How can advertising ensure brand safety and suitability while avoiding collateral damage to media brands? Mario Diez, CEO of Peer39, a leading contextual intelligence platform, joins ADZ to discuss advanced contextual strategies and offers media owners advice on using technology and best practices to escape the Made for Advertising (MFA) trap.

In this episode, ADZ speaks to Ana Milicevic, Sparrow Advisers' co-founder. They explore how innovation is transforming sports, media, and advertising. They then discuss how technology empowers athletes and teams to act as media brands, building direct fan connections that bypass traditional channels. The rise of generative AI in sports content opens up custom, scalable experiences that engage wider audiences. They also examine how augmented reality and immersive tech deepen fan loyalty while creating new opportunities for advertisers to reach audiences through personalized interactions. This episode offers a forward-looking view on the shifting dynamics at the intersection of sports, media, and advertising. Subscribe to the Not Just ADZ newsletter for independent views and strategies on media monetization and digital advertising: https://www.notjustadz.com Alessandro De Zanche on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dezanche/ Ana Milicevic on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/amilicevic Sparrow Advisers https://www.sparrowadvisers.com

The Coalition for Privacy Compliance in Advertising (CPCA) is developing, together with the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the first UK GDPR certification scheme for advertising technologies backed by regulators and embedding legal standards. The voluntary scheme will certify specific products rather than entire companies. The founder, Mattia Fosci, takes ADZ through the background and details of the initiative.

Stuart Colman, Senior Director of European Identity at The Trade Desk, discusses the role of identity in digital advertising and its evolution from cookies to persistent advertising IDs. In conversation with Alessandro De Zanche, they explore the media owners' perspective, the challenges of authentication rates when comparing the open web to walled gardens, and the strategic approach media companies should take towards identity. Colman emphasizes that identity should be viewed as a foundation rather than a product, advocating for an open yet protected ecosystem where publishers can maximize their value while maintaining control. Subscribe to the Not Just ADZ newsletter for independent views and strategies on media monetization and digital advertising: https://www.notjustadz.com Alessandro De Zanche on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dezanche/ ADZ Strategies media consultant: https://adzstrategies.com Chapters 00:00 Intro 00:52 Definitions of identity in advertising 02:45 Is the identity debate at risk of becoming a distraction for media owners? 04:18 Identity’s value vs. the danger for media companies of losing control of their assets 09:12 Identity-based advertising vs. ID-less approaches 10:50 Can a single advertising ecosystem serve the needs of all its components? 12:44 The importance of authentication 15:28 Authentication: much more than just identity 17:27 Advice for media owners on approaching identity 20:34 What digital advertising would look like without identity

Investor Turi Munthe breaks down what makes a media company investable and sustainable. From aligning with investor expectations to maximizing revenue streams, he shares tips for media founders to scale and succeed. Discover how to navigate GenAI, media business models, and the key role audience connection plays in success. Turi Munthe on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turi_Munthe Alessandro De Zanche on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dezanche/ ADZ Strategies media consultant: https://adzstrategies.com Subscribe to the Not Just ADZ newsletter for independent views and strategies on media monetization and digital advertising: https://www.notjustadz.com Chapters 00:00 Intro 01:15 Are media business models still viable? 05:11 Can we differentiate various media business models? 06:34 Do media companies need fewer advertising people and more executives who understand media? 11:40 Public media companies vs. privately owned companies 13:01 What do you look for when investing in a media company? 15:33 Most effective revenue streams for media companies 18:07 Tips and advice you give to companies in which you are an investor 20:32 Innovative media approaches 24:39 Is the secret of success in the connection with the audience or the depth of content? 26:17 GenAI and editorial teams 29:11 Media companies and AI platforms: partner or sue? 31:00 Venture capital vs successfully investing in media: why I am excited by niches

Discover how DPG Media Group and their Chief Digital Officer, Stefan Havik, are tackling a complex challenge. Learn their strategies for unifying 100+ media brands, achieving independence from Google in the advertising space, and reinforcing an audience-centric approach. Chapters 00:00 Intro 04:04 Strategic transformation: steps 09:16 Can different media brands collaborate and thrive? 10:42 “The Trusted Web” 18:24 Creating alignment 21:58 Collaborating on data with advertisers 23:42 Identity resolution across the group 25:28 Taking on Google and becoming independent 32:09 AI approach 39:36 Advice to smaller media companies 42:55 Diversified revenue channels: overseeing and consistency of incentives

Augustine Fou, a cybersecurity and ad fraud expert, shares his journey in the digital advertising industry, explaining how ad fraud and bad-practices are funding misinformation and disinformation online, directly threatening society and, indirectly, the self-sustainability of quality news media companies. He walks through the last 15 years of digital advertising history, explaining how it became so problematic and why he is optimistic about the future, convinced that change has begun. Chapters 00:00 Intro 00:52 Career trajectory and discovering ad fraud 06:52 Antitrust case vs Google and understanding past mistakes 07:42 The issue with the programmatic open marketplace 09:47 The negative impact of open marketplace 11:36 How advertisers were led down the wrong path and re-educating them 15:26 Quality media owners legitimizing bad actors 17:49 Brand safety and unintended consequences 20:05 Benefits of working with quality media 22:25 Tips for media owners to help advertisers 26:05 Why such a resistance to change from advertisers 27:12 Optimism about advertisers becoming more careful 28:02 Advice to young professionals entering the industry

Brian Morrissey, The Rebooting and Alessandro De Zanche, ADZ Strategies, discuss the current state of the media and advertising industry. They explore the evolving landscape of advertising, the role of publishers, and the need for clear strategies in media companies. Morrissey emphasizes the importance of creating economic value and the shift towards audience-centric approaches, while also reflecting on the future of media investment. Chapters: 00:00 Intro 01:48 DOJ vs. Google 09:17 The evolution of other forms of advertising channels 11:43 Media alliances vs. Curated marketplaces 14:42 Diversification of revenue streams 16:48 Overcoming the conflict of incentives 30:28 Most effective media strategies today 34:51 News media must provide value through strategies 39:25 Brand safety 42:47 The issue with the programmatic open marketplace 46:28 The media company Brian Morrissey would invest in

In this episode of Not Just ADZ, Alessandro De Zanche interviews Ann Riley, a certified adaptability coach, about the importance of adaptability in the digital media and advertising industry. They discuss topics such as mental flexibility, embracing new ideas, creative problem solving, effective collaboration, adapting to change, and continuous learning. Ann explains the Adaptability Framework, which measures abilities, character, and environment, and how it can be implemented in companies. They also discuss the challenges of implementing adaptability and the need for leaders to prioritize change and support their teams in navigating it. Ann and Alessandro have developed the "North Star and Adaptability executive bootcamp", where they work with organizations to develop strategic alignment and adaptability. For information you can contact Ann on http://www.adaptsuccess.com/ or http://linkedin.com/in/annreilly or Alessandro on [email protected] or https://www.linkedin.com/in/dezanche/. Chapters 00:00 Intro 02:02 Ann’s career and reinvention 03:48 The Adaptability framework 05:11 How does the Adaptability framework methodology works 08:04 Mental flexibility 10:10 Changes in the Digital Media and Advertising industry and the benefits of flexibility 14:53 How to find time to embrace the framework when under pressure 17:28 Helping leaders to bring adaptability into their organisations 22:13 Obstacles inside organizations 23:21 Tips for living with change

In this episode, Ben Walmsley, The Sun Managing Director and former Commercial Director of News UK / News Corp, discusses the monetisation strategy of a media brand. The conversation touches several key topics: - Internal alignment and a focus on digital transformation that can help media brands become more flexible and innovative. - Reducing ad load and improving the quality of ads can enhance the user experience and increase ad unit value. - reinventing content recommendation by building an internal solution and removing external widgets, and developing an entrepreneurial culture. He also talks about how and why News UK has created the role of head of consent and their approach to data and identity. The conversation highlights the importance of consent, collaboration, and aligning incentives in the media industry. - Consent is a crucial metric that is directly correlated to revenue, and publishers should have a deliberate approach to consent and communicate the value exchange to users. - Collaboration and alignment across teams and entities are important for driving innovation and achieving common goals. - The media industry is facing instability and change, requiring publishers to think in new ways and adapt to technological advances. Chapters: 00:00 Intro and the evolution of News UK 06:15 Entrepreneurialism: creating and acquiring new brands 11:01 Reinventing The Sun's advertising strategy after taking down the paywall. Reducing the ad load, increasing the quality of formats and the ad unit's value 16:29 Removing external content recommendation widgets, creating own content recirculation engine 19:16 A Test & Learn culture 22:23 Phasing out the old approach while adopting the new one 23:20 Consent and the “Head of Consent” role in the organisation 31:13 “Consent or Pay” 33:18 Alignment and collaboration across teams and countries in a big corporation like News UK / News Corp

NOTICE: The interview was recorded before Google's announcement that it will not deprecate the third-party cookie. In this episode, Alessandro De Zanche interviews Alison Schiff, AdExchanger's Managing Editor, on digital advertising and what is like writing about the industry. They discuss topics such as privacy, third-party cookies, the digital advertising long tail, and the overall state of the industry. They highlight the need for alignment among media owners, the weight of the ad tech narrative, and the importance of going for quality in digital advertising environments. They also touch on the role of consent in privacy and the challenges faced by publishers in obtaining it. They express optimism for the future of the industry but emphasise the need for change in business models but also people. Chapters 00:00 Intro 02:52 Why we need to fix digital advertising 08:37 What a quality advertising ecosystem would look like 12:24 The monopolies of Google and Apple and the rest of industry 15:11 Are companies thinking ahead or are they distracted by the delays of the third-party cookie deprecation in Chrome? 16:45 Writing about digital advertising 21:35 Privacy and Consent 27:12 Receiving and dealing with ad tech companies’ pitches and PR releases 30:05 Predictions for the digital advertising sector in 2027 32:15 Digital advertising time machine: how could have the industry changed if…?

In this episode, Alessandro De Zanche interviews Richard Benjamins, an expert in AI and data, former Chief AI Officer at Telefonica; co-founder OdiseIA; supervisory Board's Chairman of EIT Europe, advisor for EC and EU Parliament, Vatican, MIT Sloan, UNESCO; board director of CDP Europe https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-benjamins/ They discuss the impact of AI on media, content creation, audience relationships, and media monetization. They discuss the ethical challenges of AI and the responsibility of people behind AI. They also explore the relationship between media and generative AI, the potential for AI to create content as good as humans, and the partnerships between AI platforms and media companies. They also discuss the issue of fake news, the potential for AI to filter them out, and for media companies to provide services to detect and combat fake news. Finally, they touch on the impact of AI on jobs and the importance of understanding AI technology for responsible use. Richard Benjamins' book "A Data-Driven Company: 21 lessons for large organizations to create value from AI". Chapters: 00:00 Intro 01:43 Good vs Evil in AI 04:40 The relationship between generative AI and Media companies 07:16 Deals between OpenAI and media companies 16:46 Unlawful content scraping 20:16 Useful lessons for media companies in the use of AI 25:07 Tackling Fake News with AI 31:30 People/employees and AI: how to manage the future