We are entering Christmas in adland which means soon some of the biggest ads of the year will drop across our TV screens, phones, billboards and more.

Both highly anticipated and highly speculated, this episode of The Campaign Podcast goes through what Campaign knows so far about the ads, from Lucy Punch and James Norton featuring in the M&S ad to McDonald's not creating a hero film for the second year, as well as looking back at previous years to predict what trends might appear in this year’s crop of xmas ads.

Hosted by Campaign's tech and multimedia editor Lucy Shelley, Campaign's creative team join the episode: creativity and culture editor Gurjit Degun, deputy creativity and culture editor Charlotte Rawlings and senior reporter Eszter Gurbicz.

Further reading:

Coca-Cola hires Ajaz Ahmed start-up for Christmas campaign

Is the World Cup a bigger opportunity for brands than Christmas?

Oxfam appoints creative agency for 2026 Christmas campaign

The Lists 2025: Top 20 film ads

Peta “Happy Christmassacre” by Grey London

Sainsbury's set to make it three Christmas ads in a row for the BFG

Shelter awards Christmas campaign to Meanwhile following pitch

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

WPP Production opened its first global flagship office in September with an AI-powered high-tech studio in Devon’s Point, East London. Deputy creativity and culture editor Charlotte Rawlings attended the opening and gives her perspective on the facility.The opening comes as WPP’s Q2 results showed WPP Production was the only one of the holding company’s four units that reported positive growth.

Also in September, internal guidance from WPP Production was seen by campaign which asked staff to convince clients to insource all production, and avoid traditional commercial bidding by providing all three bids from WPP. This caused furore among independents and reignited a longstanding debate between in-house agency production companies and independents.

In this episode, Campaign's editorial team is looking into why production is such big battleground, and if WPP’s investment marks a step change for the sector. Tech and multimedia editor Lucy Shelley hosts the episode which features Rawlings, alongside creativity and culture editor, Gurjit Degun, and UK editor Maisie McCabe.

Further reading:

WPP Production takes down insourcing guidance

'A risk the work becomes narrower and worse': adland reacts to WPP Production insourcing guidance

WPP closes Hogarth and launches WPP Production

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is the true balance between human spaceflight and robotic exploration when it comes to science, inspiration, and decision-making capabilities? How is space transitioning from a niche frontier to an everyday commercial workplace? What role do regulatory frameworks, such as the United Nations, the Artemis Accords, and the Astra Carta, play in keeping orbit and the lunar surface safe and sustainable? And how can the UK Government act as an "anchor customer" to bridge the commercial "valley of death" for domestic space startups?

Join Alice and Jonners in this special episode recorded in Chichester Marina with British astronaut Tim Peake as he shares insights on space adaptation syndrome, commercial space stations, lunar research bases, global space traffic management, and the future of human exploration to Mars.

Contributors:

Alice Bunn, President of UKspace

Dr Alice Bunn OBE FIMechE FRAeS CEng | LinkedIn

UKspace: Overview | LinkedIn

Jonathan Davies, The Karman Line

Jonathan Davies | LinkedIn

The Karman Line | LinkedIn

Tim Peake, Astronaut

Tim Peake | LinkedIn

Key topics covered:

• Human spaceflight vs. robotic exploration
• Space Adaptation Syndrome (nausea & gravity adjustment)
• Normalising space as a commercial workplace
• Transition from space stations to commercial Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
• Artemis programme & sustainable lunar research bases
• Astronaut selection mindsets, psychological profiles, and stress testing
• International space cooperation & soft power (ISS legacy)
• Governance, leaseholds, and regulatory frameworks on the Moon
• The Astra Carta & space sustainability
• Human exploration of Mars
• Government as “anchor customers

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Omnicom has moved to centralise impact and inclusion capabilities at group level. This led to Lucky Generals cutting its social impact lead Lameya Chaudhury.

Other holding companies including WPP and Publicis also have central DEI teams, so in this episode we are asking what it means to “centralise inclusion” and the impacts of doing so.

Hosted by Campaign's tech and multimedia editor Lucy Shelley, this episode includes Dino Myers-Lamptey, founder at The Barber Shop and trustee of Brixton Finishing School, former media editor Beau Jackson and data journalist Jamie Rossouw.

Further reading:

Professor Arday’s death should make brands consider the media ecosystem they fund

Podcast: Should an agency be judged by its diversity?

Xavier Rees: Adland leaders have “responsibility to speak up for inclusivity”

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the last two weeks, adland has seen some major changes for two of the biggest global media accounts: PepsiCo and Coca-Cola.

In a shock move, Publicis Groupe took PepsiCo’s global media account from longtime incumbent Omnicom without a pitch, and pulled out of the contest for Coca-Cola’s international media, tech and data account in a two way pitch against WPP. As a result of Publicis taking rival Pepsico’s global account, Coke’s North America media account is now set to review with Omnicom and Dentsu understood to be in the running, and WPP not competing.

In this episode, Campaign's tech and multimedia editor Lucy Shelley is joined by editor-in-chief Gideon Spanier and UK editor Maisie McCabe to look into how Publicis managed to swipe PepsiCo's business without any pitch and what it means for purpose and value of the pitch process.

Further reading:

Omnicom ‘proud’ of PepsiCo media work as it reels from global loss and stock drops 5%

WPP closing in on Coca-Cola’s international media, data and tech account

Pepsi-Publicis coup will change how other brands and agency groups behave

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The final three months of the year are some of the most important in adland. Known as the golden quarter, the year closes with a final push to meet targets, helped by some of the biggest commercial moments of the year including Black Friday and of course, Christmas.

In this episode, Campaign is looking into how agencies and advertisers should approach the final three months, what their top priorities are and how this golden quarter will be different from previous years.

Hosted by tech and multimedia editor Lucy Shelley, the episode includes Campaign's editor-in-chief Gideon Spanier, UK editor Maisie McCabe and creativity and culture editor Gurjit Degun.

Plus, Campaign has today (8 September) launched a new website with a refreshed look and revamped navigation.

Further reading:

Will Andy Burnham’s social media strategy work?

UK competition watchdog launches inquiry into Sky/ITV deal

Will ITV generate enough ad revenue to earn £200m payout from Sky?

'One of the biggest shake-ups in UK TV': the potential impact of Sky-ITV

Is there a new 'big four' in adland?

Publicis pulls out of Coca-Cola global media pitch after PepsiCo win

PepsiCo appoints Publicis Groupe to global media without a pitch

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Waitrose's branded podcast recently passed one billion downloads, views and listens, staking a claim as the world’s most successful branded podcast, while also receiving the most nominations for this year's British Podcast Awards. Media and entertainment are becoming more ever closer, so in this episode, Campaign digs into why branded content is on the rise, what makes it good and questions whether Dish’s success can be achieved by other brands.

The team discusses how brands don't want to "rent" their audiences, but own them, the struggle of too many chief executives wanting to be on the podcast and how branded content performs compared to other forms of media.

Hosted by tech and multimedia editor Lucy Shelley, this episode features Lucinda Rouse, multimedia editor of Campaign’s innovation team, deputy media editor Shauna Lewis and deputy creativity and culture editor Charlotte Rawlings.

Further reading:

Aardman moves into branded content partnerships

LBC sees record quarter amid geopolitical unrest

British Podcast Awards 2026 shortlist revealed

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.