Data, Dance, and Daring Campaigns: Erin Levzow’s Approach to Building Loyalty

The Good, the Bad, and the SPO-ly

The Hidden Flaws Behind Ad Tech’s Favorite Buzzword. Supply Path Optimization (SPO) is my love-hate relationship in ad tech personified. It’s the reason I fell for this industry’s maddening brilliance—and why it sometimes feels like a bad rom-com where no one learns their lesson. At its core, SPO promises efficiency, transparency, and accountability, and when … Read more

 2024: Goodbye Impressions, Hello Attention

Attention Metrics: The Ad Industry’s New Favorite Buzzword  2024 will forever be known as the year advertisers got collectively obsessed with attention metrics. And why wouldn’t they? It’s shiny, it’s new-ish, and it promises to fix all your campaign woes in one glorious swoop.  Forget the same old KPIs like impressions or click-through rates—those are … Read more

What is the Perfect Ad? 

Spoiler Alert: It’s Still Not What You Think I’ve been talking shop with some of the sharpest creative minds on my show lately (Season 3 is brewing—sponsors, slide into my DMs). And here’s the kicker: everyone’s still chasing that mythical beast, the Perfect Ad.  Spoiler alert: it’s as elusive as ever. In a world where … Read more

Display Advertising: The Zombie That Refuses to Die (And Why You Should Care)

Ah, display ads. Like bell-bottoms and vinyl, they’ve been declared dead so many times they’re practically immortal. “Who’s even looking at banner ads anymore?” you might scoff as you doom-scroll through TikTok or Instagram Reels for the third time today. But here’s the thing: display ads aren’t dead—they’re just stuck in an awkward midlife crisis.  And … Read more

When Ad Titans Tango: Omnicom and IPG’s $25 Billion Waltz to Dominance

In a move that has the advertising world clutching its collective coffee cups a little tighter, Omnicom Group has thrown down the gauntlet—and not just any gauntlet, but one glittering with the promise of turning the industry’s landscape into their personal playground. On Monday morning, Omnicom announced its audacious plan to acquire Interpublic Group (IPG), … Read more

Drew Stein: Master of the Hadron Helm, Now Steering Experian’s Adtech Ship

There’s now a saying in adtech: when PR people reach out to you with coy smiles and cryptic non-announcements, you’re looking at one of three possibilities: someone’s getting bought, someone’s buying, or someone’s heading to jail.  Thankfully, in this case, it’s the middle option.  Experian just snapped up Audigent, the data activation wunderkind that’s been … Read more

Sam Bloom: Marketing’s Last Sane Man?

How He’s Keeping His Cool While Everyone Else Chases Trends If marketing today is a three-ring circus, Sam Bloom is the rare ringmaster who doesn’t just keep things running—he makes everyone feel good about being part of the show. As Head of Partnerships at PMG, Sam navigates the chaos with a sense of calm, clarity, … Read more

Alex Li of AppLovin: The Maverick Who’s Redefining Mobile App Advertising

Mobile app advertising: the wild frontier where brands hope to strike gold, but most end up with fool’s gold instead. Enter Alex Li, Senior Director of Global Non-Gaming at AppLovin, who’s part evangelist, part scientist, and part traffic cop for the sprawling, frenetic, and oh-so-untamed world of in-app advertising. If this sounds dramatic, it’s because … Read more

Adtech’s Lemon Market: Why We Keep Buying Sour Fruit and Calling It Progress

Adtech is starting to feel like a carnival funhouse—flashy, disorienting, and filled with surprises that make you question your life choices. Take The Trade Desk’s (TTD) latest “innovation,” for example. They’ve slapped a shiny new name, “Prism,” onto their old “Audience Excluder” feature and decided to charge a 10% fee for it. That’s on top … Read more

Disney Gets Dirty: Playing in Programmatic’s Muddy Waters

Once upon a time, Disney stood as the epitome of wholesome family entertainment. But now, the House of Mouse has ventured into the chaotic, fraud-prone world of programmatic advertising. With their latest partnership with Viant Technology, they’ve essentially said, “Let’s roll up our sleeves and see what all this fuss is about.” The goal? Democratizing … Read more