Performance Marketing Unlocked

The traditional marketing funnel hasn't just changed – it has completely collapsed. With consumer-focused AI models taking the reins, we are rapidly moving toward a future where algorithms, not humans, make the final purchasing decisions. In this live-panel episode of Performance Marketing Unlocked , Sammy Parker, Brand Partnerships Lead for Calfreezy, and Dimitris Beis, Data & Innovation Strategi...

The platforms gave us the tools, but how can actually use them to drive growth? Welcome to episode two of Performance Marketing Unlocked's Cannes Lions podcast miniseries, where we step off the tech yachts and into the brand war rooms. In this episode, leading executives from Tesco, Spotify, AEG Global Partnerships, BeReal and Specsavers offer a blueprint for moving past the top-line AI optimism a...

What is the future of performance? For the final episode of this year’s Digital Disruptors miniseries, we’re looking to the future with Sarah Shum, Paid Performance Director at Brave Bison, Nat Abell, Senior ASO Manager at Yodel Mobile, and Charles Taylor, Senior Marketing Manager at Herdify.  They discuss whether the industry is too obsessed with digital, how audience behaviour is changing,...

What happens when you bring the world’s leading minds in AI, entertainment, retail, and tech together at Cannes Lions? You get the ultimate roadmap for the future of performance marketing. In episode one of Performance Marketing Unlocked's annual Cannes Lions podcast miniseries, we’re cutting through all the 'Cannesdemonium' to bring you direct insights from the industry giants shaping tomorrow. L...

How can you scale performance beyond the obvious channels?  For episode 3 of this year’s Digital Disruptors miniseries, Sasha Sadovaia, Product Marketing Manager at Taboola, Cam McIntyre, Campaign Director at The Goat Agency, and Claudia Sava, Senior Paid Social Manager at PureGym share their insights.  They discuss how they are adapting to new technologies, which channels should be alwa...

Are marketers still stuck in a binary of data and creative? In the second episode of this year’s Digital Disruptors miniseries, host Bethany speaks with Molly Peake, Head of Customer Success and Partnerships at AUDIENCES and Eraj Lodhi, Founder of marketing agency Plot Out Loud and Creator of Plotcast.  They dive into what metrics still matter, whether a false divide between data and creative...

As the World Cup gets underway, how can performance marketers best leverage the opportunity before them? On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, Alex Maude, Head of Insight & Research at Ozone, joins host Joe to assess the best ways for brands to win a share of attention during the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026. Are traditional ad placements the way to go, or is the real atte...

Can marketers afford to still be siloed by channel? In the first episode of this year’s Digital Disruptors miniseries, host Bethany speaks with Chanelle Urquico, International DSP Engagement Lead at TripleLift, Jack Murray, Senior Paid Social Search Account Manager at Incubeta, and Michael Holloway, SEO manager at Hookflash.  Together, they discuss how the performance stack is converging and...

Performance marketing is officially at an impasse. Employers are squeezing budgets and reconsidering headcount, while employees are ready to walk away entirely. How has adland found itself trapped in a state of mutual unrest? On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, PMW's Editor Robin Langford joins host Joe to break down the core findings of PMW’s 2026 Workforce Report. The...

Performance marketers are desperately trying to master ever-changing algorithms in the pursuit of securing attention in an attention-poor economy – but where are they going wrong? On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, Orlando Wood, Chief Creative Officer of System1, joins host Joe to discuss how shifting from 'salesmanship' to 'showmanship' can build a brand that performs...

The marketers seeing real results with AI aren’t worrying about implementing the right tech – they’re rethinking how decisions get made, who makes them and what role human instinct should play. This Performance Marketing World podcast episode, produced in partnership with Upp.ai, unpacks why so many AI-led media strategies stall before they scale – and what it actually takes to close the gap with...

The agency model is facing a perfect storm: in-housing is gutting the middle, independent agencies are winning on agility, and AI is automating the ‘making’ part of marketing. So how is the big six responding? On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, Jessica Tamsedge, UK CEO of Dentsu Creative, joins host Joe to outline how Dentsu is blowing up traditional silos to prepare fo...

Zero party has search killed the click. At least, that's the narrative marketers have been sold – but is it true? On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, PMW's Editor Robin Langford and Senior News Reporter Bethany Lee join host Joe to talk about the future of the click, and why Google might be trying to bring it back for the sake of publishers and advertisers. Also on this...

We’ve entered the ‘synthetic era’ of social media. AI can now try to generate a viral video, clone a creator’s voice, and optimise a hook for the algorithm in seconds. But there's a catch, consumers want more authentic content, not less. On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, Chris Parnell, co-founder and CCO of social-first creator agency NewGen, joins host Joe to discuss...

POSSIBLE Miami is the pretty new thing in the world of advertising events, but is it already becoming a mini-Cannes? On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, PMW's Editor Robin Langford and Senior News Reporter Bethany Lee join host Joe to discuss whether there is scope for POSSIBLE to carve out a necessary niche in an already oversaturated roster of annual advertising events...

Search is becoming increasingly fragmented for users, spread across traditional browsers, largue-language-models (LLMs), social media platforms and more. In turn, search competition is increasing among advertisers, leaving many marketers looking for new ways to reach audiences. On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, Andy Squire, RVP Sales, EMEA at Brave, outlines how brands...

Experts have billed 2026 as 'the year of the independent agency', so what does this mean for the future of holding companies? On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, PMW's entire editorial team is in studio to talk about everything going on in the world of marketing that doesn't involve AI. From an uptick in agency mergers and acquisitions to the channels marketers continue...

The need for AI-literacy has never been higher among marketers, but how can anyone stay on top of the ever-changing AI-landscape? On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, Lee Henshaw and Dino Myers-Lamptey, co-founder of The Marketer in The Loop AI certification course, outline why getting back to basics and focusing on the foundational knowledge from marketing's past is the...

The first quarter of 2026 has come to an end. It was full of expectation, innovation and cautious optimism – but how did it really play out? On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, host Joe is joined by PMW's Editor Robin Langford to discuss the factors, events and trading conditions that have marked the opening quarter of the year, diving into the state of play as we begin...

'Big Six' holding companies appears to be quickly losing faith The Trade Desk (TTD). Publicis is no longer recommending the demand side platform to its clients, Dentsu and WPP abandoned Openpath and Omnicom has reportedly commissioned an audit of its relationship with the company – but why? On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, PMW's Senior News Reporter Bethany Lee joins...

The advertising industry can't decide how to best optimise the media mix for modern channels and metrics such as AI-powered search and retail media. On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, Dom Coleridge, Co-founder and Commercial Director of Scale Digital, joins host Joe to argue why quality always beats quantity in the world of marketing. Across content, media, partnerships...

The click era is over, prompts will soon equal profit, and creative is now a pivotal part of performance. These are just a snapshot of the takeaways from Performance Marketing World Unlocked 2026. One this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, PMW's editorial team is in the studio to talk all things PMW Unlocked 2026. With the annual confex now in the rear view, the trio discuss t...

LinkedIn is the second most cited domain among large-langauge-models (LLMs). As such, is has become a hub of content discovery and advertising opportunities. On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, Andrew Monu, VP of Marketing at LinkedIn, joins host Joe to reveal how the social media platform manages to stay ahead of the ever-changing AI-powered algorithms. From using socia...

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced plans to introduce increased social media regulations to protect the wellbeing of vulnerable people, particularly children. It stands to dramatically impact the advertising industry, shifting brand's access to particular audiences across social media formats. On this episode of the Performance Marketing Unlocked podcast, PMW's Senior News Reporter Betha...

AI systems are now allocating budget and optimising media in real time. The operational heavy lifting of performance marketing is increasingly automated. And that changes the economics. If execution no longer depends on constant, hands-on optimisation, does performance naturally move closer to the business? Could this be the moment in-housing finally accelerates? And if it does, where does that le...