Margaret Key, Asia Pacific CEO at Allison Worldwide and executive director at Stagwell, on why she left one of the most successful holding groups in the business, what consolidation is really doing to PR's standing inside holding companies, and why she thinks the next decade will look nothing like the last.

She also talks about Korea's underrated role in the regional comms landscape, the unbundling of senior talent into independent and fractional practices, and what still needs to change for women at the top of the industry.

In this episode of the Earned First podcast, Gil Bashe, chair of health and purpose at Finn Partners, argues that healthcare’s most urgent crisis is no longer innovation or access, but institutional credibility. Speaking during a visit to India, Bashe draws on his new book, Healing the Sick Care System: Why People Matter, to explain how healthcare systems have become optimised for process, compliance, and risk management—often at the expense of patient belief and human connection.

The conversation explores increasing scepticism towards healthcare institutions is, how health influencers are filling a trust vacuum left by institutions, and why misinformation has become a symptom of credibility failure. Bashe also addresses the depth of public anger directed at insurers, the global legitimacy gap between institutions and community voices, and what healthcare communicators must unlearn in a low-trust environment.

In this episode of the Earned First podcast, Kelly Bennett, founder and managing director of New Zealand's One Plus One, explains how he has built and grown an independent PR firm through a prolonged economic downturn. He details the operating choices behind that performance, including disciplined growth, leadership depth and a strong emphasis on qualitative factors such as curiosity, judgment and interpersonal capability over narrow functional or quantitative skills.

The conversation also draws on Bennett’s experience inside Omnicom, where he observed multiple cycles of restructuring, consolidation and brand retirements. He discusses how holding-company turbulence affects agency culture and leadership, and what independent founders can learn from watching established network brands expand, contract or disappear altogether.

In this episode of the Earned First podcast, Arun Sudhaman is joined by Iman Issa, co-founder and managing partner of North 75, to unpack the key ideas and tensions that shaped the inaugural PRAXIS MENA summit in Abu Dhabi. The conversation moves beyond surface-level optimism to examine why the Middle East communications market feels structurally different right now — from the centrality of culture and talent, to the growing importance of government reputation, institutional diplomacy, and the region’s unusually confident outlook amid global uncertainty.

Issa reflects on what this means in practice for senior communicators: why authenticity and judgment still matter in an AI-accelerated world, how agencies should defend the value of “brain power” as automation reshapes pricing models, and why PR risks irrelevance if it continues to position itself as the final execution layer rather than a creative and strategic lead. The discussion also explores the rise of homegrown consultancies, the capital reshaping the regional agency landscape, and what it really takes to build influence — not just visibility — in one of the world’s fastest-moving communications markets.

Ashbury founder Adam Harper joins the Earned First podcast to reflect on why the Middle East has become one of the world’s most strategically important regions, how Asian and Western capital now meet there, and what communicators must do to navigate this new landscape.

In this episode of the Earned First podcast, Arun Sudhaman speaks with Madan Bahal, co-founder and MD of Adfactors PR, about what it takes to sustain consistent growth in a public relations industry marked by prolonged uncertainty. Reflecting on the pressures facing consultancies, Bahal describes this turbulence as a permanent condition that firms must learn to operate within — a mentality that has helped Adfactors grow to more than $65m in fee income over the past three decades.

The conversation also explores why public relations continues to struggle to command value commensurate with its influence, particularly in India. Bahal discusses how this reality shapes agency behaviour, expectations, and leadership priorities, before turning to questions of succession, long-term continuity and his own peace of mind.

Arun Sudhaman sits down in Dubai with The Romans’ MENA lead, Joe Lipscombe, to explore why the Middle East risks becoming a “margin outpost” – and how it can instead become a true centre of creative gravity. They discuss the indie invasion of the Gulf, why clients are “crying out” for bigger, braver ideas, the impact of localisation and the rise of Saudi Arabia, and what it really takes to be culture-first in fragmented markets like the UAE and across MENA.

Arun Sudhaman speaks with Aman Gupta, managing partner of SPAG Finn Partners, about the evolution of influencer marketing in regulated sectors — and why credibility, compliance and subject expertise now matter more than reach. Presented in partnership with Finn Partners, the conversation explores how structured scoring models can help brands identify credible voices, counter misinformation, and turn influencer investment into measurable impact.