Interview with Claire Beale, Global Editor-in-Chief, Campaign Magazine

In a series of interviews the DMEXCO talks with responsible editors of our media and market partners all over the world about their personal lives, today´s media challenges and the digital business in their country or market. The first episode starts with Claire Beal, Global Editor in Chief at Campaign.

About Campaign Magazine

Campaign is a global business magazine covering advertising, media, marketing and commercial creativity. It is published monthly by editor-in-chief Claire Beale and the Haymarket Media Group and is headquartered in London. In addition, daily news and analysis are published on the following websites: campaignlive.co.uk, campaignlive.com, campaignasia.com, campaignindia.in, campaignme.com, and campaigntr.com.

Interview

Please give us a short introduction: How did you become global editor-in-chief? What have you done before?

I’ve worked on Campaign for about 20 years, a very long time but I love the ad industry and it’s changed so much, of course, over that time. I started out as media editor and was U.K. editor for almost a decade. Now my role is global, which reflects the internationalisation of Campaign – we’re now in eight territories with local Campaign platforms – and the internationalisation of the industries we cover.

What does the future hold for the trade media? And how do they meet these challenges at Campaign Magazine?

Campaign began life 50 years ago as a business magazine covering British advertising, media and marketing. Now we’re a multi-platform global brand. We run awards, conferences and events around the world, we have a series of websites across different territories, we produce videos and podcasts and we still publish a vibrant, hugely successful magazine in the U.K. We deliver content in many ways now, however and whenever our audiences demand. In the future I’m sure this portfolio will continue to expand and technology will continue to develop that allows us to serve our audiences in ever more tailored ways.

Which headline at Campaign Magazine have you regretted? And why?

I can’t think of a headline that we’ve written that has been a significant mistake or error of judgement. However, we have certainly run some stories that don’t always show the industry in a good light. We don’t shy away from difficult or critical stories and always strive to reflect the realities of the business we cover and that means we sometimes publish stories which I wish weren’t true, like some of the stories we’ve written that highlight the industry’s slow progress on achieving better diversity and equality.

Suppose you could interview any person of your choice on the main stage at DMEXCO 2019: Who would be this person and about what would you like to talk with her or him?

Well, you don’t specify that the person has to be alive so I’d choose Charles Dickens, who wrote popular, populist literature that was hugely entertaining, shaped culture and had a social purpose to it; his creative impulses are still so relevant today.

What are the three main topics in your market 2019?

The changing structures of the big holding companies and how their creative agencies are faring; the rise of the management consultancies into the agency space; marketers taking some advertising processes in-house.

What can digitalization do for the city you live in?

It will transform the way we travel and how much we travel around the city, which will have huge impact on almost everything.

Which gadget did you buy last and why?

A new coffee machine; good coffee is as necessary as air.

Suppose you were Head of DMEXCO for a week, what would you change?

I’d throw the event open wider to the creative community with events and exhibitions designed to ensure more creatives engage with the DMEXCO tech agenda.

What will be an important headline of Campaign Magazine in 2025?

We’ll still be writing headlines about the power of creativity and story-telling.