Graeme Blake’s Post

Advertising : Who Cares? Agency friends who care about the future of #Adland, I’m pleased to spread the word about this grassroots initiative. https://lnkd.in/gHD2mbT8 The Blutui® Adland’s universal digital delivery platform™ team are aligned with the direction Brian Jacobs and Nick Manning have envisioned and happily leaned in to help. 5 focused workstreams have been confirmed, along with their committed leaders. Trading, Transparency and Trust | Jenny Biggam Founder, the7stars Business Models | Michael Farmer Consultant and Author ('Madison Avenue Makeover' and 'Madison Avenue Manslaughter') Measurement and Accountability | Denise Turner CEO, Route Recruitment and Well-Being | Crispin Reed Founder, Skyscraper Consulting Sustainability, Ethics and Privacy | Ruben Schreurs CSO, Ebiquity Do please volunteer to join one or more of these groups so that your views can be represented. It is straightforward to join from the site; if you have any problems you can contact Brian and he’ll pass your details to the relevant leader. A Summit is booked at Royal Society of Arts (RSA) in London on the afternoon of September 12th. All details are on our site, where you will also be able to book tickets in the next few days. -Registration from 1.30pm (no lunch, so eat first!) -Formal presentations and discussion 2pm - 6pm -Bowl food and drinks 6pm - 8pm This is an event without sponsors, underwritten by Brian and Nick and funded entirely from ticket sales. We are doing it this way to encourage an event free from any sponsor distractions or pressures. We will sell a maximum of 140 tickets which will include a networking food and drink period after the formal presentations and discussions. We think this is important, we want to encourage a positive and open discussion in which all voices can be heard and everyone can participate. We suspect tickets will go quickly based on enquiries to date. We will start a waiting list in case any places open up. We are unable to offer any refunds but if you buy a ticket and are unable to attend you can pass your ticket on to a colleague, as long as you let us know. If we make any surplus on the day we will make a contribution to NABS, the advertising charity. We realise that many would like to attend but cannot for reasons of distance or possibly politics. We are going to record the whole event and are looking into the practicalities of live streaming it as well. Speakers will be the five workstream leads, plus a few high profile additional speakers. We will be announcing who these are in due course. Please continue publicising the #whocares movement to your networks, and to encourage people to join us, and (even better) to buy tickets when they go on sale TOMORROW🙌.

Here's Brian Jacobs latest update on the launch event being held in London at the RSA on 12th September - and to which many of you have bought tickets. We now have 330 global supporters. The final agenda includes reports from workstream leaders, Michael Farmer, Jenny Biggam, Denise Turner, Crispin Reed and Ruben Schreurs on all the work they and their teams have been doing over the last few months. We also have a keynote from Lucy Jameson, Founder of Uncommon Creative Studio Studio; a case study featuring Starling Bank (client Rachel Kerrone, agency strategist, Jessica Lovell from Wonderhood Studios and media agency CEO, Pippa Glucklich from Electric Glue); before ending with a discussion on the next creative revolution featuring David Wheldon OBE, in conversation with Sir John Hegarty. All moderated by Stevie Spring CBE. We've been selling tickets at cost and will be donating any surplus to the advertising charity, NABS. There are very few left. The event will be recorded and will in due course be made available on https://lnkd.in/dykpRRKP. We have received video messages of support from two well-known faces: Bob Hoffman, aka the AdContrarian, and Jonathan Mildenhall CMO at Rocket Companies, and ex The Coca-Cola Company and Airbnb. Our social will soon cover updates on for example the Brands and Journalism thread being led by Ebiquity's Ruben Schreurs, which will cover the importance of professional journalism, and how it is funded in an era where so much budget is directed to platforms with no pretence to be publishers / creators of original content, cannot be overstated, especially given the dis-semination and promotion of fake news, and the lack of trust in established media forms. Ruben has over many years compiled data on the value of the context of news to brands. He will share this work, and will be joined on stage by Hardeep Matharu, Founder Editor of Byline Times. Not only does she edit an independent, investigative newspaper where she has broken stories first ignored and subsequently picked up by the national press and TV, she has also experienced first-hand the impact of ad budget shifts as a journalist on local newspapers. The Recruitment and Well-Being workstream lead by Crispin Reed will feature results from original research amongst students on their views on the ad business, and what would attract them to a career in advertising. Finally, it is worth stressing that the London event is a launch. It is not a one-off conference with no follow-ups or consequences. Nick Manning and Brian Jacobs are sure that there will be ideas and next steps emerging from the RSA. They have created an extraordinary momentum for change and progress. It would be crazy to predict which initiatives will fly, but we're sure some will and so we will certainly be keeping this supporter group together and doing what we can to expand it and its influence still further. Impress Press Gazette ISBA IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising)

We are delighted to announce the opening keynote speech at the Advertising: Who Cares? summit on September 12th will be by Lucy Jameson, Co-Founder, Uncommon Creative Studio.   The Who Cares? movement was started to promote the multi-disciplinary craft skills that built the advertising industry; skills which are still highly relevant in today's online world but which are now under threat from the focus on often meaningless media metrics.   Creativity is at the heart of Uncommon's offering in branding and advertising; an approach that led to the agency winning no less than 19 new accounts in 2023, and to it picking up multiple awards at this year's Cannes Lions.   With offices in New York, London and Stockholm and clients including British Airways, Monzo, B&Q, ITV, H&M and Google, Uncommon is an example of how a focus on creative excellence can drive business success.   As Uncommon's Co-Founder, Lucy will set the scene for our five workstream leaders, each of whom will be proposing creative solutions to the key topics the industry faces.   Brian Jacobs, who started the ‘Who Cares?’ movement with Nick Manning said: "We've always been clear that for positive change to come to the industry it needs to be driven by those in the business today, who put creative thinking at the heart of what they do, be that in the creation of commercial content, or in where that content is placed and evaluated. Lucy and her agency, Uncommon embody these qualities. We are delighted she's agreed to open our event."   Lucy will be followed by the author and consultant Michael Farmer (on business models), Jenny Biggam, Owner of the7stars (on trading, transparency and trust), Denise Turner, CEO of Route Research (measurement and accountability), Crispin Reed, Founder, Skyscraper Consulting (recruitment and well-being) and Ebiquity's CSO Ruben Schreurs (brands and journalism).   We will be announcing other high-profile speakers in the coming days.    Tickets to the event, to be held at The Royal Society of Arts from 1.30pm on September 12th can be purchased from our website: https://lnkd.in/dykpRRKP    More information from Brian Jacobs at [email protected] or Nick Manning at [email protected]. #whocares

Super proud of the YorkMix team today as we open the door on the 1st March and say a fond farewell to our first month as one combined business. When we initially launched the radio side we launched as a separate company in order to protect the main brand, remember we were launching at a time when radio industry bosses were telling us local radio was dead and that listeners wanted big names and million pound prizes. Those industry figures were, and still are, wrong, and so we have been working to merge the businesses. It is the people behind our business who have enabled both the radio and digital sides to grow successfully, and to get us to the stage where we could merge them without fear. Without them and their dedication we wouldn’t have lasted six months. Outwardly we’ve always operated as one but ob Feb 1st our new business structure was put into operation and we’ve already seen huge benefits as cross selling between our platforms becomes easier and we integrate all of our systems. More importantly we can also now move forward on other exciting ventures. This month we also signed a partnership and deal began to deliver a small amount of national advertising, a step we took only once we knew we could achieve it without damaging our core local advertising client base. We’ve also delivered a number of client and consumer events in the last month, involving our stakeholders in the brand and having lots of fun with them along the way. Events like this take a lot of organising but I never worry that our team can pull these things off because I know 100% that they can. This February, whether we look at a combined figure or at the previously separate operations has been a record breaker with the outlook for the year looking, quite simply, amazing. When I see the number of businesses and events who come to YorkMix ad their first port of call for marketing solutions, I am simply blown away. Again, it is our people who deliver this, they never fail to impress and a huge amount of our new business comes upon recommendations from existing clients who love working with our team of talented content providers and marketing experts. So goodbye to the darkest months of the year, if that’s the worst 2024 has for us then the future remains a lovely shade of orange! Ben Fry Chris Titley Richard McDougall Victoria Charles Laura Castle Laura Harland Leigh Nicholson Elisa Hilton-Brooke Tim Lichfield Michael Weadock David Nicholson Serena Farrow Paul Atkinson Simon Pattinson Peter Bilsborough

As the deadline for MFA Awards 2024 entries draws near, MFA Awards Co-Chair Chris Colter and Steering Committee member Sophie Langton spoke to Mediaweek Australia’s Alisha Buaya about changing client needs, the evolution of media, and resonating with audiences. “Media is not just becoming a distribution vehicle or even the message. It’s the solution. As an industry, we’re not just creating new tactics, or innovating new formats, we’re building new media channels. It’s quite exciting and I think it’s never been in a healthier place.” Read more below and get your entries in by 3 May. We encourage media owners and clients to also enter in relevant categories: https://lnkd.in/gAMKrGhz Sophie Madden Louise Clarke Jessica Havard Sophie Price Grant LeQuesne Lisa Leach Max Broer Catherine Rushton #MFA #MFAawards #wearethechangers

The event that grew out of a few blog posts, and the industry passion of both Brian Jacobs and Nick Manning, is shaping up. If you want to be involved, here is the website where you can sign up: https://lnkd.in/eyvz8rce I deeply care about advertising. I grumble about it in my own MediaPost column, but I do so out of love... This event, or perhaps: these conversations are not only worth having, but crucial. Get involved! #marketing #advertising #advertisingwhocares #media #marketingprocurement

These days, media buys contemplate far more than getting an ad placed on a web site, including in-person events and influencer campaigns. Sara Chubb walks us through threshold considerations to address when your media buy is much more than a media buy #adlaw

In my column for The Media Leader yesterday, I asked 'Who cares?' About advertising, about the advertising industry, the future for our people and so on. And it turns out that lots of people do. Since the blog from Brian Jacobs last week appeared and after yesterday's piece we've had nearly 100 people volunteer to get involved. So we are going ahead and will host a half-day seminar in September in London for people who care to discuss how we can fix some of the things that are wrong. We don't know what will emerge but we feel confident because the people who have raised their hands are ones who feel strongly about the issues we face and they represent different aspects of our industry. Also interesting to note is the people who haven't responded. You can guess who they are but perhaps a little surprising is that none of the independent consultants have shown interest, except for a few in a personal capacity. We can only speculate about why this might be but it's all entirely voluntary and everyone is welcome. If you're on our list we are issuing regular updates, including the date and venue. We didn't know what would happen when we started to talk about this but we now know there are enough people who care for us to press ahead, so we wlll. For the uninitiated here is the link to my article and it contains a link to Brian's blog. If you want to join our centurion, you're welcome. https://lnkd.in/eBkEiR-W.

Life’s not fair. An adage passed down to me by my parents as an explanation of why some people have it better than others. Despite the harsh truth, I prefer to frame it as: Some people have an advantage. What’s yours? This is what I love about the communications industry. It’s all about finding those 1% differentiators. Agencies and marketers constantly reframe their propositions to suit market needs, demonstrating the advantage your brand will have with them, often with trendy statements. Sadly, it's often the same old shop with a new neon sign. There's a perception that in-house agencies don’t need to do this. But that’s not true. Our clients are your clients. They can choose any agency for any brief. Every day, we have to find our own advantage and show our value beyond just great creative—because everyone claims they can do that. In a recent IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) white paper on why in-housing is a growing trend, I discussed advantages beyond the assumed cost savings. You can read the paper here: https://lnkd.in/eVebKVkK Here’s how Three’s in-house agency, Generation, has found its advantage. I’ll be discussing this topic further at upcoming keynote events, including Campaign UK’s In-House Summit later this year. I thought joining an in-house agency meant the end of pitching. Boy, was I wrong. But it’s the pitch that makes what we do interesting and rewarding.

This is a #mediapositive to every single person who has delivered work good enough to be recognised by their peers. Congratulations. It's always harder than you imagine, and time seems to go faster than the free drinks at a media party. But of the 186 shortlisted Campaign Media Award entries, 96% come from media agencies within the Top 20 (Campaign School report billing 2023) Just 3.7% have come from agencies outside of this, six agencies: Total Media, Bountiful Cow, Yonder Media, dentsu X, Flourish - Customer Journey Marketing & Craft Media London As a small agency, getting your work through the volume of entries from the top 20 means that this recognition means so much more. The truth is it is harder to cut through and at £500 an entry and £7,000 a table even entering these awards is a huge investment for smaller agencies and one that they have to be super selective at making. We also want to  #mediapositive to Spark Foundry for Benriach, Total Media for Greene King, Propersnacks (for yourselves), M&C Saatchi London for The Ben Kinsella Trust, the7stars for Ka Drinks, Goodstuff for Gu. Six entries with a reported media investment across 2023 of circa £4m  Versus the shortlist pool of over £2bn (2023 AdIntel) Congratulations to you specifically and the teams involved in these, because you were starting with a huge disadvantage. Despite that you got a shortlist, and managed to get a panel to see the great work you did. So what's that disadvantage? You're not spending millions every month, and so don’t enjoy that latent awareness within the judging room, and the familiarity that comes from having 8-or-9 figure media budgets and creative budget to match. You don’t in short, have availability bias. We've been guilty of this in the past, drawing on the deeply woven tapestry of knowledge and emotion regarding a significant brand (age, adspend and recency being some of the factors) rather than trying to be deliberate about the work in front of us. And this surely has to be impacting the shortlist of the ‘under £250k’ category: Walkers, Lloyds, Sky, Channel 4 & Audible are all shortlisted, brands which have spent heavily (and consistently) outside of this ‘campaign’ who are being compared to Ben Kinsella Trust, Mitchum deodorant and Gu. If you are fighting with these giants and holding your own you should really celebrate your achievements. At Craft we passionately believe good strategy drives business growth and should be available to all clients, not just the biggest spenders in media. And maybe we need to find another way to surface and celebrate the real depth of planning and effort that happens on the longtail and not just for the already highly familiar and famous. Welldone to everyone involved in every entry, and I wish you all the best of luck come the 18th April. But a particular well done to those whose cream has risen to the top in challenging circumstances - we see you especially and we tip our Crafty hat. #mediapositive