Full-service communications agency krow Group launches a powerful new fundraising TV advert with international humanitarian organisation, Médecins Sans Frontieres’ (MSF). The campaign is designed to highlight what it means to donate by reinforcing the life-saving impact of regular giving. With the aim of increasing monthly donations, the ad highlights the importance of donations, and how they directly impact MSF’s ability to deliver long term, independent, medical aid in areas affected by conflict, disaster and disease. This ad will run across TV, VOD and Social as part of MSF’s wider Winter Campaign, in rotation with ‘The Life Saving Moment’ ad, launched in October. MI Media is the media partner.
Global marketing effectiveness and foresight consultancy Gain Theory has released a new guide, ‘Making MMM Fit for 2026: An Essential Guide for Marketers‘, providing guidance on navigating the rapidly evolving marketing mix modeling (MMM) ecosystem and maximizing marketing effectiveness in an increasingly volatile landscape. The comprehensive guide addresses the surge in MMM adoption, with nearly half (47%) of US marketers planning to invest in MMM over the next year, according to EMARKETER data cited in the guide. The guide provides five recommendations for marketers to maximize value potential from their MMM programs and build confidence in marketing impact in 2026.
Manchester City and its in-house creative agency, City Studios, has launched its festive campaign, ‘Christmas, Together’. The festive campaign celebrates community spirit through football, featuring City stars Phil Foden, Laura Coombs and Mike Summerbee who share their Christmas memories. Created in partnership with City in the Community and the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, the campaign promotes City’s Christmas range, where £5 from each item is donated to the charity. This supports the City Onside programme, which promotes the physical and mental wellbeing of young patients and their families.
MikeWorldWide, an independent public relations firm, has been appointed global corporate PR agency for Hexagon (HEXA B), a measurement technologies company with nearly 25,000 employees worldwide. The agency will amplify Hexagon’s voice as a technology innovator and lead its corporate communications newsroom across key international markets. In addition, the agency has also expanded its remit to include a corporate profiling programme for Hexagon’s key executives. As part of the engagement, MikeWorldWide will serve as Hexagon’s lead strategic partner in international media relations, supported by its extensive global hub capabilities and network of senior specialists across the UK, US and other priority markets.
New independent research from global social-first agency with Creator InstinctTM, Billion Dollar Boy, reveals that the rise of AI personas – virtual influencers* and digital twins** – is fueling both concern and curiosity among creators. The study – which surveyed 4,000 consumers, 1,000 content creators and 1,000 marketers across the US and UK – reveals three quarters (76%) of consumers trust virtual influencers for product recommendations, while two thirds (68%) trust them to inform purchasing decisions. Amid growing consumer trust in virtual influencers – fictional computer-generated influencers – the research results reveal concern among human creators: 62% are concerned that virtual influencers are increasing competition, while 59% worry that virtual influencers contribute to content oversaturation in consumers’ feeds.
Meanwhile, Billion Dollar Boy Group has announced a new partnership with full-funnel measurement and optimisation platform, Portal, to provide the creator economy’s first conversion tracking solution across third-party retailers. The partnership includes an exclusive integration via API into Billion Dollar Boy Group’s proprietary creator marketing discovery, workflow and measurement solution, Companion – awarded Best Influencer Marketing Technology at the Global Influencer Marketing Awards.
Sky has unveiled its 2025 Christmas campaign, “Believe in the Magic of Movies,” celebrating the timeless joy of festive films. At the heart of the campaign is “The Little Girl,” a touching story of courage, connection, and the power of cinema. Inspired by iconic movie moments, the advert follows a young girl, who, moved by the magic of Sky’s festive film line-up, finds the courage to invite a friend to the cinema—echoing beloved lines from classics like Elf, The Holiday, and the global cinematic phenomenon, Wicked. The creative is crafted and produced by Sky’s own in-house agency, Sky Creative, in partnership with Rapport. The media is being handled by Publicis Next.
Sky Media and Call of Duty have teamed up for the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, with PDC World Champion and Xbox ambassador Luke Littler. He stars in a high-energy campaign that brings the game’s cult character The Replacer into the world of darts. Created and produced by Sky Media in collaboration with Mediahub WW for Activision, the humorous campaign features Sky Sports’ Emma Paton, Peter Stormare and Wayne Mardle, filmed at Sky’s studios using the same production crew behind live darts coverage. All three creative executions are now live across Sky Sports’ live, on-demand and digital platforms as well as via the extensive reach of social channels. The campaign culminates during the Grand Slam of Darts tournament.
Fresh Air, the award-winning podcast agency for brands, is proud to produce the fourth Unearthed series of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew’s acclaimed podcast. The new series, Unearthed: The need for seeds, celebrates 25 years of the Millennium Seed Bank (MSB), the world’s most diverse wild seed bank, and launches with a special episode featuring Kew’s Patron, His Majesty The King, in conversation with host Cate Blanchett, Ambassador for Wakehurst.
Digitas UK today announces the public launch of Model Sight, a platform designed to help brands understand and optimise their visibility on Large Language Models (LLMs). In use with leading clients since January, Model Sight is now being rolled out more widely as AI search is rapidly reshaping how consumers discover and choose brands. Model Sight, underpinned by research completed with data science students from UCL, enables brands to optimise their visibility on LLMs, with measurable impact on awareness, consideration and ultimately growth.
Manchester-based eCommerce agency PushON has announced the formation of a new parent group, PushON Commerce, created to accelerate growth and expand its full-service eCommerce capabilities. As part of the group’s launch, PushON Commerce has welcomed the web development and creative marketing brand Pixel Kicks into its portfolio, integrating its expertise in Shopify, WordPress, content marketing, and product photography with the group’s existing eCommerce development and digital marketing strengths. The PushON Commerce group now includes two established Manchester agencies, PushON and Pixel Kicks, each bringing complementary expertise and a shared commitment to helping businesses succeed online.
Primo, the specialist marketplace agency, has partnered with rapidly growing sports nutrition brand Ten Percent Club to scale its global Amazon presence and drive online growth. The collaboration will see the agency deliver a full marketplace programme – from strategy and marketing execution to performance optimisation – as Ten Percent Club expands its digital footprint and builds brand awareness among sporting audiences internationally. The partnership will see Ten Percent Club featured across Matchroom’s live event calendar, social channels, and promotional activities.
PETA, in partnership with advertising agency Grey London, is exposing the carnage behind the Christmas cheer with a bold new campaign, “Happy Christmassacre”, urging people to go vegan this festive season. The cinema ad, social media and OOH campaign encourages people to choose compassion over cruelty by going vegan for Christmas. While December is often painted as a time of joy and generosity, millions of animals are slaughtered to fill dinner tables. The full campaign will roll out across cinema, social and OOH channels throughout this holiday season. The hero film will appear in UK cinemas and on global digital platforms, with Germany, the UK and the US as key social markets. OOH executions will appear nationwide in the UK, with guerilla style fly postings across London in particular.
WPP has announced the inauguration of its first campus in Brazil located in the Vila Leopoldina neighbourhood of São Paulo. This innovative space will bring together approximately 4,000 people from across 21 WPP agencies, including powerhouses like Ogilvy, VML, Fbiz, Grey and Burson, within an ecosystem designed to foster collaboration, creativity and innovation. Occupying 39,000 m² within a 57,000 m² complex, the WPP São Paulo Campus offers state-of-the-art infrastructure to support modern work while integrating seamlessly with the local community. The project, designed by award-winning architect Gustavo Utrabo, was conceived to reflect the duality of the region – an area that combines the industrial and the artisanal – to create an environment that inspires the integration of diverse knowledge and experiences.
National Lottery operator Allwyn has today unveiled its multi-channel Christmas campaign, with the first in a series of activations being fronted by former National Lottery-funded Olympic diver and knitting enthusiast Tom Daley. Created by Allwyn in partnership with VCCP, planned by Hearts & Science, with social video production and talent execution by Atomized Studios and Freuds, the six-week ‘Add some play to Christmas’ campaign positions National Lottery Scratchcards as a surprisingly fun way to come together, no matter the occasion or the group. Centring on the key themes of Christmas togetherness and playfulness, it highlights that Scratchcards add light-hearted entertainment to real, relatable situations. To increase reach and talkability, the campaign has partnered with fashion and lifestyle influencers, including @ellieevelynsmith, @kyronhamilton and @masonblakee, who will also showcase the cardigans on their Instagram channels.
December19, an independent media planning and buying agency, has announced the launch of Ray, its revolutionary audience-targeting platform powered by Starcount. Ray challenges one of the biggest assumptions in cross-channel media planning: that demographics and claimed behaviours tell you who to target. Ray goes deeper, connecting real-world behaviours, genuine passions, and actual spending patterns to give brands the clarity they need to reach audiences that truly matter. With direct integrations into programmatic, OOH, connected TV, and social platforms, Ray delivers privacy-first, cookie-independent targeting with postcode-level precision.
Costa Coffee has unveiled its 2025 festive cup collection, designed in collaboration with Birmingham-based creative agency Tribera. This campaign will be visible in the hands of millions across over 2,800 UK stores and selected international markets this Christmas. Bringing Costa Coffee’s brand platform, “Coffee made with heart,” to life, the collection reflects the warmth, connection, and togetherness that define the festive season. The cups mark the latest milestone in Costa Coffee’s long-standing creative partnership with Tribera. The agency was tasked with expressing Costa Coffee’s refreshed brand positioning through a festive design that is inclusive, joyful, and unmistakably Costa, without relying on traditional Christmas imagery. The resulting collection celebrates connection through coffee.
Creative agency Joint has partnered with national anti-hate crime charity Stop Hate UK to launch Have I Got Phobia For You – a shareable web-based mini-game exposing the disturbing parallels between 80s/90s homophobic tabloid headlines , and the transphobic coverage seen in today’s media. Inspired by the long-running satirical quiz show Have I Got News For You, the game invites players to guess whether real, redacted headlines come from the past century’s homophobia or today’s transphobia. Lighthearted in format but serious in intent, the project highlights how Section 28 era fearmongering tactics used against gay people are being recycled against transgender people today. Players can play the game at www.haveigotphobiaforyou.co.uk
Waitrose will today unveil The Perfect Gift; a first of its kind romantic comedy ‘short’ celebrating the supermarket’s 2025 festive offering. Created by Wonderhood Studios with media buying by MG OMD, the new festive campaign is led by a first-of-its-kind four minute film. Shaking up the structure of a traditional seasonal marketing campaign, the content is being released the same way you would a blockbuster festive romcom; repositioning Waitrose from ‘another supermarket brand’ to a ‘food entertainment brand’. To view the supermarket’s innovative four-minute romcom short, visit the Waitrose website at: www.waitrose.com/theperfectgift
Responsibly-sourced coffee brand San Francisco Bay Coffee has partnered with creative and media agency of record Cutwater to launch an integrated, human-centric campaign. The campaign expands upon the success of the “One Small Sip for a Better Tomorrow” brand platform and campaign efforts for the brand’s certified commercially-compostable OneCUP™ coffee pods, both of which were developed and rolled out by Cutwater. This new endeavor highlights San Francisco Bay Coffee’s Whole Bean offering. The creative is driven by a colorful, vibrant animated film. Unlike some big coffee companies, the brand buys directly from farmers, ensuring fair pay, sustainability, and the finest, most flavorful beans.
Digital marketing agency Wolfenden has been appointed to lead the digital growth strategy for Dorset & Devon Holiday Cottages – the latest in a series of successful collaborations with the brand’s founders. Following years of partnership across multiple ventures, the appointment marks a new chapter in a long-standing relationship built on trust and proven results. Partnering from launch, Wolfenden has led on building the brand’s digital presence from the ground up, acting as a springboard for Dorset & Devon Holiday Cottages’ growth to become a leading holiday lettings provider for South England. The Leeds-based agency is supporting across multiple channels including SEO, data-driven UX, digital PR and paid media. Further activity to continue momentum into 2026 is already planned, with paid activity rolling out ahead of peak holiday booking season.
