The Ad Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Christian Jacobsen - Co-Founder - The Many Aug 04, 2026

Show notes

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 to pioneer a project-driven, highly adaptable agency model suited for digital-first media landscapes. Under his leadership, The Many has developed Cannes Lions-winning campaigns for global brands like Mattel (such as the viral, record-breaking life-size Hot Wheels stunts at the X Games), Netflix, ESPN, Disney, and American Apparel.

Allan Gungormez - Chief Strategy Officer - MDRN Logic Jul 31, 2026

Show notes

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 alongside Erica Coates, Allan spent over a decade leading strategy and creative direction for high-profile agencies, including senior roles at Mocean. Throughout his career, he has focused on helping brands transition away from traditional, top-down advertising models toward real-time, culture-led engagement.

Allan is known for a zero-fluff approach to strategy that rejects generic industry platitudes and white-paper theories.

Camm Rowland - Chief Creative Officer & Chief AI Officer - Kepler Group Jul 29, 2026

Show notes

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 that he isn't just treating AI as an efficiency tool—he is actively mapping how AI changes the physics of consumer discovery, brand building, and the future of human creative talent. Today, we're diving into the death of traditional funnels, when to use AI versus human craft, and what happens to the next generation of creative professionals when 'speed' replaces foundational skill-building.

Kristine Root - Founder & Chief Strategy Officer - Socha Branding Jul 29, 2026

Show notes

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 marketing experience, she specializes in using deep research, consumer insights, and systems thinking to help purpose-driven food and agriculture companies connect what they believe in with real market demand.
Bridging Farm to Retail: Her work through Socha sits at the nexus of soil health, CPG supply chains, and consumer perception—helping everyone from small artisan food makers to global enterprise CPGs scale with integrity.

Cannes 2026: How to Use B2B Podcasting for Executive Business Development | Dan Lescarbeau & Dylan Conroy, Iris North America Jul 27, 2026

Show notes

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 cold sales friction into an asymmetric business development engine. Conroy outlines how growth strategists and independent agencies leverage human-in-the-loop generative AI to automate background administration, prototype visual pitch assets in minutes, and achieve the execution scale of legacy holding company networks.

Key tactical themes covered:

Replacing transactional sales pitches with a value-first media model that grants direct access to enterprise prospects.
Utilizing generative AI image and text tools to prototype client creative concepts in real time during preliminary pitch calls.
Automating routine inbox and administrative workflows to maximize executive bandwidth for in-person relationship building.
Leveling the playing field for boutique agencies competing against global holding networks through AI-enhanced operational efficiency.
Structuring international event presence to convert passive conference attendance into a disciplined client acquisition pipeline.

Connect & Scale Your Performance:

Follow Guest Dylan Conroy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanconroy/
Explore Strike Social: https://strikesocial.com/guaranteed-performance-marketing/
Follow Host Dan Lescarbeau on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danlescarbeau/
Explore Iris Worldwide: https://www.iris-worldwide.com/

Cannes 2026: Why Brand Advertising is Shifting to the Open App Internet | Stephen Upstone, LoopMe, CEO & Founder Jul 27, 2026

Show notes

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:

- Reallocating media budgets from web environments to the resilient "open app internet".

- Moving brand campaign metrics from top-of-funnel reach to trackable mid-funnel intent.

- Deploying internal agentic AI to increase developer code output by 5x–6x.

- Building supply-side seller agents to enable automated machine-to-machine media transactions.

- Reallocating talent resources to support a 5-year strategic technology vision.

Stephen Upstone is the CEO & Founder of LoopMe, an adtech platform optimizing brand advertising performance across mobile apps and Connected TV using AI.

Connect to us or our guest

Follow Stephen Upstone on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenupstone/

Explore LoopMe: https://loopme.ai/

Simplify Paid Social with Strike Social: https://strikesocial.com/guaranteed-performance-marketing/

Connect with Host Dylan Conroy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanconroy/

Cannes 2026: Translating Complex Personas into AI-Driven Targeting | Dharmesh Patel, OnAudience , Global Curation Strategy Lead Jul 22, 2026

Show notes

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 an ID graph to evaluate recency and frequency signals.

Activating audience data at the SSP layer to optimize match rates and campaign KPIs.

Using AI query agents to translate 25-page strategy documents into targetable ad segments.

Preparing adtech architecture for automated bot-to-bot (MCP to MCP) system interactions.

Embedding audience data early in creative planning to bridge the gap between creative and media execution.

Dharmesh Patel is the Global Curation Strategy Lead at OnAudience (Cloud Technologies), overseeing global curation models, taxonomy strategy, and programmatic data partnerships.

Connect with our guest:

Follow Dharmesh Patel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darthmesh/

Explore OnAudience : https://www.onaudience.com/

Simplify Paid Media Process with Strike Social: https://strikesocial.com/guaranteed-paid-social-media-ads-outcomes/

Connect with Host Dylan Conroy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanconroy/

Cannes 2026: Re-Engineering B2B Campaign Strategy | Spencer Burke, Braze, SVP of Growth Jul 22, 2026

Show notes

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 static recommendation blocks to real-time, LLM-generated product synthesis.

Using in-product AI assistants (Operator) to process complex customer journey configurations.

Preserving corporate privacy standards through flexible "Bring Your Own LLM" cloud integrations.

Designing interactive B2B event marketing campaigns that generate crowdsourced content streams.

Spencer Burke is the Senior Vice President of Growth at Braze, overseeing global commercial expansion, enterprise go-to-market strategies, and lifecycle technology integrations.

Connect with our guest:

Follow Spencer Burke on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencertburke/

Explore Braze: https://www.braze.com/

Simplify Paid Social with Strike Social: https://strikesocial.com/guaranteed-paid-social-media-ads-outcomes/

Connect with Host Dylan Conroy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanconroy/

Cannes 2026: The Rise of Indie Agencies vs Holding Companies | Christoph Berg, MINT Square, CEO Jul 22, 2026

Show notes

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 include:

Bypassing enterprise spend minimums to access top-tier Demand-Side Platforms.

Evaluating why client budgets are shifting from major holding networks to agile indie agencies.

Navigating European expansion and maintaining simple GDPR compliance across borders.

Deploying agentic AI trading models to automate real-time media buying.

Building custom adtech workflows using large language models without dedicated coding teams.

Christoph Berg is the CEO and Founder of MINT Square GmbH, a programmatic infrastructure provider helping European independent agencies scale their media capabilities.

Connect with Christoph:

Follow Christoph Berg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophberg/

Explore MINT Square: https://mint-square.com/

Simplify Paid Social with Strike Social: https://strikesocial.com/guaranteed-paid-social-media-ads-outcomes/

Connect with Host Dylan Conroy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanconroy/

Cannes 2026: Building a Culture of Experimentation in the Age of AI | Courtney Lewis & Courtney Williams, The Variable, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Growth Officer and Partners Jul 22, 2026

Show notes

Mid-market enterprises and growing brands frequently face severe market friction when trying to compete against category captains with massive advertising budgets.

Courtney Lewis, CEO & Partner, and Courtney Williams, Chief Growth Officer & Partner at The Variable, break down how to identify, unlock, and scale hidden growth variables to drive outsized market impact.

Key tactical themes covered:

Uncovering hidden levers in consumer perception and media consumption for challenger brands.

De-risking AI implementation by giving creative teams psychological permission to fail.

Building sustainable talent pipelines through structured mentorship and internship architecture.

Analyzing the competitive advantages of independent agencies over corporate holding company networks.

Courtney Lewis is CEO & Partner and Courtney Williams is Chief Growth Officer & Partner at The Variable, an independent agency helping growth-focused underdog brands punch above their weight class.

Connect with our guests:

Follow Courtney Lewis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtney-lewis-187b36114/

Follow Courtney Williams on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtlyndelle/

Visit The Variable: https://thevariable.com/

Simplify Paid Social with Strike Social: https://strikesocial.com/guaranteed-paid-social-media-ads-outcomes/

Connect with Host Dylan Conroy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanconroy/