The Digiday podcast

#Digital Marketing #Tech #Industries #Business #Marketing

46:39

“If we march into that village and we start trying to persecute people for using poison, something that's very illegal, nobody's going to talk to us. We're not going to find out where the poison came from. We're not going to be able to shut anything down. We should take the approach that people are using poison because they're desperate, because they see no other alternative.” – Andrew Stein Andrew Stein is a wildlife ecologist who spent the past 25 years studying human carnivore conflict from African wild dogs and lions in Kenya and Botswana to leopards and hyenas in Namibia. His work has long focused on finding ways for people and predators to coexist. He is the founder of CLAWS , an organization based in Botswana that's working at the intersection of cutting-edge wildlife research and community driven conservation. Since its start in 2014 and official launch as an NGO in 2020, CLAWS has been pioneering science-based, tech-forward strategies to reduce conflict between people and carnivores. By collaborating closely with local communities, especially traditional cattle herders, CLAWS supports both species conservation and rural livelihoods—making coexistence not just possible, but sustainable.…

The Digiday Podcast

Series home•Feed

The Digiday Podcast is a weekly show on the big stories and issues that matter to brands, agencies and publishers as they transition to the digital age.

449 episodes

The Digiday Podcast

166 subscribers

updated about 8 hours ago

Series home•Feed

The Digiday Podcast is a weekly show on the big stories and issues that matter to brands, agencies and publishers as they transition to the digital age.

449 episodes

#Digital Marketing #Tech #Industries #Business #Marketing

All episodes

1
Google’s antitrust ruling, Netflix’s latest earnings + Digiday Reporters on Tariff Ripple Effects on Market & Advertising 1:01:02

8 hours ago1:01:02

1:01:02

On the Digiday Podcast this week, hosts Kimeko McCoy, senior marketing reporter and Tim Peterson, executive editor of video and audio, discuss the ripple effects of President Donald Trump's tariffs on the marketing and advertising industry (18:20). To make sense of all the tariff talk, they are joined by senior marketing editor Kristina Monllos and senior reporter Sam Bradley. Also on this episode, Peterson and McCoy discuss big tech’s antitrust trials, including the long-awaited ruling in Google’s ad tech antitrust battle with the Justice Department, OpenAI’s rumored X-like social media network and Netflix’s latest earnings.…

1
Tariffs, a retail media reckoning, Meta v. FTC + TikTok creator Alyssa McKay on the latest ban delay 52:56

7 days ago52:56

52:56

This week’s episode recaps the topsy-turvy tariff changes, Walmart’s rising retail media demands and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust case against Meta. Then TikTok creator Alyssa McKay (16:17) joins to discuss how Snapchat and Instagram Reels could fill the TikTok void if the ByteDance-owned platform ends up being banned.…

1
Why retail media is still grappling with definition and spending uncertainties 52:49

14 days ago52:49

52:49

On the Digiday Podcast this week, hosts Kimeko McCoy, senior marketing reporter and Tim Peterson, executive editor of video and audio, discuss the TikTok ban’s second extension (yes, it has been extended yet again), tariff’s trickle down effects and why agency holding companies are looking to bolster the data capabilities. Also on this episode, Amie Owen (17:28), chief commerce officer at Kinesso, a performance marketing agency within IPG Mediabrands, breaks down how economic uncertainty impacts retail media spend negotiations, otherwise known as joint business planning (JBP), as well as what’s to blame for retail media’s executive dysfunction.…

1
A gloomy ad outlook, Apple’s ATT troubles, bot blind sports and Dotdash Meredith’s Lindsay Van Kirk on D/Cipher’s OpenAI assist 45:39

21 days ago45:39

45:39

This week’s episode examines the gloomy ad market outlook, Apple’s App Tracking Transparency troubles and ad verification vendors’ bot blind spots. Then Dotdash Meredith svp and gm of D/Cipher Lindsay Van Kirk joins to discuss how the publisher has enlisted OpenAI to give its contextual ad targeting product a AI-assisted boost.…

1
AI-powered paywalls and the Trump Bump: A look inside the state of the publishing business 53:29

28 days ago53:29

53:29

Sara Jerde, managing editor at Digiday, joins this week's episode of the Digiday Podcast to talk about Apple's $1 billion streaming TV loss, Ben & Jerry's ousted CEO and of course, Perplexity's proposal to buy TikTok the countdown to the ban continues. Also on this episode, Digiday senior media reporter Sara Guaglione and senior entertainment media reporter Alexander Lee joined the Digiday Podcast to preview the hot topics likely to dominate discussions with publishers during the spring edition of the Digiday Publishing Summit (22:49).…

1
TikTok ban looms closer, leaving more questions than answers in its wake 52:41

5 weeks ago52:41

52:41

This week's episode of the Digiday Podcast covers recession fears and signals, and their impact on the market, how streaming networks are looking to scoop up YouTube creators for shows and Scope3’s plans to pivot, bringing the ad tech company into the AI era. Also on this episode, Digiday platforms reporter Krystan Scanlon walks through the ever-looming TikTok ban, and how it could impact marketers, users and creators alike.…

1
How Pinterest went from selling views to selling clicks and conversions, with CRO Bill Watkins 58:49

6 weeks ago58:49

58:49

This week's episode of the Digiday Podcast covers T-Mobile and Publicis Groupe's ad tech acquisitions amidst the "everything's an ad network" narrative, the TikTok ban tug-of-war and YouTube's new subscription service, Premium Lite. Also on this episode, Pinterest's chief revenue officer Bill Watkins walks through the platform's play for more ad dollars this year with AI-powered tools, a focus on performance marketing and balancing more ads with the user experience.…

1
How to grow a creator-based newsletter business, with Puck’s Sarah Personette 1:04:50

7 weeks ago1:04:50

1:04:50

Puck’s famed journalist-centric publishing model is changing. Sort of. The news outlet debuted in 2021 with its journalists as the company’s audience-facing focal point, not the publication. People would subscribe less so to Puck than to Matthew Belloni’s or Julia Ioffe’s newsletters via Puck. And Puck’s journalists were, in part, compensated directly for the subscribers they attracted. Lately though, Puck’s newsletters have come to resemble publications in their own right. “You almost have sub-brands under Puck that are franchises anchored by core talent versus in probably that first two years, it was a newsletter anchored by core talent,” said Puck CEO Sarah Personette on the latest Digiday Podcast episode. Belloni’s entertainment-oriented “What I’m Hearing” newsletter, for example, has enlisted contributors like legal expert Eriq Gardner and, most recently, former The Hollywood Reporter editor Kim Masters. Similarly, Lauren Sherman’s fashion-centric “Line Sheet” regularly features entries from retail writer Sarah Shapiro and beauty journalist Rachel Strugatz. This development has coincided with Puck’s paid subscriber base growing by 30% in the past year, with Personette expecting the company to become profitable this year. “Putting journalists at the center of our model still exists, but what we are trying to do, as our subscriber base has experienced incredible growth over the last few years, we want to make sure that we’re rounding out the stories and we’re rounding out the coverage by bringing other journalists in,” said Personette. The expanding nature of Puck’s newsletters raises the question of to what extent does Puck’s compensation model also have to change. Puck gained a lot of initial attention for paying bonuses to its journalists for the new subscribers their articles attract as well as for the subscribers they retain. But how’s that work if an article by Masters attracts a subscriber via Belloni’s newsletter? “So [Belloni] is a franchise manager, and there are different benefits to being a franchise manager. And he also is driving a ton of his own subs. And then we also want to make sure that the individuals that are contributing to that franchise also get bonus-ed,” Personette said.…

1
What this year’s COPPA update means for marketers, with privacy expert Debbie Reynolds 51:48

8 weeks ago51:48

51:48

In January, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission finalized an updated version of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. And for as much attention as the update may have received, it probably merits more. “It is a big deal. And I think because there’s been so much other activity in the news, people haven’t really paid attention to it,” Debbie Reynolds, a privacy expert and founder, CEO and chief data privacy officer at Debbie Reynolds Consulting, said on the latest Digiday Podcast episode. The primary reason the COPPA update warrants attention is that it requires companies to receive verifiable parental consent before they can target ads to children. Clear cut as that requirement may appear to be, complying with it may be more complicated. “Part of the confusion around privacy and the challenge companies will have with the update of COPPA is trying to figure out how to do things like how do you get verifiable quote-unquote parental consent beyond just having someone click a button to say, ’Hey, yeah, my parents said, “Yes,“’” said Reynolds. Case in point: Will ad-supported streaming services start asking for parents to share copies of their driver’s licenses before their families can sit down to watch a show? And will parents be willing to do that? “Anything that you give to these companies, they’re collecting, they’re storing. And then that brings up, do I trust this company enough to give them my ID, especially seeing the rash of data breaches,” Reynolds said. “It’s just going to be challenging going forward to see how companies really try to handle this issue.”…

1
How Sundial Media Group CEO Kirk McDonald is navigating the DEI backlash 50:29

9 weeks ago50:29

50:29

The house built around diversity, equity and inclusion is coming apart brick by brick. Since last summer, brands, retailers, holding companies and, most recently the federal government, have been dismantling (or retooling) DEI initiatives, many of which were built up after the murder of George Floyd and subsequent Black Lives Matter Movement of 2020. The “diversity” portion of diversity, equity and inclusion has become divisive, impacting multicultural marketing agencies , Black-owned brands and diverse publications. And they're starting to feel the ripple effects, according to Kirk McDonald, CEO of Sundial Media Group, holding company for brands like Essence magazine, Afropunk festival and Refinery29. Although, he said, it’s too early to tell the full impact DEI’s retooling (or rebrand) will have on the industry in terms of media spend, marketing budgets or consumer habits. McDonald recently sat down with the Digiday Podcast to talk about how Sundial’s diverse publications, geared toward women and other historically marginalized communities, are navigating the pushback.…

1
If Google's cookie phase-out ever comes, here's what a cookie-less future looks like for Mars' chief brand officer Rankin Carroll 49:49

10 weeks ago49:49

49:49

Google’s long kiss goodnight with third-party cookies seems never-ending at this point, as the tech giant's cookie phase-out plans still remain unclear. Seemingly, Google's plan to ask Chrome users to opt in to cookie-based tracking is reflective of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) move a few years back. Sure, marketers have long since seen the writing on the wall with this. But, as the future of third-party cookies remains rather ambiguous, marketing and brand executives, including Rankin Carroll, global chief brand officer at Mars Snacking, have started eyeing partnerships and leveraging artificial intelligence to fill in the gaps, with an eye toward a cookie-less future. “We had what we had, and it was the norm for the standard for the industry,” Carroll said on a recent episode of the Digiday Podcast. “As we move beyond that, we're focused on innovating.” In talking with Digiday, Carroll laid out Mars’ plans to scale its first-party data across brands like M&Ms and Snickers and the role partnerships play in scaling said plans. Carroll also talked about Mars' Super Bowl stunt and rehashed the company's plans to acquire the Kellanova family of snack brands.…

1
How publishers pull YouTube viewers to shop on their sites, with Architectural Digest’s Amy Astley 47:16

11 weeks ago47:16

47:16

Last year Architectural Digest switched up its e-commerce strategy. Having added affiliate links to its “Open Door” YouTube series showcasing celebrities’ decked-out abodes in 2021, the Condé Nast-owned publication started redirecting viewers from the Google-owned video platform to its own site to shop the decor. “It’s a much, much deeper, richer experience for the user to go to our site. It’s more fully shopped-out there, and it’s more visual. We can put photos of all the items,” sad Amy Astley, global editorial director at Architectural Digest, on the latest Digiday Podcast episode. The strategy shift has coincided with the publication doubling its commerce revenue in the past two years. And it’s not like the previous approach of embedding affiliate links on-platform in the YouTube videos’ descriptions wasn’t working. But having a place on AD’s own site for people to shop the products featured in the “Open Door” videos seems to be working even more. “We saw a four-times increase in the revenue from ‘Open Door’ from shopping it out on the site,” said Astley, noting that AD highlights the link to the site in a pinned comment atop the videos’ comments feed on YouTube. Now AD is prepping another major update to its commerce strategy. In March, the publication plans to relaunch the AD Shopping commerce property that it launched in January 2024 and is home to the “Open Door” product showcases as well as shopping selections hand-picked by AD’s own team, including Astley. “The main overhaul that we look for this year is a lot more leaning into our staff picks, leaning more into the editors and to the designers, and integrating all the shopping content more fully across everything that we do,” said Astley. (00:00) - Intro (15:32) - Interview with Amy Astley…

1
What happened to the post-cookie era, with IAB Tech Lab’s Anthony Katsur 45:59

12 weeks ago45:59

45:59

Remember when 2025 was supposed to be the first official year of the post-cookie era? Well, clearly that hasn’t happened and seems unlikely to happen anytime soon. And it certainly won’t happen until sometime after Google introduces its user choice mechanism in Chrome for people to allow or block third-party cookies. “If there’s wild amounts of opt-in, then yeah, the third-party cookie in the Chrome ecosystem is probably alive and well. If there’s [a] wild amount of opt-out, if there’s no critical mass around the third-party cookie, then it is effectively dead, even if it lives on in some small percentage. We just — we don’t know how that’s going to shake out,” said Anthony Katsur, CEO of IAB Tech Lab, in the latest Digiday Podcast episode, which was recorded on the eve of the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s Annual Leadership Meeting in Palm Springs, Calif., which concludes on Jan. 28. If Katsur had his way, though, the third-party cookie wouldn’t be on the chopping block in the first place. Moreover, other technologies like the IP address would continue to be available to be used for identifying audiences and tracking them across devices. At least until more inherently privacy-friendly identity options gain adoption. But it may be a while before the digital advertising industry’s post-cookie identity picture really comes into focus. “It will be the year of identity solutions, the year of ID-less [solutions] for, I think, the next decade. I think this is a 10-year trajectory we’re on. And I think it’s a combination of regulatory forces, machinations of Big Tech is what I think is going to drive this,” Katsur said. Interview begins at 13:52 .…

1
Verizon revamps sports strategy, works with Paige Bueckers and NIL athletes 50:35

13 weeks ago50:35

50:35

Over the last year, marketers have been shelling out dollars to show up in sports, the supposed last bastion of monocultural moments and opportunity to get ads in front of a massive audience. There's been an uptick of interest in unconventional sports like pickleball, and women’s sports. Streaming platforms like Netflix bet big on live sports in hopes to bring in more money from advertisers. Finally, since the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) approved its name, image and likeness (NIL) policy back in 2021, the lines between influencers and athletes is becoming more blurred. That said, it’s getting more difficult for brands to stand out from one another as more advertisers flock to the space. That’s true even for a brand as big as Verizon, according to Nick Kelly, Verizon’s vp of partnerships. “We have to find something that we can own,” Kelly told Digiday. In this episode of the podcast, Kelly sits down with co-host Kimeko McCoy, senior marketing reporter at Digiday, to talk about its revamped sports marketing strategy, venturing into NIL deals and this year’s Super Bowl plans. Interview begins at 19:16 .…

1
What the agentic AI era means for ad agencies, with Omnicom’s Jonathan Nelson 43:56

14 weeks ago43:56