Campaign went fully digital after dropping print during 2023 and Haymarket tasked the team with accelerating growth in 2024. The team had two priorities: increase subscription yields by selling more multi-user corporate licences to big agency groups and expand their portfolio of large-scale conferences.

Campaign has a two-tier subscription model - standard tier ‘The Information’ and premium tier ‘The Knowledge’ - and the team prioritised the higher tier in 2024. Their existing three-person data journalism team launched Campaign Red and Market Reports to boost The Knowledge and the team migrated all large, enterprise subscribers to the top tier at renewal time.

Campaign produced more high-value, data-rich journalism to drive subscriber engagement and enhance events and partnerships. Editor-in-chief Gideon Spanier was first to report talk of an Omnicom-Interpublic mega-merger, eight months before the deal, and the Campaign team led the way with M&A coverage, including the first joint interview with the agency CEOs.

Campaign’s multi-channel approach engaged subscribers more frequently, breaking news such as WPP’s four-day office mandate and following up with analysis and podcasts. They held the industry to account by running features on salaries and gender pay – with striking design and infographics. Editor Maisie McCabe gave only a provisional score to agencies which did not disclose DE&I metrics for Campaign’s School Reports. They dropped the paywall for a survey into parental leave policies and a first-person account of sexual harassment to ensure accessibility.

New data hub Campaign Red included Market Reports on topics such as “The Big Divide” about agency performance. The team also revamped their weekly podcast, with a single theme, bespoke artwork and social clips. Editorial and commercial collaborated to expand their live presence with fewer, bigger events. Media 360 generated record revenues, with Tom Holland, The Rest Is History co-host, as star speaker. They also launched two conferences: Campaign Live for industry chiefs, featuring Publicis CEO Arthur Sadoun, who travelled from Paris, and MediaWeek Live, for up-and-coming talent. On top of that, they innovated by creating bespoke partnerships, including roundtable events for TikTok and a podcast series for Pinterest.

Campaign had an outstanding 2024 on commercial and editorial metrics. Annual revenues rose 15% to £10.9m and profits rose 14% to £3.9m. Every key revenue line grew year on year:

• Subscriptions +9% to £3.4m
• Branded content +6% to £1.4m
• Ad sales +17% to £914K
• Awards +20% to £3.5m
• Conferences +38% to £1.3m

Editorial performance was strong against internal targets. Monthly subscriber Weighted Engagement Score, a Haymarket metric based on number of sites visits and stories read per month, increased 17% versus 2023 as subscribers visited more frequently. Monthly active subscribers increased 11% to 14.2K versus 2023. Podcast average number of listens per episode rose 14% to 690 for period from September-December after podcast relaunch versus first eight months of 2024.

The five-year record shows Campaign’s digital transformation versus 2019. Revenue? Up 40%. Subscription revenue? Up 125%. And profit? Up 102%.

All this is continued proof that Campaign is delivering for its audience of advertising professionals. Kate Rowlinson, CEO, GroupM, said: “Campaign has made a real shift. The diversity and depth of coverage have evolved to keep real pace with the needs of the industry."

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