12 agency teams take part in NewsBrands education day, with insights from Newsworks, TGI and leading news publishers

1 October 2026: The 11th annual NewsBrands Ireland Power of Planning competition and education day took place in Medley, Dublin today, bringing together 12 teams from Dentsu Aegis, WPP Media, Core, Starcom, Zenith, Spark Foundry, Omnicom and Havas to explore how news brands can deliver meaningful connections with audiences and effective outcomes for advertisers.

This year’s competition challenged participating teams to develop a three-month media plan for a new convenience food brand targeting adults aged 24–65. The brief, “Make It Impossible to Ignore,” challenged teams to create a high-impact campaign that grabs attention and make the most of the powerful advertising environment offered by news brands.

The education day featured insights from Heather Dansie, Insight Director at Newsworks, who shared new research demonstrating the role journalism plays in creating cultural relevance, trust and attention, and how these qualities can benefit advertising campaigns.

Heather spoke about Newsworks’ role in championing the importance of journalism and demonstrating the effectiveness of news brands as part of the wider media mix. She highlighted research showing how news brands can build meaningful connections with audiences and contribute to brand and business outcomes.

The teams also heard from Christine Matthews and Daniel Read from TGI, who shared audience insights and data to help participants understand news brand audiences and inform their planning.

A networking session with representatives from NewsBrands’ member publishers gave the teams an opportunity to speak directly with the people behind the news brands and find out more about their audiences, content and advertising opportunities. Representatives from The Irish Times, Irish Examiner, Business Post, Irish Farmers Journal, DMG Media Ireland, Mediahuis, News Ireland, and Reach took part in the session.

Lisa Buckley, Communications & Programmes Director at NewsBrands Ireland, said:

“The Power of Planning competition gives the next generation of media planners an opportunity to really explore what news brands can deliver for advertisers. This year’s brief – Make It Impossible to Ignore – is all about attention and challenging the teams to think creatively about how they can use news brands to make a campaign stand out.

“Today was about giving the teams access to the research, data and people they need to build a genuinely ambitious plan. Hearing from Newsworks and TGI, and having the opportunity to speak directly with news publishers, gives them a much deeper understanding of what news brands can offer.

The 12 participating teams will now develop their proposals, with five teams to be shortlisted to present their plans to the judging panel next week. The overall winner will be announced on Wednesday, 8 October. This year’s judging panel members are: Christine Matthews, Head of TGI Customer Success, 55 Blue, Helen Beecher, Head of Performance and Measurement, dunnhumby Ireland, and Lisa Buckley, Communications Director, NewsBrands Ireland.

The Power of Planning competition is designed to give media planning teams an opportunity to put their knowledge of news brands into practice, while demonstrating the role trusted journalism can play in delivering effective advertising campaigns.