In this episode, Colin Dougherty (Director of Partnerships, CartConvert) joins and we dive into recent major economic shifts, starting with the sobering news of massive corporate layoffs at Amazon and Meta, and discussing the growing threat of AI to white-collar jobs. We explore the CEO of NVIDIA's view on this as a "carriage to automotive" moment, requiring new skills.

On a more hopeful note, we analyze the billion-dollar acquisition of Hailey Bieber’s skincare brand, Rhode, and break down why celebrity-backed "Superman brands" are perfectly structured for high-value D2C exits.

We also examine intriguing data from Netflix's advertising platform, finding out how consumer engagement on streaming compares to TikTok and YouTube. Finally, we dissect the Fed's recent basis points cut and the decision to halt quantitative tightening (QT), and what this "frothy" outlook means for Q4, before looking ahead at the explosive growth of live selling (Whatnot, TikTok Shop) and the potential for a new wave of modern-day "Billy Mays" sales talent.

Key Topics Covered:

• (01:06) Bad News First: Amazon Corporate Layoffs and the Rise of AI

• (07:37) Hopeful News: Rhode's Billion-Dollar Acquisition

• (13:22) Netflix Advertising Statistics

• (24:37) Huggies' Confusing World Cup Sweepstakes Campaign

• (30:35) The Fed Drops Interest Rates and Quantitative Tightening

• (36:18) "Frothy" Consumer Market and Q4 Sales Predictions

• (44:19) The Rise of Live Selling | QVC 2.0

What do you think the future of internet shopping should look like?
(0:19) The Announcement
(0:49) “Enjoyable + Convenient” Shopping Future
(2:03) Instant Messenger or Iron Man?
(4:59) What AI Can’t Do: Taste
(6:36) Brand Play: Walmart’s Hidden Win

Lebron James' "retirement" was an ad, he's now getting sued, and four reasons why this is marketing gold.

(0:20) Lebron's "Retirement" & Why It Matters

(1:30) Chaos, Bets, and $400 Tickets

(3:20) The Reveal: A Hennessy Ad

(4:50) The Fallout and Lawsuit

(5:00) 4 Reasons Why It's Awesome

*If you were on this ad team, would you have done anything differently?*

ChatGPT isn't just competing for searches—it's replacing websites and checkout in the age of "Agentic Commerce."(0:17) The Big Shift: Shopify x OpenAI Integration(1:21) The Death of Websites & Search(2:59) New Internet Empires(4:44) SEO's Role in the AI Era(8:28) Who Will Rule Ecommerce?*How do marketers not get left behind?*

Podcast reboot, incoming.