The Media Leader Podcast
One question that we’ve returned to time and again on this podcast and in our coverage, as media practitioners return to time and again themselves, is how to appeal to young people.
Young people who are often hard to reach. They overindex on low-attention social media platforms and, while they generally express a greater openness to and trust of advertising, also worry over how their media diets are shaping their still-forming brains.
One company that has made it its business to reach this exact demographic is LadBible. Founded in 2012 as one of the first scaled social publishing businesses, Ladbible operates channels including Unilad, Gamingbible, Sportbible, Tyla, and, more recently BetchesMedia, which it acquired in 2023 and launched in the UK last year.
Apart from producing editorial content for young people, the company drives revenue through working with brands to develop creative for commercial campaigns.
LA Ronayne is the executive creative director at LadBible.
As other more traditional publishers have increasingly invested in a social publishing arms race, Ronayne sat down with host Jack Benjamin to discuss the creative workflow, how LadBible differentiates its branded content offering, and best practices for speaking to Gen Z and Gen Alpha.
Listen now by hitting the play button or use the appropriate entry point into Spotify, Apple or Google Podcasts:
Highlights
4:11: The creative process for branded social content: from brief to output
9:02: Working with different social platforms: tracking algorithm changes, stopping thumbs
15:16: Latching onto short-term trends versus long-term culture
20:00: Trust and measuring success
23:06: Where LadBible sees itself in a crowded social publishing market
26:57: What does Gen Z want?
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Editor’s note: This article has been updated after publication. An earlier version of the article wrongly stated LadBible acquired BetchesMedia last year. LadBible acquired the company in 2023, but launched its UK arm in 2025.
