Analysis

There are an awful of of things you can’t do or show in ads these days – maybe that’s why the outlook sometimes seems a bit dreary – and humour in hospital (as opposed to the ancient “humour in uniform”) ...

MAA’s late business partner Paul Simons wrote this nearly five years ago. He was right to ask the question. Today’s answer is, sadly, a resounding yes. I convince myself from time to time that I have lost the plot on ...

Is it time to do a review of 2020? Well we kind of did that with our multifarious Agencies of the Year and the dust still has to settle on this grimy old year. The end of year break will ...

Heinz has been making family-friendly ads since well into the last century: sometimes there’s the temptation to twist the formula as far as it will go and then a bit. Here’s a UK effort from 2002 (no idea who did ...

WPP is updating investors and analysts today but the menu gives a pretty clear idea of CEO Mark Read’s plans and expectations. Under Strategic Goals we have: *Return core Communications business to sustainable growth. *Expand further into high-growth areas of ...

For too long there has been a disconnect between two major functions in digital advertising – the ad creators and the media planners. Traditionally, the creators cook up a suite of ad creatives, ring the bell for the planning team ...

Carat UK CEO Jo Sutherland is reportedly “stepping down” as CEO – announced in a memo – and she won’t be the only person seeking new pastures as we venture into this strangest of holiday seasons. The turn of the ...

2020 was a particularly challenging year for the ad holding companies, pre-pandemic already facing challenges from the big consultancies – most notably Accenture, now armed with Droga5 – and the rush to digital and consequent hit on margins. For the ...

It’s been a year like no other most of us can remember (and let’s hope there isn’t another one) so it’s a slightly different MAA Agency of the Year review this year. Tracking the fortunes of international agencies and advertisers ...