Of all the idioms and analogies that you might come across in the world of advertising, those connected to sport might be the most overused. A quick trawl through LinkedIn is enough to prove this: 鈥淎I is keeping [company] ahead of the game鈥, trills one post. A sponsored message in my inbox cheers that an MBA course will give me 鈥渁 head start鈥 on my 鈥渃ompetition鈥. Your team may well have 鈥榟it it out of the park鈥 on their latest campaign. And did you get my last email? I鈥檓 keen we don鈥檛 鈥榙rop the ball鈥 on this.
But in all the ways we do think about sport, there are a couple of others that we maybe don鈥檛 think about enough. Specifically, a sense of fair-play that鈥檚 associated with sport only when it鈥檚 at its best - a combination of integrity, work ethic, and leaving it all on the field. And it鈥檚 in those ways that, when I meet with Audrey Melofchik, VML鈥檚 global chief brand experience officer and former CEO of Wunderman Thompson, I can鈥檛 help but think about sport.
鈥淚 grew up in the great state of New Jersey, in the western part, where there鈥檚 about one stoplight per town,鈥 she begins, describing a quintessentially American smalltown upbringing. So much so that, with some irony, Audrey wasn鈥檛 able to join a sports team since 鈥済irls鈥 sports weren鈥檛 as popular as they are now鈥. To make up for it, she became a cheerleader and colour guard captain (鈥渢he head of the baton-twirling squad鈥), and a student council leader. 鈥淚 was a joiner,鈥 she admits. 鈥淚 had fun.鈥
And she鈥檚 still having fun. Today, it would be hard to describe Audrey鈥檚 life and career as particularly 鈥榮malltown鈥 - a New York-based part of the c-suite for one of the industry鈥檚 biggest companies in one of the planet鈥檚 most creative industries, on the back of a career in which she鈥檚 held leadership roles at BBDO, DDB, Wunderman Thompson and many more. Yet it doesn鈥檛 take long in conversation with Audrey to see those sporting and human qualities come through. It鈥檚 like a warm handshake on the top floor of a glass skyscraper.
The journey here, she recalls, began with an interest in journalism and a desire to be part of a team. 鈥淚 went to Syracuse University鈥檚 Newhouse School to study journalism, and started work at a local radio station,鈥 she says. 鈥淚 had to get up at 5am to do grunt work - loading promotional cartridges for the DJs during the drive-time slot. To be honest [and she inevitably is], I didn鈥檛 love it.鈥
What the experience did do, indirectly, was spark a love of advertising and communication. 鈥淚 took some advertising classes and had a wonderful professor. She encouraged us to see advertising as a mix of team sport and creativity,鈥 she explains. 鈥淪he embraced the advertising community in such an inspiring way that I switched my focus to the industry and haven鈥檛 looked back since.鈥
Something that has endured since those days in journalism, however, is an interest in the zeitgeist - a reflexive curiosity for where culture is and where it鈥檚 headed. And that, Audrey notes with a glint in her eye, is a particularly interesting place at the outset of 2025.
鈥淲e鈥檙e at an interesting moment, having come through some of the most challenging and hardest times, not least because everything has been so divisive鈥, she says. 鈥淲hat we鈥檙e picking up now is a growing sentiment to move past acrimony and embrace joy - that鈥檚 really clear looking at popular culture. We haven鈥檛 had enough joy in the past five years or so, and you can feel people yearning for it now鈥.
To find an example of that yearning in popular culture, you don鈥檛 need to look far. In 2024, Audrey posits, the Hallmark Channel released 32 new holiday movies to its 80 million American viewers (in other words, an entire Marvel cinematic universe over the course of the last 12 months alone). 鈥淏ut Taylor Swift鈥檚 Eras tour is probably the most clear and obvious example of this,鈥 she adds. 鈥淵ou could feel the joy and celebration radiating out of every clip and picture taken from those concerts. It was like watching a festival of happiness. That鈥檚 the zeitgeist - it鈥檚 where we鈥檙e headed, even if it may not feel like it from reading the headlines.鈥
Those headlines are part of another phenomenon that Audrey has noticed, one that every brand needs to contend with in its efforts to connect with people: Overwhelm. In fact, this is a particularly pressing problem for brands and marketers - especially those who think the answer to over-saturation is simply to pump out more and more content. 鈥淐ulturally, we鈥檝e reached a point where the proliferation of digital content is overwhelming. When we look at WPP鈥檚 BrandAsset Valuator鈩 (BAV) data, we see brand equity declining while content increases,鈥 she says. 鈥淭his tells me that people are overwhelmed - not just by the sheer amount of content, but also by the negativity that saturates it.鈥
So, how to fight back? That鈥檚 a question that Audrey is enthusiastic to answer. It comes down to the fundamentals of building brands - and she鈥檚 got the data to prove it.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been hugely encouraging to see brand equity work yield results,鈥 she begins. 鈥淥ur industry鈥檚 biggest opportunity is to better quantify and communicate the impact of this work, especially in a world of AI. For example, with Hellmann鈥檚 at Unilever, we tackled declining brand loyalty among millennials and gen x by launching the 鈥樷 platform.鈥
鈥淲e avoided traditional recipe ads and instead used humour and creativity, like Super Bowl spots with Pete Davidson and stunts like banning mayo for a week in 鈥楢 Town Called Toast鈥, she continues. 鈥淭he campaigns increased penetration by four percentage points over four years with their target - significant for a big brand in such a large category.鈥
During her explanation, Audrey tells me that these findings came as something of a surprise to her and her team. Why?
鈥淚t surprised us because you might expect people to be too tuned-out for brand equity to matter,鈥 she concedes. 鈥淏ut time and again, quality brand equity work moves the needle. The mistake we make is not quantifying and communicating its impact enough.鈥
As a leader at VML, cheerleading for work that builds equity and moves the needle is set to be one of the themes of 2025 for Audrey. It鈥檚 the next step on a leadership journey that鈥檚 seen her grow throughout her career, learning from the right people - as well as the occasional 鈥渕isstep鈥 along the way.
The second part to becoming a good leader, Audrey, recalls, is following the role-models you meet early in your career. But the first, and arguably far more important, part of becoming a good leader is picking the right role models to follow.
鈥淕ood leaders lift people around them up, and focus on what their teams need to succeed,鈥 she says. 鈥淟eadership isn鈥檛 about people working for you; it鈥檚 about you working for them.鈥
To that end, she had a helpful knack for picking the right role models. 鈥淩osemary Ryan, for example, was a force of nature at J. Walter Thompson in 2005-2006. She was real, transparent and approachable - just a human being, not someone trying to project perfection,鈥 she says. 鈥淲endy Clark was another. She was authentic and team-oriented, always figuring out what her team needed to succeed. Andrew Robertson was similar - a big personality but deeply committed to solving problems for his team and elevating them.鈥
From all those influences, Audrey has derived one key theme that underpins her approach to leadership today. 鈥淕ood leaders are good human beings,鈥 she surmises. 鈥淔or aspiring leaders, conveying authenticity is about balancing vulnerability with a strong point of view. Authentic leaders can share personal stories - perhaps about challenges or mistakes - and transition seamlessly to offering direct, constructive feedback. That crucial authenticity comes about when leaders aim to be the best versions of themselves, not idealised personas. This leadership style is personified in how Jon Cook, Global CEO of VML and Mel Edwards, Global President show up to lead WPP鈥檚 biggest agency. Despite our size and scale, we have down to earth, genuine leaders at the helm who set the tone for our agency every day.鈥
By way of an example regarding one of those 鈥榤issteps鈥, Audrey reflects on a moment where she decided she needed to change her approach to client services. 鈥淢y early approach of simply acting as a client mouthpiece to the agency was flawed,鈥 she suggests. 鈥淚 believed my job was to represent clients鈥 needs back to the agency without question. But over time, I realised the true value lies in reimagining client inputs to align with broader brand goals. Collaboration with creative teams became essential - understanding the brand's needs and presenting a unified point of view to clients.鈥
In other words, she became more of a translator between agency and client - an invaluable, inimitable skill that continues to serve her well to this day. And, to return to her earlier point, it鈥檚 going to help her make that case for re-establishing joy and brand equity as priorities in 2025 and beyond.
鈥淭here鈥檚 always a pendulum swing, in culture and in this industry,鈥 she says. 鈥淥ver the past few years, we鈥檝e seen it move towards data, micro-targeting and volume, which has allowed us to create huge amounts of content. But that won鈥檛 be the story forever. I was at a dinner recently where three clients all told me that 鈥榠deas are coming back鈥.鈥
So now, Audrey believes, the pendulum is swinging again. Back towards joy, back to ideas, back to humanity.
To indulge in one last tortured sports analogy, it might be the start of happiness鈥 cultural comeback.