AdExchanger Talks interviews key figures in marketing who are transforming digital advertising and media. New and previously published episodes are available on this page and on your preferred podcast app.
Marketing consumer products comes with plenty of challenges. But just try selling a political candidate in a hyper-polarized, 24-hour news environment, says Mark Jablonowski, CEO of DSPolitical, a political ad platform that caters to Democrats and progressive causes.
Sharona Sankar-King, Havas Media North America’s chief data and product officer, on why marketers should stop chasing shiny AI toys and get serious about the fundamentals, including truly understanding the customer and only collecting data that’s “fit for purpose.”
Most brands worry about competitors. Whisker is worried about complacency, says CMO Hew Loyd – specifically, the millions of cat owners who have decided that scooping an open box of poop in their home is just one of life’s little chores.
You wouldn’t accept paying for a Big Mac and getting a single chicken nugget. But that’s essentially what a lot of marketers are doing with their digital ad budgets, says Reckitt’s Sameer Amin, on this week’s episode of AdExchanger Talks recorded live in Cannes.
Reddit is now one of the main data sources feeding LLMs and AI search. In this episode, recorded live in Cannes, COO Jen Wong talks data licensing deals, how people use Reddit to validate what they’re about to buy and what it takes to stop bad actors from gaming its forums to sway AI results.
Cleo Davis-Urman, CEO and co-founder of wearable vitamin brand Barrière, talks word-of-mouth, measurement, retail media and what it takes to build a new category around patches instead of pills.
Tom Kemp, executive director of CalPrivacy, unpacks the DELETE Act, his agency’s enforcement priorities, the rules governing automated decision-making tech – and why ad tech should pay close attention to it all.
You don’t usually hear someone talk about peptide serums, CAC and customer lifetime value in the same breath. But that’s a normal day for Alexa Raff, CMO of goop, the wellness and lifestyle brand co-founded and led by Gwyneth Paltrow.
Verizon Value President David “DK” Kim digs into the lingering stigma around prepaid wireless – and how reframing customers as “prepaid by need” versus “prepaid by choice” changes the way Verizon markets and measures its eight-brand portfolio of prepaid plans.
How does Spotify translate quirky Wrapped labels, like “divorced dad hipster,” into ad audiences? And is AI-generated content safe for brands? Spotify’s Global Head of Ad Product Katie English weighs in.
If creators want brand dollars, they have to play by the rules of data-driven marketing and measurement, says Ryan Detert, CEO and co-founder of Publicis-owned influencer marketing platform Influential.
Zoom CMO Kim Storin has one of the rarer jobs in marketing: She’s responsible for promoting and evolving a brand that’s also become a verb.
Behind the scenes with Manscaped CMO Marcelo Kertész on the brand’s first Super Bowl spot – a musical ad starring singing hair balls (just watch it) – and how he’s shifting Manscaped’s marketing from performance-heavy DTC to a broader, brand-led strategy.
Amazon is gearing up for its third-ever upfront event next month in New York City – and programmatic is at the center of its pitch. “We’re encouraging brands and agencies to consolidate into the Amazon DSP to drive better outcomes,” says Sarah Iooss, head of agency partnerships at Amazon Ads.
AI isn’t just a productivity tool, says Debra Aho Williamson, founder of Sonata Insights. It’s a brand-new media environment that’s reshaping how people decide what to buy and challenging marketers to completely rethink the funnel.
Kim Rosenblum, CMO of investment app Betterment, unpacks her “anti‑marketing” playbook, which involves telling customers not to engage and shifting away from chasing cheap CAC to prioritizing lifetime value.
The programmatic supply chain is “pretty flawed,” says Danny Spears, COO of publisher alliance Ozone, and value is leaking away from digital media brands. But that doesn’t mean they need to stand there and take it.
Scripps CRO Brian Norris explains why the broadcaster is leaning into women’s and local sports – and how that shift is reshaping the media plan.
Can connected TV really deliver performance – or is “performance TV” just a branding boost with extra data? Erin Firneno, SVP of business intelligence at Advertiser Perceptions, weighs in.
Perion CEO Tal Jacobson is done with AI buzzwords. Instead, he’s betting big on agents, outcomes and letting machines handle the messy parts of media buying.
Mary Beech, chief growth officer at health-and-wellness brand Thorne, shares how she’s turning marketing into a growth engine amid AI-driven discovery and chatbots that get loose with the facts.
Inclusive measurement is more than a nice-to-have, says Charlene Polite Corley, Nielsen’s VP of inclusive insights. Because undercounting Black, Hispanic and intersectional audiences isn’t just a measurement failure; it’s a missed growth opportunity for brands.
Ad verification used to be mostly about keeping brands away from the bad stuff. Now, verification providers have to prove that quality actually moves the needle, says Integral Ad Science CEO Lisa Utzschneider.
Freestar CEO Kurt Donnell explains why transparency in programmatic advertising is the open web’s best bet for survival in the AI search era.
The future of measurement is automated, but can marketers trust the black box? Kantar Chief Product Officer Ty Ahmad‑Taylor shares his take.
With so many video and digital media channels converging, is there even such a thing as a dedicated TV buyer anymore? Carat US Chief Investment Officer Carrie Drinkwater certainly doesn’t think so.
AI is reshaping how we shop, but agents won’t take over our carts just yet. LiveRamp CEO Scott Howe explains why the change will be gradual – and how chatbot ads (not just on ChatGPT) will change the online shopping experience.
True Religion CMO Kristen D’Arcy approaches marketing measurement the way you’d shop for jeans – by looking for the right fit. She’s moved past last click, using real-time data to see what actually drives sales, and she isn’t afraid to make fast changes when something isn’t working.
No brand safety? No problem. The Onion’s CMO Leila Brillson shares how the iconic satire site is expanding beyond pithy headlines into documentaries and also helping other brands find their snark – all while staying far, far away from generative AI.
NBCU’s early embrace of ad tech – led by Ryan McConville, its chief product officer and EVP of ad platforms – set the stage for a pandemic-fueled digital transformation that blurred the line between traditional TV and streaming. But that doesn’t mean linear isn’t still a top priority.
