The Media Leader UK

5 days ago | uk.themedialeader.com | Lisa Morgan

OpinionOur young talent is lacking the foundational thinking that turns a media planner into a strategic partner. We are all responsible for nurturing a generation to think, not just do. In our ongoing recruitment efforts, a consistent pattern has emerged: many candidates at the executive and manager levels exhibit strong executional capabilities — but at what cost? They are fluent in media platforms, quick to optimise for clicks, impressions or views, and adept at navigating campaign dashboards.

1 week ago | uk.themedialeader.com | Jack Benjamin

YouTube is launching a tool to help brands more easily identify, connect with and partner creators. Open Call will allow brands to place an open request to creators for sponsored content. The request can also be narrowed to a select group of creators based on the brand’s target audience. Interested creators can proactively answer the brief by developing sponsored content for the brand, which can then review and approve or decline.

1 week ago | uk.themedialeader.com | Omar Oakes

OpinionIf the job of running an agency holding company has become performative, constrained and algorithmic, why pretend it requires a human? “You saw a side of Mark that day that you don’t normally see.”That’s what more than one person told me after I interviewed WPP CEO Mark Read on stage at The Media Leader Awards two years ago. You can still watch the video. The consensus was that he came across as considered, insightful… even funny.

1 week ago | uk.themedialeader.com | Jack Benjamin

Brands are navigating choppy waters this year amid macoreconomic uncertainty, meaning media strategies are having to remain nimble and adaptable. One brand that has an especially interesting challenge is Hasbro. The toy company owns a huge swathe of major brands and intellectual property — much of it primarily consumed by children — and managing the portfolio and different media tactics needed across those brands presents unique obstacles and considerations.

1 week ago | uk.themedialeader.com | Jack Benjamin

Interpublic investment arm Magna has revised its 2025 Global Ad Forecast downwards, joining WPP Media in signalling a worse-than-anticipated slowdown in the global ad market this year amid macroeconomic uncertainty. Magna now expects global ad revenue to grow 4.9% to reach $979bn this year, after previously forecasting 6.1% growth to $990bn. It similarly downgraded the UK’s forecast growth to 6% from 8.4%, citing “economic uncertainty and softer advertiser sentiment”.