MAD//Insight
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THE DISRUPTOR'S PLAYBOOK: JOIN RORY SUTHERLAND AND OCTOPUS ENERGY FOUNDER GREG JACKSON FOR A FIRESIDE CHAT
Octopus Energy Founder Greg Jackson and Ogilvy Vice-chair Rory Sutherland will explore the psychological levers and brand strategy that has underpinned the energy disruptor's success in a fireside chat on 2 July.
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BOXPARK FOUNDER ROGER WADE TO CURATE 'MAKING IMPACT' MASTERCLASS AT MAD//FEST LONDON
Featuring top founders, investors and brand experts, Wade’s MAD//Fest masterclass will examine the shift towards purpose-driven businesses, and their value in a changing economic, cultural and consumer landscape.
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LULULEMON, MCDONALD'S, WREXHAM FC, TJX EUROPE + NESTLÉ LEADERS JOIN MAD//FEST LONDON SPEAKER LINE-UP
Heavyweight new speakers join a stellar line-up for MAD//Fest London on 1-3 July.
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Take part in Mentor-up-Close at MAD//Fest 2025
Mentor-up-Close is a mentorship experience that matches mentees with mentors, with the aim making mentorship more accessible and fun. Its speed-dating-style format gives mentees quick access to a variety of mentors, and mentors access to new talent and thinking. It offers a way to hear many different perspectives in just 90 minutes, without the pressure of committing to a traditional mentorship relationship.
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Don't let your tech steal your creative time!
Tired of tech headaches stealing your creative mojo? You're not alone - Base knows the struggle, having lived it first hand in Soho’s post-production trenches. That’s why it created base: to help you ditch the chaos and reclaim your creative flow.
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Struggling to get good performance from your Google ads?
Still not optimised and automated your Google ads? Squared.io is running a masterclass at MAD//Fest to help
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ONLY DO IT IF IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE
At MAD//Fest London 2025, Havas is calling on brands to break free from the ordinary with a bold challenge in the battle against boring.
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MAD//Fest + cocreatd Launch £100,000 Live Startup Challenge: 48 Hours from Idea to Business
MAD//Fest and cocreatd are launching a bold live experiment where aspiring founders race to build a business and win up to £100,000 in funding—in just 48 hours at next month's festival.
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Individualism is bullshit: The Untold Secret of Herdify
The founder of Herdify, Tom Rridges, has written a book. Here's a summary of what's in it.
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Control the TikTok Scroll
Digital advertising is evolving rapidly, offering brands immense creative potential—but also posing new challenges. Platforms like TikTok highlight this shift, where mobile-first content and instant engagement are key. As brands navigate this landscape, success depends on mastering attention in a split second, writes System1's SVP, Andrew Tindall.
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MAD//Fest London App Now Live
The official app for MAD//Fest London 2025 is now live. You need the app to avoid wandering around the venue like a headless chicken as it contains the agenda, networking tools, and your e-ticket.
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Rylan Clark, Grace Dent, Frankie Bridge To Celebrate Cultural Journalism In Newsworks MAD//Fest Speakeasy
The hugely popular Newsworks Speakeasy returns to MAD//Fest London on 1-3 July with a star-studded line-up of talent and journalists.
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Horse Meat Disco and Sophie Lloyd to Headline the MAD//Fest Summer Party
2025’s MAD//Fest summer party on 3 July will be our biggest shindig yet with a line-up featuring DJ collective legends Horse Meat Disco, Glitterbox superstar Sophie Lloyd, and free food and drink from brands including Havana Club, Sticks N Sushi and Lina Stores.
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Be Less Boring: Richard Ayoade, Jimmy Carr, Maggie Pocock Join MAD//Fest London 2025
‘Be Less Boring’ is the theme for London-founded global marketing festival MAD//Fest London as 15,000 brands and agencies get to meet at the Truman Brewery, on 1-3 July.
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Jimmy Carr and Rory Sutherland To Discuss Psychology And Creativity In Advertising And Comedy
Headline session at MAD//Fest London on 3 July will explore the creative process and role of psychology in the intrinsically linked disciplines of comedy and advertising.
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DATA: Where do marketers see the big benefits from adtech + martech?
Adtech and martech are now essential, with 84% of European marketers using them in digital campaigns. Their adoption is only set to grow, driven by the promise of smarter, more effective marketing. Enhanced personalisation tops the list of benefits, according to a new report by StackAdapt and ExchangeWire
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HEL Yeah! HEL’s return to MAD//Fest as the official staffing partner
Angels, Artists and Activations Agency return with magnetic energy to join the dots between people and brands across every corner of this year’s festival.
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Havana Club Social: Is This the Most Fun Meeting Space at an Industry Event – Ever?
Forget dull boardrooms — this summer, MAD//Fest London is upgrading your networking game. Say hello to the Havana Club Social, a vibrant new meeting space created with the world’s top rum brand, Havana Club.
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Is marketing eating itself with the relentless pursuit of Generative AI?
AI hype is fading, and marketers are hitting the 'trough of disillusionment'. Flashy outputs aren’t cutting it — now it’s time to ask if Generative AI can really deliver.
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Whassup! Where Have All the Cultural Moments Gone? The Decline of Iconic Brand Advertising.
There was a time when ads became pop culture, not just promotion. So why isn’t advertising fun anymore — and how do we make brands irresistible again, asks ex-Virgin Atlantic CMO Simon Lloyd.
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Bold Brands on Tap: Highlights from the Brewery Stage
What happens when bold brands, brilliant minds, and brave ideas collide? The Brewery Stage at MAD//Fest, in partnership with Havas, will serve up three days of unmissable insights, and fearless creativity. From challenger brands to global heavyweights - here's what's brewing...
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Tell us how sh*t your data-driven marketing is + get a free ticket to MAD//Fest London
Calling all brands…MAD//Fest + Imagino need your help!
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DNA Announced as Official Talent Partner of the Independent Agency Awards 2025
Independent Agency Awards 2025 will be hosted at MAD//Fest London on 1st July on the vibrant Hexagon Stage
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Tala: Why Marketers Should Switch to AI Tools for Customer Feedback Analysis
Victoria Lorenzana, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Tala, shares how she's using AI to boost speed, accuracy, and customer insights on the latest Shiny New Object podcast.
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Nudgestock Returns: Behavioural Science’s Biggest Event Teams Up with MAD//Fest
Some things are just made for each other—gin and tonic, strawberries and cream, and now, MAD//Fest + Nudgestock. This summer, two of marketing’s most exciting events collide at the Truman Brewery. Get ready for behavioural science, creativity, and big ideas.
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L’Oreal, Mars, Clarins, The LEGO Group, and Jack Daniels to launch brand challenges at MAD//Fest London
Some of the world’s biggest brands are setting live Brand Challenges at MAD//Fest London 2025. Startups and scale-ups will pitch for the chance to win a paid pilot in the House of Innovation.
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Hexagon Stage 2025 - Big Brands + Bold Voices
The Hexagon Stage at MAD//Fest London (1–3 July) is set to deliver bold ideas, star power, and sharp marketing insight. This year’s lineup of top CMOs, cultural icons, and creative trailblazers takes on the festival’s ‘Be Less Boring’ theme—here are the highlights.
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Back to the Roots, Forward to the Future: How Asda is Reclaiming its Voice
Speaking at MAD//UpNorth in February, Adam Zavalis revealed how Asda is reigniting its roots, brand voice, and customer connection—powered by purpose, pride, and bold pricing.
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The Attention Wars: why attention is better than viewability
In our latest report, MAD//Fest has teamed up with Lumen Research to search for answers to five of the fiercest debates raging in the world of attention.
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Travel Man Meets Marketing Land: Richard Ayoade to headline MAD//Fest London in July
Dry wit meets marketing critique as comedian, director, author, ad critic, and accidental philosopher, Richard Ayoade, explores what happens when comedy meets commerce at MAD//Fest London this July.
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Flex to Win: How Smarter Working Drives Equality and Results
What if flexible work was the key to unlocking gender equality and better business results? In this piece by WACL, discover how a 'Flexible First' approach is helping companies like MediaPlus UK boost inclusion, engagement, and performance — and why it’s time to rethink the way we work.
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3 Connected TV marketing strategies you need to know
Connected TV is booming — UK ad spend is on track to hit £2.94bn by 2028. Want in? The Ultimate Guide to Connected TV Advertising from StackAdapt is your free essential playbook to mastering this fast-growing channel.
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MAD//Fest and Sport Industry Group (SIG) Launch MAD//Sports – A Bold New Event Exploring the Future of Sport, Brands, and Disruption
MAD//Fest, the UK’s most distinctive marketing festival, has teamed up with SIG to launch MAD//Sports, a brand-new event that will explore how brands can navigate the fast-moving and evolving world of sport
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Culture, Courage, and Campaigns: Why Our Industry Must Stand With Trans People
In his own words, Darain Faraz cuts through the noise around trans rights — arguing that behind the debates are real people who, like anyone else, just want to live safely, feel seen, and belong
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Sure Global Brand Director: Reflect, Don’t Imitate - how Brands Truly Tap Into Culture
Emily Heath, Global Brand Director at Rexona/Sure, believes true cultural relevance comes from reflecting what’s real—not chasing trends. Instead of making noise, brands should focus on listening first.
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From Tails to Triumph: How Pets at Home Rebranded Without Losing Its Bark
Over the past four years, Pets at Home’s Marketing Director, Madeline Shaw and her team have pulled off a feat many retailers only dream of—growing customer revenue by 6.9% to £1.9 billion, while reshaping one of the UK’s most beloved pet care brands.
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Owning your audience. The shift from rented to brand-direct.
In his latest column for MAD//Insight former Director of Growth at Natures Menu, Adam Wright, (now at Sampl), argues that relying on rented audiences is riskier than ever. Discover why owning your customer connections is the smartest move brands can make in today’s shifting landscape.
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Want to win in marketing effectiveness in 2025? Here's how! (You'll be surprised!)
Award-winning work that truly matters? Creative Equals has been digging into the 2024 Effie UK winners—and the big reveal drops at RISE on May 15. One standout insight: when brands lead with authentic social impact, everyone wins. ROI? Yes. Real-world change? Even better.
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Global Vice President of Sure: Brits and Their Bits –A Deo Revolution
Sure is revolutionizing body care! Kath Swallow, Global VP for Unilever's Sure brand, announced a game-changing initiative at February’s MAD//UpNorth, expanding the world’s leading deodorant brand beyond just underarms to whole-body protection. Get ready for a confident, body Sure approach!
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John Lewis Partnership: Creating a Business within a business
In this week's partner podcast, Shiny New Object, Georgia Riley, Retail Media Propositions Strategy and Development Manager), Jemma Haley, Proposition Strategy & Development Lead - Retail Media, talk about how they are leveraging JLP's Retail Media business
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Why One-Size-Fits-All Doesn’t Work in Creativity
Dace Burdikova, Creative Director at INVNT explores how neurodiversity and personality differences shape creativity, and argues that embracing our unique perspectives can transform collaboration and leadership in the workplace!
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The Marketing Elephant in the room
Is it the right time to hire a CMO? This ongoing debate often misses a crucial point: a marketing leader's role in driving customer focus within the leadership team. Justin Hanneman, Marketing, Product and Innovation Leader, dives in!
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Haleon Head of Marketing: Tapping into Behavioural Psychology
Tom Holmes, Head of Marketing at Altogether Dental, sees healthcare as the perfect arena for behavioral psychology in marketing—an approach that persuades audiences and transforms attitudes, in this week's partner podcast Shiny New Object.
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B2B, B2C, H2H, WTF?
In marketing, the B2B versus B2C divide is both entrenched and counterproductive. This artificial boundary restricts career mobility and causes companies to overlook exceptional talent from "the wrong side" of the tracks, believes founder of Founder of Big Black Door, Gareth Turner.
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Co-op: Grabbing Attention Where It Matters - a Global-first Brand Recall Study
In a digital era, brands should focus on physical stores. Are we underestimating in-store engagement? A study by Co-op Media Network and Lumen uncovers the surprising power of in-store media! The results are eye-opening...
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Jack of all trades, master of none – control freaks need not apply!
In her latest column, Sam Dolan, founder of Jazz Hands, asks us to heed the words of Vanilla Ice and 'stop, collaborate and listen', because a marketer cannot be an expert at everything.
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Three UK: Being Human is the Premium
In a Gen AI world, being human is premium. Tom Fenwick-Smith, Senior in house creative for Three UK, reveals why the human touch is the real shiny new object, in this week's partner podcast Shiny New Object.
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Why brands can learn from the Trump playbook
Love him or hate him, Trump is a master of attention. His 2025 media strategy is as powerful as ever—dominating headlines, shaping narratives, and keeping audiences hooked. Brands might cringe at his approach, but there are lessons to be learned, writes Ian Maskell, Founder, P E C O R I N O, and former VP Global Marketing, Unilever.
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MAD//UpNorth? Catch Every Must-Watch Session on YouTube!
If your memory is a little hazy or you missed MAD//UpNorth, every game-changing session is now live on the MAD//Fest YouTube channel—rewatch, relive, and get inspired!
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Ex Cazoo CMO: Why Buying a House or a Car Is Getting Easier … and Hiring the Right Person Isn’t
Why do we distrust used car salespeople and estate agents on sight? It’s not just a few bad apples—it’s something much bigger: information asymmetry. Ex CMO of Cazoo, Lucas Bergmans, argues why it's the real villain.
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