In front of a full house at Odeon Luxe West End in Leicester Square, Global became Media Mind 2026 champions, gaining the accolade of the UK’s most knowledgeable media organisation.
It’s the culmination of a year of fierce competition, with 40 media organisations from agencies and media owners battling it out since spring to reach the final. The number of partaking teams almost doubled from last year.
The final follows the appointment of Karen Stacey, CEO of Digital Cinema Media, as chair of Media Mind, with David Wilding, executive vice-president strategy at WPP Media, joining as special advisor. Stacey attended the final, where she opened the proceedings with praise for founder Simon Redican. She commented that, especially in an age of AI, “There’s nothing that replaces human knowledge, curiosity and experience.”
Media Mind regular host Alex Gwilliam put the finalists through their paces. First, during the semi-finals earlier in the evening, Global beat The Guardian by a score of 43-30, and Goodstuff defeated WPP Media 31-22.
In the final, Global became victorious against Goodstuff by a score of 39-34.
Gwilliam and Redican presented the awards to the winners and runners-up, as well as the agencies that performed best in the 10 categories and demonstrated a breadth of knowledge across the industry.
The category partners were involved in setting the questions to test knowledge of their sector and provided the winning teams with prizes to accompany their trophy.
Competition in a couple of categories was so tight that the winners could not be separated and honours were shared.
TV — supported by Thinkbox: UM
Audio — supported by Radiocentre: Carat
OOH — supported by Ocean Outdoor: Goodstuff, Global
Newsbrands — supported by Newsworks: The Guardian
Magazine — supported by Magnetic: Goodstuff, Havas, and Global
Cinema — supported by Digital Cinema Media: Paramount
Mail — supported by Jicmail: WPP
Streaming and Retail — supported by Amazon: Astus
Online Audiences — supported by UKOM: Bicycle
Creator Marketing — supported by IAB: Global
Media Mind’s headline supporters are Isba, Advertising Association and the IPA. Network partners are Astus, Captify and Roku. The charity partner is Nabs.
