Home The Big Story The Big Story: COVID-19 Spikes, Google Rises, Amazon Falls And The Trade Desk Sits Pretty

The Big Story: COVID-19 Spikes, Google Rises, Amazon Falls And The Trade Desk Sits Pretty

SHARE:
The Big Story podcast

As COVID-19 cases spike across America, the joyous reopening is on pause. (Unless you’re Disney World, because apparently the virus has no effect on the land of enchantment and childhood dreams.)

But having gone through the initial shutdown in March, brands are more prepared this time around. They’re pulling back on some of the more ambitious initiatives they’d hoped to enact in later quarters and accelerating others that were put into place when consumers went remote.

In this week’s episode, Alison Weissbrot will discuss how three very different brands are coping with the new wave of closures. Multinational pharma company Bayer sells products that people need, particularly during a pandemic. Pandora Jewelry sells 80% of its products in its brick-and-mortar stores – where it has a lot of sunken costs, which means a full-scale pivot to ecommerce isn’t really feasible. And Lindblad Expeditions is a small adventure cruise company catering to well-heeled consumers over 50.

We’ll get into what each company did during the initial days of the outbreak, what they’re doing now and what their outlook is for the future.

Also, since we can’t have an advertising-related podcast without Google, we’ll talk about how the GOOG is back on top of the latest Advertiser Perceptions DSP report after having ceded ground to Amazon in recent quarters. Kevin Mannion, chief strategy officer and president of Advertiser Perceptions drops in to talk about what Google’s DSP DV360 did right to plant itself back into top consideration – and whether the bloom that was once on Amazon’s DSP has faded.

Also, you’ll get a deep dive into how The Trade Desk sustains its popularity (Spoiler alert: Thought leadership and customer service play a big part) and a few thoughts on the surprising resurgence of Verizon Media.

Must Read

Apple Has Far-Reaching Plans To Block Hundreds Of Programmatic Data Companies From iOS

Apple’s WebKit crackdown appears to extend well beyond The Trade Desk, putting hundreds of ad tech, data and identity vendors on a mysterious, dynamically updated block list.

Josh Reed, Zoom's VP of brand and content, speaking at AdExchanger's Programmatic IO event in New York City (September 28, 2006)

Zoom’s Marketing Challenge Is That It’s Too Well Known For Its Own Good

Zoom has 99% unaided brand awareness, which sounds great on paper. But there’s a catch: Most people still think it’s just a video-call app.

Why Agencies Think They Shouldn’t Own Agentic AI Tools Or The Data Used To Build Them

Agencies are differentiating their tech stacks by building custom agentic AI tools for their clients. And they’re rethinking owning those AI tools – particularly since licensing them creates new revenue streams.

Privacy! Commerce! Connected TV! Read all about it. Subscribe to AdExchanger Newsletters

Programmatic IO: Insurers Are Building Ad Tech’s AI Accountability Layer

Agencies and marketers discussed the future of AI governance at AdExchanger’s Programmatic IO NYC this week. The main takeaway? Expect insurers to play an increasingly important role in managing AI compliance.

Apple’s Latest Operating System Blocks The Trade Desk From Serving Ads On Safari

The Trade Desk is unable to serve ads to the Safari browser for Apple device owners that have downloaded iOS 27. Apple has been investigating the issue since last week.

Who Will Stand Up For The Open Web?

The open web is done, stick a fork in it. Banner blindness is near universal, search traffic has run dry and publishers are struggling for oxygen. But what if that’s … not true?