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Luke Smith shared thisLast week marked the launch of Croud OS and Agentic Croudies; in this month’s Next Best Move, I get to go deeper on our vision and what it means for the agency. We're at a pivotal moment where self-learning, AI-powered workflows are freeing our 2,900 global experts to focus on what they do best: strategy, creativity and being great partners to our clients. Filmed at our shiny new office space in Atlanta, I sat down with our US Marketing Director Christine Göös to share my take on AI at Croud. This episode also features: Sharon Harris, Global Marketing Leader and Founder at Salon Culture, together with our Principal and Head of Growth, Kevin 🤘 Planovsky, as well as Lana Ivory 🦋, Product Marketer at Meta RayBan. Watch this year’s final episode of Next Best Move below. #NextBestMove #ReturnOnIntelligence #Brandweek
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Luke Smith shared thisAnother big step forward today for Croud: the launch of Agentic Croudies within CroudOS, our agency operating system. This is the realization of our long-term tech vision. Built on 14 years of our proprietary knowledge, Agentic Croudies introduce self-learning, AI-powered workflows that scale campaign decisions and absorb complexity. It’s exactly why Ben Knight and I set out to build a new type of tech powered agency way back in 2011. We are now accelerating our business and the work we do for clients into the AI era. Shout out to Frederick Stallings Sam Green Martin Reed Dani Jordan Christine Göös for driving this forward. This is Return on Intelligence in action. Let's go 🚀 Watch the video for more, and read the story in Campaign: ➡️ https://lnkd.in/ekdBB8aZ https://lnkd.in/ekdBB8aZ Thank you Lucy Shelley for covering our story. #AgenticCroudies #CroudOS #AIinMarketing #AgencyEvolution
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Luke Smith shared thisDouble award winners, couldn't be prouder. As the saying goes, I should go away more often...Luke Smith shared thisBIG news from the Performance Marketing World Awards! 🏆🏆🏆 Croud has been named Independent Performance Marketing World Agency of the Year, and we also took home the SEO Award for our work with Sports Direct | Frasers Group These awards recognise the success of our Return on Intelligence approach, and the collaboration, creativity, and impact that our teams deliver every day 💥 A massive thank you to everyone across Croud who has made this possible 👏 Take a look at the full list of winners here: https://lnkd.in/eCTAbRVb #PerformanceMarketingWorld #AwardWinners #ReturnonIntelligence
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Luke Smith shared thisAn honour for Croud to win Digital Advertising Company of the Year at the GP Bullhound 2025 Allstars awards last week! Congratulations to all the other winners, and a huge thank you to the fine judging panel and the Croud team who make it all happen! Let’s go! 🚀 #ReturnOnIntelligence #GPBullhound #Croud #AllstarsAwards Debbie Ellison James Storkey-Jewiarz
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Luke Smith shared thisFix up, look sharp… Last week saw Croud's brand refresh, Return on Intelligence isn’t just our tagline it sits at the heart of how we do things. We combine creativity, data, people, and AI to unlock smarter outcomes. Much more in the coming weeks on our technology and the evolution of the Croudie network. Watch this space. Let’s go 🚀 https://croud.com/
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Luke Smith shared thisThanks Robin Bonn for inviting me to talk about Croud on the industry on your immortal life of agencies podcast, enjoyed our chat. Check out the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/gxMa7F4x #ReturnOnIntelligence #CroudOS
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Luke Smith shared thisReally enjoyed our conversation Rishad Tobaccowala our thinking around the future of our industry are very alignedLuke Smith shared thisA Next Generation Agency for a New World! Imagine a company aligned with and built around the big trends of AI, distributed work, benefits of in person interaction, new talent marketplaces and globalization. Already 3500 strong and growing fast, well funded via Private Equity and with my recent colleague Steve King as its new chairman That’s Croud ! Luke Smith the CEO and cofounder of Croud joined me on the latest episode of The Rethinking Work Show to talk about something that’s been core to Croud from day one: How do you build a team that’s fast, flexible, and still deeply human? We explored the “talent on demand” model, and how a global network of Croudies helps the company scale smart, stay agile, and support clients across 118 markets and 86 languages. It’s not just about cost or convenience. It’s about tapping into the right talent, at the right time, in the right way. All connected via Croud OS The future of work is here. Get a grip on tomorrow by subscribing ( free) to The Rethinking Work Shiw … pioneers inventing tomorrow that share their best learning today. On all platforms YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gkBCYTjA Apple Podcast: https://lnkd.in/gGdv8U2e Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gFveWcQF Steve King Luke Smith Croud Ria Tobaccowala
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Luke Smith shared thisExcited that today Croud launches our new 'search everywhere' proposition, and with it our BrandAI tool, helping brands understand more about their presence on LLMs. This is another step in Croud's investment and commitment to building on and understanding the AI landscape for our clients. Watch this space for further exciting launches in the coming months. Read more on The Drum https://lnkd.in/eWWtF-W6 Let's go 🚀
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Luke Smith shared thisCouldn’t be happier to welcome the one and only Steve King as Croud's new Chairman. Steve is one of the most respected and forward-thinking leaders in our industry, and most importantly he's a good guy and great cultural fit for us. He’s already helping us define our future as an AI powered marketing company, and was blown away by the depth and capabilities of our Croudie model and OS. I look forward to the journey we’ll go on together during Croud 3.0 It was always going to be hard for us to find a Chairman and partner to step into Jerry Buhlmann shoes, but with Steve we’ve nailed it. Thanks Gideon Spanier for the fantastic article, Steve is very much leaping in! Lets go 🚀 https://lnkd.in/eqWhXMukSteve King leaps back into agency sector as chairman of Croud after leaving PublicisSteve King leaps back into agency sector as chairman of Croud after leaving Publicis
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Luke Smith liked thisAt the end of March, I finished my time at OpenWeb. It wasn’t an easy decision, and one I’ve taken time over. After 15 years, from building Adyoulike through to its acquisition by OpenWeb, and everything that followed, it’s been a hell of a ride. Over that time the business evolved many times. In truth, it feels like five or six different versions of what we originally started, all shaped by the amazing people who joined and built it along the way. Different colleagues and friends, and teams, brought their own energy, ambition and flair, and that’s a big part of what made the journey so special. To everyone at Adyoulike and OpenWeb, past and present, thank you. Building a business is never about one person. I’ve been fortunate to work with some incredible people over the years, to be part of their journeys, and to have many of you play a big part in mine. To our partners across the industry, on both the buy and sell side, thank you for the trust over the years. Whether you took an early punt on a little start up - Adyoulike, backed us as we scaled, or worked with us more recently at OpenWeb, it’s always meant a lot. I’m incredibly proud of what we built together and the role we played in the market. For now, I’m going to take some time, spend it with my family and take a breath. After that, some investing, advising, consulting and thinking about what’s next. Thank you again to everyone who’s been part of the journey. 🙏
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Luke Smith liked thisLuke Smith liked thisReally proud to have been apart of this one 🛌 I worked on the Premier Inn campaign, leading on booking the fabulous Al Nash - an absolute dream to work with and brought so much to the project. Huge shoutout to Liam G., Semira Hamden and Charli Brehaut - and the wider team across Born Social and Detail Films for bringing this to life. So many talented people involved at every stage and it really shows in the work! And to top it off, seeing it featured in Campaign UK is a pretty special moment: https://lnkd.in/effJnCqa One of those projects that reminds you why you love what you do 🤩Premier Inn hires SNL UK star for social campaign on sleep sciencePremier Inn hires SNL UK star for social campaign on sleep science
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Luke Smith liked thisLuke Smith liked thisThis is cool. Very excited to get stuck into this year's IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) Effectiveness papers. These are the gold standard - the most rigorous evidence base our industry has. This year's batch feels particularly important - I'm looking forward to seeing how the old playbooks are being stress-tested in an environment that's changing very quickly.
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Luke Smith liked thisLuke Smith liked thisGot given the Ai crazy-eyes treatment whilst presenting at Google's Performance Labs session on Friday. Enjoyed being up on stage to present a case study on demand led growth success and listening to the experiences of the wider industry
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Luke Smith liked thisLuke Smith liked thisCelebrated some truly amazing women last night at the Campaign UK Inspiring Women Awards. ✨ So proud to be shortlisted with Tara Innes, and a huge shoutout to Kate Higham on your win! Watching your hard work be recognised was a highlight 🎉 In an industry currently facing DE&I headwinds and the juggle of working parenthood, this community is more vital than ever 💗
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Mark Futcher
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Ian Gibbs
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JICMAIL's Response Rate Tracker 2025 is out. Now including response rate, ROI, CPA and AOV data from 3,800 campaigns measured by fifteen industry organisations, this year's release highlights the increasingly important role that the mail channel plays in acquiring new customers. Cold DM response rates grew 24% year on year in 2024, while Door Drop ROI grew 41%. With more data, it's the new planning variables which have got me the most excited however. There are some really interesting learnings emerging around repeat sends and message reinforcement: Repeat Cold DM mail sends achieve 37% higher ROI and 2.5 times higher response rates than new campaigns, along with greater Average Order Values and lower CPAs. Get your message out, and then get it out again. Nothing wrong with making yourself heard in an increasingly crowded attention economy ;-) Topline results available here: https://lnkd.in/eUTsDm9i ....and in depth sector level insight available via JICMAIL Discovery to all subscribers. Thanks to Join the Dots, Epsilon, The Letterbox Consultancy Ltd., Ginger Black , DBS Datamarketing Ltd, Whistl UK Ltd, Paperplanes UK, choreograph, PSE, The Specialist Works, Go Inspire Group - A Xerox Company, Herdify, PDV Ltd, Go Direct Marketing for all of your submissions this year.
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Evandro Carvalho
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Vitor Bellote 🇧🇷🇮🇹
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What if the key to automotive advertising isn’t who the buyer is but why they’re looking and when they’re ready to act? 🚗 Seedtag’s latest blog explores how UK brands are using real-time content signals to connect with car shoppers in real-time decision moments, all while keeping users’ privacy safe. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/dYap-3-T #AutomotiveUK #AutomotiveMarketing #IntentBasedMarketing #ContextualAdvertising
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