Agency Business

Welcome to Agency Business.

Mark Penn, chairman and CEO of Stagwell, join Brian Wieser live last week at Cannes to discuss why he sees marketing services as more resilient than many technology businesses, how Stagwell is investing in AI, software and digital transformation, and why he believes agencies are undergoing transformation rather than decline. Mark also talked about Stagwell’s global expansion, capital allocation, investor perceptions of the agency sector and the company’s push to combine services and technology.

The Agency Business podcast is part of the Marketecture Media podcast network.

Reach Out:

1. Subscribe for free to the Agency Business newsletter.
2. Interested in joining Agency Business as a guest? Submit a pitch.
3. Listen to 📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast: Brian and Luke Stillman open up about Madison and Wall's latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.
4. Listen to 🎬 Screen & Sponsor: Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

Welcome to Agency Business.

PJ Pereira and Rob Wrubel, co-founders of SILVERSIDE, join Olivia Morley this week to discuss what it means to build an AI-native marketing innovation lab outside the traditional agency model.

PJ and Rob discuss how SILVERSIDE grew out of an experimental AI group inside Pereira O’Dell, and why they believed the technology required a separate structure built for speed, experimentation and new ways of working. They explain how early work with Coca-Cola helped shape SILVERSIDE’s approach to creative production, personalization and client collaboration, and why the company often enters organizations through the “side door” of innovation and chaos management. They also discuss why senior creative leaders need to work directly with AI tools, and why hands-on experimentation matters more than big technology announcements in a market changing day by day.

The Agency Business podcast is part of the Marketecture Media podcast network.

Reach Out:

1. Subscribe for free to the Agency Business newsletter.
2. Interested in joining Agency Business as a guest? Submit a pitch.
3. Listen to 📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast: Brian and Luke Stillman open up about Madison and Wall's latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.
4. Listen to 🎬 Screen & Sponsor: Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

Welcome to Agency Business.

Kwame Taylor-Hayford, co-founder of Kin, joins Brian Wieser and Olivia Morley this week to discuss what it means to build an independent agency around specificity rather than scale.

Kwame discusses how his global upbringing shaped his approach to advertising and design, and how Kin’s work sits at the intersection of innovation, culture and community. He explains why the agency is focused on helping brands become meaningful participants in communities — whether those communities are defined by demographics, interests or geography — through original ideas and intellectual property that can take many different forms.

The Agency Business podcast is part of the Marketecture Media podcast network.

Reach Out:

1. Subscribe for free to the Agency Business newsletter.
2. Interested in joining Agency Business as a guest? Submit a pitch.
3. Listen to 📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast: Brian and Luke Stillman open up about Madison and Wall's latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.
4. Listen to 🎬 Screen & Sponsor: Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

Welcome to Agency Business.

Joe Gagliese, co-founder and co-CEO of Viral Nation, joins Brian Wieser this week to discuss how the company grew from representing creators into a social-first business working with enterprise brands.

Joe discussed Viral Nation’s early days in influencer marketing, why the company raised capital to build AI, data infrastructure and measurement tools, and how it is trying to make social operate more like a mature marketing channel. He also talked about creator pricing, global social strategy, working alongside holding companies and why Viral Nation remains focused on services as it builds more technology into its model.

The Agency Business podcast is part of the Marketecture Media podcast network.

Reach Out:

1. Subscribe for free to the Agency Business newsletter.
2. Interested in joining Agency Business as a guest? Submit a pitch.
3. Listen to 📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast: Brian and Luke Stillman open up about Madison and Wall's latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.
4. Listen to 🎬 Screen & Sponsor: Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

Welcome to Agency Business.

Dimi Albers, CEO of DEPT, joins Brian Wieser and Olivia Morley this week to discuss how the marketing and technology company has scaled globally while operating as one agency.

Dimi discussed DEPT’s expansion across Europe, the Americas and APAC, why the company sees cultural alignment as central to successful acquisitions, and how its independent structure shapes its competition with holding companies, consultancies and systems integrators. He also discussed DEPT’s technology platform, its private equity backing and why the company remains focused on managed services rather than a pure SaaS model.

The Agency Business podcast is part of the Marketecture Media podcast network.

Reach Out:

1. Subscribe for free to the Agency Business newsletter.
2. Interested in joining Agency Business as a guest? Submit a pitch.
3. Listen to 📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast: Brian and Luke Stillman open up about Madison and Wall's latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.
4. Listen to 🎬 Screen & Sponsor: Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

Welcome to Agency Business.

Blake Heal, founder and CEO of Conscious Minds, joins Brian Wieser and Olivia Morley this week to discuss how the agency built production into its model from the beginning.

Blake shares how Conscious Minds evolved from the viral video era into a social and culture-focused agency working with large brands including Nike, Starbucks, Yahoo and Google.

He also describes:

• How the agency’s production capabilities shape its work
• How faster social timelines differ from traditional TV production
• How AI is affecting content costs, internal operations and future billing conversations.

The Agency Business podcast is part of the Marketecture Media podcast network.

Reach Out:

1. Subscribe for free to the Agency Business newsletter.
2. Interested in joining Agency Business as a guest? Submit a pitch.
3. Listen to 📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast: Brian and Luke Stillman open up about Madison and Wall's latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.
4. Listen to 🎬 Screen & Sponsor: Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

Welcome to Agency Business.

Alison Weissbrot, executive editor at Adweek, joins Brian Wieser and Olivia Morley to discuss the agency business from her vantage point covering the industry.

Alison talks about the pressure holding company CEOs face around growth and AI transformation, why independent agencies continue to generate industry attention, and how private equity is shaping parts of the indie agency market.

She also discusses what makes agency AI claims credible, where agencies are investing beyond AI, and why Cannes Lions remains central to the industry even as its role continues to evolve.

The Agency Business podcast is part of the Marketecture Media podcast network.

Reach Out:

1. Subscribe for free to the Agency Business newsletter.
2. Interested in joining Agency Business as a guest? Submit a pitch.
3. Listen to 📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast: Brian and Luke Stillman open up about Madison and Wall's latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.
4. Listen to 🎬 Screen & Sponsor: Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

Welcome to Agency Business.

Maggie Malek, CEO of Crispin, joins Brian Wieser and Olivia Morley to discuss the Stagwell agency’s next chapter. She discusses the agency's history, and the 2023 combination of MMI, Crispin (then CPB), and Observatory.

Maggie also discusses how Crispin is building around creative, media and social under one P&L, and how Crispin is balancing its creative roots with client demand for integrated media, social, and creator capabilities.

The Agency Business podcast is part of the Marketecture Media podcast network.

Reach Out:

1. Subscribe for free to the Agency Business newsletter.
2. Interested in joining Agency Business as a guest? Submit a pitch.
3. Listen to 📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast: Brian and Luke Stillman open up about Madison and Wall's latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.
4. Listen to 🎬 Screen & Sponsor: Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

Tamara Alesi, CEO of Mediaplus North America, joins Brian Wieser and Olivia Morley to discuss how the Serviceplan-owned media agency is building its presence in the U.S. and Canada. Tamara explains how Mediaplus is approaching growth in North America, including its reliance on global client relationships, local market development, and a measured, profitability-focused expansion strategy.

She also outlines the agency’s “house of communication” model, integrating media, creative, and technology, and shares her perspective on talent, AI, and the trade-offs between independent and holding company structures as agencies navigate industry-wide change.

The Agency Business podcast is part of the Marketecture Media podcast network.

Reach Out:

1. Subscribe for free to the Agency Business newsletter.
2. Interested in joining Agency Business as a guest? Submit a pitch.
3. Listen to 📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast: Brian and Luke Stillman open up about Madison and Wall's latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.
4. Listen to 🎬 Screen & Sponsor: Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

Remy Stiles, global CEO of Kepler, joins Brian Wieser and Olivia Morley to discuss the agency’s evolution from its programmatic roots into a full-service, data-driven business. Founded out of MediaMath, Kepler was built around audience-first, technology-led thinking at a time when those approaches were still emerging, and has since expanded into creative, global operations and new business growth.

The Agency Business podcast is part of the Marketecture Media podcast network.

Reach Out:

1. Subscribe for free to the Agency Business newsletter.
2. Interested in joining Agency Business as a guest? Submit a pitch.
3. Listen to 📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast: Brian and Luke Stillman open up about Madison and Wall's latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.
4. Listen to 🎬 Screen & Sponsor: Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.