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.
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.
As brand safety standards evolve and oversight shifts from platforms to third-party vendors, Brittany Scott, SVP of global partnerships at Zefr, explains what the rise of generative AI – and Meta’s decision to step away from MRC brand safety audits – means for the future of media quality.
Think you know Snapchat’s audience? Think again, says Ajit Mohan, Snap’s chief business officer. Mohan gets real and busts myths, including the idea that Snap is just for kids and its youngest users aren’t big spenders.
Jay Richman, Amazon’s VP of product and technology, on how AI-generated ad creative can still stand out at scale without becoming generic or too samey samey. Plus: The risks brands face if they wait too long to embrace AI.
The Economist is charting its own course in the age of AI, says Nada Arnot, the 182-year-old publication’s EVP of marketing. It’s steering clear of licensing deals and lawsuits and partnering with Claude on its own terms.
AI hype is everywhere, but Moloco CEO Ikkjin Ahn says the real winners in ad tech will be those who can move beyond flashy demos and harness AI at true hyperscale.
You can’t buy your way to the top of a large-language model. At least not yet. But there are things that brands can do to influence how – and if – they get mentioned, says Tracy Morrissey, SVP of media and performance at full-service agency Innocean USA.
There are billions of mobile gamers in this world – mostly adult women with serious spending power – but advertisers are still lagging. It’s time for brands to catch up with gaming audiences, says Gabrielle Heyman, Zynga’s head of global brand sales and partnerships.
Jeff Cohen, Skai’s new chief business development officer, unpacks why the smartest retailers and brands are already connecting the data dots and rethinking their playbooks for the AI era, even though the shopping bots aren’t quite there yet.
Vidushi Dyall went from tracking cybercriminals at the Manhattan DA’s office to dissecting online ad empires. In this episode, she breaks down the DOJ’s antitrust battles with Google – and why she sometimes finds herself rooting for the so‑called evil empire.
Tony Stubblebine became CEO of Medium in 2022 and turned the struggling, loss-making platform profitable by cutting costs, improving content quality and refusing to rely on advertising.
Marketing often gets unfairly pegged as a cost center. But that wouldn’t happen if marketers had access to better measurement that gave them clarity on what truly drives business growth, argues Henry Innis, CEO and co-founder of MMM platform Mutinex.
Anne Coghlan, co-founder and COO of Scope3, on why cutting carbon in ad tech isn’t just about saving the planet; it’s about eliminating inefficiency and financial waste at the same time. Plus: Using AI to automate and optimize digital media buying at the impression level.
Online advertising’s privacy problem isn’t just about bad actors; it’s about bad metrics, says Marc Guldimann, CEO and founder of attention startup Adelaide. “I think a lot of the invasive behaviors in the ad tech space can be traced back to a lack of a shared understanding of quality,” he says.
