MediaCat Magazine

'There’s no single master shift in culture that dictates the year ahead. Like a butterfly effect or seismic shock waves, one cultural moment can spawn many different responses.' Cultural insight specialist Victoria Gerstman shares five cultural shifts to watch out for as we move into 2025

'iProspect’s challenge was to grow top-of-mind awareness and make Capri-Sun the number one kid’s brand.' Find out how iProspect ran Capri-Sun’s biggest DOOH campaign to date, boosting sales for drinks by 17%.

10 stories MediaCat published this year that we think you should revisit, or just visit, if you missed them the first time around. Our most-read story of the year. Gemma Jones on why brands should act like place makers and seek to shape neighbourhoods for the good: https://lnkd.in/ehirt9PK It was a big year for Charli XCX — she was the subject of another of our most-read articles. Here’s Josh Graham on brat and brand awareness: https://lnkd.in/eVPFw5sn The venerable Jenni Romaniuk joined us as a columnist this year. Here’s her piece on turning experience into expertise: https://lnkd.in/eFT62Z7x Omnicom’s proposed acquisition of Interpublic group was the biggest advertising story of 2024. Here, Geoffrey Colon reflects on what the merger means for the industry, and advertising’s parallels with the music business: https://lnkd.in/ejVcVyqM More reflections! Ben Cunningham looks back at the path that led media agencies to principal-based media buying: https://lnkd.in/gTSFVnVb How VCCP’s Faith made an AI granny to waste scammers’ time as part of a campaign for O2: https://lnkd.in/eG2_qZcE The team at EssenceMediacom look back at their predictions for 2024 and rate their prescience: https://lnkd.in/ej2ezY7x The always-fascinating Faris Yakob on seasonal marketing: https://lnkd.in/e_W67F9g Behavioural science expert Richard Shotton discusses why Pret is a paragon of distinctiveness: https://lnkd.in/ecN5ZGep We’re hiring a reporter. It’s not a big story of 2024, granted, but allow us our indulgences: https://lnkd.in/e94K_bef

We're hiring a reporter. If you're interested in commercial media, can find stories and produce sharp analysis, we want to hear from you. Click here for how to apply: https://lnkd.in/e94K_bef

'Scammers tend to consider elderly people as vulnerable and easy prey. While many elderly don’t fit that mould, we felt a lovable Granny would be the perfect weapon to teach them a lesson.' Natasha Randhawa spoke to VCCP Faith’s Ben Hopkins and Morten Legarth to find out how they made an anti-scammer AI granny for O2.

'The 80s and 90s were a more simple time for media-agency folk...' Industry veteran Ben Cunningham on the evolution of media agencies and how we ended up with principal-based media buying. https://lnkd.in/gTSFVnVb

MediaCat Monthly, December 2024 | Sound and Music This is our last newsletter of 2024, and the final Mediacat Monthly ever. We'll be back in 2025 with new content and formats, but in the meantime, you can read about music as an effectiveness multiplier, how people attach meaning to sounds, the bouba-kiki effect, and advertising to the blind. We’ve also got pieces on Omnicom’s proposed acquisition of Interpublic Group (Intercom, anyone?), and the cultural shifts to look out for in 2025. Contributors: Victoria Gerstman, Faris Yakob, Natasha Randhawa, Richard Shotton, Geoffrey Colon, James Swift, Steph Hamill FRSA, Louise Millar, Pete Gibbons, Ed Cox, Shauna Moran, Charlotte Willcocks, Clara De Rosa, James Hill, Svilena Keane, Thomas Kolster, Andrew Lipscombe Conversations: Dan Calladine, Grace Letley, Paul Greenwood, Thomas Gent

'The best ideas about music and sound don’t always come from research papers or Cannes Lions winners. They emerge from trial, error, and a keen sense of what feels right.' Jono Wylie 🍴🦈, challenger brand consultant at eatbigfish, says influencers can teach us more about sound and brand building than marketing experts

By no means did the agency demonstrate super-forecaster levels of accuracy with its predictions for 2024, but as Parnum notes, ‘If we got them all right then we probably weren’t predicting hard enough.’ James Swift revisits EssenceMediacom's 2024 media predictions with the agency's joint CSO, Richard Kirk, partner Andrew Monks, and head of planning, James Parnum.

Betting on pop culture and why next year will be LOUD. Cultural shifts to watch out for in 2025, by Victoria Gerstman https://lnkd.in/eVBMmJ44