Ad Age Insider

Now in their 24th year, the Webbys are currently accepting submissions for what's been called the Oscars of the internet. Joining the podcast today is David-Michel Davies, the CEO of the Webbys, presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. We discuss the trends he's been watching in the online space and what it even means to be a website in 2020. We also unpack the deeply critical viral speech comedian Sacha Baron Cohen made at the Anti-Defamation League last week about Facebook and the so-called "Silicon Six."

Last week in New York, Ad Age brought together executives from some of the best media brands in the world to explore the industry's challenges and, more interesting, opportunities. This podcast is a live recording of a conversation with three media execs about what they've learned from leaning into the subscription model. Joining us on stage were Pam Wasserstein, president of Vox Media, Scott Havens, global head of digital and media distribution for Bloomberg Media Group and Nina Lassam, executive director of ad innovation at the New York Times.

David & Goliath founder David Angelo looks back at a three decade career that started as a junior art director at DDB New York, followed by stints at Chiat/Day and Cliff Freeman & Partners. We talk about what prompted him to hang his own shingle 20 years ago and how the industry has changed in the past three decades. David & Goliath, a creative independent shop, was bought in 2017 by Innocean, the agency created by Hyundai. He talks about life after acquisition, life in LA and his cause célèbre: bravery.

In a space where the word "innovation" gets tossed around a lot, Jarrod Dicker seems to actually be building a better mousetrap. Dicker's remit is to make advertising, subscriptions and technology better at the Bezos-owned media giant. He'll discuss how media companies can no longer rely solely on advertiser and subscriber revenue alone, plus we get into his early career as a music blogger and Deadhead.

A three-time entrepreneur, Paul Woolmington is the founding CEO of media agency Canvas Worldwide and a keen observer of the marketing landscape. He is a former vet of holding companies IPG and WPP, founded and ran Media Kitchen, an MDC Partners agency, and he can rock a jaunty cravat. Paul joins us for a wide ranging conversation on just about everything in the media space—from the holding company existential crisis to the recent Disney media agency review and even to the rebate mishegoss of the past four years.

In October of last year, at just 32 Jessica Pels was named the youngest-ever editor in chief at Cosmopolitan. Now exactly one year into the gig, web traffic is through the roof, even as single issue print sales continue to decline (just as they do everywhere else). We dig into her web-driven, data-centric approach to content strategy as we discuss where she's taking the storied glossy.

A producer, composer and technologist, Barak Moffat heads UMG's content and strategy. UMG's massive catalog includes 40 percent of all of the world's music. He discusses that, and what it means to be creating new commercial opportunities for audio visual content across all of UMG's labels. Essentially tasked with charting the company's next chapters, he also discusses the rise of voice and smart sneakers, and how UMG thinks about both data and metadata.

It's been 15 years since "Super Size Me" came out. Today Spurlock is back with a sequel. With "Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken" Spurlock asks whether fast food has gotten any healthier in the intervening years. As the title suggests he focuses on industrial chicken farming—going so far as to open his own chicken farm to raise birds for a chicken sandwich shop. Along the way, Spurlock teamed up with David Littlejohn, founder and chief creative officer of the small agency Humanaut, to learn about the misleading ways fast food is marketed today.

Mark Penn, the president and managing partner of Stagwell Group, raised industry eyebrows six months ago when he plonked $100 million into the flailing agency holding company MDC Partners—and became its CEO in the process. Six months in, we take a look at what the polarizing pollster has been up to (both in the agency world and the political sphere), what he's learned and where he's taking the holding company.

Reddit is on a roll. The self-styled "front page of the internet" is on target to double its ad revenue in the U.S. from $100 million in 2019 to $200 million in 2021, according to eMarketer. This growth is the result of tightening moderation on the platform and building out its advertising business. To discuss Reddit's evolution, strengths and next steps, chief operating officer Jen Wong joins the "Ad Lib" podcast—and questions host Brian Braiker's faith in humanity.