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Jan 14, 2025 | 
newdigitalage.co | Simon Akers |Andy Oakes
By Simon Akers, regular NDA columnist, Media consultant and co-founder of NDIM We are in 2025, or should I say, a quarter of the way into the 21st century. We are rife with DE&I initiatives (well, most of us anyway!). Yet somehow, and it is potentially down to human bias, we are yet to wholly tune in to the fact that our colleagues’ brains are wired differently to each other’s anyway. And of that, up to 20% are likely neurodivergent.
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Sep 18, 2024 | 
mediacatmagazine.co.uk | Mike Piggott |Harry Kinnear |Louise Millar |Simon Akers
The creative agency SuperHeroes has launched a new luxury division: SuperHeroes Deluxe. The new division aims to strengthen the agency’s Gen Z offering and transform luxury advertising. SuperHeroes identified a gap in the market after collecting insights from the luxury clients (Balenciaga, Jimmy Choo, and Louis Vuitton) of its digital art collective, JIMMY, and speaking to its Gen Z insight panel, The Robins.
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May 15, 2024 | 
the-media-leader.com | Simon Akers
Take a wider view of the industry beyond the daily headlines and you will see the future is bright. We don’t appreciate this enough and should say it more often. It really is. Hear me out… (and carry on)It’s really not as bad or as in flux as you might think, judging from what you might see on social media or in colleague’s emails.
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Oct 11, 2023 | 
newdigitalage.co | Simon Akers |Andy Oakes
By Simon Akers, CEO of Archmon and NDA columnistTo preface, I am no way an expert in future trends or AI. As experts far greater than I will attest to, beyond the nascent and layman-facing generative AI stuff, there are new deep and sophisticated applications that are only going to get stronger. But I am merely a user who is aware. However, I do know a bit about how business and marketing work and the process of buying media and tools.
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Sep 25, 2023 | 
the-media-leader.com | Simon Akers
OpinionThe uproar over Havas winning the Shell account is hypocritical. If we’re all so perfect, why are any of us in an industry that promotes consumption and waste? War; the cost-of-living crisis; alleged sexual assaults. These are real problems in our industry. As are the lack of transparency, megalomaniacal tech leaders and bad players in the value chain. Yet the recent trend seems to be focussed on calling out media agencies for securing a client that spends lots of ad dollars.
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Sep 19, 2023 | 
mediacatmagazine.co.uk | Jon Williams |Mike Chivers |Andrea Buzzi |Simon Akers
As someone deeply embedded in the creative industry (and as a keen observer of my generation’s experiences) I’ve witnessed a fascinating and concerning phenomenon. It revolves around this question: When Gen Z are thrust into the world of the creative industry, can maintain equilibrium whilst navigating this terrain? A balancing act…The creative industry is renowned for its rapid pace, where innovation, inspiration, and ingenuity converge to produce (hopefully) ground-breaking work.
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Sep 11, 2023 | 
mediacatmagazine.co.uk | Seoyoung Lee |Arnt Eriksen |Chris Jefford |Simon Akers
Creative change agency Born Ugly has appointed Simon Bailey as its new non-executive Chair. Bringing with him a wealth of experience, Simon’s strategic appointment will be central to Born Ugly’s ambitious growth plans to expand its capabilities in creative problem-solving and delivering disruptive ideas, strategies and creative globally.
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Jun 13, 2023 | 
the-media-leader.com | Simon Akers
OpinionRetail media seems to be the ‘new shiny channel’, but what really is it, what could it do for media planners, and how can we learn from mistakes made with programmatic? I am writing this on the back of the excellent The Future of Brands event, where a couple of the talks honed in on “retail media”. The viewpoints and silver bullets, as pithy and quotable as they are, ironically created so much disparity for me, and raised more questions than answers.
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May 11, 2023 | 
mediacatmagazine.co.uk | Andrea Buzzi |Simon Akers |James Bargent |Emily Rich
In Italy the stigma of those who still believe that taking care of their mental health is just an option or a source of shame is still strong. Clinical Director Federico Russo introduced us Serenis, the Italy-based tech company that pairs its customers with the right online therapist to provide high-quality and affordable online mental health therapy and psychological support.
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Apr 27, 2023 | 
the-media-leader.com | Jack Benjamin |Simon Akers
The Media Leader will push for media and advertising companies to prioritise mental-health awareness and first-aiders in the workplace, following a lively pitch competition by Future 100 rising stars. Chris Dunne, head of marketing for commercial TV marketing body Thinkbox, won the inaugural pitch yesterday, held during The Media Leaders Awards in London. Four members of the Future 100 Club Class of 2022 implored industry leaders pushed for stronger inclusivity and wellbeing policies.
