MBC Showcase unites renowned alumni to promote unique immersive training course

This week we brought together alumni, speakers, tutors and judges of our Media Business Course with prospective delegates in a special showcase at Havas Village, to bring the course to life for the wider industry.

The event kicked off with an introduction from our Commercial Director, Sharon Lloyd Barnes, and Suzanne Costello, our Events Director, who explained that MBC is not just a training course – it provides a deep dive into the art of media planning and pitching, constantly evolving to reflect the industry landscape and its people.

The showcase opened with insights from Vicky Fox, Chief Planning Officer at OMG. She outlined the fundamentals of media planning, a core element of MBC, including managing briefs and budgets, crafting creative and inclusive media plans, and building strategic media partnerships.

Sharon then led a panel featuring advocates of the course, including Sky Media’s Director of Clients and Marketing, Karin Seymour, who explained how the MBC gives delegates a cross-industry insight through collaborating with their team as well as gaining feedback from media experts and growing in confidence. “There is a reason all of the senior people in the industry speak there,” Karin explained. “It is because it is the best course out there, and we are exposed to some of the brightest minds in the industry too.”

Hamid Habib, Havas Entertainment’s Managing Director, who has also been a tutor at MBC for many years, stated:

“From our perspective, this is a reward as much as a piece of training,” he explained to the audience. “We only send our future talent. This should be at the top of any training you are considering doing, as there is nothing like it in the industry.”

Lisa Boyles, Head of Go to Market and Media at giffgaff, who was a delegate last year, explained how the course has transformed the way she has worked over the last few years. Lisa felt that the MBC has given her a valuable holistic learning opportunity to increase giffgaff’s cross industry insight by collaborating with syndicates and gaining an empathy for a variety of media areas.

The second panel, hosted by Clare Peters, Chief Strategy & Effectiveness Officer at OMD, included previous delegates and winners.

Louis Hawking, Commercial Partnerships Manager at Sky Sports was in the winning syndicate last year. He talked about the knowledge and skills he gained from the senior industry speakers, particularly those from media channels he wasn’t used to working with. He also enjoyed collaborating with a team of people from different industry backgrounds and discovered he excelled in presenting. Louis also revealed that shortly after the course he received a promotion, which was “definitely aided“ by his experience at MBC.

Katie Bowden, Managing Director at Audio Global and a 2012 attendee, credited MBC with solidifying her path into management. “My acceleration point was definitely the MBC course” she shared. Katie encouraged employers to prioritise transparency and fairness and progression when selecting candidates, as attendees return with renewed confidence and clear goals.

The final member of the panel was James Thomas, Global Media Director at Mars, who attended the course around a decade ago, and also provided the brief for the course last year.

James described how MBC challenges participants to think beyond traditional frameworks and step outside their comfort zones.

During the afternoon, attendees also enjoyed a specially made film featuring testimonials from notable alumni, including ITV CEO Dame Carolyn McCall, who attended the course in the 1980s. You can watch the film here.

MBC 2025 will take place between 8-11 July at The Grand Hotel, Eastbourne, and further information can be found here.