's growth this year. 

The Rise of Possible

Launched in 2023, Possible has quickly carved out a niche in the global marketing calendar. Its acquisition by Hive Group within a year of inception underscores its significance. Muche explains that the event was designed to fill a gap in the US and beyond, bringing together senior marketers, tech companies, and business leaders in a format that blends high-level networking, education, and industry-shaping discussions.

Miami as a Strategic Hub

Set in Miami Beach, Possible takes advantage of its location to connect with the growing Latin American market while offering a compelling alternative to events like Cannes Lions. With a focus on creating a high-value experience, Muche highlights the importance of face-to-face interactions, structured networking, and curated discussions that drive tangible business outcomes.

What to expect in 2024

The upcoming show will feature an impressive line-up of C-suite speakers, including CMOs from Visa and Lego, as well as tech industry leaders and cultural influencers. Unlike traditional celebrity keynote slots, Muche emphasises that Possible prioritises speakers who can offer genuine marketing insights, ensuring relevance to attendees.

Hosted by NDA Editor Justin Pearse and Publisher Andy Oakes, It's Always Media Thursday takes a sideways look at a week in digital media.

In this week's welcome-back episode, we discuss how industry event speaking needs a dose of authenticity, reflect on Omar Oakes' recent column on network agencies and the continued rise of the indies, sustainable media, Cannes Lions, Possible, and our own plans for Cannes.

And we debut a new feature, Challenge Andy, set to replace 2024's popular What's on the Desk segment.

She spent 27 years at McCann, starting as an exec, working up to MD, setting up the agency’s digital operations as digital marketing was born.

In a wide-ranging and honest interview she discusses what it takes to get to the top in the digital industry, the personal characteristics that helped on this journey,  her biggest mistakes and what they taught her, and her advice for anyone starting in the industry who wants to emulate her success. 

And what lessons for company culture she learned from the colossal job of integrating so many brands into the unified mission of CEO Ben Wood.

It’s a fascinating story of how such integration can bring huge benefits for both clients and the agency’s people. 

They discuss how programmatic has transformed out-of-home into a key part of an omnichannel strategy, the challenges this presents, the lessons that have been learnt from the online world, the opportunity for advertisers to leverage real-time marketing, and much more!

On moving from procurement to marketing: In procurement, I looked at inputs, such as how many agencies you need, and at outputs but also outcomes And procurement teams have output targets where marketing has outcomes, so they're not always aligned.  Outcomes are what got me excited, hence the move into media."

On media fragmentation. "You can’t do it on your own, you need brilliant people around you. Communication is critical here to mange the complexity You need to operate a very simple model in a complex situation. 

Essentially you need to make sure we are backing the things we know work well, that we can measure it all and optimise it At that point was know we’re mature enough to add to that mix." 

On telling a consistent brand story; "The thing that’s challenging about consistency is scale and pace. In media we need to make sure that when the customer sees something from us that it’s relevant to them on any channel."

Agency relationships: A one team culture if what work, when everyone’s working to the same outcomes. Relationships used to be transactional and binary but now we need a multiple of expertise from multiple sources. The relationship is  now more flexible. 

On search marketing: "Search is not a media channel but a behaviour and it tells you that the way people’s behaviour changes as they go from platform to platform."

With an industry career spanning twenty years, James is two months into the new job, with responsibility of driving growth in new markets as the Spanish-born adtech company embarks on ambitious global expansion. 

The conversation covers subjects including: how Exte is planning to solve the disconnect between media, technology and creativity in digital advertising; the role of AI-enhanced contextual targeting; the fragmentation of CTV advertising and its solution; innovation in ad formats; and the challenges and opportunities of cookieless advertising. 

"With contextual 2.0, if you can provide macro targeting at scale - we read 4 million URLs every day - we can understand the exact sentiment of that content, build a sophisticated targeting model and then overlay that with attention-grabbing formats and guaranteed KPIs, you have a very compelling proposition for a world post cookie."

In a wide-ranging discussion, we examine the stage of the nation for brands today as they prepare for a world post cookie.

One of the ad industry’s biggest names, Sorrell shares his thoughts on how Cannes has changed over the past two decades, considers whether brands are ready for a first-party future and offers his take on the current marketplace. (“Digital keeps expanding, linear keeps contracting.”)

Reddit has been bolstering its advertising business in recent months to make the platform more attractive and effective for brands to communicate with its highly-engaged and passionate audience.

Walker, previously at Snap, discusses how she is driving that ambition for mid-market brands,the power of community,and how Reddit is countering misplaced views of Reddit and its community.

And she offers tips and advice for how brands can achieve success on the platform.

After an unusual departure into a serious discussion on European regulation, it's back to more reliable ground for IAMT including WhatsApp industry communities, Digital Leading Ladies, preparations for Cannes, and Zoe Ball.

We're joined this week by special guest Mary Keane-Dawson. 

Mary was one of the first interviewees in our original 50 Over 50 series, recently relaunched on NDA, we discuss the industry's need to increase its focus on this sector. And how a lack of understanding of different demographics is letting down brands in their ability to properly build relationships with all consumers.

The conversation is focussed on how the digital media industry is shifting into a new era of media effectiveness, driven by regulatory shift and the huge issue of signal loss, throwing up challenges to the digital ad industry's approach to digital attribution and tracking .

"Moving into the third age of media effectiveness, we're embracing historical media planning and buying theory but with the added benefit of better data, a focus on ad quality, inventory and interaction," says Whitehead. 

There is a growing philosophical divide between people still trying to find a replacement for cookies and IDs and those who think there is massive value to be had in breaking free and finding new ways of approaching media." 

We also discussd how these macro shifts is leading to a renaissance in location data.

This week's discussion touches on sustainability, diversity, the launch of NDA's Trinity Lunch Scotland, the second NDA IWD lunch, the importance of lunches generally, and NDA's plans for Cannes 2024, with the launch of our venue Maison NDA for the week. 

And this week's special guest is the founder of Possible, the irrepressible Christian Muche, to tell us what the second Possible event in Miami has in store.

NDA is media partnering with Possible again this year and we discuss this year's celebrity guests like Pitbull, the additions to the event this year, and why Possible is the industry's standout flagship event.

"When we bring celebrties on stage we ask them to stay twith us through the event and ask them to make sure they speak about are subjects that are directly related to marketers. It's not just the celebrity name, it's about what they add to the discussion," said Muche. "Miami is the perfect intersection of markerting, technology and. culture." 

Marty is a force of nature, driving change across our industry. A columnist for Campaign magazine and industry campaigner and thought leader, she led Outvertising’s call for brands to stand their ground during Pride Month 2023. Over 120 organisations signed up, including the top 10 media agencies.

The conversation covers topics including redefining allayship, the dangers of agencies' LGBTQIA+ networks being exploited for creating additional value for clients rather than focussing on employees' needs, and the huge problem of 'dirty attention' in online advertising. 

On brands' fear of backlash: 

"You will get backlash and you need to be prepared for it. To be queer, to be trans in our society, is to receive backlash. If you're going to do a campaign including queer or trans people, you're sitting with us in our discomfort, so you ahve to expect some backlash as we get it every day of our lives."

Shaw argues that while sustainability is a hot topic right now, too many carbon calculator solutions are based on estimated or insufficient data that omit the impact of emissions in your supply chain. 

“The majority of any organisation’s media-related carbon emissions are found in the supply path,” explains Shaw. “ With brands now targeting Net Zero across their media operations, suppliers that get ahead of the curve in providing the emissions data will be in a great position.” 

Eighteen months in the role, Alex discusses Deliveroo's focus for advertising in 2024, the future of retail media, how Deliveroo Media and Ecommerce has developed since its launch in 2002, Deliveroo's role in the omnichannel consumer journey, the power of partnerships such as ITV, and much more.

"We're very nascent in retail media and there aren't a lot of new media channels the come along. There's a hunger for advertisers to reach consumers in different ways. With the death of the cookie we're in a new world and with retail media we're just scatching the surface of what its potential could be."

The conversation covers subjects such as the need to refocus on the quality of the data that powers methods of measuring attention in advertising, why attention alone can't be used as a standalone metric, the danger of gamifying it, and why it will never become a new currency.

"Everyone in the attention space has a different view on how we should measure it. In any near future we won't see agreement on what measurement is. Will it be standardised in the near future? No. Will there be some kind of baseline we all agree on? Yes, I can see that happening. I don't think it will or should become a currency but should be a piece, in combination with others, of buying."

She describes Tobii ATTEX as a world leader in eye tracking. Since 2001 it worked on perfecting the technology in areas like medical research, self-driving systems, VR and gaming. In 2017 it launched an attention-data exchange. 

"We are so different from what's offered in the attention space. Our sell is only the data. We never stop collecting data, it's always on," she says. "Our main goal is not to productise the data but to take it out to the ecoyst3emt and put the raw data in the hands of customer to let them bujld their own attention-optimisation products".

This week we're joined by special guest Karan Singh, Head of International Advertiser Partnerships, Microsoft Advertising, who gives us his take on industry developments and reveals some shocking views on mince pies.

With advertiser desertion of X in the headlines this week, we discuss the ever-present issue of brand safety in online advertising, industry confidence for 2024 after a tough year, the success of NDA's "legendary" Trinity Lunch in ushering in the industry's festive season, and more.

In what has rapidly become on of the podcast's more popular segments, we also take a deep dive into Peppa Pig and it's relevance to the digital media and marketing industry. 

This week's high-level dose of insight includes discussion of Halloween, Christmas, Mariah Carey, boxing, and a deep dive into Peppa Pig.

We also touch on sustainability in digital advertising, Out of Home excitement and welcome this week's special guest, Channel Factory's Commercia Director David Guy.

Dave opened Channel Factory's Manchester office and with the city a prime focus for NDA, we discuss the booming media scene there and the similarities and differences to London's digital industry.

The Rebooting is dedicated to exploring 'The mechanics of building sustainable media businesses' and there is no one better placed to discuss the future of the publishing industry.

In a wide-ranging interview, we discuss subjects including commerce, first-party data and why the definition of Made for Advertising (MFA) could be troubling for publishers if examinbed too closely. 

 We also dig into the meaing of several typically-fprthright statements from Morrissey: 

“Publishers need to get rid of adversarial business models”

“Display advertising a lost cause, strewn with atrocities’

and

“Digital publishing been hunting for a saviour for so long”.

On the health of the adtech market: "This is an industry that has been called dead many times over the years, for many reasons, but it never is. This is a sector that has demonstrated a resiliency that's almost unrivalled. We keep throwing existential challenges in its way and we somehow manage to innovate or iterate our way to keep growing."

On the potential ressurection of Twiter's ad business by new CEO Linda Yaccarino: "I want it to work. I have great respect for Elon Musk but he doesn't understand media. This will be Linda's greatest challenge. My mantra is just let he do her job." 

On sustainability in digital advertising: Do it whether you want to save the planet or make more profits. They're both green." 

On retail media: "This could usurp 20-25% off the open internet better targeted towards conversion of goods. Commerce is advertising perfected, so it makes a lot of sense." 

On industry events: "Ignore the data and the tech and the software and ultimately this industry just comes down to people. You have to build. personal relationships, real-life relationships are irreplaceable to build trust." 

In this special video podcast, NDA Editor Justin Pearse is joined Will Brownsdon, Managing Director, EMEA, Hivestack, and Joel Livesey, Lead Senior Director of Inventory Partnerships, EMEA, The Trade Desk, to discuss the benefits of including programmatic DOOH in a multi-channel approach to media buying, allowing advertisers to leverage data, measurement and precision on a global scale.

Topics discussed in this indepth conversation include the biggest benefits of including programmatic DOOH in a cross-channel campaign; how it works most effectively with other channe; the role of first-party data in DOOH campaigns; how DOOH and programmatic OOH are helping advertisers measure impact more effectively and much more.

The discussion explores how Uber is building its advertising business in the UK, part of the company's ambition to create a $1bn business in the next two years.

We discuss the value of Uber's unique data, the ad formats proving most success across both its ride and Eats businesses, the role of retail media, and the role advertisers are playing in adding value to the Uber riders' user experience. 

The reception from every advertiser I've spoken to has been incredibly positive, mainly because of the clarity but also because a lot of the products we have our solus advertiser, so you don't need to compete with other brands within the experience," he says.

Reflecting on last week's Cannes Lions festival, this week's podcast turns out to be an events special.

We're joined by good friend and Madfest Co-Founder Dan Brain who reveals the treats in store for attendees at next week's festival and we discuss the must-attend industry events this year. Many of which unaccountably turn out to be run by NDA.

We of course also talk about attention in advertising and Andy wears a baseball cap and large earphones in an upgrade of his podcasting uniform.

*apologies for the sound quality, this week we were out of the studio.....

Which is why NDA has launched our Media 101 podcast series. We'll be talking to experts across the industry for a deep dive into different sectors.

Out of home is one the oldest ad mediums but it's being supercharged by programmatic technologies to make programmatic OOH one of the most dynamic and burgeoning areas of our industry, 

To launch NDA's Media 101, we sit down with VIOOH's Global Business Lead, Jem Djemal for a introductory briefing on the opportunities offered by programmatic OOH.

Topics covered include: trends, especially consumer behavioural trends, driving its growth; the main challenges of leveraging programmatic DOOH and how they can be overcome; how programmatic DOOH can be deployed as part of an omnichannel campaign; how it is most effectively integrated with other channels like audio or CTV; how it fits into clients' existing attribution and effectiveness models; the biggest challenges around audience targeting & campaign measurement; and the state of creativity in programmatic OOH, especially DCO.

Anne Stagg is the UK CEO of dentsu's Customer Experience Management Line of Business (CXM). Leading a business of 940 people, she was previously Head of Client Services at Merkle UK. 

"I started in the engine room of marketing, data. And who knew data would one day be cool," she says. "The pace of digital acceleration has been dramatic in recent years but prior to that it felt a gradual process getting into data. But now it's at the heart of the end-to-end customer experience."

She may now be at the very top of the industry but in the conversation below, she is disarmingly frank and honest about her own challenges and how she overcome her own perceived failings, always putting people first, then and now. 

How to find mentors and coaches and the critical difference between the two is an area of huge importance to her. 

"It begins with self-reflection, we need to know and understand our own failings or limitations. You need a really good view of exactly what you want to get out of it. 

The best advice I was given was 'stop working like you have something to prove' as you'll be focussed on the wrong things. like pace or impressing the right people, rather than focussing your efforts in the right areas.Just do what you do best and the rest will follow."

She also discusses how to step up into the role you don't think is rightfully yours but actually is perfect for you. 

"I always say to my managers, look around your team to identify the people that are diong a great job and make sure you pull them with you, rather than focus on the people who should loudest." 

This week we wonder why AI keeps dominating headlines in NDA and beyond, discuss the unfeasibly-large number of events beind run by ourselves and the industry ast large. 

We're joined by special guest Paul Coggins, CEO or Adludio to discuss the rising excitement around Cannes Lions 2023.

"The impression I'm getting this year is that it's back, back in a big way!," he sums up. 

We also discuss media optimisation, optimising for attention and why he sees such opportunity in the talent available in Africa today. 

In this episode, we sit down with Matt Barwell, CMO at Britvic. 

He talks about Britvic's fascinating digital in-housing journey. "If you can to our Infused studio, you wouldn't be able to tell who's a Britvic employee and who works for The & Partnership. They come together to create a muscle that is deeply embedded in the organisation. We're also doing a huge amount of work digitally upskilling our own employees." 

The conversation covers topics including why a CMO's role is inherently focused not just on growth but on long-term sustainable growth, how Britvic is growing its data literacy, the "massive opportunity" offered by social media in customer engagement and how it has made the fundamentals of marketing even more important. 

Alongside the unwelcome return of Andy's Train Chat, we talk about Justin's love for hotels over football, the retail media boom, the highs of thei year's London Advertising Week, and the rising excitement about next month's Cannes Lion festival.

This week we are joined by special guest Emma Jensen, Regional Digital Director, PHD, fresh from the previous night;s NDA and Eyeo's Digital Women dinner focuses on sustainability in online advertising. 

Teja Patel is a true digital veteran and is now bringing her years of experience to help the IT giant's own digital transformation to, in the words of COO Maria Martinez, Chief Operating Officer, "evolve to deliver complete as-a-service solutions for our customers to power the next digital transformation."

The wide-ranging discussion covers areas including the benefits and perils of AI in marketing, the changing role of agencies,  the importance of communities to Cisco and the central role she sees Reddit playing in its interactions with its customers. 

"We have more than one million members of the Cisco community online and there’s a huge amount of peer-to-peer support. Community is hugely important to us. Over the next few years my vision is that a buyer shouldn’t have to leave the  platform they’re on to be able to find all they need." 

On media fragmentation: "I’ve seen so few example where companies have delivered a clear, seamless experience from touchpoint tp touchpoint for the end consumer. We’re not there yet and are on that journey now. It’s about educating internal stakeholders on the importance of that seamless consumer experience."

We discuss retail media, tacos, NDA and Newsworks' comedy quiz show in Manchester, time travel, and the success of the inaugural Possible industry event in Miami, where the likes of Elon Musk, Uber Advertising and Jon Bon Jovi wowed the crowds.

And we're joined by special guest Amy Williams, Founder and CEO, Good-Loop, from New York to recap on Possible, discuss the differences between the New York and London media scene and find out impressed she is with the industry's moves towards sustainability. 

In a new podcast series, Innovation Leaders, we're sitting down with heads of innovation at agencies and brands to find out. 

To launch the series, we met with Sarah Salter, Head of Applied Innovation, Wavemaker to discuss why an agency needs a Head of Innovation role in tne first place, what it means to clients, and what the demonstrable, tangible results are for brands like L'Oréal and Audible.

In the series, we'll be talking to agency leaders to discover the stories behind their journey to the top of the industry and what lessons others can learn from them. 

In a disarmingly frank and forthright conversations, Freedman discusses how she manages to balance the demands of her own morality and desire for authenticity with the equally pressing demands of running a large network agency.

Expanding on her "no assholes" motto, she says: "I use this as a principle for how I run my business. You never have 100% control but i can hold myself to account. The more senior you get, the more ability you have to behave badly and no one holds you to account but I refuse to ever let that be an excuse for me. 

I can do that in demonstrating to the people that work for me by, when bad behaviour happens, to call it out and work to make it go away. Most bad behaviour is momentary not endemic but if you let it continue it can become a habit. It's about not being afraid with clients to say we hold ourselves to a high standard, and to have difficult conversations." 

In this week's episode, we review the trade press, looking at how the sector is flourishing and the strength of titles like The Drum, Campaign Ad Week and Media Leader, and discuss the latest developments in AI and attention. 

This week's special guest is Dan Brain, Co-Founder, Madfest. Joining us from a box in London Bridge, he gives us an insight into what's happening at this year's festival and why you should be involved, along with his views on The Elizabeth Line, a recurrent topic on IAMT.

Christian has a track record of creating some of the biggest events in the industry including Dmexco. The conversation looks at what we can expect from Possible, the role of events in the post-pandemic world and the value of bringing people together to exchange ideas.

This week we're joined by special guest Brand Advance CEO EMEA Deborah Gbadamosi, one of NDA's favourite people at one of our favourite companies and a judge at the NDA Heroes awards.

In a kind-of NDA Heroes Awards special episode, we discuss the awards, the value of industry awards, Deborah's starring role in Emu's World, and her new role leading Brand Advance in EMEA.

And of course, the welcome return of IAMT's What's On the Desk game.

The discussion covers topics including sustainability in the digital advertising industry, "a topic all of us our learning about on a daily basis and is now front and centre of our industry", omnichannel marketing and the delivery of truly-cookieless digital marketing. 

Next up is Adrian Harris, Head of Digital at VisitBritain. 

Adrian's career in digital spans almost two decades including senior roles at companies including Bupa, Tesco, The Conservative Party and The Church of England.

The discussion touches on the similarities of his current position to that at The Church of England, where he was "essentially running a startup at a 500-year old organisation, both roles focussed on authentic communication with the audience.

He's had a fascinating career, including accompanying The Archbishop of Canterbury to Facebook to talk about ethics in social media.

We celebrate the end of January, the rare lack of illness on Andy's behalf and NDA's plans for Cannes Lions. 

This week we're joined by special guest industry veteran Charlie Crowe for an indepth discussion on the ups and downs of the events industry in our sector. 

And Charlie issues a call to arms for Cannes Lions to take its place as the fulcrum of true change in the advertising industry. 

In another Andy's Illness special, we're joined by the irrepressible Rob Blake, MD of Channel Factory. 

We talk about the reasons to be cheerful in 2023, another brilliant event from Mediatel and the excitement building around Cannes Lions.

And Rob tells why he believes 2023 sees the industry move into "the era of inclusion".

This week's conversation ranges from festive party season hitting the digital industry, the increased focus on sustainability in digital advertising, the explosion of CTV advertising, and the importance of independent publishers.

And how the strength of both Mediatel and Madfest's events demonstrate huge confidence in the health of the industry. 

Talking of flagpole industry events, our special guest this week is winner of Exchange's The Wires awards Ad Tech Personality of the Year 2022, Index Exchange MD Sara Vincent.

In an illuminating chat, Sarah discusses how 2023 will be "a year of more with less, making sure there is value across every part of the chain," her views on CTV growth, and the power of publishers.

And she takes part in the now legendary IAMT spot, What's On the Desk. 

The discussion focuses on the potential environmental damage of digital advertising, the move to net zero campaigns and the critical role of Green Media products. 

"There are a large number of companies aware of the extremely high level of emissions being created by our industry but companies don't know where to start even understanding the level of their own emissions and how they can start to address them," said Ottoy. "Just to put this in perspective, one million impressions from an ad campaign wil generated on metric ton of CO2. One impression will generate on gram of CO2." 

Gupta said: "Adtech's always had a hidden sustainability issue and it's only now it's coming to the fore. If you think about how complex ad serving is, the way our industry is structured today is incredibly inefficient. Things are changing though and people are educating themselves about the problem."

Ths discussion covers ways everyone in the industry can make changes to their own business to become more efficient and the first steps that can be made to make a real difference, the impact of SPO and DPO, and the importance of standardisation in measurement and currencies. 

First up is Ross Barnes, Global CTO at The&Partnership. 

We discuss how tech companies stand the best chance of getting Ross's attention to get their tech solution adopted by the agency and used by its clients, why he always wants a product person present in a pitch not just a saleperson, a CTO's role in guiding in-housing decisions by clients, and the opportunities and challenges of first-party data.

"I’m keen to build enterprise-level solutions for my agency and our clients. To sell into someone like me yoy need to focus on the business benefits not the ‘whiz bang’ shiny elements of the technology, In this role you need to be a professional cynic," he says. 

Recently diagnosed with ADHD, he also discusses the need for the industry to hold itself more accountable on issues of diversity. 

We discuss NDA's arrival in Manchester with out Trinity Lunch North event, why Andy ran out of petrol on the sausage-roll fuelled journey to Manchester, and the brilliance of both the Alliance of Independent Publishers and Mediatel's Future of Media events.

This week's special guest, Charlie Curtis. MD, Moriati Recruitment discusses the biggest oppoortunites and challenges around talent and recruitment in our industry. Charlies also reveals the shocking news of the closure of a legendary media Soho drinking hole.

The discussion ranges from Mindshare's Huddle event to Andy's latest illness before we welcome this week's special guest,  Matt Barash, Senior Vice President, Americas + Global Publishing at Index Exchange live from Dmexco.

Adtech veteran Matt gives us his unique view of the German trade show, one of the industry's key flagship events.

"We're at an inflection point as an industry and although the show this year feels a bit different, companies that matter and are relevant are all present, he says. "It's still an essential part of the annual global industry world tour. We're at a pivotal moment in this industry and Dmexco's a great place to keep trying to work out if this is an evolution or a revolution."

The discussion ranges from how in-housing by advertisers can lead to better, more productive relationships with agencies to why billing is often the biggest issue to be overcome in programmatic when it comes to areas like transparency.

She also calls for further collective industry action on its environmental impact. 

"We have a client council with WPP to push sustainability. We need to reduce our omissions and advertisers need to align for the greater good," she says. "I’d like to see an alignment across the industry to address this issue. It’s a space where we can and should form alliances to address it."

As the industry gets back into full swing, we're joined by special guests Fiona Salmon, Vice President of Global Partnerships, Captify; and Gideon Spanier, UK Editor-in-Chief of Campaign and Editorial Director of PodPod.

Gideon discusses the thinking behind the upcoming launch of PodPod, a title dedicated to podcasts as a content and advertising platform and why he's optimistic about the ad industry's fortunes despite a looming economic downturn. 

Fiona celebrates the return of industry networking, the further global expansion of Captify and introduces a new strand on IAMT, What's On The Desk.

NDA's new podcast series Digital Leaders meets Heads of Digital, Digital Directors and Chief Digital Officers at brands to find out what the role means today and how they're using digital to get closer to their customers.

To launch the series, we meet up with Rhea Fox, Digital Director, Paperchase. 

"The confusion around the role is significant. I get invited to ecommerce conferences, CMO conferences, IT conferences It can be hard to know where you belong in this role," says Fox. "And I'd say you belong in all these worlds, as a digital leader role is about driving digital growth and revenue. To do that. you need to identify the big strategic goals and the daily optimisation that enables that to happen. It's only by taking bird's eye view, end to end that you can do that."

The discussion discover exactly how she does that and examines what the role means for brands' ability to engage more effectively with their customers. 

In this week's episode, we discuss the joyful return of both Programmatic Pioneers and Cannes Lions. And why, despite the arrival of the Jubilee Line, Farringdon will never replace Soho as the heart of the industry. 

And we're joined by Ellie Edwards-Scott - Co-Founder - The Advisory Collective, to discuss the upcoming launch of Digital Women, a joint initiative from NDA and The Advisory Collective.

Digital Women, a new title from the NDA stable, will be a place where women can discuss the particular issues that affect them in the digital industry. We'll be exploring areas like childcare, return to the office, and  dealing with the menopause, among many more.

The series will dig deep into the company to understand how this unique company is disrupting the market to add value to not only its users but an entire ecosystem of drivers, advertisers, city partners and more. We will be talking to executives at Waze, its  users, partners, and advertisers to gain an in-depth understanding of how the company and the problems it is solving.

In episode four, Advertisers  we sit down with Ru Roberts, Waze and Emil Bielski MD UK, Croud.

Roberts discusses why, for advertisers, Waze is positioned as an out  of home proposition.  

“Waze is unique in its ;positioning. It’s digital but when using it you are fundamentally out of your home and our ad proposition is entirely  location based,” says Rpberts. “So you’ll only see ads when you are within the vicinity of that business or service.” 

It’s a positioning the strikes a chord with Bielski. 

“Location-based advertising is increasingly  important, especially with changes in consumer behaviour. Google searches with ‘near me’ appended to them have increased by 150% in the last two years”, he says. 

There’s also an increasing complexity, driven by things like hybrid working, about where people actually are. Which makes accurate data vital to gain insight about people’s behaviour.”

The discussion makes fascinating listening on the changing face of advertising in today’s post-pandemic, digital-first world.

The conversation covers the move away from tracking individuals, the value of metrics such as Cost per Engagement, and the future of the mobile ad experience, among other key industry issues.

In a busy week for real-world industry events, we celebrate the return of both Mediatel's Future of Brands event and the IAB's flagship Engage.

We're joined by special guest Marco Bertozzi, President EMEA, Whalar who talks about why influencer marketing is such a natural next step in a career defined by being on the front line of digital's evolution.

And we discuss the impossibility of being cynical about the return of Cannes Lions.

As he says: "Only the most cynical of people could have a problem with hanging out in Cannes after the last couple of years. It'll have a renewed vigour and the people going will have a lot of energy to be part of this immense real-life opportunity."

In this episode we meet Ross Sergeant, Head of Media at Asahi Europe.

The discussion ranges from the importance of the rise of attention as a marketing metric to the changing role of digital agencies and why the metaverse is one of the most exciting new developments for brands in how they can engage with customers. 

In this last episode, we’re joined by Mike Simpkins, Commercial Lead, Xandr, UK & Northern Europe, and Chris Kenna, CEO & Founder,  Brand Advance Group. 

 The result is an indepth and honest debate on how advertisers can ensure their media budgets are used to both drive commercial results and have a positive impact on wider society. 

"This is now a commercial imperative for advertisers. Your brand will disappear in the nest ten years if you're not selling to black people, gay people, disabled people," said Kenna.

Kenna and Simpkins discuss how this change is happening, how advertisers can take the first steps, and how programmatic advertising itself can play a role. 

"Advertisers are acutely aware that they spend billions of dollars a year in advertising and that it has a material affect on society," said Simpkins. "There can be a positive change from things like how they support minority media and making sure their creative is diverse. There is no excuse now not to be doing this."

The series will dig deep into the company to understand how this unique company is disrupting the market to add value to not only its users but an entire ecosystem of drivers, advertisers, city partners and more. We will be talking to executives at Waze, its  users, partners, and advertisers to gain an in-depth understanding of how the company and the problems it is solving.

In episode three, Drivers  we sit down with Waze UK Country Manager Ru Roberts and Amanda Mason,  Head Of Marketing, Roadchef. 

This episode discovers how drivers themselves make use of Waze and its unique functionality. 

Mason, talking as a Waze super user rather than a current advertiser, views Waze as a constant companion. 

“I use it all the time, even on day-to-day five-minute  journeys.  I put the key in the ignition, turn on the Waze app  and then start the engine. For me, it’s just part and parcel of driving.” 

The Waze community, explored in episode two of this series, is crucial to her experience. 

“ The data inputted from other drivers is invaluable to me to make my driving more efficient and the more I put in, the more I get out of it. I’m helping other users so why wouldn’t I want to contribute to the community by inputting information? We’re all one big community as road users.” 

It’s this community aspect for drivers that provides a potentially powerful opportunity for advertisers too she believes.

“The community provides so much information that advertisers have really smart tools to communicate very cleverly  with consumers,” she said. “The more people input into Waze, the smarter the advertising can be.”

In episode two, The Waze Community, we sit down with Waze UK Country Manager Ru Roberts to find out why the Community is the company’s secret sauce in how it delivers value to all members of its ecosystem.

We discuss the vital role of the Waze Map Editors, a global community of volunteers that keep Waze’s maps up to date, in real time, to ensure the maps are rooted firmly in local knowledge and expertise.

“It’s brand loyalty like I’ve never seen anywhere else. This donation of time is something I’ve never seen before,” says Roberts. “Map editors range from a high-flying finance executive in New York who edits to relax after work to people in retirement who like to contribute to their local community. But these are all people with genuine local knowledge.”

And we find out how the Community also works with City Partners like Transport for London, as well as the advertisers who work with Waze.

We ponder why awards schemes always have entry extensions, why NDA won't be running boat parties in London, Andy's latest hockey injury, and the joy of diverse voices at industry events. 

And ahead of its hotly-anticipated return to real world events in London this week, we talk to Rob Rasko, President, The Brand Safety Summit.

Tom discusses how the role of media today is  "moving from functionality to effectiveness”.

The conversation includes the changing role of agency relationships: "Agencies need to understand consumers more than ever before. Our partners need to understand an ever-growing Gen Z marketplace and how consumers want to engage with brands."

And his role driving the changing role of influencer relations within Coca-Cola: "To increase the focus on long-term collaborations and partnerships and change the perception of influencers as only a paid-for media channel to focus more on partnerships. And the roles influencers play within the end-to-end framework for each campaign."

Amid much more, we also find out why Tom is so excited about the development of the metaverse:  "At the moment there are a lot of brands doing it because it’s the latest thing and doing it wrong, which we can learn from. But it is going to be the new did playground for most brands."

The series will dig deep into the company to understand how this unique app is disrupting the market to add value to not only its users, but an entire ecosystem of drivers, advertisers, city partners, and more.

We will be talking to executives at Waze, its users, partners, and advertisers to gain an in-depth understanding of the company and the problems it is solving.

In episode one, Solving Traffic, we sit down with Waze UK Country Manager Ru Roberts.

Roberts discusses Waze’s origins and the principles the app was built upon; the desire to have the “most robust, up-to-date, real-time map available”; how things have changed on the roads since the pandemic; the value of the data Waze offers to advertisers; how Waze is actually solving the issue of traffic; and more. 

In a week that saw the triumph of the Women in Programmatic's standing-room-only International Women's Day event, we discuss the welcome return of industry events and our own upcoming NDA Heroes Awards programme.

And Sally Laycock, CEO, Incubeta drops in for a guest appearance, discussing the industry's continued march back to normality, prompting much jealous discussion by Andy and Justin of Incubeta's beautiful Old Street HQ.

The conversation ranges from the rise of attention to take its place a new advertising currency and contextual targeting's role in a post-third-party cookie world to the evolution of brand safety into brand suitability and the threat of ad fraud in CTV advertising. 

In this episode, we're joined by Daniel Clayman, GM Northern Europe, Xandr and Charlie Glyn, Ad Technology Lead, Channel 4 to discuss what role programmatic advertising will play in brands’ omnichannel strategies in 2022.

The frank and forthright discussion covers topics ranging from he biggest challenges around activation and measurement of omnichannel programmatic advertising to how relationships between advertisers, agencies and tech platforms need to evolve in 2022 to deliver this most effectively.

To kick the series off, we sat down with Olya Dyachuk, Data Driven Media Director, Heineken.

She believes that Media Directors today have to "think beyond media" to be able to effectively build and maintain relationshjps with consumers. 

In a wide ranging and honest interview, we discuss topics including how she ensures Heineken tells a consistent story across all digital media channels, the role of agencies, and the impact of the rise of the digitally-literate and experienced media director.

This week's show sadly once again features Andy's Train Talk segment but is saved by the guest appearance of two doyennes of the digital industry. 

Maria Cadbury, Director Of Strategic Partnerships, Say It Now and co-founder of networking and support group Digital Leading Ladies joins us to discuss the incredible work of the group and its upcoming industry trends report, soon to be serialised on NDA.

Our other special guest is Ellie Edwards-Scott, Co-Founder, The Advisory Collective, who joins us to discuss the upcoming Brand Safety Summit, of which NDA is a media partner, making a welcome return to an in-person event in London in March.

We discuss the metaverse, yet more frenzied M&A activity and even more in-person meetings.

And Justin gets called an old fart by special guest Sir Martin Sorrell, Chief Executive, S4 Capital. 

We discuss the spiritual need to get back to the office after a festive week or two at home with the extended family, the January M&A rush and how the industry is slowly shaking itself out of its festive torpor.

We're joined by special guest Lynn Lester, Events Director at The Drum to discuss the changing face of industry awards and events, The Drum's ambitious plans for 2022, and how to make sure you stand the best chance of picking up an award in one its awards programmes. 

We're joined by special guests Dan Brain, Co-Founder of Madfest and UK Editor-in-chief at Campaign Gideon Spanier to to discuss a resurgent year for the trade press, the changing role of events and the status of Home Alone as a Christmas film. 

The resulting conversation offers a great example of how true collaboration between an advertiser and a tech platform yields incredible results for both, and the consumer at the other end.

The conversation covers subjects including hyper-local marketing, the challenges in the production and execution in hundreds or thousands of different creative executions, and the organisational changes needed for real time advertising.

Discussing how the CMO role has morphed over the last five to six years to put digital decision making to the fore in board decisions, Dhaliwal says:

"You're starting to see the next evolution of leader in terms of a digital native who has lived the digital ecosystem for most of their career, and that expertise will play into the boardrooms of today and tomorrow. With the speed of digital change, the ability to be an agitator and create pos business change at speed makes it a definite advantage in having this knowledge and experience at C level".

The conversation ranges from the increased focus on first-party data, in-housing of technology and digital talent, the digitalisation of physical experiences, the power of mobile, and why "digital is brand and brand is digital".

In this episode, we discuss how publisher DPG Media is approaching the impending identity crisis and are joined by Amina Begum, Director, Strategic Projects & Product GTM at Xandr; and Toon Coppens, Director Advertising Data BENE at DPG Media.

The conversation includes topics such as publishers' position in the new world order as owners of first-party data and how publishers should be supporting buyers to achieve relevance for online consumers without the use of third-party cookies.

In this week's episode we discuss the return of the 99Club in partnership with Madfest, the success of NDA's inaugural Trinity Lunch, and the debut of a new strand on the show, a roundup of the week's hottest news from a member of Bluestripe Communications' PR team.

And special guest Jerry Daykin, GSK EMEA Senior Media Director, pops in talk about his week in digital media and marketing, focusing, obviously, on the seasonal unveiling of his Christmas mini village. which now features a nutcracker factory, inn, a post office and a Christmas shop.

With tedious regularity, Andy's buttocks once again make an appearance in this week's chat, alongside the triumphant return of ExchangeWire's ATS event, NDA's upcoming industry awards, the welcome growth of Adweek magazine in the UK, and more.

And popping in fresh from his crowning as the Ad Tech Personality of the Year, is this week's special guest, Seun Odeneye, MD of Matterkind UK & Ireland.

 We discuss how Adnuntius is working to help publishers and advertisers regain control of digital advertising, ushering in more transparency to deal with the ‘unknown delta’ of advertising budget that simply vanishes in the digital ad supply chain. 

 The discussion includes the need to address the disconnect between publishers and advertisers; how Adnuntius’s platform is giving publishers access to the SME market, traditionally dominated by Facebook and Google, via its self-service platform; the changing role of the media agency; and how advertisers in South East Asia are increasingly putting on pressure to increase transparency in the digital  marketing

Dirk  also discusses how Adnuntius is building publisher marketplaces in the region, starting with Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. 

Andy reveals details of his recent buttock enhancement operation, and we discuss the release of the quarterly Advertising Association/Warc Expenditure Report, the fast return of in-person industry events, business meetings in pubs rather than over Zoom and more. 

And this week's special guest popping in for a chat is Jen Antoniou, Account Director Seller, CTV for EMEA at Magnite discussing the amazing work being done by the Women In Programmatic Network. 

The first episode, Transparency, features Dora Michail-Clendinnen, Chief Strategy Officer at The Ozone Project, and Harvin Gupta ,Senior Director of Solutions Engineering at Xandr in conversation with NDA Editor Justin Pearse. 

Programmatic Under the Microscope is a series designed to get to the truth behind the key issues in the programmatic industry. 

In this episode, in a frank and forthright discussion, we discuss why transparency remains an issue two years since Mark Pritchard’s famous description of the digital media supply chain as murky at best and fraudulent at worst.

The conversation ranges from identifying who has the responsibility to drive change in the ecosystem; the increased focus from advertisers on the issue; the impact of macro changes such as the deprecation of the third-party cookie; the problems with contracts, and more.

He believes CTV advertising holds the potential for huge growth and will help "analog media start tapping into the addressable market". The only hurdle on its growth is talent, he says. "When the market is doubling in size, how do you find the right people?"

The rise of first-party data is another huge opportunity but one of the biggest challenges for brands is that "the burden of history weighs them down due to legacy systems."

He also discusses the need for "analog advertisers to move to the digital planet."

"There is a world where there is growth and there is a world where is no growth. There's a world people look at the sky and there's a world where people look at their boots. The five holding company CEOs look at their boots," he says.

"There's been a huge rise in purposeful marketing and brands' desire to do good and adtech kind of missed the memo on that," she says.

She discusses what the digital ad industry needs to do to address the potential harm it can wreak on the planet, especially with programmatic advertising especially culpable for its share of the 2% of the internet's total carbon footprint, itself larger than that oif the airline industry.

The conversation ranges from how to deal with the problem of the “the unknown delta”, identified by ISBA which forms around one-third of programmatic supply chain costs to changing publisher and advertiser relationships as technological solutions such as Adnuntius enable direct connections between the two.

In this week’s episode we discuss the Ozy Media scandal, networking with the Independent Publishers Alliance, Sir Martin Sorrell and more.

And we’re joined by IAB CEO Jon Mew to talk Soho lunching, Grayson Perry, and the latest ad spend update that saw UK digital ad spend jump to £10.5bn in the first half of the year.

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Pete Markey, who is a perfect exemplar of this,  recently joined Boots as CMO from TSB where he was also CMO and has held marketing director and CMO roles at companies like Aviva, The Post Office and RSA.

In the podcast, Markey describes why successful CMOs must be part scientist, part artist and part politician and the danger of being stuck with pure communications rather then working across the organisation to deliver the experience of the brand and deliver on its purpose and promise. And how perfect alignment with a brand's CIO is crucial for the successful development of any modern marketing activity. 

We discuss the crucial role of agency relationships for any CMO, and, how you can measure the total number of golf balls in the air at any one time.

Ben joined online estate agent Purplebricks in November last year as CMO after five very successful years at Just Eat where he was global director of restaurants and strategic partnerships.

He was previously marketing director at Notonthehighstreet and director of digital at Betfair.

In the podcast he discusses the need for a perfect marriage between brand building across traditional media and digital channels and how to build brand fame through the use of tradition channels underpinned by smart digital thinking and performance media.

The conversation ranges from the changing role of the CMO, the in-housing trend and the role of agency partnerships to why today the CMO has to sit at the heart of any business to be focussed fully on the customer.

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