The Campaign Podcast

In February this year, the UK government published a consultation on AI, proposing a change to current copyright legislation. It would allow tech companies to use creative works including film, TV and original journalism to train AI models without permission of the creators, unless they have opted out.

It was met with harsh criticism, rallying "Make it fair" campaigns and rejections from both creatives and tech platforms alike, albeit for opposite reasons. Google and OpenAI responded to the consultation saying that it would cause developers to "deprioritise the market" and that "training on the open web must be free" while creative industries including Alex Mahon, chief executive of Channel 4, said that the lack of transparency and compensation would "scrape the value" from quality content.

Campaign questions if UK regulation will harm creative industries and how it will impact the countrys own advancements in AI. This episode welcomes guest Michael Horn, global head of AI at Omnicom Advertising Group. Hosted by tech editor Lucy Shelley, the Campaign team includes creativty and culture editor Alessandra Scotto di Santolo and deputy media editor Shauna Lewis.

This episode includes an excerpt from Mahon's speech in Parliament where she addresses her concerns.

Further reading:

Mark Read: 'AI will unlock adland's productivity challenge'

AI, copyright and the creative economy: the debate we can't afford to lose

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What links McDonald's "Iconic needs no explanation" by Leo Burnett, KFC's gravy take over of the BFI and Kellogg's "See you in the morning" also by Leo Burnett? These three ads are the latest in a line of out-of-home posters that zoom in on products, alter or remove logos and have minimal text. Tesco, Heinz and B&Q have also created similar ads.

While this might be a trend, it certainly isn't new. A 1990 Silk Cut ad "Slash" by Saatchi & Saatchi also had a similar minimalist style and more recently in 2023, Barbie released an entirely pink billboard with only "July 21" in the corner to promote the release of the film.

Campaign's editorial team discuss if original ideas still exist in outdoor ads and if all the good ideas have been taken. Hosted by tech editor Lucy Shelley, this episode features editor Maisie McCabe, creativity and culture editor Alessandra Scotto di Santolo and deputy creativity and culture editor Charlotte Rawlings.

Further reading:

Is the art of out-of-home copywriting under threat?

Playing with the logo is nothing new; but it might signal a return to intelligent advertising

The distinctive asset in the room

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Campaign's Agency of the Year Awards took place last week celebrating the best shops in adland across creative, media, independent, customer engagement, start-up and more.

This episode chats to three of the big winners: Mother, who took home Creative Agency of the Year, MG OMD which won Media Agency and Rapp which celebrated five awards with three golds: Performance Marketing Agency, New Business Leader and Customer Engagement Agency Leader.

MG OMG's CEO Natalie Bell talked about the importance of an entrepreneurial spirit while Rapp's CMO Tracey Barber discussed how to protect employees from being poached after award wins. Mother's chief communications officer Tom Wong spoke about the importance of independence and the agency's triad of success: make the best work, have fun, and make a living not a killing.

View all the winners here.

Coming up in the Campaign calendar:

Ad Net Zero Awards open for entries

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Principal-based media buying, which includes inventory media and proprietary media, has become a key practice for large agency groups, but it remains opaque, with finance trails and pricing structures largely in the dark. 

In March this year, ISBA updated its media services framework calling out media agencies for lack of transparency and "non-compliance", which it said has been leading to "tensions" between advertisers and agencies. The IPA hit back at ISBA for suggesting "systemic malpractice" in principal-based media and painting “a misleading picture of how agencies operate”, serving "only to perpetuate the myth that agencies are acting against the interests of their clients”.

In this episode, Campaign's editorial team discuss why this topic is so controversial, shedding light on concerns that exist and the reasons that it remains so obscure. Hosted by tech editor Lucy Shelley, the chat features UK editor-in-chief Gideon Spanier, UK editor Maisie McCabe and media editor Beau Jackson.

Further reading:

Will the 'big six' become the 'big three'?

Media is key battleground for agency giants in new world order

Mark Read on WPP’s creative agencies slump, big clients spending more and four-day office mandate

Do the latest holding company results signify a shift towards media first?

The $31bn Omnicom-IPG deal has industrial logic but also many caveats

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Campaign has released its biggest project of the year, reviewing and marking the top 92 agencies in the UK for Campaign's 2025 School Reports, in partnership with Nielsen.

In this episode, Campaign's editorial team reveals its overall impression on the reports, what they divulge about the health of the industry by analysing the billings across media and creative and how diversity has been impacted in the last year. They discuss how creativity fared in 2024 and the consequence of a few huge media pitches (Amazon, L'Oreal and Ebay, to name a few).

Hosted by tech editor Lucy Shelley, this chat includes editor Maisie McCabe, deputy editor Gemma Charles and features editor Matt Barker.

Further reading:

School Reports 2025: Top creative agencies

School Reports 2025: Top media agencies

School Reports 2025: Top holding companies

School Reports 2025: Top regional agencies

School Reports 2025: Which agencies got the highest marks?

School Reports 2025: Which agencies improved their marks?

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