Exploring Advertising Fatigue and the Rise of Trust-based Marketing at iPX London 2025 iPX London 2025

Owen Hancock, RVP Marketing, EMEA at impact.com, shares more about the upcoming London edition of the company’s Partnership Experience (iPX) event

About iPX and what it means to impact.com:

It’s a very important event for us. Four events, in fact – one in the US, one in the UK, plus editions in Shanghai and Sydney. It’s where we gather together many of our key influencer, creator, affiliate, publisher, advocate and brand partners for one day – three days in the case of the US event – to bring them up to speed on the latest trends in the partnership economy and the latest updates to the impact.com platform. Over the course of the four events, we meet around 2,000 people from our community, but just as importantly, they meet each other. This is the partnership economy, after all, and the iPX events are a great place for new partnerships and relationships to be forged.

Why is the partnership economy so important today:

It is important because brands are increasingly finding that their advertising falls on deaf ears. People have become distrustful of it, they don’t believe in it, they ignore it. When people are looking at new products and services, they turn to influencers, creators, affiliates, trusted publishers and peer reviews for clear, unbiased advice and recommendations. Our own research found that 89% of people trust personal recommendations over any other advertising channel. Smart brands have taken note of this trend and are treating partnerships as a key strategic channel – as important, if not more so, than their above-the-line advertising.

Focusing on the London event specifically, when and where does that take place?

It’s at the Science Museum on 25th June, starting at 11am. People can register here.

The theme of this year’s event:

We’ll be exploring lots of themes. Among them, we’ll be talking about how trust has become the new currency in a world of AI-generated content and advertising fatigue. We’ll also be looking at the evolution of the customer journey – the fact that the traditional linear funnel is no longer fit for purpose, as today’s journey to purchase is cyclical, driven by research, advocacy, and social proof.

Performance through partnerships is another key theme, exploring the idea that partnerships are not just a channel, but a core business strategy. We’ll also be looking at the idea of human connection in a tech-driven world and how the modern consumer seeks out empathy, authenticity, and shared values in their relationships and engagements with brands.

Who will delegates hear from:

We have a packed programme. Just to name a handful, we are running a session with Hello Fresh, Dentsu and Brand Swap looking at how retail media networks are reshaping the digital marketing landscape. This session will explain what retail media networks are, why they matter, and how retailers can successfully launch and scale their own networks, with support from platforms like impact.com. It will also look at how creators, affiliates and publishers can plug into these networks, turning content influence and audience trust into measurable retail impact.

Another session with experts from Affiverse, Skyscanner and Swarovski will look at how to accurately measure and report the impact of affiliate marketing, and we’ll also be talking to the language-learning platform Preply about how sustained collaborations with content creators can elevate performance marketing.

Who’s delivering the keynote address this year:

I’m delighted to say the keynote will come from Nathalie Nahai, the renowned speaker, lecturer, best-selling author and podcast host. She will be talking about ‘Trust, Connection and Agency in the age of AI’, and will explore how consumers discern fact from fiction in the face of increasingly automated interactions, and how brands earn trust and prioritise real connection with their customers while navigating the promise and perils of synthetic relationships.

Other highlights:

Well iPX wouldn’t be iPX, and we would be missing a trick, if we didn’t take the opportunity to update our partners on the enhancements we are making to the impact.com platform. Our Principal Growth Product Manager, Alex Springer, will go under the bonnet of the platform, to take delegates through the latest improvements and additions.

What if people can’t make it to the Science Museum on 25th June?

If you can’t make it down during the day, there’s an after party you can join. Sign up here. There will also be recordings of sessions available on demand on the iPX website.

Finally, what do delegates get out of attending iPX?

A multitude of things. They make lots of new connections, get lots of insight into how the partnership economy is evolving, hear from some great speakers, and leave feeling energised and full of ideas they can put to work in their own business. They also have a great time – there are lots of fun activations on the day, plus great food and drink, obviously. There’s a coffee cart that does espresso martinis, an Al portrait arm, a glassware engraving station, a Pimm’s tricycle and lots more fun activations.

Also published in: Martech Series