As IPG’s Michael Roth steps down from the holding company, Barry Dudley examines what the departure means for the group, and the industry at large. It’s the end of an era – no, it really is. Michael Roth, 74, is retiring from what we used to call ’the ad business.’ Roth, who stepped down as […]
Category
Opinion
Why pay and conditions will become an arms race in the global war for talent by Barry Dudley, partner Green Square
Much has been made in the media over the past few weeks of shortages – shortages of fuel, in the shops, of computer chips, CO2 gas, construction materials, shipping containers, of certain drugs, of lorry drivers, hospitality staff and care home workers… in short, the world is, for the time being at least, short of […]
Why Sorrell’s S4 Capital is just so damn attractive right now. Tony Walford writes in The Drum
After boasting of ‘unprecedented’ trading activity and unveiling a confident rebrand job, S4 Capital – now Media.Monks – is flying high. Tony Walford explains why the company is performing so well right now. If there’s one iron rule in the marcomms business, it’s this: never write Sir Martin Sorrell off. You do so at your […]
Speculation Around Indie Agency Engine’s Sale Leads to Questions of Who Might Buy It – and Why. Tony Walford writes in Adweek
It’s been a funny century for the marketing and communications industry: the rise of holding groups, consolidation, startups, digital disruption, even a pandemic, the effects of which we cannot yet even begin to analyse let alone understand. In the tumultuous 20 years so far, many names have come and gone. Once-mighty agencies have been subsumed […]
“What big pockets you have, Mr Sunak!” A summary of potential UK Capital Gains Tax changes by Tony Walford, partner Green Square
Clearly the cost of the pandemic has been enormous and at some point it will have to be paid for. The most likely source of funds will be higher taxes and, whilst the current UK government is very reluctant to hit people directly in their pockets, the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has been making noises that […]
The centre cannot hold, so learn to let go? By Barry Dudley, partner, Green Square
Back in the summer, Q magazine closed. If you’re of a certain age, or have more than just a passing interest in music, you’ll remember Q in its pomp. It was launched in 1986, a product of the publisher EMAP’s can-do culture and devolved management style (of which more in just a second). Q’s decline […]
Can the consultant conquer creative? What Ogilvy can expect from new boss Andy Main. Tony Walford writes in The Drum
Advertising is, they say, a people business: Saatchi & Saatchi; J Walter Thompson; Ogilvy & Mather; Abbot Mead Vickers; Doyle, Dane Bernbach. Historically it was all about the name(s) on the door. Many ad agencies were built in the image of one man – back then sadly they were always men – or a couple […]
Why every agency is going to need an ‘ology’ Barry Dudley writes in The Drum
Pre-lockdown there was already a strong case for companies to lead their strategy with digital and tech-driven activity, and the Covid-19 pandemic has only served to accelerate this. Green Square’s Barry Dudley weighs in on how companies can plan for the long-term in light of this, by finding an ‘ology’ of their own. For those […]
Could necessity be the mother of all reinvention? Barry Dudley writes in The Drum
Who’d be in retail right now? While online vendors such as Amazon prosper (at the time of writing, the company is making $10,000 worth of sales a second), times for ‘brick and mortar’ shops have been – to put it mildly – torrid these past few years. Now, with the world enveloped in a Covid-19 […]
Brands behaving badly… spells doom. Tony Walford writes in The Drum
As the world faces its gravest crisis since the second world war and the Great Depression, it is inevitable that our attention will focus on behaviour – of all sorts. Since the Covid-19 pandemic affects just about everyone, will impact every corner and sector of every economy around the world; and because the disease occupies […]