The Ad Podcast
The Ad Podcast is a show where host Dylan Conroy interviews C-suite executives from media companies, agencies, brands, and thought leaders. The podcast focuses on Conroy's quest to build the world's greatest sales culture. Episodes cover insights and strategies from industry leaders in advertising and sales.
Episodes
Can Vice Categories and Gambling Have Real Brand Purpose? | Jason Keehn, Accompany Creative, CEO & Founder
In this episode, Jason Keehn, CEO & Founder of Accompany Creative, breaks down how modern marketing leaders can unite authentic brand purpose with rigorous financial metrics to drive enterprise growth. Recorded live at Advertising Week in New York City, this conversation offers an unvarnished look at how to satisfy CFO scrutiny without losing cultural resonance.Measuring Purpose-Driven ROI: Ty
Juan Andrés Elhazaz - Global CEO - SAMY
Juan Andrés Elhazaz, Global CEO of SAMY—one of the world's premier social-first agency networks, spanning 15+ countries and backing major global accounts like Unilever Foods and Barilla. Juan Andrés spent nearly 14 years driving brand strategy at L'Oréal before joining SAMY, where he served as Global COO for seven years before stepping into the CEO chair. Combining deep corporate brand dis
Why Digital Billboards and Creator Stunts Are Surging | Ryan Laul, Talon, North American CEO
In this episode of The AD Podcast, host Dylan Conroy sits down with Ryan Laul, North American CEO of Talon, to explore the rapid evolution of out-of-home (OOH) media, digital billboard automation, and retail media integration. Discover how brands are bypassing legacy print lead times with programmatic platforms, why digital creators are using physical billboards for offline validation, and how phy
Why Athletes Make the Ultimate Corporate CEOs | Chantell Preston, San Francisco Signal, Co-Founder & Owner
The commercial landscape of women's professional sports is undergoing an unprecedented operational evolution. In this episode, Chantell Preston, Co-Founder and Owner of the San Francisco Signal, breaks down the strategic economics of launching a franchise within League One Volleyball (LOVB). Discover how private capital deployment, aligned equity structures, and player welfare standards are re
Why Gen Z and Gen Alpha Are Gamified Consumers | Matt Edelman, Super League, CEO
Reaching modern consumers requires moving past passive video and into immersive, participatory gaming ecosystems. In this episode, Matt Edelman, CEO of Super League, breaks down how enterprise brands successfully navigate multi-platform advertising campaigns, leverage native ad tech, and build long-term connections with younger demographics.Cross-Platform Advertising: Executing custom builds, rewa
Tom Telford - President of Digital Marketing and CDO - Clarity
Tom Telford, President of Digital Marketing and Chief Digital Officer at Clarity. Tom is a veteran agency leader who is actively reshaping how enterprise brands navigate the biggest shift in search and communications in two decades. Rather than treating PR, performance media, and SEO as separate agency silos, Tom connects earned authority directly with digital growth. Today, he’s leading the charg
Eliminating Wasted Ad Spend Through AI Multi-Channel Attribution | Zack Dugow, The Cool Company, Founder and CEO
Enterprise marketing organizations waste millions of dollars annually by isolating performance budgets into rigid, channel-specific walled gardens. In this episode, Zack Dugow, Founder and CEO of The Cool Company, breaks down how merging search, social, and programmatic spend into a unified AI-managed pool unlocks performance gains between 30% and 75%.Key tactical themes covered in this episode in
How Custom AI Workflows Scale Agency Creative Output | Steve O'Connell, Modop, Co-CEO
In this episode, Modop Co-Chief Creative Officer Steve O'Connell sits down at Advertising Week in New York City to unpack how modern agencies are successfully integrating technology expertise with world-class brand creative strategy. Discover how building custom AI layers fine-tuned to client data creates an unbeatable competitive advantage in client pitches compared to generic off-the-shelf s
Andrew Graff - CEO - Allen & Gerritsen
Andrew Graff is an agency leader, marketing innovator, and the long-standing Chief Executive Officer of Allen & Gerritsen (A&G), an independent, integrated agency with offices in Boston and Philadelphia.Under Graff’s leadership, A&G has expanded into a national powerhouse bringing together creative, media, PR, customer experience (CX), data, and technology to help brands become "U
The B2B-to-C Playbook Behind Agricultural Cooperatives | Pat Dunneback, Battery Agency, Managing Director
In this episode of The Ad Podcast, host Dylan Conroy sits down with Pat Dunneback, Managing Director of Battery Agency’s Chicago office, live from Advertising Week in New York. They unpack the intricacies of managing a multi-year enterprise relationship with Land O'Lakes, examining how legacy brands navigate shifting agricultural economics and consumer expectations.The operational mechanics of
The Future of Consumer Experience and Intentional AI Integration | Isabel Muñoz, Sounds Fun, CEO
In this episode of The AD Podcast, host Dylan Conroy sits down with Isabel Muñoz, CEO of Sounds Fun, live from Advertising Week in New York City. They unpack the critical intersection of emerging automation technology and authentic human connection, examining why brands that blindly replace human workers with AI face severe operational consequences.Key Episode Takeaways:Why superficial AI adoption
Alexander Guerrero - Founder and CEO - Nextide Media
Alexander Guerrero, Founder and CEO of Nextide Media—the modern adtech network unlocking livestreaming for enterprise brands. Alexander started NexTide after experiencing firsthand how painful and unpredictable creator-led live activations could be. Today, he’s built the technology stack that treats live streamers as modern publishers—combining non-disruptive ad overlays with LiveGuard™, a patent-
How AI Agents Are Transforming High-Consideration Buying Journeys | Gregg Johnson, Invoca, CEO
Enterprise brands navigating complex, high-consideration buyer journeys face a structural shift as consumer research moves toward LLM aggregation and agentic commerce. In this episode of The AD Podcast, Gregg Johnson, CEO of Invoca, joins host Dylan Conroy to break down why top-of-funnel web traffic is decreasing while transaction readiness and conversion rates are hitting new peaks. Learn how mar
Mastering Fan Intelligence vs. Social Media | Bethany Eppner, Fandom, Head of Business Marketing
Modern digital publishers and enterprise marketers face unprecedented disruption as AI answer engines transform traditional organic search discovery.In this episode of The AD Podcast, host Dylan Conroy sits down with Bethany Epner, Head of Business Marketing at Fandom, to explore how platforms serving 300 million global uniques adapt to evolving search behaviors. The conversation examines why high
The 5-Part AI Framework for Marketers | George Khatatrian, Braze, VP of AI Decisioning
Enterprise marketing executives face severe operational bottlenecks when attempting to scale lifecycle personalization across fragmented customer touchpoints. In this episode of The AD Podcast, host Dylan Conroy sits down with George Khachatryan, Vice President of AI Decisioning at Braze, to unpack how enterprise organizations can transition from static segmentation rules to self-improving, autono
How Braze Uses Internal AI to Automate Workflows | Astha Malik, Braze, CBO
Managing enterprise marketing complexity often leaves strategy teams overwhelmed by manual tool administration and operational execution. In this live interview from Forge in Las Vegas, Astha Malik, Chief Business Officer at Braze, breaks down how leading organizations deploy internal AI transformation to reclaim high-value strategic capacity.In this episode, we cover:-Internal AI governance and t
Solving Real-Time Messaging & System Automation | Sarah Reddington, Intuit, Manager of Growth Tech
How do enterprise brands move from batch segmentation to true 1-to-1 customer personalization?Sarah Reddington, Manager of Growth Tech at Intuit, joins the show to break down how engineering modern marketing stacks, Braze AI agents, and real-time data connectors unlock timely, relevant customer experiences at scale.Key Takeaways:-Transitioning traditional marketing operations into cross-functional
Jason Notte - Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief - Game Changers News
Jason Notte is an award-winning sports business journalist and media executive serving as the Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Game Changers News.With a career spanning over two decades as a columnist and editor for outlets including ADWEEK, TheStreet, MSN Money, MarketWatch, and Boston.com, Notte specializes in uncovering the untold stories behind sports media rights, stadium operations, sponsor
Chris Milone - CMO - A Place for Mom
Chris Milone is a seasoned, four-time Chief Marketing Officer and marketing executive currently serving as the CMO at A Place for Mom, North America's leading senior living advisory network.With a career spanning over two decades across fintech, financial services, and digital marketplaces, Milone brings a strong performance-marketing foundation to large-scale brand strategy. Prior to joining
Nicholas Spiro - Chief Commercial Officer - Viral Nation
Nicholas Spiro, Chief Commercial Officer at Viral Nation—a global social-first transformation group that merges creator marketing, media buying, and AI-powered brand safety. Nicholas is a veteran platform leader who had a front-row seat to the evolution of digital ads during his tenure across Meta, Twitter, and Snap Inc. before taking the commercial reins at Viral Nation. Serving on the Board of D
Multi-Channel Personalization at Enterprise Scale | Liron Biton, Elementor, Group Manager
As AI tools and vibe coding lower the technical entry barrier across digital platforms, enterprise marketing and product leaders face intense pressure to overhaul lifecycle engagement strategies.In this episode, Liron Biton, Group Manager of Lifecycle Marketing at Elementor, reveals how his team transformed traditional retention models across an ecosystem powering 40% of the web.Key Tactical Bluep
Maggie Reznikoff - Chief Client Officer - Open Influence
Maggie Reznikoff is a creator economy executive, influencer marketing authority, and the Chief Client Officer at Open Influence.Starting her career in public relations at PR agencies including Ketchum, Reznikoff joined Open Influence in 2017. Over eight years and six promotions—culminating in her elevation to Chief Client Officer—she has built and scaled the agency's global client experience a
Proving Retail Media Incrementality Beyond ROAS | Dan Eisenberg, Blue Chip, CMO
As corporate leadership demands strict financial accountability, CPG brand marketers must move beyond surface-level ROAS to prove incremental sales impact. In this episode recorded live at Grocery Shop, host Dylan Conroy sits down with Dan Eisenberg, CMO of Blue Chip, to discuss the evolution of commerce marketing and retail media networks.Key Topics Covered:- Transitioning from standard ROAS metr
Karim Leduc - Founder and CEO - DULCEDO Management
Karim Leduc, Founder and CEO of DULCEDO — a premier multidisciplinary talent management agency, representing over 600 top-tier content creators, professional athletes, actors, models, and esports stars. Karim is a pioneer of the creator economy who launched DULCEDO as a modeling agency in 2008 before establishing on of the very first dedicated influencer management companies. Over the years, he ha
Mulenga Agley - Founder and CEO - Growthcurve | Global Integrated Creative Agency
Mulenga Agley is a London-based growth strategist, marketing technologist, and entrepreneur best known as the Founder and CEO of Growthcurve, a tech-enabled growth marketing and performance agency that scales venture-backed startups and modern brands.
Erik Huberman - Founder and CEO - Hawke Media
Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media—one of the fastest-growing digital marketing consultancies in North America. Erik is a serial e-commerce entrepreneur who built and sold two companies by the age of 26 before founding Hawke Media to solve a fundamental industry problem: how brands access top-tier marketing talent without getting locked into rigid, expensive traditional agency contracts
Robb Fahrion - Co-Founder & Partner - Flying V Group
Robb Fahrion is an e-commerce growth strategist, performance marketing executive, and the Co-Founder & Partner at Flying V Group, a digital marketing and advertising agency headquartered in Irvine, California.Fahrion holds a B.S. in Business Administration with a focus on Marketing and Finance from Chapman University. Before co-founding Flying V Group alongside his brother Tyler, he gained cor
Jeffrey Matisoff - CEO & Managing Partner, North America - The Brandtech Group
Jeff Matisoff is a global media executive, growth strategist, and the CEO & Managing Partner, North America at The Brandtech Group.With over two decades of leadership in digital advertising, media transformation, and marketing technology, Matisoff previously served as a Partner at Jellyfish and held senior executive roles across Omnicom and WPP—including serving as Global President of WPP'
Ali Ugarte-Martinez - Co-Founder and COO - Foodie Tribe
Ali Ugarte-Martinez, Co-Founder and COO of Foodie Tribe and Camino Collective. Ali is an agency leader and creator economy expert who built a multi-million-dollar influencer network connecting over 3,000 food and beverage creators with global brands across the US and Europe. From negotiating six-figure single-post brand deals to managing full-funnel social strategy for CPG giants and restaurant gr
Dan Kabakov - Founder - Online Labs
Dan Kabakov is an e-commerce growth strategist, certified Google Partner, and the Founder & Lead Google Ads Specialist at Online Labs.With over a decade of experience managing paid search and Performance Max campaigns for 50+ e-commerce brands, Kabakov specializes in scaling direct-to-consumer (DTC) storefronts through data-driven optimization and systematic account frameworks. He is the creat
Libby Morgan - Chief Executive Officer - NOVUS Media LLC
Libby Morgan is an executive leader and the Chief Executive Officer at NOVUS Media LLC. She brings extensive international experience building and leading cross-disciplinary teams across North America, Europe, and the Middle East, driving omnichannel growth and media strategy for tier-one global brands like Nestlé.
Scott Spencer - CEO and Co-founder - Rewarded Interest
Scott Spencer is the CEO and Co-founder of Rewarded Interest, a privacy-first identity platform and browser extension designed to eliminate cookie consent fatigue and restore consumer control over digital tracking.Before founding Rewarded Interest, Spencer spent over 25 years shaping the programmatic advertising landscape. At DoubleClick, LLC, he developed the industry's initial ad exchange be
James Donner - Founder & CEO - Adology
James Donner is a performance marketing executive, adtech strategist, and the Founder & CEO of Adology (getadology.com).Prior to founding Adology, Donner spent over a decade leading media investment and digital strategy at enterprise agencies. He served as a senior media investment lead at Media.Monks and played a pivotal role in scaling Decoded Advertising into a 200-person performance market
Blake DeCola - EVP Performance Media - Merge
Blake DeCola is a digital media executive, precision marketing strategist, and the EVP of Performance Media at Merge.With over 15 years of experience across digital advertising, adtech, and precision marketing—including key strategic roles at enterprise platforms like Publicis' Epsilon, Rubicon Project, and Undertone—DeCola leads digital activation and growth media frameworks for major healthc
Arda Genç - Co-Founder and CEO - LIVAD Technologies
Arda Genç, Co-Founder and CEO of LIVAD Technologies. Arda is a tech entrepreneur and product strategist who studied Computer Science at Northwestern before founding LIVAD to solve one of the hardest problems in modern media: how to monetize live streaming without ruining the user experience. LIVAD’s adtech platform enables live-streamers and creators across platforms like Twitch, Kick, and YouTube
Alex Lloro- Founder & Managing Director - All Marketing Services
Alex Lloro is a digital marketing consultant, growth strategist, and the Founder & Managing Director of All Marketing Services.With over 25 years of experience bridging software engineering, IT, and performance marketing, Lloro specializes in full-funnel digital advertising, conversion rate optimization (CRO), and paid acquisition strategies for startups and mid-market enterprises. He began hi
Douglas "Doug" Zarkin - Marketing Leader & Author of Moving Your Brand Out Of The Friend Zone
Douglas "Doug" Zarkin is an award-winning brand architect, executive marketing leader, speaker, and author. He was most recently the Chief Marketing Officer at Take 5 Oil Change (under Driven Brands), overseeing brand strategy, customer experience, and retail growth across hundreds of franchise locations.Prior to his role at Take 5, Zarkin spent over a decade as the Chief Marketing Officer at Pear
Chip Malt - Co-Founder & CEO - Made In Cookware
Chip Malt (Bradford "Chip" Malt) is an e-commerce entrepreneur, growth strategist, and the Co-Founder & CEO of Made In Cookware.Before founding Made In, Malt built his career in software engineering, data analytics, and performance marketing, leading digital strategy and customer acquisition efforts at companies like WeSpire and Culinary Concepts.In 2017, he teamed up with childhood
Shlomi Ron - Co-Founder & CMO - Decision Advantage AI
Shlomi Ron is an author, keynote speaker, and visual storytelling executive who operates at the intersection of brand narrative, cognitive AI, and strategic decision-making. He is the Co-Founder & CMO at Decision Advantage AI as well as the CEO & Founder of the Visual Storytelling Institute (VSI).At Decision Advantage AI, Ron leads brand strategy and go-to-market messaging for advanced AI
Raymond 'Reigns' Tembo - Digital Marketing Executive - Simply Black Media
Raymond 'Reigns' Tembo, Digital Marketing Specalist, Simply Black Media—one of the premier independent media, data, and communications networks operating across sub-Saharan Africa. Raymond is a pan-African media leader who has spent over 15 years building integrated, data-driven advertising infrastructure across emerging markets. From navigating fragmented local media ecosystems to executi
Bill Harper - CEO and Chief Creative Officer - BrandBossHQ
Bill Harper, CEO and Chief Creative Officer at BrandBossHQ—a strategic branding and storytelling agency that has generated over $2.5 billion in net new revenue for more than 300 brands. Bill is a serial entrepreneur who has founded and built four successful agencies, winning over 100 industry awards for his work with category heavyweights like Denny’s, Carfax, Ryobi, Bosch, Michelin, and Delsey Lu
Jason Mitchell - Co-Founder & CEO - Movement Strategy
Jason Mitchell is a social media strategy pioneer, agency executive, and the Co-Founder & CEO of Movement Strategy. Starting the agency from a college dorm room, he has scaled Movement Strategy into a premier 150+ person social-first marketing agency with major hubs in New York, Denver, and Los Angeles.Under his leadership, Movement Strategy crafts breakout social campaigns and community-first
Jason Rhoads - CEO & Owner - Rhoads Creative
Jason Rhoads is a digital marketing executive, AI innovator, and the CEO & Owner of Rhoads Creative, a full-service digital agency focused on high-performance strategy for homebuilders, remodelers, and construction brands.Taking over the business originally founded by his parents nearly 35 years ago, Rhoads leveraged his academic background in statistics and financial analytics to transition t
Edwin Choi - Founder & CEO - Jetfuel Agency
Edwin Choi is an e-commerce growth strategist, entrepreneur, and the Founder & CEO of Jetfuel Agency (jetfuel.agency). Founded in 2017 after years of working in-house as a DTC operator, Choi built Jetfuel to eliminate the inefficiency, wasted ad spend, and surface-level tactics common in traditional agency models.Under his leadership, Jetfuel Agency operates as a performance and growth engine
Zero-Party Data, Tech Stack Audits & Ending Data Bloat | Emily Proctor, Managing Director at OMD
As corporate data storage costs soar and cookie deprecation reshapes digital media, enterprise brands must shift from hoarding volume-based data to activating decision-led zero-party data.Dylan Conroy sits down with Emily Proctor, Managing Director of Technology & Data Solutions at OMD, to break down how top global agencies audit clients' technology stacks and eliminate ad-targeting waste.
Cindy Goodrich - Chief Marketing Officer - Empathy
Cindy Goodrich is an executive marketing leader, brand strategist, and the Chief Marketing Officer at Empathy—a technology platform dedicated to supporting families through the emotional and logistical burdens of loss, grief, and legacy planning.She holds a B.S. in Biomedical and Mechanical Engineering from Duke University and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Goo
Galina Shubik - Co-Founder - Affect Group
Galina Shubik, Co-Founder at Affect Group—an international digital marketing agency with over two decades of performance growth experience. Galina is an Effie and Shorty Award-winning strategist who has led digital growth and client service transformation for global powerhouses like PepsiCo, MasterCard, LEGO, and Mercedes-Benz. Beyond agency leadership, she serves as an Effie Awards juror and a ma
Nikki Lindgren - CEO - Pennock
Nikki Lindgren is an e-commerce performance marketing leader, CEO, and the Founder & Managing Partner of Pennock (pennock.co).Starting her career in product development at Pottery Barn and joining the foundational e-commerce team at Cost Plus World Market, she moved agency-side to oversee digital marketing strategy across high-profile e-commerce accounts. She launched Pennock to bridge the gap
Sandra Leung - VP, Search & Media Operations - Cosmo5
Sandra Leung is an digital marketing executive and the VP, Search & Media Operations at Cosmo5. Cosmo5 is a digital agency and performance media partner that specializes in paid search, programmatic advertising, media strategy, and growth analytics for scaling brands.In her leadership role at Cosmo5, Sandra oversees search operations, campaign performance frameworks, and cross-channel media ex
Kevin DiLorenzo - Partner & CEO - Rise and Shine
Kevin DiLorenzo is the Partner & CEO of Rise and Shine and Partners, an award-winning independent creative, brand strategy, and advertising agency based in Minneapolis. With over 30 years of experience in advertising and communications, he has guided creative and brand strategies for major national and regional brands, including Target, Best Buy, BMW, McDonald's, Capital One, Andersen Wind
Mary Knight - President - Hydrogen Advertising
Mary Knight is an advertising executive, creative director, and the President and Co-Owner of Hydrogen Advertising, an award-winning independent agency based in Seattle, Washington.With decades of industry experience, Knight spent years as an Executive Creative Director at major global agency networks—including FCB Global and DDB Worldwide—before stepping into leadership at independent shops. Hono
John Dawson - VP Strategy - Jellyfish
John Dawson is VP Strategy at Jellyfish, with 15 years of experience working across Australia, Denmark, China and the United States. He brings an international perspective to developing strategies for global brands at a time of media convergence and disruption. He helps clients navigate the evolving landscape through AI, data and media innovation, and importantly, helps them understand and improve
Christina Garnett - Chief Customer Officer - Neuemotion
Christina Garnett is a fractional Chief Customer Officer, trust strategist, author, and keynote speaker. Operating through her venture Neuemotion (neuemotion.com), she advises executive teams and high-growth companies on building Customer Trust Infrastructure, scaling customer advocacy, and treating brand-customer relationships as emotional, high-leverage assets.She is the author of Transforming C
Monetizing Exit Traffic & Mastering Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) | Mark Mamber, Tiki, Chief Executive Officer
As search funnels compress and over 60% of digital queries end without a website click, enterprise leaders are forced to rethink how they monetize audience attention and maintain search visibility.Dylan Conroy sits down with Mark Mamber, CEO of Tiki, to break down the mechanics of monetizing lost web traffic and leveraging Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) to capture market share across AI platform
Priscilla McKinney - founder - Little Bird Marketing
Priscilla McKinney is a CEO, serial entrepreneur, author, keynote speaker, and the founder (or "Momma Bird") of Little Bird Marketing. Known for her irreverent, no-nonsense approach to B2B growth and digital transformation, she has built Little Bird Marketing into an award-winning content marketing and lead generation agency.She is the author of Collaboration is the New Competition and t
Hawken Ritter - Head of Growth - Convey
Hawken Ritter is an AI engineer, product strategist, and tech leader specializing in agentic workflows and enterprise automation. He is the Head of Growth at Convey, an enterprise platform that enables non-technical teams—across publishers, agencies, and adtech platforms—to design, train, and deploy autonomous "digital teammates."Focus & PhilosophyThroughout his career in software en
Steve Red - CCO & Eric Bertrand - CEO - Mod Op
Steve Red is the Co-Chief Creative Officer at Mod Op and the founder of the renowned creative agency Red Tettemer O'Connell + Partners (RTO+P), which joined Mod Op. With decades of experience touching creative and strategic direction across industries, he leads brand identity, creative storytelling, and campaign strategy with a conviction that advertising should be as intelligent and engaging
Alladan Flinn - Founder and CEO - Based Trading Cards
Alladan Flinn is an artist, musician, and entrepreneur who is fundamentally reshaping the physical collectibles market as the Founder and CEO of Based Trading Cards. Alladan’s mission sits right at the intersection of high-end physical art, Bitcoin philosophy, and hard-asset economics. By combining elite craftsmanship—using heat-receptive thermal inks, 3D holographic patterns, and physical securit
The Infrastructure of Experiential World-Building | Don Strom, Salt & Pinch, Co-Founder, Managing Partner
Enterprise marketing teams face growing digital fatigue, as screen-based advertising alone struggles to capture deep customer loyalty.Don, Managing Partner at Salt & Pinch, breaks down how leading brands leverage experiential world-building and physical production to turn digital IP into high-converting real estate.Key tactical themes covered:- Scaling flexible production teams up to 240 membe
Sara Brooks - Chief Growth Officer - BetterHelp
Sara Brooks is the Chief Growth Officer at BetterHelp, the world’s largest online therapy platform. In her role, she leads global marketing, growth transformation, international expansion, and member acquisition, scaling the network to serve millions worldwide.With over 18 years of marketing leadership experience, Brooks has a proven track record of scaling consumer tech brands from early-stage st
Christian Jacobsen - Co-Founder - The Many
Christian Jacobsen is an ad-industry entrepreneur, brand strategist, and the Co-Founder of The Many (formerly known as Mistress), an award-winning integrated advertising agency based in Santa Monica, California.A classically trained brand strategist who previously held roles at agencies like Ogilvy and Kastner & Partners (servicing brands like Red Bull), Jacobsen co-founded the agency in 2010
Allan Gungormez - Chief Strategy Officer - MDRN Logic
Allan Gungormez is a brand strategist, and social culture expert based in Los Angeles, California. He is the Chief Strategy Officer at MDRN Logic, a premier creative agency and strategy studio that specializes in social-first branding, internet culture, and entertainment marketing for global brands like Adobe, Crocs, DoorDash, Manscaped, Bad Bunny, and FX.Career & PhilosophyBefore MDRN Logic a
Camm Rowland - Chief Creative Officer & Chief AI Officer - Kepler Group
Camm Rowland, the Chief Creative Officer and Chief AI Officer at Kepler Group. Camm is an Emmy-winning creative leader named to Adweek’s AI Power 50, sitting right at the chaotic intersection of data, human design, and emerging technology. Before leading applied AI and creative at Kepler, he held Executive Creative Director roles at Kohler Co. and Digital Kitchen. What makes Camm fascinating is th
Kristine Root - Founder & Chief Strategy Officer - Socha Branding
Kristine Root is a brand strategist, agency leader, and the Founder & Chief Strategy Officer of Socha Branding.Bio HighlightsThe Agency Founder: Kristine founded Socha Branding, a food systems branding and marketing agency that partners with natural, organic, and regenerative brands, non-profits, and government programs across the food value chain.Systems Storytelling: With over 20 years of ma
Cannes 2026: How to Use B2B Podcasting for Executive Business Development | Dan Lescarbeau & Dylan Conroy, Iris North America
Outbound sales models relying on cold email and automated LinkedIn outreach are rapidly collapsing as C-suite decision-makers filter out generic digital noise.In this collaborative episode recorded live on The Optimist Brief with host Dan Lescarbeau (VP of Marketing at Iris North America), guest Dylan Conroy, host of The Ad Podcast, breaks down how establishing an executive media platform turns co
Cannes 2026: Why Brand Advertising is Shifting to the Open App Internet | Stephen Upstone, LoopMe, CEO & Founder
As open web publisher traffic drops due to changing search engine behaviors, enterprise brand advertisers face declining reach and measurement challenges.Stephen Upstone, CEO & Founder of LoopMe, breaks down how the company leverages artificial intelligence and a network of 30,000 mobile SDK integrations to bring brand advertising into mobile apps and Connected TV.Key tactical themes covered:-
Cannes 2026: Translating Complex Personas into AI-Driven Targeting | Dharmesh Patel, OnAudience , Global Curation Strategy Lead
Enterprise brand campaigns frequently struggle with inefficient audience targeting and poor match rates when relying on static data segments. Dharmesh Patel, Global Curation Strategy Lead at OnAudience, breaks down how multi-source identity graphs and supply-side curation are transforming programmatic media buying across the open web.Key tactical themes covered:Connecting 12 data sources within an
Cannes 2026: Re-Engineering B2B Campaign Strategy | Spencer Burke, Braze, SVP of Growth
Enterprise marketing and lifecycle engineering teams often run into campaign execution bottlenecks and privacy constraints when attempting to scale multi-channel customer journeys.Spencer Burke, Senior Vice President of Growth at Braze, breaks down how to embed agentic AI and customizable Large Language Models into automated lifecycle platforms.Key tactical themes covered:Transitioning from static
Cannes 2026: The Rise of Indie Agencies vs Holding Companies | Christoph Berg, MINT Square, CEO
Mid-sized and independent agencies frequently face high operational barriers when attempting to access tier-one programmatic media buying infrastructure.Christoph Berg, CEO and Founder of MINT Square, breaks down how programmatic DSP reseller models provide independent agencies with low-barrier access to enterprise platforms such as The Trade Desk, Adform, and Active Agent.Key topics covered inclu
Cannes 2026: Building a Culture of Experimentation in the Age of AI | Courtney Lewis & Courtney Williams, The Variable, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Growth Officer and Partners
Mid-market enterprises and growing brands frequently face severe market friction when trying to compete against category captains with massive advertising budgets.Courtney Lewis, CEO & Partner, and Courtney Williams, Chief Growth Officer & Partner at The Variable, break down how to identify, unlock, and scale hidden growth variables to drive outsized market impact.Key tactical themes cover
Cannes 2026: The Future of Responsive Programmatic Creative | Fabrice Rousseau, Amazon, Director, Advertising Experiences
Programmatic advertisers frequently face low engagement and conversion bottlenecks caused by static, generic display ad formats.Fabrice Rousseau, Director of Advertising Experiences at Amazon, breaks down the major update to Amazon’s Responsive E-commerce (REC) ad product and how generative AI is transforming display advertising across the open web.Key topics covered include:Automating creative as
Cannes 2026: Presentation Skills for Agency Executives, Closing the Pitch Execution Gap | Ben Levy, Sell It Great, Founder
Many agency and corporate sales teams lose new business pitches despite having superior creative work because they lack the presentation skills to sell their ideas effectively. Ben Levy, CEO and Founder of "Sell It Great," breaks down how to build a structured presentation framework that closes the execution gap and improves pitch win rates.He shares practical insights on using low-stakes internal
Emma Witkowski - Vice President of Media Solutions - WildBrain
Emma Witkowski is a highly accomplished digital media executive, strategic investor, and the Vice President of Media Solutions at WildBrain, a global leader in kids and family entertainment. In her role, she drives advertising sales and monetization strategy across WildBrain's massive digital ecosystem—including YouTube, FAST channels, AVOD, and immersive gaming integrations on Roblox and Fort
Cannes 2026: Validating Memes for Sales Growth | Josh Rosenberg, Day One Agency, CEO
Many enterprise brand strategies face dropping engagement rates because they allocate budgets through disruptive paid networks that modern digital consumers systematically tune out.Josh Rosenberg, co-founder and CEO of Day One Agency, breaks down how to construct high-yield earned media strategies by balancing core storytelling with targeted community tracking.He shares his operational playbook fo
Cannes 2026: Deconstructing Jargon in Financial Services Advertising | Adam Reeves & Julien Bissuel, 72andSunny, Chief Creative Officer and Chief Executive Officer
Many corporate marketing groups experience poor campaign performance because they rely on fragmented regional agency silos that use confusing, jargon-heavy copy. Adam Reeves, Chief Creative Officer, and Julien Bissuel, Chief Executive Officer at 72andSunny Toronto, break down how to optimize asset development and increase brand relevance by deploying a borderless cross-office architecture.They sha
Cannes 2026: The Strategy Behind High-Velocity Creator Partnerships | Juliana Cobb and Rich Santiago, 72andSunny, Chief Creative Officer and Chief Strategy Officer
Many corporate marketing teams struggle to build real customer connection because they rely on transactional, feature-heavy product copy that fails to break through crowded digital channels. Juliana Cobb, Chief Creative Officer, and Rich Santiago, Chief Strategy Officer at 72andSunny New York, break down how to optimize asset development and increase brand relevance by embedding inclusive creative
Cannes 2026: Compressing Production Pipelines, Super Bowl Playbook | Chris Kay and Maria Galleriu, 72andSunny, International CEO and Chief Strategy Officer International
Many enterprise brand strategies see declining campaign performance because they rely on massive, bureaucratic agency networks that fail to match the rapid speed of modern culture.Chris Kay, International CEO at 72andSunny, and Maria Galleriu, International CSO, break down how to optimize global campaign execution by moving away from legacy holding structures to deploy agile, bespoke creative netw
Cannes 2026: Expanding Multicultural Reach via Centralized Podcast Networks | Gary Coichy, Pod Digital Media, Founder
Many corporate marketing groups struggle to meet their growth goals because they allocate diversity budgets through fragmented programmatic ad buys that fail to connect with target consumer markets. Gary Coichy, founder and CEO of Pod Digital Media, breaks down how to construct high-performance marketing engines by connecting corporate budgets directly with over 400 specialized multicultural publi
Cannes 2026: Unifying Supply and Demand Architecture across Globalized Media Channels | Ian Maxwell, Converge Digital, Chief Executive Officer
Many corporate marketing groups experience declining conversion tracking metrics because they rely on fragile browser identity tools that are increasingly blocked by privacy updates. Ian Maxwell, CEO at Converge Digital, breaks down how to construct neutral, infrastructure-level artificial intelligence frameworks to maintain tracking accuracy without depending on third-party cookies.He shares his
Cannes 2026: Optimizing Publisher Monetization and Eliminate Programmatic Ad Bloat | Robin de Wit, Refinery89 , Product Marketing Director
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