Marketecture: Get Smart. Fast.

Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi sit down with Carlo Palomino, President of OpenFortune, to explore how the company transformed fortune cookies into a powerful advertising channel. Carlo shares how OpenFortune built its global distribution network, drives brand engagement through creative campaigns, and partners with brands and creators like MrBeast. Plus, in The Refresh, Ari and Eric discuss Meta's earnings and new ad formats, Apple's privacy restrictions, Salesforce's acquisition of Braze, Kevel's $52 million funding round, Netflix's advertising challenges, and the expansion of ChatGPT ads.

Takeaways

- OpenFortune is transforming fortune cookies into an advertising channel that...

Recorded at Marketecture Live Chicago, Will Hoyt of Blis, part of T-Mobile Advertising Solutions, sits down with Danielle Mathews, Senior Director of Integrated Marketing at Pura, to explore how mobile data, first-party insights, and omnichannel advertising are transforming retail marketing.

Danielle shares how Pura evolved from a direct-to-consumer brand into an omnichannel business, using behavioral targeting, connected TV, retail media, and data partnerships to discover new audiences and drive incremental growth. They also discuss measurement, data clean rooms, AI, and why brand identity and platform-specific content will be essential for marketing success in 2027.

Takeaways

Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi welcome Scott Messer, founder of Messer Media and co-founder of AdTech Therapy, to discuss the challenges facing digital publishers as AI reshapes advertising and the open web. They explore declining publisher traffic, AI content licensing, Google's antitrust ruling, and how agentic advertising could transform direct media buying by reducing programmatic fees. The conversation also covers Apple's Safari privacy changes, Prebid's potential role in a unified auction, OpenAI's advertising strategy, the future of agentic commerce, and emerging retail media partnerships involving Uber, TripleLift, and Instacart.

Takeaways:

Live from Amazon unBoxed in San Francisco, Marketecture host Ari Paparo sits down with Claire Magruder, Director of GO Studio, Global Overview, and Santosh Gunaseelan, Director, Amazon Ads, Creative Intelligence & Optimization, Amazon, to explore how AI-powered creative tools are making streaming TV advertising more accessible. They discuss Amazon's Creative Agent, the importance of human creativity and brand guidelines, and how Traditional Medicinals used AI-generated video ads to drive new-to-brand purchases, improve efficiency, and expand its advertising reach.

Takeaways

Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi recap Advertising Week and break down the biggest developments shaping ad tech. From Apple's Safari tracking restrictions and Walmart's expanding retail media ambitions to agentic AI in TV buying, OpenWeb's financial troubles, Zeta's acquisitions, and the future of Paramount's ad tech strategy, they explore what these shifts mean for advertisers, publishers, and the broader programmatic ecosystem.

Takeaways

Adam Epstein, CEO of Gigi, joins Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi to explore the rise of agentic commerce and what AI agents like Meta’s Muse could mean for shopping, advertising, and consumer behavior. They discuss Amazon’s decision to restrict third-party AI agents, the role of advertising revenue in protecting commerce ecosystems, opportunities in travel and retail, and whether consumers will trust AI to make purchases on their behalf.

Plus, Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi break down The Trade Desk’s Safari ad-serving issue, Amazon unBoxed announcements, AI assistants, and the growing battle for consumer AI adopti...

Ari Paparo sits down with Ryan Walker, Senior Director of Commerce at PMG, at Amazon unBoxed to explore how PMG helped IQBAR expand its full-funnel marketing strategy. Ryan explains how Amazon Marketing Cloud, audience segmentation, CTV, video, and AI-powered campaign tools helped the brand reach new shoppers, improve acquisition, and connect advertising performance to long-term customer value.

Takeaways

Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi recap Marketecture Live Chicago before sharing a live conversation with Steven Galanis, Co-Founder & CEO of Cameo, and Johnny Hilbrant, Creator of PE Guy. They explore how Cameo is expanding beyond personalized videos into brand partnerships, how creators are building diversified revenue streams, and why platforms like LinkedIn are becoming valuable channels for creator content. Ari and Eric also break down Meta’s Muse AI agent, recent ad tech M&A, Scope3’s rebrand, and the rise of new commerce media networks.

Takeaways:

Corey Ferengul, Managing Partner at Aperiam, joins Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi to explore the rise of Unified Media Platforms (UMPs), a new category of AI-powered tools designed to manage media buying, optimization, creative, and budgets across multiple advertising platforms. Plus, Ari and Eric break down Google’s latest ad tech remedies, AI-driven ad spend growth, Mediaocean’s new AI venture initiative, and other major industry moves.

Takeaways

Life360 CMO Mike Zeman joins Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi to unpack what CMOs really want from advertising partners, why relationships and business outcomes matter more than buzzwords, and how Life360 balances brand building, performance marketing, and incrementality.

Then, Ari and Eric break down the latest ad tech news, including The Trade Desk’s layoffs, Amazon and OpenAI’s ChatGPT ads partnership, emerging privacy concerns, AI personal assistants, and advertising auction lawsuits.

Takeaways:

Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi sit down with Jeremy Hobson, host of The Middle with Jeremy Hobson, to explore the shift from traditional radio to digital podcasting, audience growth, monetization, and the changing media landscape. Plus, Ari and Eric break down Google’s ad-tech remedies, OpenAI’s advertising growth, and Amazon’s alleged ad auction practices.

Takeaways:

Ari Paparo sits down with Nick Troiano, CEO of Cadent, to discuss how Cadent is evolving from its linear TV roots into a unified advertising platform spanning CTV, digital, YouTube, and more. They explore audience-first advertising, measurement, AI-powered optimization, walled gardens, and why marketers should prioritize business outcomes over individual channels.

Takeaways:

Rich Greenfield, Co-Founder of LightShed Partners, joins Ari Paparo and Paul Knegten, CMO of Large, to break down the biggest shifts across media and ad tech, from Meta’s social media settlement and AppLovin’s next move to Fox’s Roku strategy and the growing pressure on The Trade Desk.

Takeaways:

Ari Paparo and guest co-host Paul Knegten sit down with Jack Raines, author of Young Money, to discuss how viral LinkedIn posts, humor, and attention-driven marketing helped him build a 61,000-subscriber newsletter, land a book deal, and create a personal brand. The episode also covers OpenAI, WPP, Walmart Connect, Taboola, Google’s AI advertising strategy, LiveRamp, and Higgsfield.

Takeaways:

Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi sit down with Matthew Drengler, Head of Partnerships at Podscribe, to unpack the messy reality of podcast measurement. They explore attribution, incrementality, the shift from audio to video, social clips, HLS, and why advertisers still need reliable performance data.
The conversation then turns to the changing ad tech landscape, including the open web, Nielsen’s acquisition of DoubleVerify, measurement industry pressure, The Trade Desk’s earnings, PubMatic, Viant, and advertising to AI agents.

Takeaways:

Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi are joined by Nikhil Lai, Principal Analyst at Forrester, to discuss the evolution of performance marketing, Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), connected TV, incrementality, AI-powered advertising, and the future of marketing measurement. They also examine the latest ad tech news, including ChatGPT advertising, Walmart's acquisition of Vibe, AppLovin, retail media, and Q2 earnings across the digital advertising industry.

Takeaways

Ben Edelman, independent consultant and longtime ad fraud investigator, joins Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi to discuss the Phia affiliate controversy, the evolution of ad fraud, AppLovin's install practices, and what marketers should know about trust and attribution. They also cover Meta and Microsoft earnings, Google's Buyer Direct, creator marketing trends, FreeWheel's latest CTV update, and more.

Takeaways:

- Ben Edelman explains how affiliate fraud has evolved and why it remains a major issue.

- A deep dive into the Phia browser extension controversy and affiliate attribution.

...

Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi welcome Olivia Kory, Chief Marketing Strategy Officer at Haus, to unpack one of advertising's biggest questions: do ads actually work? Olivia explains the critical difference between attribution and incrementality, shares why AppLovin has become a standout performance channel. She discusses the future of media measurement, AI-driven optimization, and agentic media buying. The episode also covers Google's latest earnings, AI search trends, OpenAI's advertising ambitions, and the challenges of measuring podcast advertising.

Takeaways:

AppsFlyer President and General Manager Brian Quinn joins Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi to discuss the company’s $1 billion funding round backed by Google, Meta, Unity, and Moloco. They explore independent measurement, mobile commerce, CTV attribution, and the future of AI advertising.

Takeaways:

- AppsFlyer’s strategic investors hold minority, non-controlling stakes, allowing the company to remain independent.

- Google, Meta, Unity, and Moloco rely on independent measurement signals to improve advertising optimization.

- E-commerce and retail are among AppsFlyer’s fastest-growing categories.

- Connecting CTV, web, a...

What happens when AI agents become media buyers and shopping assistants?

Ari Paparo sits down with Abhay Singhal, Co-Founder and CEO of InMobi Advertising, to discuss the future of agentic advertising, AI-powered commerce, and conversational ad experiences, and how InMobi is preparing for a world where AI makes purchasing decisions.

They also explore Glance's expansion to Samsung TVs, InMobi's acquisition of MobileAction, and how traditional ad tech workflows are being reimagined through AI.

Takeaways:

- Why AI agents will fundamentally change digital advertising

- How InMobi's...

Alex Kantrowitz, Founder of Big Technology, joins Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi to discuss how OpenAI, Google, Meta, Anthropic, Amazon, and other tech leaders are transforming digital advertising. They also dive into AI-powered media buying, agentic commerce, Criteo acquisition rumors, Cloudflare's monetization strategy, and the future of ad tech.

Takeaways:
- Why OpenAI is rapidly building an advertising business.
- How Meta, Google, and Anthropic are approaching AI differently.
- The future of AI-powered advertising and agentic commerce.
- Why Criteo could become an attractive acquisition target.
- How Cloudflare is changing...

Ari Paparo speaks with Grant Gudgel, Chief Marketing Officer at Locala, about adaptive advertising, AI-powered planning, location intelligence, omnichannel marketing, privacy, and how brands can improve campaign performance through localized insights.

Takeaways

Chapters
00:00 Introduction
00:21 Grant Gudgel...

Ari Paparo sits down with Todd Parsons, President of Performance Media and Chief Product Officer at Criteo, to discuss the launch of Criteo GO, an AI-powered performance platform that unifies cross-channel advertising across the open web, Meta, TikTok, and OpenAI. They explore AI-driven campaign automation, commerce data, retail media, agentic AI, GEO, and what the future of digital advertising looks like.

Takeaways

Ari Paparo talks with Jennifer Quigley-Jones of PMG, about the ins and outs of working with creators.

Takeaways

Chapters
00:00 Welcome Back From Cannes
02:55 Meet Jennifer Quigley-Jones, VP of Strategy & Innovation at PMG
04:39 Building Digital Voices and Selling to PMG
08:53 How Brands...

Live at Cannes, Ari Paparo sits down with René Raiss, Founder of SQREEM, to discuss how the company's Large Behavioral Model (LBM) analyzes real-world behavior instead of language to predict intent, improve advertising performance, and power AI-driven insights across industries.

Takeaways
- Why SQREEM built a Large Behavioral Model instead of a Large Language Model.
- How behavioral data provides deeper consumer insights than keywords alone.
- Why AI models, not proprietary data, are becoming the competitive advantage.
- How brands use SQREEM to improve targeting and lower customer acquisition costs.
- R...

At Cannes Lions, Criteo CEO Michael Komasinski joins Ari Paparo to discuss the future of commerce media, OpenAI advertising, AI-powered discovery, retail media, agentic commerce, and how brands can measure success in the evolving AI ecosystem.

Takeaways

Chapters
00:00 Welcome & Criteo's Evolution
01:31 Privacy Sandbox, AI & Industry Changes
04:31 Inside Criteo's OpenAI Partnership
06:16 How...

Set against the backdrop of UTA Beach at Cannes Lions, Ari Paparo sits down with Michael Burke, Principal at UTA and MediaLink, to discuss creator-led marketing, cultural relevance, AI adoption, brand discovery, and why human relationships matter more than ever in the AI era.

Takeaways

From Cannes Lions, Ari Paparo sits down with Vibe.co CEO Arthur Querou, following the announcement that Walmart is acquiring Vibe.co. Arthur shares the company's journey from a French startup to a leading performance TV platform, how Vibe.co was funded after selling KMTX, and what the future of performance CTV looks like inside Walmart Connect.

Takeaways

Andy Schonfeld, CRO of Tatari, joins Ari Paparo from Cannes Lions to discuss Tatari’s bold message to the DSP ecosystem, why programmatic TV only captures a fraction of the market, the evolution of convergent TV buying, and how direct access to premium inventory is reshaping the future of television advertising. They also explore Tatari’s Upstream platform, the role of data and AI in media planning, recent industry shakeups involving Publicis, The Trade Desk, Fox, and Roku, and why transparency and supply paths are becoming table stakes in CTV.

Takeaways

Patrick Dolan, COO of the Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA), joins Ari Paparo to discuss the rapid evolution of out-of-home advertising. From digital billboards and programmatic buying to retail media integration, CTV convergence, measurement challenges, and the growing role of AI, Patrick explains why out-of-home is experiencing renewed growth and how marketers can take advantage of its expanding capabilities.

Takeaways

Ryan Mayward, SVP and GM of Walmart Connect, joins Ari Paparo to discuss Walmart's new partnership with Yahoo and Magnite, the role of Vizio in Walmart's CTV strategy, retail media measurement, incrementality, and the future of in-store advertising. Learn how Walmart is making its audience data more accessible while focusing on outcomes and advertiser flexibility.

Takeaways

Scott Ensign, Chief Strategy Officer at Butler/Till, joins Ari Paparo to discuss the advantages of being a 100% employee-owned agency, the rise of agentic AI in media buying, AdCP adoption, and the future of pharmaceutical advertising. Learn how Butler/Till is leveraging AI-powered workflows, healthcare expertise, mobile gaming inventory, and programmatic innovation to drive growth in a rapidly evolving media landscape.

Takeaways

Ari Paparo sits down with Damian Garbaccio, Chief Commercial and Marketing Officer at Affinity Solutions, and Doug Campbell, Chief Strategy Officer at DoubleVerify, to discuss why 91% of marketers distrust platform-reported results, the rise of outcome-based measurement, the role of verified purchase data, AI-driven optimization, media waste, and the future of advertising accountability. 

Takeaways 

Alex Chatfield, Co-Founder and President of Endorsable, joins Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi to discuss how data technology is transforming influencer and celebrity marketing. Drawing on his ad tech background from AppNexus, Alex explains how brands can move beyond traditional influencer metrics by leveraging fandom intelligence, audience data, and identity signals to build more effective endorsement partnerships. The conversation explores the growing intersection of influencer marketing, audience ownership, first-party data, programmatic advertising, and measurement.

Takeaways

In this Marketecture Live session, Keith Petri, SVP of Data, Identity, and Supply at Viant, and Sam Khoury of Marketecture Media discuss deterministic identity, supply path optimization (SPO), contextual targeting, attribution, and the challenges of measuring true advertising effectiveness in CTV. Learn why advertisers need proof, not promises, to maximize performance and incrementality. Takeaways - Deterministic Identity Requires Proof - Publisher Login Data Isn't Fully Available to Buyers - IP Addresses Are an Imperfect Identity Signal - Too Many Supply Chain Intermediaries Create Problems - Supply Path Optimization Is About Quality, Not Just Cost Savings - Identity and Context...

Tejas Manohar, co-founder and co-CEO of Hightouch, joins Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi to discuss composable CDPs, replacing LiveRamp, enterprise AI workflows, and why marketers still need SaaS in the age of vibe coding. They also cover Meta’s new apps, OpenAI ads, AppLovin’s social ambitions, X’s ad business, and the rise of clipping in political campaigns. Takeaways: - Hightouch is emerging as a strong alternative to LiveRamp for identity onboarding and data activation. - Tejas Manohar explains why composable CDPs and enterprise AI workflows are gaining momentum. - The team discusses agentic AI, OpenAI ads, Meta’s new apps...

At Marketecture Live III in New York, James Wilhite, VP of Product, Index Exchange, sat down with Alan Wolk, Co-Founder & Lead Analyst, TVREV, to discuss how advertisers can still reach massive audiences in today’s fragmented media landscape. The conversation explores the evolution of CTV advertising, the rise of contextual targeting, transparency challenges, privacy-safe audience activation, and how Index Exchange is helping brands better understand and curate streaming inventory. Takeaways - Mass audiences still exist, but they’re spread across fragmented platforms. - Contextual targeting is becoming critical for CTV advertising. - Show-level transparency helps buyers understand what they’re pur...

Auren Hoffman, founder of LiveRamp, joins Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi to discuss Publicis’ acquisition of LiveRamp, the company’s biggest missed opportunities, and why connectivity is becoming even more important in the AI era. 

They also dive into Google I/O, AI-powered search, publisher challenges, product-led companies, and how AI is changing the way operators work. 

Takeaways

In this Marketecture Live session, Harry Tong from PubMatic and Georgie Haig from MiQ demonstrate how ADCP and AI agents can automate campaign setup, audience discovery, supply recommendations, and media activation in seconds instead of days. They also explore how agentic workflows and open standards are shaping the future of programmatic advertising. 

Takeaways 

In this episode, Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi take an in-depth look at the evolving landscape of sports advertising, featuring insights from Tony Marlow. The conversation explores the latest innovations in how brands and media companies are approaching sponsorship, fan engagement, and measurement within live sports environments. Marlow addresses current market challenges, including increased audience fragmentation and the complexities brands face in creating meaningful connections both in-stadium and across digital channels. The episode also dives into the impact of data and technology on sports marketing. In the "Refresh" segment, Eric shifts gears to spotlight a rising trend in global entertainment...