The future of Isba and Origin — with Simon Michaelides and Phil Smith
Last December, Phil Smith, the director-general of Isba (the trade body for advertisers), announced he would be stepping down after eight years.Succeeding him is Simon Michaelides, who most recently worked as the interim chief customer officer of Great British Racing.Both Isba's outgoing and incoming leaders joined host Jack Benjamin on the podcast to discuss Smith's legacy and Michaelides initialy priorities for Isba and its members.During Smith’s time at Isba, he was one of the key architects of Origin, the cross-media measurement service that he will now continue working on as its chairman. The trio spoke about Origin's next stage plans now that it officially launched this year.They also discussed a wide range of topics relevant to Isba's members, including the issue of principal media and whether it has reduced agency-client trust, the shifting TV market, and challenges facing CMOs.Highlights:5:17: Smith's legacy at Isba8:26: Making sense of the changing TV market12:55: The roadmap for Origin and early feedback from advertisers and media owners26:13: Michaelides' "relevance" agenda31:06: The agency-client relationship: consolidation, AI, principal media and trust42:00: Challenges for CMOs: rapid turnover, balancing the short and long term52:31: Should we have an Isba for SMEs?Related articles:Isba appoints Simon Michaelides director generalOrigin’s cross-media measurement solution has landed: A view from the bridgeIsba’s Phil Smith: Advertisers should take a bigger stake in OriginThree ways to access £15bn in adspend---Thanks to our production partners Trisonic for editing this episode.--> Discover how Trisonic can elevate your brand and expand your business by connecting with your ideal audienceVisit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn: The Media LeaderYouTube: The Media Leader
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Why Josh Krichefski joined an indie challenger
PMG, an independent challenger ad agency, has gone on an investment spree. Over the past few months the agency has hired top talent, and in recent years it has acquired a number of businesses to build out a full-service offering for brands as it looks to challenge holding groups and other indies for business.One major addition it made last month was Josh Krichefski, the former GroupM EMEA and UK CEO, who is now PMG’s EMEA president.Krichefski is also notable for working as the president of IPA from 2023 to 2025, a role in which he championed industry talent and the importance of both acquisiton and retention.He joined The Media Leader recently to discuss his new role, PMG’s growth strategy and what sets it apart from competitor agencies amid a rapidly changing agency landscape.Krichefski also reflected on his time as IPA president and at WPP, and spoke about his views on the future of the agency model.Highlights:4:30: What attracted Krichefski to PMG after more than a decade at WPP9:43: PMG's go-to-market in EMEA: Transparency, consultancy, data27:01: Reflecting on Krichefski's time as IPA President and his People First agenda32:12: Agency consolidation and the future of the agency model38:26: Why AI is an opportunity, not a threatRelated articles:Josh Krichefski joins PMG as EMEA PresidentIPA president Josh Krichefski: ‘Put health and wellbeing at the forefront’WPP CEO labels group’s performance ‘unacceptable’ as it looks to SMEs‘We are in a crisis’: Advertising: Who Cares? suggests media business models must change---Thanks to our production partners Trisonic for editing this episode.--> Discover how Trisonic can elevate your brand and expand your business by connecting with your ideal audienceVisit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn: The Media LeaderYouTube: The Media Leader
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'Full service thinking': How brands are reorganising as media becomes less siloed - with MediaSense's Ryan Kangisser
One of the key topics of industry research we at The Media Leader have been following is how media companies – be they agencies, owners or brands – can and should restructure themselves to become more fit-for-purpose in a changing media ecosystem.Independent marketing advisory MediaSense has been examining these issues for several years, and last month it released its latest report, in partnership with the World Federation of Advertisers, titled, The Future of Media Organisations. Based on responses from many of the world’s largest companies representing $52bn in annual media spend, the report found that media is emerging as a key way to connect disparate marketing functions – from creative to brand strategy. Media, in other words, is becoming less siloed.But that begs the question: how do businesses and their agencies reorganise to fit that new model?Ryan Kangisser is the chief strategy officer at MediaSense. He joins the podcast once again to explain the details of the study, their implications for marketers and agencies, and why integration – rather than scale – is the key to media success going forward.He remarks: "I think [brands] want full-service thinking, not necessarily full-service doing."Highlights:1:48: Toplines from The Future of Media Organisations report: breaking down siloes6:07: If media is taking a bigger role, who owns strategy?11:39: Developing the right data infrastructure to improve audience planning16:20: Global versus local: why there is an erosion of regional specialism24:03: How is the agency model changing?Related articles:Media’s strategic role in integrating marketing functions for brandsWhat’s the future role of media? It’s complicatedRethinking agency remuneration in 2025 — with MediaSense’s Ryan Kangisser---Thanks to our production partners Trisonic for editing this episode.--> Discover how Trisonic can elevate your brand and expand your business by connecting with your ideal audienceVisit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn: The Media LeaderYouTube: The Media Leader
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The strategy behind Publicis Groupe's landmark year — with Niel Bornman
Last week, The Media Leader hosted its flagship annual event in London, The Future of Media, and for this week’s episode of the podcast, the team wanted to bottle one of the headline interviews from the conference.On Tuesday, host Jack Benjamin sat down with Niel Bornman, CEO of Publicis Media Connected UK.Publicis is having a big year – it is, by some margin, the strongest-growing of the major global media holding groups, to the point where its competitors are generally looking to emulate its business model.Bornman unpacked the moves the company has made in recent years to set it up for post-pandemic growth, and weighed whether its data-driven model is pushing advertisers more toward performance media.The pair also spoke about the future of the agency model, debated concerns around principal media, and discussed what needs to change to improve Publicis Groupe’s declining share price.Highlights:2:14: How Publicis' data-led model put it in a good post-pandemic position.5:08: Can Publicis maintain its USP as competitors look to emulate its business model?7:18: Are we over-investing in performance marketing?10:45: Boosting share price growth13:15: The future of the agency model in an era of AI19:00: Principal media: yay or nay?Related articles:‘We are in a crisis’: Advertising: Who Cares? suggests media business models must changeThe great media agency shake-upWho gains most from the agency shift to strategic partnerships with clients?Can principal media be good, actually?Podcast: What did Publicis get for $4.4bn? Interview with Epsilon UK MD Elliott Clayton---Thanks to our production partners Trisonic for editing this episode.--> Discover how Trisonic can elevate your brand and expand your business by connecting with your ideal audienceVisit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media.LinkedIn: The Media LeaderYouTube: The Media Leader
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How Roku is piecing a fragmented TV landscape back together — with Tom Price
This episode was produced in partnership with Roku.It's been a busy past few months for Roku: in the US, it launched a new low-cost subscription service, Howdy, which aims to be supplementary to the likes of Netflix and Disney+; in the UK, Roku launched 40 FAST channels on its platform.The company has emerged as a key partner for other entertainment partners to increase the reach and viewability of their content, a goal that has become increasingly important in a fragmented TV landscape.Tom Price is the content distribution director at Roku. He joins host Jack Benjamin to discuss the latest developments at Roku, what makes the UK TV market unique, and how the company has developed a toolkit of advertising opportunities for its content partners.This is part one of a two-part conversation — be on the lookout later in the year for a follow-up interview with Roku's EMEA ad sales director Mike Shaw.Highlights:3:11: Roku's UK positioning: the pace of change, growth opportunities, FAST strategy.10:03: Cutting through the noise of a crowded streaming market.14:58: Howdy: Roku's US ad-free SVOD option.17:48: How Roku works with its content partners.25:07: What's next? Streaming market expansion and consolidation, FAST growth, new features.Related articles:Roku launches FAST channels in UK marketHowdy confirms Roku’s growing interest in subscription streamingRoku eyes app bundling opportunity as next-gen aggregator---Thanks to our production partners Trisonic for editing this episode.--> Discover how Trisonic can elevate your brand and expand your business by connecting with your ideal audienceVisit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media.LinkedIn: The Media LeaderYouTube: The Media Leader
The Media Leader is the leading source of analysis, data, opinion and trends in commercial media and advertising.Hosted by senior reporter Jack Benjamin, we speak to senior industry leaders and rising stars about the key challenges media faces as part of our mission to stand up for courage, inclusion and excellence in media.Find out more at uk.themedialeader.com and subscribe to our daily newsletter.
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