Marcus Orme is the CEO and co-founder of Medialab, the London independent media agency he launched in 2005 with Alex Kirk and Ben Ennis.
In October 2026 the agency was named Independent Media Agency of the Year at the Campaign UK Media Week Awards for the second year running, weeks after its work for Alzheimer’s Society won a gold and the Best Not-for-Profit prize at the IPA Effectiveness Awards.
Medialab plans, buys and measures advertising for clients including Alzheimer’s Society, the National Trust, SunLife and Ancestry, and says it has been named a Sunday Times Best Place to Work for two consecutive years.
He tells Business Matters why long-term success comes from active leadership, an obsession with the Voice of the Customer and the Voice of the Team, data-driven transparency and an unwavering commitment to core values.
What do you currently do at Medialab?
I am the CEO and co-founder of Medialab, an independent media agency. We help ambitious organisations, from Xero and Alzheimer’s Society to loveholidays and IG, plan, buy and measure their advertising across all channels, from offline to all things digital.
We are completely media agnostic, and our transparent approach has led to industry-leading results and extraordinary partner retention.
My co-founders, Alex Kirk and Ben Ennis, and I launched the agency back in 2005. Fast forward more than two decades and 13 consecutive years of growth, and we are all still heavily involved in the daily running of the business.
That means my day-to-day is a mix of client meetings and checking in with our brilliant specialist teams. Anyone who knows me knows that I am obsessed with the Voice of the Customer and the Voice of the Team. Staying in the thick of it keeps us grounded and preserves the agile, day-one spirit we started with.
What was the inspiration behind your business?
Twenty-one years ago, my co-founders Alex, Ben and I saw a real opportunity for a media agency built on transparency, data-led effectiveness and an uncompromising commitment to both client outcomes and our people.
In a sector dominated by large holding companies, we wanted to build something different: a data-led, transparent agency with client outcomes at the heart of every decision, where smart, ambitious talent can thrive and truly flourish.
Who do you admire?
In terms of leadership, Vince Lombardi. The Lombardi Rules is one of the most underrated leadership books out there.
I would also cite Sir David Attenborough. He is the true embodiment of the adage, “If you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life.” The commitment he still has to educating the public about the natural world, and our duty to protect it, is truly awe-inspiring.
Closer to home, I am constantly inspired by the brilliant people I get to work with every single day at Medialab.
Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently?
Two decades in the business means you naturally encounter plenty of twists and turns, and that has never been truer than today, with the rapid pace of change brought by technology. But I do not like to look back with regrets.
Bumps in the road are all part of what forged our resilience and shaped Medialab into the successful agency it is today. For example, the agency flourished under the pressures of Covid and multiple lockdowns, and we doubled down on our efforts to maintain our strong culture when we were all forced to work from home.
If anything, the journey has taught me that success is not a one-time event or milestone. It comes from continually looking inwards and forwards, questioning how we can do better, challenging assumptions and changing course as a team.
With hindsight, I could have pushed things faster. But our foundation is built on trust, long-term thinking and smart, hard work. While growth could have come sooner, where we stand today is a direct result of the culture of trust we have built over time.
What defines your way of doing business?
At Medialab, our way of doing business comes down to our three core values: Help People Flourish, Dig Deeper to Understand Better, and Do the Right Thing.
Helping people flourish means helping everyone at Medialab to be the best they can be. Giving our talent the trust, space and support to grow allows everyone to thrive and deliver remarkable work for our client partners. We invest significantly in training and development, as well as in EDI initiatives that make our people proud to work for us. In a recent survey, 90 per cent said they felt pride working for Medialab, and that supports industry-beating staff retention.
Second, we dig deeper to understand better. We encourage curiosity, and I am a fan of the kaizen theory of small improvements every day. We have always been a very data-driven organisation, and we are obsessed with getting to the heart of what drives real effectiveness for our clients’ marketing investment, making sure every pound we spend on their behalf is working hard to deliver their outcomes. That is why it meant so much when our work for Alzheimer’s Society won gold at the IPA Effectiveness Awards this year.
Finally, we always do the right thing. Operating with radical candour means doing right by our client partners and our team, even when it is not the easy or quick solution. We are long-term partners for our clients, with many relationships spanning more than 10 years, and we work openly and collaboratively with them, through the good times and when things get tough. As we like to say, our clients’ success is our success.
Crucially, our values are not just words on a wall in the office. They are non-negotiable, and they are a central part of how we recruit and develop our people and hold ourselves accountable every day.
What advice would you give to someone starting out?
First, maintain an open, positive mindset and always say yes to opportunity. True growth comes from stepping into unfamiliar territory and embracing unexpected challenges with a growth mindset. These are the moments that can often define your career.
Second, learn to listen far more than you talk. Whether you are speaking with client partners or the most junior members of your team, the best insights almost always come from listening carefully to the people around you, rather than feeling you need to have all the answers yourself.
Finally, believe in yourself and your team, and map out where you want to go. Plan meticulously and build a five-year strategy; having a clear direction gives you the confidence to adapt when new opportunities arise.
Nothing great happens unless you put your vision in writing, get everyone aligned and make sure every person is actively contributing as part of the journey. One team all the way.
