The WARC Podcast

The 2026 men's FIFA World Cup is expected to inject $10.5bn into the ad market, but media fragmentation is changing the game for advertisers. WARC's Alex Brownsell talks to Omar Oakes, founder of Oomph, about media trends covered in the new Global Ad Trends: FIFA World Cup 2026 report. Thanks to Criteo for sponsoring this episode. There’s a lot of noise about AI, but here’s the news you need to know: Criteo is the first advertising company to integrate with OpenAI as part of ChatGPT’s advertising pilot, bringing commerce media into one of the fastest-growing AI platforms. If you want stay competitive in this new era of AI-driven shopping and advertising, Criteo’s new report: CommerceAI Trends 2026, is the essential intelligence you need to succeed.  Level up your marketing in the AI era: check out Criteo’s free trends report here: www4.criteo.com/en/2026_commerceai_trends/

Dove's 'Real Beauty' platform has driven brand growth for more than 20 years. Now, it's won the Effective 100. Zoe Hamilton, Chief Strategy Officer for Unilever at Ogilvy London, and WARC's Amy Rodgers discuss why Real Beauty's impact proves the power of longevity in boosting marketing effectiveness.

Insurance brand AIA believes that scaring people undermines the very outcomes insurance marketers are trying to achieve. CMO Stuart Spencer talks to WARC's Jenny Chan about AIA’s behavioral economics model,  how vulnerability = authenticity, and why tackling deeply entrenched health stereotypes and rebuilding category trust is essential to drive behavioral change.

An Ipsos analysis of 15,000 ads showed that half of advertisers overlook the power of storytelling. Ipsos's Adam Sheridan joins WARC's Paul Stringer to discuss why storytelling is such a powerful creative approach.

Research from System1 & Effie found that combining creative quality with media spend significantly accelerates business outcomes. System1's Andrew Tindall and Effie's Juliet Haygarth join WARC's David Tiltman to discuss the "Creative Dividend" study, which highlights the importance of integrating media and creative strategies for commercial growth. The "Creative Dividend" index measures creative efficiency, predicting 60.1% of business outcomes when combined with media spend. The study also identifies "super touch points" that effectively build brand effects and capture in-market revenue.