As a massive advocate for news brands, Kai is a thoroughly deserving winner of Newsworks’ rising agency star for 2024. Growing up reading papers for his news, sport and culture fix, he talks passionately about the importance of trusted journalism and brand safety in a world of misinformation and fake news. What’s more, he’s clear on the vital role that agencies and advertisers have to play here, making championing news brands his personal mission.
Kai’s belief in and approach to news brands is centred on education. He saw an opportunity among his peers to drive a reappraisal of the scale, influence and value of news brands by arranging a series of presentations from the likes of News UK and Mail Metro Media.
Moreover, Kai’s commitment and contribution has helped enormously to improve client and planning perceptions about working with news brands. Mindshare says it is no coincidence that H1 2024 saw a comprehensive increase in spend year-on-year on news brands from both clients that hadn’t previously invested before and those who hadn’t for some time.
He believes in the power of research and insight, using the Thinkbox-commissioned ‘Profit Ability 2’ study, which argues a compelling case for the power of news brands. He is now plotting how to get internal stakeholders to increase their investment in news brands.
Kai has shown an incredible and infectious passion for news brands — both in his own learnings and in enthusing about them to other people in his agency.
Suzy Ryder, CEO, OMD UK
