This is Contagious

Contagious

Pays Royaume-Uni

Genres Société et Culture, Affaires, Marketing

Langue EN-GB

Épisodes 3

Dernier 15.07.2026

This is Contagious is a show that explores how ideas shape brands and culture. Join Alex Jenkins, Chloe Markowicz and Katrina Stirton Dodd from the Contagious team as they unpack the thinking behind the world’s most interesting ideas – from trends and technology, through marketing and media, to campaigns, creativity and everything in between.

Épisodes

The Loneliness Disconnect: how big tech made us lonely and how brands are responding 15.07.2026 45min

AI companions. Lonely cities. Yakult Ladies. In this episode, Contagious investigates the rise of loneliness and why brands as diverse as Heineken and Games Workshop are winning by becoming the new facilitators of human connection. Along the way, we explore lonelygenic cities, discover what brands can learn from 19th Century Parisian architecture, asking whether boyfriends are embarrassing and whether we’re trapped in the Me Operating System.
Cannes Lions decoded: the campaigns, conversations and creativity that mattered 01.07.2026 44min

The Contagious team returns from Cannes Lions 2026 to deliver our sunburnt take on the awards, the talks and what it all means for the industry. Hot from the Croisette, we find out whether How Brands Grow is a brutally boring read, why the UN needs marketers more than ever, how the industry's best work is turning problems into opportunities, and how creative treasure can be found everywhere - from a dot-matrix printer receipt to a 12-tonne chocolate heist.
Goosebumps, group chats & the World Cup: how to win the aftermath economy 17.06.2026 42min

Budgets will be wasted. Brands will be ruthlessly filtered out. The real game starts after full time. James Kirkham, founder of Iconic and ex-head of Copa90, joins Contagious to unpack why the 2026 World Cup is fundamentally different to previous tournaments - and what brands need to do about it.
Brain rot, AI slop & doomscrolling: how brands win in the attention economy 03.06.2026 48min

In this episode, Contagious investigates what happens when content supply completely outstrips human attention, and how brands can win in a world dominated by infinite scroll, clip farms, AI slop and algorithmic overload.
Crazy brand collaborations are exploding: this is why they work 19.05.2026 41min

Pokemon. Meatball lollipops. 17th Century silk traders. In this episode, Contagious explores weird and wonderful brand collabs, why they’re so effective, how to use them as a shortcut to cultural relevance and which brands are doing them well.
The Industrial Nostalgia Complex: how brands can profit from the past 19.05.2026 38min

Nostalgia. Cultural déjà vu. Kidulting. Why are so many people desperate to escape the present? In this episode, Contagious investigates everything from why adults are rebuilding their teenage bedrooms, to landlines for kids and the return of the iPod, and revealing why the past has become one of culture’s most powerful refuges.
Welcome to This is Contagious 29.04.2026