It was founded in 2004 by Paul Kemp-Robertson, former director of creative resources at advertising company Leo Burnett Worldwide and editor of Shots magazine, and Gee Thomson, author of Mesmerization and co-founder of Shots magazine.
Contagious was launched in 2004 to explore the relationship between brands and consumers, to predict the impact of new technologies and to make sense of the fragmenting media landscape.
Contagious was originally sold with a DVD showcasing over 100 pieces of creative work per issue; each campaign is presented in a ‘challenge/solution/results’ format.
Contagious also distributes news stories online through a free weekly newsletter.
Contagious curates and contributes to conferences and industry events and publishes a series of in-depth specialist reports that analyze some of the key topics and trends affecting the business of advertising.