WPP’s new CEO has an extraordinary CV. But Rose’s appointment signals a deeper crisis in advertising: the people running it no longer believe it’s a creative business.
More Omar Oakes articles
We ban smartphones from our kids, but design media plans that depend on them. If mobile screen time has now overtaken TV, isn’t it finally time to do something about this contradiction?
If the job of running an agency holding company has become performative, constrained and algorithmic, why pretend it requires a human?
This is why human-led content needs a compass more than ever: values can’t be faked. You can’t prompt your way to perspective.
The ad industry keeps obsessing over whales, but the krill are paying the bills. It’s time someone built an agency for the rest.
Celebrity journalism has often blurred the line between PR and reality — but the Bernard Bale story reveals just how far you can go when no-one asks questions.
Meta says yes. A US regulator says: how convenient. But, whether it serves his interest or not, does Mark Zuckerberg have a point?
It’s time we stopped performing thought leadership and started pursuing actual thought if we want the industry to be better.
Ad-funded content on platforms doesn’t work because there are too few platforms and the rents are too high. As media fragments and production businesses suffer, creators must diversify to survive.
Media leaders love to talk about workplace culture, but grieving parents are still being sidelined. Baby loss isn’t rare — our silence about it should be.