Category: Latest thinking

The Implications of AI on Trust and Truth In Marketing

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The World Media Group hosted a panel in Cannes with Amir Malik, Managing Director, Digital Transformation Accenture and Evan Bretos, Director, Newsroom at The Washington Post discussing the implications Generative AI may have on trust and truth in marketing. Emma Winchurch-Beale, Executive Director, Insider, chaired the discussion, quizzing our experts on issues such as:

  • How marketers are currently using generative AI and how quickly it’s changing
  • The impact generative AI will have on personalisation
  • What will happen when there’s more AI generated content than human content
  • The consequences of AI generated by bad actors

Watch the full video to find out what our panel had to say about all these questions and more.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/zovMMqy41pI”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

World Media Awards 2023 Shortlist Announced

Strong Increase Across Corporate Influencer, Financial Services and Rising Star Categories

London, Tuesday 27th June: The World Media Group has announced the shortlist for the 2023 World Media Awards (WMAs), which showcase the best in international content-driven, cross-border advertising. The awards drove strong international interest across APAC, EMEA and the Americas attracting entries from Belgium, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Ireland, Singapore, Turkey, UK and the USA, UAE to highlight a few.

This year, entries increased by 100% in the Corporate Influencer category and 63% in the Financial Services category compared to last year. Entries for the Rising Star category – introduced last year to recognise talented individuals who are making a significant impact to the creativity and effectiveness of content-led advertising strategies early on in their careers – have more than doubled.

The shortlist, which includes a wide variety of renowned brands, was decided by an international team of 39 heavyweight jurors from leading advertisers, agencies and publishers. The jury’s make up reflects the vital importance of collaboration between all three parties when creating effective content-driven marketing campaigns. This year’s Co-chairs are Jerry Daykin, Head of Global Media, Beam Suntory and Natasha Byrne, Managing Partner, UM. You can see the full list of judges here.

“I was delighted to see so many high-quality entries which were insight-led and data-driven across all categories, but it was particularly interesting to see such an increase in strong campaigns from the Financial Services sector, perhaps a reflection of the need for financial institutions to set themselves apart from the competition in the current economic climate,” said Natasha Byrne, Managing Partner, UM.

“The number of strong candidates competing for this year’s Rising Star award blew me away,” said Jerry Daykin, Head of Global Media, Beam Suntory. “Shortlisting this impressive list of entries was tough, but it gives me confidence that brands are in safe hands for years to come. This next generation of savvy marketers are already showing such innovation with their contributions to international, content-led, advertising, it’s truly inspiring.”

World Media Awards Event: The final category winners will be announced during an exclusive live ceremony at the Ham Yard Hotel in London on Thursday 7th September 2023 The winner of this year’s prestigious Grand Prix Award will also be announced on the night, joining brands such as Johnnie Walker, London & Partners, Malaria No More, Shell, Sonos and Tata Motors, who have taken home the prize in previous years.

Winners’ Perks: The Awards are unique in that all winners not only walk away with a trophy and kudos on the night, but will also see their work celebrated in an exclusive worldwide advertising campaign valued at €750k+ which will run across the World Media Group’s leading international media brands comprising The Atlantic, BBC News, Insider, The Economist, Forbes, Fortune, National Geographic, Reuters, Politico Europe, The New York Times, The Smithsonian, TIME, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.

The 2023 shortlist is as follows:

Automotive

Brand / Campaign Entered by
Audi – Audi Future | 4ward | Sustainability TIME
Volkswagen – The Force Is Strong, United! PHD Germany
Volkswagen Group – MMP: Multi Brand Activation Omnicom Group
Volkswagen ID. Buzz – Feeling The Force Of A Perfect Partnership PHD and Scholz&Friends

Corporate Influencer

Brand / Campaign Entered by
Brand Scotland – Scotland: More Than You Thought BBC StoryWorks
Haleon– The Health Inclusivity Index Economist Impact
Iberdrola – The Power Playbook: How Leaders Use Renewables The Trust at The Wall Street Journal | Barron’s Group
Iberdrola – Building A Green Energy Major Headland Consultancy
Maersk –Discover New Paths Havas Business

Financial Services

Brand / Campaign Entered by
Invest Europe– A Different Angle: Funding people, With Purpose Invest Europe
iShares by BlackRock– Index More Mindshare
PGIM – OutFront Reuters
Visa – Protecting Gamers Protects Visa Starcom Worldwide
Visa – Visa: The Right Way To Right Attention Starcom Worldwide

Luxury & Lifestyle

Brand / Campaign Entered by
adidas– Ozworld EssenceMediacom
Birkenstock – Birkenstock & The New York Times Advertising “Ugly for a Reason” The New York Times Advertising
Boucheron– Media Beyond Gender iProspect Global

Media & Entertainment

Brand / Campaign Entered by
Bumble – Brand Anthem Havas Media Group London
PlayStation– # GameTok EssenceMediacom
Reuters – Reuters NEXT Thomson Reuters

Technology & Telecoms

Brand / Campaign Entered by
Dell – Dell x VMware x CIO: Be Ready For The Future Foundry, an IDG, Inc. company
Deutsche Telekom AG – #WhatWeValue: Embracing Volunteerism With Gen Z Mindshare GmbH
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 – Samsung Galaxy: Flipping Perceptions With StemDrop Starcom Worldwide

Travel & Tourism

Brand  / Campaign Entered by
Abu Dhabi Tourism – Abu Dhabi Unwrapped: A Sonic Travel Guide BBC StoryWorks
Cymru Wales (Welsh Government) – Wales To The World Orchard Media and Events
Let’s Do London 2022 – Let’s Do London Wavemaker Global
Travel Manitoba– Canada’s Heart Is Calling Travel Manitoba

Specialist Categories:

Brand & Media Owner Partnership

Brand / Campaign Entered by
Birkenstock – Birkenstock & The New York Times Advertising “Ugly for a Reason” The New York Times Advertising
DP World – Trade In Transition Economist Impact
Kyndryl – Profiles Of Progress Economist Impact
Target – Remezcla + Target Remezcla

Rising Star

Name Company
Tilman Henschke   Crossmedia
Teodora Tepavicharova Condé Nast
Sakshi Bhambhani OMD EMEA
Rosie Duckworth UM
Obinna Iwuji Wavemaker

Social Good

Brand / Campaign Entered by
Deutsche Telekom AG – #WhatWeValue: Embracing Volunteerism With GenZ Mindshare GmbH
Haleon– The Health Inclusivity Index Economist Impact
Leaps by Bayer–Crossing The Line BBC StoryWorks
Samsung – Putting Samsung Live Recommerce At The Heart Of World Environment Day Starcom Worldwide

For full details of shortlisted entries go to https://world-media-group.com/awards/2023-shortlist/

#ENDS#.

Media contact:

Charlotte Panther T: 07834 431206 or E: Charlotte@world-media-group.com

About The World Media Group

The World Media Group is a strategic alliance of leading international media organisations that connects brands with highly engaged, influential audiences in the context of trusted and renowned journalism. Its members include The Atlantic, BBC News, The Economist, Forbes, Fortune, Insider, National Geographic, Politico Europe, Reuters, The New York Times Company, The Smithsonian, TIME, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, and partners Brand Metrics, Dianomi and Smartology. To find out more about the World Media Group, please visit www.world-media-group.com.

What marketers need to know about Generative AI by Belinda Barker, Chief Executive of The World Media Group

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]What marketers need to know about Generative AI

You can’t pick up a newspaper or turn on the TV these days without stumbling across a story about Generative AI or, more specifically, Chat GPT. Last month during a panel on the subject at the CIM Financial Marketing Leaders’ Summit, I was one of the few people in the room to admit that I’d never used Chat GPT. I’ve since rectified that and can see some benefits for marketers – as long as we’re able to navigate the potential pitfalls.

So, what do marketers need to know about Generative AI? Here are my key outtakes after listening to the panel of experts on the subject.

A powerful tool if wielded correctly

Anyone who has asked Chat GPT a question will be aware of its shortcomings when it comes to delivering accurate information, but with the right data, it has the potential to hugely enhance productivity. Lindsey Herbert, Chief Innovation Officer at IBM Garage, put this into context with a brilliant example of how, if wielded correctly, Generative AI can be a powerful tool.

Herbert explained that it took about 10 years to train IBM’s question-answering AI, Watson, in 12 languages. However, by adding the foundational modelling made possible by Generative AI to Watson’s natural language processing, they were able to increase that to 25 languages within just one year.

The US company CVS Pharmacies reaped the benefits of this when, during the pandemic, they were receiving a deluge of calls about the Covid vaccine. Using the natural language processing capability for IBM’s voice AI, they were able to handle 28 million calls, launching the programme from scratch in less than 3 weeks.

Seventy percent of callers were 100 percent satisfied by the response – unaware that they were speaking to an AI. It’s clear from this example that the potential for human-like chatbots to streamline the customer care business is enormous.

Hyper-personalisation has become a reality

Marketers have been talking about hyper-personalisation for years, but generative AI can make it a reality. Amir Malik, MD, Digital Marketing at Accenture, told the CIM Financial Marketing Leaders’ Summit audience that there’s a radical change coming around how we will experience Account Based Marketing.

Generative AI can generate tens of thousands of drafts for a hyper-personalised experience to one segment of customers in just a few hours, making it possible to reach people faster and much more effectively. Add to that technology like Synthesia, which creates a human avatar that has ChatGPT speech personalised to the individual, and it starts to feel like something out of a sci-fi movie.

But that’s not necessarily a good thing. As Herbert pointed out, in most sci-fi movies when we see a character walking through the streets of a futuristic city bombarded by talking ads, their reaction is generally to avoid or ignore the advertising! When there’s a deluge of content, standing out becomes so much more difficult, so creativity will remain the key ingredient when it comes to reaching audiences.

Expect quantity over quality 

According to Malik, Generative AI is evolving four times faster than Moore’s law. As the rate of improvement rapidly increases, it has the potential to disrupt many industries. While we can undoubtedly save time and resources by generating large volumes of content such as blogs and social media posts, the source of the information may be spurious.

Programmes such as Chat GPT are only as good as the information they are being fed. If you’re using AI to create content, it could well be answering your question based on a high volume of low-quality articles that dominate the search response. Editing and fact-checking your material is essential. Here’s where the 80:20 rule comes into play – AI can do 80 percent of the job, but the quality of the output will be determined by the last 20 percent of human input.

Add to that the fact that there’s currently a lack of regulation around AI worldwide. If we think about a worst-case scenario, in the wrong hands Chat GPT could be flooded with a high volume of political disinformation and misinformation or content from conspiracy theorists.

Being human is what makes us unique

While there’s no question that we can save ourselves hours of time by using AI, productivity means nothing if it doesn’t lead our customers to engage with whatever it is we’re promoting. As marketers we’re competing for people’s attention and the best way to capture them is to present a unique creative idea.

As IBM’s Herbert pointed out, if you’re asking a programme like chat GPT to write copy for your campaign, and you use it as is, you have failed! What Chat GPT is doing is providing the most likely answer to the question that you’ve posed. If the person you’re targeting is able to predict what you’re saying, they’re very unlikely to bother reading your email or following your call to action.

Where Chat GPT can come in useful is testing out your new marketing campaign or your copy against the AI to check whether what you’ve written actually is unique. If Chat GPT comes up with a similar result, it’s time for a re-think!

Having immersed myself further into the world of Generative AI, I think there are plenty of opportunities for marketers to get excited about. The danger is that if, in our race to increase productivity or to achieve hyper personalisation we lose sight of creativity, we risk going from brand to bland.

If you’re heading to Cannes and would like to find out more about the implications of Generative AI on trust and truth in marketing, join us for our panel discussion on the subject:

Date                  Wednesday 21st June
Time                  9.45 – 11.00 CET
Place                 Axel Springer Freedomhaus, Hotel Barrière Le Majestic Cannes, 10 Bd de la Croisette, 06400 Cannes, France

Please fill out the form here to confirm your attendance.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

2023 World Press Freedom Index – journalism threatened by fake content industry

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The 21st edition of the World Press Freedom Index is released today by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The Index sheds light on major and often radical changes linked to political, social and technological upheavals.

According to the 2023 World Press Freedom Index, which evaluates the environment for journalism in 180 countries and territories and is published on World Press Freedom Day (3 May), the situation is “very bad” in 31 countries, “bad” in 42, “problematic” in 55, and “good” or “fairly good” in 52 countries.

Environment for journalism “bad” in seven out of ten countries

In other words, the environment for journalism is “bad” in seven out of ten countries, and satisfactory in only three out of ten.

Norway is ranked first for the seventh year running. But – unusually – a non-Nordic country is ranked second, namely Ireland (up 4 places at 2nd), ahead of Denmark (down 1 place at 3rd). The Netherlands (6th) has risen 22 places, recovering the position it had in 2021, before crime reporter Peter R. de Vries was murdered.

There are changes at the bottom of the Index, too. The last three places are occupied solely by Asian countries: Vietnam (178th), which has almost completed its hunt of independent reporters and commentators; China (down 4 at 179th), the world’s biggest jailer of journalists and one of the biggest exporters of propaganda content; and, to no great surprise, North Korea (180th).

Enormous volatility and instability

Christophe Deloire RSF Secretary-General, said: “The World Press Freedom Index shows enormous volatility in situations, with major rises and falls and unprecedented changes, such as Brazil’s 18-place rise and Senegal’s 31-place fall. This instability is the result of increased aggressiveness on the part of the authorities in many countries and growing animosity towards journalists on social media and in the physical world. The volatility is also the consequence of growth in the fake content industry, which produces and distributes disinformation and provides the tools for manufacturing it.”

Effects of the fake content industry

The 2023 Index spotlights the rapid effects that the digital ecosystem’s fake content industry has had on press freedom. In 118 countries (two-thirds of the 180 countries evaluated by the Index), most of the Index questionnaire’s respondents reported that political actors in their countries were often or systematically involved in massive disinformation or propaganda campaigns.

The difference is being blurred between true and false, real and artificial, facts and artifices, jeopardising the right to information. The unprecedented ability to tamper with content is being used to undermine those who embody quality journalism and weaken journalism itself.

The role of the World Media Group is to champion the values of trusted international journalism and we’re proud to support RSF and the important work it does to protect the freedom of the press around the world. Today on Press Freedom Day, we wish to support WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was wrongfully detained by Russia. We stand with Evan and his family in demanding his immediate release.

You can read RSF’s 2023 World Press Freedom Index in full here.

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Has ESG changed the way that we do marketing?

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]At this year’s CIM Financial Services Marketing Leaders’ Summit, Alison Harbert, Marketing Director, Investec was joined by Nicky Owen, Head of Strategic Sustainability Marketing at Standard Chartered and Santosh Sethumadhavan, ex Global Head of B2B Marketing Programmes at HSBC for a discussion about how the rise of ESG and ESG marketing has changed marketers’ content and marketing strategies. Here are five key takes out based on the panellists’ broad-ranging experience of sustainability marketing,

  1. Sustainability comes from the top-down

    Sustainability is more than just a campaign and can no longer sit within the remit of the marketing department. In the early stages, when Santosh Sethumadhavan started leading the charge for sustainability marketing at HSBC, he was surprised that what started out as an ad campaign soon became a marketing strategy, and then very quickly developed into a business strategy that unexpectedly galvanised the entire company.

“It required the whole organisation to come together, right from the top down, everyone to be on the same page, everyone to say the same things, everyone to understand and see the goals the same way,” he said. He views success in terms of how they started the sustainability conversation across the organisation about what was right and what was good.

This led to buy-in on a global scale at HSBC – from marketing teams to heads of business to CEO-level. It stripped away some of the confusion around sustainability and highlighted why customers needed the programme, so that by the time the marketing campaign launched, everyone within the organisation was aligned.

  1. Define common goals on a global level 

    For many large financial institutions, one of the challenges is ensuring that the sustainability conversation is relevant, wherever a local business is based. What we might consider urgent in London, for example, is perhaps not urgent in Mexico. Sethumadhavan says there needs to be a weighing scale of how people want to be involved with the subject and how much money they want to put behind it.

In the western world, although there’s a risk involved, sustainability is an opportunity and is seen as the right thing to do. When the conversation comes up in the developing parts of the world, however, Sethumadhavan points out that because cultures are not yet in the same place, it’s often seen as the ‘western tax’ imposed on countries like India and China to curtail their activity.

“There needs to be an open conversation about what level everyone needs to be at right now. Is there a varying level? What’s the definition of corporate responsibility around this? What do businesses need to achieve in the next five to 10 years in order to make a real difference?” he says.

Owen echoes Sethumadhavan’s sentiments. “At Standard Chartered, many of our markets are in the developing parts of the world where climate change and social inequalities are front and centre, and are impacting them more.” She says having conversations with colleagues in many regions, from Kazakhstan to Tanzania Nepal to Vietnam, has made her question her own biases around how she views sustainability. “I am having my perspective challenged,” she says. In financial services particularly, where money flows around the world, Owen says it’s important to think about where people are being disproportionately impacted and what difference can be made there.

  1. Everyone is responsible 

    In her new role as Head of Strategic Sustainability Marketing for Standard Chartered, an organisation of 85,000 people, Owen points out that sustainability doesn’t sit in a track or silo. She says everybody has a responsibility, and in fact most people have an interest professionally or personally, which means conversations and collaborations are happening across all divisions of the business – from the front office and commercial side to the back office, legal and HR.

“I feel like I’m sitting in the beating heart of the bank, which is a really privileged position to be, not just because of how you can influence your colleagues, but also influencing various different stakeholders.” Her role takes her far beyond the typical marketing remit of client and customer; Owen has to take into account challenges from NGOs, regulators, ratings agencies and colleagues. She stresses how essential it is to listen to all the different perspectives, and then try to find common ground.

  1. Keep an open mind 

    Sethumadhavan agrees that keeping an open mind is important. He adds that you also need to be open to criticism. While HSBC has strong convictions about their position on carbon, it is countered by the reality of what’s happening in certain markets where ‘shutting the tap off’ on carbon isn’t straight forward.

According to Sethumadhavan, it would desolate certain communities because the companies there aren’t at a point where they can pivot 100 percent. Instead, he believes financial institutions like HSBC can help by supporting clients’ transition: “Answers will be found through conversation and over time. Yes, we need to act with urgency, but we still need to take in everyone’s views,” he says.

  1. Greenwashing: don’t mislead by omission 

    Both panellists agreed that it’s important to have organisations such as the ASA scrutinising companies to put a stop to greenwashing. Owen considers the HSBC ASA ruling a landmark moment that forced everyone to start to acknowledge that it’s not only what you’re saying that is important, but also what you’re not saying. Even if what you communicate is true and can be proven, if there isn’t a holistic picture across an organisation, it can still be perceived to be misleading by omission.

For Owen, that means ensuring everything is joined up – understanding that you can’t do something in one country that seems counter to what’s acceptable in another. It requires keeping a global view whilst at the same time having very different global standards and ensuring no one undermines the brand. Given how challenging it can be to get the points across in an advertising headline, she suggests content marketing can be a better way for organisations to communicate a fuller sustainability story.

Sethumadhavan’s final piece of advice to ensure your brand stands up to scrutiny is to get brutally fresh eyes on any initiative to surface the sort of questions the Ad watchdogs may ask. In his case, employees from HSBC’s graduate programme and the younger members of the team interrogated management about the details of certain initiatives. “They were so open-eyed and so naive; they didn’t have any fear. In a room full of 40 people, they would say what was on their mind – it’s good to have honest folks in the room to call you on your BS.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

The Future of Work within Advertising

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Future of Work in Advertising: Key Takeouts

The World Media Group hosted its latest Smart Briefing this week, a discussion around what the future of work looks like for the advertising industry. Chaired by Spriha Srivastava, UK Bureau Chief & International Executive Editor, Insider, the debate covered many of the issues keeping leaders up at night – from balancing new ways of working to how to attract the next generation of talent.

The panel comprised Ally Owen, Founder of ADcademy and the Brixton Finishing School; Alex Wood – Managing Director, Forbes EMEA; and Jim Brown, Founder and Head Coach, Ground + Air. It was clear from the discussion that while some of the new ways of working implemented during the pandemic have had a positive impact on the workforce, there is still work to be done around flexibility, diversity and career development. Here are some of the highlights from the panellists’ conversation. You can watch the full discussion HERE.

The legacy of working from home

The pandemic proved to even the most cynical managers that employees could get just as much done working from home, if not more. Fewer people are now willing to be tied to a 9-5 in-office role, five days a week.

“When we’re hiring for roles and when I’m interviewing candidates,’ Spriha Srivastava noted, “the first question is, ‘How flexible are you?’ People are just no longer willing to go into an office – not five days a week and sometimes not at all.” Brixton Finishing School’s Ally Owen has reaped the benefits of this change in thinking. “We’ve mopped up amazing talent by being flexible,” she said.

Virtual onboarding needs improving

There is a downside though. One of the issues is that we’re not yet good enough at onboarding emerging talent virtually. Jim Brown believes that leaders and managers need to dedicate time to “genuinely contracting with a new member of staff.”

This goes beyond the onboarding process and needs to be specific to the individual: “It’s that personal contract you agree with someone. It’s says: what do you need from me in order to flourish here? Let’s really understand each other. This is what I need from you,” he says. “Be authentic, unapologetic and clear about that, and then manage it through from the day they start”.

The benefits to business

The productivity of the remote workforce does not appear to be an issue. The pandemic was a period of growth for Forbes, and Alex Wood’s team’s productivity didn’t suffer. As an international team, Forbes supported them in travelling back to their home to see their families when they could, and that flexibility has become the norm.

“One of my team members I affectionately refer to as our Madrid correspondent because she just loves Madrid and she likes to work from there,” said Wood. “And why the hell not? This has been really positive for her wellbeing.” By giving people flexibility on the personal side, the business is seeing its own benefits. Team members who choose to spend most of their time in France can meet up with clients who are based there, for example.

Attracting a more diverse workforce

For Owen, the ability to offer a flexible work schedule has allowed her to attract some incredibly talented woman to her team, particularly senior women who, because of family or carer responsibilities, may have been excluded by traditional work structures.

Gender stereotyping still an issue

Nonetheless, gender stereotyping is still apparent. Srivastava moderated a few panels during her maternity leave and was often asked who was looking after her baby. “When I said his dad, there was shock on people’s faces. I’d ask, why are you so shocked? If his dad travelled to work, would you ask him who’s taking care of the baby?” This assumption that the mum is the primary caregiver still exists.

Wood has come across similar issues as a same sex parent. “In a work context, people like to put you in a box,” he said, “A lot of people asked which one of us was going to stay at home.” In fact, Wood and his husband were able to share most of their parental leave, but this is rare. He believes the media industry should be taking the lead on this issue.

How to stay creative

One of the things that Srivastava said she struggled with during isolation was creativity. “When I feel like I’m not able to put my mind into creative ideas, I go for a walk, take a paper and a pen, step away from my laptop, write down notes, and then come back,” she said. The panel had a few of their own hacks to get the creativity flowing.

For Owen, who has an ADHD diagnosis, it’s about leaning into her natural rhythms. “I get up really early and I tend do the creative and the big thinking stuff between 6 and 9am,” she said.

Wood is using the ‘time boxing’ method, blocking out time in his calendar for every single task. He finds Zoom meetings “a suck of your energy” so limits them to two hours and then does something physical.

Find your flow

Brown referenced the science behind Flow, and the Flow Cycle. He describes Flow as that ultimate sense of engagement. “We all know what it feels like when we’re in the zone with something. We’re really focused; the task is at the outer reaches of your capabilities, maybe a bit beyond. Time may stand still, or go really quickly – everything is clicking.”

He says to get into the optimal creative zone, you have to pass through the Flow Cycle, and you can’t short-cut it. The first part of the cycle is Struggle – trying to get into whatever it is you’re doing. “That’s the bit when you’re most likely to check your email or push yourself off-task,” Brown said. It typically takes 12 minutes to go from the Struggle stage to the next phase, Release, before you can get into Flow.

“The Release stage may involve going for a walk or getting your head out of the situation by doing something else before getting into your Flow,” he explained. Taking your mind off the problem is almost always the solution to the problem. “It gives our brain the opportunity to pass learning from conscious to the subconscious mind”. “Then you can get into Flow, always followed by Rest & Recovery (the final part of the cycle)”.

The future of work

The final question for the panel was about what the workplace may look like in 5-10 years’ time. Owen thinks there’s going to be a schism. Employers that are flexible, inclusive and optimise talent will become “like beacons that people want to work at.

“They’ll attract the best people with disabilities; the best people who are older. They’ll get the best talent because they are open to all talent. And then you’ll have employers who want to do things the traditional way – they won’t be optimising talent and they’ll be getting the same people they’ve always got,” she said.

Brown thinks we are going to see a workforce spanning four generations and all the arguments and opportunities that creates. He thinks that despite the post-lockdown enthusiasm for flexible working, it’s going to be a rocky road.

“Everybody can see the opportunities flexible working brings and they know how to navigate that with more measurability around outcomes,” he said. “The problem is that as soon as we realise we can squeeze five days into four, greedy business owners will wonder what they could do if they had five days a week and I think the yo-yo between these two states will continue.”

Nonetheless, our panellists agreed that the flexibility we now enjoy is making for a more successful workplace – for both employees and employers. For more insights into the future of work in advertising, watch the full discussion HERE.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Creativity in media: What makes a winning content campaign?

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Damian Douglas, President of the World Media Group and MD of TIME for EMEA, sat down with this year’s World Media Awards Head Judges, Natasha Byrne Managing Partner at UM media agency, and Jerry Daykin, Head of Global Media at premium spirits company Beam Suntory. The conversation centred around creativity and what makes an award-winning entry. Here’s what our Head Judges had to say on the subject:

Damian: Creativity is the backbone of these awards. What are the most exciting trends you’ve seen adopted within content marketing recently?

Jerry: I absolutely love it when content marketing delivers on both the brand’s mission but also helps the media owner tell stories that they wouldn’t have been able to tell anyway. I’m a Diversity & Inclusion ambassador for the World Federation of Advertisers so I love it when brands create content which talks to new audiences, talk to new communities and funds new voices through sponsorships or partnerships.

Damian: So what makes a great content partnership?

Jerry: Ultimately, you’ve got to look at content partnerships from the creative side and ask is it true to what the brand wants to communicate? It’s relatively easy to make a fantastic piece of content. It’s trickier to make a fantastic piece of content that authentically brings the brand into it.

We’ve had a lot of maturity now in this space. There was a time when brands would just stick a logo on a piece of content. There are times when that can work, but there are better examples when there’s a real joining of what the publication stands for, what its editorial themes are, and what the brand wants to talk about. Not one big advert, but truly communicating and getting much more depth on the brand. I think that’s a great content partnership.

Damian Natasha, how do you approach it from an agency perspective?

Natasha: I say to my clients, “You might be talking the talk, but are you walking the walk?” A big trend is content partnerships delivering on the brand’s ethos, as well as around social issues. But also, if you’re talking about diversity and inclusion, look at the creatives within the brand partnership. Are they inclusive? Do they give options for people who are non-seeing or non-hearing? Are they inclusive creatives? Really thinking about the whole picture – that’s the trend I’m seeing in recent times.

Damian: What’s the media owner’s role in this? Do they have the right to push back on the client and say, if you want to show up in our spaces you have to respect our brand values?

Natasha: The ones that I love to work with are those that really push me and say this might not be the right thing to do, connecting our editorial with what you’re trying to say. Is your message linked up to what your brand is saying? Those are the ones that are going to continuously improve what we do as an agency, but also with our clients.

Damian: Jerry, do you feel the same?

Jerry: As a client, as with an agency, you’re effectively sending the same brief to a bunch of different media owners and if they all just repeat it back to you, there comes a slightly boring conversation of who’s the highest paid reached or cheapest CPM.

What’s really exciting is when someone comes back with a curveball idea or a different interpretation – this is our audience, we know them really well, we get that you want to communicate this, but actually we think this is a better way in.

Those things tend to win briefs and lead to good work. As a client, it’s good to be challenged, being told our audience won’t like that or don’t do that!

Damian: The media owner is bringing in their context and audience together, which is a powerful combination, but it means as a media owner, you need to have some strength in your own purpose and in your own values. And you’re not right for everything.

Jerry: There’s probably a million different ways of buying reach if all you want to do is get content in front of people. You can do that through almost any publication, any network, any social network. It’s definitely about having that voice, having that opinion, and being able to bring that unique lens.

Damian: Are there any clients that stand out for you, Natasha, in terms of doing incredible things with regards to creativity in this space?

Natasha: A lot of clients are doing really creative things. Every year we have Spotify Wrapped, What I love about that is it’s personalised. It is something that is very easily shareable. And it’s something that people look forward to every year and it tells something about that person. Spotify have really capitalised on that.

Another brand that’s worked well in terms of content marketing is Johnson & Johnson. They’ve just done a campaign where Nicorette have capitalised on the insight that people don’t quit smoking on their own. They’ve done a nice content partnership with Gay Times where they had different partners working together to spur each other on to help quit smoking.

It’s a really nice way to capitalise on understanding what the key insight is and bringing that to life and really making change, because a huge amount of people quit smoking as a result.

Damian: And Jerry, any brands that you think are doing amazing things with regards to creativity?

Jerry: One of the things I really like is a brand that sticks with a partner and builds over several years. Skittle have done a really nice job – I’ve seen iterations some of it funding editorial. They did a great Gay Times piece where they were recolouring old images from Pride events, Pride marches and things, but they brought that through to experiential events; they hosted a Eurovision watch-along last year.

That’s come out of a multiyear partnership where you can imagine behind closed doors they’re asking the editorial team, what do you guys wish you could be doing? What stories do you want to be telling that we could help fund with colour the rainbow within them?

From a media owner perspective there are some new contenders – video platforms like Amazon Prime coming into this space, so plenty of competition but hopefully lots of creativity coming out.

Damian: What about from a B2B lens? Do you see B2B brands pushing themselves in these areas?

Natasha: People always ask me why I love working on B2B brands. It’s because B2B brands have to work so much harder in order to be noticed, in order for people to build that brand love.

I think Accenture does very well. We were lucky enough to have highly commended last year in the World Media Awards. That was with a partner – The Financial Times – over a long period of time so that we’re able to survey where we were before the campaign against our audience, and then be able to see tangible results after.

With Accenture it’s about creating new creative formats, so we’re using their Metaverse technology in one of the FT events, continuously evolving in terms of how we work with our partners.

Damian: Now talent is something we’re going to have to think hard about as an industry moving forward, both from an inclusivity perspective and a visibility perspective, which is why we introduced our Rising Star category.

When you’re hiring and you’re looking for young creative talent, what do you look for and where do they come from?

Jerry: We face a double-ended talent challenge across the industry – we don’t seem to have enough people and we also don’t seem to have enough diversity inclusive people. We need to bring those two things together to make sure that we’re having people from different backgrounds join our industry.

There’s work being done by the WFA in the UK to survey where we’re at, and identify some of those boundaries. We work with external organisations like the Brixton Finishing School who are experts in finding people from different backgrounds and giving them that initial media training. Some of the real stars of the industry come through pathways like that.

We also rely on our agencies and our media owners to have different perspectives, different opportunities, some of those young, fresh minds. It’s obviously tricky when you’re junior, but ultimately, you want people who come with a strong personality, a strong opinion and are willing to bring those perspectives to work. But it’s a challenge. We need to get better at marketing ourselves as industry wanting more people to come and work with us.

Damian: I’ve spoken to agency leaders for the last six to 12 months. Every one of them says they’ve had open jobs but can’t find the right people. Is that still the case agency side? And how do you view talent?

Natasha: If I was to apply for a role in an agency today, I don’t know if I’d get it, because the people that I see coming through the door are absolutely incredible! What I look for is curiosity, being brave, and also a little bit of a difference in terms of your thought process behind things, because what I love about people who are new to the industry is that you see things with a fresh set of eyes. You don’t think we’ve always done something this way; you have a fresh perspective on things.

But there are things that we struggle with in terms of getting new people into the industry. And as Jerry said, we have to address the diversity and also the social economic backgrounds of people that are applying to agencies in Central London because working in Central London comes at a cost, so we need to think about that.

At UM we’ve been going back further in terms of the age of the people that we’re talking to about media. We’ve got our Future-Proof Academy where we’re going to different schools and we’re training and talking to young students about careers in media. We’re working with our clients to give them a brief so that we can get fresh perspective, but also, to excite and interest people in joining and thinking about media as a future career. We need to work further back, not just for people who are already in university, to attract new talent within the industry.

Damian: So, moving on to the Awards, what makes an award-winning content marketing campaign?

Natasha: The first thing for me is could this be any brand? When you look at the actual campaign, could you swap the logo for something else, and it would still work? Or is it completely tailored to this brand, and does it make sense in terms of this brand’s values?

Secondly is really strong insight – what is the insight that this campaign hangs off? And what is the strategy that then leads to the activation of that insight? How does it fit into your overall campaign? Does it just standalone? Does it fit into an overall brand campaign? And finally, what are the results beyond media?

Jerry: I think the only thing I’d add is that when you’re a judge, you’re reading 90 similar papers where they’ve all done good things. So, if you’ve done something brilliant, don’t hide it! Make sure you’re flagging what is amazing upfront in the summary, what is great about this work. Why does this deserve an award? Just put it there upfront for us judges to understand. Don’t leave those gems of why it’s a great idea hidden for people to find. Spell out why the campaign worked so well.

Natasha: We also need to remember these are the World Media Awards, not the World Creative Awards and therefore you need to make sure that you’re highlighting the smart media things that you’ve done in this campaign. If it was a brilliant video, but there’s nothing else behind that, then that’s not a World Media Award.

Jerry: You want the great headline to show why this was exciting, but you also want to dig in, why was it great – what did you do? How did you activate? What was unique? What data did you use, what was the insight? We want everything!

Damian: It’s a big commitment from both of you to be judges. What’s in it for you?

Jerry: I find it super inspiring. Awards are one of those rare moments where you spend a bit of time seeing what everybody else is doing. It’s exciting and inspirational. And you take notes and think, oh, maybe we should be leaning into this.

Damian: That’s what the industry’s about – everybody bringing each other up a level and learning from each other.

Natasha: The inspiration, learning from the other awards and seeing something that we can consider, discovering what different partners offer, but also a big part of it is the community. Getting to know the other judges, getting to know the publishers more. I’ve kept in touch with a lot of the judges I met last year, so it’s been a great community and support.

Damian: We remain a people industry and our ability to convene and share ideas is what the industry does and it’s why it’s so important to get together.

Thanks Natasha and Jerry for a great conversation. We hope that’s inspired anyone reading to consider entering your own amazing creative work into this year’s World Media Awards. Natasha and Jerry, you’re going to have a tough job on your hands, so good luck!

The World Media Awards celebrate creativity and effectiveness in cross-platform, cross border, content-driven advertising. Many of the world’s leading brands are amongst the World Media Awards winners and the programme is recognised by WARC. You can find out more about how to enter the World Media Awards here, along with the case studies of previous winners to inspire you.

 

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Dianomi Partners with the World Media Group

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The World Media Group, a strategic alliance of leading international media organisations, welcomes Dianomi as Partner

London, New York and Sydney, 13 February 2023, Dianomi (London Stock Exchange: DNM), a leading provider of native digital advertising services to premium clients in the Financial Services and Business sectors, is delighted to announce their new partnership with the World Media Group, an alliance of international media organisations championing and supporting trusted journalism.

Dianomi has now been approved as one of three partners to the World Media Group whose members include The Atlantic, BBC Global News, The Economist, Forbes, Fortune, Insider, National Geographic, Politico Europe, Reuters, The New York Times Company, The Smithsonian, TIME, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. Members of World Media Group are all considered trusted and premium publishers of journalistic content, and the organisation acts to promote their ethos of innovation, integrity and inclusion in the sector. Dianomi is proud to work in association with the brands of the World Media Group and support their work in furthering the development of high-quality content.

Dianomi has built its reputation as a contextual leader serving ads for the premium segment of the Business and Finance sectors with a client base that includes 7 of the world’s top 10 largest asset management companies, 7 of the top 10 largest wealth management firms in the US and half of the top 10 banks in the US.

“This is an interesting collaboration for Dianomi and one that aligns with our own commercial objectives of focusing on high-quality content for premium clients,” CEO Rupert Hodson says. “The World Media Group represents some of the strongest brands in advertising and journalism, and we are proud to be named as one of their partners. I hope that the partnership furthers our work in collaborating with the most successful names in the industry.”

Belinda Barker, Chief Executive at The World Media Group said, “We are delighted to welcome Dianomi as one of our partners. Our organisations both share a focus on providing high-quality content across media publications throughout the world. We have significant cross-over in terms of our members and Dianomi’s client base, and we look forward to collaborating closely on future campaigns and events.”

Media Enquiries

Novella Communications: Tel:  44 (0)203 151 7008

Tim Robertson/Safia Colebrook

About Dianomi

Dianomi, established in 2003, is a leading provider of native digital advertising services to premium clients in the Financial Services and Business sectors. The Group operates from its offices in London, New York and Sydney. The Group enables premium brands to deliver native advertisements to a targeted audience on the desktop and mobile websites, mobile and tablet applications of premium publishers. It provides over 400 advertisers, including blue chip names such as abrdn, Invesco and Baillie Gifford, with access to an international audience of over 400 million devices per month through its partnerships with over 300 premium publishers of business and finance content, including blue chip names such as Reuters, Bloomberg and WSJ. Adverts served are contextually relevant to the content of the webpages on which they appear and mirror the style of the page, which enhances reader engagement. http://www.dianomi.com.

 

About The World Media Group
The World Media Group is a strategic alliance of leading international media organisations that connects brands with highly engaged, influential audiences in the context of trusted and renowned journalism. Its members include The Atlantic, BBC Global News, The Economist, Forbes, Fortune, Insider, National Geographic, Politico Europe, Reuters, The New York Times Company, The Smithsonian, TIME, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, and partners Brand Metrics, Dianomi and Smartology. To find out more about the World Media Group, please visit www.world-media-group.com.

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The State of (Dis) Union – Insights from the WEF in Davos

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]A panel comprising the World Media Group’s top international journalists gathered in London earlier this week to report back on what went on behind closed doors at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos. Chaired by Jonathan Birdwell, Interim Global head and Regional head of Europe, Middle East and Africa, Economist Impact, speakers included Suzanne Lynch, Chief Brussels Correspondent, POLITICO Europe; Jeremy Kahn, Senior Writer, Fortune; Ayesha Javed, Senior Editor, TIME; and Dharshini David, Global Trade Correspondent, BBC News.

The goal of the session was to provide the audience who didn’t attend Davos with ‘finger on the pulse’ insights into the conversations that took place around business and the economy.

Click here to watch the full discussion and hear the panel’s point of view on the following:

  • The economic climate – recession or no recession?
  • The outlook for the Ukraine war
  • Tech and innovation – the development of Chat GPT and AI
  • The Net Zero transition – are we still on track?
  • Crypto – what is its current standing?
  • Does Davos give a platform for countries with questionable human rights standards?
  • Diversity and profile – is Davos still relevant?

Setting the scene, Suzanne Lynch described Davos as a very ordinary little town in the middle of Switzerland, transformed to the centre of power once a year. Journalists have unfettered access to corporate and political leaders with the boundaries removed as everyone’s ferried around the town together in little cars.

The theme for this year was ‘Co-operation in a fragmented world’. Birdwell asked members of the panel whether that resonated or what their own takeaway headline would be.

According to Jeremy Kahn, there’s still not a lot of cooperation going on. “I think there’s a lot of people talking about the need for cooperation. And yet, this kind of acknowledgement that they are geopolitics coming into play and borders going up between countries, and a lot of highlighting of the difficulty of cooperation given the current environment.

“Governments are competing with each other, both for things like semiconductor production that is considered of geostrategic importance, but also even in clean energy. There’s quite a lot of competition between states about who’s going to offer what subsidies to what companies to get them there. All that was happening even though the highlight was supposed to be about how we all cooperate and work together on some of these problems.”

Although that may be true of the public discussions, Dharshini David believes that what’s going on behind closed doors is more positive. “When you talk to some of the corporate leaders who were there you realise it’s a bit like COP 27 – that when we talk about cooperation, what really matters is what’s going on in those rooms that are tucked away; the things that we don’t really see or hear when we’re there.

“And that progress is being made at that sort of granular level with corporate leaders from different countries coming together or meeting senior government ministers and saying we need to work together on this. That makes me quite hopeful for things that are being achieved at Davos, and also what could be translated into the year ahead.”

Ayesha Javed agrees that it remains a place to network where important conversations happen. “The networking and the closed-door conversation are really where it is most useful,” she says. “I heard Keir Starmer saying on a podcast that he would rather be in Davos than Westminster because he felt the conversations were much more productive!”

Is the WEF in Davos still a key facilitator in driving important discussions around business and the economy? Watch the full video here and decide for yourself.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

The 2023 World Media Awards for International Content-Driven Advertising Now Open for Entry

Organisers call out for ‘Rising Star’ nominations – the young talent making an impact today

London, Wednesday 18th January, 2023: The 2023 World Media Awards (WMAs) are open for entry today, offering ten categories to recognise the very best in cross platform, cross border, content-driven advertising. Hosted by the World Media Group, a strategic alliance of global publishers that promotes award-winning journalism and the role of international media, the WMAs are now in their eighth year.

Nominate your Rising Star!

In addition to the individual sector categories for content, the organisers are encouraging nominations for the Rising Star award, which recognises talented individuals who are making a significant impact to the creativity and effectiveness of content-led advertising strategies, early on in their careers.

 “The World Media Group supports inclusion and engagement across the media industry. The Rising Star Award was added to shine a spotlight on some of the talented young individuals who are pushing the boundaries of content marketing today,” said Damian Douglas, President of the World Media Group and Managing Director, EMEA, at TIME. “We encourage media owners, agencies and brands to put forward their Rising Stars, so we can recognise and reward their hard work and achievements in content-driven advertising.”

The World Media Awards offer a unique prize to each of the sector category winners. The winning entries are amplified in a worldwide advertising campaign valued at more than €750k running across the World Media Group’s leading international media brands. Members comprise The Atlantic, BBC Global News, The Economist, Forbes, Fortune, National Geographic, Insider, Politico Europe, Reuters, The New York Times Company, Smithsonian, TIME, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.

Championing international trusted journalism

The WMAs are the only awards to celebrate the collaboration between brands, agencies and media partners to create powerful international content campaigns and are not for profit, with £50 of every £100 entry fee donated to Reporters Without Borders.

“The World Media Group is committed to championing and promoting the very best in trusted global journalism so we’re proud to have Reporters Without Borders as a partner,” said Belinda Barker, Chief Executive of the World Media Group. “The charity protects and supports journalism and freedom of speech around the world, a cause that reflects the ethos of the World Media Group member brands. We’re delighted that the World Media Awards can contribute to supporting this vital cause.”

 A panel of international judges

 To reflect the importance of collaboration in creating successful international, content-driven advertising campaigns, the independent jury is made up of heavy-weight judges from brands, agencies and media owners. Leading this year’s line-up are co-chairs Jerry Daykin, Head of Global Media, Beam Suntory and Natasha Byrne, Managing Partner, UM.

You can find out more about this year’s judges here.

How to enter 

You can enter the WMAs at https://worldmedia.awardsplatform.com/.

Campaigns must have intentionally targeted audiences in at least three countries and 75% of activity needs to have been implemented between January 2022 and March 2023. There is no requirement for campaigns to have run in any of the World Media Group brands. The closing date for entries is 18th May 2023.

Categories 

This year there are ten Award categories open for general entry including ‘Rising Star’ and ‘Social Good’, along with the Content Leadership & Innovation award, which invites nominations from WMG members. The jury will select the Grand Prix from amongst the following category winners:

  • Automotive
  • Brand & Media Owner Partnership
  • Corporate Influencer
  • Financial Services
  • Luxury & Lifestyle
  • Media & Entertainment
  • Technology & Telecoms
  • Travel & Tourism

Awards ceremony

The winners will be announced at an exclusive live ceremony on Thursday 7th September 2023. Shortlisted entrants will receive two free tickets to join the celebration as guests of the World Media Group, and additional tickets will be available for purchase.

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About The World Media Group
The World Media Group is a strategic alliance of leading international media organisations that connects brands with highly engaged, influential audiences in the context of trusted and renowned journalism. Its members include The Atlantic, BBC Global News, The Economist, Forbes, Fortune, Insider, National Geographic, Politico Europe, Reuters, The New York Times Company, The Smithsonian, TIME, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, and partners Brand Metrics, Dianomi and Smartology. To find out more about the World Media Group, please visit www.world-media-group.com.