The Ad Podcast

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 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. Go...

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 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 ga...

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 e...

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 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. Hon...

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 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...

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 platfor...

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...

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 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 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...

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 me...

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 s...

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 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 & Philosophy Before MDRN Logic...

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 is a brand strategist, agency leader, and the Founder & Chief Strategy Officer of Socha Branding. Bio Highlights The 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...

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...

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...

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...

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 sta...

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 inc...