Stay ConnectedLove it or hate it, the advertising and marketing industry is the ultimate broker of power and influence in the world today. Adspeak, hosted by ADWEEK editor in chief Ryan Joe, brings to life stories from our top reporters, delving into the people, brands, ad agencies, and adtech giants that shape how we view the world, the products we buy, and the entertainment we enjoy.
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What if the most powerful career advice is to stop listening to everyone else?
In this episode of Adspeak by Adweek, recorded live at Brandweek, host Ryan Joe sits down with marketing powerhouse Bozoma Saint John to unpack how intuition and not approval has guided her career across Apple, Uber, Netflix, and beyond. Bozoma shares why traditional mentorship is overrated, how fear often disguises itself as “good advice,” and what it really takes to assert authority in rigid corporate environments. From building intuition through everyday decisions to planning intentional pivots, this conversation is a masterclass in leading authentically and confidently on your own terms.
What You'll Learn:
About the Guest:
Bozoma Saint John is the Creator and CEO of Eve by Boz, a culturally rooted hair and hair care brand celebrating Black women and women of color, and a Hall of Fame–inducted marketing executive, author, and unapologetic badass. She built an iconic career at SpikeDDB, PepsiCo, Apple, Uber, Endeavor, and Netflix, where she served as Global CMO. Bozoma is the author of The Urgent Life, a Harvard Business School case study subject, and creator of leadership programs including The Anatomy of a Badass. She serves on multiple boards, is an Ambassador for the African Diaspora to Ghana, and proudly considers motherhood her greatest achievement.
Guest Resources:
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Disrupting a legacy category takes more than buzz; it takes clarity, conviction, and consumer empathy. In this Adspeak by Adweek episode, host Zoë Ruderman speaks with Elizabeth Banks and Marian Leitner-Waldman about how Archer Roose Wines reimagined the wine industry by solving real consumer problems, embracing humor, and refusing growth that didn’t align with their brand voice. From treating product launches like entertainment premieres to choosing partnerships that show up in real-life moments of celebration, the conversation unpacks how authentic disruption, cultural relevance, and disciplined decision-making can build sustainable, billion-dollar brands without chasing viral hype.
What You'll Learn:
About the Guest:
Elizabeth Banks is an award-winning actor, director, producer, and entrepreneur, born Elizabeth Mitchell in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. A magna cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, she trained at the American Conservatory Theater before building her career in theatre, television, and film. Banks broke out in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man and went on to star in hits including The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Pitch Perfect, and The Hunger Games, earning Emmy nominations for her role on 30 Rock. Known for her wit and range, she also co-founded Archer Roose Wines, bringing the same creative disruption to consumer brands as she has to Hollywood.
Guest Resources:
Elizabeth Banks on IMDb
Archer Roose Wines Website
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As Omnicom reveals its new structure after completing its $13 billion acquisition of IPG, is it building the modern holdco of the future or repeating an old playbook? On this episode of Adspeak, we explore the deal’s consolidation of brands, cuts in staffing, and push into data and buying power.
Ibotta Founder & CEO, Bryan Leach joins Ryan at the end of this episode to discuss why “performance” and “measurement” are the words on every brand marketer’s mind right now.
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Houseplant CEO and co-founder Mikey Mohr details how he and Seth Rogen used ceramics and home goods to build trust before entering the THC market. He explains the evolution from ashtrays to CPG and what it takes to survive a volatile category.
Also, Treasure Data CMO Karen Wood joins Ryan in a mid-episode sidebar to discuss the biggest opportunities and challenges for companies leaning into autonomous hyper-relevant AI.
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Amazon spent this year making an aggressive bid for the ad industry’s future, and the ripple effects were felt across agencies, tech vendors, and rival platforms. Ryan Joe and Adweek Retail & Commerce editor Kathryn Lundstrom break down Amazon's new tech that could challenge Meta, Google, and The Trade Desk for 2026 budgets. They also unpack why buyers were buzzing, why some partners were sweating, and why Amazon’s deeper push into the open internet and premium video may reshape the entire media landscape.
ADWEEK shifts into high gear this November as we head to Las Vegas during formula racing season. Sports marketing has never been bigger, and we’re bringing together the industry leaders who are in the fast lane to brand growth and peak consumer engagement.
Register now: http://bit.ly/3JrXXEH
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All eyes in the media world are on Warner Bros. Discovery's decision to hang up a "for-sale" sign, with a potential deal rippling across the media space. Lauren Johnson and Bill Bradley unpack the media giant's move and why Paramount may be the big winner.
ADWEEK shifts into high gear this November as we head to Las Vegas during formula racing season. Sports marketing has never been bigger, and we’re bringing together the industry leaders who are in the fast lane to brand growth and peak consumer engagement.
Register now: http://bit.ly/3JrXXEH
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Target’s Hot Santa is back, and Walmart’s going full Dr. Seuss. Ryan Joe and Brittaney Kiefer unpack two wildly different holiday ad strategies and what they reveal about each retailer’s fortunes heading into the season.
ADWEEK shifts into high gear this November as we head to Las Vegas during formula racing season. Sports marketing has never been bigger, and we’re bringing together the industry leaders who are in the fast lane to brand growth and peak consumer engagement.
Register now: http://bit.ly/3JrXXEH
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Santa’s out, chatbots are in. As Walmart, Shopify, and Etsy plug into ChatGPT, agentic AI is reshaping how consumers discover and buy gifts. Ryan Joe talks with ADWEEK deputy editor Lauren Johnson about what’s real, what’s hype, and how brands can prep for an AI-driven holiday rush.
ADWEEK shifts into high gear this November as we head to Las Vegas during formula racing season. Sports marketing has never been bigger, and we’re bringing together the industry leaders who are in the fast lane to brand growth and peak consumer engagement.
Register now: http://bit.ly/3JrXXEH
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From OpenAI to Anthropic, the machines have feelings now — or at least, really good creative directors. ADWEEK's Rebecca Stewart, Brittaney Kiefer, and Trishla Ostwal unpack how AI companies are humanizing their brands with some help from Madison Avenue, and how those efforts are landing with consumers.
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From Google and PayPal to Red Bull and Bitcoin, the brands we trust say a lot about the generations we’re part of. In this episode, Morning Consult CMO Jeff Cartwright unpacks which brands Millennials and Gen Z trust most—and what their choices reveal about hustle culture, digital skepticism, and the future of brand loyalty.
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Digital_chadvertising built a meme account, got a flood of sources, and now shapes the industry’s inside jokes. We go deep on verification, fake‑tip paranoia, and why the coffee chart broke his DMs.
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American Eagle’s Sydney Sweeney campaign broke the internet, drove 1 million new customers, and sparked outrage—from eugenics accusations to presidential hot takes. American Eagle CMO Craig Brommers unpacks how the brand weathered the storm, what it couldn’t say during the quiet period, and whether he thought the discourse had any merit. Plus: Travis Kelce, Roblox, and what’s next after the most polarizing jeans ad Gen Z has ever seen.
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ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! has cast a new shadow over late night. ADWEEK’s Rebecca Stewart and Bill Bradley dig into what this moment says about free speech, censorship, and the future of a genre already under pressure.
This episode was recorded Monday September 22nd, before the news broke that Jimmy Kimmel would return to air.
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Nike has one of the most recognizable taglines in the world. But as its brand struggles to reach Gen Z, it’s betting that playing with that equity will pay dividends. In this episode, Brittaney Kiefer unpacks Nike’s latest global brand campaign and whether or not a flip on its tagline will resonate with the anxious generation.
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Publishers are bleeding traffic, battling 15 problems at once—and experimenting like never before. Mark Stenberg breaks down the rise of on-site answer engines, the Substack vs. Patreon turf war, and why the New York Times quietly killed its audio app. It’s messy, but there is a playbook.
And if you're interested in getting Mark's insights on a weekly basis, be sure to sign up for his newsletter On Background here.
ADWEEK House Advertising HQ:
https://event.adweek.com/awh-advertisinghq-2025/9435390?r
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A hidden link in the ad tech supply chain is raising eyebrows. Buyers found themselves unknowingly transacting through Epsilon’s SSP, owned by Publicis—giving a rival agency potential access to sensitive targeting data. We dig into how reselling obscures transparency and accountability.
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The retail media gold rush is getting crowded, and Criteo’s role is being tested. ADWEEK’s Kathryn Lundstrom unpacks the battles ahead in one of digital advertising’s hottest sectors.
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Michael Jordan hasn’t played in two decades—but the Jordan Brand he built is turning 40. We explore how Nike is keeping it relevant in a world where most Gen Z fans never saw him play.
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Brooke Shields did it in the ’80s. Sydney Sweeney did it in 2025. We compare the ad playbook then and now—and how American Eagles' “Great Jeans” campaign became a Rorschach test for the American psyche.
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Can anyone topple Nielsen? We break down TV’s biggest (and nerdiest) turf war. For a while in 2021, the longtime ratings king looked vulnerable—inviting challengers like VideoAmp, iSpot, and Comscore to step up. But now, Nielsen is reasserting its dominance. We explore how the measurement landscape is shifting, who’s gaining ground, and why a multi-currency future might be harder than it sounds.
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As X pivots to AI and WPP bets on a systems exec, we explore what Linda Yaccarino’s departure and Cindy Rose’s arrival mean for the future of marketing leadership.
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Can a single deal between streaming frenemies redraw the streaming power map? Roku’s partnership with Amazon could transform connected TV, shaking up rivals like The Trade Desk, Walmart, Google, and LG. It’s a clear win for Amazon—but is Roku gaining scale at the cost of control?
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The Cannes Lions wants to honor creativity. But in 2025, it also honored fabrication. We investigate the fallout.
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Thousands of jobs gone. Decades of prestige, erased. What really killed The Mill? We go inside parent company Technicolor’s mismanagement and hidden debt, and the talent drain behind one of the production and VFX industry’s most shocking implosions. Plus: what it all means for the future of VFX and ad production.
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Holdcos promise prestige, but are they killing creativity? We unpack ADWEEK’s exclusive survey about staffer satisfaction at big agencies, and hear from ex-employees who’ve gone indie for good.
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Behind the rosé and rooftops, Cannes 2025 laid bare a deep anxiety in advertising. With AI unease and retail media consolidation looming, Cannes became ground zero for creative one-upmanship. We break down the land grab, the ad tech wars, and the award season drama.
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WPP’s CEO is on his way out, with no clear successor in place. Mark Read inherited a holding company in crisis, and the company is still in crisis. We unpack his legacy and what the future holds for the ad giant.
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Adalytics has become the industry's most polarizing watchdog, praised for its transparency crusade—and sued for it. We unpack how its research is shaking up ad tech and whether the company can survive its own impact.
Guest: Kendra Barnett, ADWEEK senior tech reporter
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The power struggle among ad giants has never been fiercer. Publicis has surged ahead, WPP is wobbling, and Omnicom is making a massive play by plotting a historic merger with IPG. Ryan Joe and Alison Weissbrot unpack the drama behind the consolidation frenzy reshaping Madison Avenue.
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Batman’s selling insurance. Sally is unreasonably excited about mayonnaise. Morpheus has more than a few chip flavors to offer. Welcome to Warner Bros. Discovery’s Storyverse – where your favorite characters become the face of your household products. On this episode of Adspeak, Editor in Chief Ryan Joe and Deputy Editor Bill Bradley unpack the strategy, risks, and ripple effects of turning every story and every beloved character into a sales channel.
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Can billionaires save journalism—or are they accelerating its collapse? ADWEEK’s Mark Stenberg reports on how Patrick Soon-Shiong’s hands-on management of the Los Angeles Times sparked internal chaos, subscriber losses, and advertiser backlash. With insights from Janice Min, we explore what this case says about the future of legacy media.
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Women’s sports aren’t “having a moment” – they are the moment. Sue Bird saw it coming. Now, with NIL deals, $2 billion media rights contracts, and brands pumping in sponsorship dollars, the playbook is changing fast. This episode features trailblazers who've helped turn women's sports into an audience magnet, including WNBA legend Bird, Ally Financial CMO Andrea Brimmer, and Google global marketing director Kate Johnson. We'll unpack how women’s leagues became one of the hottest growth stories in sports marketing, why fan engagement is off the charts, and why smart brands are getting in before it’s too expensive to play.
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Possible began as an upstart industry event with yachts, sun, and a surprise Elon Musk cameo. But in just three years, it’s become a legitimate power center for senior marketers. In this episode, host Ryan Joe speaks with industry veteran Lou Paskalis and ADWEEK senior reporter Kendra Barnett about the Miami-based conference's rapid expansion, the business done in hotel hallways, and how Possible might reshape the global event calendar—including Cannes itself.
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Google comfortably controls over 25% of the $303 billion ad market in the U.S. That will probably look very different in five year's time. This episode unpacks Google's adtech antitrust violations, explaining the tangled path that led us here and what it means for the industry, plus Google itself as it faces looming threats of a break up. Experts join us to make sense of the acronyms and intrigue behind digital advertising’s biggest shake-up yet. Let’s dive straight into Google’s adtech alphabet soup.
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Retail media is a major growth area for digital marketing, and retailers like Walmart, Target, and Instacart and making huge investments to grow their ad selling businesses. But with that growth comes outsized expectations. This year, Walmart in particular has been clawing for bigger ad commitments from the companies that sell in its stores — up to 25% more from the previous year. And that’s a problem because it’s not always clear if these ads really perform. In this episode, we look at the damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t dichotomy as retail media has its financial growth spurt.
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In this exclusive 1:1, Madwell CEO Chris Sojka speaks with ADWEEK editor in chief Ryan Joe about the controversial investments he’s made, the investments he’s making, and how he hopes it’ll all bring Madwell back. From the $17.5 million private jet to a mysterious theme park “exercise” in Texas, Sojka reveals how he hopes to bring Madwell back after two turbulent years.
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Madwell, a Brooklyn-based indie agency, once was known for punching above its weight. Its impressive client roster includes big brands like Verizon Visible, e.l.f. Cosmetics, and Branca.
But in 2023, the agency became embroiled in financial and cultural trouble under the leadership of CEO Chris Sojka, and staffers tell ADWEEK they’ve struggled with “dictatorial” leadership and severely delayed paychecks.
In this debut episode of our flagship podcast Adspeak, we take a behind-the-scenes look at how ADWEEK uncovered the inside story of Madwell’s descent into madness.
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Love it or hate it, advertising is the ultimate broker of power and influence in the world today. Adspeak, hosted by Adweek editor in chief Ryan Joe, brings to life stories from our top reporters, delving into the people and companies that shape how we view the world, the products we buy, and the entertainment we enjoy.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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