Agencies:
- Marketing professor Mark Ritson (more from him below) warns that WPP’s declining operating margin indicates that the holding company is under fee pressure from clients. If CEO Cindy Rose can get it under control, she might even find her own fee pressure lessens. Proxy advisory firms have been recommending investors vote against the WPP exec’s £11m pay deal at today’s shareholders meeting.
By James Swift, editor
Media Owners:
- The Guardian has recreated its ‘points of view’ ad from 1986 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the spot. The update was filmed on the same Elephant & Castle street by the same director using the same cast as the original (including comedian Kathy Burke who takes a starring role in the latest ad). The campaign — which will run across video, social media, YouTube and Guardian-owned channels — follows a trend of major publications putting more emphasis on brand building. At the PPA Festival this week it was highlighted as a key tactic to grow audiences amid lowering referral rates from platforms.
- Meta is reportedly building an AI system that will be capable of carrying out everyday tasks for users. The advanced digital assistant — named Hatch — will be powered by Meta’s new Muse Spark AI model, according to The Information. The bot would be available across Meta’s apps and would work in a similar way to Open Claw, an agentic AI tool that can undertake tasks on its own, as opposed to just answering questions. Meta is facing pressure to demonstrate that its ballooning investment in AI will result in something genuinely transformative. The press coverage, even of a tool with no confirmed release date, may go someway to appease investors’ recent concerns. We’re more curious whether the bot is named after former Meta VP Steve Hatch, though.
- Microdrama viewing is increasing with mobile users, according to research by Omdia. Prominent player ReelShort saw its average daily mobile usage nearly triple from 12.8 minutes per day at the beginning of 2025 to 35.4 minutes by the end of the year. Other platforms like FlickReels (20.2 minutes to 23.2 minutes) and DramaBox (18.0 minutes to 21.8 minutes) also reflect the trend. Meanwhile, the traditional streaming giants saw their mobile engagement soften over 2025. Netflix fell from 35.9 minutes to 34.7, HBO Max from 30.2 minutes to 27.9 minutes, and Disney+ from 26.2 minutes to 23.1 minutes. Having watched a few microdramas as research — including episodes of Accidentally Pregnant, Forever Spoiled and The Virgin and the Billionaire — comparisons to streaming seem a bit unfair. The acting, dialogue and production, not to mention the steamy and far-fetched plots, makes porn a much more apt comparison. [Editor’s note: We assure readers that Elliot does his ‘research’ in his own time.]
- Divine, former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s reboot of short-form video app Vine, has been made publicly available nearly a decade after the original app was shuttered… by Jack Dorsey while he was at Twitter. The new app hosts more than 500,000 six-second clips from the old Vine as well as new content. One of its USPs is that it will not allow AI content, with creators required to use a human verification tool before posting. It seems unlikely that Divine will be able to emulate the influence of its forefather — Vine had 100 million monthly users during its peak — but may be able to carve a niche as the backlash against AI slop increases.
- Private equity firm PEP’s $750m bid for Australia’s OoH Media last week has sparked attention in the industry, with Mark Ritson in particular saying it highlights the importance of the out-of-home channel. Writing in Mumbrella, Ritson argued that it is a smart buy for PEP as it will be able to ruthlessly slim down OoH Media, fund efforts to remind CMOs that ‘outdoor is the single most undervalued brand-building channel in the modern mix’, before selling it for a healthy profit. Most pointedly, he uses the deal as a reminder that out-of-home may not be ‘sexy’ but it is ‘broad, repeated, unskippable, and built for the only thing that matters in a low-attention category: being instantly recognised by an indifferent buyer through the window of a moving car.’ Not everyone views this deal as capital recognising out-of-home’s inherent virtues. Analyst Ian Whittaker, replying to Ritson’s own LinkedIn post, said: ‘The fact PE is buying OOH assets tells us how they see the medium, namely as an infrastructure-style asset rather than an advertising platform – they favour the former and not the latter.’
By Elliot Wright, senior reporter
Brands:
- BrewDog will be live entertainment company Underbelly’s official beer supplier for UK festivals and venues for the next 12 months. The deal covers Bristo Square at the Edinburgh Fringe, Skate at Leicester Square, and Underbelly’s year-round venue in Soho. The 12-month deal is likely hoped to bring a boost to BrewDog’s reputation under new owner Tilray Brands after it went into administration in March.
- Google will sponsor ITV’s coverage of the 2026 Fifa World Cup. The partnership, arranged through WPP Media, will include the opening match, as well as content on ITV1, ITV4 and ITVX. The deal also extends to digital and social platforms, including integrated content on YouTube and X. This sponsorship reunites Google and ITV following their successful collaboration during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and various Women’s World Cup activations, cementing Google as a key fixture in UK football.
- Tesco has loosed The Fruit Giant into the world to tell people that the supermarket is doubling its Free Fruit & Veg for Schools programme. Said giant has received mixed responses, though. While press and agencies have praised the feat of CGI, members of the public seem less impressed, with Redditors and other internet commenters comparing it to everything from bug-infested monster Oogie Boogie from The Nightmare before Christmas to oozing fungal ‘bloaters’ from The Last of Us. His official name is Plumbert, and the creatives behind the campaign at BBH assure us that he is ‘joyful’ and ‘charming’.
- BT is being revived after four years of the company prioritising its EE and Plusnet brands. The heritage brand is being reintroduced to the public through the Behind Brilliant Things campaign of TV spots, out of home advertising and digital platforms, as well as sponsoring the next Uefa European football championships to be held in the UK and Ireland in 2028.
By India Stronach, reporter