Meet the 2025 Media Minds: Walk-In Media

As the quarter-final stage of the 2025 Media Mind tournament approaches, The Media Leader is shining a spotlight on some of the brightest quiz contenders.

These are industry experts whose sharp knowledge has propelled their agencies to the knockout rounds.

In part one of this series, meet Donna Stanley, head of paid search at Walk-In Media. Stanley’s expertise has been instrumental in her team’s success so far. So what makes her tick?

Walk-In Media will go head to head with PHD on 25 September.

Donna Stanley, head of paid search, Walk-In Media

How did you get into the advertising industry?

By chance!

I used to run half-marathons with a CFO of a media agency and when I heard more about what he did, I was sold. I popped into their office and they offered me a job on the spot.

What is your favourite medium and why?

PPC, of course. I’ve always loved numbers — there’s no room for error and the numbers always tell a story. It’s finding that story and insight that keeps the job interesting.

Favourite media brand?

TikTok.

What is your favourite ad campaign?

I might be a bit biased, but I really liked the ‘Move Forward with Vitality’ campaign. I wish I could have a talking dog!

Biggest change in the media industry over the next five years?

How users search and find content is changing dramatically, evolving from search engine to action engine.

LLMs and AI-generated overviews are challenging traditional SEO and paid strategies, with the increase of the zero-click search.

I’m excited to see how this continues to evolve.

You want to impress a new client — which restaurant do you take them to?

Depends on the client!

What is your favourite fashion brand and why?

Zara — it’s simple and affordable, and there’s a huge store two minutes from the office.

What is your favourite film and why?

Embarrassingly, I’d have to say Pearl Harbour.

I love the music and the storyline. It’s a film I can watch over and over again.

What are you listening to, watching or reading at the moment?

Reunion on ITVX: a great four-part series with bilingual storytelling in both English and sign language.

A really powerful, deaf-led storyline. Would highly recommend if looking for a moving drama mini-series.

Favourite local café or bar?

I’m not ashamed to admit, but the local Wetherspoons. Less than £3 for a glass of wine in the sun can’t be beaten…

Finally, what has been your personal highlight of Media Mind to date?

The highlight for me was preparing a pre-quiz quiz for the agency and getting everyone involved at one of our all-staffer meetings.

It gave everyone a chance to be part of it and was a great way for me to learn lots of stats by turning them into a quiz.

What was even more satisfying is that five or six of the questions came up in the quiz that evening!

Want to see who else has made it this far? Check out the full line-up here 

And if you think your team has what it takes, make sure you secure one of the limited places for Media Mind 2026 by contacting [email protected]