shots | XR - Snapshots - 2026

Ad effectiveness sounds like the sort of thing that could kill a creative conversation stone dead, but Sean Muller makes a convincing case for why it might actually help make the work braver. The iSpot Founder and CEO joins shots Co-Editor Jamie Madge to discuss how the company measures the creative, audience and business impact of TV and video advertising, and how those worlds can be brought closer together.

Muller also talks about using AI to understand why particular moments in ads resonate, why the technology should aid rather than replace creative teams, and whether the work celebrated inside the Cannes bubble also performs in the world beyond it. 

For Claire Young, “craft without compromise” is more than a positioning line; it is the principle that sits at the centre of Girl & Bear. The company’s CEO joins shots Co-Editor Danny Edwards to discuss how that commitment holds up in the age of AI, why human thinking remains the bit that makes work brilliant, and why new tools are only useful when they serve the idea rather than swamp it.

Young also talks about Girl & Bear’s growth, the commercial realities of running a global creative production business, and how a flexible model can support both world-class production partners and up-and-coming talent. As ever, it all comes back to the work, the craft and, occasionally, the lure of an air-conditioned room at Cannes.

Amazon’s Brand Innovation Lab has quite the toy box, but Dustin Duke is clear that the fun only really starts when the tech serves the idea. The Global Executive Creative Director joins shots Co-Editor Danny Edwards to discuss helping outside brands come to life across Amazon’s many platforms, from Prime Video integrations to Twitch, without simply plonking a TV ad into a shinier format.

Duke also talks about “set jetting”, making branded work additive rather than interruptive, why gimmicks usually happen when technology goes looking for a purpose, and how AI is pushing the real value of the work further upstream, towards braver briefs and ideas people actually remember.

Branded entertainment sounds lovely until someone remembers it still has to sell something. Virtue Worldwide President Kerry Tucker joins shots Co-Editor Jamie Madge to discuss the agency’s Vice-born “renegade spirit”, why making people feel something matters, and why entertainment for entertainment’s sake is not much use if it has no connection to the brand or business problem.

Tucker also talks about persuading clients to take entertaining risks, turning an entire toy catalogue into a shoppable diss track, and why creator talent should amplify an idea rather than be the one fragile thing holding it all together.

How do you market The New York Times when it now means hard news, recipes, games, sports, shopping advice and, inevitably, someone’s Wordle streak? Chanelle Kalfas, Vice President of Brand Marketing and Strategy at The New York Times, joins shots Co-Editor Jamie Madge to discuss how the publisher balances its weightier journalism with the broader role it plays in people’s everyday lives.

Kalfas talks about the mission to “seek the truth and help people understand the world”, the challenge of building desire for a subscription in a noisy media landscape, and why the brand’s more recent work, including It’s Your World to Understand, has shifted the lens towards the people living with The Times day to day.

Bose is not merely competing against rival audio brands. It is competing against friends, family, filmmakers, musicians and, inevitably, cat videos. The company’s CMO and President of Luxury and Consumer Audio, Jim Mollica, joins shots Co-Editor Danny Edwards to discuss how advertising can earn attention in a world already drowning in content.

Mollica also explains Bose’s move from engineering-led messaging towards emotional storytelling, the power of founder-led brands and why great marketing must appeal to both the head and the heart.

Libby Rodney is not especially interested in telling brands that everything they already think is absolutely correct, which is probably just as well. The Harris Poll Chief Strategy Officer joins shots Co-Editor Jamie Madge to discuss how research can move beyond dull questions and boardroom reassurance to reveal what culture is actually doing.

Rodney explores the rise of the “lottery economy”, why witches, wrestling and crypto may have more in common than you might think, and how data can help strange cultural signals make it all the way into the C-suite. She also discusses AI washing, the return of tactile, analogue experiences and why marketers might need to spend a little more time thinking about grief.

WPP Production’s arrival has raised both interest and a few hackles across the independent production community. Its CEO, Richard Glasson, joins shots Co-Editor Danny Edwards to explain why the organisation was created, what clients now need from global production and why he sees independent companies as vital partners rather than endangered competitors.

The conversation also covers emerging talent, creative apprenticeships, generative AI, digital twins and the less glamorous but equally important business of making work that does its job without necessarily troubling the Cannes juries. 

Plus, he's in a banging t-shirt.

How do you turn producers spread across the globe into one highly resourceful hive mind? shots Co-Editor Jamie Madge speaks to 72andSunny Global Chief Production Officer Lora Schulson about connecting international offices, producing people rather than individual jobs, and knowing when established ways of working need to be shaken up.

Schulson also explores where AI can genuinely improve the process, where it absolutely cannot, and why technology that recognises patterns may struggle to deliver the brilliantly unexpected.

Making ambitious work has rarely been harder, but playing it safe is not generally how creative magic happens. Omnicom Production Chief Production Officer Diego de la Maza joins shots Co-Editor Jamie Madge to discuss moving from player to coach, spotting directors with a genuinely fresh perspective and persuading nervous clients to take a chance on unfamiliar talent.

They also explore shrinking budgets, expanding deliverables, the industry’s ongoing fixation with efficiency and why nobody cares how cheaply something was made if it leaves them feeling absolutely nothing.

Instacart’s Super Bowl campaign began with a doomed plan involving Hamilton, eventually transforming into a gloriously silly tale of bananas, Ben Stiller and Benson Boone. Head of Creative Taylor Erin joins shots Co-Editor Jamie Madge to reveal how a last-minute product insight became one of the night’s most enjoyably unhinged spots.

Erin discusses collaborating with Spike Jonze, surrendering a little creative control, turning shopper data into entertainment and why an extremely narrow brief can give creatives permission to go completely bananas.

Marketers may enjoy the instant gratification of a click, scan or conversion, but what happens when they neglect everything that's harder to track? Marketing Architects Chief Media Officer Catherine Walsted joins shots Co-Editor Jamie Madge to make the case for linear television in an increasingly targeted, digitally obsessed world.

The pair discuss the uneasy marriage of brand and performance marketing, the complexities of measuring TV’s impact and why an apparently old-school medium may still have plenty of scale left in it.

What does a production consultant actually do, and are they really the industry’s boogeymen? shots Co-Editor Jamie Madge sits down with Murphy Cobb Global President Simon Sikorski to talk budgets, better production choices and why efficiency should never simply mean finding the cheapest option.

Sikorski also discusses the current collision of physical shoots, virtual production and generative AI, the dangers of chasing technological silver bullets, and how the global production map is expanding far beyond its traditional centres.

How do you advertise healthcare responsibly without producing advertising that feels terminally dull? Ro’s Will Flaherty and Giselle Guerrero join shots Co-Editor Jamie Madge to discuss the advantages of building an agency in-house, moving at the speed of the business and combining serious medical knowledge with the energy of a consumer brand.

They also unpack Ro’s celebrity partnerships with Serena Williams and Charles Barkley, explaining why genuine experience matters, how famous faces can help normalise treatment and why authenticity cannot simply be prescribed after the fact.