The Ad Podcast

Claude Zdanow is a visionary leader in the business and marketing industry, boasting nearly two decades of unparalleled experience in scaling and directing multiple marketing and advertising enterprises. His strategic acumen has transformed startups into global brands valued at tens of millions of dollars. Zdanow's impressive client portfolio includes industry giants such as 7-Eleven, Brown Fo...

Mattia is a legal and technology expert turned entrepreneur. He is a co-founder and CEO at Anonymised, a tech company that is enhancing privacy and ad effectiveness through ID-less advertising. Excessive reliance on the collection and sharing of consumer data undermines digital advertising because: 👉 It reduces the number of consumers that can be reached by advertisers 👉 It raises prices for adv...

Laura Hoffman is a Partner and Head of Brand Management at HAYMAKER , an independent, minority‑owned creative agency based in Los Angeles. She joined the agency as Group Brand Director in late 2021 and quickly rose to Partner status in 2022, where she now leads brand strategy, client relationships, and organic growth initiatives—including the launch of the agency’s in‑house production arm, THROWDO...

Kristi O'Brien leads LTK’s Brand Platform team – developing and driving creator commerce strategies for its brand partners. She also oversees the product and technology teams as they develop advertiser focused tools, including its recent launch of LTK Connect, a self-service advertiser product focused on connecting LTKs creators with brands of all sizes. She started at LTK in 2018 as the VP of...

With over two decades of experience in the skincare and beauty industry, Tara specializes in building brands that move culture. Her work lives at the intersection of science, storytelling, and soul, and it is always anchored in results. She specializes in grit. Her dad is a third-generation pistachio grower in California, and that blend of artful curiosity, beauty, and serious hard work runs deep...

Ian Orekondy is the Director of Media, Analytics & Innovation at Method1 , where he applies data-driven strategies and behavioral science to optimize media planning and brand impact for clients like PepsiCo, Gap, and Merck . Joining Method1 in early 2024, Ian has nearly two decades of experience across media, analytics, product, and ad-tech leadership roles Before Method1, Ian founded PranifyR...

James Townsend is currently CEO of Stagwell EMEA and Global CEO of Stagwell's Brand Performance Network (BXP) . He assumed the EMEA role on January 1, 2024, after serving as Global CEO of Assembly and Brand Performance Network, and leads the company’s expansion across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa en.wikipedia.org+10stagwellglobal.com+10odwyerpr.com+10 . With more than 15 years in agency...

As Global CCO, Matt pushes the creative limits of 72andSunny by helping lead its commitment to experimentation with art, technology, and entertainment. He's a born tinkerer, and is always looking for new ways to create opportunities with all of our brand partners. Matt's passion for partnership has produced unlikely collaborations, including rallying millions of girls to code holiday trees...

Vida Delrahim is a WeNatal Co-Founder with 20+ years of leadership in Brand Marketing. Building campaigns from the ground up as the Senior Marketing Director at Nike, she’s responsible for executing numerous high-profile endeavors including the Nike Women's Marathon, World Cup, and Nike Women Los Angeles. Vida’s experience with bringing stories of strength & empowerment to light shifted to...

With over 20 years of global experience in production and creative leadership, Don Strom's journey began in technical theatre and live performance, igniting his passion for entertainment. He launched his career in TV and live broadcast with major networks like ABC, FOX, and NBC before transitioning to executive producing large-scale events for Fortune 500 companies, including Google, Netflix, Nike...

Greg Williams graduated from Susquehanna University in 1992 with a degree in accounting, but quickly pivoted toward the outdoors, co-founding the Philadelphia Rock Gyms (PRG) Gym in 1993 and helping build one of the region’s first indoor climbing communities. He later moved to Colorado to work in advertising at Climbing Magazine Inc, combining his professional skillset with his passion for the out...

Gabby Ludzker is CEO of Rapp UK, joining the agency in 2020. She spent 11 years at Proximity: 3 years running the International business in the Paris office and 8 years in Proximity London as MD and then CEO. Coming from a Digital background at the start of it all, Gabby is passionate about the constant evolution of Marketing, finding new and better ways to solve meaty client problems, make consum...

Agencies are a trip. She should know. After spending 20 years at some of the largest and most influential agencies, she's come to appreciate the unique power of independent and inclusive teams. Now, as the COO of Xpedition, she is part of a team committed to revolutionizing agency and entertainment work and delivering world-changing results in partnership with clients like Google, YouTube, Amazon...

Tamara Francious is CEO and co‑founder of The XP Agency , an award‑winning experiential and multicultural marketing firm based in New York. Since launching the company in 2016, she has led the agency’s growth, championing immersive, culturally resonant activations for clients like Netflix, Coca‑Cola, Procter & Gamble, Ghirardelli, and Aflac Under her leadership, The XP Agency earned a spot on...

Tom is an accomplished senior agency leader and executive advisor with proven expertise in accelerating revenue growth in both large corporate and independent entrepreneurial environments. Significant experience creating sales and marketing strategies that have generated revenues for ad agencies, publishers and ad tech startups. Highly adaptive with versatile sales skills and reputation as innovat...

Adam has 30 years of global experience across a number of areas in marketing and the live event industry, leading diverse projects such as fashion shows, live broadcast events for TV, theatre, music, ceremonies for international sporting events, complex consumer marketing campaigns, and corporate brand experiences. Over the years, he developed a reputation as a world-class event and experience pro...

Steve Erich is the Co-Founder and President of Erich & Kallman, which has been named AdAge 2024 North American Agency of the Year, honored as an ADWEEK Fastest Growing Agency, named on the AdAge A-List and has three times been awarded Small Agency of the Year - West by AdAge. Erich & Kallman has produced award winning work for Hershey, Disney+, General Mills, Great Wolf Lodge, iRobot, Take...

Aaron C. Lang is the President of MSQ, a global marketing group known for its collaborative, multi-disciplinary approach to building modern brands. With a career spanning leadership roles across agencies and client-side organizations, Aaron brings a deep understanding of integrated marketing, digital transformation, and growth strategy. At MSQ, he champions innovation and creative excellence, driv...

Anders just completed an unprecedented 21 year run at Deckers Brands, one of the most dynamic and powerful companies in the world of footwear - and consumer brands broadly speaking. Over the course of that time, he grew from an entry level Marketing Coordinator to his most recent post as the VP and Global GM of the Teva Footwear brand. Throughout his tenure at Deckers he was a central contributor...

Mariam is a first generation half-Mexican half-Palestinian American with global experience in creative, media and technology. Her skills range from creative to commercial—with particular expertise in brand strategy, industry strategy and business development. Thanks to a diverse and illustrious career abroad, she understands the nuances of cultural relevance and context on a global scale for brand...

Since 2019, Pius leads Sanofi China encompassing Greater China, representing the 2nd largest market of Sanofi in the world with over 8,000 associates. Pius and his team are fully dedicated to transforming healthcare by accelerating the introduction and access to innovative and chronic medicines, driving digitalization, as well as empowering people to bring their best to the workplace. Pius’ extens...

Jo is perpetually bored with the status quo, she's a visionary leader at the forefront of transforming the future of work through generative AI & the agentic future. After a successful tenure as CEO of Burns Group—where she drove significant growth & participated in the company's acquisition by a leading agency—she redirected her passion and expertise to redefine organizational tra...

Mat transform how brands connect with their markets by fusing creative storytelling with strategic rigor. From copywriter to CMO at Prophet, my 25+ year journey spans digital innovation, agency leadership, and brand transformation for Fortune 500 clients. My expertise bridges the brand-demand divide to drive measurable growth in both B2B and B2C environments. I've led digital disciplines of 30...

Jonathan Haber is a cofounder of Giant Spoon, an independent, integrated agency that expands the ways people experience brands. Giant Spoon is known for turning marketing upside down. Obsessed with culture and driven by insatiable curiosity, the agency blends teams across creative, media, and experiential to stir shit up for ambitious brands.

Pep loves working with amazing people, He loves solving problems, and he loves meeting new folks from everywhere in the world. Currently, he has the privilege of leading a fantastic team of engineers and business leaders. Together they are driving the future of brand-consumer relationships. They are building SaaS that helps brands uncover authentic conversations at scale and help them put the most...