The Independent

Count Binface Highlights Shift in Political Advertising

Count Binface, a satirical candidate created by Jonathan Harvey, has emerged as a notable media property in the Clacton by-election, prompting agencies and consultants to offer creative and media support free of charge. Leagas Delaney publicly offered pro-bono creative help and has enlisted the media agency Bicycle and production capacity for traditional out-of-home placements and stunts. The story illustrates a changing political-advertising landscape driven by social virality, faux out-of-home (FOOH) tactics and public mass-reach advertising as an alternative to digital microtargeting. Recent polling cited by the article shows elevated interest in Binface nationally, while local polls and bookmakers still favour Nigel Farage.

Partnership Day: Affiliate Remains Important in New Paradigm

Hello Partner summarised key takeaways from Partnership Day on July 2, 2026, where industry leaders argued that affiliate marketing will remain important despite challenges from AI, attribution loss, and margin pressure. Panels discussed a shift to a "machine‑mediated market," the need for new governance and measurement standards, and the rise of hybrid roles such as "marketing engineers." Speakers highlighted large attribution gaps — e.g., loveholidays reported 43 untracked conversions for every one tracked conversion and Acquire reported up to 65% of purchases unattributed — and advocated hybrid compensation models instead of last‑click-only payouts. The event also emphasised preserving human oversight (summarised as HMH: Human, Machine, Human), moving to full‑funnel thinking, and exploring tools and closed‑loop systems to better connect upstream AI influence to downstream commercial outcomes.

The Independent Names Chris Anthony North America President

The Independent has appointed Chris Anthony as president of its North American operations, effective June 8, 2026. In the role he will oversee the region’s full profit & loss across both content and commercial businesses and will report to global CEO Christian Broughton. Anthony joins from Gallery Media Group, where he spent four years as chief revenue officer of GMG and chief client officer of Tamara Group (under VaynerX), and previously held roles at Group Nine, PopSugar and The Walt Disney Company. He succeeds Zach Schwartz, who is moving into a philanthropy-focused position. Anthony said he will pursue untapped commercial opportunities — including vertical-led products (finance, travel, tech), experiential events, creator-led journalism and stronger social-format strategies across Shorts, TikTok and Reels.