Senior Partner and Chief Creative Officer Alyssa Toro has worn many hats throughout her life—designer, creative, pro athlete, entrepreneur, health coach, and mom. As a part owner of Connelly Partners, Alyssa has been at CP since day one, helping to build the agency from the ground up. Joining Christy Hiler on the Own It podcast, Alyssa shares her journey to leadership with honesty, warmth, and a few surprises.
Listen here.
To celebrate its brand refresh, we partnered with Flair Airlines, transforming a vacant Gastown space into Flair/FWD, an immersive photography exhibition that brought the art and emotion of air travel to ground level. The two-week installation featured the work of National Geographic Explorer and photographer Mackenzie Calle.
Through her lens, the exhibit explored both the wonder of flight and the behind-the-scenes choreography of aviation, reflecting how Flair is charting a new course and disrupting the air travel space with their mission to provide affordable air travel that connects Canadians to the people and experiences they love.
Highlights included:
The activation was a fresh take on airline marketing and a signal that Flair isn’t just refreshing its look, but making a deeper shift in how the airline connects with its community.
“Flair FWD was designed to signal a new era for Flair—one defined by confidence, clarity, and momentum,” said Patrick Smith, Creative Director at Flair Airlines. “Using award-winning photographer Mackenzie Calle’s distinct and beautiful imagery, we captured the essence of a brand on the rise. This was a Flair-led creative vision, brought to life with the support of Connelly Partners and Wildfire Events, who helped execute and implement the initiative with precision and energy.”
Nadine Cole, Co-Managing Director, Connelly Partners West also commented on the project, sharing that “the most fulfilling work happens when clients are clear on their mission and brave enough to break the mold. That’s what we’ve found with Flair. We believe in what they’re building, and we’re proud to travel alongside them as partners on what we know is an important journey.”
Connelly Partners has bolstered its creative team, appointing Sam Moorhead and Mikey Fleming as Co-Creative Directors. This follows a strong start to 2025 as the agency has won competitive pitches including Waterways Ireland, University of Galway, The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration & Youth (DCEDIY), and been added to The Health Service Executive (HSE) agency framework.
With a 50 person team in Dublin, the independent advertising agency provides an end-to-end, full-service offering for clients, within both the Irish and global markets.
Moorhead and Fleming have been a creative team since 2011, partnering at TBWA/Ireland, Boys + Girls, and later founding Verve’s in-house agency, Showrunner. Their work for brands like Three Mobile, Aldi, SKODA, Lyons Tea, Tayto, VHI, and LEGO have earned multiple awards.
They join legendary Executive Creative Director (ECD) Mike Garner and digital specialist and Creative Director, Chris Preston. This powerhouse creative team makes up part of Connelly Partners’ global offering (with other hubs in Boston and Vancouver) overseen by Chief Creative Officer (CCO) Alyssa Toro and Dublin’s Managing Director (MD) Vaunnie McDermott. This expansion marks the beginning of a period of growth for the agency with more creative roles planned for the coming months.
“Connelly Partners is on a roll, strengthening our end-to-end offering across strategy, creative, production, social and digital. Our integrated approach based on really understanding the customer journey has powered our momentum, driving strong business results for our clients,” said McDermott. “Sam and Mikey’s long-standing partnership has earned them a reputation for crafting campaigns that are anything but ordinary and built on solid strategy. Their creativity combined with the power of AI is exactly what we need to continue driving commercial success.”
Connelly Partners has been appointed as the creative agency for Waterways Ireland, the organisation responsible for managing and promoting Ireland’s inland waterways across the island of Ireland. Connelly Partners will be responsible for developing a new corporate identity and advertising communications to build the tourism and recreation credentials of the brand, in order to encourage greater use of and participation in everything that the waterways of Ireland have to offer.
In addition, the agency has been selected to work with University of Galway, one of Ireland’s leading higher education institutions, to strengthen its brand communications with the goal of increasing CAO applications.
Connelly Partners has also recently been appointed the creative agency for The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration & Youth (DCEDIY), which plays a crucial role in shaping policies and programs that support children, families, and social inclusion across Ireland.
This growth follows additional wins and campaign launches for brands including Birra Moretti, Coors, ESB & Electric Ireland, Expressway, Epilepsy Ireland and My Milkman, in what looks set to be an exciting 2025 for Connelly Partners in Ireland.
Additional coverage:
AdWorld: Sam Moorehead and Mikey Fleming Join Connelly Partners
Business & Finance: New and notable appointments at Mercer Ireland, Neotas Limited, McGill and Partners, Forvis Mazars, Connelly Partners, BDO Ireland and Deloitte Ireland
Business Plus: Moorhead and Fleming join Connelly Partners
Nick Maumus, Assistant Media Planner
Sustainability is a buzzword in every industry, and it will only become more prominent as the climate crisis continues to grow. But when “carbon emissions” is mentioned in conversation; we default to thinking about the energy sector, big oil companies, and that dreaded Honda Civic revving its engine every early morning. What we forget is the prevalent and material impact caused by the digital world, and more specifically, advertising and media.
Firstly, carbon emissions in digital advertising are very real and have a much more prevalent impact than most of us realize. For context; 1M impressions creates 1 metric ton of CO2e (One passenger on a round-trip flight from Boston to London), and Google serves about 30 billion on an average day!
In terms of how we identify and categorize these carbon emissions; there is the Scope framework, which is divided into three categories.
When we think of this in the context of media, the supply chain is not necessarily raw materials or manufactured inputs as might be the case for a computer chip manufacturer. For brands and agencies, the supply chain is most evident in the programmatic marketplace, where each publisher has multiple bid requests for every ad slot, and buyers are bidding on it all.
Additionally, every transaction and exchange of data that occurs on the programmatic supply chain releases a variable amount of carbon emissions; the larger and less efficient the supply chain, the more carbon is emitted. Publishers often duplicate ad bids for the same slot on overlapping DSPs and direct partnerships, leading to unnecessary and wasted transactions.
Media emission measurement partners, such as Scope3, have entered the space to analyze programmatic publishers and raise awareness of their environmental impact. They provide a comparative ranking of the publisher’s total carbon footprint, their programmatic supply chain, and how their footprint breaks out among ad selection; media distribution; and creative delivery.
Another valuable resource is a study conducted by Fifty-Five titled The Carbon Footprint of Media Campaigns. This public study examines the carbon emissions generated by a one-month mock omnichannel media campaign. The fascinating part of this study is how they were able to analyze the emissions from the four digital channels they chose to include. In their findings, they discovered that 323 Tons of CO2e were released over the course of one-month. However, if advertisers take sustainable digital advertising best practices into account, they can bring that total down on average 32% to 218T.
Every impact, whether large or small, makes a difference in the climate issue. It is important that we spread awareness and resources to educate ourselves, and our industry, on the ways we can each drive change. In the context of programmatic supply chains, MFA (Made for Advertising) sites and ad-cluttered platforms are much less environmentally friendly—and on top of that, advertisers typically avoid these sites anyway.
So, an incentive makes itself clear; a more efficient campaign is a cleaner campaign, and a cleaner campaign is a more effective campaign. All in all, understanding areas of improvement while maintaining the integrity of our campaigns can lead to bottom line improvements and notable environmental impacts. Next time you are in planning or see an innovative media placement, I invite you to explore the associated carbon journey and how you might be able to include sustainable digital advertising practices into your value chain.
Despite the evolving media landscape and continual doomsaying about the death of linear, upfronts arguably remain the most pivotal week of the year for TV networks. Billions of dollars in ad commitments take shape during the annual industry showcase, providing a view into the evolving dynamics of media buying—and the tech that will measure those investments.
Ad tech played a pivotal role in the 2025 upfronts and NewFronts, with Google, Yahoo, Netflix and Fox driving home the importance of AI- and data-driven ad tools for marketers. Gen Z once again dominated the demographic conversation, with tailored lineups and targeted content, while the dynamics between streaming and legacy networks continued to play out against a backdrop of Trump’s tariffs, increasing economic uncertainty and a fragmented media landscape. Amid so much disruption and reinvention, we turned to the experts for their key takeaways from TV’s biggest week.
Live Programming Is Essential Business
Michelle Capasso, Partner & Chief Media Officer
No surprise: Live tentpole events, especially sports, are still king of the hill—and played a big role in the upfronts. But this year’s focus on ad tech and new ways to buy recognizes the importance of ad-supported metrics. Ad buyers have always cared about performance and transparency, and now the platforms are finally responding. Netflix, once the champion of ad-free experience, is now touting the importance and relevance of their ad-supported tiers, and Amazon featured their ad-supported growth in streaming as a centerpiece in their pitch. This shift hopefully means more transparency for buyers—all that star power on stage touting programs in development means more when advertisers can finally get a piece of it.
The rush to sports should help support upfront spending as budgets get tighter with economic uncertainty. Big brands need it to capture large audiences. Deals will likely be more concentrated, while advertisers try to consolidate into “sure things” like live sports to reach audiences that continue to fragment, driving up pricing. But the heavy focus this year on ad tech and more ways to buy programmatically could ding upfront spend and incentivize advertisers to not lock up those budgets now.
Read the full AdAge article here.
Katie Flores, Associate Director of Programmatic Media Investment
According to a report published by AI Digital, 83% of digital ad revenue is projected to be controlled by Walled Gardens by 20271. A walled garden refers to how platforms such as Google, Meta, Apple, and Amazon control their platform insights and information such as ad inventory, user data, and performance metrics, limiting outside access.
The report also states that 90% of consumers spend their online time within these walled garden environments. Wow, 90%! That means only 10% of users spend their online time engaging with media that we can gain insights from and create leverageable audience segments to optimize against. Walled Gardens can pose a risk to the media ecosystem but also have undeniable benefits.
Walled Gardens have dominated the media industry for years. But why? Well, the attraction of working with Meta or Netflix for example should be obvious. The latter reported that their daily average viewing duration was two hours and in 1H’24, consumers streamed over 94 billion hours of content2. Mass reach is an understatement. And Meta has mass reach locked down. Facebook has over 3 billion users. The rich, complex, and extensive user data stores gathered from those 3 billion users are just one of the many things that sets Meta apart.
With the further deprecation of cookies and tracking capabilities, these Walled Garden’s first-party data stores will become even more sought after by marketers looking to gain deeper insights into their consumers. Their precision targeting capabilities are vast, the platforms are widely recognized and engaged millions of times a day, and buying on a platform such as Meta allows for a complete campaign journey from launch, campaign optimizations, and campaign wrap-up measurement.
Along with the ease of working with a partner throughout the campaign cycle, Walled Gardens can also provide a full view into the consumer journey from discovery to purchase
All of this sounds incredible, but what does it mean for a platform that isn’t a Google or Apple, or Meta? Well, sometimes the grass isn’t always greener inside of these Walled Gardens. Issues such as transparency, data collection and ownership, inflated inventory and fee costs, and trust are just the beginning.
Transparency has always been a hot topic when it comes to the Googles and Metas of our world. These companies have the right to withhold or provide a client with any information or data that they choose. And the transparency issue goes far beyond data but also applies to how the company’s ad tech algorithms work, how ads are served and where, and what audiences are seeing them. This is often referred to as Black Box Measurement and it’s something that the advertising industry is just starting to unpack and examine. How do you challenge and trust a platform that acts as judge, jury, and executioner without third party validation? This is a question that we as media buyers and planners should ask ourselves daily.
Since third party measurement partners aren’t allowed to be utilized within these platforms, brands must rely on the honesty of the publisher, that they are providing them with the correct data, and that the data that brands can ingest into the platforms are actually being used for their intended purposes. The lack of transparency seems to be only increasing, under the guise of enhanced performance through automation.
For example, Google’s Performance Max and Meta’s Advantage+ are newer products that significantly reduce advertiser control of where ads are serving and how they are appearing. While these platforms promote simplicity and automation, allowing their algorithms to handle the work as ‘best practice,’ good advertisers must scrutinize these directives, recognizing the platforms’ inherent drive for monetization.
While we can’t directly track and validate these platforms with 3rd parties, we can conduct test & learns and other forms of measurement to make our own informed decisions.
Scrutiny around transparency has come from not only platform users but government officials as well. This pressure has led to some closed ecosystems experimenting with ‘clean rooms’ to provide partners with more insights than ever before. For example, in 1H’24, Amazon launched AWS Clean Rooms ML.
This product allows Amazon partners to use AWS’s proprietary machine learning technology to create audience modeling and predictive insights without Amazon having to disclose any of their raw data. It’s a step in the right direction but is it enough?
I often compare Amazon Prime and Netflix, who just recently announced they will stop reporting paid subscribers come 1Q’25, to how media buyers viewed the Prime-Time daypart ‘back in the day.’ Before we had the granular and specific audience data reporting tools, us media buyers would pay ABC, CBS, and NBC exorbitant costs to air in those three to four hours of content a night solely because Nielsen’s Household reporting panel of 0.01% of the US population told us those shows had the highest ratings on tv.
We trusted this data because of Nielsen’s longtime standing as a consumer reporting titan, similar to how we in the media industry trust the statistical data that Meta and Amazon supply us with. Looking back, we now know that Nielsen’s murky in-home panel system fraudulently reported inaccurate age, sex, and content data resulting in millions of ad dollars lost to inaccurate targeting tactics3. Even when it comes to billion-dollar, household institutions, question, examine, and challenge everything.
Thus far we have covered issues with transparency, concerns over data ownership, and Black Box measurement processes. Which leaves us with one last thing to discuss, and that’s money. The premium content that a Netflix or an Amazon Prime provides to us consumers sure does come at a premium cost.
In addition to award-winning content, their large user bases/scale, time spent in-platform, white-glove service offerings, measurement capabilities, and high-quality ad experiences mean that our bargaining power goes out the door if we want to continue engaging with our clients’ in-platform target audiences.
All in all, Walled Garden pricing can be as inflated as these companies want since media buyers must purchase their content via Direct IO and not on the open market. Demand is high and supply is low. Econ 101!
We are at the whim of these Walled Garden companies, and they know they hold the chips, but some government officials, tech companies, smaller publishers, and media buyers are trying to reclaim some of this power. On a global scale, the EU’s Digital Markets Act of 2023 has put a spotlight on creating fairer and more competitive marketplaces by regulating Walled Garden platforms from abusing their position in the market.
In the United States, the California Consumer Privacy Act allowed California residents the right to share or exclude their data, and US antitrust laws aim to reduce monopolization of certain sectors where it has occurred.
On a smaller scale, publishers, agencies, and ad tech companies are coming together to collaborate on solutions such as clean rooms, contextual and AI predictive targeting methods, building identity alternatives like UID 2.0, and sharing transparent rate/fee cards to challenge the way these closed ecosystems operate.
For example, LiveRamp is continuing to grow its global data community to help solve inadequacies in available measurement and audience insights. While these Walled Gardens are closing in, innovations in data collection and collaboration from every corner of the industry are expanding.
As we look at the rest of 2025 and 2026, will we see Walled Gardens continue to grow or will we see open access to their inventory across different platforms and increases in data and measurement transparency?
For example, smaller-scale DSPs plan to start selling Amazon Prime inventory beginning in 2H’25, which will remove the costly commitments and barriers of entry of buying directly with these partners. Hopefully, this trend continues in a forward direction and more and more Walled Garden platforms will follow suit as we move into 2026.
In conclusion, Walled Garden companies are necessary for the industry and economy, have undeniably advanced targeting capabilities, captivating and alluring content, and billions of users who engage with their platforms for hours on end.
However, the lack of transparency, accountability, data ownership and measurement, and insights into where and when ads run is a problem that simply cannot be ignored. When planning for 2026, keep an eye out for publishers with ad tech partnerships that can provide complete clarity into their data control and usage capabilities, reporting and measurement potential, transparent cost and fee structures, and last but not least, partners you can trust.
On That Great Business Show with Conall Ó Móráin, Co-Creative Directors Sam Moorhead and Mikey Fleming talk about the current state of advertising. They dive into the sheer volume of ads, the explosion of platforms, and the evolution of targeting. They also share their thoughts on how small businesses can build their brands – by using distinctive assets, choosing the most suitable platforms, and leaning into humour and a strong personality to help people connect.
Catch the full episode here.
This year, on International Epilepsy Day, Epilepsy Ireland and Connelly Partners joined forces once again to launch a powerful nationwide campaign focused on one clear message: Time. Safe. Stay. It’s a simple mantra — but one that could make all the difference if you ever witness someone having a seizure.
Turning Stats Into Stories
How do you take a public health message and make people really care? You make it personal.
Backed by robust research from Amárach, the campaign centred around the lived experiences of people with epilepsy. Research showed that 88% of people in Ireland believe there’s a lack of understanding of epilepsy amongst the general public. So we got to work – putting real voices, real faces, and real emotions front and centre. These weren’t just testimonials. These were open, honest conversations about life with epilepsy. Fear. Frustration. Strength. Hope.
By showcasing these stories, we aimed to create empathy, spark curiosity, and ultimately, leave a lasting impression about the importance of seizure first aid — Time. Safe. Stay.
A Multi-Platform Approach That Hit Home
To maximise impact, we launched a multi-channel campaign — from powerful digital storytelling to social media, DOOH and more – ensuring visibility at both national and regional levels. Media volunteers bravely stepped up to share their experiences with press. Interviews delivered a deeply human look at epilepsy’s daily challenges.
Listen to the full Supercharged (RTE Radio 1) interview here.
A video campaign, voiced by legendary Radio DJ Rick O’Shea, was broadcast on Sky Television.
Digital out-of-home adverts brought the message into busy shopping centres and high-footfall areas throughout the Capital and regionally, as well as in Galway’s Eyre Square.
Digital Display ads featuring our media volunteers ran across various digital platforms, providing lots of touch points for the Irish public to engage with this important message.
Social media lit up – and were amongst the most successful strands of this multi-faceted campaign. TikTok alone delivered 1M+ impressions, reaching 538k accounts with an exceptional 17.36% engagement rate — well above platform norms.
Across META (Facebook and Instagram), the campaign reached 570K users, blowing past the original goal of 157K, with an impressive 2.78% engagement rate, significantly above the 0.20% industry benchmark.
Our Digital Audio campaign over-delivered – achieving a 90% Listen Through Rate (LTR) and reaching 40K+ unique users.
The results proved that human connection is still at the heart of effective storytelling.
Read The Irish Times feature here.
Alexandra Ergas, Brand Coordinator
Introduction
Upon my arrival in Boston, as a true West Coaster, I had a realization that this was only the second time I had been to the American East Coast in my life. I thought, what an amazing opportunity to explore a city and region I had never spent time in, as well as make friends and network with the CP Boston office! I couldn’t wait to explore and learn as much as I could.
Getting to Know CP Boston!
After a messy travel journey with a layover in Chicago, I was ready for an exciting day in the office, exploring the beautiful 3-story space and meeting a majority of the friendly faces at CP. I set up one-on-one coffee catch-ups with someone from each department over the course of the month, as this was one of the best ways to learn the team structure within the company. By the end of my month abroad, I came to understand the intricate workings of an advertising agency and the real teamwork it takes to keep the machine running smoothly.
Historic Sightseeing
While in Boston, I took advantage of the rich history the area has to offer, including the Gilbert House Museum and Salem, my two favorite spots. The Gilbert House took me deep into the historic neighborhood of Back Bay, where I had the chance to tour a fully preserved Victorian-era brownstone home, including all rooms and an overview of the Gilbert family history. My other favorite experience was visiting Salem, home of the infamous Salem Witch Trials, where I explored multiple museums and funky, Halloween-themed shops. These experiences are much different than what I’m used to, and have become fond memories. I also explored the Museum of Fine Arts, Harvard University, the North End, the Boston Public Library, and more!
Things I Learned About Myself
During my time in Boston, I was exposed to a much different work environment than I had been accustomed to in my career over the past few years, the majority of which was remote. I came to the realization that I thrive in a social and in-person office environment. I am more of an in-person and hands-on learner and strongly believe I have the ability to learn at twice the speed while surrounded by those who have been working in the role for some time before me. I also learned I have the ability to be far more independent than I had thought previously. Living completely alone in a new city is only as scary as you make it – and it’s easy to fill your days with meeting new people and building your own adventures. I am forever grateful for the wonderful opportunity I had with CP Abroad, and could not recommend it enough to anyone considering this wonderful program!
Valentine’s Day hits differently when you’re newly single, but hey—heartbreak has a way of teaching some unexpected lessons. My girlfriend recently broke up with me, and let’s just say I’ve had plenty of time to reflect. Here’s what being single has taught this CPer about contextual targeting.
Contextual targeting focuses on hitting consumers at a time when they’re primed to receive your message. When approaching a girl you’ve never spoken to before, you want to make sure the time and place are right to make the biggest impact.
Reaching niche audiences can be very difficult, but contextual targeting allows you to place your brand around the content that this audience would be consuming. Similarly, when you have a very specific type of girl in mind, understanding what they like can make it much easier to create a connection.
With cookies eventually being sunset due to consumer privacy restrictions, advertisers have utilized contextual targeting to reach their audience. Nowadays, there is a much greater emphasis on safety around strangers. Buying a drink for someone (the human equivalent of sharing cookies) might not be the way to approach a girl.
When using contextual targeting, your ads will always show up around relevant content. When looking for someone to approach for a conversation, it will always be easier if you have similar interests to focus the conversation around.
Contextual targeting allows you to show up around keywords that otherwise might show up on a blocklist. For example, the word “shooting” might appear on a traditional blocklist, but for a brand looking to advertise around basketball content, it takes on an entirely different, brand-safe meaning. Similarly, an ex-girlfriend might have enjoyed being called “honey,” but this won’t be the case with everyone you meet.
Signed, Anonymous