RAPP UK

Last week's Campaign UK podcast featured the three big winners at their Agency of the Year Awards, including us (!) with 5 awards, alongside Mother and our Omnicom sibling MG OMD. A big thank you to our CMO Tracey Barber, MGOMD's CEO Natalie Bell, and Mother's Chief Comms Officer Tom Wong for sharing your valuable insights. It's well worth a listen if you haven't already https://lnkd.in/ehmGAEJK

It might be transforming how we work, but AI isn't perfect. Our Chief Marketing Sciences Officer Andrew Rowe spoke to The Drum about AI's teething problems. “AI literacy is a problem. There are two parts to this. The first is ignorance: seeing people pull the covers over their heads to avoid its inevitable impact, blaming AI’s complicated nature (and their complicated business) for their inaction. The second is people who are aware but are not aware enough, aimlessly following AI trends because they think they should rather than understanding it and thinking of its use cases strategically. While AI is great at ingesting and understanding huge amounts of data at far greater speeds and nuances than humans can, the unpredictability of its outputs is a blocker for huge-scale adoption. Brands mustn’t let this deter them from preparing but do so at their own peril. The need for human interaction on the journey and in all use cases is essential. Controlling hallucinations and quality output is something still not yet mastered.” https://lnkd.in/eFPkH4Yn

Wow! Campaign UK’s Agency of the Year for the THIRD YEAR running. A dream come true.  An incredible achievement which is testament to the dedication, talent, and hard work of our every single person in the RAPP Family. Go team!! To be recognised by Campaign and the CMO community as leaders in our category for the past three years shows how we’ve really set the standard of next-gen precision marketing, delivering the all important game-changing commercial performance for our clients. And earning silver recognition in both the Customer Engagement and Digital Transformation categories is a testament to our comprehensive, end-to-end capabilities. We're also immensely proud of our CEO, Gabrielle Ludzker, who was crowned as Customer Engagement Leader of the Year for the second time, and the brilliant Tracey Barber who won New Business Leader of the Year against her peers across the entire UK Industry. This recognition speaks volumes about their visionary leadership and relentless pursuit of excellence. The judges said “A true challenger of mindsets in action with very impressive client impact.” They added: “Love the ambitious reset of company purpose.” Thank you to all the judges for acknowledging our achievements this year, you have given us career highs we never imagined possible Andy Freeman, Conrad Bird CBE, Anna Braithwaite, Georgina Bramall, Stephi Brett-Lee, Matthew Bushby, Matthew Conner, AJ Coyne, Samuel Day, Vicky Handley, Nathan Harrington PGDip MCIM, Toby Horry, Katie Jackson, Aislinn O'Connor, Matt Richmond, Laura Stead, Alex Taborda, Alice Tendler, Nicola Wardell, Trix van der Vleuten, Mustafa Himdi, Dom Dwight, Irem Alp Mainwaring, Richard Warren, Emma Munro-Faure, Charlotte Emery, Kate Taylor Tett, Sophie Rock, Cigdem Kurtulus, Debbie O'Dowd, Paul Carton & Stephania Silveira A huge high five to the team at Campaign for your immensely valued support, for continuing to hero agencies across the industry, and for hosting such an amazing party! And of course, a very heartfelt thank you to our incredible clients – your partnership, trust and ambition are what make these achievements possible. Without you, we are nothing. And a big shoutout to RAPP’s Global and UK leadership team for their visionary guidance and for steering us to such remarkable heights.

Ever imagined your smartphone’s AI not just setting reminders, but negotiating deals on your behalf? The future is closer than you think. In this Raconteur | B Corp™ article, Ed Freed, Global Transformation Officer, explores how personal AI agents will reshape eCommerce—and what brands must do to stay ahead. From “agent optimisation” and real-time intent casting to storytelling, get ready for a world where your brand speaks directly to an AI intermediary, not the customer. Dive in to discover how to future-proof your marketing in an agent-led landscape. https://lnkd.in/eHurUSxJ

8! Very happy to be top of the class in this year’s Campaign UK School Report 🎓 We know how rigorous Campaign are when it comes to scoring all 94 agencies – from growth figures, to accounts won and lost, to diversity of staff and creative excellence. So we’re delighted to have come out on top - reinforcing our commitment to excellence across the board. Thank you to our amazing talent and wonderfully inspiring clients for making sure we had such a strong year. You can read more about the highest scoring agencies here https://bit.ly/4hGIKKT, and our write up here https://bit.ly/4l1hObC

Personalisation vs. Privacy – Can brands have both? 🤔 Strategy Partner Heidi Stephens spoke to The Grocer about how brands can use personalisation to create emotional connections—without crossing the privacy line. "Personalisation has become a core strategy in UK grocery retail – in the battle to add value beyond price, retailers are increasingly leveraging AI-driven recommendations and offers to also create more relevant, tailored experiences,” Major grocery retailers, including Sainsbury’s and Tesco, have all expanded personalised pricing models in recent years, she points out, offering exclusive discounts based on past purchases. “Meanwhile Ocado uses AI to generate consumers’ next shopping list from historical shopper data and predict products they might like based on other customers with similar shopping habits.” https://lnkd.in/dMa8hX3X

The stunning new Mercedes-Benz AG CLA has made its grand debut across London's most iconic landmarks, stopping the city in its tracks. RAPP UK and team × (Omnicom) are proud to have partnered on this spectacular launch of what's undoubtedly the year's most anticipated new car reveal. Special thanks to our visionary clients Emilia Pereira and Sarah Paine for collaborating on this showstopping moment!

As a proud part of Omnicom Precision Marketing Group, RAPP is thrilled to announce that OPMG was named a leader in Marketing Creative and Content Services in Forrester Wave's Q1 2025 report. Receiving the highest possible scores across creative and content production, creative commerce, performance creative, and more, Forrester remarked that, "Enterprise brands with the need to scale data-driven creativity should consider OPMG." A huge thanks to our talented people, partner agencies and clients that have made this accolade possible 🙌 There are further write ups of OPMG's strong performance in the links below: https://lnkd.in/esgg7wW4 https://lnkd.in/eBZVkKTV

To celebrate International Women’s Day, we brought together voices from across generations to explore the experiences, challenges, and achievements of women in the workplace. From those who began their careers when a secretarial role was the only option, to those now balancing two careers at once, we uncovered just how much has changed—and, more importantly, what still needs to.   A huge thank you to Heidi Stephens Aziza Makamé Bindi Sharma and Emma Rush for their honesty and insight, and to Jon Pollard for being the host with the most! 🎤👏 Conversations like these remind us why we must keep pushing for progress and Accelerate Action 💪✨

Amazon has just unveiled its new Alexa+ with the promise that this virtual assistant will be our best digital friend. Our Global Chief Transformation Officer Ed Freed shared his perspective on the BBC News about this latest development in the AI assistant space: "Smart speakers are found in one in four UK homes, yet many users treat them as nothing more than expensive kitchen timers. Ultimately, the most logical place for a truly personal AI assistant is on your phone, not on your countertop." Thanks to Tom Gerken for including Ed's insights in his coverage. This release comes at the beginning of the personal AI agent era, but only time will tell if being a first mover will be an advantage for Amazon. https://lnkd.in/eh8qq89V #AI #AmazonAlexa #DigitalTransformation #FutureOfTech