Holdcos talk about diversity and culture but remain addicted to centralising operations. Why is this command-and-control mindset not challenged enough?

Advertising is now dominated by a handful of players that don’t play by established rules, like JICs or trade bodies. This poses a huge risk for advertisers. 

For my last column as editor-in-chief, I’d like to sign off with a celebration of those that best demonstrated The Media Leader’s values of disruption, inclusion, courage and excellence this year.

Amid a backdrop of fevered M&A chatter, 2024 was a year replete with significant moves for both global streamers and broadcasting incumbents. 

When Omnicom and IPG merge, nothing really changes apart from some agency brands get shut down and a lot of people lose their jobs. The big holding groups remain one homogenous blob. 

In a frank speech to an audience of media researchers, Bullis warned that attribution is bad and ‘getting worse’, brands should experiment more and the UK industry risks being ‘overly proud’ of audience panels.

The TV marketing body has hired Wavemaker UK’s strategy head to be its first chief strategy officer.

The news brand has launched plans to make its entire organisation certified in carbon literacy.

ITV carries immense cultural power that makes a sell-off far from straightforward, writes the editor.

Sky Media’s advertising chief has pledged to “drive change” as the TV sales house looks to “fully reimburse” clients underpaid for ad revenue over several years.