Ed Cox

Impact is our output. We talk about modern marketing being able to deliver two types of impact - cultural and commercial. How do we move beyond the brand purpose debate and into a more grown up and nuanced conversation about the different types of impact we all create as marketers every day? Come and join us to find out.

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We have partnered with Mi3 to survey Australia's top marketers, gaining valuable insights into drivers and obstacles to growth. Follow the link to download the report. Let us know what you think. Jen Davidson Anthony Gregorio Paul McIntyre

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Not everyone likes to hear this I know but standardisation and getting the fundamentals right are key to the success of retail media. Let’s work together as an industry to make this happen

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Travis Lusk Good to see you highlighting this report again. It needs to remain in the spotlight even at the risk of repetition for those already aware. Bill must be able to recite this blindfold. Yes, we need more advertisers adopting the extremely comprehensive playbooks in the report and hopefully they will. Education is the key. But more than anything we need the big agency groups to gradually wean themselves off the drug of easy money from programmatic trading, arbitrage and undisclosed margins. No agency group has supported the study and they won't, so advertisers have to make it clear that they won't allow this to continue and then work through new compensation methods that work for both parties. Trying to fix this problem without addressing fees and performance-led rewards is not going to shift the needle. Bill Duggan Association of National Advertisers

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🌟2 Weeks to Go!…And just 25 tickets left🌟 Our London Future Trends in Advertising Festival is nearly here… In 2024 we set out to create a special set of events to connect our communities to the best insight…and the finale is nearly upon us!… …After months of planning and following the sell-out success of our Future Trends in Advertising Festivals in Edinburgh and Newcastle… …we’re thrilled to share details of our next Festival event… We’ve five top-tier partners confirmed to speak: - TikTok - Spotify - Thinkbox - X - Meta Each of the speakers will be presenting on the Future Advertising Trends they believe marketers and businesses should be focussing on for their future planning. Prolific North are our media partner for the event and the brilliant Alexandra Balazs will be hosting a panel with all the speakers at the end of the morning agenda NABS are our charity partner, supporting the mental health and wellbeing of the advertising industry And the inspirational Hannah Beecham MBE will be hosting Movement Breaks throughout the morning - we’re one of the first non- sporting event to support this important (and fun!) initiative 🌟 Please DM me or email [email protected] if you’d like to secure one of the last remaining places 🌟 ///——///—— Event summary : - Date: November 13th, 8:30 am - 1:00 pm - Venue: Everyman, Broadgate, Liverpool Street - Event Focus: The latest advertising trends and insights from industry leaders - Complimentary breakfast provided ///—-///—- I’m so very looking forward to hosting this special Bonded Agency Festival event… …the culmination of a year of planning and investment into creating a Festival focussed on sharing insight 👉 to help marketers and business directors deliver their best work in 2025 and beyond 🎉 #business #marketing #connection

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Today's Q1 2024 @IPA Bellwether report showcases a resilient UK marketing landscape, with events and experiences remaining the standout performers with a record expansion. This resilience demonstrates businesses' strong desire to connect with customers, recognising the power of experiences to enable them to achieve this, as well as being a powerful tool to drive their bottom line. Long-term brand building should remain at the forefront amid rising promotional spending. Aligning brand experiences across the different touchpoints with core values and harnessing authentic content created from experiences fosters trust and engagement, and is crucial for navigating the dynamic marketing environment. Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/eGTDPyN4 #ImaginationGLBL #IPABellwether #UKmarketing #brandexperience #experientialagency #creativeagency

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Omar Oakes in The Media Leader UK touching on one of the biggest issues of our age. Network Media Agencies are having to turn to 'products' (many non-transparent) to find additional margin as pressure mounts on them to replace lost margins in creative, production and other disciplines within the Holding Companies. Selling products for a mark-up shouldn't be a core feature of a service industry. Adding value through strategic insights, sophisticated media planning and effective (not just efficient) execution should be the way that agencies demonstrate value and drive margin. Charging properly for this has to be the solution rather than today's race for the bottom of faster, better, cheaper. Hopefully this will be discussed at the Future of Media conference happening today and tomorrow from Adwanted UK events.

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New ventures can be both thrilling and daunting, especially when commercial factors come into play. For brands aiming to breakthrough to TV, we’ve teamed up with ITV to help you navigate the risks and confidently scale your business. Join our webinar on September 20th to discover best practices in creative development, media planning, and measurement, featuring insights from both new and returning TV advertisers. Ready to make the leap onto TV? Register now through the link: https://bit.ly/3MuxXq6 #BreakThrough #TVAdvertising #Advertising #ScaleUp

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This is a very well-informed and detailed examination of the complex and murky area of 'principal-based' media buying with particularly insightful comments from Ruben Schreurs It shows just how difficult it is for Advertisers to truly know what is going on in their name and with their money, so seeking independent advice, the tightest contractual terms and the most thorough audit rights are all vital to avoid the many elephant traps. But why has the world of media reached a point where the advertiser has to count their fingers after they've shaken hands with their media agency? Radical new approaches to accountability and transparency are needed, but these have to include a grown-up discussion about terms of business. We can't get to a point where fees are zero and all the margin is made on media trading, surely?

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Lets QUALIFY quality media! This is def worth a read. An excellent and timely piece by Omar Oakes Editor in Chief of The Media Leader UK. Omar references Cal Newport's ‘quality pyramid’ in which minimally processed media — which he terms as “linguistic media” (books) — as placed at the bottom, TV and other mass/broadcast media are in the middle, and social media (the most ‘processed’ of all media types) is at the top to signify lowest quality. He uses two main criteria for what is ‘high quality’ versus ‘low quality’: >> The curation of media: How much skill and craft has been deployed to create content? >> The delivery of media: How much work a human has to do to consume media versus how much work is done for them by a machine to serve it to them? #BrandsDeserveBetterMedia #MediaForGrowth https://lnkd.in/g6WMYufW

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A lot of great people from a lot of great agencies have added their voice to this piece from Siobhan Holt in PRWeek UK, so naturally I’m keen to chip in my two pennies too.    Let me start by saying this: pitches are great. I love that collective agency energy when you’re working on a big response and how they push us to challenge our thinking. Obvs I love them less when we don’t win, but: life. They can be brilliantly run and terribly run, and while I think a pitching code of conduct is a lovely idea, it’s one that perhaps feels a tad lofty in ambition, needing buy-in from, well, everyone - agencies and brands - to work. Until such a time that we enter PR utopia, I think agencies need to figure out what their hard lines are and stand their ground more. There are also plenty of great clients out there who run brilliant pitch processes, and even when we don’t win, we feel valued and respected. Be more like them.   Adding to the list, some of my personal pitching red and green flags include:   🚩 No budget? No thanks. Giving a budget, even a ballpark, is essential because we want to shape our response to fit what the brand has to spend. Otherwise we might come up with a corker of an idea the client can’t afford and that will make them sad 💚 People who give the gift of time. We work quickly but obviously we will deliver a better and more in-depth response when we have been given a decent chuck of time to respond   🚩 8+ agencies on a pitch list. Brands should feel empowered to be braver and only choose the top 3-4 agencies they really want to see 💚 Client teams who equally invest a significant amount of their own time into the process and who who make themselves available outside official check-in moments for clarification and sense checking. Big fan    🚩 “Submit your pitch online and we’ll shortlist the ones who will get to present.” *Shudders*. Time investment from the agency aside, I guarantee we will bring our ideas to life better than you reading them ever will (even if you have a vivid imagination) 💚 Proper post pitch feedback for the ones you don't win - it's hugely appreciated when clients show respect for the effort, the agency and the work that went into the response, and we want to hear where we fell short. Tell us, ideally on a call   🚩 Key decision makers not being involved in each stage of the process. From the Q&A to the tissue to the presentation, everyone has a different point of view, different motivations and different objectives – and we want to hear them! That collective thinking helps us shape the best, most considered response    These are fair questions and challenges to ask from the outset of a pitch, but there will always be some processes you enter which will take you close to your hard lines. Then it’s up to you whether or not you choose to step over them. #pitching #newbusiness #pr #comms

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Nick Manning has an excellent piece (https://lnkd.in/ebjX_YUF) in The Media Leader today on how agencies make money on what I always knew as broking and which today has been relabelled 'Principal-Based Media', presumably in the hope that that makes it alright...! There's a danger that Nick's points will be dismissed by many as the mechanics of media buying, the dark arts perfected by the few in order to squeeze a better deal for their clients by the agencies. As Nick shows it's nothing of the kind. And it's far more concerning than that. If you accept that the agency can act as a broker, or reseller of media space and time then you have to accept that the media agencies doing this are no longer objective in their recommendations; that their plans are not worth the paper they're written on; and that measuring the advertising's effect by channel is no longer possible. Trading media becomes just like trading a commodity. If you think that 'media' is more than a commodity defined by largely meaningless numbers on a spreadsheet, that instead 'media' is an integral component of advertising; and that creativity and craft matter, then you can join Nick and me (and an increasingly large group of supporters from all corners of the ad business) in the 'Advertising: Who Cares?' movement, and maybe join us at our event in September. Mail me on [email protected] or Nick on [email protected] for more details. Geraint Davies Julia Linehan

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Great article from Martyn Bentley on the importance of measuring and maximising the reach of your marketing investments. #audienceproject #measurement #ROI #reach

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Want to know how Pinterest has evolved and Why are they appealing to Gen Z Shoppers? Have a read of the article below👇🏼 Thanks to Melissa Ryan & the Agency Team at Pinterest! #dentsu #pinterest #performancemarketing #socialmedia

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I'm attending the Advertising "Who Cares" Summit https://lnkd.in/ekAJYJGS in London on Thursday 12th September The manifesto of the initiative, kicked off by Brian Jacobs & Nick Manning, highlights how the "advertising industry is by common consent a less attractive place to be these days. It has become a place where machines have replaced people, jobs have become soul-less, and data is treated as royalty." and that "It abuses the privacy of the public and treats them as ‘product’." In my opinion one of the major issues is Adtech / Madtech #JingleJangle terminology regarding Personal Data - common phrases which are often used without suitable context. They often provide a veneer of Assurance for stakeholders within the ecosystem, whilst beguiling the intended audience and providing a "get out of #Accountability free card". As an example the IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) website has a cookie banner titled "Privacy settings" offering 1) Information " Our use of cookies : We use necessary cookies to make our site work. We'd also like to set analytics cookies that help us make improvements by measuring how you use the site. These will be set only if you accept. This tool helps you to select and deactivate various tags / trackers / analytic tools used on this website." 2) Ability to Deny or Accept All However it appears that the tool is misconfigured enabling multiple data points to be shared with 3rd party advertising organisations. This plot shows the calls made when visiting the page on Privacy & Data Protection - https://lnkd.in/eBRdcGpt before any interaction with the cookie banner. Phrases such as "Your privacy is important to us" and "We are committed to protecting your personal data" in the Adtech space need to move from being platitudes to attitudes - Don't just tell me that you love me show me!

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Transform your ideas into a fully funded deal. 🤝 suzanne alizart, Creative Business Affairs Consultant, will host an insightful masterclass tomorrow for our Autumn Cohort on our Create Growth Programme, which examines all aspects of business affairs for the creative industry.  Matching the right money to the right idea is key to success, so knowing what different types of funding mean for your concept is essential to striking the right deal.  Discover more about this session, link in the comments. #Funding #CreativeFunding #FundingSupport #GrowthProgramme #CreativeEast

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Reflecting on the latest report, I’m encouraged by the resilience brands are showing in challenging times, as evidenced by an uptick in ad spend. We’re seeing advertisers get creative, using innovative digital formats to connect with consumers and guide them from awareness to conversion. However, with such a significant portion of budgets going into programmatic, it’s critical that independent agencies also have access to these tools. By ensuring digital efficiencies are available to all, not just the largest players, we can help keep these agencies competitive and maintain their essential role in the media ecosystem. If you'd like to discuss these insights or explore how programmatic can drive growth, feel free to get in touch. #DigitalAdvertising #Programmatic #MarketingInsights #IndependentAgencies #AdSpend #MediaEcosystem #InnovationInMarketing SBS Sara Haile

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Here's my April 2024 review of PR Pitches and mergers & acquisitions in the UK PR scene on the PRmoment Podcast, where Ben Smith and I discuss the biggest pitch wins and mergers and acquisitions that the PR sector has seen in the last month. April’s PR pitch update: - Hovis appoints Clarion. - Brixton Brewery (Heineken) appoints Fanclub. - Brompton Bikes appoints The Romans. - 19 Crimes - part of Treasury Wine Estates Portfolio appoints Manifest. - Scottish Widows Life Insurance and Pensions provider appoints Team Spirit and The Agency Partnership. - The Macallan appoints Havas Red. - William + Grant appoints Exposure. - HM Treasury appoints Teneo and Lexington. - Renault appoints Ready 10. - Motorway appoints Fight or Flight. - Shark Ninja appoints Burson. - Tinder appoints The Academy. - Carlsberg appoints Hope&Glory. - EA appoints Premier. - Hootsuite appoints Words + Pixels. - Cancer Research appoints Shook. April’s M&A update: - Accenture buys Unlimited. - WPP announced that leading global investment firm KKR has made a growth investment in FGS Global. - Together Group (owner of Purple) buys Frame Publicity. - Cavendish expand into NI and ROI with the acquisition of MCE. AAR, PCB Partners, Andrew Bloch & Associates https://lnkd.in/eWGK4dit

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Today's all-new Cog Blog is unusual. First it comes from two of us, myself and Nick Manning (ex Manning Gottlieb, OMD and Ebiquity). Second it's got a point to it. We are seriously worried about the threat from various quarters to the craft of advertising (creative and media) and the failure of our industry's biggest players to face up to the challenges we all face. Indeed, we suggest many are part of the problem. We've decided to do something about it and we would like as many who share our concern to join us. At the moment we are at a planning stage (as we explain in the post); how far we take this does depend on the level of support our ideas generate. We urge you to read the post; and if what we're suggesting resonates with you then let us know. Talk about it, comment, share as widely as you can. We hope this will be the start of something.

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