Next in Marketing: Recent Episodes
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Everything we know about the media, marketing and advertising business is being completely upended thanks to technology and data. We're talking with some of the top industry leaders as they steer their companies through constant change.
Traditional media buying breaks down when attitudinal audience data gets lost between upstream research and downstream media activation. Bright Mountain's Andy Davidson and Deep Focus's Kyle Krueger unpack how synthetic personas, unified YouTube-to-CTV strategies, and responsible creator management keep ad campaigns aligned and effective.
Key Highlights🔄 Audience research usually gets mangled like a game of telephone once an agency hands off a campaign brief to platforms and creators. 📺 TV networks ingest data much faster now, letting buyers target real-time viewer interests instead of relying on six-month-old demographic reports.
📲 Independent agencies view YouTube as equal to traditional TV because it gives mid-sized brands better targeting, lower costs, and clearer ROI tracking.
🤖 Synthetic audience models allow planners to vet creator selections and test campaign ideas before spending actual media dollars.
🏝️ Travel creators who expose "hidden gems" without ground rules drive over-tourism and trigger serious backlash from local residents.
Resources & Next Steps🔗 Andy Davidson on LinkedIn
🔗 Kyle Krueger on LinkedIn
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Chapter Timestamps00:00 Intro
1:28 Introduction to Bright Mountain and Deep Focus
2:46 YouTube Ecosystem Challenges and Creator Studios
4:04 Data-Driven Audience Targeting and Platform Selection
7:11 Caribbean Tourism Client Case Study
8:01 Creator Selection and Audience Validation
9:12 Synthetic Audience Techniques and Data Ecosystem
11:17 YouTube's Journey Toward TV Legitimacy
12:49 Creator Control and Brand Messaging Challenges
Ace Hardware's RedVest Media is rewriting the retail advertising playbook by turning a late market entry into a strategic advantage across its 5,200 store footprint.
Head of Retail Media Molly Hjelm joins Mike Shields to explain why friction-free Pacvue integration, closed-loop endemic attribution, and re-embracing physical stores outperform legacy off-platform tactics.
Key Highlights⏰ The Late-Mover Edge: Launching a network today means skipping years of clunky tech builds and plugging straight into mature e-commerce and delivery setups.
🤝 Meet Advertisers Where They Work: Brands hate learning new dashboards; plugging into existing buying platforms like Pacvue removes friction and gets campaigns funded faster.
🏢 Co-Ops Require Local Buy-In: You can't force thousands of independent store owners into a corporate playbook—you have to prove the model boosts local store revenue first.
📈 Big-Ticket Items Drive Market-Wide Sales: High-priced hardware like grills won't hit impulse CPG conversion rates, but they pull in massive overall revenue across entire markets.
📊 Standard Measurement Builds Instant Trust: Using accredited third-party platforms like CitrusAd gives brands reliable metrics, whereas legacy tools like Marketing Mix Modeling fail in retail media.
🏷️ Physical Aisles Drive the Real Volume: E-commerce gets the attention, but most transactions happen in physical stores, making in-store signage essential for moving product.
🛑 Off-Platform Expansion Kills Retail Context: Dumping shopper data across the open web strips away the store context, breaking closed-loop attribution and frustrating endemic brands.
Resources & Next Steps🔗 Molly Hjelm on LinkedIn
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Chapter Timestamps00:00 Intro
1:10 Ace Hardware's Late Entry and Co-op Structure
3:16 Late Mover Advantages and Strategic Timing
6:42 Building from Experience and Vendor Insights
7:37 Pacvue Partnership and Portfolio Launch Strategy
8:44 Industry Experience and Channel Differences
10:20 Hardware Category Unique Characteristics
12:43 Non-Endemic Opportunities and Audience Targeting
14:35 In-Store Media Strategy and Heritage
16:20 Industry Standardization and Measurement Challenges
18:05 Consolidation Perspectives and Scale Requirements
21:46 Creator Content Integration and Social Amplification
Collective CIO Natalie Silverstein joins Next In Media to explore how creators are evolving into full-fledged media networks and what it takes for brands to scale authentic partnerships in a hyper-fragmented landscape.
Natalie, also breaks down real-time crisis agility, strategies for training AI language models on video content, and how to combat the algorithmic reach recession with targeted paid media.
Key Highlights📺 YouTube Creator Networks: Creators aren't just making one-off sponsored videos anymore—they're running multi-show media networks with their own IP.
🤝 Scale Without Losing the Soul: Pulling off massive creator runs like L’Oréal’s (think thousands of activations) doesn't mean producing generic slop.
⚡ Real-Time Crisis Agility: Social platforms run on outrage, and minor issues turn into viral fires fast.
🤖 Targeting the AI Audience: LLMs are becoming a key target audience, and they love structured content. Writing scripts and captions with clear, direct Q&As helps AI models pick up your video as an authoritative answer.
📐 Matching ROI to the Surface: You can't measure all creator content the same way.
🏢 Creator Marketing Goes Core: Major ad holding companies buying up influencer agencies isn't a fluke; it's proof that creator strategy is now table stakes for every serious media plan, not a side experiment.
🧠 The Limits of Tech: AI can overhaul campaign data and software tools, but it can't read a room.
Resources & Next Steps🔗 Natalie Silverstein on LinkedIn
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Chapter Timestamps00:00 Intro
2:03 YouTube's Creator-Centric Strategy and Content Evolution
3:12 Scaling Creator Marketing
6:27 ROI Measurement and Performance Optimization in Creator Marketing
8:08 Optimizing Creator Content for Large Language Models
11:26 Industry Consolidation
13:27 Creator Reach Recession
Recorded live at Cannes, Wpromote CEO Andrea Bendzick exposes why agile independent agencies are eating traditional holding companies' lunch while everyone else scrambles to build overpriced tech platforms. She maps out how mixing performance marketing, smart M&A, and hard revenue-backed brand metrics gives modern agencies an unbeatable edge.
Key Highlights⚖️ Independent agencies sit in a sweet spot where they're big enough to handle massive brands but agile enough to pivot while legacy holding companies stay stuck.
🛠️ Wasting capital building proprietary AI platforms is a trap when you can simply own your measurement and partner up for execution.
🧠 AI belongs in the trenches clearing out manual grunt work and sorting platform data so your senior talent has space for real strategy.
🚀 Building brand credibility from scratch takes way too long to win client trust, making smart agency acquisitions the fastest route to scale.
📺 Traditional TV commercials are dying off because creators need to be actual co-producers across streaming and social, not just hired actors.
🤖 Autonomous AI agents need strict human guardrails on day one instead of being left alone to manage ad spend.
Resources & Next Steps🔗 Andrea Bendzick on LinkedIn
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Chapter Timestamps00:00 Intro
1:32 Independent Agency Advantages in a Disrupted Market
4:43 Giant Spoon Acquisition and Brand Strategy Integration
6:05 Creator Television and Advertising Innovation
9:30 Agentic AI Implementation and Organizational Transformation
10:52 Care Index and Scientific Brand Measurement
12:39 Future of Agency Compensation Models
Cadent President Doug Rozen unpacks the hidden organizational silos and ad frequency nightmares plaguing modern video advertising at Cannes. Discover why shifting from audience persistence to contextual TV and total video planning is the ultimate fix for bruised brand performance.
Key Highlights📺 Internal agency silos are ruining the viewer experience by slamming consumers with the same ad over and over.
🎯 Unifying linear, CTV, and digital into one video plan stops brands from bidding against themselves and burning cash.
🧠 Contextual targeting beats creepy digital tracking by matching ads to real moments and content themes.
🔍 Stop treating YouTube like a side project—it’s actually the strongest contextual TV platform on the market.
🔄 Top media agencies build plans around format (like video or audio) rather than getting stuck in individual channel silos.
📊 Cross-platform measurement only works when you tie specific KPIs to specific funnel stages—there’s no magic single metric.
📈 Market volatility isn’t a temporary glitch anymore; the best planners accept uncertainty as the new baseline.
Resources & Next Steps🔗 Doug Rozen on LinkedIn
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Chapter Timestamps00:00 Intro
1:24 The Frequency Problem Across Video Platforms
2:29 Total Video Strategy: One Plan, One Audience, One Time
3:48 Contextual TV vs Connected TV Philosophy
4:44 Strategic Value of Content Context and Predictive Outcomes
5:48 Unifying YouTube with Traditional TV Strategy
7:15 Contextual Targeting: Old Concepts Made New
8:10 Agency Organization and Format-Based Planning
9:08 Measurement Across the Total Video Funnel
9:51 Current Marketplace Assessment: Managing Uncertainty
Spotify is shifting from a traditional audio platform into a powerful multi-format ad engine driven by advanced data targeting and transparent, value-exchange sponsorship models.
Through innovative automated tools and natural language API plugins, the streaming giant is eliminating traditional production barriers so brands of all sizes can easily deploy high-ROAS campaign creative.
Key Highlights📺 The Pivot to Video: Platforms can't survive on audio alone anymore; they have to mix in music videos, video podcasts, and live events to keep modern fans hooked.
🤝 The Win-Win Ad Model: Giving users a visual takeover with fewer commercial breaks builds real goodwill while driving up actual returns for brands.
🔌 Prompt-to-Purchase Ads: Hooking AI models like Claude straight into the ad API means anyone can script and launch a campaign from a command line without needing an agency.
🔓 Killing the Paperwork: Ditching manual insertion orders for instant programmatic buying opens the door for thousands of smaller advertisers who used to be priced out.
📊 Free Measurement Built-In: Native brand lift data and conversion APIs remove the expensive barriers that usually stop brands from tracking true performance.
🧠 Tracking Daily Habits: Tapping into billions of real-time signals—like skips, listening history, and playlist creation—gives brands a direct line to what users actually like.
🎤 Fixing the Audio Bottleneck: Free text-to-speech AI tools solve the old problem of audio ads being too slow and expensive to make, letting brands spend more budget on runtime.
Resources & Next Steps🔗 Per Sandell on LinkedIn
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Chapter Timestamps00:00 Intro
1:31 Spotify's Focus on Fandom and Multi-Format Experience
3:12 Playlist Sponsorship Strategy and Value Exchange
5:40 Creator AdSpot Innovation in Television Advertising
6:57 Spotify Ad Exchange Development and Access Expansion
8:47 Measurement Solutions and First-Party Data Integration
10:29 Generative AI Adoption and Data Utilization
12:04 Command Line Integration and Natural Language Processing
12:57 ROI Pressure and Measurement Evolution
14:01 Audio Advertising's Unique Value and Attribution Challenges
15:21 Future of Audio Advertising and ROI Potential
Recorded live at Cannes, this episode explores the shift from surface-level ad efficiency to true business effectiveness in a hyper-fragmented media landscape.
VaynerX's Jon Morgenstern delivers a masterclass on navigating the creator economy, leveraging YouTube's cross-screen dominance, and using common-sense attribution to cut wasteful ad spend without harming the bottom line.
Key Highlights🤝 Economically speaking, creators need brands far more than brands need creators to fund their operations, despite the cultural relevance they offer in return.
📺 YouTube has officially evolved past platform debate, shifting into an undisputed, ubiquitous streaming giant that requires agencies to bridge the gap between CTV and social budget buckets.
🚀 Top-tier creators function effectively as independent mini media companies, but they succeed through platform coexistence rather than attempting to directly compete with tech giants like Meta or Amazon.
📉 The industry is facing a critical pivot away from legacy efficiency metrics like programmatic cost-per-view toward outcome-driven, actual business effectiveness.
🗳️ Organic social media acts as a true meritocracy where superior content wins naturally, serving as a brutal reminder that you cannot simply buy your way out of poor engagement.
📊 Cross-platform measurement remains highly probabilistic due to fragmented view definitions across TikTok, Reels, and YouTube, challenging the industry's desire for a master deterministic plan.
🛍️ Scaling creator integration effectively requires leveraging platform-native tools like TikTok Shop ecosystems rather than relying entirely on traditional legacy talent agencies.
Resources & Next Steps🔗 Jon Morgenstern on LinkedIn
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Chapter Timestamps00:00 Intro
1:11 Live Recording Setup and Upfront Market Overview
2:45 Upfront Deals and New Market Dynamics
4:31 YouTube's Evolution Beyond Platform Categorization
5:29 Creator Studios as Media Companies
6:41 VaynerX's Unique Position in Creator Economy
7:50 Short-Form vs Long-Form Content Measurement
8:57 Organic Content as True Meritocracy
10:58 YouTube Integration with Traditional TV Metrics
13:01 Scaling Creator Campaigns and Programmatic Approaches
14:38 Creator Economy's Capacity for Ad Dollars
16:11 Economic Reality Check for Creators
17:36 Attribution and Common Sense Marketing
20:01 Questioning Always-On Media Spend
Relying solely on programmatic CTV auctions locks brands out of premium live sports and high-value cultural moments while racking up heavy middleware fees.
This deep dive reveals how direct-to-ad-server tech and large language models are restructuring streaming media execution to protect brand safety, automate delivery, and enforce flawless frequency capping.
Key Highlights🏎️ The streaming landscape has finally solidified clear operational guardrails for PMPs, direct deals, and programmatic guaranteed executions.
🚫 Brands relying exclusively on open programmatic bidding frameworks are entirely locked out of premium live sports and cultural finale inventory.
🚀 Parallel ad-server execution platforms bypass traditional DSP/SSP tech stacks to unlock automated direct buying without extortionate transaction fees.
📉 Moving execution closer to the publisher's native ad server slashes ad operations complexity from thousands of line items down to a handful of weekly adjustments.
🧠 The future of smart ad matching lies in feeding first-party data clean rooms into large language models to algorithmically pair impressions with optimal brands.
⚖️ Advanced streaming networks require a hybrid architecture that seamlessly balances highly targeted identity-driven deals alongside broad reach-and-frequency buys.
Resources & Next Steps🔗 Leo O'Connor on LinkedIn
🔗 Philip Inghelbrecht on LinkedIn
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Chapter Timestamps00:00 Intro
1:25 Market Stabilization and Transactional Norms
3:05 Premium Content Gap in Programmatic Buying
4:32 Upstream Technology Solution
5:42 Content Experience and Buying Model Optimization
6:52 Implementation Results and Operational Efficiency
7:29 First-Party Data Evolution and Identity Solutions
9:22 Hybrid Approach to Brand Data and Identity
10:09 Collective Audience Moments vs. Individual Targeting
12:18 Frequency Capping Challenges and Solutions
YouTube has officially outgrown traditional media taxonomies to become a unique, multi-surface ecosystem spanning streaming, social, and commerce.
This week, Tinuiti's Sean Odlum explains how brands can leverage first-party CRM data and the Ads Data Hub, to bypass mobile-heavy biases and measure true impact across every screen.
Key Highlights🇨🇭 YouTube operates as a media "Swiss army knife" that spans streaming, social, and commerce, making it a standalone category that defies traditional television or digital video silos.
🛑 Advertisers must overcome the "cold start" planning problem by fusing brand CRM data with platform signals rather than using wasteful, brute-force ad spending across millions of creators.
🛋️ The massive migration of viewers to connected TV screens introduces a "lean back" posture that dries up traditional click-through data and forces agencies to build view-through attribution models.
🔑 Marketers frequently fall victim to the "looking for keys under the lamplight" bias by over-indexing on easily measured mobile formats while failing to capture deeply engaged CTV exposures.
📧 Privacy-compliant clean rooms like YouTube's Ads Data Hub allow brands to unlock deterministic measurement by using hashed emails as a durable identity signal to link exposures to actual conversions.
🚘 YouTube's content structure makes it uniquely optimized for highly considered, research-driven purchases rather than the impulse buying loops that dominate short-form entertainment apps.
Resources & Next Steps🔗 Sean Odlum on LinkedIn
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Chapter Timestamps00:00 Introduction
1:38 Sean's Role and Tinuiti's Product-Focused Approach
3:38 YouTube as Its Own Category and Platform Approach
4:55 YouTube Intelligence Suite: Planning and Cold Start Solutions
6:26 Measurement Challenges and Connected TV Migration
7:35 Ads Data Hub
10:57 Demand Generation Campaigns and Mobile Bias
13:45 YouTube vs TikTok Shop: Commerce Potential and Use Cases
16:26 Short-Form vs Long-Form Content Strategy
18:06 Measurement Wish List: Inter-Walled Garden Operability
The traditional retail media playbook is undergoing a massive transformation as platforms shift away from transactional clicks toward holistic, real-world shopping experiences.
This week, Sam's Club VP and GM Harvey Ma, breaks down how their membership data and cross-enterprise synergy with Walmart are setting a new standard for full-funnel brand measurement.
Key Highlights💳 Every single purchase is tracked. Because members have to scan their ID at the register, the app, or the gas pump, brands get direct, 1-to-1 attribution without having to guess or make assumptions.
🤝 It's a long-term relationship, not a one-time buy. Looking at how people use services like travel, pharmacy, and auto care gives a much clearer picture of future shopping intent than a single grocery receipt.
🌐 Built once, scaled everywhere. Putting different ad platforms under one global roof makes things consistent, simplifies the buying process, and cuts down transactional friction for brands.
🏎️ Ads are leaving the store. Brands are moving beyond traditional retail spaces by using live events—like racing sponsorships—to reach people out in the real world and prove the ads actually work.
👃 Hooking all five senses. Warehouse shopping is inherently physical, so the strategy centers on taste, touch, and smell to build actual emotional connections instead of just chasing digital clicks.
📊 Optimizing on the fly. Tools like Omni Impact track the entire shopping journey to see which channels are pulling their weight, allowing brands to adjust their media mix in real time.
Resources & Next Steps🔗 Harvey Ma on LinkedIn
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Chapter Timestamps00:00 Introduction
1:57 Launching the Sam’s Club Connect rebrand and its core philosophies.
2:28 Integrating Sam's Club, Walmart, and International Connect into one global ad ecosystem.
3:05 How mandatory membership scans unlock 100% accurate, closed-loop attribution.
3:42 Moving from one-off transactions to multi-service, long-term relationships.
4:09 Creating sensory, real-world retail experiences that go beyond digital clicks.
4:50 The "Race to the Club" IndyCar partnership with Andretti Global.
6:20 Using digital scan-and-sample tablets to pipe instant store reviews to web pages.
7:40 Unifying data, tech, and marketplace under a singular enterprise growth platform.
8:54 Why the world's biggest brands have completely destroyed traditional buying silos.
As streaming behavior dominates the living room, Vizio's operating system has claimed the top spot in U.S. television sales by turning the home screen into an active search and discovery storefront.
In this exclusive Cannes interview, Chief Revenue Officer Mike O'Donnell explains how partnering with Walmart Connect allows advertisers to move beyond last-click attribution and track the complete customer path from initial TV exposure to final purchase.
Key Highlights🛒 Smart TV operating systems are evolving from invisible background infrastructure into powerful retail media endpoints embedded directly within commerce networks.
🎯 While traditional audience reach and frequency planning still matter, actual business outcomes have become the primary scorecard for modern connected TV advertising.
📺 True scale in the smart TV landscape requires a balanced formula of distribution volume matched with deep, daily home screen user engagement.
📉 Relying strictly on last-click attribution undervalues the top-of-funnel brand discovery and awareness value that television inherently delivers.
🔍 Designing utility-driven features like centralized sports discovery hubs solves viewer choice fatigue while unlocking high-intent sponsorship assets for advertisers.
Resources & Next Steps🔗 Mike O'Donnell on LinkedIn
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Chapter Timestamps00:00 Introduction
3:00 Evolution of Smart TV Operating Systems and User Behavior
4:32 Market Position and Competitive Landscape
6:23 Balancing Audience Metrics with Outcome-Focused Advertising
7:44 Content-to-Commerce Integration and Walmart Connect's Role
8:54 Moving Beyond Last-Click Attribution
10:05 Innovation User Experience and Discovery
11:33 Advertising Innovation and Branded Content
12:53 Future Outlook and Walmart's Vibe Acquisition
SharkNinja has rewritten the modern commerce playbook by embedding a "threshold of virality" directly into pre-product development and abandoning rigid, weekly campaign reviews for hourly optimization.
Global Head of Media Dave Kersey shares how this social-first, digital-only approach skyrocketed the brand to the top of TikTok Shop ecosystems globally while establishing a hyper-transparent, API-driven model for agency partnerships.
Key Highlights🚀 Modern product development must integrate a Threshold of Virality (TOV) pre-production to ensure the product’s DNA naturally inspires organic creator advocacy and consumer content generation.
📈 TikTok Shop has officially evolved from a novel social feature into a powerhouse retail and commerce engine comparable to traditional retail media.
⚡ High-growth brands must transition from standard weekly media reviews to an agile, real-time optimization infrastructure that monitors and scales winning content on an hourly and daily cadence.
🤝 Authentic creator engagement requires shifting from rigid, forced brand messaging to an early product-sampling model where influencers provide honest feedback and co-create real human usage stories.
📊 Measuring content performance requires a unified view that evaluates message resonance and audience viewing time across a single, integrated paid and organic ecosystem.
🧩 Signal fragmentation across emerging platforms like CTV and digital out-of-home remains the largest operational bottleneck preventing fast-moving digital optimization from scaling across the full media ecosystem.
Resources & Next Steps🔗 Dave Kersey on LinkedIn
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Chapter Timestamps00:00 TikTok Shop Success and Consumer Shopping Evolution
1:47 Shark Ninja's Unique Product Development and Media Integration
3:51 Creator-Centric Social Commerce Strategy
7:32 Measurement and Attribution Approach
11:22 Aggressive Media Investment and Real-Time Optimization
12:56 Television and CTV Strategy Limitations
16:29 Signal Fragmentation as Primary Challenge
18:05 Agency vs. Client Side Insights and Partnership Model
20:52 Product Spotlight: The Chill Pill
The shift from traditional television to connected TV has accelerated rapidly, requiring publishers to offer both massive culture-shifting scale and ultra-precise targeting capabilities.
In this deep dive, Netflix Advertising VP Nicolle Pangis pulls back the curtain on how the platform built an independent, proprietary ad server to give global brands the exact mix of automated programmatic buying and high-impact live events they need to drive measurable ROI.
Key Highlights📈 Achieving a scale of 250 million global ad-supported subscribers establishes premium streaming networks as direct rivals to traditional broadcast television for top-of-funnel brand equity.
🛠️ Migrating away from third-party tech partners to own the entire proprietary ad server stack is critical for premium publishers wanting to control data assets and accelerate product roadmaps.
🔄 Capitalizing on a consistent, weekly viewing habit among 80% of an ad-supported base allows brands to maximize creative repetition and long-term brand building rather than just transactional spikes.
🏟️ Reimagining live sports through a unique entertainment lens expands standard fan demographics, transforming traditional sports broadcasts into massive cultural pop-culture events.
⚖️ Unlocking the true potential of connected TV requires a deliberate balance between personalized digital targeting and broad-reach, unified storytelling that drives shared cultural experiences.
🧩 Relying entirely on single hit series integrations is a flawed media strategy since even a top-tier show only captures roughly 1.5% of total platform viewing at any given point.
🔐 Standardizing clean room integrations and advanced data collaboration frameworks is the essential path forward for activating scaled first-party data securely.
📊 Proving television advertising value should focus on holistic return on ad spend and incremental revenue lift across agency dashboards rather than expecting immediate on-screen transactions.
Resources & Next Steps🔗 Nicolle Pangis on LinkedIn
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Chapter Timestamps00:00 Introduction
1:14 Netflix's Advertising Journey and Infrastructure Building
4:07 Subscriber Growth and Market Position
6:15 Competitive Positioning and Technology Advantages
7:48 Ad Tech Platform Development Strategy
9:12 Career Background and Strategic Approach
12:12 Current Market Conditions and Advertiser Needs
14:14 NFL Partnership and Content Innovation
16:36 Advertising Format Innovation and Personalization Balance
18:15 Content Integration and Audience Strategy
20:49 Data Collaboration and Clean Room Technology
Achieving true cross-channel attribution remains an uphill battle as walled gardens restrict access to critical log-level data.
Georgia Pacific's Vice President of Integrated Media and Brand Analytics, Javier Bustillos, reveals how his team combats these fragmentation challenges by accelerating in-house Marketing Mix Modeling and adopting a disciplined, test-and-learn approach to automation.
Key Highlights📊 Walled gardens continue to choke cross-channel attribution by withholding log-level data, forcing brands to rely on a mosaic of complementary measurement frameworks rather than a single source of truth.
🎯 Strategic mass awareness is shifting toward a hybrid model that blends broad linear reach with hyper-targeted digital video tactics like CTV and YouTube to balance scale and precision.
📺 Premium addressable and data-driven linear television formats frequently fail to generate the performance lift required to justify their steep upfront cost premiums.
👥 Independent content creators should be treated as dynamic ad formats and flexible engagement assets deployed across diverse platform verticals rather than being siloed as a standalone media channel.
📈 Bringing Marketing Mix Modeling in-house can drastically condense operational reporting loops, shifting analytics cadences from lagging annual retrospectives to agile, granular quarterly deployments.
🧪 AI applications in programmatic media yield immediate dividends for algorithmic bidding and supply-path optimization, but agentic decision-making still requires strict human guardrails for multi-million-dollar budgets.
🏗️ Building a high-functioning in-house programmatic operation demands a multi-year road map focused on incremental scaling, specialized talent retention, and direct ad-tech relationship management.
Resources & Next Steps🔗 Javier Bustillos on LinkedIn
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Chapter Timestamps00:00 Introduction
1:28 Georgia Pacific's Role and Brand Portfolio
2:20 Evolution from Mass Reach to Integrated Targeting
4:05 Cross-Channel Integration Challenges
5:00 Upfront Evolution and New Players
7:10 Creator Economy Integration Across Platforms
8:31 Marketing Mix Modeling Evolution and In-House Capabilities
11:00 MMM Limitations and Supplementary Measurement
13:04 Business Outcome Accountability and Long-term Impact
14:36 AI Implementation and Agentic Capabilities
16:28 Future of Agencies and In-House Teams with AI
18:36 CFO Relations and Marketing Value Communication
19:55 In-Housing Reality Check and Implementation Timeline
21:16 In-Housing Challenges and Relationship Building
As television viewership shifts, NBCUniversal is proving that premium IP like live sports and reality television can compete with digital channels by integrating advanced programmatic ad tech.
Through initiatives like real-time AI context-scanning and the Performance Insights Hub, they are closing the data loop to deliver immediate, measurable outcomes across the entire marketing funnel.
Key Highlights📺 Premium, year-round unscripted programming creates sustained fan communities that offer brands continuous, high-engagement cultural relevance instead of the brief campaign windows typical of limited series.
🚪 Operating systems like Vizio OS are becoming the critical "front door" of television, capturing consumer attention during the search and discovery phase before they enter ad-free environments.
🤖 The traditional boundary between upper-funnel awareness and lower-funnel performance is dissolving as media networks deploy advanced data hubs to compress measurement cycles from months to days.
📱 Embracing automation and programmatic infrastructure in linear and streaming environments allows major networks to onboard thousands of emerging, niche advertisers who were previously priced out of premium TV inventory.
🏈 Real-time, AI-driven content scanning enables hyper-contextual dynamic creative insertion immediately following specific live broadcast triggers, drastically increasing brand resonance.
🎯 Maximizing sports viewership monetisation requires a dual broadcast and streaming infrastructure, recognizing that the vast majority of premium ad impressions still occur on linear television.
🗓️ Establishing consistent, predictable programming blocks across distinct sports leagues creates a unified destination for viewers and a year-round narrative platform for advertisers.
🎪 In-person experiential events act as powerful content factories, allowing brands to super-serve live audiences while generating digital assets that scale across streaming and social platforms.
Resources & Next Steps🔗 Alison Levin on LinkedIn
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Chapter Timestamps00:00 The Power of Year-Round Reality TV Communities and Advertising Integration
00:32 Vizio OS as the Solution to TV Fragmentation
1:44 The Cultural Phenomenon of Reality TV and Community Building
5:29 Advertising Scale and Integration Strategies
7:12 Performance TV Advertising and Data Feedback Loops
9:09 AI and Dynamic Creative Capabilities
11:09 NBA Return and Sunday Night Sports Strategy
13:15 Dynamic Ad Insertion and Programmatic Sports Advertising
15:12 Current Advertising Market Conditions and Upfront Dynamics
16:58 BravoCon as a Content Creation Phenomenon
After briefly de-emphasizing targeted TV ads during the Discovery merger, Warner Bros. Discovery has rapidly rebuilt its infrastructure to offer clients unprecedented transparency and accountability.
In this live recording from the GoAddressable upfront breakfast, learn how premium IP content is joining forces with sophisticated data waterfalls to challenge the dominance of walled gardens.
Key Highlights🔄 Warner Bros. Discovery is correcting a four-year-old strategic pivot by aggressively reinvesting in addressable TV advertising to bridge the performance gap between linear and digital video inventory.
🎯 Roughly 80% of audience-driven TV campaigns now leverage client-supplied first-party segments, signaling a massive shift toward data-ownership and customized targeting in premium environments.
📉 Traditional media companies must radically streamline their back-end infrastructure to eliminate the crippling operational friction that still makes buying TV inventory too slow and clunky for modern brands.
🤝 Legacy publishers are abandoning old rivalries and uniting within consortiums like OpenAP because collective ecosystem collaboration is the only way to successfully compete against tech titans like Amazon, Google, and Meta.
📉 Direct-to-consumer and small-to-medium digital-native advertisers expect the exact same level of performance, accountability, and transparency from television that they grew up using on Meta and Google.
🌊 Relying on a single persistent identifier like an IP address is no longer sustainable, forcing publishers to adopt flexible, composable data waterfalls that combine multiple deterministic and modeled signals.
📊 By guaranteeing reach and incremental reach through their StreamX solution, networks are successfully using top-of-funnel control as a reliable proxy to prove downstream business lift.
🎭 Pairing high-impact sponsorships like premium series premieres with deterministic retargeting allows brands to orchestrate a complete full-funnel strategy from culture-shaping moments down to precise suppression and competitive conquesting.
Resources & Next Steps🔗 Bridget Jayaram on LinkedIn
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Chapter Timestamps00:00 Introduction
1:46 Bridget's Background and Warner Brothers Discovery's Addressable Journey
3:33 The De-emphasis and Return to Addressable
4:26 Current Addressable Demand and Client Profiles
5:31 First-Party Data Usage and WBD's Own Data Assets
6:29 Operational Challenges and Infrastructure Needs
7:34 Industry Collaboration vs. Competition
8:38 Outcomes Measurement and Performance Guarantees
10:30 Identity Strategy and Deterministic vs. Probabilistic Approaches
12:12 Serving Different Advertiser Categories and Expectations
13:25 Education and Industry Knowledge Gaps
14:32 WBD's Approach to Performance and Brand Advertising
Discover how the future of TV advertising is shifting toward outcome-based measurement and AI-driven optimization coming out of the 2026 upfronts .
iSpot CEO Sean Muller joins the show to break down their fundamental "Creative + Audience = Outcome" equation, the integration of their new AI platform Sage, and why the industry must prioritize trusted, neutral data over ongoing currency debates.
Key Highlights📺 Following the 2026 upfronts, publishers and networks are shifting from traditional linear metrics to embrace outcome-based models because they recognize that advertisers make major budget allocations based on direct business performance.
🎯 The traditional debate over alternative audience measurement currencies is largely a publisher-driven concern, while modern brands remain strictly focused on concrete performance and cross-platform ad effectiveness.
🧪 True attribution requires a paradigm shift that treats creative and media as an inseparable equation, proving that creative quality is just as critical to the final business outcome as audience targeting.
⏱️ Holistic media measurement must capture a four-quadrant grid that balances short-term performance metrics like immediate website visits with long-term brand equity indicators like purchase intent and favorability.
⚖️ Advertisers are standardizing multi-touch attribution frameworks that pair conversion rate with lift/incrementality to ensure they are tracking true behavioral causality rather than just hitting consumers who would have purchased anyway.
🤝 The real competitive advantage for publishers lies in moving beyond basic outcome reporting toward actively optimizing campaigns in real time using trusted, neutral third-party measurement signals.
🤖 While building autonomous AI agents for campaign optimization is technically trivial, achieving industry adoption depends entirely on training platforms on verified, historical data that marketers can transparently verify via traditional dashboards.
📈 Although streaming and programmatic buying are gradually lowering the barriers to entry for smaller advertisers, total television ad spend remains highly concentrated within sports and a handful of legacy industries.
Resources & Next Steps🔗 Sean Muller on LinkedIn
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Chapter Timestamps00:00 Introduction to TV Outcomes and Industry Readiness
4:29 Defining iSpot's Role and Measurement Philosophy
5:42 TV Disrupt Event and Industry Focus Areas
8:45 Defining Short-term vs Long-term Outcomes
11:59 The Creative + Audience = Outcome Equation
15:06 Measurement Methodology and Industry Partnerships
17:53 Publisher Optimization and the Roku Partnership
19:24 AI Implementation and the Trust Factor
24:01 Legal Dispute with EDO
26:52 Industry Growth and SMB Adoption
Jubilee Media founder and CEO Jason Y Lee joins Next in Media to break down how the digital-first studio builds scalable, format-driven IP that captures Gen Z's massive attention span without relying on a single face.
Discover the monetization strategies behind their unscripted content, why creators are turning down Hollywood, and how authentic human conversation is outperforming AI in the modern creator economy.
Key Takeaways:
The Creator Economy Flip: Top digital creators no longer view Hollywood as the ultimate graduation point, reversing the media power dynamic as traditional studios now seek out digital-first strategies to survive.
The Attention Span Myth: Massive engagement metrics on 90-minute videos prove that younger audiences aren’t suffering from short attention spans; they are simply starving for unscripted, long-form authenticity.
Format Over Face: Designing repeatable, host-agnostic IP rather than relying on a single charismatic personality eliminates key-person risk and unlocks true operational scalability for digital studios.
Contextual Brand Storytelling: The next frontier of monetization rejects one-off, disruptive advertisements in favor of naturally embedding brands into existing, high-performing video franchises.
The Anti-Echo Chamber Demand: Algorithms have hyper-fragmented public discourse, creating a massive, untapped market of viewers who actively seek out raw, multi-perspective content to escape their own echo chambers.
The TV Screen Takeover: Digital-first production must now default to cinema-grade standards like 4K, as YouTube’s massive growth on connected televisions blends the boundary between streaming networks and independent creators.
The Human Premium in an AI Era: As artificial intelligence commoditizes automated content creation, media companies that double down on raw, real-life human connection will hold the ultimate competitive advantage.
IP Upcycling and Windowing: Legacy distribution strategies like FAST channels and AVOD licensing represent the most lucrative secondary revenue streams for creators sitting on deep libraries of episodic content.
Resources & Next Steps:
Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Key Episode Timestamps:
00:00 Jubilee's Mission and Content Philosophy
1:09 Introduction and Background
2:07 Jubilee's Format Strategy and Studio Approach
3:44 Building a Scalable Business Model
4:57 Format Development and Longevity
6:16 YouTube's Evolution and Connected TV
7:54 Multi-Platform Strategy
8:54 Brand Partnerships and Controversial Content
10:01 Successful Brand Integration Examples
11:23 Brand Partnership Philosophy
12:19 YouTube's Creator Economy Evolution
13:44 Creator Content Boosting vs Investment
15:19 Hollywood and Streaming Industry Relations
16:32 Content Licensing and Distribution
17:41 Short-Form Fiction and Experimentation
18:25 Microdrama and Asian Market Trends
19:05 AI Integration and Human-Centered Content
20:09 Generational Media Habits and Public Discourse
21:34 Gen Z's Media Consciousness
22:21 Future Political Engagement and Partnerships
Gen Alpha has completely fragmented away from traditional TV, leaving advertisers scrambling to connect with kids and parents across YouTube, FAST channels, and gaming platforms.
This week, Mike sits down with Emma Witkowski, VP of Media Solutions at WildBrain, to unpack the massive market disconnect in children's media, the power of nostalgia in family co-viewing, and how upcoming privacy regulations like COPPA 2.0 are rewriting the rules of digital targeting.
Key Highlights:
📺 The Great Gen Alpha Fragmentation: Children's media consumption has shattered across Netflix, YouTube, FAST, social, and gaming platforms, completely ending the era where a single traditional network like Nickelodeon could capture the majority of the audience.
🔌 The Linear Co-Viewing Ad Dollar Gap: While toy and entertainment brands have successfully followed kids to digital spaces, a major market disconnect remains with non-endemic advertisers whose linear TV budgets failed to migrate alongside the parents they were trying to reach.
🛑 The Death of Traditional Tracking Metrics: Regulatory protections like COPPA make standard digital tactics like cookies, pixels, and multi-touch attribution entirely obsolete in children's media, forcing buyers to shift their mindset from tracking to context and from targeting to trust.
🛋️ The Rise of "Shared Screen Time": Shared viewing remains a vital family bonding ritual—with nearly nearly all parents watching alongside their kids weekly and over half doing so daily—yet it continues to challenge standard digital reporting because impression-level verification of who is watching is fundamentally impossible.
🚀 Single-IP FAST Channels as Fandom Hubs: Single-franchise FAST networks are seeing massive year-over-year audience growth by leaning into consistent, curated curation that gives super-fans a dedicated, lean-back destination to immerse themselves in trusted IP.
🧸 Nostalgia as a Direct Purchase Driver: Modern parents deliberately choose content featuring the beloved characters they grew up with, creating an emotional connection that drastically boosts brand recall, purchase intent, and consumer product sales.
📜 The High Operational Stakes of COPPA 2.0: Emerging regulations expanding legal protections up to age 17 and limiting algorithmic AI targeting will severely challenge automated ad resellers, leaving structurally compliant, human-vetted, publisher-direct environments as the safest bet for brands.
💰 A Critical Content Sustainability Crisis: Premium educational and kids' programming faces an existential funding threat from the decline of public broadcasters and linear ad revenue, making direct publisher relationships essential to ensure ad dollars are reinvested back into the content ecosystem rather than lost to third-party reseller leakage
Resources & Next Steps:
Emma Witkowski
Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Chapter Timestamps:
00:00 Audience Fragmentation and Platform Challenges
1:37 Wild Brain's Business Model and Emma's Background
4:24 The Advertising Dollar Disconnect
6:58 Rethinking Success Metrics in Kids' Media
8:00 The Prevalence and Importance of Co-Viewing
9:36 FAST Channels Strategy and Success
11:05 Strategic Advantages of FAST Over YouTube
14:07 The Power of Nostalgia in Content Selection
16:31 Measurement Challenges and Audience Insights
19:17 COPPA 2.0 Impact and Compliance
21:37 Industry Education and Compliance Standards
23:10 The Future of Kids' Content Funding
In this episode of Next in Media, Mike Shields sits down with Alan Moss, VP of Global Advertising Sales at Amazon Ads, to talk about Amazon's rapid transformation into a full-funnel advertising powerhouse. Alan walks through how he joined Amazon mid-COVID in 2020 and within a few years helped land an 11-year NFL deal, launch Prime Video ads, and close an NBA partnership that made Prime Video a year-round sports network.
He and Mike dig into what's working in the upfront market, why Amazon sees retail media and streaming as one unified full-funnel business, and how Amazon DSP's partnerships with Netflix, Disney, Roku, and others now reach 90% of household audiences. They also get into the growing role of Twitch and creators as a mid-funnel marketing lever, and why Alan believes the future is AI agents — not just for creative optimization, but for full campaign orchestration.
Key Highlights🏈 From COVID Hire to Year-Round Sports Network: Alan joined Amazon in July 2020 and within months helped land an 11-year NFL deal, followed by Prime Video ads and the NBA — turning Amazon into a full-year live sports destination.
📺 Prime Video as the Biggest Ad-Supported Streamer: Flipping the switch in January 2024 made Amazon the largest premium ad-supported streaming platform overnight, though the team had to scramble for scatter dollars outside the upfront window.
🚀 Amazon Is Democratizing Live Sports Advertising: Amazon brought 80 net-new advertisers to the NFL and 30 to the NBA in year one — opening up inventory that was previously an exclusive club.
🔗 Retail Media and Streaming Are the Same Business: Alan pushes back on treating Amazon's retail and streaming sides as separate, arguing the real value is a single full-funnel offering from brand awareness to measurable outcomes.
📡 The Amazon DSP Reaches 90% of Households: Partnerships with Netflix, Disney, Roku, Spotify, and SiriusXM extend Amazon's authenticated graph well beyond its own properties.
🎮 Creators Are a New Mid-Funnel Marketing Lever: Twitch's 105 million monthly viewers are increasingly bundled with Prime Video and sports buys rather than treated as a standalone offering.
🤖 AI Agents Are the Big Upfront Story: Alan predicts that the integration of premium content with AI-driven ad tech — from creative adaptation to chat-based campaign execution — will define this upfront season.
📈 The Upfront Market Is Showing Positive Signals: Despite macro headwinds, Alan says agency conversations reflect focus rather than anxiety, with demand clustering around scarce inventory like live sports and custom sponsorships.
Resources & Next Steps🔗 Alan Moss on LinkedIn
🌐Learn more about Amazon Ads
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Chapter Timestamps00:00 Cold open
00:43 Introducing Alan Moss, Amazon's VP of Global Ad Sales
01:48 From Thursday Night Football to Prime Video ads — the rapid expansion
04:48 The NBA deal and becoming a year-round sports network
06:58 Bridging retail media and streaming — why Amazon sees it as one business
08:30 The upfront marketplace: positive signals despite macro uncertainty
10:05 Sponsor break: Why the household graph is a differentiator
11:28 Why premium content + AI-driven ad tech is this year's big story
13:30 Prime Video Signature sponsorships and brand partnerships
14:20 Amazon DSP and partnerships with Netflix, Disney, Roku, Spotify, SiriusXM
15:35 Twitch update: 105M viewers, creators as a mid-funnel marketing lever
17:58 How durable AI agents make marketing dollars work harder
20:19 Wrap up
Episode descriptionIn this episode of Next in Media, Mike Shields sits down with Kristina Canada, CMO at Net Conversion, a 19-year-old independent marketing and analytics agency based in Orlando that's in the middle of a serious growth push — with a new Chicago office, a recent acquisition of CTV specialists Elevate the Outcome, and a philosophy rooted in measurable business outcomes over vanity metrics.
Kristina and Mike dig into why independent agencies are experiencing a renaissance right now as clients seek out agility and transparency. They unpack Net Conversion's approach to making CTV a true performance channel without losing the brand-building benefits, and get into the agency's pragmatic but skeptical stance on AI — from arguing with Google reps about Performance Max to building their own internal chatbot and copilot tools for analysts.
Key Highlights🏢 The Independent Agency Renaissance: Clients are gravitating toward independents for agility, transparency, and freedom from holdco conflicts of interest.
📺 CTV as a Performance Channel: Net Conversion splits CTV into demand capture and demand creation, applying measurement rigor without forcing direct-response KPIs on brand-building.
🤖 AI as Co-Pilot, Not Pilot: The agency's internal mantra is "everyone gets an intern" — they've built their own chatbot but remain vocal skeptics of handing everything to PMAX.
🔍 AI Search Is Merging Paid and Organic: Kristina advises shifting from keyword matching to intent matching, and shares early learnings from piloting ads inside ChatGPT.
🤝 Against Principal-Based Buying: When agencies pre-buy media, incentives shift away from the client — Net Conversion keeps its model firmly aligned with client outcomes.
📈 Undervalued Platforms: Reddit and YouTube are two channels Kristina says deserve more attention from performance-minded advertisers.
Resources & Next Steps🔗 Kristina Canada on LinkedIn
🌐 Net Conversion
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Chapter Timestamps00:00 Cold open
01:51 Introducing Kristina Canada and Net Conversion
04:23 The Elevate the Outcome acquisition and CTV/OTT push
06:03 Why independent agencies are having a "renaissance"
08:00 Making CTV a performance channel without losing brand value
10:23 Sponsor break: Reaching the right audiences on streaming TV
11:21 Being a healthy skeptic of PMAX and Advantage+
13:19 AI adoption in staff workflows and training
16:00 OpenAI's advertising push and AI-powered search
18:18 The problem with principal-based media buying
19:37 Why YouTube and Reddit are still undervalued
21:02 Wrap up
In this episode of Next in Media, Mike Shields sits down with Andrew Yaffe, CEO of Dude Perfect, to talk about how the iconic trick-shot brand has evolved into one of the most diversified properties in digital media. Eighteen months into the role after a long run at the NBA, Andrew walks through Dude Perfect's three-part strategy of content, products, and experiences — including a 22-city summer tour, middle-grade novel series, new outdoors channel, and experiential concepts.
Mike and Andrew dig into why Dude Perfect now looks more like a sports league than a creator business, what made their Xfinity co-created ad the best-performing spot on YouTube, and why reaching the family unit has become one of the most valuable propositions in fragmented media. They also cover YouTube's role in the upfront, the long-form content shift, the wishlist for better cross-platform measurement, and Andrew's reluctant NBA Finals pick.
Key Highlights🏗️ Tripling Headcount in 18 Months: Andrew has scaled Dude Perfect from a small content team into a much larger operation spanning production, commercial, and product.
🎯 Three Buckets — Content, Products, Experiences: Dude Perfect's strategy spans far beyond YouTube, including a live tour, board games, sporting goods, and a novel series.
📺 A Media Business, Not a Creator Business: Andrew argues Dude Perfect's partnership model with brands like BODYARMOR looks more like a sports sponsorship than a one-off creator deal.
🤝 The Xfinity Co-Creation Playbook: Andrew breaks down how Dude Perfect, YouTube, and Xfinity built one of the platform's standout ads of the past year, earning C-level accolades.
👨👩👧👦 The Family Audience Is the Moat: Reaching kids and parents simultaneously is a near-extinct value proposition in fragmented media — and Dude Perfect owns it.
📱 As Big as the NBA on TikTok: Dude Perfect's TikTok following rivals the NBA's, and their multi-platform strategy reaches different audiences with different content than YouTube.
⏱️ Longer Content Is Working: Watch time and retention now drive the strategy, leading to 40-minute videos and a new variety show being built like a network TV asset.
🎬 Format and Talent IP Is the Real Unlock: New talent and ownable formats like Squad Games and All Sports Golf are how Dude Perfect extends the franchise beyond the original five.
🎢 Trick Shot Town, Not a Theme Park (Yet): Andrew clarifies Dude Perfect’s experiential roadmap — what's actually being built in Austin, and the bigger vision for their own family entertainment concept.
Resources & Next Steps🌐 Dude Perfect on YouTube
🔗 Follow Andrew Yaffe on LinkedIn
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts
Chapter Timestamps00:00 Cold open
00:49 Introducing Andrew Yaffe and Dude Perfect
02:05 Summer tour, Squad Games, and new channels
03:55 The three buckets: content, products, experiences
07:00 Why Dude Perfect looks like a media (not creator) business
08:30 Reaching the family audience in our fragmented era
09:30 BODYARMOR partnership and shifting share from Gatorade
10:42 Sponsor break: Elevate YouTube advertising with Cadent VuePlanner
11:22 Making YouTube’s top performing ad, with Xfinity and Google
13:01 Multi-platform strategy — TikTok, Instagram, CTV
15:38 Building out the talent roster and owning formats
17:21 Trick Shot Town and the family entertainment concept
18:38 The marketing wishlist: better cross-platform measurement
20:14 NBA Finals pick & wrap up
In this episode of Next in Media, I sit down with Emily Ketchen, SVP & CMO of Intelligent Devices Group & International Markets at Lenovo, to talk about what it actually looks like to operationalize AI inside a global marketing organization. Emily shares how Lenovo is standing up the AI PC and AI phone category, why contextual and generative AI drove efficiency gains in the brand's Formula One partnership, and what it means to be "the first generation of leaders tasked with managing an agentic workforce."
Emily walks through Lenovo's AI governance council, the grassroots prompt library her team built, and tangible and intangible measurement frameworks behind big sponsorships. We also dig into Lenovo's Creator Odyssey campaign — a Sundance-recognized global collaboration — and close on the tension every marketer is navigating right now: how to use AI-driven media optimization without giving up control, transparency, or human judgment.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS:
🧭 Three Fronts for AI in Marketing: Emily frames Lenovo's AI work across category creation, internal upskilling, and marketing applications — with governance at the center.
🏎️ AI in the Most Precious Media: Rather than starting with low-stakes creative variants, Lenovo deployed contextual and generative AI in its Formula One sponsorship to sharpen targeting and creative impact.
🤖 The First Generation Managing an Agentic Workforce: Emily reflects on leading teams that now include agents alongside humans — a workforce that doesn't sleep, doesn't eat, and isn't looking for a raise.
📚 Grassroots Prompt Library: After Lenovo's governance council rolled out AI training, two employees built an internal prompt library that's now a go-to resource for the whole marketing org.
🎨 The Creator Odyssey: For the Yoga line, Lenovo built a global creator chain where digital artists around the world built on each other's work — a process-first campaign that picked up a Sundance brand storytelling award.
⚖️ Personal, Useful, Human: Emily's framework for talking about AI with wary consumers and creators: lead with what it feels like in everyday life, not what it is.
🛡️ Not All Agents, No People, No Agencies: On AI-driven media optimization, Emily argues the black-box version isn't the answer — experimentation has to come with guardrails and human judgment.
RESOURCES & NEXT STEPS:
🌐 Learn more about Lenovo: Lenovo.com
🔗 Follow Emily Ketchen on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/emilyketchen
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube
CHAPTER TIME STAMPS:
00:00 Cold open — Where Lenovo sits on the AI adoption curve
01:34 Introducing Emily Ketchen and Lenovo's AI mandate
03:56 Betting on Formula One with contextual + GenAI creative
05:52 Human judgement and Lenovo's AI governance council
07:33 Ecosystem marketing & AI category creation
10:11 The first generation managing an agentic workforce
13:50: Sponsor break: Reaching the right audiences on CTV
14:47 Measuring big sponsorships in a performance era
18:02 Creator strategy, Yoga product line, Sundance accolades
21:05 Talking to creators and consumers who are wary of AI
22:39 AI-driven media optimization without the black box
00:00 Wrap up and thanks
In this episode of Next in Media, I sit down with Michael Wolf, CEO and Founder of Activate Consulting, to break down the findings from the firm’s 11th annual Technology and Media Outlook. Michael walks us through Activate's "Attention Clock" and how multitasking stretches the average American's day well past 24 hours, leaving brands to fight for partial attention while still paying like they're getting all of it.
We also get into the state of television. Michael explains why TV is more fragmented than Madison Avenue admits, why YouTube still doesn't get full credit despite dominating CTV, and what the Paramount-Warner deal actually changes. From there, we turn to predictions: Michael makes the case for virtual product placement as the next frontier in creator and in-game ads, and explains how sports gambling is changing live sports. He closes with his biggest sleeper story of 2026: spatial computing and the data layer that will power it.
Key Highlights:
⏰ The Attention Clock Hits 32 Hours a Day: Activate's research shows multitasking is pushing daily media consumption past the limits of a 24-hour day, leaving advertisers fighting for partial attention.
📺 TV Is More Fragmented Than Anyone Admits: Even the biggest TV players hold surprisingly small slices of total viewership, and a merged Paramount-Warner barely moves the needle.
🎬 Why YouTube Still Isn't "TV" to Madison Avenue: YouTube dominates CTV but lacks the big simultaneous tentpole events that brand advertisers use to reach huge audiences at once.
🛒 The Shopping Journey No Longer Starts at Google: For younger consumers, product discovery now begins directly at Amazon, Target, and Walmart — reshaping how brands think about the funnel.
🎮 Virtual Product Placement Is the Next Ad Frontier: Michael argues the future of in-game and in-content ads is authentic integration powered by AI, not interruption.
🎰 Sports Gambling Is Quietly Saving Long-Form Sports: In-game betting and prop bets are driving Gen Z viewers to watch entire games front to back.
👓 Spatial Computing Is the Most Underrated Story of 2026: Nearly every major tech company is betting on AI glasses and spatial devices, but the real battleground will be the visual data layer in the cloud.
Resources & Next Steps:
💡 Download the full Tech & Media Outlook at activate.com
🔗 Follow Michael J. Wolf on LinkedIn
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts
Chapter Time Stamps:
00:00 Cold open – Why YouTube is winning on every screen
1:29 Introducing Michael Wolf, CEO & Founder of Activate Consulting
2:31 Activate's Attention Clock: 11 years of measuring multitasking
4:35 How fragmented is TV viewership, really?
6:33 How YouTube quietly took over social and CTV
7:46 Why video is eating the internet
8:54 Why Madison Avenue still hesitates to treat YouTube like TV
12:05 Sponsor break: Why the household graph is a differentiator
13:24 What the Paramount-Warner deal actually changes
14:45 Why CTV still isn't built for small brands
15:54 AI, personalization, and the future of video creative
16:22 The bottleneck holding back creator marketing
18:01 How can video games finally get advertising right?
19:19 Live sports, Gen Z, and the gambling effect
20:54 Michael's biggest sleeper call for 2026
24:17 Wrap up and thanks
Explore how the "cookie apocalypse" evolved into a hyper-fragmented identity landscape where iPhone users, cookieless browsers, and diverse CTV signals have created massive monetization gaps for the unprepared.
I sit down with Intent IQ’s Fabrice Beer-Gabel to reveal why the future of programmatic advertising isn't a choice between deterministic or probabilistic data, but a high-stakes race to balance scale with the 99% accuracy required to prevent AI from amplifying inaccuracies at scale.
Episode Takeaways:
🌐 The "Cookie Apocalypse" didn't disappear; it simply evolved into a hyper-fragmented landscape of "idealist" environments across 150 million iPhone users and 70 million cookieless desktop browsers.
⚖️ True identity accuracy isn't a binary choice between deterministic and probabilistic methods but a strategic effort to strike the perfect balance between massive scale and reliable user recognition.
🌍 Global compliance requires a nuanced, jurisdiction-specific approach because adopting a single "strictest" standard unnecessarily limits reach and creates a massive competitive disadvantage.
🌉 Bridging the gap between proprietary "data spines" and "biddable identifiers" is the only way to actually translate deep audience insights into real-world programmatic transactions.
🤖 AI acts as a powerful force multiplier for identity resolution, but it poses a systemic risk by amplifying bad data into "inaccuracy at scale" if the initial training sets are flawed.
🕷️ Publishers face a sustainability crisis as non-monetizable crawler traffic now outweighs human visitors by a staggering 200-to-1 ratio.
📈 Mastering identity resolution delivers a massive ROI punch, with the potential to double advertiser reach and lift publisher ad revenue by as much as 60%.
Time Stamps:
00:00 Introduction to Identity Resolution Challenges and Intent IQ Overview
1:53 The Fragmented Identity Landscape and Signal Constraints
4:06 Deterministic vs Probabilistic Identity Debate
5:33 Mobile Identity Evolution and Cross-Platform Similarities
7:25 Regulatory Complexity and Compliance Strategies
9:36 Intent IQ's Business Model and Client Examples
12:45 Walled Gardens vs Open Ecosystem Competition
15:00 AI's Impact on Identity Resolution and Industry Transformation
17:54 Agentic AI and Content Protection Concerns
19:38 Identity Accuracy Crisis and AI Amplification Risks
21:45 ROI Impact and Business Outcomes
22:50 Strategic Advice for Brands in a Changing Landscape
In this episode of Next in Media, I sit down with Mike Law, CEO of Carat North America, to talk about one of the biggest tensions in modern media: the push for more targeted TV advertising versus the risk of going too narrow and losing brand growth. Mike and I discuss how brands have at times gotten too addressable, siloing themselves into repeat customers while forgetting to grow the top of the funnel. We dig into the fragmentation challenge across streaming, CTV, and social video, and why defining your audience has never been harder with a million data sets and walled gardens competing for attention.
We also get into how YouTube is becoming more like TV every day, the evolving role of creators in upfront conversations, and whether creator media belongs in the same budget bucket as a big show on CBS. Mike shares how Carat is using AI agents to run multiple media plan scenarios in minutes instead of hours, and we explore what the next generation of media planners (AI native, digital native) will bring to the industry. We wrap up talking about measurement, why the industry needs to come together to solve identity and addressability, and what Go Addressable is doing to advance deterministic audience-based advertising at scale.
__________________________________________________
Key Highlights📺 CTV Targeting vs. Brand Growth: Mike argues that brands have sometimes gotten too addressable, squeezing existing customers dry before realizing they need to find new audiences to grow the business.
🔀 Fragmentation Is the Core Challenge: With a million data sets, walled gardens, and consumers bouncing between streaming, search, and LLMs in seconds, the media planning landscape is what Mike calls a "bowl of spaghetti."
📱 YouTube as TV Replacement: Mike sees YouTube becoming more like television every day, but its dual identity as both a TV replacement and a social video performance platform makes it tricky to plan against.
🎥 Creators in the Upfront: Long-form, episodic creators are increasingly part of upfront conversations, but the question remains whether they belong in the TV budget or require their own planning approach.
🤖 AI Agents for Media Planning: Carat is using AI agents to generate eight to ten versions of a media plan at once, letting planners compare trade-offs and craft strategy faster than ever.
📊 The Measurement Gap: Cross-platform measurement remains fragmented, and Mike believes the industry needs to come together to solve identity and comparability across CTV, linear, and digital.
🌐 Go Addressable and Industry Collaboration: The episode is part of a special series with Go Addressable, the trade organization working to advance deterministic audience-based advertising across the full TV ecosystem.
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Resources & Next Steps🌐 Learn more about Go Addressable at GoAddressable.com
🔗 Follow Mike Law on LinkedIn
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts
__________________________________________________
Timestamps00:00 Cold open: the state of TV targeting and brand growth
01:07 Introducing Mike Law, CEO of Carat North America
01:43 Where we are with CTV targeting today
03:25 When brands get too addressable and forget reach
05:00 The cycle of squeezing audiences and finding new ones
06:50 Fragmentation, walled gardens, and identity challenges
08:50 How identity resolution tools are evolving
10:15 YouTube as a TV replacement and where it fits
12:53 YouTube in the upfront: TV bucket or something else?
14:47 Creators in upfront conversations and long-form episodic content
17:30 The premium creator economy and brand integrations
19:30 AI in media planning: what is changing day to day
22:00 AI agents running multiple plan scenarios at Carat
23:13 The next generation of media planners (AI and digital native)
25:30 Measurement challenges across platforms
27:30 Industry collaboration and lessons learned
28:42 Wrap up and Go Addressable sponsor message
In this episode of Next in Media, I sit down with Ryan Detert, CEO of Influential, the creator marketing company that was acquired by Publicis in 2024. Since the acquisition, Influential has seen massive growth, also acquiring Captiv8 to build out a global offering combining technology, services, and measurement all in one place. Ryan and I dig into how brands are structuring their creator teams, why a center of excellence led by media is where the most success is happening, and how technology (especially brand safety tools) has become the non negotiable foundation for scaling influencer campaigns.
We also cover the measurement question that every marketer is asking: can you prove creator ROI? Ryan walks us through how MMMs are finally capturing creator value, why always on strategies beat tentpole campaigns, and how platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram are each fighting for attention in different ways. We get into the AI question too, from "slop" concerns to the future of creator likeness licensing and NIL rights. Ryan makes the case that AI will transform the back end of the business (speed, sourcing, brand safety) long before it replaces human creators in the feed. Plus, Ryan shares why the greatest ROI often comes from 100 micro creators rather than one mega deal.
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Key Highlights🚀 Influential's Post Acquisition Growth: Since being acquired by Publicis in 2024, Influential has seen "massive multiples" of growth and also acquired Captiv8 to consolidate technology, measurement, and services into one global platform.
🛡️ Brand Safety as the Foundation: Ryan calls it the "Hippocratic Oath" of influencer marketing. With 15 million plus creators in their database, technology is essential for vetting creators across profanity, nudity, hate speech, and reputational risk before any campaign launches.
📊 Proving Creator ROI Through MMMs: Influencer marketing is a $35 billion TAM because it works. Ryan explains how media mix models are finally capturing creator value, and why brands need to break down creator spend by platform, paid vs. organic, and on vs. off social to get accurate measurement.
📺 The Platform Attention Wars: YouTube dominates long form because it pays creators the most. TikTok owns the meteoric rise. Instagram is aspirational. Meta is a messaging platform. Every platform has both a live strategy and a TV strategy, and all are competing for the same attention.
🤖 AI and Creator Content Transparency: AI is "not a dirty word" as long as it augments a real human. Ryan believes brands will embrace AI generated creator content only when NIL licensing ensures creators are compensated and consumers don't feel duped.
🎯 Micro Creators vs. Mega Deals: For brands with a $2 million budget, 100 targeted micro creators often outperform a single mega creator deal. Ryan compares it to buying one Super Bowl ad vs. going deep across cable networks.
🔄 Always On Beats Tentpole Campaigns: Brands that only activate around the Super Bowl, summer, and holidays are letting competitors eat their lunch in between. Long term creator partnerships drive both efficiency and authenticity.
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Resources & Next Steps🌐 Learn more about Influential
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts
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Timestamps00:00 Cold open on creator marketing growth and AI
01:13 Meet Ryan Detert, CEO of Influential
02:07 Life after the Publicis acquisition
04:04 Where creator teams fit inside brand organizations
06:04 Technology's role in scaling influencer marketing
07:00 Brand safety as the non negotiable first step
08:52 Managing creator campaigns at scale
09:44 Proving creator ROI through measurement and MMMs
12:43 YouTube on TV and the platform attention wars
16:11 Micro vs. macro creators and where the real ROI lives
18:22 AI transparency and the slop problem
20:46 Creator likeness, NIL, and AI generated content
23:05 Episodic content and always on brand partnerships
25:04 The future of creator marketing in three to five years
In this episode of Next in Media, I sit down with Adam Roodman, General Manager of Yahoo DSP, to talk about how Yahoo has quietly built one of the most compelling demand side platforms in the market. Adam walks through Yahoo's positioning in the ongoing DSP wars, why their identity graph and ConnectID solution give advertisers an edge in a world of increasing signal loss, and how the platform's deep roots in connected TV and live sports are creating new opportunities for performance marketers. We also get into Yahoo's massive supply path optimization efforts and why having fewer, higher quality paths to inventory is becoming a real differentiator.
Adam and I also dig into the rapidly evolving world of agentic AI in advertising and what it actually means today versus the hype. He shares Yahoo's perspective on the protocol debate between A2A and MCP, why data quality and content accuracy are table stakes for AI agents, and how Yahoo is building an "AI librarian" function to ensure agents can operate with the right context. We also explore how CTV inventory has exploded on the platform, why live sports are changing the addressable advertising landscape, and Adam's take on whether AI will truly reduce headcount or just shift how teams operate.
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Key Highlights🏆 Yahoo DSP in the DSP Wars: Adam explains why Yahoo is committed to the DSP business for the long haul, leveraging their unique combination of owned and operated properties, a massive identity graph, and deep integrations with premium supply.
🔐 Identity as a Competitive Moat: Yahoo's ConnectID and proprietary identity graph give advertisers access to durable, individual-based data across browsers, devices, and CTV, driving better performance in a signal-loss world.
📺 CTV and Live Sports Explosion: The amount of live sports on Yahoo's platform has doubled in nine months, and addressable, biddable premium CTV and audio inventory continues to surge, opening new opportunities for performance marketers.
🤖 Agentic AI and the Protocol Debate: Adam shares Yahoo's view on the A2A vs MCP protocol discussion, emphasizing that agentic AI is not a strategy in itself. It's about how you operate it and ensuring agents have access to accurate, contextual data.
📚 The AI Librarian Function: Yahoo is evolving from a "tech writer" approach to an "AI librarian" model, ensuring that content, documentation, and data fed into AI systems are high quality, accurate, and written with good context.
🔗 Supply Path Optimization at Scale: Yahoo has reduced tens of thousands of supply paths down to focused, high quality routes, improving auction dynamics and giving advertisers cleaner access to premium inventory.
⚡ AI Won't Replace Teams, It Will Reshape Them: Adam argues that AI adoption in advertising is less about replacing people and more about conviction and operational change, predicting that early movers will see compounding advantages.
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Resources & Next Steps🌐 Learn more about Yahoo DSP and ConnectID
🔗 Follow Adam Roodman on LinkedIn
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts
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YouTube Chapter Timestamps00:00 Cold open: identity, CTV, and agentic AI in advertising
01:46 IntentIQ ad: privacy-first identity resolution
02:10 Meet Adam Roodman, GM of Yahoo DSP
03:30 Yahoo's commitment to the DSP business
05:20 ConnectID and Yahoo's identity advantage
07:30 How identity drives better CTV performance
09:45 Live sports doubling on the platform
11:30 Supply path optimization and auction quality
13:40 The DSP wars and competitive positioning
16:00 Agentic AI: what it means today vs the hype
18:30 The A2A vs MCP protocol debate
20:45 Building the AI librarian function at Yahoo
23:00 Data quality as table stakes for AI agents
25:30 Will AI reduce headcount in advertising?
28:00 CTV inventory explosion and addressable audio
30:30 Advice for brands getting started with AI
33:00 Wrap up: Yahoo's Adam Roodman, Sabio, and IntentIQ
In this episode of Next in Media, I sit down with Sam Garfield, Head of Digital Strategy for CMT Data and AI Platforms at Adobe, to explore how Adobe is quietly becoming the backbone of modern marketing. Sam breaks down how Adobe operates across three core layers: the creative layer (Creative Cloud and Firefly AI), the content supply chain layer (Workfront and asset management), and the data and experience layer (customer data platforms and analytics). Together, these tools form what Sam describes as an operating system for marketers -- a full-stack solution that takes a brand from ideation all the way through activation and measurement.
We also dig into the rise of creative intelligence and what it means for brands, agencies, and the future of advertising. Sam unpacks Adobe's Winterberry Group research showing a 23% increase in investment in creative intelligence, and explains why creative can no longer be treated as a fixed cost. We cover how generative AI is accelerating asset production at scale, why agencies are leaning into Adobe's platform rather than building from scratch, and how agentic AI is beginning to appear inside existing workflows. Sam also reveals that traffic to brand sites and publishers is down 40% as LLMs reshape discovery, and shares how Adobe's new LLM Optimizer tool is helping brands regain visibility in a generative search world.
Key Highlights🖥️ Adobe's Marketing Operating System: Sam breaks down how Adobe's three-layer platform -- creative, content supply chain, and data -- functions as an end-to-end OS for brands and agencies.
🤖 Generative AI and the Asset Scale Problem: Sam walks through the math problem facing global brands -- producing assets across formats, languages, and channels -- and why generative AI is the only scalable solution.
📊 Creative Intelligence Is the Next Frontier: Adobe's research with Winterberry Group found a 23% increase in creative intelligence investment -- and Sam explains why understanding why content performs is becoming as systematic as audience targeting.
🏢 Agencies Are Building on Top, Not From Scratch: Major holding companies are integrating Adobe into their proprietary platforms rather than building from scratch -- including a recently expanded WPP partnership.
🔍 LLMs Are Reshaping Brand Discovery: Adobe's research shows traffic to brand sites is down 40% as AI changes how consumers find information. Sam shares how Adobe's new LLM Optimizer helps brands monitor and improve their visibility inside AI-generated results.
⚡ Agentic AI Is Here but Still Early: There is no end-to-end agentic advertising solution yet. Adobe's approach is to embed agentic tools inside existing workflows so teams can get started without overhauling their entire operation.
Resources & Next Steps🌐 Explore Adobe's Marketing and AI Solutions
🔗 Follow Sam Garfield on LinkedIn
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts
YouTube Chapter Timestamps00:00 Cold open -- AI's impact on advertising and brand discovery
01:00 Mike introduces Sam Garfield and Adobe's role in ad tech
01:30 Sam's background and Adobe's history in advertising
02:00 Adobe's three-layer marketing platform explained
03:00 The 'operating system for marketers' concept
03:50 Who is Adobe's customer -- brands, agencies, or publishers?
04:20 The expanded WPP and agency partnership announcement
05:10 Where creative AI optimization stands today
05:40 The asset scale math problem facing global brands
06:20 Laying the generative AI foundation for creative
07:10 From production efficiency to intelligent automation
08:00 Precor creative intelligence and variation at scale
08:40 How conservative vs. progressive brands approach AI
09:10 Adobe Firefly and legally obtained training data
09:40 Workflow integration as the real barrier to adoption
10:10 Humans as creatives, AI as the production layer
10:50 How Adobe fits alongside platform-native AI tools
11:30 Why CMOs won't hand over full creative control to platforms
13:30 Adobe's Winterberry Group creative intelligence research
14:00 Creative as a performance driver, not a fixed cost
14:30 The 23% increase in creative intelligence investment
15:00 Where creative intelligence works -- display, social, CTV
15:30 Early findings and the testing and learning phase
16:10 Are creative agencies threatened or empowered by AI?
16:30 How major holding companies are building on Adobe's OS
17:10 Automating rote work to free up strategic creative thinking
18:20 Creative AI and media buying converging
19:00 Data and creative intelligence coming together at Adobe
19:40 The future of always-on marketing vs. campaign flights
20:20 The network operations center vision for marketing
21:00 Agentic AI in advertising -- where things actually stand
21:30 Adobe's approach to building agentic tools inside workflows
22:00 What agentic audience pulling looks like in practice
22:30 The future of media agencies in an algorithmic world
23:10 People doing higher-value strategic work, not less work
23:40 How brands are showing up inside LLMs
24:00 Adobe's research -- traffic to brand sites down 40%
24:30 Introducing the LLM Optimizer tool
25:00 Structuring content for generative engine optimization
25:40 Will search ad budgets shift to LLM visibility strategies?
26:20 The unknown future of advertising inside AI-generated results
27:10 Wrap-up -- the fulfillment of advertising's long-promised future
In this episode of Next in Media, I sit down with Philip Inghelbrecht, Co-Founder and CEO of Tatari, to unpack why one of the most innovative companies in TV advertising has built its entire thesis on a contrarian idea: that programmatic CTV is the wrong tool for most of the television market. Philip walks through how Tatari operates as a full infrastructure holding company, combining a demand-side platform, a supply-side solution called Upstream, and a privacy and identity layer called Vault. From day one, Tatari has argued that unlike display advertising, connected TV is dominated by a small number of premium publishers, and that automating around them rather than through open exchanges is the smarter path forward.
Philip breaks down the $30 billion US CTV market, explaining how roughly half flows through programmatic channels and how up to half of that programmatic slice is fraud or low-quality inventory. The premium inventory that actually drives results, including sports, tentpole events, and top-tier streaming placements, lives almost entirely outside programmatic pipes and has historically required massive budgets and manual negotiation to access. That is exactly the gap Upstream was designed to close. By building custom, direct integrations with the five biggest TV publishers, including Disney, Warner Bros., NBCUniversal, and Paramount, Tatari has automated that direct buying process end to end, giving a much broader range of brands access to premium TV inventory without sacrificing pricing control, brand safety, or transparency.
Key Highlights📡 Programmatic CTV Is Built on the Wrong Foundation: Philip explains why the SSP/DSP model designed for display advertising is a poor fit for connected TV, where 90% of streaming impressions come from the same top 10 publishers and the most valuable inventory never appears in an open exchange.
💰 The $30 Billion Reality Check: Of the roughly $30 billion US CTV market, about $15 billion flows through programmatic. Philip reveals that up to half of that programmatic pool is fraud or low-quality supply, meaning only $7 to $8 billion represents genuinely premium inventory.
🚀 Upstream Brings Automation to Direct TV Deals: Tatari spent nearly two years building one-to-one tech integrations with Disney, Warner Bros., NBCUniversal, and Paramount, enabling fully automated direct buys that preserve the brand safety and pricing control of traditional direct sales while eliminating manual overhead.
📺 Premium TV Is Now Within Reach for More Brands: Upstream shifts TV advertising from a big-budget brand privilege to something accessible to a much broader set of advertisers. Brands that never could have accessed premium placements now have a real path in, and early publisher partners have already seen doubled transaction volume during the test period.
🤖 AI in TV Advertising Has Promise But Real Limits: Philip is measured about AI's near-term impact on TV. He sees immediate wins in automating creative pre-approval and longer-term potential in data-driven yield optimization for publishers, but pushes back on the idea that AI will quickly transform the TV creative production process.
Resources & Next Steps🔗 Follow Philip Inghelbrecht on LinkedIn
🌐 Explore Tatari
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts
Chapter Timestamps00:00 Cold open - the programmatic CTV reality check
01:18 Introducing Philip Inghelbrecht and Tatari
01:58 Tatari's three-product infrastructure stack explained
03:30 Why programmatic does not fit connected TV
05:00 The problem with SSP aggregation in a concentrated market
06:17 How Upstream was born from supply-side tech
07:22 Breaking down the $30 billion CTV market
08:06 Half of programmatic CTV is fraud or low quality
09:44 Building direct integrations with Disney, Warner, NBCU, Paramount
10:17 How automation benefits publishers and speeds up transactions
11:45 Doubling volume with early publisher partners
12:28 Is TV right for SMBs? Philip's honest take
13:47 Where Upstream takes the market next
15:00 Using first-party data to drive higher publisher yield
16:21 Programmatic still has a role, just not the biggest one
17:17 What Dentsu and WPP's open path retreat signals
18:26 Will the walled gardens ever join Upstream?
18:52 What changes for existing Tatari advertisers
20:00 AI and the future of TV advertising
22:11 AI creative tools: impressive but still five days of editing
22:56 AI for creative pre-approval: what works today
24:16 First-party data capture is harder than it looks
25:36 Measurement, look-alike audiences, and machine learning loops
26:13 Closing thought - the biggest TV inventory is not in programmatic
In this episode of Next in Media, Mike Shields sits down with Leanne Perice, founder and CEO of Made by All, one of the creator economy's most distinctive talent management firms. Leanne shares how she built the company from the ground up over nine years, starting with a single $1,000 deal in 2014 and growing it into a global powerhouse that doubles revenue year over year. She explains how her early career at a celebrity endorsement agency gave her the blueprint for what great talent management looks like, and how she applied those lessons to an entirely new generation of digital creators. From signing Vine stars before the term 'creator economy' even existed, to opening a new office in Dubai, Leanne has built Made by All on the belief that creators deserve the same strategic investment as Hollywood's biggest names.
Leanne also introduces her framework DASI (Distribution, Attention, Storytelling, and Impact) to explain what creators truly offer brands, and why so many marketers are still only tapping into the first letter. She opens up about the CMO turnover crisis slowing momentum in the creator space, why she launched Made by Us as a social storytelling studio, and why she believes YouTube's long-form monetization is the best opportunity in the market right now. She also gives her take on platforms like YouTube and TikTok brokering brand deals directly, the collision of Hollywood and Silicon Valley financial models, and what brands still get wrong about building a presence on social media. This episode is a must-listen for anyone at the intersection of media, marketing, and the creator economy.
Key Highlights 🚀 From $1,000 to Global: Leanne closed her first creator deal in 2014 for just $1,000. By 2015 to 2017, those deals were stacking to $10K, $15K, and $25K a week. Today, Made by All doubles its revenue annually and has just opened its first international office in Dubai. * 🎯 The DASI Framework: Leanne coined the term DASI to capture the four things creators offer brands: Distribution, Attention, Storytelling, and Impact. She argues most brands stop at the 'D' and miss the deeper value creators can deliver when treated as true partners rather than just reach vehicles. * 🎬 Creator Hollywood: While streaming platforms like Tubi and Netflix are building bridges toward creators, Made by All is betting on the reverse: bringing Hollywood-level IP and infrastructure to the creator world. Leanne describes this as 'Creator Hollywood,' a model she has been building the financial and conceptual vision for over the past eight months. * 📣 The CMO Turnover Problem: Leanne points to constant executive turnover at major brands as one of the biggest obstacles to sustained creator partnerships. Her solution is relationship-first thinking, including getting creators in the room with senior brand teams and building personal connections that outlast any single campaign or budget cycle. * 📺 Betting Big on YouTube: Leanne is pushing all of her clients toward long-form content on YouTube, calling it the best monetization opportunity in the creator space today. With more ad slots per video and growing ad revenue, she sees YouTube's long-form model as the foundation for sustainable creator businesses, especially as the platform increasingly dominates living room screens. * 💡 Made by Us: Leanne's newest venture inside Made by All is a social storytelling studio that positions top creators as creative directors for brands. Rather than just placing clients in sponsorship deals, Made by Us helps brands develop viral content strategies, serialized IP, and stronger owned social platforms using the expertise of creators who understand audiences from the inside out. * 🏆 The Power of the Collective:* One of Leanne's standout success stories involves six Made by All clients who traveled to Las Vegas for a UFC fight with Paramount. They fulfilled their individual contracts, then spontaneously created one extra post together just for fun. That single unplanned post generated over 1.5 million likes, 30 million views, and 20,000 comments in the first 48 hours.
Resources & Next Steps* 🔗 Follow Leanne Perice on LinkedIn * 🌐 Explore Made by All * 🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts
Chapter Timestamps00:00 Cold open: Creator economy and building household names
00:53 Intro: Mike sets up the episode
01:00 Meet Leanne Perice and Made by All
01:32 The origin story: nine years and one thesis
02:20 What makes Made by All different from a talent agency
03:10 Holistic creator management: more than just deals
04:30 Leanne's career path: from middle school dream to Hollywood
05:20 First job at a celebrity endorsement agency
05:50 Signing Vine stars before 'creator economy' was a term
06:10 The first $1,000 deal and stacking to $25K a week
07:00 How marketers have evolved in dealing with creators
07:40 Introducing the DASI framework
08:00 Made by Us: creators as creative directors for brands
09:00 Brand spend and the challenge of executive turnover
09:40 Going global: opening the Dubai office
11:10 Hollywood vs. creator economy: two separate financial models
11:50 Building the bridge to Creator Hollywood
12:40 Why Hollywood is still holding on but change is coming
13:20 Alarming speed of the creator world vs. legacy media
14:10 Brokering brand deals: management vs. agents
15:00 Cold calling and building brand relationships since 2014
15:50 Weekly email blasts to 5,000 brands and agencies
16:30 Why management has an edge over agents in the creator space
16:50 Streamlining brand deals with AI and tools like KOMI
18:00 When creators should lead the creative brief
19:00 The Made by Us social storytelling incubator
19:30 CMO turnover and the need for relationship-first brand strategy
20:00 How intentional creator relationships unlock better campaigns
21:00 Success story: UFC fight with Paramount, 30 million views
22:00 Qatar Airlines, Abu Dhabi, and global creator deals
22:20 The NFL's creator-first approach as a model for brands
23:00 YouTube and TikTok brokering deals internally
23:40 What Leanne wants to see improved: local and global platform metrics
25:00 YouTube's rise in the living room and long-form monetization
25:40 Pushing creators toward long-form content strategy
26:20 TikTok and Instagram moving into TV: will it work?
27:00 Short form on TV vs. the intentional social media experience
27:30 What brands still get wrong about social media
28:00 Closing thoughts and final takeaway
In this episode of Next in Media, I sit down live at the Kochava Summit in Sandpoint, Idaho, with Charles Manning, founder and CEO of Kochava. We go deep on one of the most pressing questions facing the industry right now: how profound is the shift to agentic advertising and AI-driven workflows? Charles argues it is not a decade-long evolution like programmatic was. It is breathtakingly faster, and the companies that understand how to use their first-party data as a competitive kernel, rather than leaking it to the walled gardens, are the ones that will come out ahead. He draws a compelling analogy: if programmatic changed the auction, AI is about to change the workflow.
We also dig into Kochava's CTV journey, from its mobile app roots to building measurement tools adopted by LG, Samsung, Vizio, and Roku, and how the view-and-do combo between the TV screen and the mobile device is creating powerful new outcome-based measurement opportunities for brands. Charles breaks down what holding companies should fear (and fix), why the ad tech supply chain is due for serious consolidation, and why he predicts a wave of take-privates and roll-ups followed by a bonanza of public offerings over the next two years. He also introduces Station One, Kochava's integrative AI hub that acts like a Slack for AI workflows, designed to help teams transform how they work without giving up control of their data.
Key Highlights:⚡ AI vs. Programmatic: Charles explains why the shift to agentic advertising is moving breathtakingly faster than programmatic did. While programmatic took over a decade to fully reshape the auction, AI is set to transform the entire workflow within the next 16 months.
🔒 Protect Your Data: Charles identifies the two biggest risks brands face in the AI era. First, leaking proprietary data to platforms like Meta and making them smarter without benefiting your own organization. Second, failing to develop a unique "how" that cannot be replicated when everyone has access to the same AI tools.
📺 CTV Measurement Evolution: Kochava's Atlas Performance product now powers CTV measurement for LG, Samsung, Vizio, and Roku by connecting the view on the television screen with the action on the mobile device, giving brands a clear picture of real business outcomes from their CTV spend.
🤖 Station One, a Slack for AI: Charles introduces Kochava's Station One platform, an integrative AI hub that lets teams connect models, codify skills, build knowledge bases, and containerize workflows into shareable workspaces, all while keeping data ownership firmly in the hands of the brand.
📉 Ad Tech Consolidation Is Coming: Charles predicts a significant collapse in the ad tech supply chain, with SSPs and DSPs already moving into each other's territory. He also foresees a wave of take-privates and roll-ups over the next 16 months, as companies use the cover of private ownership to restructure for the AI era, followed by a major IPO bonanza.
💼 The Future Workforce: As AI handles more of the analytical grunt work, Charles argues the most valuable skill in the industry is shifting away from data science and toward clear communication. The ability to articulate your goals to an AI model is becoming the defining talent of the next generation of media professionals.
Resources & Next Steps:🌐 Explore Kochava and learn more about Atlas Performance and Station One
🔗 Follow Charles Manning on LinkedIn
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts
Chapter Timestamps:00:00 Cold open - AI disruption and the next 16 months
01:00 Welcome and introducing Charles Manning of Kochava
01:20 Revisiting a past conversation and what has changed
01:45 Setting the stage - agentic advertising and the metaverse PTSD problem
02:20 The next decade is really the next 16 months
03:10 How fast is this vs. the programmatic shift?
03:50 MCP, APIs, and how AI wraps the workflow
05:20 Machine learning from reach optimization to business outcomes
06:10 From post-campaign briefs to real-time workflow automation
07:20 Why big platforms like Meta and Google got even stronger with AI
08:00 The two biggest risks brands face in the AI era
09:00 The "how" is as important as the "what" - competitive differentiation
09:50 Can agencies avoid being commoditized by AI?
10:20 Vertical AI and why domain expertise matters
12:00 Measurement as an odometer vs. measurement as a decision engine
13:20 The racing clutch analogy - agile measurement for agile goals
14:00 Who fills the seats next? The shift from data scientists to communicators
15:00 Tasks that get reallocated and skills that become more valuable
16:00 How far away is autonomous agentic media buying?
16:30 Guardrails, budget constraints, and agent managers
17:10 Introducing Station One - Kochava's AI workflow hub
18:10 How teams transition from human workflows to AI-assisted execution
19:00 Kochava's CTV journey - from mobile app roots to the living room
20:10 The 80-inch mobile device and why OEMs saw the pattern
21:20 Why OEMs pushed back and how Atlas Performance was born
22:10 LG, Samsung, Vizio, Roku - how they became Kochava customers
23:00 Is CTV performance TV? How should we measure it?
23:40 The view-and-do combo - TV impressions and mobile actions
24:10 QSR and loyalty programs - CTV driving real consumer behavior
25:00 Why AI optimization has not hit CTV the way it has Meta and Google
26:00 Station One as the connective tissue for CTV and the broader ecosystem
27:20 Will more ad dollars flow to television? Charles says yes, and soon
28:30 Audience Q&A - how to prove CTV incrementality to your CFO
29:00 The Machine Zone story and what it taught Charles about media mix
31:30 Why media mix modeling finally works in the AI era
32:10 What happens to ad tech? The daisy chain gets disrupted
33:00 SSPs and DSPs are already moving into each other's territory
34:00 More money in media, less ad tax - where the dollars go next
35:00 Premium inventory, exclusive access, and the sports betting parallel
36:10 IO-level programmatic guaranteed - a bold prediction
37:00 The biggest obstacle ahead - take-privates, roll-ups, and an IPO bonanza
38:30 Wrap-up and closing thoughts
This week on Next in Media, I sat down with Matt Spiegel, EVP of Marketing Solutions Growth Strategies at TransUnion, to unpack one of the most pressing questions in advertising right now: what's actually changed since cookies started disappearing and privacy laws started piling up? And just as importantly, what hasn't changed? Matt brings a refreshingly practical perspective to the conversation, explaining how disconnected data infrastructure remains the biggest obstacle for most brands, even as everyone races to adopt AI-powered marketing. He breaks down why walled gardens still have an inherent advantage, how signal loss is forcing marketers to rethink their strategies, and why the industry's obsession with the "easy button" might be holding progress back.
We also tackled some uncomfortable truths about where the industry is headed. Matt shared his thoughts on agentic advertising and whether bots will really replace media planners, the noisy MarTech landscape that's overwhelming CMOs, and why he believes the next economic downturn could trigger massive layoffs in marketing and advertising. Throughout our conversation, Matt emphasized that while the tools and technology are evolving rapidly, the fundamentals of good marketing haven't changed. It's about understanding your customers, connecting your data, and applying that intelligence at scale. This is a conversation for anyone trying to make sense of the chaos in modern marketing, wondering how to navigate identity resolution in a post-cookie world, or just trying to figure out which AI tools are actually worth the hype.
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Key Highlights🔌 The Infrastructure Problem: Most brands lack connected data ecosystems. Their CRM, transaction records, and marketing databases exist in silos, making it nearly impossible to achieve the precision marketing everyone's chasing.
🏰 Walled Gardens Still Win: Large platforms have a scaled, dimensional view of consumers that few brands can match. The "easy button" appeal is real, but it comes at the cost of transparency and cross-platform measurement.
🤖 AI Won't Replace Humans (Yet): Agentic advertising is coming and will automate significant portions of media buying, but Matt believes we'll keep humans in the loop. The idea that bots will fully control everything is overdone, at least for now.
📊 Data Hygiene Still Matters: Simple things like ensuring "Matt" and "Matthew" are recognized as the same person remain real obstacles. Many organizations are still working through basic data cleaning before they can even think about advanced AI applications.
📉 Layoffs Are Coming: Matt predicts the next economic downturn will trigger massive job losses in marketing and advertising as automation takes over manual tasks. New roles will emerge, but there will be a painful transition period.
📈 The Measurement Mess: Between attribution debates, walled garden metrics, and inconsistent cross-platform views, CMOs are struggling to prove ROI. The complexity isn't just technical, it's political inside organizations.
🎯 Outcomes Over Tactics: Despite all the noise around cookies, signal loss, and AI, the fundamentals haven't changed. Great marketing still comes down to understanding consumers holistically and applying that intelligence strategically.
⚡ It's a Noisy Time: Marketers are juggling CIOs demanding new tech, CFOs questioning results, platforms promising exclusive deals, and measurement reports that don't add up. It's chaotic, but navigable with the right analytical mindset.
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Resources & Next Steps🌐 Learn more about TransUnion Marketing Solutions
🔗 Follow Matt Spiegel on LinkedIn
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts
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YouTube Chapter Timestamps00:00 Intro -- Consumer insights and AI limitations
00:35 The complexity of modern marketing
01:00 Episode introduction and Matt Spiegel
01:34 Where we are in the identity and data landscape
02:15 The marketer's challenge -- Disconnected data
03:45 Why data infrastructure is the core problem
05:20 The reality of data hygiene issues
06:30 Signal loss and privacy regulations
07:45 Platform advantages in identity resolution
09:10 Walled gardens vs transparency
11:00 The programmatic ecosystem revisited
12:40 How agencies are investing in data capabilities
14:20 The measurement and attribution challenge
16:00 AI's impact on marketing decisions
17:30 Why consumer insights still matter
18:45 The current state of MarTech noise
20:15 Startup consolidation and hype cycles
21:50 Will agentic advertising replace media planners?
23:20 Keeping humans in the loop
24:40 The coming wave of marketing layoffs
26:10 New opportunities emerging from automation
27:30 The complexity brands face daily
28:50 CMO tenure and pressure
29:40 Final thoughts and wrap-up
In this episode, I sit down with David Freeman, who just launched Kynetic Media Partners after an incredible 15-year run at CAA. David was one of the first executives I knew who truly understood the business impact of digital talent and the creator economy - back when most people in Hollywood were still asking "why do you care about that?" He walks us through his journey from starting CAA's digital department in 2010 (when they were the "redheaded stepchildren" of the agency) to today, where the creator economy is tracking toward $37 billion by 2027. Now he's building the infrastructure to turn fandom into real enterprise value.
We dive deep into how tech companies have become Hollywood, the rise of mega-creators like MrBeast who are building billion-dollar businesses, and how AI is about to revolutionize content creation in ways we can barely imagine. David shares insights on creators who are successfully building mini media empires (think Dude Perfect, Rhett & Link, Jesser), the critical need for proper operators and infrastructure around talent, and why we're likely to see consolidation and big exits in the creator space. It's a masterclass in understanding where media, culture, and commerce are headed.
Key Highlights🚀 The Big Leap: After 15 years building and leading CAA's digital talent division, David left to launch Kynetic Media Partners - focused on turning fandom into enterprise value with infrastructure, strategic capital, and expertise.
💡 From Stepchildren to Stars: In 2010, digital departments were "redheaded stepchildren" at agencies. Today, the creator economy is tracking toward $37 billion by 2027, and tech companies have become Hollywood.
🎬 The MrBeast Phenomenon: David breaks down how Jimmy Donaldson built a billion-dollar business with deeper engagement than traditional media, and why he represents the future of entertainment.
🤖 AI Revolution Ahead: The potential for AI to transform content creation is massive - from animation that rivals Pixar to community-driven development cycles that release new episodes in weeks, not years.
🏢 Mini Media Empires: Creators like Dude Perfect (with their $100M investment), Rhett & Link, Dahr Mann, and Jesser are building real media companies - but success requires proper operators, not just talent.
📊 Infrastructure Matters: The biggest gap in the creator economy isn't talent or fandom - it's the lack of infrastructure, operators, and strategic capital to help creators scale into sustainable businesses.
🔮 Consolidation Coming: Expect to see legacy media companies acquire creator businesses, channel aggregation (like old cable models), and agencies potentially hosting their own upfronts with talent networks.
🎯 Where Culture Lives: The creator space isn't just about entertainment - it's where culture is being born, and brands need to understand that talent is now distribution.
Resources & Next Steps🔗 Follow David Freeman on LinkedIn
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts
YouTube Chapter Timestamps00:00 Cold open - Keyman risk and YouTube dominance
00:55 Episode intro - David Freeman and Kynetic Media Ventures
01:24 Meet David Freeman, founder of Kynetic Media Ventures
01:49 Why David left CAA after 15 years
02:26 The creator economy arbitrage moment
04:00 Turning fandom into enterprise value
05:30 The evolution from digital talent to creator economy
06:32 How tech became Hollywood
07:50 YouTube vs traditional talent discovery
08:30 Legacy media in the early innings of YouTube
09:00 Madison Avenue grapples with YouTube's TV dominance
10:20 Creators must build IP and brands
11:30 Netflix vs YouTube - the talent war
13:00 IShowSpeed's Speed Goes Pro - ownership over distribution
14:30 Mr. Beast and the Amazon deal
16:10 Amazon's creator strategy beyond Prime
18:20 Making creator partnerships easier at scale
20:00 CMOs admit 20-30% of spend lacks attribution
21:20 The most dynamic time in media history
23:20 AI hype vs AI reality
25:00 AI as a tool controlled by humans
26:00 The CAA Vault and name, image, likeness
27:10 How many creators can become media moguls?
28:20 Building teams - good operators win
30:00 Will legacy media buy creator companies?
31:10 The rebirth of networks and agency upfronts
32:10 Wrap-up and what's next
In this episode of Next in Media, I sit down with Kiri Masters, host of the Retail Media Breakfast Club podcast, to explore the biggest shifts happening in retail media advertising. We dive into the recent announcement about ads coming to ChatGPT and what that means for brands trying to meet consumers where they are. Kiri shares her perspective on whether AI-powered shopping will truly disrupt the retail media landscape - and why she's optimistic that LLM-based ads could actually be more relevant and less annoying than traditional formats. We also unpack the Walmart-Google partnership and discuss what it signals about the future of conversational commerce.
Beyond the AI conversation, we tackle some of the industry's most pressing questions. Will we see consolidation in retail media networks this year? Can shoppable TV finally gain traction? And what happens when offsite retail media faces competition from platforms with their own transactional data? Kiri brings both historical context - including a fascinating story about Piggly Wiggly's self-service revolution - and forward-looking insights about how brands and retailers need to collaborate differently. Whether you're a marketer navigating this space or just curious about where AI and commerce intersect, this conversation offers a clear-eyed look at what's real, what's hype, and what's coming next.
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Key Highlights🤖 Ads in AI Assistants: Kiri explains why she's optimistic that ads in LLMs like ChatGPT could actually enhance the user experience rather than detract from it - as long as they're contextually relevant and leverage the deep personal insights these platforms have.
🛒 The Walmart-Google Partnership: Why retailers want to maintain control as the merchant of record even as they experiment with AI-powered shopping surfaces, and what this means for the competitive landscape between retailers and tech giants.
📊 Amazon's Retail Media Dominance: How Amazon has trained brands to expect exceptional reporting and data-driven insights, creating a high bar that other retailers struggle to match - and why CFOs love the platform's transparency.
🔄 Consolidation is Coming: With over 250 retail media networks globally but brands only wanting to work with 5-7 partners, Kiri predicts we'll see more partnerships like Macy's and Amazon this year as the market rationalizes.
💡 The Piggly Wiggly Lesson: A fascinating historical parallel about how the first self-service grocery store in 1916 got consumers to change behavior by passing savings directly to them - a lesson for how AI shopping might need to work.
⚠️ Offsite Media at Risk: If AI-powered shopping takes off, offsite retail media networks could face serious competition as LLMs gain access to transaction and intent data that retailers previously controlled.
🎯 Back to Category Growth: Kiri advocates for retailers and brands to move beyond performance-focused land grabs and return to collaborative trade marketing strategies that grow entire categories together.
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Resources & Next Steps🎙️ Follow Kiri Masters and subscribe to Retail Media Breakfast Club
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts
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Chapter Timestamps00:00 Introduction - Ads in AI assistants
00:40 This week on Next in Media
01:00 Meet Kiri Masters of Retail Media Breakfast Club
01:40 Ads coming to ChatGPT and conversational search
02:10 How brands follow consumers to new platforms
03:30 Will AI commerce disrupt retail media?
04:00 Will ads in LLMs work like Google and Facebook?
04:40 The importance of trust in AI assistants
05:00 Why AI ads could be better than traditional ads
06:00 Context and relevance in LLM advertising
07:00 The trust equation in conversational AI
08:00 Understanding AI ads won't necessarily suck
08:10 Walmart and Google partnership announcement
08:30 Are people ready to shop through AI interfaces?
09:00 Building trust through repeated exposure to LLMs
09:40 Story time - buying an iPod on eBay in 1999
11:00 Testing Instacart on ChatGPT
11:40 Sao CTV ad
12:40 Why Walmart partnered with Google
13:20 Retailers want to remain merchant of record
14:40 Can every retailer integrate with AI platforms?
15:20 Consumer choice and retailer selection criteria
16:00 The Piggly Wiggly story - self-service revolution
17:00 Consumer behavior change requires value proposition
17:40 State of retail media today
18:20 Amazon's dominance in retail media
19:20 Offsite retail media and in-store opportunities
20:00 How AI threatens offsite retail media networks
20:40 Open web and retail media advertising
21:30 Competition for audience data between retailers and LLMs
22:20 Could LLMs build offsite media businesses?
23:10 Will we see consolidation in retail media networks?
24:00 The Macy's and Amazon partnership example
24:40 Shoppable TV and CTV shopping outlook
26:00 How AI shopping might impact retail media
26:30 Moving beyond land grabs to category growth
27:20 Wrap-up and thanks
In this week's episode of Next in Media, I sat down with Ian Trombetta, SVP of Social Influencer and Content Marketing for the NFL. We dove deep into how the league is winning the creator economy by building long-term partnerships with rising stars like Kai Cenat, Sketch, and Mr. Beast. Ian shared how his team identifies talent before they blow up, creating authentic relationships that benefit both the creators and the NFL's global reach. What struck me most was how the NFL isn't just throwing money at big names - they're investing in momentum and cultural relevance, finding creators who genuinely connect with the next generation of fans.
Ian also walked me through the challenges of scaling this strategy globally, the lessons learned from his time at Red Bull and Activision, and what it takes to work with YouTube on their first-ever NFL broadcast. We discussed the NFL's massive Super Bowl creator activation - with over 150 creators on the ground in San Francisco - and how they're using everything from cooking competitions to fashion shows to showcase the culture around the game. Ian's philosophy is clear: let creators be themselves, provide them with massive value and exposure, and the authentic engagement will follow. It's a masterclass in modern brand building.
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Key Highlights:🎯 Finding Creators Early: The NFL identifies rising talent before they explode - working with Kai Cenat for 5-6 years before he became a household name. Ian's team stays ahead of dashboards and media coverage by staying deeply connected to culture and momentum.
🤝 Long-Term Relationships Over One-Offs: The NFL's strategy focuses on building sustained partnerships with creators, offering them massive exposure through linear TV, streaming platforms, and owned channels in exchange for authentic engagement with their communities.
🌍 Global Creator Strategy: With international growth as a major priority, the NFL works with global creators like Mr. Beast and IShowSpeed, plus local creators in markets like Brazil and Dublin to introduce football to new audiences worldwide.
🏆 Super Bowl Creator Takeover: Over 150 creators will be on the ground in San Francisco for Super Bowl week, participating in cooking competitions (NFL Season), fashion shows, and cross-promotions with NBC and the Olympics - the biggest creator activation yet.
🎮 Gaming Lessons from Activision: Ian emphasized that brands underestimate the quality bar required for gaming platforms like Roblox and Fortnite - you need dedicated studios creating sustained content, not just one-time pop-ups.
📺 Let Creators Be Themselves: The NFL's philosophy is to never force creators into a box. Great content comes from letting them engage their audiences authentically while naturally weaving in the NFL, not force-feeding promotional content.
🚀 YouTube's First NFL Broadcast: Ian shared insights from working with YouTube on their inaugural NFL game broadcast, highlighting the collaboration between traditional sports media and digital platforms.
🤖 Navigating the AI Challenge: Ian acknowledged that AI's impact on content creation is evolving daily, and staying ahead of how platforms and creators use AI is one of the biggest ongoing challenges for the league.
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Resources & Next Steps:🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts
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YouTube Chapter Timestamps:00:00 Cold open - Creator opportunities and AI evolution
00:38 Episode intro and playoff season context
01:02 Meet Ian Trombetta - SVP of Social Influencer and Marketing at NFL
01:36 Ian's role - Social media, influencer marketing, and content creation
02:52 Why the NFL needs creators beyond traditional TV
04:20 Creators as entry points for casual and younger fans
05:15 Global creator strategy - No borders with Mr. Beast and IShowSpeed
06:30 How to find the right creators for your brand
07:45 Building long-term relationships with rising creators
08:40 The Kai Cenat story - 5-6 years of partnership
10:12 The secret sauce - Getting in early and offering value
11:30 Letting creators be themselves for authentic engagement
13:05 Understanding creator momentum and culture
14:20 The Sketch example - Catching viral moments early
16:40 Live streamers and the endurance of daily content creation
18:25 Brand partnerships and measuring ROI from organic reach
20:10 Red Bull background - Building communities and content
22:30 Activision lessons - Community is everything in gaming
24:29 Parallels between gaming communities and NFL fandom
25:23 The gaming challenge - Quality bar and sustained presence
26:23 Roblox and Fortnite - You need a full studio operation
27:14 Flag football, mobile games, and the Olympics opportunity
27:26 Super Bowl preview - 150+ creators on the ground
28:12 NFL Season cooking competition and fashion shows
28:53 Cross-promotion with NBC and the Olympics
29:13 Showcasing culture and music around the NFL
29:27 Working with YouTube on their first NFL broadcast
29:59 Biggest challenge - Navigating AI in content and platforms
I never thought I'd be running a 70-employee media company built around two guys who started making Pokemon sketches in their bedroom. But here we are. When I stepped into the role of CEO of Smosh in early 2023, I wasn't just taking on a business - I was stewarding a 20-year legacy that spans five active YouTube channels, a 15-person cast, and millions of fans worldwide. My background in talent management taught me to think about creators as brands, and that's exactly how I approach Smosh today. We're not just making content - we're building a sustainable entertainment company that respects both the comedy at our core and the business fundamentals that keep us growing.
What excites me most is how we're redefining what digital-first entertainment looks like. We've invested heavily in 4K production to meet the demands of YouTube's living room experience, and we're launching ambitious projects like Hospital - a semi-scripted improv show that blends SNL-style comedy with Grey's Anatomy parody. But beyond the content itself, I'm passionate about changing how brands work with creators. Too many advertisers still treat us like we're amateurs in bedrooms, when the reality is we have the infrastructure, the talent, and the audience insights to deliver campaigns that traditional media can't match. We're proving that collaboration over competition and authenticity over scripts is the future of entertainment - and the future is happening right now.
Key Highlights🚀 From Talent Manager to CEO: How working with Anthony Padilla at Press Alike and 15 years in the creator economy led to becoming CEO of a 70-employee media company with five active YouTube channels and 15 cast members.
📺 YouTube's Living Room Revolution: Why Smosh invested heavily in 4K production, upgraded cameras and servers, and how YouTube is slowly separating TV-viewing experiences from search engine content - with bold predictions about the platform's future.
🎭 Hospital Launches in January: A groundbreaking semi-scripted improv show where cast members play doctors who must swap out when they break character - blending SNL-style comedy with Grey's Anatomy parody, designed for viewers who've never heard of Smosh.
🤝 Collaboration Over Competition: Why Smosh's social team gets lunch with Mythical, their production manager grabs coffee with Dropout, and the entire creator economy thrives when digital entertainment companies share tips instead of treating each other as enemies.
💰 Owning Your CMS is Power: Lessons from the MCN era about the importance of maintaining your own content management system, controlling sales processes, and working directly with Google to craft bespoke advertising deals around major programming events.
📢 The Brand Partnership Problem: Why traditional TV commercials are terrible, how marketing agencies waste millions on creative that doesn't convert, and why Smosh only partners with brands they sincerely use - building authentic campaigns instead of following scripts.
⏰ Treat Creators Like Studios: The frustrating reality that brands still don't understand production schedules, kill fees, or professional timelines - and why the same respect given to Fox or NBC should apply to digital-first media companies.
🎯 Accessible Content Strategy: How shows like Do You Know Your Duo and Culinary Crimes are designed so new viewers can jump in without knowing Smosh's 20-year history - making great improv and comedy accessible to superfans and first-time watchers alike.
Resources & Next Steps🎥 Watch Smosh on YouTube
🔗 Follow Alessandra Catanese on LinkedIn
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts
Chapter Timestamps00:00 Introduction - Smosh's evolution from bedroom to boardroom
00:38 Early days of covering Smosh at Media Week
01:25 Meet Alessandra Catanese - from talent manager to CEO
02:01 The Maker Studios era and YouTube economy origins
03:14 15 years of experience leading to this role
03:43 Working with Anthony and Ian on the vision
05:37 Smosh 101 - five channels and 15 cast members
07:04 Full-fledged merch business and cast-driven products
07:51 Making content accessible without knowing the lore
08:51 Hospital show - the January improv comedy launch
09:20 SNL meets Grey's Anatomy with character breaks
10:22 YouTube on TV and the living room experience
11:05 Investing in 4K production for Summer Games
12:10 Honoring traditional TV conventions on YouTube
12:46 Predicting YouTube's TV vs search engine split
14:40 Digital and traditional becoming the same thing
15:26 The MCN era and owning your CMS
18:07 Google's special care and bespoke deals
19:14 MCN collaboration lessons and creator networks
20:11 YouTube was founded on collaboration
20:50 We don't have competition, we have collaborators
21:36 No monopoly on the internet
22:34 Growing the creator advertising economy
23:48 Educating advertisers on metrics that matter
24:19 Sincere representation philosophy with brands
24:52 Brands need smarter creative strategies
26:59 Why TV commercials are terrible today
27:40 YouTube provides instant, rich data
28:40 Working with newer vs legacy brands
29:09 Brands still see creators as bedroom amateurs
29:50 Production costs and treating creators professionally
30:29 Progress in podcast ad reads and trust
31:07 Wrap-up and final thoughts
I sat down with Evan Shapiro, the legendary media cartographer and author of the must-read substack Media War and Peace, to kick off 2026 with bold predictions about where our industry is heading. Evan didn't hold back as he unpacked the tension between AI-driven automation and the raw authenticity that makes creators so powerful. We explored how scale and reach are becoming vanity metrics, while fandom and engagement are what truly matter now. From Under Armor to Procter & Gamble, major brands are launching their own content channels and becoming creators themselves rather than just renting influencers. This isn't your typical brand content strategy, this is a fundamental shift in how marketing dollars flow.
We also tackled the elephant in the room: YouTube's dominance and whether anyone can challenge it, the explosive growth of retail media networks like Walmart and Amazon, and why traditional media companies like Disney and Warner Brothers are finally embracing platforms they once feared. Evan predicts the AI bubble will burst in 2026, not because the technology isn't valuable, but because it won't be the sexy revolution everyone's hyping. Instead, AI will improve things behind the scenes with targeting optimization and efficiency gains. Plus, we discussed the rise of social media politicians and how $2.5 billion in political ad spending could fundamentally change addressable TV advertising. This conversation is packed with insights you won't want to miss.
Key Highlights🎯 Engagement Over Reach: Scale and reach are now vanity metrics. The biggest shift in the creator economy is toward fandom and deep engagement rather than pure subscriber counts. Mr. Beast is the exception, creators like Amelia Dimoldenberg and Sean Evans prove that smaller, highly engaged audiences drive better business results.
🏢 Brands Become Creators: Under Armor, Procter & Gamble, and L'Oreal are launching their own content channels and production companies. Instead of hiring influencers, brands will convert ad spend into creating their own entertainment channels, following the Barbie and LEGO model of becoming lifestyle brands.
📺 Traditional Media's Creator Problem: Disney still treats YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok as brochure ware with trailers and promotional content. In 2026, major studios will finally go all-in on real content for these platforms, similar to how they eventually launched Disney+ after years of resistance.
🤖 The AI Bubble Will Burst: The hype around AI making movies, commercials, and scripts will deflate in 2026. AI's real value lies in boring but crucial improvements to targeting, optimization, and efficiency, not in replacing creative talent. Disney's $1.5 billion investment in OpenAI signals they're getting ahead of this shift.
🛍️ Retail Media's Next Wave: We're in the first half of the first inning of shoppable TV. Walmart's integration of Vizio will make them the second-largest retail media network after Amazon. This enables a whole new class of TV advertisers and unlocks budgets that never intersected with traditional media spending.
📱 Instagram and TikTok Launch CTV: Evan predicts both Instagram and TikTok will launch connected TV platforms in 2026. When Oracle takes control of TikTok in the US, a television product is inevitable. YouTube's success with shorts on TV proves short-form content can work on the big screen.
💰 YouTube's Branded Content Explosion: Branded deals embedded in YouTube videos grew over 50% in the first half of 2025, becoming the fastest-growing segment of YouTube's ad economy. With dynamic insertion launching for branded content in 2026, this will dramatically accelerate and become more scalable.
🗳️ Political Ads Transform CTV: The $2.5 billion political ecosystem will spend on hyper-local, outcome-based ads in 2026. This wave of aggressive buyers targeting at the neighborhood level will change television advertising at the genetic level and unlock the true promise of addressable TV.
Resources & Next Steps🔗 Follow Evan Shapiro on LinkedIn
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts
This week on Next in Media, I sat down with Shane Atchison, CEO of Zaaz Collective, and Seth Gordon, a film director and co-founder of Zaaz. We dove into their mission to help micro and mid-level creators (those with 5,000 to 100,000 followers) think and act like media companies. With 96% of creators making minimum wage or less, Shane and Seth saw an opportunity to build a collective where creators could access the data, tools, and intelligence typically reserved for top-tier talent. They shared how Zaaz is using AI-powered analytics, audience insights, and comments-to-commerce strategies to help creators maximize their impact and earnings.
I was fascinated by their approach to solving the creator-brand disconnect. Shane explained how most creators have no idea what to charge for brand deals and often feel they get screwed on their first partnerships. Zaaz addresses this with transparent pricing data, engagement rate benchmarks, and personalized AI language models trained on each creator's unique content and audience. Seth brought a compelling perspective from the traditional entertainment world, noting how the $50 million ad model is dying and the future is much more atomized and creator-led. We also explored their plans for Q1 2025, including creator-to-creator events in Brazil and launching new tools for content transcription and multi-platform analytics.
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Key Highlights💡 The Creator Economy Gap: 96% of creators are making minimum wage or less despite the industry growing to $500 million by 2030 with 35% year-over-year growth in media spend.
🤝 The Collective Model: Zaaz operates as a membership-based collective where creators share anonymized data on brand deals, pricing, and engagement rates so everyone can learn what's a fair deal.
📊 Audience Intelligence: The platform unifies analytics across all social platforms in one dashboard and uses AI to analyze comments for purchase intent, brand opportunities, and genuine engagement.
💬 Comments to Commerce: Zaaz filters through thousands of comments to surface the ones that matter, like when someone asks "what shirt are you wearing?" turning those into affiliate link opportunities.
🤖 Personalized AI Language Models: Each creator gets their own AI agent trained on their content, comments, and audience data, plus access to collective intelligence from other creators' successful strategies.
🎯 Brand Discovery Done Right: Zaaz pushes dynamic media kits to discovery platforms so creators are represented with real-time data on momentum, engagement rates, and audience quality.
🎬 The Future is Atomized: Seth Gordon explained how the traditional $50 million ad campaign model is dying, and the future belongs to niche, specialized creator-led content reaching targeted audiences.
🚀 Launching in 2025: Zaaz is hosting creator-to-creator events in Brazil and the U.S., launching AI-powered content transcription tools, and helping creators who "don't realize they're creators" move into the space.
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Resources & Next Steps🌐 Explore Zaaz Collective
🔗 Connect with Shane Atchison on LinkedIn
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts
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YouTube Chapter Timestamps00:00 Cold open - Building Zaaz for creators
00:36 Introducing Shane Atchison and Seth Gordon
02:02 What is Zaaz Collective?
03:00 How the collective model works
04:32 The "I got screwed" problem for creators
06:07 Seth on protecting creators in the wild west
07:07 Who are the target creators? (5K-100K followers)
08:32 Audience analytics across platforms
10:52 Comments to commerce strategy
13:04 Brand discovery and connecting the two sides
15:19 Seth on knowing your audience
18:32 The value of micro influencers
20:23 Seth on Warner Bros and the dying $50M ad model
22:10 Streamlining media spend in the creator economy
24:51 Personalized AI language models for creators
27:00 Q1 plans: Launching in Brazil and creator events
28:29 Wrap-up and thanks
This week I had the chance to sit down with two fascinating guests who are at the forefront of bridging the worlds of digital performance marketing and traditional television advertising. Nick Fairbairn, VP of Growth Marketing at Chime, and Andy Schonfeld, CRO at Tatari, walked me through how they've transformed Chime from a pure digital-first, DTC neobank brand built on social and search into a sophisticated advertiser that runs television campaigns with the same performance mindset they apply to Meta and Google. Their partnership has evolved from small linear TV tests six years ago to a comprehensive full-funnel TV strategy that blends brand building with direct response metrics.
Nick and Andy shared incredible insights into the evolution of performance TV, from navigating the COVID-era inventory opportunities to understanding why linear TV still matters even as streaming dominates the conversation. They explained how Chime approaches television with a portfolio strategy, balancing premium reach moments like live sports with more targeted direct response placements, and why creative and media planning have become the "new targeting" in a world where precise one-to-one identification remains expensive and imperfect. We also dove into the challenges of measuring TV in a fragmented landscape, the role of AI-driven creative, and whether shoppable TV will actually move the needle or remain a marginal innovation.
Key HighlightsHere's a shorter version:
📺 From Walled Gardens to TV: Chime shifted from 80% Facebook/Google spend to treating TV as a performance channel, not just brand awareness.
🚀 COVID's Opportunity: The pandemic opened premium TV inventory at discounts as major advertisers exited, accelerating streaming adoption for performance marketers.
🎯 Performance TV Defined: Measuring full-funnel impact from awareness to account openings using spike attribution, MMM, and Tatari's platform.
⚡ Linear Still Works: Live sports and big moments deliver results at 75% off rate card for brands buying real-time through platforms like Tatari.
💰 The DR Valley of Death: Pure direct response TV hits limits, requiring investment in premium brand moments with longer attribution windows for growth.
🤖 AI and Creative Over Targeting: Paying 2-3x CPMs for precise targeting isn't worth it—creative and smart placement beat perfect identity resolution.
📱 Shoppable TV Reality: Interactive ads and QR codes show promise but remain marginal in business impact; AI-generated creative variations offer more upside.
Resources & Next Steps🔗 Learn more about Chime
📊 Explore Tatari's performance TV platform
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts
YouTube Chapter Timestamps00:00 Opening - Performance TV and Chime's evolution
00:55 Introducing Nick Fairbairn (VP Growth Marketing at Chime)
01:00 Introducing Andy Schonfeld (CRO at Tatari)
01:10 Chime's historic media mix - born on social and search
02:00 The classic DTC journey - 80% in Facebook and Google
02:20 Bringing a portfolio approach to acquisition
02:40 Meeting Tatari and starting the TV journey (2019)
03:00 Initial barriers - cost, creative, and optimization concerns
03:40 Running TV like Meta from day one
04:10 Linear focus in the early days (2016-2019)
04:40 Small doses of TV with incrementality and attribution
05:00 How COVID accelerated streaming adoption
05:40 Major brands exiting created inventory opportunities
06:00 Fire sale opportunities on premium inventory
06:30 Nick's resistance to streaming at first
07:00 The linear purist becomes a 50/50 believer
07:40 Defining performance in TV advertising
08:20 Full funnel measurement - awareness to enrollments
09:00 Getting efficient on walled gardens to fund brand TV
09:40 The DR valley of death explained
10:10 How performance TV measurement has evolved
11:00 Starting lower funnel, then expanding upward
11:40 The $10-15M threshold where DR hits limits
12:10 Going premium - live sports and big moments
12:40 The commitment required to unlock TV's power
13:10 TV driving IPOs and acquisitions
13:40 Helping startups scale through TV
14:00 The state of CTV today - better or more complex?
14:40 Linear vs streaming buying challenges
15:10 Cost prohibitive targeting on streaming
15:50 Creative differences between linear and streaming
16:20 What's missing - the dashboard fantasy
17:00 Why linear still matters - 50% of viewership
17:40 Yankees playoff game example - 75% discount
18:30 You can't buy big moments programmatically
19:10 Relationships still matter in TV buying
19:50 Programmatic CTV limitations
20:30 Media mix modeling and holistic measurement
21:30 Identity and targeting in TV - does it matter?
22:10 Creative as the new targeting
22:50 Why paying 2-3x CPM for precision isn't worth it
23:30 You can't measure it all - need multiple approaches
24:00 Shoppable TV and interactive ads - bullish or not?
24:40 QR codes and send-to-phone - still marginal
25:10 Pause ads opening new real estate
25:40 Amazon remote ads and early testing
26:00 Dynamic AI creative - 100 variations vs two
26:30 Local market creative optimization
27:00 Something's brewing with device and TV convergence
27:30 Wrap-up and thanks
I had the incredible opportunity to bring together some of the brightest minds in the creator economy for an evening of candid conversation about where this industry is headed. From ad tech innovations to creator authenticity, we covered the full spectrum of what it takes to turn creator content into scalable, revenue-generating partnerships. Conor McKenna from Luma and Zoe Soon from the IAB kicked things off with a macro view of the space, discussing how fragmented media is creating massive opportunities for technology to step in. We explored why brands are shifting budgets at unprecedented rates, with Unilever committing 50% of marketing spend to creator-related initiatives.
The evening featured deep dives into brand integration strategies with Ali Parish from Blue Hour Studios and Jeremy Stewart from VuePlanner, followed by an eye-opening discussion with Arthur Leopolod from Agentio about how AI and automation are revolutionizing creator advertising. Perhaps most compelling was hearing directly from Sydney Jo, the creator behind the viral Group Chat series, and her manager Haley Friedman from Made By All about the reality of building a creator business. From navigating brand negotiations to maintaining creative authenticity, this conversation revealed both the opportunities and challenges facing the next generation of digital storytellers.
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Key Highlights🚀 The Walled Garden Shift: Meta and Google are evolving from social platforms to entertainment platforms, opening up competitive dynamics that allow ad tech to capture margin in the previously closed creator ecosystem.
📈 Explosive Growth Trajectory: The creator economy is projected to reach $37 billion this year, growing 400% faster than average digital media, with Agentio raising $40 million to help brands scale from $50K to over $1 million in creator spend without additional bandwidth.
🎯 The Authenticity Challenge: Brands are treating creators like Hollywood storytellers but expecting them to perform like programmatic ad units, creating a disconnect that requires better infrastructure, measurement, and understanding of the creator-first approach.
🤖 AI as the Creative Multiplier: While AI enables scalability and reduces production costs to zero, the real winners will be creators with established trust and parasocial relationships, as audiences increasingly seek authentic voices in a sea of AI-generated content.
💡 Partnership Over Performance: Long-term brand relationships like Sydney's multi-season deal with Hilton outperform transactional campaigns, with brands that engage in comments and understand social media culture seeing significantly better integration and results.
📊 The Measurement Gap: Over 50% of US buyers consider creators a must-buy (second only to search and social), yet the industry lacks standardized metrics beyond engagement and reach, requiring brands to rely heavily on first-party data and brand-specific goals.
🎬 Platform Dynamics: YouTube and Meta provide strong creator support with dedicated reps, while TikTok remains uniquely difficult to work with despite its massive scale, and creators intentionally maintain cross-platform presence to avoid giving control to any single platform.
⚡ From Viral to Viable: Sydney's journey from 250K to 1.7 million followers in one week (and a Today Show appearance) reveals both the opportunity and challenge of monetizing virality, highlighting the critical importance of having the right management team to navigate brand negotiations and maintain creative control.
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Resources & Next Steps🌐 Learn more about VuePlanner
🌐 Learn more about Agentio
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts
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YouTube Chapter Timestamps00:00 Opening remarks and industry momentum
01:10 Introducing Connor McKenney and Zoe Soon
03:00 The ad tech opportunity in creator economy
05:40 Walled gardens becoming distribution platforms
07:00 Why brands are shifting to creators
08:30 The infrastructure and measurement challenge
12:00 AI and algorithm control concerns
13:00 Standardization vs. authenticity debate
17:10 Ali Perish and Jeremy Stewart on brand integration
18:40 Evolution of Blue Hour Studios
20:40 View Planner's role in creator measurement
24:00 YouTube Creator Partnerships Hub
26:00 The lifetime value of creators
28:00 Arthur Leopold introduces Agentio
30:00 The $10 billion to $800 billion opportunity
32:00 How Agentio automates creator advertising
35:30 Bidding model and AI strategy creation
37:40 Creators as micro creative agencies
40:00 The Cambrian explosion of AI creativity
42:40 Sydney and Hailey from Made By All
44:00 Sydney's viral Group Chat origin story
46:30 Navigating early brand deals
49:00 The importance of saying no
51:40 Long-term brand relationships
54:00 When brands don't understand social media
56:00 Working with platform partners
58:30 Advice for brands and creators
01:00:00 Closing thoughts and thank you
I sat down with Tusar Barik, the SVP of Marketing at the New York Times, who's just past his first year in this newly created role. We explored how the Times has transformed from a traditional newspaper into a multifaceted media company spanning news, games, podcasts, cooking, sports, and more. Tusar leads a comprehensive team managing everything from measurement and data insights to product marketing, editorial advertising opportunities, and traditional communications. What struck me most was learning that the Times now reaches over 150 million registered users with 50 to 100 million weekly engagers, seeing the highest growth among Gen Z adults and audiences in the Midwest and South. The digital advertising business delivered over 20% year-over-year growth, proving that quality journalism and a direct relationship with readers creates a powerhouse advertising platform.
We dove deep into how the Times is meeting consumers where they are through video-forward strategies, producing over 75 hours of professional video monthly and transforming podcasts into multimodal shows available as both audio and video. Tusar shared insights on their Brand Match generative AI product that delivers 30% improvements in both click-through rates and brand lift by intelligently matching advertiser briefs with the right content. We explored how games like Wordle have been part of the Times' DNA since the 1940s crossword, how The Daily creates deeply personal connections with millions, and why the Times sees itself as a solar system with news at the center. The conversation revealed a company that's successfully balanced subscription-first strategy with a thriving advertising business by staying true to its mission while innovating how it reaches and serves audiences.
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Key Highlights 📈 Unprecedented Scale & Growth: The Times now has over 12 million subscribers, 150 million registered users, and 50-100 million weekly engagers, with the highest growth coming from Gen Z adults and the Midwest/South, driving 20% digital advertising growth year-over-year. * 🤖 AI-Powered Brand Match: Tusar revealed their generative AI product that ingests advertiser RFPs and dynamically matches campaigns with the right content as it's produced, delivering 30%+ improvements in both click-through rates and brand lift. * 🎥 Video-First Evolution: The Times produces over 75 hours of professional video content monthly and has transformed audio podcasts into multimodal shows, recently launching a Watch tab in the app that creates new premium advertising inventory. * 🎮 Games as Core DNA: Gaming has been part of the Times since the 1940s crossword during World War II. Today, over 2,000 people per minute share their Wordle scores, and games advertising drives 21% awareness lift and 30%+ brand consideration growth when combined with news. * 🎙️ The Daily's Emotional Connection: Tusar shared a touching story about how Michael Barbaro's voice became a source of comfort for a reader who listened every morning while visiting her ailing father in the hospital for months, illustrating the deep personal relationships the Times builds. * 📊 Measurement Playbook Approach: The Times developed a comprehensive measurement strategy offering everything from MMM models for large advertisers to trending metrics for smaller campaigns, with solutions packages that span audio, video, and display inventory. * 🌐 Portfolio Beyond News: The Times has evolved into a solar system with news at the center, expanding into The Athletic (largest sports newsroom globally), Cooking, Games, Wirecutter, and more, each creating unique advertising entry points and audience segments. * 💼 Programmatic Done Right:* The Times views programmatic as workflow pipes to reduce friction, not as a race to the bottom on CPMs. They've invested significantly in the past 18 months while maintaining quality standards and brand safety for advertisers.
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Resources & Next Steps🔗 Follow Tusar Barrick on LinkedIn
🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts
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YouTube Chapter Timestamps00:00 Elemental TV ad
00:48 Introduction and guest overview
01:50 Welcome to Next in Media
02:03 Tor's role and first year at the Times
04:19 The Times' evolution beyond news
05:07 Core mission and solar system approach
06:25 Audience scale: 150M registered users
07:39 20% digital ad growth and earnings
08:58 AI and Brand Match product
10:46 Brand Match performance results
11:31 Podcasting and The Daily's impact
13:06 Michael Barbaro's emotional connection story
14:02 Audio and video evolution
15:31 Video production stats and strategy
16:14 Navigating agency relationships
17:44 Solutions-based approach to advertising
18:01 Measurement playbook and strategies
19:47 Outcome-based measurement approach
20:59 Sabio ad
21:05 Talent and newsletter strategy
23:48 Gaming portfolio and DNA since 1940s
26:03 The Athletic and portfolio expansion
27:04 Games advertising opportunities
28:28 Programmatic strategy and philosophy
30:29 Video strategy and Watch tab launch
33:49 Video advertising opportunities
34:12 Closing thoughts and wrap-up
34:24 Outro and thanks
Summary:
This week on Next in Media, Mike Shields talks with Erick Opeka, President & Chief Strategy Officer at Cineverse and board member at the startup Micro Co. Opeka breaks down how short-form “micro-dramas”—already attracting hundreds of millions of daily viewers in China—are taking shape in the U.S. and why they could become a $20 billion category.
He explains how Cineverse’s 22 streaming services, proprietary Matchpoint technology, and deep ad-tech stack position it to lead this wave. From Quibi’s missteps to AI-driven efficiencies, Opeka shares how the next generation of vertical video could transform storytelling, advertising, and the very idea of television.
⭐ Key Highlights* 🎥 Cineverse 101: Operates a full-service film & TV studio plus 22 streaming platforms with under 200 employees—powered by its Matchpoint operating system. * 💡 Tech meets storytelling: Built its own ad-tech stack (C360) and data tools to monetize efficiently while controlling creative output. * 📱 Rise of micro-dramas: Already a $1 billion U.S. market and mainstream in China, drawing 600 million daily viewers. * 🧠 Why it works: Each 3-minute story triggers anticipation loops in the brain—more rewarding than endless scrolling. * 🌍 Cultural crossover: Format expected to reach 13–15% of all video consumption at maturity—larger than the entire U.S. theatrical market. * 🧩 Creative power team: Lloyd Braun, Susan Rovner, and Jana Winograde join Opeka to build a U.S.-based micro-drama studio. * 📺 Beyond romance: Expanding from steamy love stories to game shows, thrillers, and reality formats. * 💰 Business model: Starts with premium and pay-per-view, evolves toward ad-supported models—echoing the broader streaming trend. * 🤝 Brand opportunity: Advertisers aren’t yet in but white-space potential mirrors early anime and TikTok stages. * 🔮 Looking ahead: Launch slated for Spring 2026, combining platform tech + top-tier creatives to redefine mobile storytelling.
🔗 Resources & Next Steps* Follow Erick Opeka on LinkedIn 🔗 * Learn more about Cineverse → cineverse.com * ⭐ Rate & Review to help more listeners discover the show * 🎧Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts
⏱️ YouTube Chapters00:00 – Intro and Erick Opeka’s role at Cineverse
01:00 – How Cineverse runs 22 streaming services with Matchpoint
04:00 – Ad-tech integration and C360 audience platform
05:00 – The micro-drama trend and China’s 600 million viewers
07:30 – Why micro-dramas hook audiences psychologically
09:30 – U.S. market potential and viewer behavior
11:00 – Genres evolving beyond romance
13:00 – Demographics and comparison to K-drama boom
14:30 – Business models: subscription vs ad-supported
17:00 – Early lessons from China and U.S. adoption curve
18:00 – Formation of Micro Co and the creative team
21:00 – Building a U.S. platform with better UX and production quality
26:00 – Quibi comparisons and why this time is different
29:00 – Timeline for launch and platform strategy
32:00 – Brand building and sustainable growth vs CAC race
34:00 – CTV integration and cross-screen potential
35:40 – Advertising ecosystem and brand interest
37:40 – TERRIFIER franchise and Cineverse’s studio approach
40:00 – Final thoughts on innovation and industry future
Why Brands Should Stop Avoiding News with Jack Marshall
Brands have long shied away from advertising in news, fearing controversy or association with “negative” stories; but that hesitation is costing them results. This week, Mike Shields talks with Jack Marshall, Head of News at DoubleVerify, about why avoiding news is a missed opportunity and how advertisers can take a smarter, more nuanced approach to brand safety and suitability.
Jack shares insights from DV’s research, which shows that news content drives 16% more engagement than non-news media, and explains how AI-driven tools are helping advertisers target responsibly while supporting trusted journalism. The conversation covers the shifting perceptions of news advertising, AI’s role in brand safety, and why authentic reporting may soon stand out as the antidote to AI-generated “slop.”
Highlights:
📰 The News Opportunity – DV data shows that news content generates 16% more engagement than non-news, yet many advertisers still block it.
🔒 Brand Safety vs. Suitability – Safety covers truly unsafe content (malware, spam, copyright infringement); suitability is where nuanced strategy is needed.
🧠 Educating the Industry – Jack’s role includes helping advertisers, agencies, and publishers understand how to unlock news environments safely.
🛠️ Smarter Tools, Less Risk – DV’s AI-driven keyword optimization helps reduce false blocks and allows brands to use a scalpel instead of a sledgehammer.
⚙️ Product Innovation – DV’s News Accelerator initiative and contextual categories like News+ and News+ Light make it easier to advertise in quality news at scale.
📉 Myth-busting Fear – Consumers can separate ads from content; most don’t associate a brand with a nearby tough headline.
🤖 AI & Trust – As AI-generated misinformation spreads, real journalism becomes more valuable — “the real connections stand out among the weirdness.”
💬 Shift in Attitude – Advertisers are realizing they’ve been too conservative and are reopening budgets for trusted news environments.
🪶 Publishers Adapting – From the New York Times’ strong ad growth to the rise of news creators, publishers are learning to leverage trust, voice, and engagement.
🌍 Future Outlook – Expect closer ties between news brands and influencers, merging authenticity with scale in ad models.
Resources and links:
🔗 Follow Jack Marshall on LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackmarshall/
🌐 Learn more about DoubleVerify’s News Accelerator → doubleverify.com
Explore Sabio’s platform: sabioctv.com
⭐ Rate & Review to help more listeners discover the show
🎧Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts
Chapters:
00:00 Research shows advertisers miss out by avoiding news
00:40 Introducing Jack Marshall, Head of News at DoubleVerify
02:00 Why DV created a Head of News role
03:20 Educating advertisers and publishers on news investment
04:50 The CMO vs. junior buyer disconnect
06:00 Brand safety vs. brand suitability explained
07:30 When it’s reasonable to exclude content — and when it’s not
08:20 Modern tools vs. blunt keyword blocking
09:20 Overgeneralizations and nuanced strategies
10:00 The myth of “negative adjacency”
11:10 How consumers actually perceive ads near news
12:10 DV research: news drives 16% higher engagement
13:30 Why advertisers should rethink “news avoidance”
15:40 The DV News Accelerator and new AI keyword tools
17:10 Cutting bloated keyword lists with automation
18:30 Helping brands use a scalpel instead of a sledgehammer
19:30 Making nuance easy for media buyers
20:20 Is the pendulum swinging back toward openness?
21:30 AI slop and why real news stands out
23:00 Publishers finding optimism amid change
24:20 Diversifying revenue and growing brand trust
25:20 The rise of news creators and influencer-style partnerships
26:00 Closing thoughts — supporting real journalism and connection
In this special episode recorded live at Amazon UnBox in Nashville, I sit down with Charlotte Maines, Head of Device Advertising for Fire TV at Amazon. We dive into the massive reach of Fire TV—over 300 million devices sold globally—and what that means for brands aiming to connect with high-value, logged-in Amazon customers.
Charlotte shares how Amazon is evolving the ad experience from simple tune-in campaigns to interactive, full-funnel marketing opportunities. We unpack the growing role of Alexa Plus, Amazon’s new LLM-powered assistant, and how it’s revolutionizing personalized, voice-driven engagement across devices. From shoppable connected TV to dynamic creative powered by GenAI, this episode is packed with insights for any brand looking to harness the next wave of CTV innovation.
Timeline Summary:
[0:38] - Why Fire TV’s 300M device footprint is a game-changer for advertisers
[2:40] - The “six-minute window”: How brands can show up during viewer decision time
[4:22] - Evolution of Fire TV advertising—from HBO tune-ins to full-funnel brand engagement
[6:12] - Inside Alexa Plus: How LLMs are powering Amazon’s new conversational AI
[8:10] - Shopping with your voice: Fire TV and Alexa’s seamless commerce experiences
[10:00] - The future rotator: Amazon’s prime CTV ad real estate explained
[12:45] - Full-funnel advertising: How Amazon connects the dots across devices and media
[15:15] - GenAI in action: How brands are creating audio ads in seconds using Amazon tools
[18:12] - What brands—big and small—are learning from Amazon’s self-service creative tools
[20:33] - Why devices are key to Amazon’s dominance in full-funnel marketing
Links & Resources:
- Learn more about Alexa Plus: Amazon Alexa
- Explore Sabio’s platform: sabioctv.com
- 🎧Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts
Closing Remarks:
If you found this episode insightful, I’d love it if you’d take a moment to rate, follow, and share the show. And don’t forget to leave a review—your support helps more people discover Next in Media. See you next time!
This week on Next in Media, I sat down with Nielsen CEO Karthik Rao to get an inside look at the company’s transformation in a fast-evolving media landscape. From the explosive rise of YouTube on connected TVs to tackling fragmentation across platforms, Karthik breaks down how Nielsen is reinventing itself with big data, AI, and a mission to future-proof measurement.
We talked about the company’s response to public challenges, its roadmap for creator measurement, and why the shift to big data plus panel is more than just a tech upgrade—it’s a foundational change in how the industry understands audiences. Whether you're curious about the "currency wars," the power of creators, or the role AI could play in stitching together digital and linear, this episode delivers some fascinating insight straight from the top.
Timestamps:
[0:00] - Karthik Rao on AI’s role in unifying disparate parts of the media world
[1:07] - From CEO of Nielsen Global Media to CEO of Nielsen: Karthik’s journey
[2:36] - Why Nielsen’s transformation was necessary to keep up with fragmentation and streaming
[3:39] - The company’s shift from panel-only to big data plus panel—what that means and why it matters
[5:45] - Balancing innovation, trust, and marketplace readiness
[8:28] - What really happened with the NFL and how Nielsen navigated public scrutiny
[13:16] - Media negotiations in the press and why everyone keeps coming back to Nielsen
[15:01] - The underestimated breadth of Nielsen’s business beyond just ratings
[17:04] - AI’s game-changing potential in media buying and data integration
[20:01] - YouTube’s dominance on CTVs and why creator content is more serious than many assume
[22:57] - How Nielsen plans to help creators scale across media ecosystems
[25:56] - The current state of "currency wars" and why standardizing to human truths matters
[27:21] - Nielsen’s plan to measure podcasting’s evolving video/audio landscape
Links & Resources
- Learn more about Nielsen’s work at nielsen.com
- Explore Sabio’s platform: sabioctv.com
- 🎧Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts
Enjoyed the episode?
Please consider rating, reviewing, and sharing Next in Media. And don’t forget to hit that follow button so you never miss what’s next in the world of media.
Robert Wheeler — longtime communications leader at WarnerMedia, AT&T/Xandr, and GroupM — shares why he left the corporate world to build At the Moment Media (ATM), a people-first, video-led publication spotlighting personalities across advertising, technology, and media.
He walks through how the brand came to life — from the black-and-white design and animated “M” mascot to its 5–6 minute storytelling format and short-form social clips. Robert also opens up about startup lessons, the state of modern comms, and how ATM plans to cover cultural business moments like the Latin GRAMMYs and BravoCon.
Key Highlights
🚀 Why he jumped – Robert left senior comms roles at WarnerMedia, AT&T/Xandr, and GroupM to launch At the Moment Media (ATM), aiming to humanize B2B storytelling.
🎥 Format that works – Core videos run 5–6 minutes each, repurposed into 15–30-second social cuts designed for engagement and discoverability.
🎨 Brand design – A black-and-white aesthetic lets guests provide the color; the animated “M” mascot adds warmth and identity to the platform.
🗣️ Rethinking B2B – Robert urges the industry to drop jargon and speak like humans, applying the same clarity and creativity used in consumer ads.
📣 The PR truth – “Your comms team can’t fix a bad story.” Great coverage comes from authentic ideas and honest narratives, not spin.
🌎 Culture meets commerce – ATM spotlights the business side of cultural events like the Latin GRAMMYs and BravoCon — moments that blend fandom, influence, and brand dollars.
⚠️ Crisis lessons – From 2020’s triple-whammy week (CEO exit, major deal, COVID shutdown) to WarnerMedia’s Project Popcorn, Robert shares how to stay steady under fire.
📈 Startup execution – Early success driven by global editors, social-first distribution, and sponsor partnerships proving the model works.
Resources & Next Steps
🔗 Follow Robert Wheeler on LinkedIn
🌐 Explore ATM Media
🎧Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts
YouTube Chapter Timestamps
00:00 Why leave big media to start ATM
01:02 Episode setup and who Robert is
01:32 Meet Robert Wheeler and ATM’s mission
02:26 From WPP/Warner to taking the plunge
05:30 Press pressure and changing journalism
07:06 What is ATM and what it’s becoming
10:14 Naming ATM and the brand spark
11:18 Black-and-white look and the “M” mascot
13:31 People-first POV vs old trade vibes
15:27 Comfort unlocks better on-camera stories
16:26 How to launch a media brand in 2025
17:33 Format: 5–6 minute features plus social cuts
18:56 B2B that talks like B2C
22:40 Covering culture: Latin GRAMMYs and BravoCon
25:05 What comms can and cannot fix
27:14 Managing teams and why he still loves comms
28:05 Crisis week 2020: CEO exit, mega deal, COVID
30:04 Project Popcorn and more war stories
31:35 Wrap-up and calls to action
Google Ads just turned 25, and it’s entering a new era—one driven by AI, conversations, and context. In this episode, Dan Taylor, VP of Global Ads at Google, joins Mike Shields to unpack how the search giant is transforming its ads business for the age of AI Overviews, Performance Max, and long-form conversational queries. He explains why this shift feels bigger than mobile, how advertisers are adopting AI faster than ever, and why trust and accuracy remain Google’s north stars.
Dan also reveals how AI is expanding the search funnel, creating new commercial moments that brands never could have targeted before. From tools like AI Max to agent-powered shopping, the future of advertising is about reducing friction, improving relevance, and meeting consumers wherever their curiosity starts. It’s a rare inside look at how Google plans to keep Search indispensable for the next 25 years.
Key Highlights🔍 Google Ads at 25: Why AI is the next great shift in how people find and act on information.
🤖 AI Overviews & Ads: What Google has learned about where ads fit into AI-powered experiences.
📊 Performance Max & AI Max: How AI expands discovery beyond keyword targeting.
🧠 Smart Bidding & Measurement: Google’s decade-long head start in predictive AI.
🛍️ Retail Media Meets Agents: New tools like Agentic Checkout and visual search that cut friction in shopping.
💬 Trust, Quality & Competition: Why Google believes this isn’t a zero-sum game—it’s an expanding marketplace.
Resources & Next Steps🌐 Explore Google Ads AI Tools
🔗Follow Dan Taylor on Linkedin
🎧Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts
YouTube Chapters00:00 Cold open — AI shift and trust in information
00:55 Setting the stage — Google Search at 25
01:24 Mike introduces guest Dan Taylor (VP, Global Ads at Google)
01:49 Dan’s early career and move from broadcast to digital
03:11 Early experiments — Google TV and Audio Ads
03:49 Conversational search and AI-driven behavior change
06:32 Comparing AI to the mobile shift
08:18 How advertisers are adopting AI tools faster
09:27 Did Google move too slow? Inside its AI journey
12:16 Ads in AI Overviews — finding the right moment
13:40 Marathon example — how intent shapes relevance
15:48 AI expands search — new commercial moments emerge
16:32 Dorm room case study — Gemini and query fan-out
19:03 Performance Max and AI Max monetization insights
21:06 Generative creative tools and advertiser experiments
22:58 Retail and agentic experiences in shopping
24:59 Reducing friction — price tracking and visual search
26:08 Competition across AI, retail, and social platforms
27:10 Wrap-up — the future of AI-powered search
In this episode of Next in Media, Mike Shields speaks with Peter Hamilton, Head of Ad Innovation at Roku, about the rapid evolution of connected TV (CTV) advertising and how Roku is bridging the gap between big-brand budgets and small-business accessibility.
Peter shares what’s really happening behind the scenes as digital-first advertisers and DTC brands move into television, the challenges of onboarding thousands of SMBs, and how Roku’s self-serve ad tools and shoppable innovations are reshaping the CTV landscape. He also explains Roku’s partnership with Amazon, the growth of shoppable TV, and why “press OK to text” could redefine viewer engagement.
With clarity and insider perspective, Peter outlines what’s next for CTV—from AI-driven creative experimentation to real-time data loops that empower advertisers of all sizes.
Key Highlights📈 CTV’s Fastest-Growing Segment: How performance-driven advertisers, not traditional TV buyers, are fueling Roku’s rapid growth.
💡 SMBs Meet Streaming: Why onboarding small advertisers takes time—and how Roku’s self-serve tools are solving it.
📺 Amazon Partnership Explained: Why Roku isn’t competing with Amazon but collaborating to improve advertiser reach and data performance.
📱 Shoppable TV & “OK to Text”: How one button on the Roku remote is changing interactive ad engagement forever.
🧠 AI in Creative Production: The rise of self-serve advertisers testing dozens of AI-generated ads and what’s working so far.
⚙️ The Open Platform Approach: Roku’s strategy to stay partner-first while integrating performance data and real-time conversions.
Resources & Next Steps 📊 Learn about Roku’s performance tools and integrations
🎧Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts
YouTube Chapter Timestamps00:00 Setting the stage – CTV’s transformation
00:53 Introducing Peter Hamilton of Roku
02:00 Why new advertisers are coming to TV
03:31 The challenge of onboarding SMBs
05:01 How performance marketers are driving CTV growth
06:07 Roku Ads Manager and self-serve evolution
07:32 Moving beyond search and social saturation
09:12 Why analysts underestimate CTV’s growth
10:02 Fundamentals of marketing still apply
11:18 Building new DR paths for DTC brands
12:28 How Roku attracts small businesses
13:59 Success stories: Shopify and Fatty 15
15:15 What’s holding CTV adoption back?
16:00 Inside Roku’s partnership with Amazon
17:51 The open-platform strategy
18:52 Acquiring Friendly and launching Howdy
20:25 Experimenting with subscription bundles
21:15 The rise of shoppable TV and “OK to Text”
22:51 How interactivity and texting are becoming normalized
24:18 Building habitual shoppable behavior
25:43 Why creative clarity drives conversions
26:54 The future of AI-generated ads on CTV
27:46 Data loops, APIs, and intelligent optimization
28:04 Closing thoughts – what’s next for CTV advertising
In this episode of Next in Media, Mike Shields sits down with Jordan Matter, the YouTuber, photographer, and entrepreneur behind one of the most surprising creator success stories of the year. What started as a simple series of dance photography videos turned into a global family brand with more than 300 million monthly views—and now, a Sephora skincare line that drew an unbelievable 87,000 fans to its launch.
Jordan opens up about his journey from photographing dancers in New York to building a thriving father-daughter YouTube channel with his daughter Salish, how they created an authentic bond with Gen Alpha viewers, and the lessons learned from turning that trust into a real-world business. He also reflects on the emotional chaos of their record-breaking Sephora event, balancing parenthood with content creation, and why he believes authenticity—not virality—is the real currency of influence.
Key Highlights📸 From Photographer to Creator: How Jordan’s 10-Minute Photo Challenge videos transformed a niche dance-photography channel into a viral YouTube phenomenon.
👨👧 The Power of Relationship: Why shifting focus to his daughter Salish created a stronger emotional bond with viewers—and opened up an untapped “father–daughter” niche on YouTube.
💡 Avoiding Creator Pitfalls: Jordan’s take on why so many influencers burn out chasing money—and why his team refuses to flood their audience with endless brand deals.
🧴 Skincare Meets Storytelling: How Salish’s new “Sincerely Yours” line with Sephora became the Gen Alpha skincare brand—selling out instantly and drawing *twice the crowd of MrBeast’s burger launch.
😱 87,000 Fans, One Mall: Behind the scenes of the record-breaking American Dream launch event that shut down highways and had teens camping overnight.
❤️ Authenticity Over Hype: Why Jordan believes creators should focus on connection, care, and consistency instead of algorithms and short-term trends.
🎬 Beyond YouTube: His future plans for animation, apparel, and storytelling beyond the camera—while still keeping Salish’s childhood sacred.
Resources & Next Steps📺 Watch Jordan Matter’s videos on YouTube
🧴 Explore Sincerely Yours skincare at Sephora.com
📲 Follow @JordanMatter and @saysaymatter on Instagram
🎧Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts
In this episode of Next in Media, Mike Shields sits down with Janina Lundy, EVP and Head of Marketing & Brand Partnerships at Hartbeat, the production company founded by comedian and actor Kevin Hart. Heartbeat has become a creative force at the intersection of comedy, culture, and branded entertainment — developing hit shows like Cold as Balls with Old Spice and original films like Group Therapy with AXA.
Janina and Mike discuss how Hartbeat helps brands navigate the tricky but powerful blend of humor and marketing, the rise of brand-funded entertainment, and why comedy isn’t dead — it’s just evolving. From collaborating with emerging comedians to educating brands on YouTube’s premium value, this episode explores how Heartbeat is redefining what it means to be a talent-led media company in 2025.
Key Highlights:🎬 From Ad Agencies to Entertainment: How Janina ’s 20+ year career in advertising and media led her to bridge the gap between brands and comedy at Heartbeat.
😂 Comedy + Culture: Why Heartbeat sits “at the intersection of comedy and culture” — and how humor can bring levity to topics like mental health or allergies without losing authenticity.
💡 Brand-Funded Entertainment: Behind-the-scenes of Group Therapy — a feature-length film on Amazon created with AXA and WPP, blending purpose-driven storytelling with laughs.
🏆 Award-Winning Collaborations: How Hartbeat projects like Group Therapy have earned Cannes Lions, proving that branded entertainment can also be creative entertainment.
🧊 100+ Episodes of “Cold as Balls”: The hit Old Spice–backed series with Kevin Hart in an ice bath interviewing athletes — now in its 12th season.
📺 Distribution Power: Why Hartbeat LOL Network gives them a unique edge, reaching audiences via YouTube, FAST channels, SiriusXM, Netflix, Hulu, Peacock, and more.
🚀 Comedy Isn’t Cancelled: How brands can safely embrace humor even in a cautious social climate — and why audiences still crave laughter.
🎭 Comedy’s Next Wave: Sketch, music-comedy fusion, and emerging creators — how Heartbeat is nurturing the next generation of comedic talent.
Resources & Next Steps: 🎥 Watch Cold as Balls on YouTube (presented by Old Spice)
📺 Stream Group Therapy on Amazon Prime Video
🎧Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts
Episode Breakdown:00:00 Intro
00:48 Meet Janina Lundy & Heartbeat
02:00 How Heartbeat Was Born
03:10 Kevin Hart’s Vision for Creators
04:20 Co-Creating with Brands
05:15 Group Therapy: Comedy Meets Mental Health
06:40 The New Branded Storytelling
07:20 When Brands Become Movie Stars
08:30 Finding the Next Great Comedians
09:45 Balancing Creativity & Business
11:20 How Brands Reach Heartbeat
13:00 The Fear of Being Funny
14:00 Keeping Brands & Artists Aligned
15:00 Inside LOL Network & Distribution
16:10 Why YouTube Is Premium Now
17:20 Heartbeat’s Big Partnerships
18:10 Measuring Creative Success
19:45 The Future of Comedy
21:00 Can Sitcoms Come Back?
22:10 Smart Brand Investments in Entertainment
In this episode of Next in Media, Mike Shields sits down with Michael Komasinski, CEO of Criteo, to unpack how one of ad tech’s best-known companies has reinvented itself for a privacy-first world. Once synonymous with retargeting, Criteo has successfully evolved into a powerhouse in retail media, supporting more than 230 retailers and $160 billion in GMV.
Michael shares how the company’s early investments in addressability technology and diversification under Megan Clarkin laid the foundation for long-term resilience. He also discusses the industry’s next big shifts from the end of “easy money” in retail media to the rise of agentic workflows, AI-powered ad optimization, and Criteo’s surprising new partnership with Google.
Key Highlights:🌐 From Retargeting to Retail Media: How Criteo transformed from a cookie-based ad firm to a retail media leader serving hundreds of partners worldwide.
🔒 Future-Proofing Addressability: Why early investments in weak-signal harvesting and privacy-first tech weren’t wasted, and how they keep Criteo competitive post-cookie.
⚙️ Independent & Neutral: The value of being a tech provider that supports both the sell and buy sides of retail media without owning retail inventory.
📉 “The Easy Money Is Over”: What Criteo’s leadership means by this and why the next growth phase depends on cross-retailer buying, measurement consistency, and reduced friction.
🤖 AI & Agentic Buying: How Criteo is already experimenting with conversational campaign setup through Claude and what that means for SMB advertisers.
📺 CTV and Commerce: Insights on how retail media is converging with connected TV, including a major partnership between Roku, WPP, and Criteo.
🤝 The Google Partnership: Why Criteo’s deal with Google’s SA360 is less surprising than it seems, and what it signals for future ad tech collaboration.
💬 The Open Web Isn’t Dead: Michael’s view on why the web is becoming more efficient, not obsolete, in the age of AI and conversational search.
Resources & Next Steps:🔗 Learn more about Criteo and its retail media solutions
🎧Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts
📺 Explore Next in Media episodes on the evolution of ad tech and retail partnerships
📰 Read Eric Seufert & Andrew Sussman’s analysis on agentic systems and automation
Next in Media talked to Michael Wayne, co-founder and CEO of Kin, about his nearly 20-year journey building a media company alongside YouTube's evolution. Wayne shared how his company navigated multiple business model shifts—from the MCN era to working with traditional celebrities on digital platforms, licensing content to streaming services and cable networks during the pandemic, and experimenting with FAST channels. The conversation explored the challenges of the changing creator economy, why YouTube is no longer the sole focus for content distribution, and how AI might transform storytelling and the media industry. Wayne also discussed his work with AI LA and his optimistic view on technology's potential to create new opportunities rather than just displacement.
Join us for this fascinating conversation about adapting to constant change in digital media.
🔖 Chapters:00:00 - Introduction and Early Days: From Blogging to YouTube
04:40 - The Smosh Discovery and Early MCN Era
11:00 - The Funded Channels Project and Working with Traditional Celebrities
17:00 - The Pandemic Opportunity: Licensing to Streaming and Cable
19:44 - The FAST Channel Experiment and Why They Shuttered It
23:12 - The Changing YouTube Landscape and Creator Economy Challenges
28:00 - Getting Involved in AI: From Paper Cup to AI LA
32:00 - AI Avatars and the Future of Lifestyle Content
34:00 - Hollywood's Challenges Beyond AI and Reasons for Optimism
💡 Takeaways:🎬 Kin's core mission has always been creating and monetizing IP, even as distribution models constantly evolved over 18 years.
📺 The pandemic created unexpected opportunities to license YouTube content to streaming platforms and cable networks hungry for programming.
⚡ FAST channels require significant resources to operate successfully—licensing content proved more profitable for Kin than running their own channel.
📉 The middle class of YouTube creators faces more challenges post-COVID, with changing monetization models and the rise of short-form content.
🔄 YouTube is no longer the only starting point—many creators now build audiences on TikTok or Instagram before expanding to long-form platforms.
🤖 AI might impact lifestyle creators first through avatar technology, allowing fans to interact with AI versions of personalities like Gordon Ramsay.
🎯 The media industry is bifurcating: tech giants with massive resources on one end, the creator economy on the other, with traditional media in the middle facing consolidation.
💡 New technologies historically create more jobs than they eliminate—the key is being open to opportunities we can't yet imagine.
🎪 Working with traditional celebrities on YouTube required a true partnership model with shared equity, not traditional talent deals.
Follow Michael Wayne: https://linkedin.com/in/michael-wayne-kin
Kin Community: https://www.kincommunity.com
Next in Media talked to Selina Sykes, Global Marketing Transformation Leader for Beauty and Wellbeing at Unilever, about the company's ambitious goal to allocate half of its media budget to creators. The conversation explored how a legacy CPG giant is reimagining its marketing model to stay relevant in a social-first world.
Sykes discussed Unilever's shift from traditional broadcast advertising to a "many-to-many" model that harnesses communities and creators. She shared insights on building authentic creator partnerships, the success of campaigns like Vaseline Verified, and how AI is being integrated into their content supply chain. The conversation also covered social commerce opportunities, the balance between scaled operations and authentic creator relationships, and the future of AI-driven shopping experiences.
Join us for this insightful discussion on how traditional brands can successfully navigate the creator economy while maintaining authenticity at scale.
🔖Chapters:
[00:01:18] Introduction and Selina's Role at Unilever
[00:03:02] Staying Relevant in Beauty's Fast-Moving Landscape
[00:06:30] The Decision to Spend Half Media Budget on Creators
[00:08:29] Executing Creator Partnerships at Scale
[00:12:45] Case Study: Vaseline Verified Campaign Success
[00:15:24] Social Commerce and TikTok Shop Strategy
[00:18:18] AI Integration in Content Creation and Media
[00:21:53] The Future of AI Shopping Agents
💡Takeaways:
🎯 Unilever is shifting from "one-to-many" broadcast to "many-to-many" creator-driven marketing to stay culturally relevant
📊 The company aims to allocate exactly 50% of its media budget to creator partnerships and content
🤝 Creator relationships range from long-term "co-founder" collaborations to scaled content partnerships with smaller creators
✨ The Vaseline Verified campaign leveraged 3.5 million organic brand mentions, working with creators to scientifically verify popular "hacks"
🛒 Social commerce is viewed as a key channel, with emphasis on affiliate programs and shoppable content experiences
🤖 AI is being integrated across the marketing ecosystem through "AI studios" in each market, focusing on human-AI collaboration
🎨 Quality control remains paramount - AI augments human creativity rather than replacing human oversight
🛍️ AI shopping agents are expected to become a new channel complementing rather than replacing existing shopping experiences
🔄 The creator economy allows brands to tap into authentic community conversations that were previously happening without brand involvement
🌟 Success requires balancing brand authenticity with the need to operate at Unilever's massive scale
Follow Silena Sykes: https://linkedin.com/in/selina-sykes-0619b62b?originalSubdomain=uk
Unilever: https://unilever.com
Next in Media talked to Dhar Mann, Creator and founder of Dhar Mann Studios, and Sean Atkins, CEO of Dhar Mann Studios, about building one of YouTube's most successful scripted content operations. They discussed creating family-friendly scripted series at scale, working with brands beyond traditional advertising, and expanding their studio model to support other creators.
Mann and Atkins also covered why scripted content is breaking through on YouTube, their Samsung TV Plus deal, and positioning as the future of creator-driven media.
🔖Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction to Dhar Mann and Sean Atkins
02:36 - From Personal Stories to Scripted Content at Scale
06:00 - Building Infrastructure and Leadership
08:22 - Expanding to Multi-Creator Studio Model
11:50 - Why Scripted Content Works on YouTube
14:49 - Traditional Media's Failed Creator Acquisitions
18:20 - Brand Partnerships Beyond Platform Revenue
22:17 - YouTube's Role in Creator-Brand Relationships
26:00 - Television and Fast Channels for Creators
29:00 - What Brands Need for Creator Success
💡Takeaways:
🎬 Dhar Mann Studios produces five shows weekly on a 21-day script-to-screen cycle, enabling real-time cultural relevance.
📺 The company operates 66 sets across 125,000 square feet with creator-level efficiency and economics.
🚀 Unlike talent-dependent creators, Dhar Mann built a scalable format not requiring his appearance in every video.
👨👩👧👦 Family-friendly co-viewing content serves a massive underserved audience.
💰 Bootstrapped and profitable since day one through platform revenue before expanding to brand partnerships.
🎯 Brands are shifting from transactional relationships to long-term partnerships including co-developed studios.
⚡ The 21-day production cycle lets brands move at culture's speed for scripted content.
🏢 Fifth Quarter agency helps other creators build sustainable businesses using their infrastructure.
📱 Samsung TV Plus provides validation and revenue diversification while reaching traditional viewing audiences.
🔮 Creators will become challenger brands in verticals where they've built expertise through partnerships.
Follow Dhar Mann: linkedin.com/in/dharmann
🔖Chapters:
[00:01:12] - Kelly's Background: From Soccer to Ad Tech
[00:03:22] - Making the Move from Meta to Amazon
[00:04:44] - Amazon DSP's Evolution from Single to Multi-Purpose
[00:06:10] - Adapting to the Streaming TV Revolution
[00:07:31] - Technical Differentiators and Competitive Positioning
[00:13:30] - AI Integration and the "Crystal Box" Approach
[00:16:54] - The Future of Automated Advertising Agents
[00:18:03] - Impact of Changing Consumer Search Behavior
[00:19:56] - What's Next and Amazon Unboxed Preview
💡Takeaways:
🏆 Kelly MacLean's competitive background as a professional soccer player shaped her approach to building fast-moving, high-performing ad tech teams.
🔧 Amazon completely re-architected their DSP backend and frontend, moving from single-purpose to fully functioning multi-purpose platform, improving overall performance by over 40%.
📺 Amazon DSP is now the only platform offering authenticated reach to over 80 million CTV households in the US through partnerships with Roku and other premium publishers.
🤖 Amazon's "crystal box" approach to AI provides transparency and control while leveraging automation, contrasting with traditional "black box" systems.
💰 Amazon offers industry-leading low fees: 0% for programmatic guaranteed deals on Amazon properties and 1% across premium streaming publishers.
🎯 Performance Plus campaigns have driven over 51% improvement in customer acquisition costs through AI-powered optimization.
📱 Amazon launched Complete TV ahead of upfronts, using AI to help marketers plan, manage, and measure holistic streaming TV buys across platforms.
🔮 The future will likely combine simplified AI-driven products with complex expert features, as different campaigns and brands will require varying degrees of automation.
🏈 Live sports remains one of the "last best places" where consumers are truly engaged for long durations, making it increasingly valuable for advertisers.
📊 Amazon's approach focuses on deterministic identity and frequency capping to provide more efficient spend and clearer impact measurement.
Amazon DSP: https://advertising.amazon.com/solutions/products/amazon-dsp
🔖Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction and DAZN Overview
01:12 - DAZN's Global Sports Streaming Scale
03:58 - Creating the FIFA Club World Cup Tournament
07:43 - Managing Complex Global Live Streaming
14:26 - The State of Sports and Streaming Industry
18:40 - Lessons from Amazon's Thursday Night Football Launch
27:30 - DAZN's US Growth Strategy and Original Content
💡Takeaways:
🌍 DAZN operates as the world's largest sports streaming service, handling over 90,000 live events annually across 200+ countries and territories.
⚽ The FIFA Club World Cup represented the most ambitious global streaming project ever attempted, featuring 64 matches in 13 languages across 196 countries with just six months of preparation time.
🤝 Strategic partnerships with linear broadcasters like TNT Sports and Univision helped maximize reach while building the DAZN brand in new markets.
📺 80 of the top 100 broadcasts in 2024 were live sports, highlighting the critical importance of sports content for both traditional and streaming platforms.
🎯 When entering established sports advertising markets, new streaming platforms should focus on "not screwing up" the basics before attempting to revolutionize the experience.
📱 DAZN is integrating its Whistle Sports original content division with its live streaming platform, creating DAZN Originals that will be exclusive initially before going wide.
🏈 The company is expanding its US footprint beyond boxing with Spanish-language soccer rights and new NFL-themed original programming.
🚀 Success in global sports streaming requires massive technical preparation, with CDN capacity planning and platform stability being critical for simultaneous worldwide viewership.
Follow Walker Jacobs: https://linkedin.com/in/walkerjacobs DAZN: https://dazn.com
Next in Media spoke with Drew Muller, VP and General Manager of House of Highlights, about how the Warner Discovery-owned property is looking to bridge sports fandom with top creators' content via the Creator League. The event, founded in 2023, features top creators such as Kai Cenat, Jesser and FaZe Rug playing a series of tournaments in sports such as slamball, dodgeball and basketball for big prize money, both on social platforms and streaming services like HBO Max.
💡Takeaways:
- 🔄 Evolving Beyond Aggregation: Media brands are transitioning from being simple content aggregators to becoming original content producers to keep their audience engaged.
- 🎯 Prioritizing the Youth Audience: Despite reaching a mass scale of over 100 million followers, House of Highlights focuses on its core under-34 sports fan base to maintain its brand voice and avoid being diluted by trying to appeal to everyone.
- 📈 The Rise of CTV and YouTube: The growth of YouTube consumption on TV devices (CTV) signifies a new "lean-back" viewing environment for younger audiences, which presents a significant opportunity for advertisers.
- 🤝 Partnerships Beyond Traditional Ads: Brands are moving past traditional ad placements and integrating themselves into the "fabric of the competition" within custom content.
- 🏆 Creating Owned Sports Leagues: Instead of only covering traditional sports, media companies can create their own leagues, like the "Creator League" by House of Highlights, featuring creators and personalities.
🎙 Guest: Dan Muller
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: VuePlanner
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media chatted with Rich Bloom, GM, Creator Programs & EVP, Business Development at Tubi, about the Fox-owned streamers new creator program, which has quickly expanded for five to 50 participants. Bloom also talked about Tubi's overall growth, Gen Z misconceptions, and whether TV needs to adopt more YouTube-like qualities.
💡Takeaways:
- 🎬 Creator Content is Blurring the Lines with Traditional TV: The distinction between content from native digital creators and traditional Hollywood content is becoming increasingly blurry, with creators now producing longer-form, high-quality content that is being watched on television.
- 🤝 Collaborative Partnerships are a New Path to Hollywood: Tubi is creating a program called "Tubi For Creators" that provides native digital creators with a path to elevate their careers and businesses by giving them a way to work with Tubi.
- 📈 Success Comes from Leveraging Existing Audiences: The success of Tubi’s original movie Sideline was a result of bringing together the built-in fandoms of a popular Wattpad novel and a huge TikTok star, Noah Beck, who was eager to cross over into acting.
- 🚫 Accessibility and Low Friction are Key to Attracting Young Viewers: The absence of a paywall on Tubi makes it an accessible platform that encourages young audiences, like those on TikTok, to easily transition from a clip on their phone to watching the full content on Tubi.
- 💰 Creators Are the New Media Startups: Creators are seen as sophisticated media startups that produce content, own their own IP, have large distribution channels, and have huge, loyal fan bases.
🎙 Guest: Rich Bloom
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: Elemental TV & Linkedin
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with Marketecture CEO Ari Paparo, author of the new book "Yield: How Google Bought, Built, and Bullied Its Way to Advertising Dominance" about how Google was able to build a monopoly on programmatic ads, despite so many people in the ad industry shouting about it for years - and whether we can stop the next one.
💡Takeaways:
- 🏛️ The initial small scale of programmatic advertising in the early 2000s made it difficult for regulators to foresee its future dominance, allowing Google's DoubleClick acquisition to proceed with less scrutiny than it might warrant today.
- ⚔️ Google's ownership of the ad server provided a significant competitive advantage, enabling it to "snipe" bids and secure ad inventory by having insight into auction prices.
- 🔍 Regulators initially overlooked the critical advantage of Google's ad server being connected to its exchange, a factor that proved more significant than simply a company selling ads also owning a marketplace.
- 🤫 Google's acquisition of Invite Media (which became DV360) for a relatively low price (around $80 million) reportedly allowed it to avoid significant antitrust scrutiny, highlighting a potential loophole in regulatory oversight based on transaction size.
- ⚖️ The lack of specific regulations governing advertising market transactions, unlike financial markets, meant that the ad industry operated largely on "best behavior and contract law," creating vulnerabilities for anti-competitive practices.
- 🗣️ Publisher dissatisfaction with Google's actions, such as removing features like UPR, played a significant role in fueling antitrust scrutiny and demonstrating the company's "total arrogance".
- 🌍 Unlike the US, the Digital Markets Act in Europe provides regulators with tools to intervene based on a company's scale of power, offering a potential model for preventing future monopolies in the digital advertising space.
🎙 Guest: Ari Paparo
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: Elemental TV
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with WPP Media's Jessica Brown and Spark Foundry Worldwide's Kelly Metz, focusing on YouTube's growing role in the TV marketplace, the shift towards holistic video measurement, the increasing importance of AI and streamlined approaches in media buying, and the evolving challenges and opportunities in creator partnerships and cross-platform attribution.
💡Takeaways:
- 📺 YouTube's Growing TV Presence: YouTube is increasingly seen as a significant part of the TV landscape, with viewership numbers supporting its inclusion in TV consumption.
- 📱 Short-Form Content on TV: YouTube Shorts are surprisingly popular on television, prompting discussions on whether short-form content like TikTok and YouTube Shorts should be considered alongside traditional TV in video strategies.
- 🚀 Social-First and Short-Form Strategies: Brands should consider starting with social-first and short-form content, depending on their audience and message, as there are various options for reaching consumers.
- 🤝 Streamlined Creator Partnerships: While finding and activating creators at scale remains challenging, companies are making strategic acquisitions and developing agile processes to simplify creator deals and get campaigns to market quickly.
- 📊 Need for Holistic Measurement: There's a strong demand for better, more comprehensive, and consistent measurement across all media platforms, including walled gardens, to compare performance effectively and understand ROI.
- 🤖 AI and Tech in Media Buying: Technology and AI are becoming increasingly important for media buying, helping to streamline approaches, inform product choices, and create more effective and impactful campaigns.
🎙 Guests: Jessica Brown & Kelly Metz
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: Elemental TV
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
This episode is brought to you by Walmart Connect. From homepage to home improvement. Win Carts and Minds with Walmart Connect.
Next in Media spoke with Sarah Hofstetter, chairwoman of Profitero, a division of Publicis, about the haves and have nots in retail media, whether the big players TV presence is going to cause a bifurcation in the market, and what agentic shopping might do to the whole category.
💡Takeaways:
- 💸 Retail Media Explosion & Consolidation: The retail media sector has seen significant growth, with major players like Amazon and Walmart developing substantial advertising businesses, leading to a tiered market with a few dominant players and a long tail of smaller networks.
- 🔄 Buyer vs. Seller Disconnect: There's a fundamental disconnect between media buyers who desire consolidation and retailers who view retail media as a crucial revenue stream from suppliers, creating tension in the market.
- 🛍️ Shifting Budget Allocation & Mindset: Traditional shopper marketing budgets, historically controlled by sales teams for in-store presence, are now clashing with digital media spending, requiring a shift in mindset within brands to prioritize "digital end-caps" like search and display.
- 🛒 Omnichannel Attribution Complexity: Measuring the impact of digital shelf presence on in-store purchases and vice-versa is a significant challenge, as current attribution models often fail to connect these fluid customer journeys.
- 🤖 AI's Impact on Shopping & Search: Agentic AI is poised to disrupt traditional search and shopping behaviors, compelling retailers, agencies, and brands to collaborate on co-creating future shopping experiences and leveraging AI for workflow automation and efficiency.
🎙 Guest: Sarah Hofstetter
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: Walmart Connect
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
In this episode of Next in Media, Mike Shields interviews Dani Mariano, CEO of Razorfish, about their research into Gen Alpha, highlighting this generation's unique media consumption habits, brand maturity, and influence on household purchasing decisions, as well as Razorfish's "creator collab" program designed to meet the evolving demands of creator-centric marketing.
💡 Takeaways:
- 👶 Gen Alpha is more "Gen Z than Gen Z" at age 10 and will fundamentally change marketing, moving beyond the "mini-millennial" or "mini-Gen Z" expectations that marketers had for previous generations.
- 🤝 Gen Alpha seeks co-creation with brands, desiring to be part of shaping a brand's future rather than just earning loyalty through transactional means.
- 👨👩👧👦 Gen Alpha, referred to as the "gateway generation," holds significant influence over household purchasing decisions, including major items like smart refrigerators and cars, due to their consumption of influencer content.
- 📈 Gen Alpha exhibits extreme brand maturity, favoring sophisticated brands like Nike, Apple, and Samsung at age 10, unlike previous generations who preferred typical young-people brands such as cookies and cereal.
- 🎯 Gen Alpha has twice as many interests as Gen Z did at the same age, requiring marketers to consider how influencer programs can scale and break through a high volume of content consumption.
- 📝 Razorfish utilizes an in-house "creator collab" with on-staff creators to quickly produce polished, on-brief social content for clients' organic feeds, distinct from traditional influencer programs focused on creator followings.
- 🤖 AI-powered decisioning tools, like those at Publicis Groupe, are crucial for understanding audiences at an individual level, enabling marketers to match content format with media platforms for targeted reach and efficient media strategy.
🎙 Guest: Dani Mariano
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: VuePlanner
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
Grace Kao, CMO of Snap, discusses Snapchat's unique position as a platform focused on authentic connection and creativity, highlighting its diverse audience (consumers, B2B, developers) and innovative features like Promoted Places on the Snap Map and opportunities for brands in Chat, emphasizing the platform's ease of use and its appeal to a generation valuing real self-expression.
💡Takeaways:
- 📸 Camera-First Communication: Snapchat's core design, opening directly to a camera, has fostered a culture where anyone can create and easily share their point of view, emphasizing connection over curated perfection.
- 🤝 Diverse Audience Engagement: Snap's CMO, Grace Kao, emphasizes that Snapchat serves multiple audiences, including consumers, B2B marketers/advertisers, and developers, indicating the importance of a multi-faceted marketing approach for platforms.
- 🔄 Beyond Single-Use Platforms: Snapchat's integration of various functionalities like video, messaging, and maps into one experience provides diverse canvases for advertisers, moving beyond the limitations of single-use platforms.
- 🗺️ Social Maps & Promoted Places: The surprising social use of Snap's map feature, where users connect by seeing friends' locations, has led to "Promoted Places," allowing brands to appear on the map for real-life experiences and discovery.
- 💬 Brand-Friendly Chat: Snapchat is opening its chat feature for brands to have one-on-one conversations with their audiences.
- 🧘♀️ Authenticity and Imperfection: The "Snapchat Generation" prioritizes authenticity, embracing imperfect and uncurated content (e.g., blurry snaps, empty food plates).
- 🎙️ Rise of Voice Memos & Mini-Podcasts: An unexpected trend is the significant growth of voice memo usage on Snapchat, with users creating "mini intimate one-on-one podcasts" with friends.
🎙 Guest: Grace Kao
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsors: Elemental TV & Linkedin
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
Chief Media Officer at Known, Kasha Cacy, discusses YouTube's growing prominence against traditional television, despite challenges for brands regarding content predictability and measurement. Cacy, also touches on the evolving landscape of big creators acting as media companies and the current economic outlook from a business perspective.
💡Takeaways:
- 📈 YouTube's Continued Growth: YouTube consistently gains viewership from traditional television, stealing audience year over year.
- 🤷♀️ Content Predictability Challenges: A key hurdle for brands on YouTube is the less predictable nature of its content compared to TV, leading to uncertainty about ad placement.
- 👴📺 Generational Perception Gap: There's a "snobbiness in media" where older generations may perceive YouTube content as "not high quality," despite younger audiences (like 14 and 16-year-olds) spending significant time on the platform.
- 🤝 Evolving Creator Ecosystem: Large creators are now operating like media companies, with "creator studios" producing content that can jump from YouTube to other platforms like Netflix.
- ⚖️ Embrace "Good Enough" Measurement: Media professionals are often too "precious" in seeking perfect measurement solutions.
🎙 Guest: Kasha Cacy
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: Elemental TV
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media discusses the evolving role of influencers in marketing with Megan Pagliuca, Chief Product Officer at Omnicom Media Group, and Khurrum Malik, Head of Marketing for Walmart Connect, focusing on how data and new strategies are integrating influencers into broader media plans to drive sales and brand building.
💡Takeaways:
- 🛒 Retail Data for Influencer Selection: The integration of retail data, particularly from large retailers like Walmart, is revolutionizing how brands select influencers.
- 📈 Shift to Niche and Rising Influencers: There's a growing recognition that niche and rising influencers can offer more resonance and relevance due to their authentic connections with smaller communities, leading to more impactful campaigns compared to relying solely on celebrity endorsements.
- 💡 Influencers as Content and Performance Channels: Influencers are no longer just a PR function or a branding tool.
- 🔗 Convergence of Social Commerce and Retail Media: The lines between social commerce (driven by influencers) and retail media (focused on direct outcomes) are blurring.
- 📊 Influencer Marketing Becoming Programmatic: The process of working with influencers is becoming more programmatic and scalable, moving away from purely custom, one-off integrations.
- 🤖 AI's Role in Content Creation: AI is emerging as a significant factor in content creation, particularly for small to medium-sized businesses, by simplifying content generation and enabling one-click buying.
🎙 Guests: Megan Pagliuca & Khurrum Malik
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: Walmart Connect
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
In this episode of Next in Media, Mike Shields interviews Ann Harrell, Head of Product Enablement at Pacvue, about the evolving landscape of retail media. Harrell explains the challenges of data availability and cross-channel attribution in retail media, highlighting the role of data clean rooms and the blurring lines between retail, social, and traditional search as all become channels for commerce.
💡Takeaways:
- The Challenge of Cross-Platform Attribution: While closed-loop attribution is effective within single retail platforms, the major challenge lies in attributing performance across various retail media channels and broader marketing channels due to data silos and retailers' reluctance to share data outside their own networks.
- 🔒 Data Clean Rooms as a Solution: Data clean rooms are emerging as a key tool to overcome data availability challenges.
- 💰 Cross-Channel Measurement Drives Budgets: Demonstrating cross-channel measurement to retailers is crucial because it often leads to increased and sustained budgets for brands.
- 🛍️ Evolution of Social Shopping: Social platforms like TikTok are actively integrating commerce features, moving beyond organic social strategy to offer "shop ads" that link creative content directly to products.
- 🌐 Building Retailer Ecosystems: Major retailers like Walmart are building comprehensive ecosystems that span various media touchpoints, including on-site display, off-site programmatic (e.g., through Trade Desk), and connected TV (CTV) via partnerships like Vizio.
- 🎯 Custom Incrementality Models: A one-size-fits-all approach to incrementality modeling is ineffective due to varying data and attribution capabilities across retailers.
🎙 Guest: Anne Harrell
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: Walmart Connect
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
As part of its exclusive series on the YouTube Ecosystem, Next in Media spoke with John Terrana, President, Americas at VaynerMedia, about why most clients aren't racing to lock up much inventory beyond sports this year, and the 'weirdo' spot YouTube still finds itself in.
💡Takeaways:
- 🏈 Sports Media Dominance: Live sports, particularly NFL and NBA, are highly competitive and fast-moving in the media marketplace, unlike other content which is experiencing slower movement and caution from buyers.
- ⚠️ Post-Upfront Caution: Following the upfronts, there's a prevailing sense of caution, with buyers proceeding slowly due to concerns about inventory value, viewership trends, macroeconomic conditions, and political environments.
- 📊 Increased Optionality and CTV/OTT Shift: Clients are seeking increased optionality for next year, prioritizing sports while shifting other media spend towards CTV (Connected TV) and OTT (Over-The-Top) to maintain flexibility.
- 📺 YouTube's Misunderstood Potential: YouTube, especially the proper app on TV, is still largely misunderstood and underutilized by many in terms of its reach as the number one app on smart TVs, its creative potential, and its targeting capabilities.
- 🔁 Always-On Creator Engagement: The trend for creators and influencers is moving from campaign-by-campaign activations to an "always-on" strategy, continuously sourcing and testing new talent, similar to the shift seen in performance marketing.
- 🛍️ Rise of Social Commerce and Live Shopping: Social commerce, particularly through platforms like TikTok Shops, is a major growth area and a significant bet for agencies, driving substantial commercial outcomes and offering branding opportunities through integrated commerce units in feeds.
🎙 Guest: John Terrana
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: VuePlanner
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media sat down with Chloe Wix, Head of Global Product & Commercial Growth at Spotify at the company's beach venue in Cannes, to talk about AI-generated audio ads, why Spotify is leaning more into monetizing non-subscribers, and whether the 'background' medium can graduate into the video ad market.
💡Takeaways:
- 🎧 Shifting Perception of Spotify's Business Model: While initially perceived primarily as a subscription service, Spotify is increasingly demonstrating its commitment to advertising, investing significantly in its ad-supported side.
- 🎬 Rise of Video Podcasting: Spotify observes a strong user desire for deeper engagement with podcasters, extending to visual elements like set design and mannerisms.
- 🔄 Breaking Traditional Media Plans: Spotify's integration of both audio and video advertising is disrupting conventional media buying, where teams are often segmented for audio, video, or social.
- 🤝 Demand for Native and Upfront Deals: Brands continue to value authentic relationships with creators, leading to an increase in annual, upfront deals with major podcasters.
- ⚙️ Automation as a Key Goal in Advertising: Spotify's number one goal on the advertising side is automation.
- 📊 Enhanced Measurement Solutions: Spotify is heavily investing in robust first-party measurement tools (e.g., Spotify Ad Analytics, Pixel) and deepening partnerships with third-party measurement providers like Claritas, Podscribe, and Arts.ai to provide comprehensive data and analytics for advertisers.
- 🤖 AI in Ad Delivery and Creation: Spotify is leveraging AI for ad delivery, allowing advertisers to set goals (e.g., maximize spend, unique reach, purchases) and have ads delivered to users most likely to take a desired action.
🎙 Guest: Chloe Wix
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: Elemental TV & VuePlanner
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
Next In Media spoke with Ryan Mayward, SVP of Retail Media Sales for Walmart Connect, about the company's expansion of its retail media capabilities beyond its own platforms. Walmart Connect is focusing on off-platform strategies through partnerships in CTV (NBC Universal, Disney, Paramount Plus), social media (Meta, TikTok, Pinterest), and new integrations like Vizio.
💡Takeaways:
- 🌐 Off-Platform Retail Media Expansion: Walmart Connect is significantly expanding its retail media capabilities beyond its owned platforms, focusing on reaching Walmart customers wherever they consume content, including CTV and social media, to drive sales outcomes.
- 📊 Full-Funnel Measurement and Consideration Metrics: The focus is moving towards understanding how each touchpoint contributes to overall sales, emphasizing "consideration" metrics like attributed visits to product detail pages or brand shops, which are effectively driven by offsite media like CTV and social.
- 📺 Strategic CTV Integrations: Walmart Connect is actively integrating with major CTV players like NBC Universal, Disney, and Paramount Plus to reach Walmart audiences and measure sales outcomes.
- 🤝 Social Media Partnerships for Sales Outcomes: Walmart Connect has integrated with top social platforms such as Meta, TikTok, and Pinterest, observing strong results in reaching Walmart customers and measuring sales outcomes from content consumption and live experiences on these platforms.
- 💡 AI-Enabled Creative Tools for Advertisers: Walmart Connect is developing AI-enabled creative tools, starting with display and moving into video, to lower the barrier to entry for smaller and medium-sized brands, making it easier for them to advertise on platforms like TV.
- 📈 Expansion to Non-Endemic Brands: Beyond brands selling products in Walmart stores, Walmart Connect is increasingly working with non-endemic advertisers from sectors like financial services, travel, quick-serve restaurants, and automotive, signaling a broader market play in retail media.
🎙 Guest: Ryan Mayward
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media and Sean Downey of Google discuss YouTube's evolving role in connecting brands with creators, highlighting new platforms like Brand Connect and "Peak Points" to foster authentic partnerships and drive full-funnel outcomes for advertisers. They also touch on YouTube's expansion into live events like the NFL's global broadcast and the growing potential of shoppable content across all formats.
💡Takeaways:
- 🤝 Creator-Brand Connection: There's a growing emphasis on connecting brands with authentic creators to leverage the creator's voice and trusted relationship with their audience for brand messaging.
- 📈 Trust in Creators: A significant insight is that 98% of users trust YouTube creators more than any other platform or even the brand itself when seeking recommendations.
- 🔄 Full-Funnel Approach on YouTube: YouTube serves as a comprehensive platform where consumers engage in searching, streaming, scrolling (especially with Shorts), and shopping.
- 🔗 AI-Powered Connections & Advertising: Technology, particularly AI, is crucial for scaling connections between brands and creators and for optimizing ad placement to reach the right audience.
- 💡 Authentic Storytelling: The most effective brand integrations with creators are not scripted but allow the creator to authentically incorporate the brand message into their voice and content.
- ⏱️ Real-time Trending Content: Brands are looking to tap into trending moments and creators who are currently "popping".
- 🏈 Beyond In-Game Ads for Live Events: For live events like the NFL, the strategy extends beyond traditional in-game ad units to encompass the surrounding cultural and content moments.
🎙 Guest: Sean Downey
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: VuePlanner
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with Dr. Mark Grether SVP & General Manager, PayPal Ads, on why he thinks the company's 'transaction graph' may be even more powerful than some retailers' data for advertising, and why there's nothing to worry about with a company that has so many people's banking information to use that data for ad targeting.
💡Takeaways:
- 🌐 The Power of Transaction Graphs: PayPal's advertising strategy is built on its "transaction graph," which captures consumer spending across 30 million merchants globally, offering a much broader and deeper understanding of purchase behavior than single-retailer data.
- 🔗 Cross-Retailer Attribution: Unlike traditional retail media that operates in silos, PayPal can provide closed-loop attribution across all merchants where a brand's products are sold.
- 🛍️ Beyond Single-Category Insights: PayPal's transaction graph enables connections across diverse spending categories (e.g., sporting goods, groceries, travel).
- 🔒 Trust and Data Security in Advertising: Despite handling sensitive financial data, PayPal emphasizes that trust and data safety are central to its advertising business.
- 🤝 Agency Collaboration: Advertising agencies are actively "leaning in" to PayPal advertising because of its ability to offer a cross-media view and help optimize and plan campaigns across many outlets in their ecosystem.
- 📈 Evolution to Offsite and Full-Funnel: PayPal is naturally expanding into "offsite" ads and full-funnel marketing due to its existing transaction data across numerous merchants.
🎙 Guest: Dr. Mark Grether
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: Rembrand
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
Mike and Emily Riley talk media agency paralysis, Amazon vs Trade Desk, Paramount Drama and Sydney Sweeney Soap.
💡Takeaways:
- 📉 Agency Turmoil and Risk Aversion: Ad agencies are experiencing significant internal issues, including layoff fears, client shifts, and restructuring (e.g., WPP).
- 🤝 Innovation Through Established Channels: While direct sales to agencies are difficult, ad tech innovation is still happening by "hitching wagons" to established platforms.
- 🛍️ Retail Media's Rise: Retail media, particularly through platforms like Amazon, is a significant area of opportunity for ad spending.
- 🧱 Amazon's Walled Garden Advantage: Amazon is increasingly influential in the ad tech space, acting as a "walled garden" with rich shopping data.
- 🔍 Google's Potential Shift and Amazon's Search Play: The potential breakup of Google (e.g., selling Chrome) could open up the search market significantly.
- 📉 Legacy Media's Struggle and Live Content's Value: Traditional media companies like Paramount are facing significant challenges due to outdated business structures and internal conflicts.
- 📱 Mobile-First TV Consumption: Younger generations are increasingly watching TV content on their phones, highlighting a shift in consumption habits.
- 🤖 AI's Role in Creative - Automation vs. Innovation: There's a debate about AI's role in creative advertising.
🎙 Guest: Emily Riley
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: LinkedIn
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
Canvas CEO Paul Woolmington on why everyone needs the NFL, and why brands need to weigh the value of running ads in live games vs. becoming part of the religion of sports fandom - with creators' help.
💡Takeaways:
- Sports Dominance & Cultural Anchor: Sports have become a dominant force in media, serving as a critical aspect of live content and a shared cultural experience that transcends demographics and connects communities. 🏈
- Rise of the Creator Economy: The upfronts are increasingly focused on the creator economy, highlighting the significance of authentic voices and emergent stars on platforms like YouTube, which is a top viewing platform across all video. 🌟
- The "Anthropologist in Media": The current media landscape is at a fascinating "inflection point" with the maturation of new platforms and the pivots of incumbent players, making it an interesting time for media "anthropologists" to study evolving trends. 🧐
- Shift to Outcome-Based Planning: There's a strong industry shift towards outcome-based planning and focusing on outcomes across the entire marketing funnel, moving beyond just bottom-of-the-funnel metrics. 🎯
- Importance of the "Data Storyteller": A new and vital discipline is emerging: the "data storyteller," who can connect disparate data points, explain complex algorithms to C-suite executives, and facilitate holistic integration across various media disciplines. 📊
🎙 Guest: Paul Woolmington
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: Rembrand
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
Emily and Mike talk about the ad world's new obsession with models, and whether brands are too trusting of AI ad buying.
💡Takeaways:
- The resurgence of Marketing Mix Models (MMMs) is a significant topic in Ad Tech, with varying opinions on their effectiveness, especially when pitted against AI-driven tools from major platforms like Meta and Google. 📊
- Historically, MMMs were expensive and data-intensive, primarily accessible to large advertisers like P&G for high-level media allocation decisions. 💰
- Today, MMMs are becoming more affordable, partly due to advancements in AI, making them more accessible to a wider range of companies. 🧠
- While AI optimizers from large platforms can be beneficial for small advertisers, larger, more complex companies and their agencies may find completely handing over control problematic. 🔑
- The debate between traditional, high-level MMMs and more granular, data-driven approaches highlights the need for advertisers to balance macro and micro strategic dials. 🎛️
- The evolution of content consumption, particularly among younger generations who prefer video platforms like YouTube and TikTok for news, indicates a necessary shift for media companies towards more diversified, visually-driven content formats. 📱
🎙 Guest: Emily Riley
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: Elemental TV
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with Conor McKenna, partner at Luma Partners, about what's held ad tech back from exploiting the creator economy, and why creators themselves - along with a new competitive dynamic among the tech platforms - may lead the industry in a whole new direction.
💡Takeaways:
- Creator Economy's Spending Gap 🤯: Despite excitement and increased brand activity, there's a significant gap between time spent with creator content and advertising spend in that area.
- Media Consumption Convergence 📺📱: Major platforms like Spotify, Meta, YouTube, and CTV are increasingly converging around video formats and distribution, with creators at the core. YouTube is a prime example, competing with both TikTok (YouTube Shorts) and traditional TV (YouTube app on smart TVs).
- Shifting Platform Dynamics 💪: Creators, especially mega-creators, are gaining more leverage over platforms as platforms compete for their presence. This reduces the ability of platforms to control creators as much as they once did.
- Creators as Cross-Platform Marketers 🌐: Creators are strategically moving their audiences across different platforms and monetizing them in various ways, using short-form content as a top-of-funnel strategy to drive engagement on other channels like podcasts or Substack.
- Challenges in Creator Ad Buying ⚖️: Buying creator content at scale is difficult due to workflow complexities, the need for authenticity, and challenges in measuring ROI compared to traditional ad channels.
- AI's Role in Creator Measurement 🤖: AI is expected to create more opportunities to measure creator spend in unique ways, such as tying it to user acquisition costs or understanding content context for better value.
- Evolution of Creator Monetization 💰: Creators are increasingly demanding a larger share of monetization directly, rather than relying solely on platform payouts, which could drive demand for new tools and technologies.
- Brands Driving Change 📈: Major brands like Unilever are significantly increasing their investment in social and creator content, pushing the industry to figure out better measurement and integration for these channels.
🎙 Guest: Conor McKenna
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: VuePlanner
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
The ad industry is seeing major shifts, with Microsoft stepping back from Xandr amidst the rise of AI and the complexities of CTV advertising at the forefronts.
Meanwhile, the value of local advertising is in question, as it struggles to keep up with the evolution of digital platforms and measurement.
💡Takeaways:
- Microsoft Exits Ad Tech (Again): 📉 The tech giant is sunsetting Xandr, citing a shift towards AI. Is this a strategic pivot or another retreat from the complex ad tech landscape? 🤔
- AI is the New Ad Focus: 🤖 Microsoft frames its exit as a dedication to AI-powered advertising. Expect more industry buzz (and investment?) around AI's role. 🚀
- Xandr's Legacy Fades: 👻 The significant investment and evolution of AppNexus, now Xandr, sees a quiet end, highlighting the volatile nature of ad tech acquisitions. 💨
- CTV Upfronts Remain Key: 📺 Despite industry shifts, the upfronts are still a major event and source of discussion, showcasing the importance of traditional TV in the media mix. 💰
- Advertiser Pushback on Platform Demands: 📢 Advertisers are increasingly willing to challenge platforms on content decisions, asserting their right to choose where their budgets go. 💪
- Shifting Power Dynamics: 👑 There's a sense that Elon Musk's influence in DC might be waning, potentially emboldening advertisers to push back against platform pressures. 🏛️
- Content Neutrality Matters: ⚖️ The principle of separation between content and advertising decisions is being reaffirmed by advertisers.
This week, Mike and Emily dive into the recent positive performance of The Trade Desk, questioning if the earlier concerns about the ad tech market were overblown, and then shift gears to discuss the evolving landscape of search with the rise of sophisticated AI prompting and its implications for information access and optimization.
💡Takeaways:
- Trade Desk's Resilience: Despite earlier concerns, Trade Desk has shown strong performance, indicating potential stabilization in the ad tech market. 📈
- CTV Growth & Complexity: Connected TV (CTV) is expanding, with platforms like Samsung, LG, and Vizio becoming significant players, yet the space faces challenges in balancing automation and relationships. 📺
- AI Impact on Ad Tech: AI is increasingly influential in ad tech, with discussions around "agentic AI" and its potential to automate ad buying, but concerns remain about transparency and control. 🤖
- Transparency vs. Automation: There's an ongoing debate about balancing the need for transparency in ad buying with the efficiency promised by automation, especially with AI. ⚖️
- Agency Evolution: Agencies are adapting to technological changes, with some restructuring and incorporating AI, raising questions about the future of media planning and buying. 🏢
- Search Advertising Disruption: The search landscape is potentially undergoing a significant transformation, with AI influencing how search and advertising interact and the emergence of conversational search. 🔍
- Data Accuracy Concerns: There are growing concerns about the accuracy of data used by AI in ad tech, with reports of AI "hallucinations" and inaccuracies in data-driven decisions. ⚠️
- Balancing Automation and Human Element: The industry is grappling with how to integrate automation technologies like AI while preserving the value of human relationships and judgment in media buying and advertising. 🤝
Next in Media spoke with Brian Albert, Managing Director, YouTube Media Partnerships & Creative Works, about YouTube's ascent on the TV screen, how the company plans to bring top creators to the table during upfront talks, and whether brands are about to pull back on commitments amidst all this tariff uncertainty.
💡Takeaways:
- YouTube's Enduring Influence: Even after 20 years, YouTube remains a central force in the digital landscape, particularly in advertising. 🚀
- The Evolution of Ad Formats: The journey of YouTube's ad products over the past 15 years highlights a period of rapid and significant innovation. 📈
- Strategic Upfront Negotiations: YouTube actively engages in upfront negotiations, demonstrating a structured and proactive approach to securing advertising partnerships. 🤝
- Emphasis on Creative Best Practices: Ensuring ad quality and variety (6s, 15s, 30s, vertical) is a key focus for YouTube and its partners. 🎨
- Creator Collaboration as a Service: Facilitating connections between advertisers and creators is a valuable service YouTube provides to enhance campaigns. 🧑🤝🧑
- The Power of Creator Scale: The production capabilities of top creators like Mr. Beast and Dude Perfect rival traditional media, offering unique partnership opportunities. 🤯
- Brittany Broski Emceeing the Brandcast: Leveraging popular and relevant online personalities to host key industry events signals a keen understanding of current internet culture.🎤
- Mr. Beast and Lady Gaga on the Same Stage: The convergence of mainstream celebrity and digital creator talent at YouTube events underscores the platform's broad appeal and influence.👩🏼🎤
🎙 Guest: Brian Albert
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: VuePlanner
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with Tim Vanderhook and Chris Vanderhook, co-Founders of Viant Technologies.
The CEO and COO of the ad tech firm talked about their Trade Desk rivalry, whether a Google breakup will be good for their business and the open web, and why CTV offers a chance for fewer monopolies.
💡Takeaways:
Google's Monopoly & Ad Tech ⚖️: The discussion emphasizes the impact of Google's monopoly on the ad tech industry and suggests that a breakup could foster a fairer marketplace.
Privacy & Regulation 🛡️: The interview highlights the ongoing debate about privacy czars, self-regulation, and the necessity for more proactive government involvement in setting privacy standards.
The Evolving Ad Tech Ecosystem 🔄: There's a focus on the continuous evolution of the ad tech landscape, with discussions around the shift away from cookies and the importance of adapting to new measurement methodologies.
Challenges to Established Players 🥊: The dialogue examines the increasing dominance of certain ad tech companies and the need for a level playing field to foster competition and prevent lock-in tactics.
Effectiveness of Household Data 🏠: The speakers advocate for the use of household IDs as a more effective and privacy-friendly approach to ad targeting compared to traditional methods like hashed emails.
The Pitfalls of Last Touch Attribution 📉: The conversation sheds light on the drawbacks of last-touch attribution models and how they can lead to misguided advertising strategies and wasted spend.
CTV and the Shift in Advertising 📺: Connected TV (CTV) is identified as a key area of growth and innovation in the ad industry, with a focus on the importance of accurate measurement and attribution in this space.
The Role of AI in Advertising 🤖: AI's transformative potential in advertising is explored, with a spotlight on its ability to automate processes, simplify workflows, and enhance ad targeting and optimization
🎙 Guests: Tim and Chris Vanderhook
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: Elemental TV
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
"I think it will be blunt and arbitrary" - Goodway Group CEO Jay Friedman on what happens if marketers have to slash budget during Tariffmageodon
Next in Media talked to Goodway Group CEO Jay Friedman about the state of brands' decision making amidst an uncertain economy and a rise in AI automation.
And of course, we talked about cookies and the various court decisions facing Google.
💡Takeaways:
- Google's Ecosystem is Massive 🐘:
- Google's influence extends far beyond ad tech, with a vast ecosystem that includes Android, Maps, YouTube, and Search, making it a complex entity to regulate.
- Acquisitions Shaped Google 🏢:
- Google's dominance was built largely through strategic acquisitions like Overture, DoubleClick, and YouTube, which has led to a powerful network of data sharing.
- Regulatory Challenges ⚖️:
- Antitrust cases against Google are complex, with debates focusing on specific areas like the Apple payment and ad tech, but may not address Google's broader power.
- The Future of Publishing ✍️:
- The focus is shifting from traditional websites to content creation on platforms like Substack, YouTube, and TikTok, which is changing how media empires are built.
- Retail Media's Rise 🛍️:
- Retail media has grown significantly, partly as a replacement for lost targeting capabilities due to changes in cookie policies and Apple's ATT.
- Ad Tech Transparency 🕵️♀️:
- There's a lack of transparency and some misrepresentation in the ad tech industry, which affects advertisers' ability to make informed decisions.
- AI's Impact on Decision Making 🤖:
- AI is expected to play a key role in de-biasing decision-making processes, providing deeper insights by analyzing historical data and various economic factors.
- Upfronts are Changing 🔄:
- Advertisers are advised to approach upfronts strategically, using retail data and delaying commitments to maximize their leverage and ensure more effective ad placements.
🎙 Guest: Jay Friedman
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: Elemental TV
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
Host Mike Shields and ad consultant Emily Riley return to break down the major developments in media and advertising, from the Google antitrust trial to the latest on Google's cookie changes.
📡Takeaways:
- Google's Influence: Google's actions significantly impact market competition, even amidst antitrust scrutiny. ⚖️
- The Evolving Role of Cookies: The diminishing importance of third-party cookies is pushing the industry towards first-party data strategies. 🍪➡️📊
- Ad Tech Challenges: Changes in ad tech, partly due to regulatory pressure on Google, are causing short-term pain but may lead to a future renaissance. 😣➡️✨
- The AI Impact: AI is becoming a significant factor in search behavior, especially among younger demographics, and its growing influence may lead to new monopolies. 🤖
- Amazon's Dominance: Amazon is a dominant force in retail search and is expanding its influence in the ad tech world. 🛍️🔍
- CTV Evolution: Connected TV is experiencing a creative transformation with AI-driven, interactive ads, which is enhancing competition. 📺🎨
- Regulatory Complexity: Regulating tech giants is difficult due to the intricate nature of the technology and defining what constitutes a monopoly. 🏛️🤔
- Shifting Power Dynamics: The ad tech industry is seeing a power shift, with SSPs and publishers exploring new strategies to bypass traditional players and consolidate their positions. 🔄
Next in Media talked to Tyler Price, head of content at Bleacher Report about the company's evolving connected TV strategy, how it works with its own talent and YouTube creators, and making decisions about growing it's audience versus leaning into revenue.
Prince also talked about the company's big plans to dive deep into the NFL draft this year.
💡Takeaways:
- 📣 Bleacher Report sees itself as a voice of the fan, joining the conversations already happening.
- 📱 The company focuses on a personalized, fan-driven experience, now largely through video.
- 🚀 Social media has been huge for Bleacher Report, but there's an increasing emphasis on their app for a more interactive fan experience.
- 🎬 Bleacher Report uses a multifaceted video production approach to cover sports at scale, from high-end shows to social media-style content.
- 🤝 Partnerships, like the one with TNT Sports, have given Bleacher Report access to rights and the ability to bring athletes into their coverage.
- 🏈 Bleacher Report’s NFL draft coverage focuses on fan interaction and includes athlete reactions and NFL highlights.
- 👂 The company prioritizes listening to its audience across platforms and iterating on its content strategy.
- ⭐ Bleacher Report is embracing partnerships with creators, recognizing their importance in reaching Gen Z sports fans.
🎙 Guest: Tyler Price
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: Elemental TV
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke to Marc McCollum. Chief Innovation Officer at Raptive, about how smaller publishers are enduring in the face of AI search, Google search changes, and the supposed death of cookies.
💡Takeaways:
- 🤝 Raptive's Mission: Raptive champions ~6,000 independent creators on the open web, helping them monetize, grow audiences, and build sustainable businesses.
- 📊 Google's Grip: Google Search is the lifeblood, driving a massive 58% of traffic to Raptive's network, making any changes highly impactful.
- 📉 "Helpful Content" Hurdles: Recent Google updates, while aiming for quality, have disproportionately hurt mid-size and smaller creators, often favoring larger sites and forums like Reddit.
- 🤖 The AI Answer Engine Threat: Google's pivot to AI Overviews signals a move from search to "answer engine," potentially slashing publisher traffic (~25% estimate) and raising serious copyright infringement concerns by repurposing content without compensation.
- 🔗❓ AI's Attribution Issues: Even when creator content is used in AI answers, attribution is often missing, inaccurate, or doesn't lead to clicks, breaking the traditional traffic model.
- 💪 Advertisers Still Value the Open Web: Despite traffic woes, advertiser demand for authentic creator content is strong, with Raptive seeing record direct sales, valuing the trust and connection creators build.
- 🎯 Smarter Ads with AI: Raptive is leveraging AI (Raptive Intelligence) not just as a threat, but as a tool to analyze content nuances and create powerful mindset-based targeting for advertisers, commanding premium rates.
- 🚀 Diversification is Key: Creators must reduce reliance on Google by building audiences on platforms like Pinterest, YouTube, and especially email newsletters, a strategy Raptive actively supports.
🎙 Guests: Marc McCollum
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: ElementalTV
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with George Karalexis, Co-Founder & CEO of TEN2 Media and his partner and COO Donna Budica, about the company's focus on helping artists think - and make money - like digital creators.
💡Takeaways:
- 🎵 Bridging the Gap: TEN2 Media assists artists, especially musicians, in maximizing their YouTube presence, moving beyond simply hosting music videos.
- 📱 YouTube's Evolution: The platform has become a multi-format "super app" (Shorts, long-form, live, etc.), offering significant monetization opportunities that were previously underserviced in music.
- 🤝 Unique Expertise: TEN2 Media's strength lies in its founders' combined experience in music, business, and YouTube, allowing them to understand artists' needs deeply.
- 💰 Monetization & IP Protection: They utilize advanced tools and YouTube's systems (like Content ID) to track fan-created content (UGC), protect intellectual property, and optimize revenue for artists.
- 📈 Significant Revenue Growth: Their strategies have led to substantial revenue increases (up to 5-7x) for clients ranging from independent artists building careers to major legacy acts.
- 👑 YouTube vs. Other Platforms: While platforms like TikTok drive virality and Instagram excels at aesthetics, YouTube provides a more robust environment for building an authentic brand, community, and diverse income streams.
- 🎬 Shorts are Key: Engaging with short-form video is now essential for discovery and reaching new audiences, complementing the deeper engagement and higher revenue potential of long-form content.
- 🤯 Modern Music Challenge: While it's easier than ever for independent artists to distribute music, the overwhelming content volume makes standing out and achieving discovery without a unique point of view and smart platform strategy extremely difficult.
🎙 Guests: George Karalexis & Donna Budica
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: VuePlanner
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
Mike and ad consultant Emily Riley are back talking about the big headlines in media and advertising, including the plunge in consumer confidence, how brands are viewing retail media right now, the fate of Yahoo's DSP, and lawsuits against the Trade Desk.
💡Takeaways:
- 📉 Economic Uncertainty & Ad Spend: Advertisers face significant uncertainty due to factors like tariffs and fluctuating consumer confidence, potentially leading to budget cuts or shifts towards performance-driven advertising.
- 🔗 Supply Chain Resilience: Many companies are better prepared for supply chain disruptions now compared to the COVID era, having improved systems and diversification.
- 📊 Measurement Renaissance: There's a growing emphasis on better advertising measurement, incrementality, and outcome-based models.
- 📺 Streaming's Dual Market: The streaming ad market is bifurcated. Big brands are shifting linear TV budgets (especially for live events like sports) to streaming, buying for mass reach.
- 🛒 Retail Media Dynamics: Amazon dominates retail media, and much of the sector's growth is coming from offsite targeting (using retailer data for ads elsewhere on the web).
- 🔒 UID 2.0 & Privacy Questions: Lawsuits targeting The Trade Desk's UID 2.0 highlight concerns about how aggregated data (like hashed emails, mobile IDs, IP addresses) might create permanent identifiers, potentially conflicting with privacy laws and user expectations.
- 🤔 Yahoo's DSP Puzzle: Yahoo selling its highly-rated DSP is puzzling, especially since much of its perceived value comes from its integration with Yahoo's own content (like Finance and Sports).
- 🎮 Integrated Campaign Success: The Minecraft movie's McDonald's campaign success highlights the power of deep, long-term, multi-platform integrations that tap into existing fandoms and nostalgia, feeling authentic rather than like a last-minute ad insertion.
Next in Media spoke with Sammy Rubin, Vice President of Integrated Media at Wpromote, about the blurring lines between retail media and everything else brands care about - and how big brands are still in the middle of a messy process to integrate budgets and teams.
💡Takeaways:
- 📈 Retail Media is Evolving: The lines are blurring! Retail media isn't just shopper marketing anymore; it now includes diverse channels like CTV, podcasts, and influencer marketing.
- 🤝 Integration is Key: Silos are breaking down. Brands are increasingly looking for integrated strategies where all marketing investments work together cohesively to drive goals.
- ❓ Ownership Challenges: With retail media expanding into areas like CTV and social, a key challenge is figuring out who owns these channels within an organization. Are search experts planning influencer campaigns?
- 📱 Social is the New Search: Consumers, especially younger demographics, increasingly discover brands and products passively through social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels, rather than active searching.
- 📊 Measurement Renaissance (MMM is Back!): Media Mix Modeling (MMM) is experiencing a comeback, driven by cookie deprecation and advancements in AI.
- 🤖 AI's Role in Media: While AI is making analysis more powerful and efficient (especially with MMM), human strategists are still crucial. AI can extract insights, but lacks the historical context, understanding of consumer behavior nuances, and creativity that humans bring to media planning.
- 📺 CTV Performance is Here: Connected TV (CTV) isn't just for brand awareness anymore. Performance-focused, digitally native agencies have been buying CTV programmatically for years, using advanced measurement to prove its impact on conversions, sales, and store traffic.
- 🤔 Flexibility & Scenario Planning: Uncertainty (like potential tariffs or platform changes like TikTok) requires brands to build flexibility into their plans.
🎙 Guests: Sammy Rubin
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: ElementalTV
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
Tariff panic, Adalytics fallout, the fate of the open web, and TikTok weirdness.
Takeaways:
Tariffs & Ad World Uncertainty 📉: Tariffs are causing major uncertainty in the ad world, leading to revised advertising forecasts and impacting consumer confidence.
Phases of Economic Impact ⏳: The economic impact unfolds in two phases: initial uncertainty causing advertisers to pull back, followed by potential supply chain disruptions affecting product availability.
Consumer Behavior 🛒: Consumer behavior is unpredictable, especially concerning how different demographics will react to economic pressures.
Ad Tech Fraud Persistence 🚨: Ad tech continues to grapple with fraud, particularly in attribution, raising concerns about the effectiveness of brand safety measures.
Brand Safety Challenges 🛡️: Brand safety is compromised by advertisers' demands for both safety and cost-effectiveness, pushing ad tech companies into risky situations.
The Open Web's Future 🌐: The open web faces threats from declining search traffic and brand safety issues, but advertisers still follow audiences to the open web where valuable content remains.
WPP's Data Play 📊: WPP's acquisition of InfoSum raises questions about the neutrality of data platforms and the ongoing shift of agencies towards becoming tech and data-driven.
This week, Next In Media brings you a special bonus episode of the new Marketecture podcast The Brand Forum.
In this episode , marketing leaders look at the complexities of brand building in today's AdTech and data-centric world, emphasizing the importance of making meaningful connections with consumers.
The discussion explores strategies for navigating the ever-changing marketing landscape, addressing challenges like aligning brand perception with consumer needs, and effectively using partnerships to drive brand growth.
💡Takeaways:
Brand Forum Focus 📣: The Brand Forum dives into advertising, media, and marketing through the eyes of those shaping brand strategies in an ad tech world.
Marketing's Core 🎯: The heart of marketing is making a meaningful connection with consumers.
Strong Brand Foundation 💪: Before marketing, ensure the product is superior, available for purchase, and aligns with consumer perceptions.
Evolving Communication 📱: Marketing is no longer one-way; it's crucial to understand and align with consumer perceptions.
Planning is Everything 🗓️: Today's marketing requires constant adjustments to strategies, creative messages, and partnerships.
Legacy Brand Challenges 🕰️: Legacy brands must navigate changing consumer perceptions and leverage their history effectively.
Next in Media spoke with Jason Horowitz SVP US Marketing, Global Head of Media & Digital at Mattel about his long career at the brand, where his purview includes everything from Barbie and Hot Wheels.
Jason talked about how much kids media has changed over the past decade, and how the company navigates media planning, creators, and privacy rules.
Jason also talked about Mattel's unique Fast strategy, and why he's both a marketer and a media planner himself.
Takeaways:
Content is King 👑, Especially for Kids: Mattel focuses on creating engaging content on YouTube to build brand affinity. Think shows, not just ads.
YouTube is a Powerhouse 💪: YouTube is the #1 streaming service for kids. Mattel invests heavily in its own content creation, from strategy to production, to connect with this audience. 📺
Brand Affinity is Key🔑: Mattel uses YouTube to create content that fosters an emotional connection with their brands, driving long-term engagement. 🫶
Balance Paid and Organic ⚖️: Mattel combines paid advertising with organic content on YouTube to maximize reach and effectiveness.
Social Media for Shoppers & Fans 🛒: Mattel uses social platforms to target shoppers and fans, not kids. They focus on authentic content and influencer partnerships to drive engagement and sales. 📣
Influencers are Gold ✨: Partnering with creators for authentic content on social media is a powerful strategy. Mattel collaborates with influencers to create resonant messaging and even boosts their content with paid promotion. 🤝
🎙 Guest: Jason Horowitz
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: ElementalTV
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
As part of an ongoing series focused on the YouTube Ecosystem (sponsored by VuePlanner) Next in Media spoke with Josh Stanley and Myra Dallas, founders of the startup Coaxial Collective and Adam Van Der Grift, better known on YouTube as the home improvement guru Haxman.
The group talked about the need in the YouTube ad market for specialty firms focused on genres like home improvement, and how mid level creators can execute brand deals without alienating their users.
Takeaways:
Bridging the Creator-Brand Gap – Many brands still don’t fully understand creators, and vice versa. Coaxial Collective aims to fix that by helping brands and YouTube creators connect more effectively.
YouTube’s Unique Space – Unlike Instagram and TikTok, YouTube is centered on long-form content, allowing for deeper relationships with audiences rather than just quick-hit influencer marketing.
The Shift to TV Screens 📺 – More than half of some creators’ audiences watch on connected TVs, changing how they approach thumbnails, editing, and storytelling.
Authenticity is Everything – Successful brand partnerships allow creators to integrate products naturally rather than reading a script like a TV commercial.
Creators Are Often Underpaid 💰 – Many YouTubers don’t know their worth when starting out and get lowball offers, often leading to bad deals or even harming their channels.
Home Improvement & DIY is a Hot Space 🔨 – The category has strong audience engagement and is a natural fit for endemic brand partnerships (e.g., tool companies sponsoring creators).
Long-Term Brand Deals Are the Future – One-off sponsorships aren’t as effective as sustained partnerships that integrate products into content over time.
🎙 Guests: Josh Stanley, Myra Dallas & Adam Van Der Grift (Haxman)
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: ElementalTV
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with Matt Edelman, Chief Commercial Officer, Super League Gaming, about whether Fortnite still has a grip on gamers - and how brands can get involved.
Edelman also talked about Roblox's growing ad ambitions, the overall gaming ad market, and why he thinks we need to ditch the word "gamer".
Takeaways:
The Evolution of Gaming and Advertising – Gaming has become an undeniable force in media, with 3.3 billion gamers worldwide.
Generational Shift in Media Buying – Many CMOs and CEOs are Gen Xers who didn’t grow up with video games as a central part of their lives.
The Concept of “Making Brands Playable” – Super League focuses on interactive advertising rather than just passive exposure.
Fortnite's Two Worlds: Battle Royale vs. Creative Mode – Fortnite has both its first-party Battle Royale mode and a user-generated content (UGC) Creative mode where brands can build their own islands (maps).
Roblox as an Expanding Advertising Platform – Roblox is scaling its ad solutions with programmatic ad products but still lags behind mobile gaming in measurement, attribution, and targeting.
Playable Ads in Mobile Gaming Are the Future – Mobile gaming has a mature advertising ecosystem, but Super League is innovating by turning traditional video ads into interactive experiences that match gameplay styles, dramatically increasing engagement and click-through rates.
Breaking Down the “Gamer” Stereotype – Marketers need to stop thinking of "gamers" as a niche audience and recognize that their existing target demographics are already playing games.
🎙 Guest: Matt Edelman
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: ElementalTV
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with Scott Fisher, founder of Select Management Group and creator economy veteran, about whether top creators still want to seek out big streaming deals, given the success they can have on YouTube, and what happens next if TikTok Shop goes away.
Takeaways:
The Evolution of Digital Talent Management🌟 Select Management Group grew from managing early YouTubers to 450+ top creators across multiple platforms, shaping the modern creator economy. #TalentManagement #InfluencerGrowth
YouTube’s Power Over Traditional Media📺 Early influencers wanted TV deals, but YouTube became the dominant platform—offering monetization, creative control, and massive reach. #YouTubeDominance #CreatorControl
Why Talent Managers Are Still Essential📞 Unlike agencies or tech platforms, managers offer career strategy, negotiate deals, and think 5-10 years ahead. They’re the ones handling midnight crisis calls! #TalentStrategy #InfluencerSuccess
The Creator Brand Boom & Bust💄 Between 2021-2023, influencer-led brands exploded. Now, only strategic, retail-backed brands succeed. #RetailFirst #SocialCommerce
Reality TV x Influencers = The Next Big Thing📡 The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives proved TikTok stars can thrive in reality TV, bringing authentic storytelling to mainstream entertainment. #RealityTV #TikTokStars
YouTube = The New Prime Time TV📊 YouTube now outperforms Netflix in TV viewership. Creators are pivoting to longer content, high-quality production, and deep audience engagement. #YouTubeGrowth #LongFormContent
TikTok Shop is Changing Social Commerce🛍️ TikTok nailed live shopping, influencer-led sales, and viral product trends—a model Instagram and YouTube are still chasing. #SocialSelling #EcommerceTrends
🎙 Guest: Scott Fisher
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: ElementalTV
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with Malik Ducard, the company's content lead, about how the platform has evolved its relationship with creators, while trying to help users find the right products and deals, even if they are off Pinterest.
Ducard also talked about how Pinterest is taking more of an active role of connecting creators with brands, while using machine learning to help figure out if users are browsing or ready to buy now.
Takeaways:
Pinterest’s Unique Positioning 🎯Unlike other platforms focused on passive engagement, Pinterest users arrive with intent—to create, plan, or purchase. This lean-in behavior makes it a goldmine for brands and creators.
Content with Personality, Not Just Personalities with Content ✍️On Pinterest, content quality trumps personality. A great recipe or DIY tutorial wins, even if it’s not from an influencer. Expertise and authenticity matter most.
The Power of Curation 🗂️With over 10 billion boards created, curation is a form of creation. Pinterest is the only true curation platform, where users mix and match content for personal inspiration.
Visual Search Meets Commerce 🛍️Pinterest sits at the crossroads of search, social, and commerce. Unlike traditional e-commerce, 96% of product searches are unbranded, making it a discovery-first platform for brands.
Data-Driven Trend Forecasting 🔮With 1.5 billion saves per week, Pinterest isn’t just tracking trends—it’s predicting them. The platform’s "Pinterest Predicts" report uses user behavior signals to forecast what’s next.
A New Era of Social Commerce 💳Pinterest has shifted from window-shopping to action. Instead of just inspiring purchases, it now actively connects users to brands and retailers, making the buying process smoother.
The Inclusion Fund & Emerging Creators 🌍Since 2021, Pinterest’s Inclusion Fund has helped over 200 emerging creators and merchants grow their businesses through funding, education, and platform insights.
🎙 Guest: Malik Ducard
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: ElementalTV
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with Larry Allen, VP & GM Data & Addressable Enablement at Comcast about the challenge in getting everyone in media to speak the same language when it comes to targeted TV ads.
Allen also talked about why he think the TV business needs to ditch identifiers for old school household data, and why he thinks that media companies are ready to work together to broaden the TV ad pie.
Takeaways:
Addressable TV is Evolving – It’s no longer just about traditional cable ad slots. Today, addressable TV spans streaming, connected devices, and multi-screen environments 📱📺.
The Power of First-Party Data – Comcast leverages its data for better audience targeting 🔍, enabling both internal and external partners like NBC to optimize ad reach 🎯.
Challenges in Ad Buying – TV and digital ad teams still operate separately 🏢↔️💻, leading to inefficiencies in multi-screen targeting. There’s a push to unify these approaches 🔄.
Programmatic ≠ Addressable – While programmatic is growing 📈, it’s not always true addressability. The challenge is making linear TV available programmatically without losing precision 🎚️.
Live TV is Here to Stay – Despite streaming’s rise, live sports 🏈, news 📰, and appointment-based viewing keep linear TV relevant and valuable for advertisers 📆.
Measurement is Still Messy – Cross-platform measurement is a work in progress 🧩. More platforms are sharing ad exposure data, but gaps remain in reach and frequency tracking 📊.
Identity Matters More Than Cookies – Relying on email or IP-based identifiers can be inaccurate ⚠️. Physical home addresses provide better targeting and measurement accuracy 📍.
🎙 Guest: Larry Allen
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: ElementalTV
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with Simulmedia CEO Dave Morgan, about the new Secretary of Health's plan to ban pharma ads on TV, the many potential obstacles, and what such a move would do to the TV ad market.
🎙️ Top Takeaways:
RFK Jr.’s Pharma Ad Ban Proposal: A Legal & Media Storm 🌪️
- The proposed ban on pharmaceutical ads faces constitutional and regulatory challenges, colliding with FDA, FCC, and First Amendment protections.
TV vs. Digital: Who Controls Health Advertising? 📺➡️📱
- While TV ads are heavily regulated, streaming and digital advertising remain the "Wild West," making enforcement complex.
Pharma Ads: Public Health Benefit or Hype Machine? 🏥💊
- Studies show pharma ads lead to better-informed patients and improved health outcomes, raising legal challenges against an outright ban.
TV Industry Impact: A $10+ Billion Shift 💰📉
- Pharma accounts for a significant chunk of TV ad revenue. If banned, networks, especially local broadcasters, could face devastating financial consequences.
History Lesson: Why This Isn’t Like the Cigarette Ad Ban 🚬❌
- Unlike tobacco, which was universally deemed harmful, pharmaceuticals are FDA-approved as beneficial—making restrictions harder to justify.
Regulatory Bottleneck: Can RFK Jr. Even Enforce This? ⚖️🚧
- The FDA is understaffed, making large-scale regulatory action nearly impossible without significant expansion.
Shifting Budgets: Where Would Pharma Dollars Go? 📊🔄
- Expect a massive migration to social media, search, direct mail, and streaming, targeting more affluent audiences over TV’s broad reach.
Who Wins & Who Loses? The Media Power Shift 🏆📢
- Digital giants (Google, Meta) may benefit from reallocated pharma budgets, while traditional TV networks and local stations could struggle.
Could a Ban Disadvantage Marginalized Communities? 🤔👥
- TV is a crucial source of health info for lower-income and minority populations. A ban could reduce awareness and access to vital treatment options.
🎙 Guest: Dave Morgan
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: ElementalTV
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with Jeff Matisoff, Partner at Jellyfish, about how his company is trying to embrace AI-driven media buying, without giving up on branding or control. Jeff also discussed the current MMM renaissance and what's holding back some marketers from pushing out Gen AI creative faster.
🎙️ Top Takeaways:
Jellyfish’s Superpower: Global, Yet Nimble 🌍Jellyfish operates in 50+ countries with 1,800 experts, combining enterprise-scale digital marketing with customized, agile solutions for brands.
Brand vs. Demand: Striking the Right Balance 🎯With a shift toward performance-driven marketing, brands are asking, "How do we reintegrate brand building with direct response?" The answer? Full-funnel strategies.
MMM is Back—With AI 🔄Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM) is making a huge comeback thanks to AI-powered analytics, offering faster, more accurate insights without reliance on cookies.
Retail Media & Walled Gardens: Friend or Foe? 🛒Retail giants like Amazon, Walmart, and Target dominate ad spend, but brands must connect insights across Google, Meta, and beyond to avoid fragmentation.
AI-Powered Media Buying: The Rise of PMAX & A+ 🤖Google’s Performance Max and Meta’s Advantage+ automate media buying, but human oversight is key. Marketers must balance automation with strategic control.
Creative AI: Pencil & The Future of Ad Testing ✍️Jellyfish’s Pencil AI tool generates ads 66% faster, 53% cheaper, and 44% more effective, linking directly to ad accounts for pre-launch performance predictions.
CTV is Finally Killing Linear TV 📺Streaming giants, live sports, and big cultural moments (Super Bowl, Oscars, etc.) are accelerating the shift to Connected TV (CTV), making it a must-buy for advertisers.
🎙 Guest: Jeff Matisoff
🎤 Host: Mike Shields
📺 Sponsor: ElementalTV
🎬 Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with Andrew Rosen, an analyst and author of the newsletter Medium Shift, about the struggles traditional media companies are having in catering to younger sports fans.
Rosen also talked about the various attempts at recreating sports bundles, and whether we're headed toward a world where all sports are available via streaming, yet fans are more confused and overwhelmed than ever.
Takeaways:
The Shift from Streaming Wars to Rebundling The streaming industry is moving past the "streaming wars" phase into a period of rebundling*. Companies are seeking ways to package content more efficiently while keeping consumers engaged.
The Role of Fandom in Media Strategy Successful media companies hyper-serve niche fandoms*, as seen with the New York Times acquiring The Athletic and Crunchyroll’s anime dominance.
Legacy Media vs. Digital Native Platforms Traditional media companies struggle with direct-to-consumer (DTC) strategies, while platforms like YouTube, Netflix, and Tubi personalize user experiences* for higher engagement.
The Future of Sports Streaming ESPN faces challenges in making sports content discoverable. Apple is already outperforming ESPN* in driving sports engagement through push notifications.
AI’s Role in Content Creation Generative AI isn’t replacing creators—it’s giving them superpowers. Those with storytelling skills will thrive, while others may struggle. * Many decision-makers in legacy media lack a deep understanding of DTC logic. A younger generation, raised in the digital age, will likely reshape the future*.
The Long-Term Future of Sports Rights While sports streaming is growing, broadcast TV is still dominant. The real battle is understanding how sports fans engage and what they’ll pay for*.
Guest: Andrew Rosen
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: ElementalTV
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Creator Media talked with Business Insider media correspondent Lucia Moses about why Netflix is suddenly paying more attention to creators and YouTube, and what this might mean for the future of talent deals and distribution.Moses also weighed in on Amazon's Beast Games, Netflix's ad business and the state of Hollywood.
Takeaways:
Netflix’s Creator Strategy Evolution* Netflix is shifting its approach, recognizing YouTube as both a competitor and a source of creator talent. They aim to bring podcasters onto the platform to revamp talk show content.
YouTube’s Dominance on TV Screens* YouTube now leads in TV viewing time, surpassing traditional networks. This shift signals a transformation in how audiences consume video content, influencing ad spend and media strategy.
The Role of Authenticity in Creator-Led Content* Audiences prefer unpolished, authentic content over heavily produced talk shows. Netflix and others are learning that overproduction can diminish engagement with creator-led shows.
Amazon’s Aggressive Creator Investments Amazon is pushing creator-led content aggressively, with deals like MrBeast’s Beast Games*. Legacy studios remain hesitant due to past failed investments in creators.
The Rise of Video Podcasting on YouTube* YouTube is actively positioning itself as a home for video podcasts, appealing to Gen Z and advertisers who see potential in habitual, TV-like viewing patterns.
Netflix’s Ad Tier Expansion* Netflix’s ad-supported tier is growing, with over 45–50 million U.S. users. However, it lags behind Disney and Amazon, which have twice the ad-tier audience.
Brand Safety Perceptions Are Changing* The shift in advertiser sentiment suggests that concerns over brand safety on platforms like YouTube are diminishing, making it easier for YouTube to compete for TV ad dollars.
Sports Streaming Is Fragmenting the Market* Sports fans now face a complex streaming landscape with multiple providers like Disney, Amazon, YouTube, and cable alternatives. Consolidation may be inevitable.
Media Industry Mergers & Uncertainty* Major mergers loom in the media and ad industries, with legacy networks being spun off. The uncertain political climate may delay some deals but will likely reshape the industry.
Guest: Lucia Moses
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: VuePlanner
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with David Kostman, CEO of Teads (formerly Outbrain) about the company's plans to bring together performance advertising, web video and TV, and move beyond its reputation as haven for 'cheap' ads.
Kostman also talked about how publishers are preparing for more AI-driven search and content discovery, and whether brands are as invested as they should be in news and the open web.
Takeaways:
Outbrain & Teads: A Game-Changing Merger for the Open Internet
- The Outbrain-Teads merger creates a $1.7 billion ad powerhouse, merging native performance and premium video advertising to serve brands across the entire marketing funnel.
The Power of Controlled Real Estate & First-Party Data
- Unlike traditional ad networks, Teeds secures exclusive publisher inventory, ensuring premium ad placement without competing in an auction model.
AI & The Future of Digital Advertising Optimization
- Teeds is integrating AI-driven predictive analytics for automated media buying and ad optimization, enhancing real-time targeting.
CTV Advertising & The Evolution of Small Business Reach
- Teeds is making a strong push into Connected TV (CTV), with exclusive placements on OEM home screens like LG and Hisense.
AI, Content Discovery & The Fight for Quality Journalism
- With the rise of AI-generated content, premium publishers are at risk. Teeds is doubling down on supporting quality journalism, ensuring trusted news sites get premium monetization opportunities.
📢 Final Thought:
Teeds is reshaping the future of digital advertising, combining premium video, performance-driven targeting, and AI-powered optimization to create a brand-safe, full-funnel solution that rivals the biggest players in the industry.
Guest: David Kostman
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: ElementalTV
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Creator Media spoke with Paul Greenberg, CEO of Butter Works, on how his company uses AI to help brands make more successful social video content, and why so far, the technology has been a net positive.
Still, Greenberg talked about the dangers of the proliferation of AI slop and why it's going to become challenging for consumers and brands to sort through what's real, what's not, and what kind of attention is most valuable.
🎙 Episode Highlights: Next in Creator Media
🔥 Featuring Paul Greenberg, CEO of Butterworks
AI in Content Strategy: How Butter Works Uses AI to Power Success Butterworks has been leveraging AI since 2018, using natural language processing and computer vision* to predict video performance.
The Evolution of Creator Media & The Rise of Long-Form Content Short-form video isn’t dead—but TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Reels are now embracing long-form. * Viewers crave deeper connections with creators (e.g., MrBeast, Kai Cenat), making longer videos more engaging and monetizable*.
The Changing Landscape of Social Algorithms & The YouTube Shift YouTube’s algorithm is now personalized per user, making it harder for creators to game the system. * Thumbnail and title optimization still matter, but authenticity and audience loyalty are key.*
AI-Generated Influencers & The Limits of Digital Personas AI-driven influencers (e.g., Lil Miquela) are gaining traction, but lack deep engagement compared to human creators*.
The Coming AI Flood: Should Brands Worry? Platforms like Google and Meta struggle to filter out AI-generated content, leading to potential content overload. * The shift toward AI-curated search results (e.g., Google’s Gemini)* makes SEO and brand visibility more challenging.
AI’s Role in Brand Marketing & Media Strategy AI is not about replacing humans, but rather enhancing creativity and efficiency*.
🎧 Listen to the full episode for more expert insights on AI, creators, and the future of media marketing!
Guest: Paul Greenberg
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: VuePlanner
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with David Levy, CEO of OpenAP, about some of the misconceptions in the market when it comes to data-driven TV advertising, and how TV networks can balance collaboration and competition in the face of the growth of Big Tech in TV.
Takeaways:
The Evolution of OpenAP: Standardizing TV Advertising
OpenAP was founded to unify ad innovations across TV networks, creating scalable, standardized solutions for advertisers.
Bridging Linear TV and Streaming for Advertisers
While linear TV dominated ad spending, OpenAP has expanded its infrastructure to solve audience fragmentation in Connected TV (CTV).
The Role of First-Party Data in TV Advertising
Brands investing in first-party data need standardized methods to target consumers consistently across multiple media platforms.
The Transparency Challenge in CTV Ad Targeting
Unlike digital, CTV ad targeting lacks transparency due to multiple data transformations from audience lists to device-level identifiers.
Solving Audience Measurement Discrepancies
Differences in identity-matching methods among media companies create inconsistencies in audience targeting and measurement.
The Push for a Unified Ad Planning Infrastructure
OpenAP aims to establish a seamless way for advertisers to plan and execute campaigns across different streaming services and TV networks.
The Need for Scalable TV Advertising for Small Businesses
Unlike Google and Meta, TV lacks an easy-to-use, cost-effective ad buying platform for small advertisers—a gap the industry must address.
Guest: David Levy
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: Epsilon
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Creator Media spoke with Cristina Lawrence, EVP of Consumer & Content Experience at Razorfish about the march toward more TV-like seasons for many top creators, and whether this is making it easier to move ad dollars over from TV. Lawrence also talked about TikTok's future, who might grab the social commerce mantle, and whether Joe Rogan is a podcaster or a YouTuber.
Takeaways:
Long-Form Content is Winning the Creator Economy Platforms like YouTube are shifting towards structured, episodic content (e.g., video podcasts, multi-part series). * Creators are becoming media networks, with brands integrating organically* into their content strategies.
Creators Are the New Media Networks Influencers now function as full-scale media companies, reaching highly engaged audiences. * Brands must approach them as partners*, not just ad placements.
The Rise of Creator-Led Brand Partnerships Mega-creators like MrBeast, Hailey Bieber, and Charli D’Amelio are launching their own DTC (direct-to-consumer) brands. * These businesses succeed when they align authentically* with the creator’s identity.
Social Commerce is Gaining Traction, but Still Evolving Platforms like TikTok Shops and Amazon Live are making inroads in live shopping. * However, U.S. adoption lags behind Asia, where live shopping is deeply integrated into culture*.
Micro-Influencers & Niche Creators Are Essential Brands are shifting to micro-influencers for more targeted, authentic engagement. * Agencies use AI-powered discovery tools (e.g., Publicis' Influential) to identify high-performing niche creators*.
The TikTok Uncertainty & the Future of Short-Form Video If TikTok were to disappear, YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels could fill the gap. * However, each platform serves distinct user behaviors, with YouTube favored for long-form content*.
Guest: Cristina Lawrence
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: VuePlanner
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with Jamie Power, Disney's SVP, Addressable Sales, about ongoing measurement challenges in streaming, what happened with the so-called currency wars, and why it's a big deal that ESPN and Disney are now on the same ad server.
Takeaways:
The Rise of Actionable Tech at CES 2025
Jamie Power highlighted that CES 2025 felt more actionable than ever, with tools and technologies ready to be leveraged immediately, marking a shift from futuristic concepts to practical implementation.
Disney's Transparent Data Strategy
Disney introduced ad-supported Monthly Active Users (MAU) metrics across platforms like Hulu, ESPN, and Disney+, emphasizing transparency in streaming data to aid better planning for advertisers and agencies.
The Role of Disney Compass in Data Integration
Disney Compass enables seamless integration of data into agency tools, empowering advertisers to deduplicate reach and enhance campaign planning.
AI's Transformative Impact on Media Planning
Disney Select AI and partnerships like Publicis Core AI were showcased as tools to generate audience insights, driving strategic decisions and elevating media planning to predictive precision.
Balancing Automation with Human Expertise
Jamie addressed concerns about AI replacing jobs, emphasizing its role in streamlining tasks and allowing professionals to focus on impactful, thoughtful strategies.
Live Sports on CTV: Game-Changing Advertising
Disney's advancements in dynamic ad insertion during live sports events ensure scalability and seamless viewer experiences, reshaping how advertisers engage with audiences in real time.
Self-Serve Advertising Platforms for SMBs
Disney's self-service platform has empowered thousands of small advertisers to access measurable, localized campaigns, from florists targeting specific zip codes to brands leveraging audience-specific tools.
Guest: Jamie Power
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: ElementalTV
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Creator Media spoke with Erica Ortega, Director of Product Marketing at Tubular Labs about whether users bailed on TikTok during the very short ban, which platforms might win if TikTok disappears, and why not every short form platform is the same.
Takeaways:
Tubular Labs: The Leader in Social Video Insights* Tubular Labs provides unparalleled analytics on audience behaviors across platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitch.
Social Video Trends: Staying Adaptive TikTok Resilience:* Despite uncertainties, TikTok continues to dominate short-form content, with creators adapting quickly to trends. Charlie D'Amelio's three-day blitz showcased the platform's potential for rapid impact.
Short-Form vs. Long-Form: A Strategic Balance* Brands are leveraging both long-form and short-form video strategies. Long-form videos offer monetization opportunities (e.g., YouTube ads), while short-form content appeals to quick, algorithm-driven engagements.
TikTok Alternatives: Shifting Audiences* Platforms like YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels are vying for attention, but Gen Z loyalty to TikTok suggests unique challenges for competitors.
Effective Brand Strategies for Social Media Partnerships with Influencers:* Collaborating with niche creators ensures authenticity and targeted reach. Tubular’s tools help brands find emerging talent before they become too costly.
Data Trends Driving Innovation* Clients seek real-time, actionable data to identify new trends and streamline strategies. Tubular offers advanced filtering to cut through noise and spotlight key opportunities.
Guest: Erica Ortega
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: VuePlanner
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with Ross Benes, senior analyst at eMarketer about the flood of new ad inventory in CTV, whether brands are really embracing addressable TV ads in a big way, and why we're currently obsessed with 90s trash culture.
Check out Benes' book 1999: The Year Low Culture Conquered America and Kickstarted Our Bizarre Times (Politics and Popular Culture)
Takeaways:
• Streaming Dominance: Streaming accounts for nearly 50% of TV time but only 15% of ad revenue.
• Linear TV's Revenue Lead: Despite streaming's popularity, linear TV generates six times the ad revenue of streaming due to higher ad loads and traditional viewer habits.
• Shift in Viewer Habits: Streaming time is expected to surpass linear TV soon, with ad spending following a few years later. Businesses should prepare for this gradual migration of ad budgets.
• Emergence of Smaller Advertisers: Streaming platforms like Roku and Disney+ are developing tools to attract small to mid-size advertisers, following the model of social platforms like Facebook.
• Challenges in Streaming Metrics: Advertisers face confusion with inconsistent measurement systems across platforms.
• AI in Media Buying: The adoption of AI in programmatic advertising is growing, but many tools are repackaged versions of existing technologies.
• Generational Shifts in Content Nostalgia: Millennials and young Gen Xers are driving a revival of 1990s culture, offering opportunities for marketers to leverage nostalgia in campaigns.
• Streaming Platforms Entering Sports: Netflix is experimenting with sports events, signaling a potential major push into sports broadcasting.
• YouTube's Growing Role in Sports: YouTube's acquisition of NFL Sunday Ticket shows its ambitions in sports broadcasting.
Guest: Ross Benes
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: Epsilon
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Creator Media spoke with Sol Betesh Co-Founder & CEO at Fallen Media, the company behind viral hits like Street Hearts and What's Popping, on why he's bullish on predictable, original series on short form platforms.
Betesh also talked about why brands are still asking lots of elementary questions when working with creators, and how he's planning to deal with a potential TikTok ban.
Takeaways:
• Short-form Video is King: Platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts dominate modern content consumption.
• Content Development is Strategic: Successful short-form series like "What's Poppin'" demonstrate the importance of iterative testing and audience feedback to refine formats and achieve viral success.
• Monetization Evolves Over Time: Initial revenue streams for creators may start modestly, but with consistent hits and engagement, brands begin seeking partnerships, as seen with collaborations from Adidas and Expedia.
• Brand Partnerships Benefit from Custom Integration: Creative campaigns, such as Westin's king-size bed in Central Park, showcase how unique content concepts can elevate brand visibility and audience connection.
• Consistency Builds Trust: Regular posting and series predictability resonate with both audiences and brands, much like traditional entertainment models adapted for short-form platforms.
• Agile Adaptation Across Platforms: While TikTok leads short-form innovation, creators hedge risks by maintaining strong presences on Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and emerging alternatives like Snap Spotlight.
• Creative Collaboration Over Focus Groups: Brands increasingly entrust creators to align with their vision while retaining creative control, simplifying processes to deliver authentic and engaging content.
• Future of Short-form to Long-form: Successful short-form series often act as testbeds for scaling into longer formats, bridging gaps between digital platforms and traditional media outlets.
Guest: Sol Betesh
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: VuePlanner
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with Mark Wagman, Managing Director, MediaLink and Partner, UTA about his CES takes, particularly why the conversation around AI may be shifting from cost cutting to growth.
Mark also discussed whether the TV industry is getting in its own way when it comes to identity and buying platforms, and whether any retail media networks will pivot to Amazon.
Takeaways:
AI Integration for Marketing Efficiency
- AI has transitioned from a cost-cutting tool to a potential superpower that enhances team performance, offering 20-30% better productivity and up to 50% improved ROI.
Identity and Targeting Challenges in CTV
- Cross-platform identity graphs and collaborative targeting, such as those by Disney and OpenAP, are emerging trends to address complexities in connected TV (CTV) advertising.
Retail Media Growth and Consolidation
- Amazon's "retail media in a box" strategy signals potential consolidation as companies streamline operations to leverage existing data and ad technologies.
The Rise of Incrementality in Measurement
- Marketers focus on measuring incremental value and reducing overlap in campaigns, leveraging tools like media mix modeling (MMM) and AI-driven multi-touch attribution (MTA).
Micro-Influencers Over Traditional Ads
- Brands are increasingly investing in micro-influencers, leveraging niche audiences for higher engagement and ROI compared to traditional banner ads or large-scale influencer deals.
Streamlining TV Advertising for SMBs
- Efforts are being made to simplify TV and streaming ad purchases for small and mid-sized businesses, moving away from complex traditional setups.
Ad Tech and MarTech Convergence
- The merging of advertising and marketing technologies, powered by clean rooms and shared datasets, offers new possibilities for seamless customer journey management.
Guest: Mark Wagman
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: Epsilon
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Creator Media spoke with Reza Izad, co-founder and partner, Underscore Talent about whether Hollywood or Madison Avenue were further ahead when it comes to adapting to a more creator-centric media verse. Izad talked about why some categories, like beauty and fashion, are far ahead more mass categories such as packaged goods, and why Pinterest is a creator dark horse in 2025.
Takeaways:
• Evolution of Talent Representation in Digital Media: The shift from traditional management to digital-first approaches highlights the importance of platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram for creators.
• Underscore Talent’s Multi-Niche Approach: Serving over 500 clients across gaming, sports, beauty, culinary, and lifestyle industries demonstrates the potential of diversified talent management.
• MCN (Multi-Channel Network) Legacy and Transformation: Studio 71's development shows how early digital content networks combined advertising with IP development to create sustainable business models.
• Opportunities in Extended Video Formats: Longer YouTube formats like podcasts and scripted content enable multiple ad placements, increasing revenue potential.
• Integration of Digital Creators with Brands: Case studies like Mr. Beast’s Amazon deal and beauty brands leveraging platforms like Tribal illustrate how creators align with business objectives.
Guest: Reza Izad
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: VuePlanner
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with Rich Muhlstock, president of Chase Media Solutions, about his company's push into commerce media, where the bank fits in the flow of media budgets, and what it's like to sell ads in a highly regulated industry.
Takeaways:
• Chase Media Solutions' Unique Approach: By leveraging first-party data from its 80 million customers, Chase Media Solutions bridges the gap between brands and consumers, emphasizing precision targeting without third-party cookies.
• Personalized, Value-Driven Offers: Offers through Chase Media Solutions are not just ads—they are personalized experiences that provide value to both consumers and brands.
• Trust and Security as Core Pillars: Chase’s emphasis on customer trust, privacy, and security ensures a unique selling point for advertisers, maintaining a brand-safe environment for campaigns.
• High ROI through Transparent Attribution: Chase offers a performance-based model where brands only pay for actual conversions, ensuring a measurable and high return on ad spend.
• Expanding Advertising Ecosystem: From mobile apps and websites to ATMs, branches, and even billboards, Chase Media Solutions is integrating offers across multiple touchpoints, creating a diverse and comprehensive advertising network.
• Data-Driven Consumer Insights: Chase’s ability to analyze customer spending habits across categories offers marketers actionable insights for more effective campaign strategies.
Guest: Rich Muhlstock
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: Epsilon
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with Michael Pollack Managing Director, Digital Media Solutions at Epsilon, about why marketers don't like spending all their dollars with a few digital giants, and how relying on a single cookie replacement won't cut it in a signal loss world.
Takeaways:
• Challenges of Walled Gardens:A logged-in world dominated by walled gardens (like Google and Facebook) limits marketers' ability to understand and engage customers fully.
• Unified View of Customers: Epsilon's "One View, Vision, and Voice" strategy emphasizes creating a comprehensive customer understanding by resolving disparate identifiers into a single identity for more effective engagement.
• Identity Resolution: Relying solely on email or singular identifiers is insufficient. A robust identity solution, like Epsilon's with nine forms of identification, ensures accuracy and adaptability despite industry changes.
• AI Integration: AI, when combined with strong data foundations, enables personalized, predictive marketing across open web channels, addressing gaps left by static methods like retargeting with outdated ads.
• Importance of Incremental Reach: Brands grow by reaching new audiences rather than over-targeting existing ones.
• Balancing Privacy and Personalization: While privacy is critical, personalization strengthens customer relationships.
• Adaptability to Signal Loss: Solutions must address the decline of third-party cookies, unreliable IP/device IDs, and other signal losses.
Guest: Michael Pollack
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with Joe Doran Chief Product Officer at Epsilon, about whether we're likely to see a slew of walled garden anti-trust battles, why brands need to prepare for a world with less data regardless of what happens with cookies, and whether AI is taking over media buying.
Takeaways:
Consumer Choice and Privacy* The industry's focus is shifting toward respecting consumer choice and privacy, driven by regulatory scrutiny and evolving technology. * Marketers must adapt strategies to align with a more privacy-conscious ecosystem.
Post-Cookie Strategies* The decline of third-party cookies necessitates investing in first-party data management. * Marketers should leverage identity-based systems, data collaboration, and advanced technologies like AI to overcome tracking challenges.
Adapting to Regulatory Changes* Regardless of political or regulatory changes, marketers must prepare for a consumer-centric privacy landscape. * Businesses that hesitate to adapt risk falling behind in a rapidly evolving digital ecosystem.
Retail Media Growth* Retail media networks are expanding rapidly, with major players like Amazon and Walmart leading the charge. * Smaller retailers face challenges in aggregating and optimizing their media offerings, presenting opportunities for consolidation and innovation.
AI in Media Planning and Execution* AI is transforming media planning and buying by automating repetitive tasks and optimizing outcomes. * Strategic decisions still rely on human input, but AI supports scalability and efficiency.
Guest: Joe Doran
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: VuePlanner
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Creator Media spoke with Aditi Rajvanshi, Head of Strategy - Portal A, about what mistakes brands continue to make when working with creators, why YouTube is quietly pushing for content that scores well on 'viewer satisfaction' and the idea that some brands may want to move away from contributing to 'brain rot.'
Takeaways:
Portal A's Niche in Content Creation
Portal A specializes in premium, elevated storytelling for brands, creating marquee brand properties that focus on long-term growth and brand engagement rather than mass-scale advertising.
Shift in Brand-Creator Dynamics
Brands now view creators as essential marketing channels rather than transactional tools, fostering deeper, long-term partnerships that emphasize authentic collaboration.
The Power of Content Marketing
Successful branded content focuses on storytelling and providing value to audiences, distinguishing itself from traditional promotional ads.
Multi-Platform Strategies
Diversification across platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram ensures resilience against changes in platform performance or regulations.
Mid-Tier Creator Growth
Supporting emerging and mid-tier creators represents a significant untapped opportunity, as this group can uniquely connect with niche audiences and drive authentic engagement.
Evolving Creator Roles
Creators no longer rely solely on single platforms. Instead, they tailor content for multiple platforms, balancing experimentation, scalability, and community building to enhance their careers and partnerships.
Guest: Aditi Rajvanshi
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: VuePlanner
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with Regine Fung - Sr. Director, US & Global Paid Media at ELF Beauty, about how the brand's media strategy has evolved from a pure DTC player to one that is embracing live sports, CTV, and out-of-home. In addition, Fung talked about Elf's huge TikTok presence, and why she think social commerce is finally breaking out in the US.
Takeaways:
Leverage Social Media Platforms for Community Building
e.l.f. effectively uses platforms like TikTok, Twitch, and Pinterest to connect with their audience, emphasizing authentic engagement and understanding platform-specific nuances.
Expand Beyond Social Media
While rooted in social-first strategies, e.l.f. successfully diversified into TV, out-of-home, and radio channels, enhancing mass reach and brand awareness.
Creator Partnerships with Clear KPIs
They segment creators based on goals such as driving traffic or sales, integrating creators authentically into their campaigns while tracking ROI effectively through tools like affiliate links.
Focus on Cultural Relevance
e.l.f. prioritizes understanding its community's interests and cultural trends, ensuring campaigns resonate on an emotional and practical level.
Measurement Tailored to Channels
Metrics and KPIs are customized per platform, recognizing the distinct roles and limitations of mediums like TV, social, and digital ads.
Guest: Regine Fung
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: Epsilon
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Creator Media spoke with analyst Doug Shapiro, author of The Mediator, about how fundamentally the growth of creators is shifting consumption habits and media economics, and what Hollywood and Madison Avenue should do about it.
Takeaways:
Shift in Media Consumption Habits
Traditional media is facing stagnation due to a fixed amount of consumer attention, while creator media is rapidly growing, now contributing to roughly half of media industry growth globally.
Dominance of Creator Media
The creator economy, including YouTube, TikTok, and other platforms, produces content at an unprecedented scale, significantly outpacing traditional media in volume and engagement.
Changing Definition of Quality
Younger audiences prioritize authenticity, relatability, and quick gratification in their media consumption, reshaping traditional definitions of quality content.
Inevitability of the Creator Economy
The shift towards creator-led platforms is described as "relentless and inevitable," with traditional media unable to reverse this trend entirely.
Challenges for Traditional Media
Institutional media companies struggle to adapt to the democratization of content creation and distribution, hampered by their entrenched focus on high production values and limited competitor sets.
Generational Shift and Sustainability
The shift toward creator media is not a passing trend but represents a deeper generational shift, emphasizing consumer preferences for user-generated content.
Guest: Doug Shapiro
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: VuePlanner
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with Mike Romoff, Reddit's newly installed Chief Revenue Officer, about how the company has thrived amidst so many changes in consumer's social and digital habits, and why he thinks the company is 'having a moment' that brands are looking to capitalize.
Takeaways:
• Cultural Moment and Growth: Reddit is undergoing significant growth, transitioning from niche to mainstream as more users realize its utility for finding reliable, community-driven answers.
• Search Integration: A recent partnership with Google has boosted Reddit's traffic by making its vast user-generated content more accessible through search engines.
• Rich Data Asset: Reddit boasts an unmatched repository of historical and real-time user insights, making it a goldmine for advertisers looking for authentic audience engagement.
• Unique Value Proposition: Reddit is an antidote to AI-generated or paid-influencer content, offering authentic, community-driven discussions.
• Advertising Sweet Spot: Reddit effectively caters to brands seeking mid-funnel engagement—helping users move from general interest to purchase consideration through organic and intentional interactions.
• Community Power in Advertising: Communities serve as hubs of influence where brands can engage authentically. For example, initiatives like Samsung's custom content and AMA sessions showcase how advertisers can resonate with Reddit's ethos.
Guest: Mike Romoff
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: Epsilon & VuePlanner
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Creator Media spoke with Ashley Rudder, Chief Creator Officer, DNY, about how brands need to not just let go of their creative control when working with creators on YouTube and TikTok, but may need to bring this talent in much earlier in the development process to best take advantage of their cultural connections.
Takeaways:
• The Evolution of Creative Leadership: Ashley Rudder's role as Chief Creator Officer highlights a modern, multidisciplinary approach to creative leadership, integrating brand marketing, social adaptability, and production expertise.
• Importance of Authentic Partnerships: Successful creator collaborations move beyond transactional relationships.
• Platform-Specific Expertise: Each social platform requires tailored strategies. Brands benefit from working with creators adept at navigating platform nuances to deliver culturally relevant content.
• Metrics Beyond Vanity: Meaningful success metrics include post shares, bookmarks, and community engagement, rather than superficial vanity metrics like impressions or EMVs.
• Integration into Product Development: Creators' real-time audience insights make them invaluable contributors to product development and go-to-market strategies.
• Sustained Creator Relationships: Long-term partnerships with creators foster authenticity and loyalty among their audiences, enhancing the brand's credibility and influence.
Guest: Ashley Rudder
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: VuePlanner
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with Kepler's head of retail media Zach Ricchiuti about the state of eCommerce 2024, whether Cyber Monday still matters, and why Amazon is changing its story as it plays the long game.
Takeaways:
• Retail Media Trends: The shift in retail media is moving beyond Black Friday and Cyber Monday into a two-week "Cyber Week marathon," transforming the way brands approach seasonal e-commerce strategies.
• Evolving Media Investments: Retailers are extending ad spend into "off-site" platforms, leveraging programmatic web, social media, and connected TV to expand their advertising reach beyond owned properties.
• Amazon Dominance: Amazon leads the retail media space by offering robust ad tech and measurement tools that enable brands to evaluate campaign success and connect upper and lower funnel strategies.
• Importance of Off-Platform Advertising: Off-platform solutions are growing as retailers partner with platforms like Roku and TikTok, ensuring their ads align with changing consumer habits and media landscapes.
• Holiday Shopping Dynamics: Retailers like Amazon and Walmart capitalize on late-shipping capabilities and post-holiday "fifth quarter" shopping trends, maximizing revenue opportunities through last-minute gifting and gift card redemptions.
• Future of Retail Media: Social media emerges as a key opportunity for retail media growth, with platforms facilitating direct connections to retail networks and enabling marketers to optimize campaigns seamless.
Guest: Zach Ricchiuti
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: Epsilon
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Creator Media spoke with Arthur Leopold, co-founder and CEO of Agentio, on how the startup promises to bring some order to creator and brand matchmaking. Leopold also talked about why other tech startups have failed in this realm, and why AI will help brands feel more safe about which creators they hand the keys to.
Takeaways:
• Agentio is an ad platform automating creator content buying, bridging brands and creators for frictionless collaboration. Its innovative approach targets inefficiencies in traditional influencer marketing.
• By shifting focus from small influencer budgets ($10-$15 billion) to the massive $600 billion paid media market, Agentio enables brands to scale creator partnerships with unprecedented efficiency.
• Unlike fragmented tools, Agentio offers end-to-end automation—covering creator matching, contracting, brand safety, and performance optimization—all in a unified platform.
• Leveraging AI and large language models, Agenteo streamlines complex processes like campaign optimization and brand safety checks, reducing manual effort by over 113 human years in certain tasks.
• Many leading YouTubers, even giants like Rhett and Link, struggle to fully sell their inventory. Agenteo aggregates demand, ensuring creators monetize effectively while brands access highly engaged audiences.
• Agentio positions itself at the forefront of the creator economy, championing personalized storytelling as the most effective advertising strategy, outperforming traditional banner ads and skippable video ads.
• With YouTube as the starting platform, Agentio taps into the world’s largest streaming audience, combining high engagement with scalable advertising. Future expansions include TikTok and Instagram.
Guest: Arthur Leopold
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: VuePlanner
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with Fuse Media's chief business officer Patrick Courtney about what advertisers get wrong about multicultural audiences media habits, the challenges in programming in the FAST space, and why cable TV still makes sense for some media companies.
Takeways:
• Inclusive Entertainment Leadership: Fuse Media is a Latino-owned, diverse entertainment company targeting a multicultural audience.
• Young Multicultural Audience: The primary demographic is 18-34-year-olds, though the audience varies by platform.
• Platform-Specific Programming Strategies: Fuse tailors content strategies differently for pay TV, FAST, and subscriptions, reflecting the unique demands and user behaviors of each medium.
• Evolution of FAST Channels: Initially a repository for legacy content, Fuse has applied structured programming techniques to FAST channels, seeing exponential audience growth by leveraging day-parting and scheduling.
• Challenges in FAST: Discovery, lack of standardization across platforms, limited data analytics, and inconsistent measurement pose significant hurdles in FAST.
• Subscription Services Strategy: Unlike many subscription services struggling with high churn, Fuse leans into partnerships and reseller marketplaces over direct-to-consumer strategies.
• Adapting to Industry Changes: Fuse has successfully integrated traditional linear and newer FAST/CTV ad sales models, capitalizing on its historical experience while navigating shifts like increasing automation and programmatic buying.
Guest: Patrick Courtney
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: Epsilon
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Creator Media spoke with Ian Schafer, co-founder and president of Ensemble, on how he's trying to help brands connect with the top 1% of creators, while helping those folks build out full fledged media businesses.
Takeaways:
• Unique Positioning of Ensemble: Ensemble differentiates itself in the creator economy by focusing on a curatorial approach to creators, similar to a studio, instead of a marketplace model.
• Equity in the Creator Economy: Schafer highlights a systemic inequality in brand partnerships, with creators from underrepresented communities getting fewer deals.
• 0.1% of Creators: In the creator economy, only about 0.1% of creators achieve significant success.
• Shift to Long-Term Brand Integrations: Schafer observes a shift from treating creators as media inventory to viewing them as collaborative partners.
• The Importance of Infrastructure for Creators: Schafer notes that while creators have management, they often lack a structured infrastructure to help them scale.
• Potential for Original Programming: Ensemble is developing episodic series and original shows that incorporate brand sponsorships.
• Demand for Audience-First Content: Schafer emphasizes the need for content that resonates with audiences before brands.
• Future of Creator Partnerships in Advertising: Ensemble and Schafer envision a future where brands can lock in annual or seasonal "slates" of creator-led series, similar to TV upfronts.
Guest: Ian Schafer
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: VuePlanner
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in media spoke with Megan Jones, Chief Digital Officer at Digitas, about what she tells clients about a possible Google break up, and the never ending cookies saga. Jones also talked about why it's so hard to bake creators into traditional media planning, and what's really going on with sustainability.
Takeaways:
• Post-Cookie Environment: Despite long discussions around a "post-cookie world," urgency has waned due to delays.
• Challenges in Connected TV: The fragmented CTV landscape lacks unified audience targeting and measurement standards.
• TikTok's Growing Influence: As TikTok remains a cultural hub, Digitas advises clients to use it actively and authentically.
• Creator Economy and Social Strategy: Digitas leverages creators through its S.W.A.T. (Share worthy and Trending) program, which identifies trends and pairs creators with brands to produce authentic, real-time content, with a focus on diversity and cultural relevance.
• Integrating Media and CRM: There’s a significant, underutilized potential in linking CRM with media for seamless customer engagement.
• Sustainability in Digital Advertising: Though it’s not a top priority for clients, sustainability is expected to become essential within the next five years, similar to brand safety.
Guest: Megan Jones
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: Epsilon
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Creator Media spoke with Laurie Buckle CEO and Founder, CookIt Media, about her journey from print's golden age to trying to wrangle the YouTube ecosystem. Buckle also talked about what brands get right and wrong about this space, and why food is so perfect for other revenue streams.
Takeaways:
• Cook It's Origin: Laurie Buckle transitioned from traditional food media to establishing CookIt, initially as a consulting firm helping food bloggers professionalize their content.
• Food Creators as Businesses: Buckle emphasizes that CookIt’s mission is to help food content creators see their work as a viable business.
• Agency's Dual Role: CookIt functions as both an influencer marketing agency and a talent management company.
• Collaborative Brand Partnerships: CookIt places creators at the forefront of brand collaborations, advocating for a balanced approach where creators' authentic voices are respected.
• Evolving Revenue Streams: CookIt is helping creators diversify revenue beyond brand partnerships.
• The Future of Food Content: Buckle discusses the broader lifestyle aspect of food creators, noting that food content increasingly includes elements of travel, beauty, and wellness.
Guest: Laurie Buckle
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: VuePlanner
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media talked to the founder and CEO of Taboola about the state of the open web, what he thinks about the Google trial, and why publishers may have to start working together to compete for consumers' time and advertisers' wallets.
Takeaways:
• Google’s Market Power and Tensions: Adam highlights concerns in the industry regarding Google's practices, such as keeping users within its ecosystem rather than directing them to other publishers.
• Optimism for the Open Web: Despite challenges, Adam expresses strong optimism for the open web, emphasizing the opportunities for AI in personalizing content, improving user engagement, and increasing revenue per user.
• Importance of Quality News: He stresses the role of quality news and journalism, arguing against reliance on user-generated content platforms for important information, which could pose risks due to lack of editorial oversight.
• AI in Advertising: Taboola is exploring AI, particularly through their tool, "Abby," which uses a conversational layer to help advertisers design campaigns.
• Expansion of Retail Media: Adam predicts significant growth in retail media as it begins to look beyond its own platforms for audience reach.
• Apple Partnership: Taboola’s partnership with Apple allows it to serve ads on Apple News in several markets.
• Opportunities with Generative AI: He describes a future where AI-driven media buying can lower churn rates and increase ad spend efficiency, giving brands control while enabling faster decision-making.
• Rise of New Distribution Channels: Adam foresees the open web expanding into non-traditional environments, such as cars and kitchens, providing news and other digital content in more everyday settings.
• Yahoo’s Revival: Adam credits Yahoo’s recent success to its management team and a culture focused on execution and transparency, which he believes has transformed Yahoo into a strong partner in the open web ecosystem.
Guest: Adam Singolda
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: Epsilon
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Creator Media spoke with Jamie Gutfreund, founder of Creator Vision, about why some brands still don't have a strategy for creators, and whether Hollywood is missing the moment in harvesting YouTube and TikTok for talent.
Takeaways:
• Creator Economy Shift: Goodfriend discussed how traditional media strategies are outdated for the creator economy.
• Strategic Gap in Brand Approaches: Many brands lack a clear creator strategy and often make ad-hoc partnerships without defined objectives, resulting in suboptimal returns.
• Challenges with Current Media Agencies: Large agencies face difficulties integrating creators due to scalability issues and outdated metrics focused on paid media.
• Creator Selection Pitfalls: Brands often rely on tools similar to Yellow Pages for finding creators, which can lead to mismatched partnerships.
• Evolving Definitions of Premium Content: Premium content is now audience-defined, moving beyond traditional high-production-value constraints.
Guest: Jamie Gutfreund
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: VuePlanner
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media, spoke with S4 Capital founder and executive chairman Sir Martin Sorrell about the state of the ad business heading into a very uncertain year. Sorrell gave his take on Google's trial, the US Election, the future of ad agencies, and why the media business is a tale of two cities.
Takeways:
• Advertising Market Growth: Despite global challenges, the advertising market is growing, with digital media leading the way.
• Dominance of Key Platforms: Six major players—Google, Meta, Amazon, Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance—dominate digital advertising, with significant revenue growth expected.
• Economic Uncertainty: Both in the US and globally, economic conditions are mixed, creating uncertainty that hampers investment.
• Regulatory Dynamics: Sir Martin Sorrell stresses the importance of self-regulation within tech giants, comparing them to "countries" based on their market caps.
• Tech Giants’ Push into AI and Efficiency: Major tech companies like Meta and Google have pivoted sharply towards AI investments, drastically increasing their capital expenditures in this area.
Guest: Sir Martin Sorrell
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: Moloco & Epsilon
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Creator Media spoke with Gaz Alushi, President, Measurement and Analytics at Whalar about whether brands are spending enough with creators, and the challenge they face in how to measure these kinds of ad deals alongside all the rest of their more traditional media activations.
Takeaways:
• Whalar’s Role: Whaler is a creator marketing agency that connects brands with creators based on audience affinity.
• Creator ROI: A study by Nielsen showed that creators can deliver 2.4x return on investment (ROI) despite representing less than 1% of media spend in personal care campaigns.
• Measuring Creators: Creators are media, and their impact can be measured similarly to traditional media channels, with reach, impressions, and brand resonance included in media mix models.
• Planning and Measurement: Good measurement requires planning. Brands need to set up proper tagging, attribution, and measurement methods early on, not as an afterthought, to accurately assess the success of creator campaigns.
• Platform-Specific Content: Alushi emphasizes that platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn cater to different user mindsets and purposes. Therefore, the same content or ads cannot be effective across all platforms.
Guest: Gaz Alushi
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: VuePlanner
Producer: FEL Creative
Blockgraph CEO Jason Manningham talked about the TV joint venture is courting local and small advertisers by promising them an easy way to do targeted ads on streaming.
Sponsored By Moloco & Epsilon
Takeaways:
• Blockgraph's Mission: The company provides a privacy-focused collaboration platform and household identity framework, enabling advanced video strategies for around 50 clients in the U.S.
• Addressing Industry Fragmentation: As the video industry has grown more fragmented, especially with the rise of streaming, Blockgraph aims to offer a consistent approach to integrating first-party data across various video platforms.
• Data-Driven TV: Blockgraph's goal is to centralize the way brands use data for Connected TV (CTV) advertising, making it more seamless for advertisers across different platforms.
• Capabilities: Blockgraph's collaborative framework allows the use of first-party data for targeting and measurement across the entire video ecosystem, benefiting both large and small advertisers.
• Challenges with Streaming and Privacy: One of the issues Blockgraph addresses is signal loss in the open web, which makes it harder to measure advertising performance effectively compared to TV.
• Future Vision: Blockgraph aims to grow its customer base from 50 to 500 clients, with the goal of making CTV more effective and driving ROI for advertisers.
Guest: Jason Manningham
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: Moloco & Epsilon
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with Peter Hamilton, Head of Ad Innovation at Roku, about the state of CTV ad products, the company's new self-serve ad product, and what's holding back more social media brands from taking the plunge into CTV.
Sponsored By Moloco & Epsilon
Takeaways:
• CTV Advertising Innovation: Roku is constantly releasing and testing new products in CTV advertising, including interactive capabilities, commerce integrations, and unique user experiences like Roku City and discovery destinations like the Sports Zone and Food Zone.
• Focus on Consumer Experience: Roku prioritizes the viewer experience over profit, ensuring that ads do not disrupt the simplicity and delight of TV viewing.
• Scalability and Long-term Innovation: Roku focuses on creating scalable, long-term advertising products rather than short-term flashy innovations.
• Interactive and Shoppable Ads: Consumers have shown a growing interest in interactive and shoppable ads on TV, with research indicating they expect these options.
• TV as an Entertainment Device: Roku emphasizes that TV is fundamentally different from digital devices, serving as an entertainment medium rather than a work, search, or social tool.
• Leveraging Roku's Ecosystem: Roku, as a TV-focused company, offers a platform that integrates with various CTV apps without competing with them.
• Remote as Central Interaction Tool: Despite the rise of mobile devices, Roku finds that the TV remote remains the preferred tool for interacting with TV content.
Guest: Peter Hamilton
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: Moloco & Epsilon
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with Julia Moonves, pocket.watch’s SVP, Advertising Sales & Brand Partnerships, about navigating the kids ad market in YouTube era, and whether we're about to see a number of kid YouTubers become movie stars.
Sponsored By Moloco & Epsilon
Takeaways:
• PocketWatch Overview: pocket.watch is a kids' media company that partners with popular YouTube content creators, primarily families and kids, to expand their businesses beyond YouTube into areas like merchandise and franchising.
• YouTube's Influence on Kids Media: pocket.watch's growth was driven by the rise of YouTube as a primary platform for kids' content.
• Popular Creators: Ryan's World, Kids Diana Show, and Toys and Colors are some of pocket.watch's biggest creators, with massive followings.
• Business Model: pocket.watch operates as a modern multi-channel network, distributing its partners' content across various platforms, including YouTube, Hulu, Peacock, and Roku.
• Kids’ Media and Advertising: Traditional advertising methods, like targeting through Saturday morning cartoons, have shifted. Now, YouTube pre-roll ads and branded content partnerships are the most effective ways to reach younger audiences.
• YouTube Kids App and Compliance: The YouTube Kids app, with its made-for-kids designation, ensures COPPA compliance by limiting data collection.
• Ryan's World Franchise Growth: pocket.watch helped Ryan’s World evolve from a YouTube channel into a major franchise, including a toy line, Nickelodeon show, and the first creator-led wide theatrical movie release.
• The Power of Gen Alpha: Gen Alpha (born 2010 onwards) wield significant influence over household purchasing decisions, from vacations to tech purchases.
Guest: Julia Moonves
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: Moloco & Epsilon
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with Ronan Shields, who covers ad tech for Digiday, about how the DOJ's case against Google is going in the ongoing ad tech trial, and whether he thinks this case will really reshape the digital ad market anytime soon.
Ronan also discussed why some publishers are worried about a potential Google loss, and what Meta and Amazon might be thinking.
Sponsored By Moloco
Takeaways:
• Google's Antitrust Case: The current trial is focused on Google's ad tech business, specifically regarding accusations of monopolistic practices.
• DOJ's Strong Case: The Department of Justice (DOJ) seems to be in a favorable position due to damaging internal communications from Google executives.
• Damning Evidence: Internal Google emails suggest the company used its dominant position to force publishers into using its ad tech stack, thus limiting competition and harming alternatives in the market.
• Impact on Publishers: Many publishers are rooting for Google's loss, but some are concerned about the immediate impact on their monetization strategies if Google is forced to divest its ad tech stack.
• Google’s Defense: Google argues that competition exists from companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and others. Their defense suggests they are simply better at what they do, not monopolistic.
• Future Ramifications for Other Tech Giants: If Google loses, it could set a precedent for future antitrust actions against other big tech players like Meta (Facebook) and Amazon, who are also in the crosshairs of regulators.
Guest: Ronan Shields
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsor: Moloco
Producer: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke to Karen Benson, EVP of integrated media at Deutsch New York about why she's worried that some brands have gone overboard on spending with ROI-friendly vehicles like social platforms and retail media. Benson also discussed the realities of AI in the agency world, and why it's not so easy to figure out how to fund creator programs.
Takeaways:
• Fragmentation of Media Choices: The biggest change in media has been the fragmentation of options. This shift impacts both media planning and creative development, making media and creative teams more intertwined in their efforts.
• Over-Rotation to Performance Marketing: Benson discusses how there’s been an over-focus on performance marketing, which can limit a brand’s ability to grow long-term.
• Challenges with Over-Reliance on Platforms like Amazon and Meta: Many businesses rely heavily on platforms like Amazon and Meta for the bulk of their sales, leading to difficulties in scaling or diversifying their business if they don’t invest in brand building.
• TV's Role in the Media Mix: While some claim that TV is dead, Benson highlights that TV still has a role in mass marketing, though targeted digital media like YouTube or CTV is more effective for specific audience segments.
• Navigating TV Currency and Metrics Changes: The TV industry is changing in terms of accountability and metrics, but these transitions are happening more slowly than anticipated.
• Importance of Creator and Influencer Marketing: Deutsch New York’s Sochi Studio specializes in social media, with a focus on creators and influencers.
• Artificial Intelligence in Media: AI is making significant impacts in media planning, particularly in optimizing campaigns for meaningful metrics like brand awareness, rather than just clicks or views.
• Balance Between Brand and Performance: One of the ongoing challenges is finding a balance between performance and brand marketing.
Guest: Karen Benson
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Precise TV
Produced by: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with Rob Sands, Crunchyroll’s Senior Vice President of Business Development, about how the anime-centric media company became an under the radar juggernaut in streaming, gaming and events. Sands talked about why anime has had such a massive breakout in the US, and what brands need to know about this growing audience.
Takeaways:
• Crunchyroll's Growth and Business Model: Crunchyroll has evolved from a user-generated video site to a global anime streaming platform with over 15 million paying subscribers.
• Sony Ownership and Strategic Fit: Crunchyroll is owned by Sony, which aligns well with its Japanese background and expertise in storytelling, innovation, and technology.
• Anime's Global Popularity: Anime is not a niche genre but a storytelling medium that transcends genres. Its global influence is seen across industries like sports, music, and fashion.
• Audience Demographics: Crunchyroll's audience is diverse, with 42% of Gen Z watching anime weekly.
• Diverse Content Offerings: Crunchyroll offers a wide range of content, from action and drama to comedy and female-driven stories.
• Business Development and Partnerships: Rob Sands leads global business development, focusing on areas like streaming services, theatrical releases, gaming, e-commerce, and live events.
• Live Events and Brand Collaborations: Crunchyroll hosts over 200 live events annually, including major conventions like New York Comic Con.
• Gaming Synergies: Anime and gaming have a strong affinity, with Crunchyroll offering free-to-play mobile games for subscribers.
Guest: Rob Sands
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Precise TV
Produced by: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with former Google executive Denis Crushell, CCO of Precise.TV, about the early days of YouTube's ads and programming strategy, and how the company is doing surging into TV while fighting off TikTok.
Takeaways:
• YouTube's Growth and Evolution: Denis discussed YouTube's transformation from a platform for user-generated content to becoming a major player in TV watch time.
• YouTube's Strategy for Ads and Monetization: In the early days, YouTube was cautious about ads, but over time, ads became integral. Skippable ads helped balance the experience for viewers, creators, and advertisers.
• Safety and Contextual Advertising: Denis emphasized the importance of brand safety and contextual advertising, stating that Precise TV focuses on ensuring ads are placed in suitable environments, helping brands gain better results and avoid inappropriate content.
• Competing with TikTok: YouTube’s introduction of Shorts was a response to TikTok’s success. Denis believes YouTube has done well in competing, especially by leveraging its existing user base and search data, offering a broader reach.
• Challenges with Premium Content: There is still skepticism about YouTube’s premium content when compared to traditional TV. Competitors like Netflix, Disney, and Amazon are considered stronger in offering premium content, but YouTube’s vast addressable ad inventory is unmatched.
• The Creator Economy: YouTube has focused more on supporting creators, providing them with tools to monetize effectively, unlike earlier when it sought to attract celebrities and traditional media figures.
• Contextual Relevance on Platforms: Precise TV is working with advertisers to create contextually relevant personas and target audiences more precisely on platforms like YouTube.
• Challenges with In-App and CTV Advertising: Denis highlighted how in-app advertising and CTV platforms like Roku, Samsung, and LG are growing but still face issues related to measurement and targeting that need improvement.
Guest: Denis Crushell
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Precise TV
Produced by: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with Sean Cunningham, president and CEO of the Video Advertising Bureau, on the industries debate over what constitutes premium content, and why in his view brands should demand far more control and transparency for their campaigns on social platforms.
Takeaways:
• State of the TV Ad Market: The TV ad market is in flux, influenced by shifts to streaming, social video, and significant changes in major players and distribution formats.
• Importance of Premium Content: Premium video content is defined by being professionally produced, long-form, significantly engaging, and brand-safe, which distinguishes it from user-generated content and social videos.
• Brand Safety Concerns: There is a growing emphasis on brand safety, with many advertisers becoming increasingly cautious about where their ads are placed, particularly on platforms that lack transparency.
• Role of AI in Media Buying: AI and automation are becoming more integrated into media buying and planning, raising concerns about transparency and the potential for decreased brand safety.
• Granularity in Ad Placement: Advertisers are demanding greater granularity and transparency in ad placement, including details about platform type, device, content length, and the nature of the content.
• Trust and Partnership: The trust between marketers and media partners is crucial, particularly in ensuring that investments lead to effective advertising and that there is a clear path to remedy any issues that arise.
• Evolving Role of Media Agencies: Media agencies must continue to evolve, offering sophisticated tools and strategies that go beyond traditional media buying to thrive in the changing landscape.
• Dual Focus on Brand and Performance: Successful marketing strategies should balance long-term brand-building efforts with short-term performance goals.
• Future of Premium Advertising: The industry needs to clearly define what constitutes a premium advertising experience to avoid commoditization and ensure continued investment in high-quality content.
Guest: Sean Cunningham
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Acast & Precise TV
Produced by: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with Daniel Folkman, Gopuff's SVP of business, about the company's growing footprint in the ad business despite the fact that he thinks there are way too many retail media networks.
Takeaways:
• Business Overview and Evolution: Gopuff started over 10 years ago, focusing on delivering convenience products like snacks and drinks. It has since evolved to carry over 5,000 SKUs, including groceries, home essentials, and alcohol.
• Target Customer Demographics: Gopuff’s primary demographic is 18-35 year olds, with a strong focus on young parents.
• Sustainable Business Model: The company uses its funds to build infrastructure, technology, and fulfillment centers, focusing on long-term sustainability rather than short-term customer acquisition.
• Retail Media and Advertising: Gopuff entered the retail media space with its own advertising platform, which leverages the company’s unique selling points: instant delivery, a young and targeted demographic, and specialized consumer data.
• In-house Ad Platform: Gopuff decided to build its ad platform internally to maintain control over its unique consumer data and optimize targeting.
• Future of Retail Media: The company sees consolidation challenges in the retail media space, arguing that many current retail media networks are not sustainable long-term.
• Customer-Centric Advertising: Gopuff focuses on delivering ads that feel like relevant content rather than spam. This strategy aims to enhance user experience while also improving ad performance and profitability.
Guest: Daniel Folkman
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Acast & Precise TV
Produced by: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke to Jason Kint, CEO of the publisher-focused trade group Digital Content Next, about the potential impact of Google's recent anti trust ruling, and what to expect next month when a more advertising-focused decision regarding Google comes to a head.
Takeaways
• Google's Monopoly and Antitrust Cases: Google has been found to be a monopoly in both the App Store and search markets.
• Impact on Media and Advertising: These antitrust cases are seen as unlocking competition, which is beneficial for media companies and small businesses.
• Importance of Data Scale: Google's dominance in search, with 98% of unique queries, provides it an unparalleled data scale.
• Microsoft's Struggles: Despite being a tech giant, Microsoft struggles to compete with Google in the search market due to the latter's vast data advantage.
• Potential Breakup of Google: There is speculation that the ad tech trial could lead to Google being forced to divest parts of its business, possibly Chrome and Android, due to their critical roles in data collection.
• Google's Internal Practices: The trial revealed nefarious internal practices, such as coordination between different Google departments to meet quarterly targets, despite public claims of separation.
• Google's Defense and Market Impact: Google argues that its dominance in search is pro-competitive and beneficial for consumers due to its superior search experience.
• Implications for Publishers: The outcome of these cases could validate the concerns of publishers who have long complained about Google's market power.
• Future of Competition: Kint emphasizes that real change will come when there is actual competition in the market, with revenue directed towards where consumers want it.
Guest: Jason Kint
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Acast
Produced by: FEL Creative
Next in Media spoke with Michael Scott, VP, Head of Sales & Operations, Samsung Ads, about where the South Korean TV manufacturer fits in the TV ad ecosystem.
Scott also talked about why Samsung is pushing into gaming, whether it wants to compete in measurement, and if he is a believer in CTV commerce.
Takeaways
• How Samsung uses this data to power content recommendations and precision targeting for advertisers.
• Navigating the evolving TV advertising landscape and currency discussions.
• Samsung's gaming initiatives and reaching the gaming audience.
• Samsung's fast-growing CTV platform and content partnerships.
• Emerging opportunities around shoppable TV and innovative ad formats.
Guest: Michael Scott
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Acast
Next in Media spoke with IAB Tech Lab CEO Anthony Katsur about the organization's infamous report on Google's Privacy Sandbox -and where the industry goes from here now that cookies may never go away. Katsur also talked about the state of industry regulation, and whether Trump or Harris would ever push for a national privacy law.
Takeaways
• The IAB Tech Lab has been monitoring Google's Privacy Sandbox and raising concerns about its functionality and impact on the advertising ecosystem.
• Data minimization is an important concept in privacy regulation, emphasizing the need to only collect and retain necessary data for a limited period of time.
• The industry is facing challenges such as signal loss, privacy compliance, and competition from social media and AI platforms.
• The outcome of the US election may have an impact on privacy regulation, but state laws and global privacy frameworks will continue to shape the industry.
• Google remains committed to innovating on the Privacy Sandbox and working with regulators and the industry to address privacy concerns.
Guest: Anthony Katsur
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Acast
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media talked to Sportico sports media reporter Anthony Crupi about why on demand streaming on Peacock plus old fashioned prime time might work for the Paris Games. Plus his thoughts on NBA rights, the rise of women's sports, and MLB marketing stumbles.
Takeaways
• The Olympics may not achieve the same live audience numbers as in the past, but NBC could still generate decent ratings by combining live coverage with prime time programming.
• Younger generations consume media in shorter, fragmented formats, which may impact their interest in watching live sports events in their entirety.
• The lack of a 'big bad' or a unifying narrative in the Olympics, along with societal and political divisions, may affect viewership.
• Co-viewing with family members remains a strong factor in sports viewership, but the trend of individualized screen consumption is prevalent among younger audiences.
• Traditional media companies are facing challenges in competing for media rights, especially with the rise of streaming platforms and non-traditional advertisers.
• The NBA's decision to divide its media rights among multiple players reflects the changing landscape of media consumption and the value of broadcast reach. Networks face obstacles in terms of legal limitations and financial sustainability.
• There is a demand for women's sports, but the limited inventory poses a challenge.
• Broadcast television is declining, and younger generations have different viewing preferences.
• Baseball struggles with marketing and attracting younger audiences.
• The media industry is constantly evolving, and there are challenges in balancing content and revenue.
Guest: Anthony Crupi
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Acast
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke with Michael Krans, VP Macy’s Media Network, about his recent move from Walmart, how he's trying to evangelize an ad sales ulture inside a giant shopping organization, and why he's not worried about retail media saturation.
Takeaways
• Macy's Media Network is recognized as a growth area in the business, generating significant revenue and offering real-time, transparent measurement and reporting.
• The retail media landscape is evolving and changing rapidly, with a growing number of retail media networks. Collaboration and sharing best practices among competitors can lead to collective growth and improvement.
• Shifting the mindset of vendors to see retail media networks as strategic media partners is a challenge, but it is crucial for long-term success.
• Measurement and analytics play a vital role in driving performance and optimizing campaigns. The ability to provide closed-loop, omni-level reporting is a competitive advantage.
• CTV is an effective upper-funnel tactic that can have a halo effect on other advertising channels. The focus is on reaching addressable audiences and driving overall sales impact.
• The integration of retail media planning and buying with other marketing functions is a positive trend, allowing for a holistic approach to media spend and better collaboration within organizations.
• The future of retail media includes exploring new opportunities for in-store advertising, such as digital screens and audio, to enhance the customer journey and complete the omnichannel experience.
Guest: Michael Krans
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Acast
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media caught up with three top industry observers at Cannes - Human Ventures Joe Marchese, Pfizer's Wendy Aldrich and former Ernst & Young analyst Janet Balis on what AI is going to require of marketers, whether there is a generational dividing line in TV, and what YouTube crashing the CTV market means for the future.
Guest(s): Joe Marchese, Wendy Aldrich, Josh Palau, Janet Balis
Host: Mike Shields
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke with Alban Villani, CEO of Europe and Asia for Epsilon, about the privacy climate overseas, how that impacts marketing, ad targeting and the growth of commerce media.
Takeaways
• Retail media is at the crossroads of multiple digital dimensions and has seen a significant acceleration in recent years.
• There is confusion around the potential applications of retail media outside of retail and whether companies should in-house the work or work with third parties.
• Privacy regulations, such as GDPR, play a crucial role in the European market, and Epsilon focuses on creating campaigns for individuals while ensuring GDPR compliance.
• Measurement in retail media is a key point of discussion, and identity resolution is essential for accurate tracking and attribution.
• Staying above the noise in the industry requires delivering honest and humble messages and explaining the value and impact of the work being done.
Guest: Alban Villani
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Epsilon
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke with Megan Ramm Global Director, Head of CPG Partnerships at Uber about how the ride share app has looked to turn Uber Eats into the next great ad platform. Ramm also talked about the tradeoffs inherent in building versus buying ad tech, and how Uber is looking to play both sides of the performance vs. branding markets.
Takeaways
• Uber Ads was born out of the pandemic, which accelerated their delivery business while ride-sharing was temporarily halted.
• Uber Ads offers a range of advertising solutions, leveraging their large user base and extensive data sets.
• Partnerships with companies like Google and Criteo help Uber Ads scale quickly.
• Uber Ads has seen success in driving new-to-brand and market share for advertisers.
• The challenge for Uber Ads is scaling their product and engineering teams and improving measurement and attribution capabilities in a crowded ad network landscape.
Guest: Megan Ramm
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Epsilon
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke with U of Digital Founder Shiv Gupta about the Trade Desk's recent ranking of the top 100 publishers, why he thinks Nextflix has moved too slowly into advertising, and whether ad tech is really contracting.
Takeaways
• Salespeople in the digital advertising industry often struggle to contextualize their products within the larger industry landscape.
• There is a need for scaled structured enablement to help people in the industry stay ahead of the rapidly changing landscape.
• The ad tech industry may experience a contraction as the internet becomes more dominated by walled gardens.
• The post-cookie world presents challenges for the industry, including limitations on addressability.
• The integration of advertising in streaming platforms varies, with Disney taking a more proactive approach and Netflix being more cautious.
• Addressability in television is limited due to the lack of rich data and the challenges of identity mapping.
Guest: Shiv Gupta
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Epsilon
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke to Jason Mitchell, Founder and CEO of social media agency Movement Strategy about why his team is constantly pushing brands to put their own social media output at the center of their strategies. Mitchell also gave his take on which platforms are up and down of late, and whether brands need a plan B for a possible TikTok ban.
Takeaways
• The evolution of social media marketing has shifted the focus to organic social presence and the importance of getting people to talk about brands on social media.
• AI has a significant impact on content creation, with behind-the-scenes AI being incredibly impactful in optimizing media and improving efficiency.
• Convergence in marketing teams and the role of creators are crucial in building trust in the AI-driven content landscape.
• Linear TV is facing challenges in adapting to the changing media landscape and the rise of AI-driven content.
• The creator economy is expected to continue growing, fueled by AI tools and technologies.
Guest: Jason Mitchell
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Epsilon
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke with Ashley McCollum, Head of Immersive Media Solutions at Roblox about the company's recent push into ad tech, and why brands need to get to know creators on the platform. McCollum also talked about some recent success stories among brands building immersive experiences via Roblox, and what a generation raised in these environments wants from brand and media companies.
Takeaways
• Roblox is a unique platform that combines social interaction with gaming mechanics in 3D virtual worlds.
• The platform has a strong focus on music, artists, and intellectual property, and offers a variety of experiences beyond traditional gaming.
• Roblox is expanding its advertising business and aims to build a new market around immersive media.
• The company is committed to maintaining a high bar for content and user experience while monetizing the platform.
• Roblox provides opportunities for brands to collaborate with creators and reach a highly engaged audience.
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction and Ashley's Role at Roblox
04:12 - Evolution of Advertising on Roblox
08:51 - Balancing Advertising and User Experience
11:32 - Navigating the Organization and Industry
13:46 - Impact on Media Habits and Expectations
24:11 - Ashley's Journey to Roblox
Guest: Ashley McCollum
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Epsilon
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke with Alison Levin, President, Advertising and Partnerships at NBCUniversal, about how the company is opening up the Olympics to a whole new crop of advertisers while trying to cater to Gen Z's viewing habits. Levin also talked about TV's attribution challenge and whether this is the year of "T-Commerce."
Takeaways
• Brands are leaning in to tell bigger stories and are interested in surrounding content with meaningful narratives.
• Strategic audiences and attribution are top of mind for advertisers, as they seek to move beyond age and gender targeting.
• The Olympics on Peacock will offer new advertising opportunities, including programmatic buying and shoppable ad units.
• Live sports continue to be a valuable asset for NBCU, with high viewership and co-viewing.
• The TV market is evolving, and NBCU is focused on proving the value of its full portfolio and driving purchase behavior.
• Attribution and measurement are key challenges, but NBCU is working on partnerships and tools to address them.
• Clean rooms and programmatic buying are growing in importance, attracting both big advertisers and new brands.
• Programmatic buying in live sports has seen significant growth, fueling client diversity and increasing spend.
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction and Upfront Season
02:46 - Strategic Audiences and Attribution: Moving Beyond Age and Gender
05:36 - Reimagining the Olympics on Peacock
07:33 - The Value of Live Sports
11:26 - Challenges and Opportunities in the TV Market
15:02 - The Need for Better Attribution and Measurement
25:58 - Programmatic Growth in Live Sports
Guest: Alison Levin
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Epsilon
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke with Tim Natividad, US Head of Enterprise Sales at TikTok, about how the company is trying to vie for traditional TV dollars - while also helping brands embrace a whole new form of marketing on what he calls a "participation engine.'
Guest: Tim Natividad
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Epsilon
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke with Melanie Brown, head of advanced TV at Tubi, about the company's unique origin story, and how the company is looking to lead a wider crop of brands to embrace CTV. Brown also provided a reality check on CTV's ad targeting capabilities at the moment, and gave her unique take on the future of media buying and measurement.
Guest: Melanie Brown
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Epsilon
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke with Lartease Tiffith, Executive Vice President, Public Policy at the IAB about why we haven't seen more action resulting from the various state privacy laws, and whether the FTC has it in for digital ads in general. Plus, what happens to regulation if Trump comes back?
Guest: Lartease Tiffith
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Epsilon
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke with Amanda Martin, SVP, Monetization & Business Strategy at Mediavine, about whether small to mid sized publishers are feeling the effects of cookies going away, and if they've gravitated to any viable solutions. Martin also gave an update on Google's Privacy Sandbox initiative, and why it's so complex and challenging for the industry to test and implement.
Guest: Amanda Martin
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Epsilon
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke with Amanda Rubin, EVP, Brand Solutions at Enthusiast Gaming, about some of the obstacles holding back gaming from becoming the next great ad medium. Rubin also helped break down the state of eSports, the difference between athletes and influencers, and whether big game publishers will ever care about advertising.
Guest: Amanda Rubin
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Epsilon
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke with Fernando Romero SVP, U.S. Digital Ad Sales at TelevisaUnivision about the company's efforts to push marketers out of viewing the Latino community as a separate silo, and its quest to ensure that measurement companies count this audience accurately.
Guest: Fernando Romero
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Epsilon
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke with Nicole Rechtszaid, co-founder and CEO of Ghost Agency and her colleage Jeremiah Neil, who serves as the company's Creator Success Manager about the prospects of TikTok Shopping, and whether the platform can really become the next Amazon. Rechtszaid and Neil also talked how brands can work with creators who specialize in turning viewers into shoppers, and the many misconceptions about this emerging sector.
Guest(s): Nicole Rechtszaid & Jeremiah Neil
Host: MIke Shields
Sponsored by: Epsilon
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke to Lisa Herdman SVP, Executive Director National Video Investment & Marketplace Intelligence at RPA about the push to make TV advertising more data driven, and whether that could - or should - cause brands to rethink the medium's very purpose.
Takeaways
• The adoption of data-driven targeting and measurement in TV is making progress, but the extent to which TV should be data-driven depends on the goals and objectives of advertisers.
• The industry is moving towards a more performance-driven approach to TV advertising, but it is important to consider the specific needs and objectives of each brand.
• Measurement evolution is a key challenge in the industry, and there is a need for standardization and holistic measurement across linear TV and streaming.
• Consolidation in the industry can have both positive and negative impacts on agencies and clients, with the potential for streamlining processes and resources, but also the risk of limited competition.
• The future of TV advertising will be influenced by the growth of individual influencers, the expansion of Netflix's ad business, and the changing landscape of sports rights and streaming platforms.
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
02:08 - Data-driven targeting and measurement
04:22 - The objective of TV and performance marketing
06:18 - Measurement evolution
10:42 - Consolidation and its impact on agencies and clients
13:20 - Strategic thinking and the balance between thinking and doing
20:29 - The future of individual influencers and upfronts
21:16 - Netflix and the growth of their ad business
22:14 - The future of sports and the impact of big tech companies
25:37 - Changes in the upfront and data-driven tactics
27:29 - The role of digital platforms like TikTok and Meta
29:21 - Uncertainty and decision-making with platforms like TikTok
31:48 - The need for expertise in navigating the industry
31:59 - Conclusion
Guest: Lisa Herdman
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Epsilon
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke with Dave Peterson. general manager, global head of retail media at Epsilon, about his experience building out Target's retail media business, why the industry desperately needs standards and consolidation, and why he's bullish on CTV shopping.
Takeaways
• Retail media is a growing industry that has its origins in the early 2010s, with only a few players at the time.
• There is still a lot of room for growth and innovation in retail media, with only 37% of retailers having offsite media capabilities.
• The industry needs to focus on standardization in measurement and address challenges such as fragmentation and identity.
• Retail media is not just a bottom-of-the-funnel solution; it can be a full-funnel solution that combines brand and performance marketing.
• The future of retail media lies in a consumer-centric approach, reaching individuals with relevant ads in the context of where they are.
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction and Background
00:44 - The Origin Story of Retail Media
08:31 - Expanding Retail Media to the Open Web
12:39 - Different Approaches in the Retail Media Landscape
14:06 - Challenges in Retail Media and the Need for Innovation
20:23 - The Potential for Consolidation in Retail Media
22:33 - Bridging Retail Media and CTV
28:59 - Retail Media Beyond the Bottom of the Funnel
31:37 - The Consumer-Centric Approach to Retail Media
Guest: Dave Peterson
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Epsilon
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media talked with Cognitiv CEO Jeremy Fain about what ad industry execs really need to understand about the difference between LLMs and Deep Learning and Computer Vision -and how all this stuff is actually going to shake up advertising - or not.
Takeaways
• Deep learning is a powerful tool in performance advertising, allowing for more efficient and effective targeting of impressions.
• Deep learning differs from traditional machine learning in its ability to generalize and understand complex patterns and contexts.
• The death of cookies presents challenges for the industry, but deep learning algorithms can still deliver strong performance by leveraging other signals and data.
• Transparency and customization are key factors in successful media buying, and deep learning can provide insights and analytics to support these efforts.
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction and Background
00:31 - The Origins of Cognitiv
01:27 - Understanding Deep Learning
04:33 - The Power of Deep Learning
06:01 - The Role of Generalization in Deep Learning
09:24 - The Focus on Performance Advertising
10:13 - The Evolution of Deep Learning
11:19 - Large Language Models and their Training
15:44 - The Use of Deep Learning in Media Buying
21:16 - The Implications of the Death of Cookies
25:07 - The Role of AI in Media Buying
27:17 - The Future of Generative AI
31:06 - The Impact of the Cookie's Demise
35:35 - Transparency in Media Buying
Guest: Jeremy Fain
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Epsilon
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke to creator economy expert Jim Louderback about his theory regarding the growth of YouTube subscriptions. Jim also discussed the growing creators-launching-brands trend, and the problems at Twitch.
Takeaways
• YouTube is likely moving towards a subscription model to generate more revenue, similar to other media platforms.
• Creators are finding success in monetizing their content through shared subscription revenue rather than relying solely on advertising.
• TikTok is facing challenges in appealing to older demographics and ensuring a safe environment for children.
• Traditional media companies should consider the changing consumption habits of younger audiences and explore new formats and platforms.
• Creators have a unique connection with their audience that traditional media and brands should understand and leverage.
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction and Background
01:22 - YouTube's Subscription Model
04:11 - Challenges of Transitioning to a Subscription Model
05:27 - The Potential of Windowing Content
06:31 - The Rise and Fall of Vessel
07:35 - The Role of Brands in the Creator Economy
09:46 - Brands' Allocation of Resources
10:43 - Trends and Challenges in TikTok
13:05 - Competition from TikTok Copycats
15:52 - Challenges at Twitch
23:33 - The Potential of Creators Forming Their Own Network
26:49 - The Unique Connection Between Creators and Their Audience
Guest: Jim Louderback
Host: Mike Shields
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke with Kelly Metz, Chief Investment Officer, OMD USA about why she's not shedding a tear for third party cookies, whether the currency wars are dying, and the different between YouTube and TikTok when it comes to grabbing TV budgets.
Guest: Kelly Metz
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Publica
Produced by: Fresh Take
Mike Shields sat down with Kochava CEO Charles Manning to talk about how the mobile marketing world sees the end of cookies after having gone through Apple's ID changes a few years ago - and why mobile ad companies have any business moving into CTV.
Guest: Charles Manning
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Publica
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media talked with Ryan Meerstein, Managing Partner at Targeted Victory, about the state of digital advertising for the 2024 election. Ryan talked about why his job is harder than ever, in a post cookie, post Cambridge Analytica, disinformation heavy world - and why candidates plan to ramp up spending regardless.
Guest: Ryan Meerstein
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Publica
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke to Ben Mathews, general partner at Night Ventures, about creators like Mr. Beast becoming product marketing moguls, where investors are looking to spend in the creator economy, the latest on TikTok and ongoing woes at Twitch.
He highlights the shift in funding and customer acquisition strategies, with a focus on talent-led businesses. Matthews emphasizes the success and influence of Mr. Beast and the unique approach he takes to his business. He also discusses the challenges and opportunities in the creator economy, including the limitations of automating the industry and the potential for creators to launch their own products. Matthews concludes by discussing the impact of the disappearance of cookies on the advertising industry.
Takeaways
• The creator economy is on the rise, with talent-led businesses gaining traction and changing the way customer acquisition is approached.
• Mr. Beast is a prime example of a creator who has successfully monetized his audience and treated his business like a hypergrowth startup.
• The advertising market in the creator economy is disorganized and challenging, with a lack of automation and data available for both creators and advertisers.
• The disappearance of cookies and the shift towards a cookie-less internet will have significant implications for the advertising industry.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background
02:16 The Rise of the Creator Economy
03:25 The Role of Knight Ventures in the Creator Economy
04:53 The Shift in Funding and Customer Acquisition
06:30 The Changing Landscape of Direct-to-Consumer Brands
08:14 The Influence and Success of Mr. Beast
09:46 The Business Approach of Mr. Beast
11:37 The Marketing Challenges in the Creator Economy
13:30 The Advertising Market and YouTube
16:08 The Limitations of Automating the Creator Economy
18:03 The Opportunity in the Middle Tail of Creators
19:08 The Potential for Creators to Launch Products
21:11 The Role of Short-Form Content Platforms
22:29 The Challenges of Monetizing Gaming Content
25:15 The Disappearance of Cookies and its Impact on Advertising
26:30 Conclusion
Guest: Ben Mathews
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Publica
Produced by: Fresh Take
Mike & Ari talk Google earnings, Sandbox, and whether anyone cares about Tech and Congress.
They also express concerns about the future of advertising and the impact of privacy changes. The conversation touches on Google's earnings and the success of YouTube. They discuss the congressional testimony and its limited impact on advertisers. The conversation also explores the challenges faced by journalism and the ownership of publications. They share podcast recommendations and discuss the upcoming Super Bowl and a unique advertising stunt. The conversation concludes with a discussion on the attacks on pop culture figures by Republicans.
Takeaways
• The privacy sandbox and the future of advertising are topics of concern in the industry.
• Google's earnings and the success of YouTube are noteworthy.
• Congressional testimony has limited impact on advertisers.
• The challenges faced by journalism and the ownership of publications are discussed.
• Podcast recommendations and the upcoming Super Bowl are mentioned.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and IAB Conference
01:17 Criticizing the Privacy Sandbox
02:10 Concerns about the Future of Advertising
03:17 The Impact of Privacy Changes on Advertising
04:02 Google's Earnings and YouTube's Success
05:19 The Perception of Google's Performance
06:14 The Future of Search and AI
07:38 Congressional Testimony and its Impact on Advertising
08:46 Advertisers' Response to Social Media Failings
09:45 The Influence of Advertisers on Social Media Platforms
10:30 The Potential Breakup of Google's Network Business
12:06 The Decline of Digital Publishing
13:09 The Challenges Faced by Journalism
14:15 Ownership of Publications: Billionaires vs. Private Equity
15:16 The Possibility of Government Funding for Journalism
16:31 Media Consumption and Podcast Recommendations
18:15 Disappointment with the Pivot Podcast
19:37 Expectations for Super Bowl Ratings
20:18 Flash Talking's Super Bowl Ad Stunt
21:13 Taylor Swift and Political Endorsements
22:45 Republicans' Attacks on Pop Culture Figures
Next in Media spoke to Tim Huelskamp, founder and CEO of 1440 Media, about how the company built a media business of 3 million plus daily readers by focusing on non partisan news and treating a newsletter like a direct to consumer brand.
Tim discusses the history and mission of the daily email newsletter. He explains how 1440 aims to provide comprehensive and non-partisan news to busy professionals who want to stay informed across various topics. Tim shares insights into the company's business model, including their focus on unit economics and paid growth. He also discusses the value of attention and the importance of brand safety in working with advertisers. Tim explores the potential for expansion into new areas and verticals, as well as the future of newsletters in the creator economy.
Takeaways
• 1440 aims to provide comprehensive and non-partisan news to busy professionals across various topics.
• The company focuses on unit economics and paid growth to monetize their audience and ensure profitability.
• Brand safety is a priority for 1440, and they work with advertisers who value their brand-safe environment.
• The future of newsletters is promising, with the potential for more creators utilizing the medium to share knowledge and engage with their audience.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background
03:00 The Birth of 1440
06:00 The Need for Comprehensive and Non-Partisan News
09:00 Business Model and Growth Strategy
12:00 The Importance of Unit Economics
15:00 Paid Growth and the Value of Attention
18:00 Working with Advertisers and Brand Safety
21:00 Expanding into New Areas and Verticals
24:00 The Future of Newsletters and the Creator Economy
29:00 Closing Remarks
Guest: Tim Huelskamp
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Kochava
Sponsored by: Publica
Produced by: Fresh Take
We touch on Netflix, the Currency Wars, Amazon Prime ads, and the bloodbath in digital media.
In this episode, Mike and Ari discuss the recent challenges faced by the digital media and journalism industry, including layoffs and declining ad revenue. They explore the impact of social and search platforms on journalism and the rise of AI-generated content. The conversation also touches on the decline of newspapers and the short-sightedness of pay-to-link legislative efforts. They then shift their focus to the dominance of Netflix in the streaming industry and its advertising trajectory. The discussion concludes with a mention of Amazon Prime's advertising moves and the potential reaction of consumers to ads on the platform.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Hangover
00:26 Brutal Week for Digital Media and Journalism Industry
02:10 Impact of Social and Search on Journalism
03:12 AI-generated Content and SEO
03:59 Short-sightedness of Pay-to-Link Legislative Efforts
06:05 Decline of Journalism and Newspapers
07:19 Trends in the Advertising Market
09:00 Decline of Journalism and Rise of Fake Content
09:39 Netflix's Dominance in the Streaming Industry
10:29 Nielsen's Resilience in the TV Currency Wars
12:20 Netflix's Advertising Trajectory
14:19 Netflix's Success in Licensing Content
16:08 Netflix's Deal with WWE and Advertising Strategy
17:11 Amazon Prime's Advertising Moves
19:20 Consumer Reaction to Ads on Prime Video
20:39 Importance of Free Shipping in Prime Membership
21:19 Conclusion
Next in Media sat down with Google's Senior Director of Product Management Victor Wong to break down what is really going on now that cookies are going away, while trying to help make sense of this vitally important new digital ad targeting initiative.
Wong discusses the journey towards improving privacy on the web and the development of the Privacy Sandbox. The Privacy Sandbox is a set of privacy-preserving technologies that support various web functionalities, including online advertising. Wong explains the different APIs within the Privacy Sandbox and how they can be used to replace third-party cookies while protecting user privacy. He also addresses concerns about transparency, confusion in the industry, and the role of AI in the future of advertising. Wong emphasizes the importance of collaboration and adoption within the industry to ensure a successful transition to a more private web.
Takeaways
• The Privacy Sandbox is a set of privacy-preserving technologies developed by Google to improve privacy on the web.
• The Privacy Sandbox includes various APIs that allow developers to build new solutions while protecting user privacy.
• The transition from third-party cookies to the Privacy Sandbox is a complex process that requires collaboration and industry-wide adoption.
• The Privacy Sandbox aims to provide transparency to brands while protecting user privacy and offering effective advertising solutions.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
00:40 The Journey to Privacy Improvement
02:11 Timeline Changes and Industry Collaboration
04:12 Understanding the Privacy Sandbox
05:30 Using Privacy Sandbox APIs
08:32 Transitioning from Third-Party Cookies
09:51 Targeting and Audience Extension
12:56 Different APIs in Privacy Sandbox
14:09 User Experience in the 1% Tracking Protection
16:29 Separation of Privacy Sandbox and Ad Sales
18:16 Addressing Confusion and Complexity
20:05 Deterministic vs. Probabilistic Approaches
22:47 Advancements in AI and Privacy
24:14 Transparency for Brands
25:47 Testing and Adoption of Privacy Sandbox
27:06 Google's Interest in the Open Web
Guest: Victor Wong
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Publica
Sponsored by: Kochava
Produced by: Fresh Take
Mike and Ari discuss various topics including Peacock's streaming of NFL games, Google's layoffs and the shift to automation, the challenges of implementing clean rooms, and the future of trade shows like CES. They also touch on the importance of technical execution in streaming, the decline of linear TV, and the rise of sports streaming and advertising. The conversation provides insights into the current state of the media and advertising industry.
Takeaways
Peacock's streaming of NFL games was a technical success, but the long-term business impact is still uncertain.
Google's recent layoffs may be a result of a shift towards automation and a focus on smaller advertisers.
The implementation of clean rooms in the advertising industry has faced challenges, and the future of the space is unclear.
The decline of linear TV and the rise of streaming platforms present both opportunities and challenges for the sports industry.
Trade shows like CES may face changes in the future, with possible alternatives like Possible gaining traction.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and No Prep, No Insights
01:04 Peacock's NFL Game Streaming
02:20 Peacock's Business Success and Content
03:06 Google's Layoffs and Clean Rooms
06:16 The Importance of Technical Execution in Streaming
07:22 The Future of Sports Streaming and Advertising
08:26 The Decline of Linear TV and the Rise of Streaming
09:25 Google's Layoffs and the Shift to Automation
10:09 Privacy Sandbox and the Challenges of Implementation
11:06 Google's Shifting Approach and Antitrust Issues
12:21 The Challenges of Implementing Clean Rooms
14:06 CES and the Future of Trade Shows
18:16 The LiveRamp-Habu Deal and the Clean Room Space
Guest: Ari Paparo
Host: Mike Shields
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke to Dylan Collins, former executive at Epic Games, about the evolution of gaming over the past decade, and what brands and media companies need to understand about Gen Z and Gen Alpha's love of social, UGC gaming platforms like Fortnite and Roblox.
Guest: Dylan Collins
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Kochava
Sponsored by: Publica
Produced by: Fresh Take
Takeaways
- Super Awesome started as a kids media company and evolved into a provider of tools for kids digital media.
- Fortnite and Roblox have become popular gaming platforms for young audiences.
- Brands and advertisers are increasingly interested in reaching young audiences on platforms like Fortnite and Roblox.
- In-game advertising on user-generated content platforms is still evolving and faces challenges in terms of ease of buying and scalability.
- The future of advertising on these platforms may involve rewarded mechanics and long-term partnerships with brands.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background
01:14 Starting Super Awesome
02:08 Challenges in Financing
03:29 Expanding Beyond Kids Ad Tech
04:20 Building Tools for Kids Digital Media
05:09 Importance of Parental Consent
06:08 Expansion into Content and Community Tools
07:15 Expansion of Customer Base
08:11 Rise of Kids as a Visible Audience
09:42 Success of Fortnite and Roblox
10:47 Fortnite's Appeal to Young Audiences
12:16 Fortnite as a Social and Gaming Platform
13:39 Shift from Social Platforms to Gaming Platforms
15:09 Brands and Advertising in Fortnite and Roblox
18:28 Long-Term Partnerships with Brands
20:23 Transition to Long-Term Thinking
22:37 Challenges in In-Game Advertising
24:24 Importance of Making Buying Ads Easy
25:18 Supporting Brands and Advertisers on UGC Platforms
26:16 The Future of Advertising on UGC Platforms
27:43 Acquisition by Epic Games
29:27 Growing Importance of Young Audiences
30:23 Generational vs. Cohort Platforms
32:37 Future of Fortnite and Roblox
34:12 Empowerment of Younger Audiences
37:30 Conclusion
Next in Media spoke with Brian Wieser, who runs the substack/ad consultancy Madison and Wall, about the state of the ad market, which is promising strong - but far from universal growth. One sector that needs to change its philosophy and products, says Wieser, is TV, which risks getting left behind by the tech platforms and retail media.
Guest: Brian Wieser
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Publica by IAS and Kochava
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media's new Week In Review show features Ari Paparo and Mike breaking down the biggest stories in media and advertising this week, including the debacle that is The Messenger and the worst case scenario for cookies.
Takeaways
- The failure of The Messenger highlights the challenges faced by digital media companies in the current landscape.
- Mainstream media companies need to adapt to changing consumer preferences and business models to stay relevant.
- Personal biases can influence opinions and perceptions of media companies and their success or failure.
- The advertising industry is facing challenges with the proliferation of retail media networks and the impending cookie deprecation.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Experimentation
00:28 Discussion on The Messenger
01:47 The Failure of The Messenger
03:01 The Challenges of Mainstream Media
04:33 Personal Bias and Schadenfreude
05:09 High Paying Journalism Jobs
06:30 The Success of Semaphore
07:59 Quibi's Failed Partnership
08:55 Quibi's Unusual Content
11:10 Issues in the Ad Business
11:56 Proliferation of Retail Media Networks
12:56 Frustration with Cookie Deprecation
14:08 The Impact of Cookie Deprecation
17:22 Shift to CTV and Disruption in Advertising
19:12 Consolidation in the Streaming Industry
Next in Media spoke with Catherine Perloff, platforms reporter at Adweek, about the biggest stories of 2023 in media and advertising, why programmatic can't seem to shake its reputation for opacity, and whether brands are truly ready for all of the big changes on the horizon in 2024.
Takeaways
- Transparency remains a significant issue in ad tech, particularly with the rise of AI media buying tools.
- Ad tech consolidation is happening, with SSPs moving to the buy side and DSPs moving to the sell side.
- Google has faced scandals and pushback regarding transparency and quality issues.
- The use of AI in media buying is slowly changing the industry, but there are concerns about relinquishing control.
- TikTok has become a major platform for marketing, especially in social commerce.
- The ad tech industry is experiencing inefficiency, with only a small percentage of bid requests resulting in monetization.
- The future of ad tech is uncertain due to cookie deprecation and the expansion of retail media and ad networks.
- Advertiser perception of Twitter is mixed, with some brands staying and others potentially reducing their spending.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Overview
00:35 Transparency in Ad Tech
02:01 Ad Tech Consolidation
03:18 Challenges with Transparency and Quality
05:29 Google's Scandals and Pushback
08:13 The Rise of AI in Media Buying
10:09 The Comeback of Meta (formerly Facebook)
12:39 The Success and Impact of TikTok
17:56 Consolidation in the Ad Tech Industry
20:20 Inefficiency in the Ad Tech System
23:51 The Future of Ad Tech and Cookie Deprecation
26:17 The Expansion of Retail Media and Ad Networks
28:11 Advertiser Perception of Twitter
29:47 Conclusion
Guest: Catherine Perloff
Host: Mike Shields
In Partnership with: Comcast Advertising
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media talked with Jason Bunge, CMO of Hasbro, on why there are more options than ever to advertise to kids, and why the kids landscape is also more challenging and uncertain to navigate.
Guest: Jason Bunge
Host: Mike Shields
In Partnership with: Comcast Advertising
Produced by: Fresh Take
Takeaways
- The landscape of kids media and marketing is constantly evolving, with digital platforms and streaming services playing a significant role in content consumption.
- Creating impactful and authentic content is crucial in engaging with young audiences, and user-generated content can be highly effective in driving engagement and virality.
- Marketing to gamers requires authenticity and a deep understanding of the gaming community, with partnerships and collaborations with gaming platforms offering valuable opportunities.
- Co-viewing is a growing trend among families, providing marketers with the opportunity to tell compelling stories that resonate with a broader audience.
- Owned social presence is becoming increasingly important, as paid media alone is less effective in reaching and engaging consumers, and an always-on approach is necessary for building brand health and driving demand.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
00:42 State of Kids Media and Marketing
03:20 Changing Landscape of Content Consumption
05:08 Content and Engagement in Marketing
07:48 Creating Impactful Content
09:48 Engaging with User-Generated Content
14:25 Authenticity in Marketing to Gamers
17:07 Co-Viewing and Changing Family Dynamics
18:55 Approaching Kids and Parents as Target Audiences
20:30 The Role of Video Games in Marketing
21:30 Leveraging Brands and IP in Advertising
22:39 The Importance of Owned Social Presence
24:12 Moving Away from Seasonal Marketing
25:00 Transition from Video Games to Toys
27:08 Savviness of Kids and Influencing Parents
28:23 Conclusion
Next in Media spoke with Evan Hovorka, VP Product and Innovation Albertsons Media Collective, about his experience in the earliest days of retail media inside of Target, and how he's taken those lessons to Albertsons, which has become a serious ads player in just a few short years. Hovorka also discussed how the retail media category needs to graduate beyond advertising 101, and AI might help bring things to a new level.
Guest: Evan Hovorka
Host: Mike Shields
In Partnership with: Comcast Advertising
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media, I spoke with Larry Fitzgibbon, co-founder and CEO of Tastemade - the food and travel centric media brand that was born on YouTube but now produces for every major social video platform. Today Tastemade has pushed aggressively into TV, and Larry and I how the production and business models in that medium are radically different.
Guest: Larry Fitzgibbon
Host: Mike Shields
In Partnership with: Comcast Advertising
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke with Ryan Detert, CEO of Influential, one of the top firms helping brands sort through the world of influencers and social platforms. Detert talked about the state of TikTok, and what many marketers miss regarding its power over younger audiences. Detert also talked about whether he sees potential in social shopping in the US, and which influencers are on the rise.
Guest: Ryan Detert
Host:Mike Shields
In Partnership with: Comcast Advertising
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke with Freewheel's GM Mark McKee about the problem with repetitive, messy ad delivery on FAST channels, and why the TV industry has to clean up its supply chains asap. McKee also talked about whether we're seeing too much CTV ad inventory too soon, and whether this market will be fully programmatic next year.
Guest: Mark McKee
Host: Mike Shields
In Partnership with: Comcast Advertising
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke with Gonzalo Del Fa, President at GroupM Multicultural about the challenge of changing currencies in TV, while also trying to accurately account for Hispanic audiences. Del Fa also talked about when and where brands should advertise in Spanish, and why most brands' efforts toward diverse media spending is still a work in progress.
Guest: Gonzalo Del Fa
Host: Mike Shields
In Partnership with: Comcast Advertising
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke with Rachel Chukura, Head of Consumer, Products, The Weather Company, about whether brands are scared off by being aligned with all this volatility in weather patterns of late. Chukura also talked about the inherent tension for publishers in designing consumer friendly services and advertising-appealing products, and whether mobile advertising has ever fully reached its promise.
Guest: Rachel Chukura
Host: Mike Shields
In Partnership with: Comcast Advertising
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke to Rich Lehrfeld, SVP & GM Walmart Connect, about how the company built a multibillion dollar, highly profitable ad business in just a few short years. Lehrfeld also talked about the potential to connect Walmart data to TV advertising, and whether the slew of other retail media networks are in for the long haul.
Guest: Rich Lehrfeld
Host: Mike Shields
In Partnership with: Comcast Advertising
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke with Mike O'Donnell, Chief Revenue/ Strategic Growth Officer at Vizio about the company's evolution from a TV manufacturer to an ad sales firm/programmer. O'Donnell talked about the challenges in shifting a company's entire business model while trying to build credibility in a fast changing marketplace.
Guest: Mike O'Donnell
Host: Mike Shields
In Partnership with: Comcast Advertising
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media chatted with Pooja Midha EVP, General Manager at Effectv, a division of Comcast Advertising, about how local advertising is evolving beyond old fashioned spot cable. Midha also gave an update on the state of addressable TV, and why she things the influx of local brands to CTV could lead to a much longer tail for the medium.
Guest: Pooja Midha
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Comcast Advertising
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke with Mike Bregman, chief data officer at Havas, about his unique background, where he sees AI being applied to advertising (and what is just noise) and why the media industry needs a Joint Industry Committee.
Guest: Mike Bregman
Host: Mike Shields
In Partnership with: Comcast Advertising
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke with Kate Ward - Chief Content Officer - Betches Media, about how the publisher has avoided the fate of so many digital native brands, how the company figures out how to produce content effectively on so many different platforms, and whether AI ever do what Betches does.
Guest: Kate Ward
Host: Mike Shields
In Partnership with: Comcast Advertising
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke with Paramount Advertising President John Halley about the state of measurement in connected TV, whether Nielsen is on the comeback trail, and why he thinks TV networks can steal dollars from social media.
Guest: John Halley
Host: Mike Shields
In Partnership with: Comcast Advertising
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke with Lex Josephs, GM of Sam’s Club Member Access Platform, about the inherent challenges in turning a retail membership product into an ad vehicle, and how the company took the strong part of Walmart Inc.'s tech and customized it for the membership model.. Lex also weighed in on whether she thinks more standards and consolidation are inevitable in this sector.
Guest: Lex Josephs
Host: Mike Shields
In Partnership with: Comcast Advertising
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke with Pinterest CRO Bill Watkins about the company's foray into generative AI for both consumers and advertisers. Watkins also spoke about the company's unique approach to video, and how Pinterest has weathered the Apple ATT storm.
Guest: Bill Watkins
Host: Mike Shields
In Partnership with: Comcast Advertising
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke with Adam Roodman, Yahoo's SVP Product Strategy and Management on the company's decision to shut down its SSP to focus exclusively on the buy side of business - and why he thinks we'll see more exclusive deals as the ad tech ecosystem consolidates. Adam also talked about how he explains Yahoo's relevance to ad buyers in 2023, and why being owned by private equity has revitalized the company
Guest: Adam Roodman
Host: Mike Shields
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media talked with Captify CEO Mike Welch - who served as GM for Xandr at both AT&T and Microsoft - on whether the ad tech marketing is about to see a thinning of the herd, and what that means for the open web. Welch also talked about how his new search-focused company is both prepping for a post cookie world while also trying to set itself for the coming AI-driven, conversational search era.
Guest: Mike Welch
Host: Mike Shields
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke with Conor McKenna, partner at Luma Partners, about why we're seeing so many companies enter the ad business for the first time, and whether recent upticks in ad spending bode well for the rest of this year.
Guest: Conor McKenna
Host: Mike Shields
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke with Rita Ferro, President of Disney Advertising, about this year's prolonged upfront, the company's overarching push to move the TV ad market to programmatic pipes, and why a traditional media company bothers to own its own tech stack and data graph.
Guest: Rita Ferro
Host: Mike Shields
In Partnership with: Beet.TV
Produced by: FreshTake
This week on Next in Media spoke with James Rooke, president of Comcast Advertising about what is fueling frustration among TV buyers and sellers, from the lack of uniform metrics, to walled gardens, to what he sees are a series of double standards between how traditional media and tech companies get graded.
Guest: James Rooke
Host: Mike Shileds
In Partnership with: Beet.TV
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke with Kya Sainsbury-Carter, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Advertising about how consumers are responding to more chat-based searches on Bing, thanks to the incorporation of lots of Generative AI-tech - and what that means for brands and publishers. Sainsbury-Carter also laid out the case for Microsoft to become a central player in commerce media, as it helps retailers both channel more demand and provide brands with more one-stop shopping.
Guest: Kya Sainsbury-Carter
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: Beet.TV
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media chatted with Wall Street Journal reporter Patience Haggin about her recent bombshell piece on Google delivering ads for YouTube all across the web while violating the company's own terms of service. Patience talks about why this sort of thing keeps happening, what the ramifications are, and what this might mean in the broader context as regulators assess whether to break up Google.
Guest: Patience Haggin
Host: Mike Shields
Sponsored by: MiQ
In partnership with: Beet.TV
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke with Charlie Neer, chief commercial officer at MiQ, about why retail media is poised to dominate even further this year, whether brands are actually ready for a post-cookie world, and why in-game advertising is a sleeping programmatic giant.
Guest: Charlie Neer
Host: Mike Shields
In partnership with: Beet.TV
Sponsored by: MiQ (https://www.wearemiq.com/next-in-media)
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke to LG Ads' CMO Tony Marlow about the company's push to control more of the TV user interface, and why he believes 'controlling the glass' provides a major measurement and targeting advantage. Tony also talked about how AI might change TV commercial production and why he's changed his mind about shoppable TV ads.
Guest: Tony Marlow
Host: Mike Shields
In partnership with: Beet.TV
Sponsored by: MiQ
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media talked to Morning Brew's Ryan Barwick on how the ad industry is prepping for increased regulation, why DC lawmakers may be more tuned into the inner workings of Google and Facebook than you think, and how everything has become an ad tech story.
Guest: Ryan Barwick
Host: Mike Shields
In partnership with: Beet.TV
Sponsored by: Miq (https://www.wearemiq.com/next-in-media)
Produced by: Fresh Take
"When we talk about augmented reality to brands, we talk about enriching all of their marketing". This week on Next in Media, we spoke to Adam Shlachter, Head of Marketing, Strategic & Brand Partnerships at Niantic Go. Adam talked about how Niantic is bring brands into Pokemon GO, while helping to make augmented reality shopping an standard behavior. Adam is also bullish on bringing more brands to gaming, and thinks consumers are ready to start wearing digital glasses on an everyday basis.
Guest: Adam Shlachter
Host: Mike Shields
In partnership with: Beet.TV
Sponsored by: MiQ (https://www.wearemiq.com/next-in-media)
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke to Jessica Lee. Partner at Loeb & Loeb, who is the Chair, of the firm's Privacy, Security & Data Innovations about how various state privacy laws could rock programmatic advertising in the coming months. Lee talked about why she expects the State of California is going to very excited to start their enforcement. Depending upon how these laws are interpreted, many ad tech company's businesses could be compromised, and the flow of ad targeting data could be seriously choked off.
Guest: Jessica Lee
Host: Mike Shields
In partnership with: Beet.TV
Sponsored by: MiQ
Produced by: Fresh Take
Horizon's Dave Campanelli on Nielsen frustrations, whether the JIC needs to exist, and why TIkTok hasn't joined YouTube at the TV table - yet.
Guest: Dave Campanelli
Host: Mike Shields
In Partnership with: Beet.TV
Sponsored by: MiQ
Produced by: Fresh Take
Jordan Levin, general manager of Rooster Teeth on surviving the streaming wars as niche player, reaching gamers, business model fluctuations and the future of traditional TV. Next in Media talked to Levin about the company's journey from subscription video service to podcasting giant and gaming fandom hub within the Warner Discovery kingdom.
Guest: Jordan Levin
Host: Mike Shields
In Partnership with: Beet.TV
Sponsored by: MiQ
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media talked to Sorin Patilinet, along with Realeyes Max Kalehoff on some ground breaking research on measuring the effectiveness of various digital ad formats...and the results were not encouraging. "People are sending us a message," said Patilinet. But there is how, as the two executives explained their findings, which suggest that brands can be a lot smarter about what ads they show people and where, before they waste billions.
Guest(s): Sorin Patilinet + Max Kalehoff
Host: Mike Shields
In partnership with: Beet.TV
Sponsored by: MiQ
Produced by: Fresh Take
Next in Media spoke with Ali Miller, Vice President of Product Management, Ads Instacart about building an advertising company at 100 mph, how the company is using data science to prove that its ads are getting people to buy things they weren't planning to, and what might be next for conversational shopping backed by AI.
Guest: Ali Miller
Host: Mike Shields
In Partnership with: Beet.TV
Sponsored by: MiQ
Produced by: Fresh Take
This week Next in Media spoke with Emma Vaughn, Spotify's Global Head of Advertising Business Development & Partnerships about whether podcasting needs an upfront, why the company is putting so much money into measurement and ad serving, and why video and CTV are the next key frontiers for the company.
Guest: Emma Vaughn
Host: Mike Shields
In Partnership with: BeetTV
Sponsored by: MIQ
Produced by: FreshTake
Next in Media caught up with Miles Fischer Sr. Director, Head of Growth & Platform Sales at Roku, to talk about the company's attempt at building a consumer ad business and the go-to CTV ad buying platform. In addition Fischer talked about the company's deals with Walmart and Best Buy, and what it's going to take to turn TV commerce into a real thing.
Guest: Miles Fischer
Host: Mike Shields
In Partnership with BeetTV
Sponsored by: MIQ
Produced by: FreshTake
Next in Marketing sat down with Victoria Bachan, President, Whalar Talent on creator economy myths, why brands need to master short form video, and how brands are dealing with TikTok's volatility.
Guest: Victoria Bachan
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing spoke to Ana Milicevic co-founder, Sparrow Advisers about Netlix's plans for ad tech, what it means for Microsoft, and why ad serving is suddenly sexy.
Guest: Ana Milicevic
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing spoke with Tracy Stallard, former Global VP at AB InBev, and now VP of marketing at the plant based food company Upfield about the value brands - even CPGs - can gain from testing selling products directly, even if that's not their core business. Stallard also talked about why the pricing disparity between linear TV and streaming is way out of whack, why the business finds itself in a 'currency scary world' and why she's advocating for an Attentive Reach metric in this year's upfront.
Guest: Tracy Stallard
Host: Anthony Spano
Next in Marketing spoke with Parvati Vaish VP, Director of Analytics at Havas Media Group about whether the push for consumer privacy is going to cripple ad targeting, how Attention metrics could reshape television, and why the company is looking to build out a proprietary set of tools designed to show ads to people based on how they feel at a given moment.
Guest: Parvati Vaish
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing spoke with Joe Marchese, partner at Human Ventures, and Marc Guldimann, founder and CEO of Adelaide, about why the TV ad model is broken, and why we're still not valuing attention correctly. Marchese and Guldimann also helped break down why it's so hard to get the ad world to change currencies, but why this time around brands may force change on the media ecosystem.
Guest(s): Joe Marchese, Marc Guldimann
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing hosted a debate on the future of Attention as a form of media and ad measurement - and whether it should be used as a new form of currency. The debate featured Joanne Leong SVP, Global Partnerships at dentsu, Julian Zilberbrand, EVP Advanced Media, Paramount, and Marc Guldimann Founder & CEO of the attention focused startup Adelaide. Later on, we talk to Bayer's Paul Gelb on how he's handling currency overload in 2023.
Guest(s): Joanne Leong, Julian Zilberbrand, Marc Guldimann, Paul Gelb
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing spoke to Brendan Spain,VP, Advertising - Americas at Financial Times about how why the publication limits its use of ad tech and exchanges, and hasn't gone wild using clean rooms. Instead the FT is zeroing in on using Attention as truer measure of the value of its ads.
Guest: Brendan Spain
Host: Mike Shields
The ad tech pioneer and Moat founder spoke about why he thinks attention and quality scores matter far more to brands than finding a new ad currency. Goodhart spoke to Next in Marketing about his latest investments in metrics startups, and how he sees digital ad creative as the next frontier for innovation.
Guest: Jonah Goodhart
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing spoke to Insider Intelligence Principle Analyst Andrew Lipsman about what he sees as "the Third Wave" in digital advertising. Following upon the masssive category launches we've seen over the past two decades- first search and social - retail media is set to become a $45 billion category. That said, not every retailer is likely to be able to manage these businesses on their own, given how dominant Amazon, Walmart and a few other players have become. Lipsman predicts partnership and ad tech rollups as this category continues to surge in 2023.
Guest: Andrew Lipsman
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing, spoke with Jonathan Stringfield, VP, Global Business Research & Marketing at Activision Blizzard about the persistent knowledge gap in the marketing world regarding the opportunities that exist in gaming. Stringfield who recently published the book Get in the Game: How to Level Up Your Business with Gaming, Esports, and Emerging Technologies, also offered some real talk on Google's Stadia's failure and Netflix's gaming prospects.
Guest: Jonathan Stringfield
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing talked with Karthik Rao, CEO of Nielsen Audience Measurement about the company's new NielsenOne ads product, which promises to bring far more clarity to TV ad buying, and finally fix the CTV frequency nightmare.
Guest: Karthik Rao
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing talked to The Trade Desk Chief Client Officer Jed Dederick about why big media companies eventually give into programmatic selling for CTV, whether it will matter if the Feds break up Google, and how the company plans to further crack retail media.
Guest: Jed Dederick
Host: Mike Shields
This week on Next in Marketing, we looked at the biggest stories in media and advertising with The Rebooting's Brian Morrissey, including BuzzFeed's implosion and what it means for mainstream digital publishing's future. Brian also gave his take on how AI will and won't change advertising, and why he's still a bit crypto curious.
Guest: Brian Morrissey
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing spoke with Hiroki Asai, Global Head of Marketing at Airbnb about why travel seems recession proof right now, and why his company is breaking conventional wisdom by leaning into brand advertising in spite of the ongoing economic uncertainty.
Guest: Hiroki Asai
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing spoke with Adrienne Lahens, Global Head of Operations, TikTok Creator Marketing Solutions about how working with creators on the platform is markedly different than YouTube, and how brands are seeking ways to execute influencer campaigns much faster, while also figuring out the best way to track their impact.
Guest: Adrienne Lahens
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing talked to Zefr co-founder and CEO Rich Raddon about how his company became and accidentally leader in brand safety technology, and what lead Zefr - which was born as a YouTube ad buying firm, to purchase an Israeli startup that was looking to fight disinformation after the 2016 elections.
Guest: Rich Raddon
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing talked to Brian Albert, who leads YouTube media partnerships & creative services teams, about how he's trying to convince TV brands that creators are investing in high production content just like some of the bigger streaming platforms - yet the resulting viewership and impact is even larger. Yet Albert acknowledged that he's fighting a perspective battle among traditional marketers about what constitutes 'quality' and 'premium.' - Albert also gave his take on what's driving the ongoing ad slowdown.
Guest: Brian Albert
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing Vinny Rinaldi, Head of Media & Analytics at Hershey, the kind of marketer that has traditionally used TV advertising to reach - everybody. Over the the past few years the company has shifted a large majority of its spending to digital channels in search of more accountability. Yet the industry keeps throwing up more walled gardens - making this transition much more challenging.
Guest: Vinny Rinaldi
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing spoke with Erica Patrick SVP, Director of Paid Social Media at Mediahub Worldwide about why platforms like Meta and Snap are suddenly struggling, thanks to Apple's new ID rules, and TikTok stealing everyone's thunder. Patrick also talked about the state of brand safety on social media, and whether marketers will ever be able to fully have control over where their ads run.
Guest: Erica Patrick
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing spoke with Adam Gerber, Executive Director, US Investment Strategy · GroupM and Mike Fisher, VP, Advanced TV & Audio at Essence about how they discovered that many streaming services were running tons of ads even after people's TV sets are turned off. It turns out that brands could be wasting millions of dollars sending ads to devices that no one is watching, even as the CTV ad market explodes. It's a fascinating problem and one without a simple fix.
Guests: Adam Gerber and Mike Fisher
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing spoke to Ryan Pauley Chief Revenue Officer at Vox Media on the contradictions he's seeing in the current ad market, and why some publishers might be struggling. Ryan also talked about why he thinks brands still haven't made a decision on a cookie alternative, and why the company is leaning in on some social platforms while potentially pulling back on others.
Guest: Ryan Pauley
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing spoke with Ed Davis President, Product & Operations at OpenAP about how the media venture - jointly owned by NBCUniversal, Paramount, Warner Discovery and others - has rolled out a series of news products, including a centralized data hub, an identity framework and a measurement tool - all aimed at helping marketers better target consumers, while reducing waste in their media spending (so people stop seeing the same ads again and again).
Guest: Ed Davis
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing spoke with Radha Subramanyam, President and Chief Research and Analytics Officer, CBS about the importance of data fidelity in TV research, and why neither census-based or panel based solutions have all the answers. For example, Subramanyam talked about how existing methodologies may be undercounting HIspanic American audiences and other demographics that still access TV over the air - while overstating just how many households are streaming first.
Guest: Radha Subramanyam
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing spoke with two of the TV ad industry's leading advocates for change, Kelly Abcarian EVP, Measurement & Impact at NBCUniversal Media and Travis Scoles SVP, Advanced Advertising at Paramount. Both Abcarian and Scoles talked about how urgently brands need to shift their thinking when it comes to how they measure TV campaigns, and why legacy planning and modeling tools will soon be obsolete. Each executive also had a different take on whether marketers will ultimately be able to purchase TV ads based on guaranteed brand outcomes.
Guests: Kelly Abcarian and Travis Scoles
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing spoke with Brad Feinberg, NA VP of Media and Consumer Engagement at Molson Coors about how the beverage giant is grappling with trying to reach younger (21+) drinkers who are turning away from not just traditional TV but even live sports. Feinberg urged the biggest players in TV to make it easier to reach more targeting audiences across streaming platforms by working together- rather than leaning on proprietary data solutions.
Guest: Brad Feinberg
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing chatted with Doug Rozen CEO of dentsu Media in the Americas, about the notion that some of the major ad holding companies may need to come to agreement on new standards and definitions in order to move advanced TV advertising forward. Specifically, Rozen theorized that the buy side may need to match the efforts of OpenAP, a joint venture between NBCUniversal, Paramount and others - or even join them. In addition, Rozen talked about why he believes that once TV figures out currency, measuring attention will become the next battleground.
Guest: Doug Rozen
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing spoke with Meg Ciarallo VP of Brand and Consumer Marketing at Bolt about how the well-funded retail tech startup is taking a DTC strategy to television advertising, and why she has little interest in discussions over upfront rates, GRPs and currency wars.
Guest: Meg Ciarallo
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing spoke with Amy Ginsberg Chief Investment Officer at Havas Media Group about the state of the video ad market, and the ongoing challenges stemming from fragmentation. Ginsberg is hoping that measurement and buying become much simpler and less siloed - but has doubts about how quickly that will become a reality. In the meantime Ginsberg talked about why she remains a somewhat reluctant upfront participant.
Guest: Amy Ginsberg
Host: Mike Shields
Ben Winkler, SVP of Agency Strategy at TripleLift, talked to Next in Marketing about how media buying agencies have been able to shake off seemingly lethal threats such as in-housing and procurement scrutiny while reasserting their relevance. The challenge now is pulling together enough talent to service brands, while also investing enough in differentiating technology.
Guest: Ben Winkler
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing spoke with Luke Kigel, who is both VP, Walgreens Media & Head of Walgreens Advertising Group, which means he oversees Walgreens' push into selling ads, while also overseeing its spending as a big advertiser. Luke said that the company's new role as a seller is dramatically changing how it operates as a marketer, as it looks to treat TV far more like digital media. That's because, in his view, many of the traditional ways of planning and buying TV have be become "antithetical to the way people live their lives".
Guest: Luke Kigel
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing talked to Krystal Olivieri Global Chief Innovation Officer at GroupM & Choreograph, about her worry that the ad industry has created a 'panic' among brands angling for more first party data in a post-cookie future. And while she has high hopes for the metaverse if and when it arrives, she warns against marketers using new identifiers such as crypto wallets to target consumers. In the meantime, Olivieri is bullish on marketers employing different signals, including contextual and retail data, to better service consumers.
Guest: Krystal Olivieri
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing spoke to IAB CEO David Cohen about the state of ad-supported streaming, and why he's pushing traditional TV advertisers to shift their mindsets when it comes to pricing strategy, measurement and what role the medium will play over time. Cohen also spoke about how many brands have been dragging their feet when it comes to preparing for massive changes in ad targeting, and what he thinks the prospects are for a national data privacy law.
Guest: David Cohen
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing spoke to Donna Speciale President Sales and Marketing at Univision Communications about what's happening in the TV ad market as Nielsen faces a number of new challengers. Not only does Speciale question whether any one company will be able to claim the measurement mantle - she believes that Univision's Hispanic American audience is being severely undercounted - which is why the company is going it alone in building a proprietary Hispanic audience graph.
Guest: Donna Speciale
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing spoke with Sarah Iooss Head of Sales, Americas at Twitch about how the Amazon-owned property is helping brands like Pringles connect with fans of huge video games. Iooss talked about the different ways marketers can engage with popular gaming influencers, and how Twitch is also seeing huge growth in viewership of live music, fine arts and even chess competitions. The result is a company with an audience that is consistently comparable to TV.
Guest: Sarah Iooss
Host: Mike Shields
YuJung Kim, president of the animal focused media brand, spoke to Next in Marketing about the path from starting out as a Facebook centric brand to a company that produces content for Netflix, TikTok, Animal Planet and even a series of children's books.
Guest: YuJung Kim
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing spoke to Aaron Debevoise, founder and CEO of Spotter, a company that is paying YouTube stars hundreds of millions for the rights to their older videos. Creators like Mr. Beast are using this funding to launch ambitious new content ventures, including an initiative to clean the ocean of pollution. Meanwhile Spotter is packaging this still popular content up for TV advertisers looking for big reach.
Guest: Aaron Debevoise
Host: Mike Shields
Todd Braverman Senior Vice President, WarnerMedia Portfolio Sales & Client Partnerships, talked about his company's experience in launching HBO Max with Ads over the past year, and how consumers have responded positively to its very customized, limited approach. Todd also spoke about the ongoing debate over whether TV needs a new ad currency - or currencies - as a slew of measurement upstarts look to challenge Nielsen
Guest: Todd Braverman
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing speaks with Ari Lewine, co-founder and chief strategy officer at TripleLift about how his company is trying to help publishers make more out of their first party data. Lewine is surprised that so many advertisers have yet to explore any targeting alternatives, despite all the huge changes in digital identity. Lewine also talks about why he thinks Facebook's business model is taking such a hit, and what steps the company must take to regain its attribution mojo.
Guest: Ari Lewine
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing spoke to David Levy, CEO of OpenAP, a joint venture between NBCUniversal, ViacomCBS Fox and Discovery, about how the company is trying to help brands target audiences consistently across networks and platforms - and why he's worried that too many media companies are discounting consumer experience with ads as Connected TV explodes.
Guest: David Levy
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing spoke to Action Network CEO Patrick Keane about the furious competition on search engines, social networks and in app stores to drive more downloads of the company's sports betting informational platform. Patrick also talked about what it was like when gambling became legal in New York earlier this year, which he likened to "Christmas, Hanukkah and New Years" combined.
Guest: Patrick Keane
Host: Mike Shields
Scott Schiller spent a few decades on the sales side of the media business, including a long stint at NBCUniversal. Now he's focused on helping big advertisers navigate programmatic ad buying and particularly fast emerging platforms like Connected TV. Scott talked the current upheaval in TV measurement, and why it's unlikely we'll see a perfect replacement for Nielsen emerge.
Guest: Scott Schiller
Host: Mike Shields
This week on Next in Marketing, we spoke with Cara Pratt SVP Kroger Precision Marketing about the grocery giant's journey over the past few years in building out an ad business from scratch. The company, which boasts of stores in 35 states, has already delivered ads for 1300 brands. And its ace in the hole is that 95% of its customers also utilize in-store loyalty cards- allowing for true online to offline media measurement.
Guest: Cara Pratt
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing spoke with Brian Morrissey, founder of The Rebooting about why 2022 is going to be a year of level setting in the digital ad world, as marketers face inflation when it comes to paying to acquire customers and digital publishers continue to band together to ensure they can build sustainable businesses. That said, he's fully confident that brands will adapt, as evidenced by the surging valuations in ad tech.
Guest: Brian Morrissey
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing spoke with Jim Keller, Executive Vice President, Digital Ad Sales and Advanced Advertising at Discovery about how measuring and evaluating TV advertising is becoming immensely complicated, and why it's not realistic to expect the ad industry will settle on a single measurement or attribution method. According to Keller, TV is becoming a bespoke business, which will be challenging for agencies and sales teams.
Guest: Jim Keller
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing speaks with Ana Andjelic, one of Forbes's Most Influential CMOs and former Chief Brand Officer at Banana Republic, Rebecca Minkoff, and others. Ana talks about why she thinks NFTs may be a fad, but that doesn't mean marketers shouldn't put off laying the groundwork for figuring out how decentralized ownership, blockchain and the metaverse will completely change how they interact with customers. Andjelic also discusses the future of retail, how brands should approach influencers, and plans for a sequel to her most recent book.
Guest: Ana Andjelic
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing spoke with Melissa Burdick, president and co-founder of Pacvue, a technology company that specializes in buying ads on retail properties, including Amazon. Burdick discussed how differently Amazon views Madison Avenue versus other tech leaders, and how the company is systematically moving to disrupt TV advertising and measurement.
Guest: Melissa Burdick
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing talked to ex ABC and Hulu ad exec Justin Fromm, who now runs research for LG Ads, about why TV makers are suddenly so well positioned to play a role in how ads get to TV screens, and how marketers connect with digital households overall.
Fromm also discussed why streaming has such a problem with repetitive ads, and how TV device companies can help marketers tie TV ads to real world sales.
Guest: Justin Fromm
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing speaks with former GroupM North America CEO Brian Lesser about the state of digital advertising amidst increased scrutiny, and why he thinks programmatic advertising has only just begun to grapple with the ramifications. Lesser, who's now chairman and CEO of InfoSum, also explains why he doubts that Apple will push further into the ad business, and why he hopes lawmakers finally force some real change at Facebook.
Guest: Brian Lesser
Host: Mike Shields
Next in Marketing talks with Christina Wootton Vice President, Brand Partnerships at Roblox about how brands are building full digital experiences for a generation of consumers raised in immersive gaming environments, and how that will shape the future of media and entertainment. Christina also discusses what executives should be thinking about when trying to understand the metaverse.
Guest: Christina Wootton
Host: Mike Shields
LiveIntent was built as an ad tech company that specialized in monetizing newsletters for publishers. CMO Kerel Cooper talks to Next in Marketing about how the company's data culled from millions of people's inboxes is now suddenly the basis of a potential solution to the elimination of cookies. Kerel also discusses why publishers are putting so much more editorial investment toward newsletter products, and why several niche direct-to-consumer brands are also having success in this medium.
Guest: Kerel Cooper
Host: Mike Shields
Tal Chalozin, CTO of Innovid, talks about why the software company could be the heir apparent to classic third-party measurement firms such as Nielsen and comScore in the digital era. Chalozin also weighs in on why marketers are going to have to accept a certain level of fragmentation, which will make ad targeting via identity data challenging. Yet in his mind, the idea that targeting was perfect during the cookie era has "always been a pipe dream."
Guest: Tal Chalozin
Host: Mike Shields
David Temkin, Senior Director, Product Management, Ads Privacy & User Trust at Google explains why he thinks the broader ad industry so badly missed the mark on respecting consumer privacy online, and why the shift away from tracking users across the web is vital. He also discusses Google's rationale for delaying the elimination of cookies, and why he sees email-based alternatives as 'unnecessary workarounds.'
Guest: David Temkin
Host: Mike Shields
Mondelēz International’s Global Vice President, Consumer Experience, Jonathan Halvorson discussed how the company behind brands like Ritz, Oreos, and Cadbury has blown up many of its core strategies by producing thousands of pieces of creative for each campaign, moving the bulk of its spending to digital channels, and investing in software that makes ad buying smarter.
Guest: Jonathan Halvorson
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
The Trade Desk’s Chief Operating Officer, Michelle Hulst discusses the ‘real anxiety’ marketers felt upon learning of the upcoming deprecation of third-party cookies, and why she was initially frustrated when Google delayed the timeline. At the same time, Hulst believes this period of adjustment is exactly what digital marketers needed to rethink how they connect with consumers, and the need to reaffirm the 'quid pro quo' between advertising and customers.
Guest: Michelle Hulst
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
Aimee Johnson, CMO of Zillow Group, and Anda Gansca, CEO and Founder of Knotch, discuss how marketers are trying to balance their urgent need to acquire first-party data versus actually servicing customers. Aimee and Anda also dive into how brands that may have overinvested in content, must now find ways to prove its value alongside the rest of their marketing spend. The two executives also predict that some brands may see Google's delay on cookie deprecation as an excuse to slow down, while others are racing ahead to revamp their data strategies.
Guests: Aimee Johnson, Anda Gansca
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
Ryan Stern and Alexa Tonner, co-founders of the influencer marketing agency Collectively, share why they think influencer marketing still carries a stigma in some circles, resulting in healthy creative tension between marketers and creators. They believe marketers need to get past treating influencer marketing as just another ad channel. Alexa and Ryan also discuss how brands are looking at influencer marketing through a paid media ROI lens, even as they aim to harness new forms of organic product placement and weigh in on whether they think Facebook has a shot at fostering a true creator community.
Guests: Ryan Stern and Alexa Tonner
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
Kabir Ahuja, Partner and leader of the European Marketing Practice at McKinsey & Company, says many marketers are still worried about the strength of their relationships with consumers. Based on McKinsey's research, 75% of consumers took on a new behavior or brand last year and according to Ahuja, as a result, CMOs are pushing harder than ever to prove the value of marketing to their organizations, from driving sales to deciding what businesses to enter.
Guest: Kabir Ahuja
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
Scott Brinker, Vice President of Platform Ecosystem at HubSpot and Chiefmartech.com blog Editor, believes that the eventual elimination of targeting mechanisms such as cookies and mobile IDs is forcing CMOs to focus on improving other aspects of their marketing efforts - which he says have been neglected as brands fixated on ad targeting. Brinker also discusses why he's seeing more startups and money pour into marketing technology than ever before despite all the changes within the ecosystem.
Guest: Scott Brinker
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
Krishan Bhatia, President & Chief Business Officer at NBCUniversal explains how his company expects half of its video consumption to occur on digital platforms in only a few years. And while brands are ready to adjust to that reality in terms of how they buy and measure TV ads - too many agencies are clinging to the old ways of doing things. Krishan also covers the latest on Peacock and what role it played during the most recent Upfront, and why he expects dozens of new brands to find their way onto network TV by the end of the year.
Guest: Krishan Bhatia
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
JP Evangelista, Senior Vice President Content, Programming & Marketing at Vevo discusses how the music video platform saw a huge jump in connected TV viewing during the pandemic, leading to longer viewing sessions and more advertising demand. Evangelista believes there’s been a fundamental shift and Vevo is now positioned squarely against prime time TV. He expects half of Vevo's US revenue to soon come from CTV, thanks in large part to the massive popularity of young artists like Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo.
Guest: JP Evangelista
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
After more than a decade in prominent marketing roles at Viacom, Ross Martin has spent the last year launching Known. His latest venture aspires to disrupt the traditional ad agency sector by taking advantage of what he sees as growing mistrust between brands and their partners. Ross discusses why some marketers are expected to struggle to adjust to a post-Covid, post-cookie reality, unless they significantly up their investment in true data science - and not just hiring someone “who is good at Excel".
Guest: Ross Martin
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
Jessica Peltz-Zatulove, Founding Partner of the venture capital firm Hannah Grey, says that marketers have no choice but to dive deeper into the creator universe, even if they find it 'terrifying." According to Jessica, if marketers don't take the leap, they may find themselves in direct competition with influencers. Jessica also highlights what she looks for as a potential investor in ad tech, and how she's working to support more female founders.
Guest: Jessica Peltz-Zatulove
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
Dedicated to the memory of our editor, Daniel Gluckman.
Lee Brown, Vice President of Global Advertising at Spotify discusses why brands that have leaned into programmatic advertising have been hesitant to move more dollars into podcasting - until recently. Brown says that thanks to recent acquisitions and product launches - such as the Spotify Audience Network and a dynamic ad serving tool - the plan is to make audio ads more scalable and data-driven - just like the rest of digital.
Guest: Lee Brown
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
Jerry Dischler, Vice President and General Manager, Ads at Google, shares why the company thinks the digital ad industry can't afford to be timid in rethinking its relationship with consumers. Dischler also discusses why Google doesn't believe any of the proposed cookie alternatives, such as the Trade Desk's UID, are fundamentally different enough or will work long term. In the case of FLoC, Jerry predicts that while the solution may not be perfect - the open web will be better because of it.
Guest: Jerry Dischler
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
Roku's Vice President of Ads Marketing, Dan Robbins discusses why he believes the decline in linear TV ratings coupled with increased prices for TV ads gives Roku a wide opening. For top traditional brands, "that equation is no longer going to work” according to Robbins. He also dives into Roku's evolution from a device manufacturer to the leading ad platform in connected TV and why he sees a huge opportunity for dynamic ad insertion in live TV in the near future.
Guest: Dan Robbins
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
Media Executive, John Kosner, who spent two decades at ESPN, discusses sports media’s challenge of catering to younger viewers, who have grown up with mobile devices and video games. Kosner sees Amazon's exclusive deal to stream Thursday Night NFL games as an opportunity to completely reinvent how leagues engage fans- think Twitch- and is betting on other tech giants to follow.
Guest: John Kosner
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
The restaurant industry was already adopting digital tools before COVID. Mobile ordering, third-party delivery services, and digital loyalty programs were becoming brand differentiators, according to Alicia Kelso, Senior Contributor for Forbes.com where she covers the restaurant industry. But the pandemic accelerated the digitization of the restaurant industry, forcing proprietors to choose between battling for space on delivery aggregation apps or diving head-first into the world of direct to consumer and mobile marketing. Kelso, along with Sam Oches, Editorial Director at Nation’s Restaurant News discuss the prospects of a big industry recovery during the second half of the year, and how AI technology promises to revolutionize kitchens, drive-throughs and even contribute to deciding what people want to eat.
Guests: Alicia Kelso, Sam Oches
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
Erin Matts, Global Chief Experience Officer at OPMG (Omnicom Precision Marketing Group), dives into the ongoing industry battles regarding how digital ad targeting will operate thanks to Google and Apple’s recent update to privacy guidelines. Matts believes that media buying agencies shouldn’t be counted out, especially based on their proximity to clients’ businesses and their deep investments in data science.
Guest: Erin Matts
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
The Chief Growth Officer at Triller believes that the future of marketing rests in brands communicating directly with consumers via mobile phones. Meanwhile Bonin talked about why Triller is investing so much in original series as he looks to build what he sees as the ultimate culture-defining video app.
Guest: Bonin Bough
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
Gabby Cohen is Head of Brand Marketing at Harry's, the razor and expanding personal care brand that also includes Flamingo, Cat Person and Headquarters product lines. Cohen discusses how CMOs are likely to be looking to tap into pent-up consumer demand this summer as vaccines are distributed more widely - and that marketers have the perfect opportunity to play a role in bringing back branded experiences. Cohen also thinks that the pandemic-driven trend toward self-care will continue as the company looks to build out a portfolio centered on holistic wellness.
Guest: Gabby Cohen
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
Bob Lord, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Ecosystems and Blockchain at IBM, discusses how the advertising industry must come to grips with the fact that digital ad targeting as we've known it is vanishing - and why he's actually okay with testing Google's Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC) alternative. In the meantime, Lord believes it's imperative for publishers to work together and embrace AI.
Guest: Bob Lord
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
YouTube Ads’ Nicky Rettke, Director of Product Management, discusses how YouTube is working with retailers to develop ads that feature highly personalized lists of products for sale - even as its parent company is leaning away from supporting highly targeted ad messaging across the web. Rettke also shares that the video platform has received a large influx of eCommerce spending during the pandemic.
Guest: Nicky Rettke
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
TIME President, Keith Grossman, broaches how the news industry is being forced to rethink how best to get information out to a public that is divided on politics, as well as public health. Additionally, Cyrus Krohn, Senior Vice President, Business Development at consumer intelligence research platform, CivicScience, shares how his company is helping publishers adjust to being in the first-party data business, while preparing for future privacy regulations.
Guests: Keith Grossman, Cyrus Krohn
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
Lisa Valentino, Executive Vice President, Client and Brand Solutions at Disney Advertising Sales, doesn’t think the TV upfront is dead, but Disney - owner of traditional TV networks like ABC and ESPN - is pushing further than ever into programmatic ad selling and data in a way that would have been unimaginable a few years ago. Valentino’s team is borrowing tactics from Hulu, including self-serve ad buying, which she believes will open up the TV business to a much broader array of advertisers. According to Valentino, they’ve seen a thousand new clients come to Disney through programmatic channels.
Guest: Lisa Valentino
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
According to Sandie Hawkins, GM of US Global Business Solutions at TikTok, as ratings for linear TV shows decline, the social video platform is delivering TV-sized audiences "every single day”. We talked to Hawkins about why she thinks that TikTok's reach, coupled with the emotional response so many creator videos generate, should position the company to compete for TV ad budgets soon. Hawkins says the key is getting measurement up to par on TikTok, which has only been actively selling ads for about two years, but is enjoying huge demand increases due to the pandemic.
Guest: Sandie Hawkins
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
Pinterest's Chief Revenue Officer, Jon Kaplan, discusses the company's evolution from serving as a platform built mostly for product discovery to becoming a full-fledged shopping vehicle - and how over time that may encroach on Amazon's territory. Kaplan gives insight into interesting and unexpected consumer use cases Pinterest discovered during the Pandemic, and highlights how the company is turning its unique brand of customer intelligence into a product to help marketers get ahead of trends.
Guest: Jon Kaplan
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
David Jones, Founder and CEO of You & Mr Jones believes the traditional ad agency model is in serious trouble, as evidenced by the recent massive drops in valuation among the world's largest ad agency holding giants - even if these companies are claiming publicly that their recent performance dips are a temporary result of the pandemic. Naturally, Jones sees his company's 'brand tech' approach as offering a better model for marketers - and he's raised $60 million in funding and landed at a $1.36 billion valuation to back up his bet.
Guest: David Jones, Founder & CEO, You & Mr Jones
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
Aaron Braxton, Vice President, Head of Business Intelligence at Complex Networks talks about how even as his company is eyeing industry-wide attempts at replacing the cookie, such as the Trade Desk's Unified ID initiative, publishers need to start taking audience intelligence into their own hands. In Complex's case, that's included recruiting a 30,000 member digital panel of enthusiasts, which helps inform the company's editorial team while helping bring in more brand partnerships. But, as Braxton discusses, it's going to take a lot more investment in data science for publishers to maintain their ability to track the impact of ad spending long term.
Guest: Aaron Braxton
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
Adweek’s Programmatic Editor, Ronan Shields discusses the many enormous changes set to rock digital advertising in 2021 and beyond - and how the biggest tech companies are looking to shape the web in their image. Namely, according to Shields, Google is trying to preserve its power as the most powerful ad targeting machine in the world, while Apple is looking to assert its influence under the veil of privacy. Meanwhile, the rest of the ad ecosystem is simply trying to hang on.
Guest: Ronan Shields
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
Terry Kawaja, CEO and Founder of LUMA Partners and Dave Morgan, CEO and Founder of Simulmedia kick off Season 2 of Next in Marketing with their take on the state of the ad economy in 2021, including predictions on where the industry is headed post-Covid. The two executives didn't hold back in assessing the sudden ad tech resurgence on Wall Street, as well as the prospects of the giant ad agency holding companies and whether breaking up big tech companies will make any difference.
Guests: Terence Kawaja & Dave Morgan
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
2020 was a year of massive change in the digital advertising ecosystem, with Apple in particular making headlines around its iOS 14 plans to limit the use of IDFA. Earlier this year during a live session at TechCrunch Disrupt, AppFlyer’s US President, Brian Quinn and Sparrow Advisers’ Principal and Co-founder, Ana Milicevic broke down the ramifications of Apple's big announcement.
Guest: Brian Quinn and Ana Milicevic
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
Longtime Digiday Editor-in-Chief and Founder of The Rebooting, Brian Morrissey digs into which advertising and media trends from the wild year that was 2020 will stick, and which won't have much lasting impact in the new year. Despite all the privacy updates and regulation, he believes that brands and ad tech companies will always find a way to adapt. Brian also discusses the parallels he sees in the recent fallout in digital publishing and the various business model pivots that industry has seen and the still-saturated DTC brand sector.
Guest: Brian Morrissey
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
Anthony Mavromatis is Head of Enterprise Customer Data Science and Platforms at American Express. As one of the financial company's machine learning experts, he discusses how the company has spent years building out technology that promises to change how it operates internally, how it corrals and leverages endless data, and how it interacts directly with customers. Mavromatis thinks machine learning is set to revolutionize multiple industries and eventually reshape the workforce, but he also hits on how resistant some companies may be to change.
Guest: Anthony Mavromatis
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
Kiwoba Allaire, founder and CEO of Girl STEM Stars, has been fighting against stereotypes for years regarding women and people of color in the tech world. With Girl STEM Stars, she’s taken matters into her own hands, establishing a program designed to provide young girls not only with confidence to pursue career paths in tech, but with both the skills and the networking needed to crack this exclusive universe. Allaire, who founded the program during her time at the now defunct ad tech company, Rocket Fuel, discusses how her organization had to adjust this year, as the pandemic made in-person activities nearly impossible, and why she’s optimistic about the real possibility for change in the world of technology.
Visit: https://www.girlstemstars.org/
Guest: Kiwoba Allaire
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
TikTok’s Head of Measurement Jorge Ruiz discusses how brands should gauge success on the red hot social video platform, and why more advertisers are turning to TikTok to sell products through the help of influencers. The former Facebook and agency exec also provides advice for ad buyers trying to navigate the complex world of cross-platform attribution.
Guest: Jorge Ruiz
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
Advertisers know Reddit is huge, and its users are passionate. But, they don’t always know what to make of the site known for reaching hyper-engaged fans - and some of the frontier corners of the web. Reddit’s Vice President of Global Advertising, Harold Klaje is looking to educate CMOs on just who this unique audience is, and how to channel Reddit’s distinctive energy for their campaigns.
Guest: Harold Klaje
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
Jack Davis founded Crypt TV as part of a fun stunt on the long-defunct video platform Vine. Since then, with the help of Hollywood studio Blumhouse, the entrepreneur amassed a big audience of young horror fans who are more than comfortable watching scripted, scary content on their mobile phones. After conquering Facebook Watch and YouTube, Crypt TV has its sights set on TV, and Davis wants to build a stable of characters in the vein of the mega-successful Marvel.
Guest: Jack Davis
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
The ad industry may need a bit of a reality check when it comes to ad targeting and the kind of consumer data brands can rely on. M&C Saatchi Performance's Managing Director, Americas, Guillaume Lelait says that recent moves by Apple and Google to limit how brands can target people across the web are making things more challenging for advertisers - and they may have to accept less precision. On the flip side, Lelait sees huge potential in the use of incrementality, as more marketers strive to isolate the impact of each partnership.
Guest: Guillaume Lelait
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
Jeffrey Wong, Principal Data Scientist, Computational Causal Inference at Netflix discusses how the streaming giant uses data signals to help get you to notice - and hopefully watch - its shows. Wong also breaks down the company embracing the measurement of ad spend effectiveness through incrementality and why he’s urging more marketers to take risks with their advertising budgets.
Guest: Jeffrey Wong
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
Magic Spoon Co-Founder Gabi Lewis discusses the process of building a new food brand when suddenly everyone is stuck at home, getting almost everything delivered and watching their wallets. Gabi also talks about the opening he saw within the cereal category and how unlike many DTC success stories, the path to disrupt and innovate was about product, not price and supply chain efficiency. He also covers the vital importance of Facebook and Instagram for DTC brands, and why it's so hard for startups to walk away from social platforms.
Guest: Gabi Lewis
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
Shana Sumers, Head of Community at HER, a dating and social app for LGBTQ+ people, discusses what it's been like to navigate a social and dating focused business during a time when people can't get together in person. Shana also shares what she really thinks of the Facebook ad boycott, and why she's hoping big brands graduate past just supporting black and LGBTQ+ audiences during events like Black History Month and Pride Day.
Guest: Shana Sumers
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
Nicolle Pangis, CEO of Ampersand, discusses how traditional media companies are trying to accommodate brands who want to bring the same kind of targeting they use in digital to TV. But, Pangis believes this shift, along with pandemic, will cause the TV upfront to change radically, while forcing agencies and brands to consolidate many of their ad buying operations. Pangis also talks about how big changes in consumer tracking may upend many norms in programmatic advertising.
Guest: Nicolle Pangis
Host: Mike Shields
Producer: Kenya Hayes
Matt Story, Senior Director of Global Innovation Marketing at Visa discusses how tough it is to reach belt-tightening millennials who are wary of sharing data and think of Visa as a big bad credit card company. He also hits on how brands are dealing with having less sponsorship event opportunities due to Covid-19. Additionally, Matt walks us through his early career in the ad agency business, and how crucial it was to find leaders of color who were dedicated to promoting diversity in hiring.
Produced by Kenya Hayes
Jeffrey Imberman, Head of Sales and Brand Partnerships at Tastemade dishes on how the food-centric media brand figures out ways to produce content and sell advertising that it doesn’t control across the large platforms, including Facebook, YouTube and TikTok. Jeff also hits on how his team has adjusted to making content for brands faster during the pandemic and why Tastemade is even bothering with a live linear TV network.
Produced by Kenya Hayes
In our first-ever two guest episode, we talked to Jeff Miller, Senior Director, Global Creative Strategy at Snap and Alex Collmer, Founder and CEO at VidMob about the state of creative work in digital advertising. Jeff and Alex explore why now might finally be the moment that marketers embrace analytics and ad tech to improve the quality of their digital creative work and how platforms like Snap are shifting consumers' expectations surrounding what constitutes an ad. In addition, they discuss how the pandemic has led brands toward producing ads on much shorter timelines, which has major implications for traditional ad agencies.
Produced by Kenya Hayes
Global Chief Technology Officer for Merkle and the CRM line of business for Dentsu Aegis Network, Peter Randazzo helps break down what Apple is doing with IDFA and what that means for marketers and the mobile economy. In addition, Randazzo discusses the growing number of challenges brands face as they look to employ consumer data for targeting, ranging from privacy regulation to the elimination of cookies.
Produced by Kenya Hayes
In the very first Next in Marketing podcast episode ever recorded, MediaLink’s CEO, Michael Kassan explores how major marketers and media companies have had to scramble to rewrite 2020 plans in light of Covid-19. Kassan also weighs in on how the streaming wars between Netflix, HBO, NBCU and others, and how he thinks the ad business will grapple with live events like Cannes in the coming years.
Produced by Kenya Hayes
Profitero’s President Sarah Hofstetter discusses how marketers view customer acquisition, advertising and brand loyalty has been upended by the Covid-19 crisis, and how her company is helping unlock data to accelerate the growth of E-commerce.
Produced by Kenya Hayes
YouTube’s Debbie Weinstein highlights the company’s plans for a series of customized virtual Brandcast presentations this summer, where she thinks the advertising upfront is headed, and how brands are looking to make TV ads faster and adjust campaigns constantly - just like they do in digital. Weinstein also delves into the viewership trends YouTube has experienced since the Covid 19 crisis, including how more viewers are watching YouTube on smart TVs.
Produced by Kenya Hayes
Activision Blizzard's Jonathan Stringfield breaks down why marketers have been so slow to embrace video games and how he thinks the prolonged stay-at-home lockdowns are opening many brands eyes to the medium's power. Stringfield also discusses the various options available to brands, from traditional ads in mobile gaming to rewarding gamers with virtual goods - as well as how most marketers are funding big game initiatives.
Produced by Kenya Hayes
Twitch’s CMO, Doug Scott dives into how he explains the streaming service to non-gamer CMOs, and why he's so bullish on eSports. Scott also details the huge spikes Twitch has seen since the Covid-19 shelter in place orders and how a broader audience is seeking non-gaming content.
Produced by Kenya Hayes
NBCUniversal’s Linda Yaccarino discusses the company's ambitions for its video service Peacock, and why she's convinced advertising will play a vital role in the streaming wars. Yaccarino also breaks down how marketers have been responding to the Covid-driven economic slowdown and what she thinks that will mean for the future of the TV upfront model.
Produced by Kenya Hayes
AppsFlyer presents: Next in Marketing, a podcast that chronicles the massive ongoing shifts and reinvention at the intersection of marketing, media and advertising. As these industries reorient their operations around technology and data, our host, former Wall Street Journal, Business Insider and AdWeek editor, Mike Shields, will delve into the world of top stakeholders and industry leaders as they steer their companies through constant change.
Produced by Kenya Hayes