Why you’re in the right room at the right time.

The media industry is being rewritten. The next five years will belong to those who spot the shifts early and move fast.

AI is rewriting the rules, economic pressure is raising the stakes, and new media channels are opening fresh battlegrounds. In this environment, skills are no longer just a nice-to-have – they are the dividing line between agencies that win and those left behind. The industry must decide: will fortune favour the bold risk-takers or the hyper-measured strategists? Media planners, buyers, platforms and owners are no longer simply optimisers of spend they are expected to be storytellers, strategists and curators of influence.

From those powering today’s campaigns to new professionals stepping into leadership, this opening fireside reveals which skills will determine success and how agencies can arm their talent for the fight ahead.

• The new arsenal: AI fluency, data mastery and the technologies transforming planning, buying and creativity

• Human edge: adaptability, collaboration, influence and leadership: traits that machines can’t replicate

• Securing tomorrow’s talent: how the UK media ecosystem attracts, retains and grows the professionals who will dominate the next decade

• New career frontiers: retail media, the creator economy and client-winning skills that turn graft into growth
  
  

Find out how the role of media planner and buyer is changing way beyond data into a brand new playbook for planners

Forget the straight-line career path, real journeys are made of bold moves, unexpected setbacks and the relationships that change everything. This session lifts the lid on how careers towards the doers to the leaders in media really unfold and the strategies that turn wrong turns into long-term success:

• My Best Mistake: Squiggly paths into media and why the wrong turns often matter most
• Relationships That Made Me: Mentors, sponsors and allies who shape the journey
• Career Myths Busted: From ‘clients only care about price’ to ‘AI will replace the grunt work’: decoding the advice you shouldn’t follow blindly
  
  

We’ll wrap with 10 minutes of open Q&A. Submit your questions to the panel anonymously if you prefer and get the advice that really matters for your next steps.

In today's landscape, defined by AI integration and media fragmentation, the argument for outstanding human creativity has never been stronger. Join us as we examine examples of truly great work from across the industry, celebrating the essential craft and strategic ingenuity that makes media effective, engaging, and unforgettable.

This session will:

• Share inspiring examples of great work from across the industry.

• Uncover what creates success

• Celebrate the strategic and artistic craft behind media planning and execution

Speed networking corner: five-minute rotations with peers across agencies and media owners. Bring your coffee, leave with contacts.

In an age of AI and automation, why are some brands indispensable? Join PPA Magnetic with guests from Stylist, Immediate and Pepper as they reveal why being human is the new ROI. This session will uncover the secret to successful media planning and why you should leverage the human advantage.

A fast-paced game show that cuts through media myths and reveals the truths every marketer needs to know.

Each media body makes its pitch, shares 3 truths and 1 lie, and challenges the audience to spot the falsehood. Tables vote live throughout the session, with prizes for the most consistently accurate teams. You’ll walk away sharper on which media must be part of your plan, why it works, and how measurement proves its value.

• Moderator kicks off with game show energy in a professional setting

• Each media body gives a 5 minute presentation, and then three statements (2 truths and 1 lie)

• The audience will guess the lie, vote live and media body reveals the truth for each one at the end of each spotlight session with the ‘big reveal’ at the end
  

Closer Partnerships or Smarter Tools?

Marketers are under pressure to deliver growth with precision, creativity and accountability. That means their expectations of agencies and media owners are changing fast. From the pitch room to long-term partnerships, what do CMOs truly value today and what will they demand tomorrow?

• The CMO wish list: insight, innovation, transparency, and speed of execution

• The new pitch rules: what makes clients lean in, switch off, or sign on the spot

• Building trust: why marketers care more about outcomes and audiences than decks and jargon

• What senior marketers really notice from junior talent — and how it shapes client confidence

A fireside chat with Remington and Wavemaker, exploring the journey of transforming a fragmented global content approach into a 'freedom within a framework' model that empowers local markets. 

• Key challenges - Why so many global brands struggle to balance central brand consistency with local market relevance? Brand consistency, operational challenges, internal buy in on the power of  'always on' content
• The requirements for our new model - 'freedom within a framework'. 
• The power of collaboration - How we brought everyone together and on the journey. Winning hearts and minds, and changing the business mindset on 'always on'
• Key features of the framework and how we built the solution.
•  Learnings and setting up for success – Our key takeaways and how we're planning for the roll out, including how we plan to track results and KPIs of implementation. We ran a similar project a year earlier for Russell Hobbs, so we might touch on this here.

When media leads the idea, not just the buy

Campaigns where the media plan was the creative idea.When media leads the idea, not just the buy. This masterclass panel discussion explores how planners can elevate media beyond placement into a central creative force.

• Campaigns where the media plan itself was the creative breakthrough from stunt placements to platform-first storytelling

• How strategists, creatives and clients work together (and clash) when media drives the concept

• Lessons from pitch rooms: what sells in 15 minutes vs what drags

• How you can contribute fresh ideas and spot overlooked opportunities across channels

• Balance art and science: using data to justify bold creative media bets

More information to come... 

AI is rewriting the rules, and new media channels are opening fresh battlegrounds. Media planners, buyers, platforms and owners are no longer simply optimisers of spend they are expected to be storytellers, strategists and curators of influence. This session will look at the new skills that will be needed, and how automation, data platforms and new tools are reshaping media buying, planning and measurement

• The new arsenal: AI fluency, data mastery and the technologies transforming planning, buying and creativity

• Developing  tomorrow’s talent: how the UK media ecosystem attracts, retains and grows the professionals who will dominate the next decade

• What does this mean for agencies, brands and media owners in a world of AI generated content and as technology takes on more of the workflow

Find out how the role of media planner and buyer is changing way beyond data into a brand new playbook for planners

A final note: media’s transformation isn’t abstract. It’s happening now, and the people in this room will shape where it goes.