Show Notes
How did ad agency economics become so challenging? Fee-cutting and low growth are part of the equation, but the roots of the issue go back decades. Ad industry analyst and author Michael Farmer joins WARC's David Tiltman to discuss his new book 'Madison Avenue Revisited' and offer his take on 30+ years of change to advertising business models, including the impact of dysfunctional client-agency relationships, increased creative workloads and AI.
More from The WARC Podcast
Live from the Insights to Impact event, Reddit’s Lore Oxford shares how to get the best insights from the platform, Kraft Heinz’s Doug Healy and Zappi’s Julio Franco share how to make marketers love research, and Newell Brands’ Delicia Cooney discusses the importance of human-centric insights in the AI era. Hosted by WARC's David Tiltman.
The future of AI media still feels uncertain: a goldrush where no one knows where to dig. A new report from WARC Media examines whether fragmenting attention leads to a concentration of monetisation in the advertising market and consider what this might mean for the next era of AI media. WARC's Ann Marie Kerwin discusses the impact with Alex Brownsell and Debra Aho Williamson.
Strategy legends Suzanne Powers and Tom Morton left agency-land to build their own independent strategy businesses, discovering brands need new solutions to strategy problems outside of the agency model. They join WARC's David Tiltman to discuss what they've learned so far, the opportunities for strategists in going indie, and how to build a successful independent strategy proposition.
AI makes it easier to compete inside markets that already exist. That does not make strategy less important; it makes the search for new sources of demand more important. Erich Joachimsthaler, founder and CEO at VIVALDI, joins WARC's Lena Roland to discuss new 'demand spaces' for strategy.
How can strategy deliver measurable commercial value? Catherine Driscoll speaks with Martin Beverley (Ace of Hearts) and Baiba Matisone (Planning Folklore) about value-based agency models, business-minded collaboration, timeless principles, and staying distinctive and evidence-led in an AI-shaped industry.