Floor 9

Episode 175: Bet On Everything

Wed, 05 Nov 2025 21:10:24 GMT

Welcome back to Floor 9! In this episode, the Lab team breaks down the “betting on everything” trend, tracing the surge in sports betting and prediction markets and the spread of those mechanics across culture and business.

Led by your host Tom Trudeau, the team discusses the trend’s many manifestations, from status-symbol collectibles to frictionless betting apps. Then we unpack why this boom is happening, and ask whether it’s sustainable for society, or even for the platforms monetizing this trend. We debate sports betting vs. prediction markets, what tighter guardrails might look like, and where brands should draw the line. The team also shares some brand-safe ways to play, including bragging-rights challenges and other loyalty-driven tactics, that capitalize on on this trend.

For an in-depth written POV on this trend, please click here.

If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 174: Contrasting the AI Strategies of Apple vs. Meta

Wed, 24 Sep 2025 22:08:12 GMT

Welcome back to Floor 9! In this episode, recorded on Thursday Sep. 18, Tom and Ryan, the power duo of our partnerships team, are joined by Lab’s managing director Adam to recap and discuss the latest announcements from Apple’s iPhone 17 event and the Meta Connect event.

Starting with Apple's new products, including the iPhone 17, new Apple Watch features, and the latest AirPods, the Lab team share their thoughts on some of the most exciting updates, such as the AirPods' new live translation feature.

The discussion then shifts to Meta's new Display AI glasses, debating their potential use cases and whether they justify the $800 price point. The hosts also touch upon Meta's focus on AI and how that compares to Apple's more conservative approach. The episode concludes with a broader conversation on the future of personal computing and whether wearable technology will one day replace smartphones for certain tasks.

You can read more about our thoughts on the two press events by reading our recaps of Apple’s iPhone 17 event and the Meta Connect event on Medium.

If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on LinkedIn and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 173: 2025 Travel Trends

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 19:59:51 GMT

Welcome back to another episode of Floor 9. For this episode, host Tom Trudeau chatted with Adam Simon and Richard Yao from the Lab’s strategy team about our latest insights on travel. Together, they discussed some of the biggest trends in the travel and hospitality sector in 2025, including the financialization of the travel industry, the increasing use of AI chatbots in trip planning, and the appeal of intentional under-planning and flexible travel. All these topics ladder up to a discussion about the future of a “connected trip” experience that is being shaped by shifting consumer expectations and AI adoption.

If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on LinkedIn and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 172: The Evolution of Retail Media Networks (Ft. Parbinder Dariwhal from CVS Media Exchange)

Tue, 17 Jun 2025 11:00:00 GMT

This week on Floor 9, we’re diving deep into the fast-changing world of retail media networks with Parbinder “Parbs” Dariwhal, VP and GM of CVS Media Exchange (CMX). With 72% of purchases now beginning within retail ecosystems and average U.S. consumers seeing 47 retail media ads daily, it’s clear we’re in a new media era—one driven by data, co-creation, and in-store innovation.

Parbs joins hosts Ryan and Adam to break down how CMX is redefining retail media through partnerships with platforms like Reddit, leveraging interest-based conversations to drive brand advocacy. We also explore the collapsing purchase funnel, the rise of in-store formats like audio and end-cap screens, and the importance of transparency and first-party data in an age of “creepy” personalization.

Listen now to learn why the future of retail media is collaborative, measurable, and surprisingly immersive.

If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on LinkedIn and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 171: Apple WWDC 2025 Recap

Fri, 13 Jun 2025 17:55:41 GMT

This week on Floor 9, four members of the Lab team — Adam, Tom, Chelsea, and Elisa — assemble to discuss in-depth about everything brand marketers need to know about the latest news coming out of Apple’s WWDC developer event this week.

Specifically, the team discussed Apple’s practical approach to AI, which focuses on incremental “quality-of-life” improvements, and what it means in the context of a heated AI race among the big tech companies. They also discussed the new “Liquid Glass” design that Apple announced for all upcoming operating systems, and what its spatial computing-oriented design says about Apple’s vision for the future of digital interactions. Furthermore, the team explored specific updates to Apple Wallet, CarPlay, Apple Music, and other corners of the Apple ecosystem that will have direct or indirect impact on brand experiences in relevant categories.

If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on LinkedIn and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 170: AI Mode, Agentic Web, & more from Google I/O 2025

Sat, 24 May 2025 04:17:29 GMT

On the latest Floor 9 episode, four members of the Lab team — Tom, Ryan, Richard, and Elisa — assemble to discuss in-depth about everything brand marketers that need to know about the AI-centric announcements coming out of Google’s annual developer event.

From Google’s ambition of using AI Mode to transform its search products, to the “agentic web” that the AI stakeholders are aiming towards, the team places the various key announcements within the larger industry context and discuss their implications for consumers and brands alike. Listen now to learn more about how you brand should respond to the latest developments in consumer-facing AI.

If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on LinkedIn and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 169: Upgrading the Creator Playbook for Brands

Thu, 24 Apr 2025 18:59:11 GMT

This week on Floor 9, host Tom Trudeau is joined by Lab members Chelsea Freitas and Ryan Miller for a dive deep into the evolving role of creators in the media ecosystem. From parasocial dynamics to AI's impact on content creation, the trio explores how influencer strategies are maturing—shifting from short-term content sprints to long-term brand partnerships.

With insights on niche creators, multi-platform storytelling, and creators as storefronts, plus examples ranging from Nike’s tiered creator playbook to MrBeast’s media franchise, the team discusses what it takes for creators and brands to build trust, convert audiences, and stay nimble in a fragmented digital landscape. This episode is a must-listen for anyone tracking the future of influencer marketing and creator-led brand collaboration.

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Episode 168: The Evolving Sports Media Landscape

Fri, 28 Mar 2025 01:17:02 GMT

Welcome back to Floor 9! This week, host Ryan Miller is joined by Chelsea Freitas, the Lab’s strategy maven, and Tom Trudeau, our partnerships maverick, to chat about a shared passion topic — sports! Specifically, how the shifting sports audiences and viewer behaviors have impacted sports as a media business, the movement of women’s sports and the brand opportunities it brings, and the rise of next-gen alternative sports such as pickleball and drone racing. Together, they take a deep dive into the evolving landscape of sports media, and how brands can best reach sports fans.

Some key segments of this episode, with corresponding timestamps, include:

The impact of changing sports audiences and behaviors – 9:12
Sports media entering the streaming era and its implications – 12:34
Women’s sports gaining momentum and brand opportunities – 21:19
The rise of next-gen alternative sports and their advantages – 27:10
Capturing value beyond game day via cross-media companion content - 30:28

For more insights into this topic, you can also read the companion post on our Medium blog here.

If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on LinkedIn and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 167: 2025 Outlook Trends

Thu, 13 Feb 2025 19:45:51 GMT

Welcome back to Floor 9. As usual, we kicked off the year with an Outlook report to forecast some emerging trends in media and consumer behavior that we think will be crucial to brand strategy in 2025 and beyond. In this episode, your host Ryan is joined by Adam Simon, the Lab’s managing director and the author of the Outlook, and Chelsea Freitas, SVP of the Lab’s Strategy team, to take a deep dive into the key trends outlined in this report. Titled “Ports in a Storm,” this year’s Outlook is centered around the idea that consumers are increasingly seeking out “havens” in the face of an increasingly chaotic and stressful world. Together, the team discusses the rise of post-text, hyper-personalized media diets, the reshuffling of social media audiences, the impulse-driven consumer behaviors, the deployment phase of AI, and the opportunities and challenges they bring for brands

For deeper insights into the discussion, you can also read the full 2025 Outlook report on our Medium blog: https://bit.ly/IPGLabOutlook2025

If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on LinkedIn and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 166: CES 2025 Highlights

Thu, 16 Jan 2025 21:59:29 GMT

Welcome back to Floor 9. As always, we are kicking off the new year with a CES episode featuring the entire Lab team. Together, we recapped the highs and lows of CES 2025, shared our personal favorites, and voiced some skepticism towards some potential "vaporwares." From smart home and smart cars to cutting-edge food and health tech, we saw a lot of interesting, innovative products across categories from the show floor this year that could, down the road, shape consumer expectations and enhance brand experiences. If you're curious about the latest and hottest in consumer tech gadgets, this episode is a must-listen!

For more insights into this year's CES, please visit our Medium blog for our in-depth trend recap and analysis.

If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on LinkedIn and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 165: 2024 Year-End Trend Recap

Fri, 13 Dec 2024 20:51:45 GMT

Closing out this remarkable year of innovations, the entire Lab team came together for our annual recap of the biggest trends that defined the tech and media landscape in 2024, and look ahead to see what 2025 may bring. Together, the team discussed:

The maturing deployment of AI and the long-term prospect of the AI hype
The future of search and the impact that AI-driven challengers could have on Google’s dominance
The shifting landscape of social media—more media, less “social”—and how creators navigate evolving platforms and parasocial dynamics.
The major developments in mixed reality, esp. in hardware, and how its user cases might evolve
The streaming landscape in the post-streaming wars era, doubling down on live sports and battling subscription fatigue

Join us for this year-end roundup as we celebrate our team, our guests, and you—our listeners—and head into 2025 with fresh insights and excitement.

If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on LinkedIn and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 164: 2024 Holiday Shopping Trends

Fri, 15 Nov 2024 22:18:07 GMT

‘Tis the season again, and the Lab is here to discuss the latest shopping trends that we think brands should keep an eye out for this year. From a renewed emphasis on experiential in-store shopping to interesting loyalty plays, not to mention the new entrants like Amazon Haul and metaverse shopping, there’s no shortage of interesting things for Adam and Chelsea to talk about. Listen now to learn more about the latest trends in retail and shopper behaviors.

If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on LinkedIn and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 163: The Early Days of MR Headsets

Mon, 21 Oct 2024 23:18:24 GMT

Welcome back to Floor 9! This month, we welcome long-time host and director of partnerships, Ryan, back from his paternity leave to chat with Adam, the managing director of the Lab, to round up all the recent news around mixed reality headsets.

From the Orion AR glasses prototype that Mark Zuckerberg showcased earlier this month, or Meta’s Ai-infused Ray-Ban smart glasses, to the developer-oriented Snap Spectacles, as well as the headset that kicked off this wave of spatial computing hardware, Apple’s Vision Pro, we covered them all! In addition, Adam and Ryan also analyzed the current competitive landscape among the tech companies trying to crack the MR hardware market and prognosticated how things might shake out over the next five to ten years. Listen now to hear our take on this potentially revolutionary emerging category.

If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on LinkedIn and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 162: iPhone’’s New “Visual Intelligence” & More

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 21:03:05 GMT

Welcome back to another episode of Floor 9. This week, Tom Trudeau from our partnerships team chats with our managing director Adam Simon about everything that marketers should know coming out of the Apple event on Monday. Together, they discussed various new Apple products, the upcoming Apple Intelligence features, as well as these AI-driven features will change consumer expectations and reshape brand interactions. Topics covered include:

The new iPhones’ surprising hold on pricing, and what it means for the smartphone market (0:58)
Analysis of the upcoming suite of Apple Intelligence features (2:23)
The new “visual intelligence” features coming to iPhones, and what it means for marketers (5:30)
The ability to capture immersive spatial video and images, and what it means for Vision Pro (7:13)
Updates to AirPods and additional support for contextual audio (8:32)
New hearing health features coming to AirPods Pro (11:47)
New health & fitness features to Apple Watch and Apple’s sustainability goals (14:41)
What brands should do to prepare for the new era of AI search (17:42)
How Apple is positioning Apple Intelligence and where the company stands in the AI competitive landscape (19:51)
Why spatial computing remains a key focus in Apple’s strategic roadmap (21:28)
The long-term prospect for Apple Intelligence and large language models in general (22:05)
Closing thoughts on Apple’s latest products and what they mean for a new deployment phrase of consumer-facing AI (25:30)

If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on LinkedIn and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 161: Futurecaster Survey & Must-Know Insights

Thu, 22 Aug 2024 21:09:46 GMT

In this special bonus episode of the month, the Lab’s strategy team assembles to discuss the highlights from the results of our latest Futurecaster survey! Futurecaster is the Lab’s proprietary innovation tool that identifies how your audience is engaging with the tactical areas of innovation across emerging technologies and media channels.

In partnership with Dynata, we survey 2,500 smartphone owners aged 16-74, asking them about their awareness, past and planned usage, and perception of emerging technologies and media channels. That survey data is fused with our Acxiom data stack, allowing us to identify which tactical areas of innovation your audiences engage with.

With each new edition of the survey, we gain interesting new insights into how consumers are adopting and interacting with new technologies. This year, the results showed noteworthy developments across a wide range of innovation territories, including generative AI, augmented reality and mixed reality, retail and lifecycle loyalty, smart city and mobility solutions, the experience economy, and the creator economy. For example, awareness of generative AI tools continues to grow, with 55% of respondents saying they have heard of them, up from 36% who said so last year.

Listen now to learn more about Futurecaster and the key insights we learned from this year’s survey!

If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on LinkedIn and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 160: How Brands Can Avoid Being Commoditized by AI

Mon, 12 Aug 2024 14:52:12 GMT

This week on Floor 9, the Lab’s managing director Adam Simon welcomes two senior UM executives, Dan Chapman, Global Chief Strategy Officer, and Andy Littlewood, Global Chief Product Officer, to Floor 9 for an insightful discussion on the impact of the over-reliance on AI within the media landscape, how agencies can work with clients to avoid becoming “bland brands” and lead the Renaissance of Media. Specifically, they took a deep dive into the following topics:

The shifting landscape of the media industry and the end of digital ad triopoly
The impact of generative AI on the ad & media industry, and the best strategies to deal with it
The role AI in brand-building, and how to increase brand differentiation in an era of homogenizing digital platforms and ad tools
The “brand vs. agency” dynamic and what agencies can do to help clients navigate AI’s impact
How to avoid becoming a “bland brand” and being commoditized by AI by rediscovering nuanced brand patterns
How marketers can lead a renaissance of creativity in this new era

If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on LinkedIn and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 159: After the "Streaming Wars," What's Next for Hollywood?

Thu, 25 Jul 2024 22:21:28 GMT

This month on Floor 9, the Lab team assembles for a panel discussion on the future of the entertainment industry. Faced with rising streaming fatigue, high-churn “nomadic subscribers,” and the looming threat of AI-generated “slop content,” Hollywood needs to be smart about navigating the post-streaming-wars industry landscape, and that begins with re-aligning their business model with the market reality. In this episode, host Ryan Miller is joined by Chelsea Freitas, Tom Trudeau, and Richard Yao to break down the various issues facing the entertainment industry today and point to the best practices going forward.

If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on LinkedIn and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 158: Apple Intelligence & Other WWDC News

Thu, 20 Jun 2024 16:38:24 GMT

As usual, Apple’s latest WWDC event brought forth many software updates, but the star of the show was Apple’s major AI update — Apple Intelligence, which will enable LLM-powered new features across Apple’s entire ecosystem. In this episode, Adam and Ryan took a deep dive into Apple Intelligence, the ChatGPT integration, its impact on the AI competitive landscape, and more. Listen now to hear our analysis on the WWDC announcements, including:

Apple Intelligence overview - 2:20
Siri’s big upgrade - 5:58
Fun AI features: Genmoji and Image Playground - 10:26
Apple’s AI privacy promise & how it works - 14:04
Apple’s OpenAI partnership & ChatGPT integration - 21:07
How Apple’s AI strategy differs from competitors - 26:20
Safari Highlights & new Photos app updates - 30:01
New immersive Vision Pro content - 33:20
Implications for brand marketers - 37:58

f you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 157: 2024 Developer Conferences are all about AI

Fri, 31 May 2024 15:44:41 GMT

May marks the beginning of the tech conference season, and this year, we had three key players in the AI race — OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft — all hosting their respective developer conferences within a two-week period in May. If you missed the announcements, fret not! The Lab team is here to help you keep up with the fast-evolving AI developments and competitive landscape.

In this episode, Chelsea Freitas from our strategy team, along with Ryan Miller and Tom Trudeau from our partnerships team, took the Floor 9 mic and discussed all the highlights from the recent developer conferences, including:

Microsoft’s hardware-centric Surface event - 0:52
Is AI-powered Surface laptops a legitimate competitor to Apple? - 3:27
AI-powered Recall feature for the Copliot+ PCs - 5:01
Key announcements from Microsoft's Build event - 9:03
Will people call them “AI” as more AI-powered features become productized - 15:25
The advertising implications of Copilot and Microsoft’s AI features - 16:45
Key announcements from Google’s I/O developer event - 19:55
The impact of Google rolling out AI search - 21:23
Google integrating Gemini AI into its suite of popular products - 24:31
Google’s new multimodal AI-powered creative tools - 29:03
Last thoughts on the AI race and wrap up - 32:52

If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 156: Decoding Gen Alpha & Millennial Parenting

Tue, 23 Apr 2024 21:27:17 GMT

Kids these days! In this episode of Floor 9, the Lab’s strategy team (Adam Simon and Cheslea Freitas) and partnerships team (Ryan Miller and Tom Trudeau) join forces to analyze the youngest generation on the scene and their Millennial parents. Together, the team tackles topics that include:

Gen Alpha’s key media behaviors
How Gen Alpha socialize digitally
Gen Alpha as “AI natives”
Millennials’ collaborative and overprotective parenting style
The major concerns of Millennial parents
The recent “no phone childhood” movement
Key takeaways for brands looking to reach kids and parents

If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 155: Apple Vision Pro

Tue, 19 Mar 2024 17:23:36 GMT

This week on Floor 9, it’s about the Vision Pro! Ryan, Adam, and Chelsea regroup on Floor 9 for an in-depth discussion of Apple’s groundbreaking “spatial computing” headset. From our team’s first impressions of trying it on, to unpacking its use cases and market implications, the Lab team is eager to share our hot takes on Vision Pro. Key topics include:

Assessing the Vision Pro launch and initial reception - starting around 0:57
The Lab team’s first impressions of Vision Pro - starting around 3:31
Discussing Vision Pro’s primary use cases - starting around 7:37
Does Vision Pro signal a computing paradigm shift? - starting around 18:57
The entertainment value of Vision Pro - starting around 21:40
The user experience of Vision Pro: isolating or shared? - starting around 29:24
Vision Pro’s impact on the mixed-reality headset market - starting around 34:23
The marketing implications of Vision Pro and brand takeaways - starting around 39:34

If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 154: Outlook 2024 Deep-Dive

Fri, 16 Feb 2024 23:02:40 GMT

Welcome back to Floor 9! This week, your hosts Ryan and Adam are joined by Chelsea Freitas from our Strategy team to take a deep dive into the trends and themes from our latest annual Outlook report, which includes:

Macro trends in consumer behaviors - starting at 0:42
Life's New Beats - starting at 13:36
The Remixed City - starting at 24:50
The Revenge of the Monoculture - starting at 37:50
The Expanding Experience Economy - starting at 45:48

Make sure to check out the full version of Outlook 2024 report on Medium here: https://bit.ly/LabOutlook24

If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 153: CES 2024 Recap

Fri, 26 Jan 2024 06:02:35 GMT

Welcome back to Floor 9! As always, we’ll kick off the year with a CES episode, in which the Lab team assembles to recap the biggest trends we spotted at CES 2024, including:

How the AI hype manifested on the CES show floors, both the good and the bad (1:05)
How the translucent TVs wow'ed the crowd and could be interesting for retail (2:56)
How interoperability emerged as a major trend for smart home devices (4:25)
How digital health solutions continue to be on-demand and home-centric (11:09)
How immersive experiences are evolving and supercharging next-gen entertainment (15:17)
How some CES exhibitors brought a luxury touch to their products through cutting-edge tech and design (26:10)
How the CES showcased the latest trends in play and toy: the rise of educational toys, and AI-enabled play (37:48)
How the auto industry is rushing to integrate AI into the dashboard and re-adjust their EV strategies (47:44)
And many more!

In addition, we also each named our favorite CES product this year!

To learn more about CES trends, read our written recap here on Medium.

If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast and Spotify. Follow the Lab on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening!

Correction: at the 22:21 mark, Richard mistakenly said "Roku" when he meant to say "Roxi" when mentioning their new interactive linear broadcast channel.

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Episode 152: 2023 Trend Recap

Fri, 22 Dec 2023 17:54:00 GMT

To close out this significant year of innovations, the Lab team assembles for an end-of-year recap of the biggest trends that defined the tech and media landscape for the past 12 months:

The rise of generative AI & its impact on creator economy and marketing
The “post-streaming wars” reality & the new opportunities in interactive ad formats
The shifting social media landscape & the pivot in social commerce
The revival of monoculture & the resulting “funflation” on consumer spending
The emergence of spatial computing and immersive headsets, spurred by the impending release of Apple’s Vision Pro

Listen now to hear what the Lab team has to say about each of these five topics that will continue to influence consumer behavior in 2024 and beyond.

You can read more about the trends discussed in this episode in our year-end roundup piece here on Medium.

If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast and Spotify. Follow the Lab on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 151: 2023 Holiday Shopping Trends

Fri, 01 Dec 2023 22:31:05 GMT

Welcome to our annual holiday shopping trends episode. This year, this holly jolly discussion is led by Chelsea Freitas, VP of our Strategy team, and she is joined by two other members of our strategy team, Adam Simon and Katy Geisreiter. In this episode, the trio shared some must-know stats about this year’s holiday shopping trends and consumer behaviors, highlighted their favorite tech-enabled retail holiday campaigns, and debated the effects of funflation and other marco-economic forces on holiday shopping behaviors this year. Listen now!

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Episode 150: Generative AI & Its Impact on Advertising

Mon, 23 Oct 2023 21:50:36 GMT

Welcome back to Floor 9. This week, we are tackling the hottest innovation territory of the year, generative AI, and its impact on the ad industry with the help of two brilliant UM thought leaders: James Fox, Global Chief Strategy Officer, and Andrew Littlewood, Global Chief Product Officer. Together with the Lab’s managing director Adam Simon, the trio discussed the state of generative AI, especially in terms of where it is in the Gartner hype cycle, the industry leaders in consumer-facing AI, what marketers can do with the new AI tools, and what’s next for generative AI. In addition, the following intriguing questions were also raised and explored:

Is generative AI already over the peak of its hype cycle?
How quickly will we culturally accept to use private data to train generative AI?
Will generative AI cause the ad industry to implode?
How far away are we from achieving human-level general artificial intelligence?

If you’re curious about generative AI and want to learn about how it impacts the world of advertising and marketing, this episode is a must-listen!

Floor 9 is a podcast created by the IPG Media Lab to bring you our latest musings and hot takes at the intersection of consumer technology and digital media.

If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 149: Podcasters as Influencers (Ft. Kara Manatt from MAGNA & Edwin Wong from Vox Media)

Thu, 10 Aug 2023 21:45:15 GMT

Welcome back to Floor 9. In this episode, we had the honor of having Kara Manatt, EVP of Intelligence Solutions at MAGNA, and Edwin Wong, SVP, Insights & Innovation at Vox Media, to chat about their recent blockbuster research on the persuasive power of podcasters and podcasting’s growing influence. When asked which media figures’ influence matters most, their study found that 75% of listeners say podcast hosts compared to 15% who say social media influencers.

Kara and Edwin shared which podcasts they love most, then dived into the most revelatory findings from the joint study, “Podcasts: A New Era of Influence” (starting at 11:07). Some highlights of their discussion include:

Why podcasters are now more influential than other types of influencers
Why IPG choose to partner with Vox to learn more about podcasts
How podcasters can help listeners with mental health and self-actualization
How brands can harness the persuasive power of podcasters and drive results

You can learn more about this joint research here: https://www.voxmedia.com/2023/5/10/23718269/podcasts-a-new-era-of-influence

If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 148: Apple WWDC 2023 Recap

Sat, 10 Jun 2023 08:01:13 GMT

In this episode: What the Lab thinks about Vision Pro, Apple’s first spatial computing device, and its potential impact on media consumption habits. Plus, various other interesting tidbits from Apple’s WWDC event this week, including the unified presence of widgets across OS’s, and Apple’s deliberation omission of generative AI.

Floor 9 is a podcast created by the IPG Media Lab to bring you our latest musings and hot takes at the intersection of consumer technology and digital media. In this episode, you’ll hear from Adam Simon, our managing director, and Ryan Miller, director of partnerships.

If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 147: CES 2023 Trend Recap

Tue, 17 Jan 2023 22:49:29 GMT

Welcome back to Floor 9! As usual, we are kicking off the year with a CES recap episode that features the entire IPG Media Lab team, plus Chad Stoller, Global Chief Innovation Officer of UM Worldwide. Listen now to hear about our team’s thoughts on the biggest trends in digital health, entertainment, mobility, smart home, and vice economy coming out of this year’s CES show floors!

If you'd like to learn more about our CES learnings, please check out the Lab's CES content, including an in-depth written recap, here: https://ipglab.com/ces/

Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights.

Click here to listen and subscribe! If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 146: Holiday Special - Innovation Gift Exchange

Fri, 16 Dec 2022 00:06:56 GMT

Come one, come all! ‘Tis the season for our annual holiday episode of Floor 9. This year, we’re closing out the year with a not-so-Secret Santa gift exchange featuring co-hosts Ryan and Adam, along with the entire Strategy team here at the Lab — Chelsea, Katy, and Richard.

All the gifts given in this episode have ties to one or more of the Innovation Territories that we track throughout the years at the Lab, while also reflecting what we know of each other. So listen now to find out what we gifted each other, and why we think they are representative of the key innovation trends. Maybe our selection of innovation-minded gifts will inspire gifts for your loved ones, or highlight innovation territories to pay attention to!

As always, you can find Adam on Twitter @adamjsimon, and Ryan on LinkedIn. Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights.

Click here to listen and subscribe! If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 145: Holiday Shopping & Streaming Update

Thu, 17 Nov 2022 22:17:33 GMT

Welcome back to Floor 9! 'Tis the season again to talk about holiday shopping trends. Listen now to hear co-hosts Adam and Ryan walk you through the following trends in holiday shopping and recent news from the streaming services:

Highlights from recent holiday shopping reports from Insider Intelligence and the Deloitte holiday survey;
The looming recession’s impact on holiday shopping (or the lack thereof);
Amex’s Small Business Saturday event and how to support SMBs during the holidays;
News on emerging shopping trends: Amazon partnering with Snapchat for Shoppable AR lenses & Peloton’s new ecommerce widget;
Latest streaming news on Netflix and Apple adding live sports content, the resulting increase in ad opportunities, and Disney’s broadening ecosystem play

We close out the episode with a quick discussion on the ongoing FTX debacle and a potentially long crypto winter. If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast.

As always, you can find Adam on Twitter @adamjsimon, and Ryan on LinkedIn. Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 144: Direct Mail 2.0 (Ft. Dave Fink from Postie & Lauren Banks from USPS)

Thu, 13 Oct 2022 20:33:35 GMT

This week on Floor 9, we welcome a panel of experts on direct mail, including Dave Fink, Founder and CEO of Postie, Paul Tracey, VP of Advisory Services at Matterkind, and Lauren Banks, Brand Marketing Specialist at USPS. Moderated by Ryan Miller, Senior Manager of Partnerships at the Lab, our group of industry insiders dive into the unique capabilities of direct mail as a media channel, dispel some common misconceptions about direct mail among marketers such as addressability and sustainability, and explain how modern direct mail companies (like Postie) have digitally enhanced a century-old marketing channel. If you wish to learn more about how direct mail has become a privacy-first, brand-safe media channel, along with some suggestions on best practices, you won’t want to miss out on this great discussion on Floor 9!

Episode 143: One-Way Ticket to Dynamic Island (Apple Event Recap)

Fri, 09 Sep 2022 20:24:46 GMT

The Lab team is back on the mic to discuss the latest announcements from Apple. Host and Senior Manager of Partnerships, Ryan is joined by Adam and Katy from our Strategy team to chat about everything Apple unveiled during Wednesday’s “Far Out” event, from the funky Dynamic Island design for the new iPhone 14 Pro to the rugged Apple Watch Ultra with new emergency SOS features, as well as all the brand implications these new products and features will entail. Listen now!

As always, you can find Adam on Twitter @adamjsimon, and Ryan on LinkedIn. Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights.

Click here to listen and subscribe! If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 142: The Glow-Up of Microsoft Ads (Ft. Jennifer Solomon-Baum)

Mon, 22 Aug 2022 19:44:19 GMT

This week on Floor 9, we’re delighted to chat with Jennifer Solomon-Baum, North America Marketing at Microsoft Advertising and Innovation Lab Lead, to learn about how the maker of Windows has emerged as the latest heavy-hitting player to join the digital advertising arena.

In this episode, we talked about Microsoft’s growing advertising capabilities (many of which were announced at the Microsoft Build 2022 event), the unique ecosystem of services that Microsoft has at its disposal to reach the “Workday Consumer”, and the myriad of ways that brands can take advantage of their ad offers.

You can follow Jennifer on LinkedIn, or watch her in The Download, a video series that she produces (highly recommend the special episode from Cannes!) In addition, you can also read more about the Workday Consumer, a new commissioned research conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft Advertising, and read more about the future of work on WorkLab.

As always, you can find Adam on Twitter @adamjsimon, and Ryan on LinkedIn. Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights.

Click here to listen and subscribe! If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 141: The Metaverse Mid-Year Check-In (Ft. Joshua Lowcock)

Tue, 26 Jul 2022 18:23:29 GMT

Welcome back to Floor 9! This week, we welcome back Joshua Lowcock, UM’s Global Chief Media Officer, for an in-depth discussion about all things metaverse with our SVP, head of strategy, Adam Simon. From where the metaverse currently sits in the hype cycle, to the competitive landscape of the platforms with “metaverse aspirations," to understanding the metaverse as a operating system, Joshua and Adam talk through the various key aspects of this hot-button concept and, more importantly, what it means for brand marketers eager to enter the metaverse.

As always, you can find Adam on Twitter @adamjsimon, and Joshua on LinkedIn. Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights.

Click here to listen and subscribe! If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 140: Apple’s 2022 WWDC Recap

Wed, 08 Jun 2022 22:05:05 GMT

Welcome back to Floor 9! This week, co-hosts Adam and Ryan bring you the must-know highlights from the 2022 WWDC keynote that Apple gave on Monday. From new lock screen UI design to new Apple Wallet features, they chat about how Apple continued to show commitment to creating seamless user experiences, with a newfound emphasis on customization and shared experiences. Innovation-minded brands know that Apple’s WWDC announcements often offer a sneak peek into the future, and we hope this episode will help you better understand the new features coming soon to millions of consumers.

As always, you can find Adam on Twitter @adamjsimon, and Ryan on LinkedIn. Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights.

Click here to listen and subscribe! If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 139: The State of Podcast Advertising (Ft. Alyssa Meyers from Morning Brew)

Wed, 01 Jun 2022 23:53:13 GMT

This week on Floor 9, we’re delighted to welcome audio ads expert Alyssa Meyers, who works as a reporter for Morning Brew's Marketing Brew newsletter. Adam Simon, US Head of Innovation at UM, talked with Alyssa about the state of podcast advertising, a booming ad market that is forecast to exceed $2 billion in revenue in 2022. From major growth drivers like Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI) and programmatics to newer formats beyond host-read ads, Alyssa shared with us her insights on how and why brands should consider leveraging podcasts to reach an increasingly mainstream and diverse audience.

You can find Alyssa on LinkedIn and follow her work on Morning Brew for the latest insights on audio ads.

Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights. If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 138: 2022 Google I/O Event Recap

Tue, 17 May 2022 16:44:08 GMT

Welcome to another recap episode of Floor 9! This week, Adam and Ryan will walk you through all the major announcements from the latest Google I/O developer event, where the search giant announced several brand-friendly features on visual search, voice assistant, digital wallet, data privacy, and more. In addition to these software updates, Adam and Ryan also talk about Google’s hardware news from the event, including the all-new Pixel Watch and a pair of AR glasses that Google subtly showcased in a demo video (which may or may not be vaporware). Listen now to hear our take on Google’s announcements and their implications for brand marketers.

You can read an in-depth recap of this event on our Medium site here.

As always, you can find Adam on Twitter @adamjsimon, and Ryan on LinkedIn. Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights. If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 137: The Rise of “Storeless” Commerce (Ft. Randall & Chris from IAB)

Thu, 12 May 2022 23:26:33 GMT

For this episode, we had the pleasure of chatting with Randall Rothenberg, Executive Chair at IAB, and Chris Bruderle, Vice President of Research & Analytics at IAB, about the insights on social commerce from their brilliant annual Brand Disruption report. Together with your host Ryan Miller, we discussed the rise of direct brands and storeless commerce, how social media has become the new TV, the role of micro- and nano-influencers in social commerce, and the best practices for brands to tap into social commerce. If you’re a brand looking to understand how shopper behavior is shifting in the age of social commerce, this episode is a can’t-miss!

You can find Randall on Twitter @r2rothenberg and on LinkedIn, and Chris on LinkedIn. You can find the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights.

Click here to listen and subscribe! If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 136: What Marketers Should Know about Snap Partner Summit 2022

Mon, 02 May 2022 22:08:20 GMT

Floor 9 is back with a special post-event recap episode! Co-hosts Adam Simon and Ryan Miller are joined by Chelsea Freitas, our VP of Strategy & Innovation, to discuss the 2022 Snap Partner Summit. Listen now to hear our thoughts on the new creator tools and brand-friendly features that the Snapchat parent company announced during its annual media event, in addition to some brand suggestions on how to utilize AR to deliver brand value, today and tomorrow.

If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 135: Brand Safety and Responsibility in Times of War

Thu, 24 Mar 2022 17:14:33 GMT

Welcome to Floor 9. This week, we chatted with Arielle Garcia, Chief Privacy Officer at UM Worldwide and our resident expert on online safety, about how companies are taking actions against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.

Many international companies, including big tech companies, have paused marketing operations in Russia, or pulled out of the market entirely. Adam Simon, UM’s U.S. head of Innovation, talked with Arielle about how brands are thinking about brand safety in response to a devastating world event like this, the brand responsibility of continuing to support quality news and combat misinformation, and why taking a more nuanced approach is crucial in times like this.

You can click here to check out the Human Rights Watch site that Arielle mentioned towards the end of the episode.

Click here to listen and subscribe! If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 134: Apple Event Recap & Metaverse News

Fri, 11 Mar 2022 01:21:29 GMT

Welcome back to another new episode of Floor 9. This week, co-host Ryan Miller and Adam Simon are back on the mic to share their hot takes on the latest Apple event that took place on Tuesday, including our thoughts on Apple’s content strategy and its MLB content deal, its 5G approach, and its pursuit of faster, better CPU chips with Apple Silicon. In addition, they also talked about some latest news of brands in metaverse and web3, including:

American Eagle Debuts on Roblox via Role-playing Game Livetopia [Ad Age]
Gucci Plans Virtual World for Gen Z in The Sandbox [Vogue Business]
Rolling Stone Inked Partnership with Meta for A Creator Initiative at Festivals [Variety]
Coachella To Sell lifetime Festival Passes as NFTs [The Verge]

As a bonus,, Adam also shares his thoughts on the “flight subscription” plans that Alaska Airlines recently announced.

We hope you enjoy this episode. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

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Episode 133: Outlook 2022 Trends, Part 2

Wed, 09 Feb 2022 22:57:37 GMT

Episode 133 — Outlook 2022 Trends: Embracing Entropy, Part 2

Welcome back to Floor 9! In this episode, the Lab’s strategy team will continue to walk you through the remaining two trends in our Outlook 2022 report: The Multiplayer Internet, and The Great Escape. Co-hosts Ryan and Adam will be joined by Richard Yao to chat about things like:

what our increased sense of online “presence” can unlock new types of digital experiences
What “time-shifted togetherness” means and why brands can leverage that to enrich their offerings
the roots behind our increasing need for a mental escape and how brands can help without being tone-deaf
the role that various vice economies play in enabling our collective need for escapism and the brand opportunities within

If you missed the first part of this conversation on our Outlook trends, please check out the last episode here.

We hope you enjoy this episode. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

Click here to listen and subscribe!

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Episode 132: Outlook 2022 Trends, Part 1

Tue, 01 Feb 2022 23:07:53 GMT

Welcome back to Floor 9! To kick off the year, the Lab’s strategy team will be walking you through each one of the key trends in our Outlook 2022 report with a two-part special. In this first half, you will hear Ryan talk with strategy team members Adam, Katy, and Chelsea on the first half of our Outlook report, including insights on trends like:

what "hyperobjects" are and why they matter to everyone
why the only common theme of the 2020’s will be entropy and what that means for brands
how the creator economy and web3 technologies are tipping power balance to the people and connected communities
how the relationship between consumer and brand is extending well beyond the point of purchase and unlocking new lifecycles

We hope you enjoy this episode. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

Click here to listen and subscribe!

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Episode 131: CES 2022 Trend Recap (with the entire Lab team!)

Wed, 12 Jan 2022 00:27:41 GMT

The Lab team assembles once again at the beginning of the year to take on CES, the biggest consumer tech event of the year. With Ryan Miller, manager of partnerships, as our MC, the Lab team recapped the most interesting trends and discoveries from this year’s show floors, including:

Ben Hone talks about the key cross-category trends from CES - starts at 0:25
Chelsea Freitas explains how CES vendors are responding to the at-home economy - starts at 14:56
Adam Simon walks us through the new creator tools and how they impact the future of work - starts at 21:44
Richard Yao talks about the CES discoveries relevant to entertainment brands - starts at 36:04
Josh Mallalieu analyzes the future of mobility through what the auto brands brought to CES - starts at 41:33
Richard jumps on again to explain some of the major smart cities trends - starts at 50:40
Katy Geisreiter sheds some light on the new trends coming out of the digital health space this year - starts at 57:51
Chad Stoller, Global Chief Innovation Officer at UM and CES veteran, wraps things up with some of his insights and takeaways - starts at 1:08:29

We hope you enjoy this episode. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

Click here to listen and subscribe!

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Episode 130: Ghosts of Outlook’s Past (2021 Holiday Special)

Fri, 17 Dec 2021 04:00:00 GMT

Join us as the Floor 9 team makes merry with our annual holiday special episode! Joined by UM’s Global Chief Innovation Officer, Chad Stoller, we bring you a special edition of a drafting game, in which we look back on the previous annual Outlook trend reports from the Lab to draft the all-star innovation trends. Competing with each other, Chad, Adam, and Scott pick their favorite Outlook trends from years past in three categories — tech, media, and culture — and discuss why they are still relevant for brands and marketers going into 2022. Listen now to hear their picks!

In addition, this episode also marks the last episode of Scott Elchison’s marvelous tenure as a host of Floor 9. Please join us in bidding Scott a warm farewell and good wishes!

As always, you can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

If you’re a part of the IPG Mediabrands family, come join the Floor 9 community on our dedicated Teams channel here.

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Episode 129: NFTs, DeFi, and Barbados (featuring Kenton Langstroth)

Fri, 03 Dec 2021 04:00:00 GMT

In this episode, we are delighted to chat with Kenton Langstroth, CMO at Decubate, a blockchain-powered social investing platform, all about how the DeFi movement impacted the personal investing space and changed investor mindset. Before the conversation, you will hear co-hosts Adam and Scott having a lively discussion about the latest news in the world of NFTs, the metaverse, and, funnily enough, Barbados, including:

Infinite Objects is creating a way for NBA Top Shot collectors to display a “video print” of their NFTs [AgAge]
AMC, Sony offering NFTs to people who purchase advance Spider-Man tickets [CNBC]
Adidas has joined the Bored Ape Yacht Club with its own NFTs [Engadget]
Nike teams up with Roblox to create a virtual world called Nikeland [CNBC]
Fortnite’s new ‘Party Worlds’ put the focus firmly on socializing [The Verge]
Barbados to become the first sovereign nation with an embassy in the metaverse [CoinDesk]

As always, you can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

If you’re a part of the IPG Mediabrands family, come join the Floor 9 community on our dedicated Teams channel here.

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Episode 128: The Metaverse Competitive Landscape

Fri, 12 Nov 2021 04:00:00 GMT

In this episode, we are back to the basics with co-hosts Adam and Scott doing a deep dive into the current competitive landscape that is shaping up for the metaverse. Following Facebook’s splashy rebranding as Meta, Adam and Scott discuss Facebook motivations behind its newfound metaverse ambitions, why the metaverse adoption may start on the enterprise front, how Microsoft and Apple are positioning themselves for the metaverse, and capping it off with a rough timeline estimate how when we’d be working and socializing in the metaverse.

As always, you can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

If you’re a part of the IPG Mediabrands family, come join the Floor 9 community on our dedicated Teams channel here.

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Episode 127: What Marketers Need to Know about TikTok (featuring Gabriel Nicolau)

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 02:00:13 GMT

In this episode, we had the pleasure of chatting with Gabriel Nicolau, Global Head of Vertical Ads Solutions at TikTok, to discuss the inaugural TikTok World event. Together with guest co-host Ryan Miller, Scott interviewed Gabe on topics such as what made TikTok so popular, what’s the best strategy for brands to engage with TikTok’s vibrant communities, and how brands can identify the right creators to work with. Gabe also recapped the key announcements from the TikTok World event, with an emphasis on its robust suite of creator tools and social commerce solutions.

As always, you can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

If you’re a part of the IPG Mediabrands family, come join the Floor 9 community on our dedicated Teams channel here.

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Episode 126: What iOS 15 Means for Consumer Privacy (Featuring Arielle Garcia)

Fri, 15 Oct 2021 02:00:17 GMT

In this episode, we celebrate the launch of our 2021 UM Innovation Annual (the U.S. edition) by talking with Arielle Garcia, Chief Privacy Officer at UM Worldwide, about the latest news on the consumer privacy debate.

As always, Arielle shared some great insights into this important topic, including how the new privacy settings in the new iOS 15 are accelerating the arrival of a cookieless future, why there is a need for a set of global privacy control standards at the browser level, and what advertisers can do to bring data privacy out of its own silo and integrate it into the overall consumer experience and relationship.

If you like what you hear and what to know more about the 2021 UM Innovation Annual, to which Arielle contributed a fantastic piece on consumer privacy and preference settings, you can find the link on our dedicated Teams channel here (open to the IPG Mediabrands family only), or reach out to us on Twitter @ipglab.

As always, you can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

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Episode 125: Apple Event Recap: iPhone 13, Fitness+, and more

Fri, 17 Sep 2021 03:00:24 GMT

On Tuesday, Apple held its first fall event of the year to unveil some updates to its hardware lineup as well as a few notable features coming to its fitness service. In this Floor 9 episode, Adam and Scott unpack Apple’s announcements and their implications for the market. In particular, they discuss whether the new 5G-ready Apple Mini can replace big-screen phones, why computational photography is important for the creator economy, and how Apple’s approach towards the fitness markets differs from the likes of Peloton.

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow us at @ipglab. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

If you’re a part of the IPG Mediabrands family, come join the Floor 9 community on our dedicated Teams channel here.

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Episode 124: The Uncertain Future of Movies (Ft. Kyle Turner)

Fri, 10 Sep 2021 03:17:24 GMT

This week’s Floor 9 episode started out as a Twitter conversation between Adam and Kyle Turner over the value of the theatrical window. Kyle is a film critic whose work has been featured in NPR, Slate, and the New York Times, and we are very honored to have him with us this week, along with our content manager Richard, to have a spirited discussion about the future of the movie business, particularly around the implications of a diminishing theatrical window, and the lack of new IP originated from streaming services, as the film industry struggles to adapt to the streaming era over the course of the pandemic. We also discuss how the growing cultural relevance of video games impacts the future development of movies.

Check out the Twitter debate that birthed this episode here: https://twitter.com/adamjsimon/status/1428203793133576192

You can follow Kyle on Twitter @TyleKurner and find more of his work on www.tylekurner.com. Follow Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow us at @ipglab. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

If you’re a part of the IPG Mediabrands family, come join the Floor 9 community on our dedicated Teams channel here.

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Episode 123: Hyperloop Hype, Onlyfans Drama, & TikTok Shopping

Fri, 27 Aug 2021 04:17:58 GMT

This week on Floor 9, Scott and Adam discuss three wide-ranging topics: the hype around Virgin Hyperloop triggered by the latest demo video released by the company; the drama surrounding Onlyfans banning and then unbanning NSFW content and what it reveals about the nuanced dynamics of the creator economy; and TikTok’s extended partnership with Shopify and what it means for the U.S. social commerce landscape. In addition, the MAGNA team shares their latest data on time spent with sports content.

You can check out the Virgin Hyperloop demo video mentioned here on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hXNXL9PiYk

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow us at @ipglab. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

If you’re a part of the IPG Mediabrands family, come join the Floor 9 community on our dedicated Teams channel here.

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Episode 122: News on the Metaverse, NFTs, and FinTech

Fri, 13 Aug 2021 15:26:56 GMT

This week on Floor 9, Scott and Adam round up the latest tech and media news of recent weeks. In particular, they discuss news from the cutting-edge domains of the metaverse, NFTs, and FinTech. News stories discussed include Epic Games buying Sketchfab, Unity acquiring Parsec, Louis Vuitton and Burberry getting into NFTs & gaming, Stripe’s new Payment Links product, and more.

Plus, learn about what “cheugy” means by referring to this alignment chart.

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow us at @ipglab. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

If you’re a part of the IPG Mediabrands family, come join the Floor 9 community on our dedicated Teams channel here.

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Episode 121: AR Ads for the 5G Age (crossover special with Five by Ericsson Emodo)

Fri, 30 Jul 2021 02:00:08 GMT

This week on Floor 9, we are delighted to present a special crossover episode with FIVE: AI for Marketers, a podcast by Ericsson Emodo. Floor 9 host Scott Elchison recently chatted with Jake Moskowitz, the host of Five, on the great potential AR has in mobile marketing, which 5G is set to supercharge. As part of the recent Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) Impact Conference, Scott linked up with Jake to talk about AR’s main use cases in marketing today, how marketers can decide if AR is a good fit for their brands, and what marketers can do now to utilize AR experiences to reach consumers, especially those who’re on 5G networks.

In addition, they also discussed the long-term prospects of AR in marketing as well as answering some questions from the audience. If you’re interested in learning more about how to leverage AR to reach the mobile audience of today and tomorrow, this episode is a must-listen!

As always, you can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow us at @ipglaxb. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

If you’re a part of the IPG Mediabrands family, come join the Floor 9 community on our dedicated Teams channel here.

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Episode 120: The "Turducken" Future of Social Media

Fri, 16 Jul 2021 03:00:00 GMT

This week on Floor 9, Scott and Adam are joined by Richard Yao from our strategy team to discuss the diverging future of social media platforms — why Instagram is becoming a turducken of a platform, how the rush to explore social commerce is playing out, what Twitter is doing to monetize the booming creator economy, and the key players developing the social graph for the metaverse future.

Check out Richard’s article on this topic if you like what you hear and want to read more about the development trajectory of major U.S. social media platforms and what they mean for marketers.

Before the main conversation, Adam and Scott round up the latest tech and media news of the past two weeks, including two streaming updates from Disney, as well as Apple reportedly working on a “Buy Now, Pay Later” service.

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow us at @ipglab. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

If you’re a part of the IPG Mediabrands family, come join the Floor 9 community on our dedicated Teams channel here.

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Episode 119: Google Delays Killing Cookies, TikTok Launches Mini-apps, Facebook Shop Updates, and More

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 03:00:28 GMT

This week on Floor 9, Scott and Adam round up the latest tech and media news of the past two weeks, including the implications of Google delaying the planned phase-out of third-party cookies until 2023, the recent rise of privacy-minded search engines, TikTok’s new mini-app feature Jump, Facebook Shop updates, and Shopify opening Shop Pay to all Facebook Shop and Google merchants.

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow us at @ipglab. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

If you’re a part of the IPG Mediabrands family, come join the Floor 9 community on our dedicated Teams channel here.

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Episode 118: How Brands Can Prepare for the AR Future (ft. Carolina Arguelles from Snap)

Fri, 18 Jun 2021 03:00:40 GMT

This week on Floor 9, we welcome back Carolina Arguelles, head of Augmented Reality at Snap Inc., to chat all about the latest trends in AR. Together, Scott and Adam chat with Carolina about the brand-friendly AR features that Snap announced at its Partner Summit, how AR is transitioning from a “toy” to a “tool” that can help brands deliver deeply personal experiences, and AR’s expanding role in the consumer journey. We also discuss the computing paradigm shift that AR is set to bring, and what brands can do today to prepare for that future, especially with Snap’s AR products.

You can watch the Snap Partner Summit keynote here: https://snappartnersummit.com, and learn more about Snap’s ad products here: https://forbusiness.snapchat.com. You can find Carolina on Twitter @cvarguelles.

After the chat with Carolina, you’ll hear this week’s MAGNA Minute, where Luke Stillman shares MAGNA’s latest forecast on global ad spending.

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow us at @ipglab. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

If you’re a part of the IPG Mediabrands family, come join the Floor 9 community on our dedicated Teams channel here.

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Episode 117: Highlights from Apple WWDC 2021

Tue, 08 Jun 2021 23:09:26 GMT

This week on Floor 9, Adam and Scott went live on Twitter Spaces to discuss the latest Apple developer event. From new social features to privacy tools, from new additions to Apple’s Health and Wallet apps, Apple unleashed a barrage of upcoming features. Some of these features have clear implications for brand marketers, while others may impact user behaviors that marketers need to heed. As usual, we are here to help you decode this jam-packed keynote and better understand what these new features mean to brands.

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow us at @ipglab. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

If you’re a part of the IPG Mediabrands family, come join the Floor 9 community on our dedicated Teams channel here.

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Episode 116: Facebook F8 Event Recap

Fri, 04 Jun 2021 16:34:35 GMT

This week on Floor 9, Adam and Scott recap the key takeaways from the 2021 Facebook F8 Refresh developer event. Listen to hear Facebook’s updates to business messaging tools, Spark AR platform, and more. Before that, they discuss the latest news in media and tech, which includes Amazon buying MGM, HBO Max’s ad-supported tier, and Instagram’s new “Drop” shopping section.

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow us at @ipglab. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

If you’re a part of the IPG Mediabrands family, come join the Floor 9 community on our dedicated Teams channel here.

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Episode 115: Decoding Snapchat’s AR Platform Ambition

Fri, 21 May 2021 20:47:31 GMT

Welcome to another Floor 9 episode. In this second episode of the week, Adam and Scott discuss the announcement from the annual Snap Partner Summit that took place on Thursday. Together, they break down the various new AR features Snapchat announced, especially the ones with social commerce and other brand implications. They also discuss how Snapchat is courting creators and brand partners to help it transform its app into a brand-friendly AR platform. For all brands interested in exploring AR, this episode is a must listen!

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow us at @ipglab. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

If you’re a part of the IPG Mediabrands family, come join the Floor 9 community on our dedicated Teams channel here.

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Episode 114: Google I/O Event Recap

Fri, 21 May 2021 03:00:00 GMT

Google kicked off the 2021 tech conference season on Tuesday with its opening keynote for its annual Google I/O developer event. Over the course of two hours, Google focused entirely on its software services, including new features coming to Google apps, Android 12, and a revamped Wear OS.

This episode is a live recording of a Twitter Spaces session that we did on Wednesday morning, where Adam and Scott discussed the new Google Shopping features, new business-friendly features in Maps and AR, and everything else brands need to know from Google’s latest developer event.

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow us at @ipglab. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

If you’re a part of the IPG Mediabrands family, come join the Floor 9 community on our dedicated Teams channel here.

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Episode 113: Tesla stops taking bitcoin, TikTok takes on LinkedIn, Google vs. Roku, and more

Fri, 14 May 2021 03:00:01 GMT

This week on Floor 9, hosts Adam and Scott discuss the following news stories and what they mean for brand marketers:

Tesla removes Bitcoin payment option over energy use concerns [Electrek]
TikTok Begins Testing In-App Shopping to Challenge Facebook [Bloomberg]
TikTok launching jobs service for Gen Z [Axios]
Google goes nuclear against Roku by adding YouTube TV to the main YouTube app [The Verge]
Snap to launch a new Creator Marketplace this month, initially focused on Lens Creators [TechCrunch]
MAGNA Minute on the continued growth of podcasting

Take part in our Membership March referral program to share your love for Floor 9! Get your own customized referral link here: refer.fm/floor9

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow us at @ipglab. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

If you’re a part of the IPG Mediabrands family, come join the Floor 9 community on our dedicated Teams channel here.

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Episode 112: Twitter buys Scroll, Facebook Neighborhoods, the Crazy Rise of Dogecoin, and More

Fri, 07 May 2021 03:00:45 GMT

Welcome back to Floor 9! This week, co-hosts Adam and Scott discuss the following news before unveiling a brand new segment that we are introducing — The Magna Minute. In collaboration with our sibling agency Magna Global, we will bring you some interesting stats in media and advertising sourced by Magna every week, all under a minute! Be sure to check it out! News stories discussed in this episode include:

Twitter buying Scroll to boost its subscription services [The Verge]
YouTube rolling out new feature to make its connected TV ads more shoppable [TechCrunch]
Facebook launching its Nextdoor clone [TechCrunch]
Boost Mobile’s Unlimited Plus plan now includes free access to K Health’s telemedicine service [The Verge]
The value of Dogecoin continues its unbelievable surge [NYT]

Take part in our Membership March referral program to share your love for Floor 9! Get your own customized referral link here: refer.fm/floor9

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow us at @ipglab. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

If you’re a part of the IPG Mediabrands family, come join the Floor 9 community on our dedicated Teams channel here.

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Episode 111: Clubhouse Competitors, Amazon Retail Innovations, and More

Fri, 23 Apr 2021 03:00:41 GMT

This week on Floor 9, co-hosts Scott and Adam discuss the latest news in media and innovation, including new social audio features from Facebook and Reddit to take on Clubhouse, Amazon’s latest roll-out of retail technologies in Whole Foods and a hair salon, as well as some update on Sony’s streaming strategies, signaled by its latest deal with Disney. Check here for a recap on this week’s Apple Event.

Take part in our Membership March referral program to share your love for Floor 9 and win an exclusive Floor 9 T-shirt! Get your own referral link here: refer.fm/floor9

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow us at @ipglab. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

If you’re a part of the IPG Mediabrands family, come join the Floor 9 community on our dedicated Teams channel here.

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Episode 110: NFTs, DAOs, and Web3 (Ft. Shawn Cheng from ConsenSys Mesh)

Fri, 16 Apr 2021 03:00:58 GMT

This week on Floor 9, we are joined by special guest Shawn Cheng to discuss the various ways that blockchain technologies will usher in Web3, a decentralized internet where users are also owners. Shawn is a partner at ConsenSys Mesh, an Ethereum investment and research firm, so he has some great first-hand insights into the world of NFTs, DAOs, and social tokens. Chad Stoller, UM’s Global Chief Innovation Officer, also makes a guest appearance in this episode. Listen now to learn about how blockchain is enabling a new paradigm for digital media.

Take part in our Membership March referral program to share your love for Floor 9 and win an exclusive Floor 9 T-shirt! Get your own referral link here: refer.fm/floor9

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow us at @ipglab. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

If you’re a part of the IPG Mediabrands family, come join the Floor 9 community on our dedicated Teams channel here.

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Episode 109: Meme Culture Deep-Dive (Ft. Alan Schaaf & Jake Tapleshay from Imgur)

Sat, 10 Apr 2021 01:00:28 GMT

This week on Floor 9, we are joined by Alan Schaaf, CEO of Imgur, and Jake Tapleshay, Head of Creative from Imgur, all about the meme culture! From what makes for a good meme, to how brands can better tap into viral memes, to meme’s real-world impact, this episode is a fun deep dive into memes and what they mean for digital culture and marketing.

As usual, co-hosts Adam and Scott begin the show with some quick news discussions. This week, they talk about Facebook’s Clubhouse competitor, Clubhouse allowing people to tip creators, and Epic’s further integration of Fortnite and Houseparty.

Take part in our Membership March referral program to share your love for Floor 9 and win an exclusive Floor 9 T-shirt! Get your own referral link here: refer.fm/floor9

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow us at @ipglab. Check out Scott’s NFT art here. And here is the Vietnamnese hit meme song that Alan mentioned.

If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast! If you’re a part of the IPG Mediabrands family, come join the Floor 9 community on our dedicated Teams channel here.

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Episode 108: NFTs for Building Fandom (Ft. Caty Tedman from Dapper Labs)

Fri, 02 Apr 2021 03:00:00 GMT

We're big fans of NFTs and digital collectibles, so imagine our excitement to have Caty Tedman, the Head of Partnerships at Dapper Labs, the company behind NBA Top Shot, on Floor 9 this week! Joined by Chad Stoller, Global Chief Innovation Officer at UM, we chat with Caty on how Top Shot came to be, the buzz around NFTs and their long-term prospect, and how Top Shot strives to create NBA moments from a fan-first perspective. If you want to learn more about how brands can leverage NFTs to engage with fans and build communities, this conversation is a must-listen!

As usual, co-hosts Adam and Scott begin the show with some quick news discussions. This week, they talk about Spotify joining the social audio wars with the acquisition of Locker Room, as well as the new Godzilla vs. Kong NFTs.

Take part in our Membership March referral program to share your love for Floor 9 and win an exclusive Floor 9 T-shirt! Get your own referral link here: refer.fm/floor9

If you’re a part of the IPG Mediabrands family, come join the Floor 9 community on our dedicated Teams channel here.

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow us at @ipglab. Check out Scott’s NFT art here. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

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Episode 107 - Would You Buy a Tesla with Bitcoin?

Fri, 26 Mar 2021 03:00:03 GMT

Welcome back to Floor 9. This week, co-hosts Adam and Scott have a riveting discussion on a wide range of news topics, including the latest development in theatrical windowing as Disney and Warner Bros. make moves, Krispy Kreme jumping on the trend of vaccination marketing, and Coke’s vending machine subscription in Japan. They then got into a debate over Tesla’s announcement that it is starting to accept bitcoin as payment, and whether it is a mainstream moment for bitcoin as an alternative currency, or just a marketing stunt for Tesla. Listen now to hear our thoughts!

Take part in our Membership March referral program to share your love for Floor 9 and win an exclusive Floor 9 T-shirt! Get your own referral link here: refer.fm/floor9

If you’re a part of the IPG Mediabrands family, come join the Floor 9 community on our dedicated Teams channel here.

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Episode 106: The Business of Newsletters (ft. Jason Schulweis & Jacob Donnelly from the Morning Brew)

Fri, 19 Mar 2021 03:00:00 GMT

This week on Floor 9, we are talking business. The business of newsletters, that is. Joined by Jason Schulweis and Jacob Donnelly from one of our favorite newsletters Morning Brew, we talked about how independent newsletter companies are competing against big news publications, the rise of Substack and personality-driven newsletters, and the recent entrances of Twitter and Facebook into the space.

Before the main conversation, co-hosts Adam and Scott discuss the top news of a slow news week, which includes HBO Max’s upcoming ad-supported tier and Clubhouse’s new accelerator program.

Take part in our Membership March referral program to share your love for Floor 9 and win an exclusive Floor 9 T-shirt! Get your own referral link here: refer.fm/floor9

If you’re a part of the IPG Mediabrands family, come join the Floor 9 community on our dedicated Teams channel here.

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow us at @ipglab. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

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Episode 105: The Resale Boom (ft. Chelsea Freitas)

Fri, 12 Mar 2021 22:45:00 GMT

This week, we welcome back Chelsea Freitas to take a deep dive into the recent boom in resale platforms and the crafty communities they foster. From the benefits of re-commerce and circular economy to its impact on the shopper journey, we discuss the resale boom from many aspects. Furthermore, we explore how this trend is challenging some deep-seated ideas of how the fashion and retail industries should operate, and prognosticate how it will evolve beyond these two vectors over the next few years. As always, we cap it off with some actionable brand takeaways.

Before the main conversation, co-hosts Adam and Scott discuss the top news of a slow news week, which includes Roblox’s robust IPO, Disney putting NHL games on ESPN+, and Netflix’s new short-form video feed.

Take part in our Membership March referral program to share your love for Floor 9 and win an exclusive Floor 9 T-shirt! Get your own referral link here: refer.fm/floor9

If you’re a part of the IPG Mediabrands family, come join the Floor 9 community on our dedicated Teams channel here.

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow us at @ipglab. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

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Episode 104 - The Aftermath of Facebook vs. Australia (featuring Joshua Lowcock)

Fri, 05 Mar 2021 23:43:24 GMT

This week on Floor 9, we’re joined by Joshua Lowcock, Chief Digital Officer of UM and one of our favorite Australians, to discuss what happened in Australia over the last few weeks regarding the News Media Bargaining Code. Together with co-hosts Adam and Scott, they talk about how things went down between the Australian government and Facebook and Google, the implications of their concessions to local publishers and regulators in Australia, and how the fallout of this battle will shape the development of the splinternet.

Before the main conversation, Adam and Scott talked about the top news of the week, which include Google’s decision to stop using third-party cookies, Twitter Spaces arriving on Android, Instagram’s new Live Room feature, and Square launching its own B2B bank services.

If you’re a part of the IPG Mediabrands family, come join the Floor 9 community on our dedicated Teams channel here.

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow us at @ipglab. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

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Episode 103 - Spotify “Stream On” Event Recap

Fri, 26 Feb 2021 04:00:41 GMT

This week on Floor 9, we’re back to basics with a news-only episode — simply because we have a lot to say about the latest news from Facebook and Spotify.

First, following up our discussion last week on Facebook banning users from sharing news from Australian publications, co-hosts Adam and Scott share their thoughts on the latest developments from down under.

Then, for the main discussion of the week, they analyze the slew of announcements from Spotify’s “Stream On” event on Monday. Listen to find out more about Spotify’s new ad products, its plan to pursue all forms of monetization and own the entire audio space, and if Spotify should be afraid of Clubhouse.

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow us at @ipglab. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

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Episode 102 - Shopper Marketing 2.0

Sat, 20 Feb 2021 02:17:03 GMT

This week, we welcome back to Floor 9 Amie Owen, Head of Shopper Media at UM, to discuss how shopper marketing is evolving in response to the pandemic and the new opportunities that brands can leverage to engage shoppers wherever they are. If you wish to learn more about how shopper media has changed over the past 12 months with the surge of click-and-collect, mobile commerce, and retail media networks, as well as where it is heading in 2021, this episode is a must-listen.

But first the news! Co-hosts Adam and Scott discuss the latest news of the week, including:

Facebook Blocks News In Australia, Diverging With Google On Proposed Law [NYTimes]
Google Maps Now Lets Users Pay For Parking And Travel Tickets Within The App [Engadget]
First Apple TV+ AR app launches with ‘For All Mankind’ backstory [9to5Mac]

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow us at @ipglab. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

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Episode 101: Innovation Framework 101

Fri, 12 Feb 2021 04:00:57 GMT

In this episode, co-hosts Adam and Scott face off in a friendly competition where they each take turns to give a 101 introduction to some of the most asked-about innovation territories in under 30 seconds. From Blockchain to Culture Pops, we covered ten obscure territories in our 90-9-1 innovation framework that we use to map the emerging media channels against their respective audience reach and ad product maturity. Ryan from our partnerships team is back again as the referee to track their points and facilitate the game with a hearty side of banters.

Prior to the friendly rivalry, co-hosts Adam and Scott discuss the latest news of the week, including

Hyundai and Kia confirm they are no longer in talks with Apple regarding Apple Car production [9to5Mac]
Unreal Engine debuts MetaHuman Creator for creating realistic digital humans [The Verge]
TikTok set to unveil a suite of new online shopping tools [WWD]
Tesla sends bitcoin to record high with $1.5 billion investment [Financial Times]

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow us at @ipglab.

If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

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Episode 💯: Clubhouse and Social Audio

Sat, 06 Feb 2021 02:57:32 GMT

To celebrate making it into the three-digit club, the floor 9 crew is taking it to the club! Just kidding; but we did dive into Clubhouse, the hottest social app de jour, in this milestone episode. Joined by special guest Brian Morrissey, former president/editor-in-chief at Digiday Media, we discuss the curious rise of Clubhouse, Twitter’s pending copycat product, and the marketing potential of live social audio.

Before the main conversation, co-hosts Adam and Scott dish on the latest news, including

Google shutters in-house game studio for Stadia
Apple rumored to sign $3.6 billion deal with Kia Motors for Apple Car partnership
Facebook sold nearly 1.1 million Oculus Quest 2 headsets during Q4 2020

Follow Brian on Twitter @bmorrissey and check out his Substack The Rebooting for insights on building sustainable media businesses.

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow us at @ipglab.

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Episode 99: Outlook 2021 Forward Momentum 🚀 - Part 2

Fri, 29 Jan 2021 04:00:00 GMT

This week on Floor 9, co-hosts Adam and Scott are back to discuss the remaining two trends from the Outlook 2021 reports: the Splinternet, and the reinvention of social context online. Of course, we couldn’t pass on the opportunity to talk about the biggest news of the week — the Gamestop stock drama, and how it connects to the two Outlook trends in this episode. Our content manager Richard Yao also chimed in on a whim with his two cents, so please excuse his low-quality audio. We hope you find this episode both topical and insightful.

Links

Read Outlook 2021 in full here on our Medium blog!
For an easy-to-understand primer on the whole Gamestop situation, read this piece from Vox.
Check out the TED talk about the power of online communities that Scott mentioned here.

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow us at @ipglab.

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Episode 98: Outlook 2021 Forward Momentum - Part 1

Fri, 22 Jan 2021 04:00:00 GMT

This week on Floor 9, co-hosts Adam and Scott discuss the latest trend report from the Lab — Outlook 2021, which details the key trends emerging at the intersection of technology, media, and culture. In this episode, you’ll hear the first half of the conversation where they break down the first three segments of the report, which includes the overall framework of the forward momentum towards digital transformation, the Anyware Economy enabled by the accelerated shift to remote work, and why we believe gaming is eating the world!

Come back next week to hear us discuss the remaining two trends from the Outlook. But if you want a preview, you can read Outlook 2021 in full here on our Medium blog!

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow us at @ipglab.

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Episode 97: CES 2021 Highlights

Fri, 15 Jan 2021 23:49:22 GMT

This week we’re proud to present the best moments from our extensive CES 2021 programs. Listen now to hear the highlights from the opening remark by Chad Stoller, UM’s Global Chief Innovation Officer & Head of the IPG Media Lab, discussions our partnerships team had with interesting startups such as Standard Cognition, Community, and MarsBot, as well as clips from our virtual CES show floor tour where we discuss the key trends in digital health, smart home, next-gen mobility, and the tech startup space.

If you wish to hear our CES content sessions in full, they are now ready for on-demand replay on this page. (Please note that this page is protected by password. If you work at IPG Mediabrands or work for one of our clients, please reach out to ben@ipglab.com with a request for the password.)

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow us at @ipglab. Click here to read our recap of the key trends we saw at this CES.

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Episode 96: CES 2021 Preview

Fri, 08 Jan 2021 04:00:00 GMT

Welcome back to Floor 9. We are gearing up for the first all-virtual CES, which kicks off next Monday, and we couldn’t be more excited to share what we will see from this biggest tech industry confab with you. In this episode, co-hosts Adam and Scott chat about what they expect to see next week, how different this year’s CES will be, and go through some of the industry trends that marketers should look out for.

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow us at @ipglab. Click here to read a quick preview of the key trends we are looking out for at CES next week.

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Episode 95 - Trends Yule Love: 2020 Holiday Party Special

Fri, 18 Dec 2020 03:03:38 GMT

We’ve got a full house on Floor 9 this week! Get yourself a warm drink and cozy up to join our holiday party where we play a fun game called “Trends Yule Love.”

Here’s how it works: Each of the Lab team members has picked a virtual gift that points to a specific trend we covered in a Floor 9 episode released this year, and it is up to co-hosts Adam and Scott to guess what trend it is and who the gift is from.

Joined by the entire Lab, with Ryan from our Partnerships team serving as the game MC, banter and laughter abound in this holiday special episode! Listen for a jolly good time with us while brushing up on some of our favorite Floor 9 discussions of the year.

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow us at @ipglab. Click here to read more about the latest report on holiday shopping from Morning Consult that Richard mentioned. Happy holidays!

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Episode 94: The Future of Experience Economy

Fri, 11 Dec 2020 04:00:00 GMT

For the last regular episode of 2020, we welcome back an old friend of the Lab, Brent Bushnell, CEO of LA-based micro-amusement park Two Bit Circus. Together with co-hosts Adam and Scott, we talked about how the location-based experience businesses have pivoted online, using virtual events as a new customer channel, new experiments in ticketing and hybrid events, and how out-of-home entertainment will look like in 2021 and beyond.

As usual, Scott and Adam discuss this week’s top news before the main conversation, which includes Facebook getting sued for monopoly and three updates on the streaming wars: Warner Bros. releasing all 2021 movies on HBO Max, AT&T selling Crunchyroll to Sony, and Discovery partnering with A+E for its upcoming OTT service.

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. You can find Brent at @brentbushnell.

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Episode 93: How to Build a D2C Brand

Fri, 04 Dec 2020 19:22:33 GMT

This week, we are delighted to welcome Jing Gao, the mastermind behind viral hot sauce sensation Fly By Jing, to Floor 9 to share her incredible journey as a D2C brand founder. In this wide-ranging conversation, we discuss the challenges and opportunities presented by the pandemic, the importance of storytelling and community-building for D2C brands, and how the overall D2C space is evolving.

As usual, Scott and Adam discuss this week’s top news before the main conversation, which includes Google Maps adding a social feed, the success of Fornite’s Galactus event and Dua Lipa’s virtual concert, the upcoming Disovery+ streaming service, and Hulu’s Watch Party feature.

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Check out Jing’s Medium post on what she learned from the process of making Sichuan chili sauce at scale.

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Bonus: The Future of Startups (Unabridged) Feat. David Rosenthal, venture investor and co-host of Acquired

Wed, 25 Nov 2020 22:00:00 GMT

For a second helping of Floor 9, we hope you enjoy this unabridged conversation of our last episode on the future of startups with special guest David Rosenthal, venture investor and co-host of Acquired. Scott talked with David for over an hour, and here you get to hear a lot of interesting parts of our conversation that were left on the cutting room floor last week.

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow David at @djrosent and check out his excellent business podcast Acquired.

Don’t forget to click here to give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast if you haven’t. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 92: 2020 Thanksgiving Special

Tue, 24 Nov 2020 10:30:00 GMT

For this year’s Thanksgiving special, co-hosts Scott and Adam catch up on two important leftover news items from last week: Wonder Woman 1984 to be released on HBO Max and Apple to reduce their App Store commission cut from 30% to 15%. Together, Adam and Scott break down the various implications these two news stories have on the future of Hollywood and the mobile app ecosystem, respectively.

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Don’t forget to click here to give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast if you haven’t. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 91: The Future of Startups

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 04:00:00 GMT

This week, we are glad to have seasoned VC investor David Rosenthal join us to discuss the current state and the future of startups, investing, and innovation. Together, Scott and David talked about how the pandemic has changed startup funding, the emerging innovation categories, the merits of buying vs. building, and other key trends in the startup world that all innovation-minded brands should know.

As usual, Scott and Adam discuss this week’s top news before the main conversation, which includes Google Pay getting a redesign, CVS offering support for Venmo and PayPal at checkout, the launch of Amazon Pharmacy, and Lil Nas X’s virtual concerts in Roblox.

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Follow David at @djrosent and check out his excellent business podcast Acquired.

Don’t forget to click here to give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast if you haven’t. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 90: Media Responsibility Ten Commandments

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 04:00:00 GMT

This week, we welcome back Joshua Lowcock, Global Brand Safety Officer at UM, to talk about the ten Media Responsibility Principles (MRPs) that our parent agency IPG Mediabrands to improve brand safety & brand responsibility in advertising. Click here to read more about our “ten commandments” on media responsibilities, and listen to we discuss everything from potential monetization paths for social platforms to why clients are quick to embrace them.

As usual, co-hosts Scott and Adam discuss this week’s top news before the main conversation, This week’s top news includes Apple’s new Mac announcements, VF buying street fashion brand Supreme, and Spotify buying podcast ad tech company Megaphone.

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Click here to give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!

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Episode 89: Technology’s Impact on Mental Health

Fri, 30 Oct 2020 03:59:42 GMT

Welcome back to another episode of the award-winning Floor 9! This week we welcome Sean Ahearn, Senior Manager of Client Services at the Lab, to chat all about technology’s impact on mental health. From social media and information overload, to Zoom fatigue and digital wellness, we cover the good, the bad, and the unintended consequences of adopting new technologies on our collective psyche. For more on this topic, check out Sean’s article on Re-evaluating Technology’s Impact on Mental Health.

As usual, co-hosts Scott and Adam discuss this week’s top news before the main conversation, This week’s top news includes Facebook’s new cloud gaming service, TikTok partnering with Shopify for social commerce, DoorDash teaming up with Oakland restaurant for ghost kitchen, and Giphy and Gucci adding virtual avatars to their apps.

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Click here to give us a five-star review at Apple Podcast!

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health issues, please reach out and seek professional help. Here is a list of mental health resources compiled by our parent company.

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Episode 88: 2020 Holiday Shopping Trends feat. Victoria Sakal from Morning Consult

Fri, 23 Oct 2020 14:59:15 GMT

This week on Floor 9, we are joined by Victoria Sakal, Managing Director of Brand Intelligence at Morning Consult, to talk all about the upcoming holiday shopping season. From how people are planning to celebrate the holiday, how shopper behavior has changed, to how holiday spending may be shifting, we covered all aspects of holiday shopping, along with insights for what brands can do to prepare for an unprecedented holiday shopping season.

For additional information on holiday shopping from Morning Consult, check out these reports:

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. We welcome your constructive feedback. Follow Victoria on Twitter at @victoriasakal and Morning Consult @MorningConsult.

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Episode 87: Preparing for a Cookie-less Future

Fri, 16 Oct 2020 03:00:00 GMT

This week on Floor 9, we welcome back Arielle Garcia, Chief Privacy Officer of UM, along with first-time guest David Mihalek, SVP, Digital Strategy of UM, for a follow-up discussion to the “Data Privacy as a Business Imperative” episode we had with Arielle last month. Together, we dived deep into how brand advertisers and publishers are preparing for the disappearance of cookies as privacy regulations start to roll out. From its impact on ad targeting, to data “cleaning rooms”, to the need for transparency and accountability, we covered a lot of ground in this interesting conversation.

Before the main conversation, Scott is joined by co-host Adam to recap the highlights of this week’s Apple Event where new 5G-ready iPhones and more were unveiled. For an in-depth analysis of this event, check out our written recap here.

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. We welcome your constructive feedback. For more insights on using consumer data for personalization, check out our recent media trial report with MAGNA GLOBAL as reported by AdAge.

Questions brands, agencies and marketers should be asking to prepare for the cookieless future:

How much of our targeting strategy today is dependent on third-party cookies and what impacts have been experienced by browser or privacy changes such as ITP, CCPA and GDPR?
Are we taking a holistic, people-first approach to our data strategy?
Are we exploring strategic 2nd party partnerships that help us scale our audiences?
How can we build deeper consumer relationships by driving meaningful conversations in the channels our consumers engage with?
What is our plan for testing clean-rooms and what are the expected insights my brand can glean from their utilization?
Are we exploring alternative targeting and measurement tactics, such as Authenticated Traffic Solutions (LiveRamp), and CAPI – Conversion API (Facebook)?
Do we have the right privacy and customer data management infrastructure in place to embed privacy and honor preference across channels and touchpoints?

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Episode 86: The Rise of Contactless Payments

Fri, 09 Oct 2020 03:00:00 GMT

This week on Floor 9, co-hosts Scott and Adam chat about the top tech and media news of the week before diving into a timely discussion on the pandemic’s impact on the adoption of digital and contactless payments. If you want to learn about the accelerated adoption of digital payments and its implications for retailers and financial service brands, this episode is a must-listen!

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. Constructive feedback is much appreciated.

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Episode 85 - The Future of Work (feat. Phil Libin from All Turtles and mmhmm)

Fri, 02 Oct 2020 03:00:00 GMT

This week on Floor 9, we are very happy to chat with Phil Libin, CEO and co-founder of All Turtles and creator of virtual presentation software mmhmm. He is also co-founder and former CEO of Evernote, and makes the perfect guest to talk about the future of work given the accelerated shift towards remote work. Starting with the need for better remote work tools like mmhmm, to the ramifications of remote working, to the impact of AI on office work, we have a wide-ranging conversation with Phil on the many ways that technology is reshaping the way we work.

As usual, Scott and Adam talk about the biggest news of the week before the main discussion. This week, they cover Amazon’s new palm-reading payment tech, Prime Day date announcement, Facebook merging Instagram DMs and Messenger, Walmart’s mobile-driven store redesign.

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. We welcome your constructive feedback.

To find out more about the “Better Than Before” contest that Phil mentioned, check out https://www.betterthanbefore.com/

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Episode 84: The Digital Future of Street Fashion

Fri, 25 Sep 2020 03:00:00 GMT

In this episode of Floor 9, Scott was joined by two repeat guests: Christina Adranly from Lab’s strategy team and Chelsea Freitas from UM’s strategy team, to talk about fashion! Specifically, our knowledgeable guests explained the impact that digital media and COVID-19 have had on the fashion industry, with a focus on street fashion, and how the future of digital apparel will play out.

As usual, Scott and Adam talk about the biggest news of the week before the main discussion. This week, they covered Microsoft buying game developer Bethesda, Peacock finally arriving on Roku devices, and Spotify’s cool new interactive feature for podcasts.

Read this for more information on our latest media trial with Roku and MAGNA: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200910005747/en

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. We welcome your constructive feedback.

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Episode 83: How Apple & Facebook Prepare for Post-Mobile

Fri, 18 Sep 2020 03:00:11 GMT

In this episode of Floor 9, co-hosts Adam and Scott recap the two major tech events of the week: Apple’s “Time Flies” event on Tuesday and Facebook Connect 7 event on Wednesday. Together, they cover everything from these two events that brand marketers should know, along with some insights into how the two tech giants are preparing for a post-mobile future and how brands can do today in response.

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. We welcome your constructive feedback!

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Episode 82: The New Normal

Fri, 11 Sep 2020 03:00:00 GMT

This week on Floor 9, we are taking a step back and evaluating this new normal we’ve all found ourselves in, six months into this pandemic, from a personal perspective. Joined by Christina Adranly, Director of Strategy, the trio discussed their experience of working from home, new pandemic social etiquette, changes in media consumption, and overall a first-hand review of this new reality that all brands must adapt to.

You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. We welcome your constructive feedback!

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Episode 81: Data Privacy as a Business Imperative

Fri, 04 Sep 2020 03:00:00 GMT

On this special episode of Floor 9, we welcome Arielle Garcia, the newly appointed Chief Privacy Officer of UM, to a timely discussion on data privacy. From the regulatory landscape, to consumer sentiments, to real-life examples of how to conduct responsible collection and use of data, Arielle talked us through them all and affirmed our stance that data privacy is a business imperative that needs to be taken seriously at every level.

We welcome your constructive feedback! You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier.

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Episode 80: A Conversation with Nikole Hannah Jones

Fri, 28 Aug 2020 02:00:00 GMT

On this special episode of Floor 9, we bring you a thought-provoking and important conversation with the legendary Nikole Hannah Jones, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist for covering civil rights and racial injustice for The New York Times Magazine and creator of the 1619 project. Conducted as part of the 2020 UM Impact Day, this conversation between Nikole and Deidre Smalls-Landau, CMO and EVP, Global Culture at UM, dives into the history of institutional racism, the current #BLM movement against racial injustice and police brutality, and how we can be a better advocate and ally for racial equality.

Check out the 1619 project here: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/1619-america-slavery.html

We welcome your constructive feedback! You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. You can follow Nicole at @nhannahjones.

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Episode 79: Streaming Wars 2020

Fri, 21 Aug 2020 03:00:56 GMT

This week on Floor 9, we welcome back an old friend, Brian Hughes, who leads the Audience Analysis Practice for MAGNA, to talk about the latest developments in the ongoing streaming wars. But before we get to the frontrunners, cord-cutters, and brand implications, Adam and Scott tackle the top news stories of the week, especially what the high-profile feud between Epic Games and Apple is really about.

Additionally, we’d like to remind you of our annual audience survey, which every listener is welcome to partake here: https://bit.ly/floor9survey. As a thank you, we will be randomly selecting ten survey participants to reward a special prize, courtesy of our friends at Brain.fm.

We welcome your constructive feedback! You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier.

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Episode 78: Unpacking the TikTok Drama

Fri, 14 Aug 2020 03:00:00 GMT

This week on Floor 9, co-hosts Adam and Scott tackle one of the top questions in every media and tech professional’s mind these days: what is going to happen to TikTok? Together, Scott and Adam dived deep into the proposed ban and its various potential ramifications for the technology industry as well as for brands. Before this insightful main discussion, they shed some light on the top news story of the week, including Apple barring XCloud and Stadia from the App Store, and Mulan coming to Disney+.

Additionally, we are excited to launch our second annual audience survey, which every listener is welcome to partake here: https://ipglab.typeform.com/to/v4YlnVmf, which will be open for a month until Sep. 14. As a thank you, we will be randomly selecting ten survey participants to reward a special prize, courtesy of our friends at Brain.fm.

We welcome your constructive feedback! You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier.

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Episode 77: The State of Mobile Gaming

Fri, 07 Aug 2020 03:00:25 GMT

On this week’s episode of Floor 9 Ader CEO, Justin Warden and streamer DuckyTheGamer (Sam Hatch) join Scott and Ryan for a conversation about the current state of gaming, the explosive growth in mobile gaming and how they see the overall space continuing to develop.

Check out DuckyTheGamer on YouTube and you can find Justin on Twitter @justin_warden.

We welcome your constructive feedback! You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier.

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Episode 76: Into the Metaverse!

Fri, 31 Jul 2020 03:00:40 GMT

On this week’s Floor 9, we’re going back to the Lab’s futurist roots as Adam and Scott dive deep into the metaverse — a persistent, collectively shared virtual space. Together, they discuss its definition, the accelerated development of the “proto-verses” in online games, as well as the potential benefits and future brand opportunities that will emerge from it. If you prefer to read about this topic, you can check out this two-part primer written by Adam.

01:06 - Weekly top news roundup

06:35 - In-depth discussion on the metaverse

We welcome your constructive feedback! You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier.

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Episode 75: Podcasts Persist during Pandemic

Fri, 24 Jul 2020 22:15:34 GMT

This week on Floor 9, Scott and Adam chat with Griffin Caprio. CEO & co-founder of Dante32, a boutique podcast production agency for brands, to discuss all the latest developments in podcasting. Overall, it seems like the market continues to consolidate and mature as a marketing channel. Together, we dissect the news and how they impact the podcast landscape, Apple’s role in the industry, the value of using podcasts as a marketing tool, and the shifting listener behavior thanks to the pandemic.

We welcome your constructive feedback! You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier.

You can find Griffin on Twitter (@gcaprio), email him directly at griffin@dante32.com or online at https://www.dante32.com.

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Episode 74: Outlook 2020 Trends Mid-Year Check-In

Fri, 10 Jul 2020 03:00:00 GMT

This week, co-hosts Adam and Scott are joined by Christina Adranly from our strategy team to talk about how the four trends in our Outlook 2020 report have been accelerated or re-oriented by all the craziness of the past six months, and what we can expect to develop next. Before that, they discuss some of the hottest news items of the week in tech and marketing.

We welcome your constructive feedback! You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier.

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Bonus Episode - Apple 2020 WWDC Highlights

Fri, 26 Jun 2020 19:21:22 GMT

In this week’s bonus episode, co-hosts Adam and Scott chat about the highlights from Apple’s WWDC event this week, and what they mean for brands, which includes App Clips, new privacy features in apps and Safari, digital car keys that you can share via texts, and some subtle new features that are laying the groundwork for Apple’s AR ambitions. Whether you’re an Apple fan or not, you won’t want to miss this fun & lively conversation.

We welcome your constructive feedback! You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier.

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Episode 73 - Snap’s AR Vision 2020

Fri, 26 Jun 2020 03:00:00 GMT

In this week’s episode, co-hosts Adam and Scott chat with Carolina Arguelles, who runs the Global Product Marketing for Snapchat’s Camera, all about the latest AR creative toolkits and long-term vision that her company is bringing to the world, and the brand opportunities they bring for marketers. They also talk with Ryan from our partnerships team about the many implications of Microsoft’s sudden decision to shut down its live-streaming site Mixer.

0:54 - Discussion on Microsoft shutting down Mixer

06:03 - Interview with Carolina Arguelles on Snapchat’s latest announcements

We welcome your constructive feedback! You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier.

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Episode 72 - The Future of Social Commerce

Fri, 19 Jun 2020 02:00:20 GMT

In this week’s episode, co-hosts Adam and Scott interview Kelsey Hunter, Founder & CEO of Paloma, on how retail transformation is accelerating the development of social commerce and how brands and retailers should leverage messaging apps as both a direct sales channel and a retargeting channel. Before the interview, Adam and Scott talk about some of the week’s hottest news items, including a deep dive into what’s happening with the EU’s new antitrust probes against Apple.

0:40 — weekly news roundup with co-hosts Scott and Adam

9:50 — a conversation with Kelsey Hunter, Founder & CEO of Paloma

We welcome your constructive feedback! You can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier.

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Episode 71: Ad Industry Temperature Check feat. Michael Kassan

Fri, 12 Jun 2020 03:59:36 GMT

In this week’s episode, Lab’s Managing Partner and UM’s Global Chief Innovation Officer Chad Stoller chats with special guest Michael Kassan, Chairman & CEO of MediaLink. Together, the two ad industry veterans take a temperature check on the advertising industry as we enter the recovery phase, discussing topics such as the new reality for agencies, the heightened need for creative sensibility, and the future of industry events like Cannes and CES.

1:07 — weekly news roundup with co-hosts Scott and Adam

11:16 — a conversation about Section 230 and what it means for marketers

We welcome your honest feedback! Find our co-hosts Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon & @tippier.

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Episode 70: What’s Section 230 & What Marketers Need to Know

Fri, 05 Jun 2020 18:43:46 GMT

In this week’s episode, special guests Joshua Lowcock (EVP, Chief Digital & Global Brand Safety Officer of UM Worldwide) and Alison Pepper (EVP, Government Relations of 4A’s) discuss the issues surrounding Section 230, arguably the most important law for online speech and social media — what it is, its unexpected origin, how it benefit brands and marketers, and why it has been popping up recently in the news.

0:58— weekly news roundup with co-hosts Scott and Adam

10:46 — a conversation about Section 230 and what it means for marketers

Additional resources for more information:

ITIF - Information Technology & Innovation Foundation - https://itif.org/
EFF - Electronic Frontier Foundation - https://www.eff.org/
Professor Eric Goldman, Santa Clara University School of Law - https://blog.ericgoldman.org/

We welcome your honest feedback! Find our co-hosts Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon & @tippier.

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Episode 69 - The Future of Live Events

Fri, 29 May 2020 03:00:50 GMT

In this week’s episode, co-hosts Adam and Scott interviewed Ian Daly, Head of Brand Strategy at Live Nation, one of the biggest live entertainment and ticketing companies in the world. Ian shared his sharp insights on the current state and the future of the live entertainment industry, and we chatted about everything from drive-in concerts, musicians going live on Instagram, to the new media habits that fans recently picked up. Before the interview, Adam and Scott round up the weekly news and get excited about sports returning.

1:54 — weekly news roundup with Scott and Adam

12:14 — Interview with Ian Daly, Head of Brand Strategy, Live Nation on the future of live events

We welcome your honest feedback! Find our co-hosts Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon & @tippier. Join us every Friday at 2pm ET on www.twitch.tv/ipg_lab for our Office Hours live sessions.

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Episode 68: Virtual Travel Experiences & Wanderlust

Thu, 21 May 2020 07:03:26 GMT

In this week’s episode, Adam and Scott chats with Warren Webster, CEO of Atlas Obscura, all about the current state of the travel industry, how his company is pivoting to virtual experiences, and some predictions for the future of travel.

1:09 — weekly news roundup with Scott and Adam

8:50 — Interview with Warren Webster, CEO of Atlas Obscura: https://www.atlasobscura.com/

We welcome your honest feedback! Find our co-hosts Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon & @tippier. Join us every Friday at 2pm ET on www.twitch.tv/ipg_lab for our Office Hours live sessions.

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Episode 67 - COVID-19 Special #8: Forecasting Future Demands

Fri, 15 May 2020 04:00:00 GMT

In this week’s COVID-19 Special, we are proud to introduce a new UM-proprietary product called “Demand Forecaster.” With this new tool, which was recently covered by the New York Times, we leverage the latest data and machine learning to predict upcoming fluctuations in consumer demands across various global markets and categories. Take a listen to find out how our new crystal ball works!

1:39 — weekly news roundup with Scott and Adam

9:45 — Hamish Kinniburgh (Global Chief Strategy Officer) chats with three UM executives — Josh Bock (EVP, Decision Sciences), Tara Connington (SVP, Analytics), Huw Griffiths (Global Chief Product Officer) — the brains behind “Demand Forecaster” about how it works and how our clients can use it.

We welcome your honest feedback! Find our co-hosts Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon & @tippier. Join us every Friday at 2pm ET on www.twitch.tv/ipg_lab for our Office Hours live sessions.

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Episode 66 - COVID-19 Special #7: Learnings from APAC

Fri, 08 May 2020 04:00:00 GMT

In this week’s COVID-19 Special, we link up with two chief strategists from the UM family — Lin Liu from UM China and Mat Maroni from UM APAC — to share their insights on accelerating trends and post-COVID recovery in China and Australia.

1:30 — weekly news roundup with Scott and Christina

8:59 — Adam interviews Lin and Mat on the pandemic’s impact in APAC

We welcome your honest feedback! Find our co-hosts Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon & @tippier.

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Episode 65 - COVID-19 Special #6: Breaking Windows and Selling Online

Fri, 01 May 2020 03:00:00 GMT

In this week’s COVID-19 Special, we are talking about COVID-19’s impact on ecommerce and multichannel retail with Amy Hufft, Head of Global Brand Marketing and Communications at Shopify. But first, we round up the hottest news this week, including the recent drama between Universal Studios and AMC Theatres over the former breaking the theatrical window.

01:42 — weekly news roundup

05:53 — a breakdown of the Universal / AMC spat over Trolls World Tour

11:36 — Chad Stoller, Global Innovation Officer of UM, interviews Amy Hufft from Shopify on how Shopify is responding to COVID-19 and working with businesses to navigate the new reality

We welcome your honest feedback! Find our co-hosts Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon & @tippier.

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Episode 64 - COVID-19 Special #5: What a Time to Go Live!

Fri, 24 Apr 2020 03:31:33 GMT

In this week’s COVID-19 special, we are talking about COVID-19’s impact on live content, the increasing consumption of news content, and what marketers can do today to actively engage with audiences looking for live and news content.

01’08 — a UM Roundtable discussion on live content in times of corona, featuring Chelsea Freitas (Partner, Strategy of UM Worldwide), Christina Adranly, our Director of Strategy, and your co-hosts Scott and Adam.

20:30 — Joshua Lowcock (Chief Digital & Global Brand Safety Officer) interviews Joy Robins (Chief Revenue Officer of The Washington Post) on how people are consuming news content and what advertisers can do to connect with readers.

41:38 — Weekly news roundup: the latest on Roblox, Clubhouse and Google Shopping.

Find our co-hosts Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon & @tippier.

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Episode 63 - COVID-19 Special #4: Doing the Right Thing

Fri, 17 Apr 2020 04:00:00 GMT

Welcome back to the fourth episode of our COVID-19 special. For as long as we need to work from home, Floor 9 will be coming out with weekly episodes that provide timely information, market intelligence, and actionable insights on COVID-19’s impact on the media and advertising landscape.

For the first interview of the episode, Eileen Kiernan, Global CEO of UM Worldwide, chatted with Norman de Greve, CMO of CVS Health, about how CVS is responding to the global health crisis in the eye of the storm. Together they talked about accelerated trends in retail and healthcare, prompt and necessary pivots in brand messaging and media strategies, and everything CVS is doing to protect its employees and customers. Also, whether CVS will have more TP rolls!

Later in the episode, Casey Hurbis, CMO of Quicken Loans, was interviewed by Scott Russell, U.S. COO of IPG Mediabrands, on how the financial service company is confidently handling the disruption in sports events and media, dealing with the COVID-19 inquiries, and giving back to the city of Detroit.

As usual, we wrap up the episode with some hot takes on the top news stories from this week from co-hosts Adam and Scott. You can find them on Twitter at @adamjsimon & @tippier. DM them your thoughts and feedback.

Covered News:

Google and Apple partner on building COVID-19 Contact-Tracing into Android & iOS [9to5Google]
Sling TV ‘Happy Hour’ offers free primetime viewing of 50-plus live channels [Variety]
Postmates now delivers essentials from Walgreens, Duane Reade and 7-Eleven [Engadget]
YouTube launches a free, DIY tool for businesses in need of short video ads [TechCrunch]

Quotes:

“Our hope is that the actions that we take today create meaningful, long-lasting relationships with the customers we help.” — Norman de Greve, CMO of CVS Health

“Media mix modeling right now is probably the most important thing that we could be looking at” — Casey Hurbis, CMO of Quicken Loans

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Bonus Episode - Full Interview with the NHL and NBCUniversal Sports

Tue, 14 Apr 2020 15:36:07 GMT

Take a listen to the full conversation between special guest interviewer Jon Stimmel, UM’s Chief Investment Officer, Keith Wachtel, Chief Business Office at the NHL, and Dan Lovinger, EVP Sales and Partnership at NBCUniversal Sports from last week's partner interview on sports media. The trio discuss the current state of sports media, when sports events will resume, and how they have been working with partners and clients to navigate the challenges.

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Episode 62 - COVID-19 Special #3: Charting New Media Behaviors & Talking Sports

Fri, 10 Apr 2020 00:09:00 GMT

Welcome back to the third episode of our COVID-19 special. For as long as we need to work from home, Floor 9 will be coming out with weekly episodes that provide timely information, market intelligence, and actionable insights on COVID-19’s impact on the media and advertising landscape.

In the first half of this episode, co-hosts Scott and Adam are joined by a special guest Elizabeth Firth, SVP, Client Business Partner of UM to talk all about how COVID-19 is changing media behaviors and pushing brands to explore new channels such as “virtual third place”.

Later in the show, special guest interviewer Jon Stimmel, UM’s Chief Investment Officer, who connected with Keith Wachtel, Chief Business Office at the NHL, and Dan Lovinger, EVP Sales and Partnership at NBCUniversal Sports to talk about the current state of sports media, when sports events will resume, and how they have been working with partners and clients to navigate the challenges.

As usual, we wrap up this episode with Adam and Scott discussing some of the top news stories from this week. Although only one of this week’s news is explicitly related to COVID-19, all of them are influenced by the current pandemic to varying degrees.

Covered News:

Quibi had a launch day outage and gained 300K launch day downloads [TechCrunch]
Snapchat encourages donations to fight against COVID-19 through new AR lenses [9to5Mac]
Pinterest adds new ‘Shop’ tabs connected to in-stock inventory, style guides and more [TechCrunch]
Facebook Gaming launches tournaments for esports amateurs [VentureBeat]

Email:

Scott’s Email: Scott.elchison@ipglab.com
Adam’s Email: Adam@ipglab.com

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Episode 61 - COVID-19 Special #2: Ecommerce Accelerated and Influencer Marketing Interrupted

Fri, 03 Apr 2020 06:03:56 GMT

Welcome back to the second episode of our COVID-19 special. For as long as we need to work from home, Floor 9 will be coming out with weekly episodes that provide timely information, market intelligence, and actionable insights on COVID-19’s impact on the media and advertising landscape. We are all in this together and want to make sure our listeners have the best information possible in order to make the tough decisions every company is facing during these challenging times.

In the first half of this episode, co-hosts Scott is joined by special guests William Margaritis, SVP, Ecommerce of Reprise; Amie Owens, SVP, Head of Shopper Marketing of UM; and Chad Stoller, Global Innovation Officer of UM, to talk all about how COVID-19 is changing shopping behaviors and accelerating ecommerce growth.

Later in the show, special guest interviewer Hamish Kinniburgh, Global CSO of UM, interviews Ben Jeffries, Founder & CEO of influencer.com, to talk about the state of influencer marketing and what brands need to pay special attention to under the current circumstances.

As usual, we wrap up this episode with Adam and Scott discussing some of the top news stories from this week. Spoiler alert: they are nearly all COVID-19-related.

Covered News:

Microsoft Team Is Now Available For Non-Enterprise Users [Tom’s Guide]
Amazon, Walmart Suspend Marketing Deals With Digital Media Firms [The Information]
NBA Players Go Head-to-head In First 'NBA 2K Players Tournament' [NBA]
Spotify Launched A Standalone Music Streaming App For Kids [Variety]
YouTube Planning To Launch New “Shorts” Format To Counter TikTok [9to5Google]
Apple Purchases Hyperlocal Weather App Dark Sky [9to5Mac]

Additional Links:

Reprise report on Ecommerce [Reprise]
Snapchat desktop camera download [Snapchat]

Email:

Scott’s Email: Scott.elchison@ipglab.com
Adam’s Email: Adam@ipglab.com

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Episode 60 - COVID-19 Special #1 (featuring David Shim, CEO of Foursquare)

Fri, 27 Mar 2020 02:27:37 GMT

Unpacking the pandemic’s impact on brand safety, media investments, sports media and foot traffic

Welcome back to Floor 9! We are taking a break from our regularly scheduled programming on media futures and turn our attention to the present and the near-term future. Therefore, Floor 9 will be coming out with weekly episodes that provide timely information, market intelligence, and actionable insights on COVID-19’s impact on the media and advertising landscape. We are all in this together and want to make sure our listeners have the best information possible in order to make the tough decisions every company is facing during these challenging times.

This week Scott and Adam are joined by Jon Stimmel, Chief Investment Officer at UM and Joshua Lowcock, US Chief Digital & Global Brand Safety Officer at UM for a conversation on the current media market, sports being canceled, brand safety and how the larger media industry is responding to COVID-19.

Later in the show, special guest interviewer Huw Griffiths, UM’s Chief Product Officer sits down with Foursquare’s CEO David Shim to discuss Foursquare's latest report on COVID-19 impact on retail foot traffic.

In this episode:

Jon Stimmel on the state of media investments, how media partners are responding to COVID-19, sports being canceled and the olympics being postponed and investing through a potential recession
Joshua Lowcock on brand safety, respectful content, consumer sentiment on brands appearing next to COVID-19 content and how the industry is being proactive in their response to COVID-19. Hint, don’t negative keyword target Coronavirus.
Foursquare’s CEO, David Shim is interviewed by UM’s Chief Product Officer Huw Griffiths on their recent report about COVID-19 and its impact on retail foot traffic.
Actionable takeaways for brands and marketers
We share our special WFH productivity hacks
Warp up with relevant news of the week

Additional Links:

Foursquare Research Report [Foursquare]
Scott’s Email: Scott.elchison@ipglab.com
Adam’s Email: Adam@ipglab.com

Covered News:

Tokyo Olympics are postponed: [BBC]
Apple Product Announcements [The Verge]
Hulu added live ABC news [Variety] and extended their free trial to 30 days
Sling TV Streaming Package Free for 2 Weeks [Variety]

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Episode 59 - Democratized Creativity feat. Sketchfab

Thu, 12 Mar 2020 17:03:00 GMT

This week, we dived into the first trend in our Outlook 2020 report with special guest, Alban Denoyel, co-founder and CEO of Sketchfab. Together with co-hosts Scott and Adam, the trio dissected how new technologies and creative tools have democratized creativity and given rise to the meme culture, the roles that Sketchfab plays as a 3D content distribution platform, and how brands can correctly tap into this trend to be organically included in online conversations.

In this episode:

Slacking off: a new segment where Lab members pick their favorite news items from our hyper-active Slack channels
Adam — Bytedance, maker of TikTok, introduced a productivity tool
Alban — Roblox raising $150 million and being valued at $4 billion
Scott — People are live streaming while they sleep on TikTok
How advances in technology have democratized access to creative tools and empowered people to share their creations
How Sketchfab facilitates the creation and distribution of 3D assets
How creative formats will evolve as AR and VR adoptions grow
How brands can tap into this trend of democratized creativity and meme culture
Floor 9 Mailbag: submit your questions on Twitter @ipglab
We laugh about Adam’s mic check

Additional Links

Alban’s Fav 3D Assets on Sketchfab
Read more about the Democratized Creativity in our Outlook 2020 trend report

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Episode 58 — The Age of Anxiety feat. Brain.fm

Mon, 24 Feb 2020 19:44:16 GMT

Welcome back to Floor 9! This week, hosts Scott and Adam are joined by Christina from our strategy team and special guest Dan Clark, CEO of Brain.fm, to talk about technology-induced anxiety. Taking from the last trend, The Age of Anxiety, from our Outlook 2020 trend report, the lab team and Dan discussed in depth on how technology and its many implications are causing us an increased level of anxiety, and what brands can do in response to this prevailing phenomenon.

In this episode:

Slacking off: a new recurring segment where Lab members pick their favorite news items from our hyper-active Slack channels
Christina — BTS previewing new single on TikTok
Adam & Scott — HQ Trivia shutting down
Dan — “unescapable political news”
How we have entered the Age of Anxiety and its main causes, including overwhelming content choice and rising privacy concerns
How Brain.fm has been using AI to apply neuroscience to help people focus and relax
What brands can do in response to the rising level of consumer anxiety and help them assuage it and build connections
Floor 9 Mailbag: a new audience Q&A section — submit your questions on Twitter @ipglab
We laugh about the disparate methods we all use to fall asleep

Slacking Off Links

BTS’s TikTok preview [Billboard]

HQ Trivia’s last episode [YouTube]

Read more about the Age of Anxiety in our Outlook 2020 trend report

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Episode 57 — Outlook 2020: Four trends that will define 2020

Thu, 13 Feb 2020 18:21:54 GMT

Welcome back to the renovated Floor 9! This week, hosts Scott and Adam are joined by Christina from our strategy team to unveil the trends featured in our upcoming annual Outlook report! We are also testing a few fun additions to the show that we think you’ll enjoy. Give it a listen and let us know what you think!

Outlook 2020 trend report. Made by the IPG Media Lab.

In this episode:

Slacking off: a new recurring segment where Lab members picks their favorite news items from our hyper-active Slack channels
Outlook 2020 preview: the Race to the Next Platform
High-level preview of Outlook trends: Democratized Creativity, Ambient Computing, Algorithmic Culture, and The Age of Anxiety
Floor 9 Mailbag: a new audience Q&A section — submit your questions on Twitter @ipglab
Lab Testing — a roundup of things that we are testing out lately. Christina: Save Your Wardrobe app; Adam: Control (a console video game); Scott: Sofar Sounds
We laugh about Christina’s open disdain for “soft white food”

Slacking Off Links

G-Eazy’s prom photo

Fake Google Maps Traffic Jam

The Shoe Surgeon

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Episode 56 — CES 2020 Recap Part 3: What the CES Newbies Say

Thu, 16 Jan 2020 22:49:23 GMT

Welcome to the concluding episode of our trio of CES recap episodes. In this episode, Scott cedes the floor to three new Lab members and first-timers at CES — Ella Barnett (Senior Associate, Strategy and Innovation), Sean Ahearn (Senior Manager, Client Services), and Katy Geisreiter (Manager of Franchise Leadership on the Skin Health account at J3), to hear their fresh takes on what CES 2020 means for them personally and for brands.

What We Covered:

Overall impression of this CES and how the show will and should evolve
Personal favorites from the show — Snowboarding simulation, temporary tattoos, portable EV charging solution
Biggest surprise from this CES — Lab’s CES operations; air filtration/purification systems
Brand takeaways from CES — taking risks in innovations, learn from cross-category exposure, innovations that truly make life easier and better
We laugh about Ben being the “post-it guy”

In case you missed it, you can find Part 1 and Part 2 of our CES recap podcast here.

You can also read our in-depth CES trend recap on Medium here.

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Episode 55 — CES 2020 Recap Part 2: What the Lab Experts Say

Thu, 16 Jan 2020 00:53:30 GMT

Welcome back to Floor 9! We are kicking off 2020 with a trio of CES recap episodes, recorded live in Vegas on the last day of CES. In part 2, your host Scott interviews two dynamic duos of lab experts to get their hot takes on this year’s CES. First up, Scott chatted with Chad Stoller (Global Innovation Officer of UM and Managing Partner of the Lab) and Ben Hone (Director of Client Services), two CES veterans, to hear their lovely banter and unique insights on CES trends. Next, Scott was joined by Josh Mallalieu (SVP, Group Partner) and Ryan Miller (Manager of Partnership) from the Lab to share their thoughts and takeaways on CES as

What We Covered:

Overall impression of this CES and how the show will and should evolve
Personal favorites from the show — WaterGen water filtration system, Nissan pro-pilot golf ball, Royale’s wrap-around display, retail display and signage innovations, elder care technology, GJS Robots
Curiously missing from the show floors — the absence of telecom companies and Chinese tech companies, as well as gaming & esports tech
The reasons behind why 5G is missing from the show floors this year
Emerging trends spotted at CES — consumerization of digital health, the expansion of play tech, ambient computing at home,
Brand takeaways from CES 2020
We laugh about Ben’s CLMs (career-limiting moves) and Ryan’s self-deprecating humor at his fantastic Future of Play panel

In case you missed it, you can find Part 1 of our CES recap podcast here.

Check out our high-level CES trend recap published in AdWeek here.

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Episode 54 - CES 2020 Recap Part 1: What the Lab Strategy Team Says

Tue, 14 Jan 2020 21:36:27 GMT

Welcome back to Floor 9! We are kicking off 2020 with a trio of CES recap episodes, recorded live in Vegas on the last day of CES. In part 1, you’ll hear from two CES veterans from the Lab strategy team, Adam and Christina, joined by your host Scott, share their takeaways from this event and dig into the key trends that they saw at this CES. Have a listen to find out what our strategists think brands and marketers can learn from the biggest tech show.

What We Covered:

Overall impression of this CES and why the Lab attends every year
Standouts from the show floors — new micro-mobility concepts, digital health & elder care products
Curiously missing from the show floors – 5G-ready products, a stronger privacy debate
Biggest surprises found at CES — Sony’s concept car, Amazon auto retail, Samsung’s rotating TV
Personal favorites from the show — Delta’s travel innovations, self-heating tupperware, passenger drones
Emerging trends spotted at CES — EVs ready for market, cross-category inspirations
Brand takeaways from CES 2020

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Episode 53 - 2019 Year-End Review

Thu, 19 Dec 2019 23:22:10 GMT

It’s the end of the decade! Floor 9 hosts Scott and Adam sat down with Christina and Richard from the strategy team to review some of the hottest trends that happened over 2019 while prognosticating a little on what may come in 2020. A big thank you to all our listeners! We’ll be back with a CES episode, live from Vegas, in January. Happy holidays!

What We Covered:

The biggest surprise in media and tech that we did not see coming in 2019 (TikTok, Techlash, Facebook Libra, etc.)
Reviewing the major trends we covered in our 2019 Outlook report from the beginning of the year (Unbundling social media, what’s next for D2C brands, etc.)
Diving into some of the defining moments of 2019 and their implications for brands (Shortened hype cycle and meme culture, Disney completes acquisition of FOX, WeWork IPO debacle, Elon Musk, etc.)
We laugh as we recall our favorite memes of 2019

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Episode 52 - The Future of Gaming

Wed, 04 Dec 2019 23:04:47 GMT

Welcome back to Floor 9. This week hosts Scott and Adam are joined by Ben and Ryan, two gaming experts on the Lab team, to talk all about the latest developments in the gaming space, as well as what they say about the future of gaming. From the new cloud-based gaming services like Google Stadia to the shifting landscape of game streaming and esports, the Lab team went deep into dissecting the various sectors of gaming and the brand opportunities within. As gaming culture becomes mainstream, smart brand marketers know this is an increasingly important channel for capturing audience attention.

What We Covered:

The official launch of Google Stadia and its misfires
Dissecting the ongoing effort to make cloud-based gaming a reality
Analyzing the potential impact of cloud-based gaming on the gaming market
The arrival of subscription-based gaming services and their market implications
How the high-profile talent deals with gaming influencers impact the landscape of game streaming
Diversifying the type of content on game streaming platforms like Twitch
Brand takeaways for tapping into the growing gaming and esports market

You can also read about our take on this topic here.

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Episode 51 - Let The Streaming Wars Begin feat. Chad Stoller

Tue, 12 Nov 2019 22:16:01 GMT

Welcome back to Floor 9. This week, hosts Scott and Adam are joined by Chad Stoller, the Global Chief Innovation Officer at UM, to talk all about the intensifying streaming wars. Recorded on the day of the U.S. launch of Disney+, we start with our first impressions on Disney+ and how it stacks up to existing competitors, before moving on to discuss how we think the U.S. streaming landscape will play out over the next 5 years. We also talk about Netflix’s huge lead in global markets and Apple’s impressive streaming video quality, and how brands should respond in an age where viewers have more ad-free content options than ever.

What We Covered:

Disney+ first impressions and Disney’s biggest advantages
Different strategies of the varying new streaming services
Why Disney+ is a valuable tool for customer acquisition and data collection
How the streaming landscape will evolve over the next five years or so
Netflix’s enormous lead in global markets and how the competitors stack up
The rise of in-content brand integrations as viewers flock to ad-free SVOD services
The impressive streaming video quality of Apple TV+ and what it means for the future of 4k content
A quick review of the current original content slate from Apple TV+
Apple’s contribution to the streaming landscape
BAMTech and the technical advantage it grants owner Disney
We laugh about Scott not getting Chad’s sports analogy

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Episode 50 🎉 — The Future of Social Media & Online Communities

Fri, 01 Nov 2019 19:16:54 GMT

Welcome to our big Hawaii Five-O episode, where we take a deep dive into the future of social media and what they will mean for brands. Joined by Christina, co-hosts Scott and Adam discussed everything from the rise of TikTok to the new connected communities that are forming online as social media is slowly being unbundled into new platforms and niche communities, social media advertising will need to evolve with the advances in social platforms and how people communicate and connect with each other online.

What We Covered:

The unique way TikTok surface content and engage users
Why cultural context matters for understanding the TikTok memes and jokes
Prognosticating whether TikTok will have staying power in the West
How Gen Z use different social media platforms (TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, etc.)
Facebook’s pivot towards private social channels (messaging and groups)
How does the state of social media impact their ad products and consumer attention
How social media is being disintegrated into various emerging platforms and connected communities based on niche interests, such as The Woolfer
How these growing trends in social media are changing the way brands can reach consumers online and engage with online communities
We laugh about Scott’s niche interest (strange obsession) in “birds with arms”

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Episode 49 - The State of VR & The Metaverse Future

Thu, 17 Oct 2019 18:50:48 GMT

Facebook’s recent Oculus announcements left us wondering, what is the social network company trying to get out VR. In this week's episode, Scott and Adam discuss the state of virtual reality technology and why VR adoption has stalled. Then, Christina joins the group to talk about a potential future “metaverse” where people will create, socialize, and even do business in, as well as dissecting the different approaches Facebook and Fortnite is taking to get us there. For anyone that is curious about the future of immersive media and gaming, this episode should be a thought-provoking one. Listen and download here.

What We Covered:

Highlights from Facebook’s Oculus event and what Facebook Horizon is
The current state of VR and why mainstream adoption has been stagnant
How VR fundamentally differs from AR in terms of user experience and use cases
The next frontier for VR and the concept of a “metaverse”
How massively multiplayer online games like Fortnite are building prototype metaverses outside of VR
Potential brand implications of future metaverses
We laugh about Adam’s low opinion on Ready Player One as a novel

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Episode 48 - The State of Voice Tech and What's Ahead in 2020

Tue, 01 Oct 2019 18:13:44 GMT

Following Amazon’s big announcements from its packed Echo event last week, we had the pleasure of chatting with Eric Turkington, vice president of strategic partnerships at Rain, a creative agency that specializes in voice and conversational interfaces, about Amazon’s voice strategy, the status quo of voice tech adoption, the challenges and efforts in finding better use cases for voice, and the brand opportunities that lie within. Overall, this is an episode of lively conversations and differing opinions that come together to paint a dynamic picture of where the voice technology may be heading in 2020 and beyond. If you wish to keep up with what’s happening in the world of voice tech and get a peek of what the future might hold, this episode is a must-listen!

What We Covered:

Highlights from the Amazon hardware event and what they say about Amazon’s overall voice strategy
How Alexa stacks up against competitors like Google Assistant and Siri, and the current state of the home platform war
How brands have been leveraging voice tech to reach consumers, the challenges they encounter, and possible solutions to them
The next frontier for Alexa and other voice assistants beyond home, and how they could develop new use cases
Some general thoughts on how the voice computing space will develop in 2020 and beyond
We laugh about how no one ever asks Samsung’s Bixby for anything

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Episode 47 - How Apple is Preparing for a Post-Mobile World

Thu, 12 Sep 2019 14:13:13 GMT

Apple hosted its annual iPhone unveiling event on Tuesday and the Lab team assembled once again to talk about the highlights and key takeaways from this year’s keynote. While many may regard this year’s event as quite unmemorable and perhaps even boring, we actually think what Apple unveiled (but not necessarily talked about on stage) lays a solid foundation for what is shaping up to be an exciting 2020 and beyond. Take a listen to find out why we think so and how Apple is gearing up for a post-mobile world with new services and wearables.

What We Covered:

Personal favorite announcement from the event
Apple TV+ details and Apple’s OTT strategy
Apple Watch updates and its value proposition
New iPhone lineup and updates
Ultra-Wideband and how it sets Apple up for AR glasses
We laugh about how Christina might get an Apple Watch by 2025

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Episode 46 - Are we human, or are we influencers?

Thu, 29 Aug 2019 16:45:20 GMT

In this episode, we sit down with Oscar Ortega, VP of Talent at the UM Studios team, and Adam Simon, executive director of strategy at the Lab, to discuss the status quo and the future of influencer economy. Starting with the very definition of “influencer,” the dominant social and live-streaming platforms on which they depend, and the increasing fraud found in today’s influencer economy, we dissect in detail the ins and outs of the industry and the dynamic push-and-pull between influencers and the platforms. Then, we turn our eyes to the future and the up-and-coming synthetic influencers. Compared to human influencers, these virtual influencers bring new opportunities and interesting challenges for brand marketers to navigate and experiment with.

What We Covered:

The definition of an “influencer”
The dominant influencer platforms
The latest developments in the influencer economy
The shifting landscape of gaming streaming
The power dynamic between influencers and platforms
The emergence of synthetic influencers and their pros and cons
The facilitating factors of the rise of synthetic influencers
What brands should pay special attention to in this space
We laugh about the Pineapple influencer account Scott started

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Episode 45 - Midsummer Check-in with Podcasting

Thu, 08 Aug 2019 23:24:20 GMT

In this episode, we sit down with Vicent and Michelle from the Magna Global team to talk about the latest in podcasting. Starting with the new podcasting report that Magna recently released, which found that ⅓ of US consumers are now listening to podcasts, we talked about how podcasting is growing as an advertising medium, how it still has plenty of room for further growth, and the hurdles it will need to overcome to achieve that. We also brought in some global perspectives, especially with input from Sharon Soh from our Singapore office. If you are a marketer who is curious about the podcasting space and want to keep up, then this episode is a must-listen!

What We Covered:

The status quo of the podcasting market — the audience growth, the content types, etc.
Why the podcast audience is attractive to advertisers, esp. DTC brands
Debating whether or not we have hit “peak podcast”
Main challenges hindering podcast’s further growth
A global POV on podcast advertising today & learnings from the APAC region
Takeaways for brand marketers looking to ramp up podcast ad buy
Scott pitches his “Sunday morning ghost stories” podcast idea to the team

You can check out Magna’s Podcasting Report here (log-in required).

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Episode 44 - Facebook Plots World Domination with Libra

Thu, 18 Jul 2019 21:34:48 GMT

In this episode, we start in the future with a short story about a world dominated by Facebook’s Libra after it took over as the global currency. Then we come back to the present where Scott chats with Adam and Christina from our strategy team on just how likely that Libra-dominated future could be. We also get to hear from two members of our global team, Felipe Kopaitic from our LatAm team and Kambiz Djafar from our EMEA team, who shared their thoughts on how Libra adoption could play out in their respective region. If you’ve read about Libra and still have a lot of questions about it, or simply want to learn more about this topic, then this episode is for you!

What We Covered:

What the world would look like if Libra were to become the global currency
The many challenges that Facebook faces in launching Libra next year
The benefits that Facebook stands to gain from Libra and the resulting privacy concerns
The importance of earning consumer trust and overcoming regulatory hurdles
How the LatAm and European markets will likely respond to Libra
Takeaways for brand marketers wondering how Libra will impact consumer behavior

We only had time to read the first part of the speculative short story that Richard wrote. If interested, you can read the full version of the short story here.

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Episode 43 - Apple 2019 WWDC Recap

Tue, 11 Jun 2019 22:40:59 GMT

In this week’s episode, Scott sits down with the Lab’s head of strategy, Adam Simon, to talk about everything noteworthy from Apple’s WWDC event last week. From new AR tools to new privacy features, Apple is dedicated to position data privacy as a key selling point of its ecosystem while also making a considerable effort to ensure the consistency of its user experience across different devices. Have a listen and hear our take on Apple’s latest announcements and what they mean for brands.

What We Covered:

Scott’s and Adam’s personal favorite announcements coming out of this WWDC;
“Sign-in with Apple” and other new privacy features to come, and what they mean for data-driven brands and advertisers
The new iPadOS and watchOS and what they say about Apple’s overall platform evolution
Apple’s decision to break up the iTunes desktop app and new changes added to Apple podcast
Brand takeaways

Links:

Apple WWDC 2019 Recap: Everything Brands Need to Know

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Episode 42 - D2C are going Out Of Home

Thu, 23 May 2019 17:43:42 GMT

In this week’s episode, we are joined by Kenton Langstroth from Intersection, a smart cities technology and out-of-home advertising company based in NYC. And Terri Rockovich, a direct-to-consumer marketing veteran and founder of D2C pet food brand Jinx. The last few years have seen substantial growth of D2C brands, leveraging social media and lifestyle content to directly connect with key demographics through digital channels. In the past year or so, however, they are increasingly branching out of social media into new marketing channels such as OOH, print, and brick-and-mortar retail. We chat with the two industry insiders to chart the trajectory of D2C brand marketing and pick their brains for insights.

What We Covered:

Terri’s experience in the D2C world
Kenton explains what Intersection does and what is LinkNYC
How Casper disrupted the mattress industry by leveraging the advantages of a D2C brand
How the D2C branding and marketing strategy is evolving
Why many D2C brands are turning to OOH ads to reach new audiences
The unique advantages that DOOH ads provide in contrast to social media ads
Brand takeaways for learning from the rise of D2C brands

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Episode 41 - Google is Here to Help

Thu, 09 May 2019 15:53:48 GMT

At Google’s annual developer conference on Tuesday, CEO Sundar Pachi kicked off the opening keynote address with a new mission statement: “building a more helpful Google for everyone”. Throughout the keynote, Google touted the many benefits that Google’s services and products, powered by its collection of personal data, provide for everyday consumers and help improve their lives. In this episode, Scott sits downs with Adam and Christina to discuss this shift in Google’s branding, updates to Google Search, the current state of the Google Assistant, and the future of Google’s smart home lineup.

What We Covered:

3D objects and AR experiences and podcasts will be present in Google Search results
Visual search tool, Google Lens can now help users at restaurants, calculate the tip and read sign aloud to users
Google Assistant is now 10x faster and process request locally on device
Google Duplex comes to the web and the etiquette barrier that prevent people from using voice assistants in public
Google announced the Nest Hub Max and the new “Helpful Home” branding
Main takeaways for brand marketers from the Keynote.

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Episode 40 - Facebook's Plan for the Future

Thu, 02 May 2019 20:47:13 GMT

Where is Facebook going, and what does that mean for brands that advertise on its platforms? This week, your host Scott sits down with Adam and Christina from the strategy team to discuss the latest announcements from Facebook’s annual developer event this week and what they mean for the social network. As Facebook starts to work on transforming itself into “a privacy-focused social network built around messaging,” brands will have to evolve with the shifting audience attention and experiment with new ad products as well. Take a listen to find out what Facebook has planned for the future.

What We Covered:

What Facebook’s pivot to private messaging mean for the News Feed
How Facebook plans to monetize Groups and Events
How stories become an increasingly important format for Facebook and advertisers
Why and How Facebook is going all-in on social commerce across platforms
Assessing the new “co-viewing” feature and its potential impact on Facebook and beyond
Brand takeaways from the event

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Episode 39 - Outlook 2019: China POV

Thu, 25 Apr 2019 15:32:58 GMT

Joined by special guest Lin Liu, Chief Strategy Officer of UM China, Scott and Richard have a fun chat about how the trends in our 2019 annual Outlook report are playing out in China, the similarities we see in the unbundling of search and the rise of lifestyle brands, and the divergence in regards to tech regulations as well as attitudes towards data privacy and automation between the West and the East. China’s unique digital ecosystem makes this an interesting conversation to have, as it presents a different perspective on some of the key issues U.S. marketers face, and we hope you find this episode insightful and thought-provoking. You can also read the China POV that Lin wrote here.

What We Covered:

China’s unique BAT-dominant tech landscape and some insurgent brands
Why Baidu is losing grip on the Chinese search market and how social commerce is taking over search as a lead generator
Why voice search has yet to take off in China despite the high adoption of smart speakers
The media consumption divide in China and how it reflects in the business models of popular streaming services
How Chinese consumers think about data privacy and how Chinese platforms handle data security
Examples of D2C brands in China adopting a lifestyle branding to expand into new verticals
Why China is far more welcoming towards automation technologies than the West

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Episode 38 - Outlook 2019

Thu, 11 Apr 2019 14:53:18 GMT

In this week’s special episode, Scott sits down with Adam and Christina from our Strategy team to talk about the trends we laid out in our annual Outlook report this year. Starting with the overarching trend of the unintended consequences of technology and the souring consumer sentiment, we discussed how social and search is being unbundled into smaller communities and platforms, how the rise of subscription services is driving a media consumption divide, how brands are increasingly leveraging content and services to build a lifestyle branding, and how regulatory concerns may interfere with the application of automation technologies.

What We Covered:

The unintended consequences of technological disruption and the impact on consumer sentiment towards big tech
Why people are leaving social media like Facebook and Twitter for smaller, more interest-based online communities
How the rise of voice and visual search will change the SEO game
The widening media consumption gap divided by the paywall and the consequences of such an asymmetrical divide
Why brands need to become lifestyle brands to gain consumer trust and access, and how they can achieve that
The nuances of applying automation technologies that brands have to be mindful of, and the regulatory forces that may interfere with the rollout.

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Episode 37 - Unpacking Apple’s Unprecedented Service Event

Tue, 26 Mar 2019 23:33:53 GMT

It was “Show Time” indeed in sunny California at the March Apple event on Monday. Oprah, J.J. Abrams, a sleepy Chris Evans, and other A-list Hollywood talent were all in attendance to help roll out Apple's new Apple TV+ service, which will house all of Apple's original programming that is in development. Additionally, Apple announced some other new service offerings including Apple News+, Apple Card, Apple Arcade and Apple TV Channels. On this episode of Floor 9, we breakdown everything brands and marketers need to know about the latest Apple event and what it means for brands.

What We Covered:

What Apple News+ means for magazine publishers, news readers, and journalism.
How Apple Arcade works and how it is an early move for Apple to get ahead of the trends in the gaming market.
What Apple TV Channels and Apple TV+ say about Apple’s video content strategy, and whether Apple’s OTT offerings will be competitive against Netflix
How Apple Card will reset the consumer expectations around the credit card experience.

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Episode 36 — Partner Highlight feat. Damian Bradfield from WeTransfer

Thu, 14 Mar 2019 18:07:24 GMT

Welcome back to Floor 9. This week, we are delighted to chat with Damian Bradfield, President and CMO of WeTransfer, about how WeTransfer aligns their services with the creative community, how their unique ad products differ from the display ads commonly seen on the likes of Facebook and Google, and what today’s companies must do to navigate the online and offline world simultaneously. Plus, we also talk about how the tech industry is reacting to the increasing backlash and regulatory scrutiny, and how convenience will always win at the end of the day.

What We Covered:

Damian’s personal background and experience with WeTransfer
WeTransfer’s mission to serve the creative community across the world
WeTransfer’s unique ad products, and why they work so well
We shared thoughts on potential regulations on the tech industry
Why consumer inertia and the need for convenience may complicate the process
Brand implications, aka, what brands can learn from WeTransfer

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Episode 35 — Why Spotify ❤️ Podcasts

Thu, 14 Feb 2019 21:21:36 GMT

In this episode recorded on Valentine’s Day, we talk about Spotify’s intensifying love affair with podcasts. Joined by Adam and Christina from the strategy team, we talked through what Spotify’s recent acquisitions of Gimlet Media and Anchor means for the company, for the other podcast players (mainly Apple), and for the future of the entire podcast industry. Adam also reveals his long-winded personal history with podcasts. Take a listen and feel the love (for podcast).

What We Covered:

Why Spotify bought Gimlet Media and Anchor
The different economics between music streaming and podcasting
What Apple could do in podcasting in response to Spotify’s big moves
How Spotify’s aggregation strategy could change the podcast ecosystem
How this whole thing calls back to two of our Outlook 2019 trends: “Unbundling of Social and Search” and “Media Have & Have-nots”
We laugh about how our editor Richard hates Valentine’s Day.

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Episode 34 - Social-Native Brands | A PSFK NYRIW Panel

Thu, 31 Jan 2019 19:00:00 GMT

In this week’s special episode, we are proud to present a live recording of a Retail Innovation Week panel discussion that we recently put together in collaboration with PSFK. Our Strategist, Christina Adranly, led an esteemed panel with executives from social platforms Reddit and Snapchat and brands Johnson & Johnson and Floyd to talk in depth about the role of social media in brand building, community engagement, and next-gen commerce. Together, the panel explored the secret sauce behind how direct-to-consumer brands have successfully leveraged social media to reach consumers, and the lessons that brands, agencies, and platforms can apply to future-proof consumer relationships.

Special thanks to all the panelists who contributed to this episode:

Will Cady, Reddit, Head of Brand Strategy
Lauren Kase, Floyd, Head of Brand Marketing & Communications
Marni Schapiro, Snapchat, Director of Sales
Tony Crecca, Johnson & Johnson, Director Ecommerce Sales & Digital Experience

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Episode 33 - Live from CES 2019

Thu, 17 Jan 2019 16:08:44 GMT

Welcome back to Floor 9! Once again, the Lab team is starting the new year strong to bring you our insider take on the 2019 CES. As the biggest consumer tech convention on earth, CES showcases the latest trends in innovation and sets the tone for the rest of the year. The Lab team (Scott, Angel, Adam, and Christina) recap what we saw from the show floor and summarize the trends, which includes:

5G and 8K are “getting ahead of ourselves”
Smart home turns into a full-on platform war
A recap on Eureka Park, the section showcasing international startups
Emerging corporate innovation models at this CES
Apple’s looming non-presence at CES
We laugh about Scott’s delayed realization of Apple’s wordplay on its billboard

In the second half of the episode, we are joined by our brilliant team of LatAm Lab Ambassadors to talk about CES trends through the lens of the LatAm markets. Together, Florencia Crosta (Regional Director of Investments, Intelligence and Innovation for Latinoamerica), Felipe Kopaitic (Regional Digital Director for UL at IPG Mediabrands), and Santiago Garcés (Regional Account Director at IPG Mediabrands) shared their thoughts on attending CES for the first time, contextualizing 5G and voice assistants for the LatAm region, the democratization of healthcare, and how Google may have a strong advantage in the region compared to Apple and Amazon.

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Episode 32 - A Podcasting Holiday Special

Tue, 25 Dec 2018 18:08:44 GMT

Live from the Acast holiday party it is a Floor 9 holiday special! Scott is joined by a number guests within the audio space covering a range topics all about audio. Creative best practices, the power of audio, challenges the space will face in 2019 and more are discussed in this episode.

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Episode 31 - 2018 Year End Review

Thu, 20 Dec 2018 23:01:20 GMT

As we wind down 2018 Scott, Adam and Christina reflect on the past year and discuss the predictions that were made in our 2018 Outlook.

What We Covered:

Will world governments regulate any of the major tech platforms?
What verticals will Amazon tackle next?
Does Facebook enter the home? Will Apple turn Siri into a true platform?
How will the use cases and business models for AR develop?
How much market share will voice and visual search capture?
How will content distribution windows change?

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Episode 30 - The Future of Play feat. Lego

Thu, 06 Dec 2018 23:00:00 GMT

This week, we had a tri-coastal conversation with special guest Tom Donaldson, VP Creative Play Lab at Lego Group, and Adam Simon, our head of strategy, about how technology is changing the future of play. The tri-coastal trio tackles a range of topics including AR & VR, voice-enabled devices, the role of education and end with a conversation about the growing concerns around screen time.

What We Covered:

How digital technology is changing play today
Opportunities and limitations of AR & VR
We discuss the definition of play as it pertains to esports and gaming
Voice-enabled devices and their potential impact on play
The role of education in play
We end with a conversation on screen time

Related Links:

Lego Bugatti Chiron [YouTube]
Floor 9 listener survey [Link]

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Episode 29 - The Future of News feat Axios

Thu, 15 Nov 2018 18:30:44 GMT

This week, we sit down with two special guests — Nick Johnston, Editor-in-chief from Axios, and Joshua Lowcock, Chief Digital & Innovation Officer / Global Brand Safety Officer of UM Worldwide — to talk about the current landscape of news consumption and where the future of news may be going. Social media has no doubt forever changed the way we keep up with the news, for better and, perhaps more so, for worse, yet social media platforms keep insisting on being just technology platforms and not media publishers. This leads to a sludge of inappropriate, problematic content proliferating online platforms, and that creates unsafe environment for brands to buy against. Therefore, how we navigate the future of news is a big part of building a healthy digital ad ecosystem for tomorrow.

What We Covered:

The major challenges facing the news industry today
The differences between fake news, disinformation, and misinformation
Human-curated news vs. algorithm-driven news feed
New content formats and ways to consume news
The promise of new business models that could help fix the issues
We laugh about how terrible social media has become

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Episode 28 - The Future of Influence(rs)

Thu, 01 Nov 2018 19:36:12 GMT

Modern marketing has primarily been a game of influence via mass media channels. But thanks to the ongoing digital transformation, consumer attention is getting increasingly fragmented and spread across multiple platforms. The old guards of media are losing their grips on consumer attention and has been ceding grounds to the rising digital influencers. In this week’s episode, Scott sits down with the Lab’s strategy team to talk about the shifting source of influence, the status quo of influencer marketing, where this space is going, and how brands most effectively tap into the power of influencers.

What We Covered:

The democratization of media influence as attention fragments
The parallel between the rise of social media influencers and direct-to-consumer brands
How the influencer marketing space has evolved and where it is heading
Brand takeaways
We laugh about checking Instagram at work

Related Links:

Virtual Influencer "Lil Miquela" becomes a contributing editor for British magazine Dazed [link]

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Episode 27 - Partner Highlights: Last Mile Delivery

Thu, 18 Oct 2018 20:40:14 GMT

Last Mile Delivery is a growing logistical challenge as consumers are demanding ever faster delivery of their food, packages and parcels. This week, Lab’s Partnerships Team is behind the mic again to discuss a few different startups that are looking to disrupt last mile delivery. From small autonomous delivery robots to fully autonomous grocery stores on wheels, we break down the current competitions and point out how brands can get involved.

What We Covered:

Background on the Last Mile Delivery challenge
Benefits and challenges faced today by these startups
An overview of the different startups building last mile deliveries solutions in our partner showcase.
Brand opportunities
We laugh about our growing need for instant gratification

Related Links:

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Episode 26 - Food Innovation For Thought

Thu, 04 Oct 2018 13:00:00 GMT

Don’t listen to this episode when hungry, cause all we talked about is food! The food industry is going through an exciting phase of technological innovations, where incumbents and startups are racing each other to find new integration points in the value chain and bring more convenience and value to consumers. Starting with the big trends in the food industry today, we dissect what, how, and where we will be getting our fills in the near future before diving into some of the existing challenges that hinder the food innovations from going mainstream. Even if you don’t work for a food brand, this episode may still worth a listen because the disruptions in the food space offer valuable lessons for other industries as well. Click here to download and listen.

What We Covered:

The food value chain
Big trends in the food industry
What we will be eating in the future
How and where we will be eating
The innovation challenges facing the food industry
Brand takeaways
We laugh about the universal need for fresh avocados

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Episode 25 - The Age of The Super Bundle

Thu, 20 Sep 2018 17:22:44 GMT

This week we turn our gaze to the rise of the Super Bundles. As more and more content services become subscription-based and unbundle themselves from the existing cable bundle, we are seeing some early signs of a wave of bundling around the horizon. Except this time, the bundle will likely get even bigger and expand outside just media content over time. Companies like Disney and Apple are uniquely positioned to launch their own “super bundles” soon, resulting in implications that will test consumer loyalty and rebuild every industry. Is your brand ready for the age of the Super Bundle?

What We Covered:

History and Definition of bundling
Amazon Prime – the proto-super bundle
Disney’s super content bundle and beyond
What an Apple service + hardware bundle may look like
Another round of unbundling that may follow
Brand takeaways

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Episode 24 - Apple's 2018 iPhone Xs Event

Thu, 13 Sep 2018 19:30:26 GMT

Overview: September is here, new iPhones have arrived, and Floor 9 is officially 1 year old! There is no better way to celebrate than talking about Apple’s latest product announcements. On this episode of Floor 9, we discuss the trio of new iPhone X successors, their advanced machine learning capabilities, the redesigned Apple Watch, and speculate why there weren’t any AirPods or AirPower announcements. We close the episode looking forward to a potential iPad event next month and some brand takeaways.

What We Covered:

Apple Watch Series 4 updates including industry-first AFib and ECG capabilities
iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max & iPhone XR machine learning capabilities, impact on AR and future implications for a lightweight headset.
New AirPods, Macs, iPads, and more were missing from the event; we speculate why and when we will see them
Brand takeaways
We laugh about the new iPhone names

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Episode 23 - The State of VR vs. AR feat. Tony Parisi

Thu, 30 Aug 2018 20:34:11 GMT

This week, we had the pleasure of chatting with Tony Parisi, Global Head of VR/AR Brand Solutions at Unity Technologies, on what is going on right now in Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). Starting with the VR space, we dissect the challenges that VR faces in consumer adoption, discussed the enterprise applications of VR, and debated the best option for VR experiences at the moment before moving on to the AR space. Tony shared some interesting insider takes on the Magic Leap headset, what surprised him, and why we remain a bit skeptical about its prospects. We also talked about how and why mobile is driving AR adoption and whether AR/VR headsets will converge in the future. This is a fast-paced episode jam-packed with great insights, which you can download and listen here.

What We Covered:

Main challenges hindering mainstream VR headset adoption
The enterprise use cases and adoption of VR technologies
The best option for a first-time VR experience
Evaluating the new Magic Leap AR headset release
How and why mobile is driving AR adoption
The future of AR headsets and if AR/VR will converge
Some great takeaways for brands exploring VR/AR
Tony shares exciting news about Unity's latest AR ad product

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Episode 22 - Brand Trust in the Digital Age feat. Jort Possel

Thu, 16 Aug 2018 21:26:31 GMT

In this episode of Floor 9, we had the pleasure of chatting with Jort Possel, Managing Director of Digital Marketing at management consulting firm Accenture, on the growing importance of brand trust in the digital age. Starting with how social media has vastly changed the online discourse around brand narratives, we quickly dived into the many ways in which digital technologies interplays with how brands can earn and maintain consumers’ trust. This is a can’t-miss episode for all brand marketers, because trust, an increasingly rare commodity today, is the key to consumer access, and Jort has many great suggestions that you need to hear.

What We Covered:

What is brand trust and why it is so important
Facebook’s trust crisis & brand trust in the age of social media
Brand activism as a tactic to build trust and its limitations
The problem with placing trust in AI and algorithms
How consumer privacy concerns impact brand trust
A summary of brand takeaways
We laugh about how everyone seems to have an opinion about everything on social media

Episode 21 - AI Takes The Wheel: The Future of Autonomous Vehicles feat. Mauricio Angulo

Fri, 27 Jul 2018 15:36:33 GMT

Welcome to Floor 9! This week we take a look at the rapid development of autonomous vehicle technology, the major challenges it is facing, and its potential impact on consumer behavior. From how cities are designed to the next retail evolution, autonomous vehicles will usher in a whole new level of convenience not just in transportation, but all aspects of our lives. Joining us this week is special guest Mauricio Angulo, the America’s Marketing Communications Manager for ExxonMobil Fuels.

What We Covered:

Potential challenges facing autonomous vehicles
The transportation bundle of the future: Multimodal Transportation
Impact on consumer behaviour & urban planning
The next retail revolution
We discuss how city and suburban infrastructure will be changed
Gas, electricity, or algae — what will power the AV’s of tomorrow?
Brand takeaways
We laugh about oil ruling the world!

Related Links:

IPG Media Lab CES 2018 Recap [Medium]
Our take on the future of transportation and mobility services [Medium]

You can follow Mauricio on Twitter @MMangulo2003

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Episode 20 - Partner Highlights: Esports and Gaming

Mon, 02 Jul 2018 14:00:00 GMT

Welcome to Floor 9! This week, members of the partnerships team here at IPG Media Lab (Angel and Scott) host our first ever partnership-exclusive episode. Listeners get an inside look at the role that the partnerships team plays at the IPG Media Lab and learn about the key criteria the team uses to evaluate startup technologies. In the newly minted Partnerships Highlight section Scott and Angel discuss four esports and gaming startups that you might not have heard of but should know about.

What We Covered:

Background on the Lab’s Partnership Team
Key criteria we use for startups evaluation
Partnerships highlights on esports and gaming startups
Bonus: cool startups of the month that are all about personalization
We laugh about having to play in the seniors league of Tespa

Related Links:

Genvid [Link]
Challengermode [Link]
Tespa [Link]
Super League Gaming [Link]

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Episode 19 - Ecommerce Trends Breakdown feat. MAGNA

Tue, 19 Jun 2018 22:23:18 GMT

Welcome to Floor 9! This week, we are honored to have Brian Hughes, the SVP of Audience Intelligence & Strategy at our sibling agency Magna, with us to discuss their latest Media Economy Report on the evolving ecommerce landscape, which is set to debut at the 2018 Cannes Lions Festival this week. This insightful report from Magna breaks down the average ecommerce shopper, where and how they are shopping, and the new value drivers that are changing the way consumers shop online and off, and Brian is here to tell us all about it.

What We Covered:

Background on the 2018 Media Economy Report Ecommerce
We discuss the demographics of the average ecommerce shopper
Where consumers start their online ecommerce journey
Hypotheses as to why desktop is still the preferred method of online shopping
The trend of digital-native brands expanding into brick-and-mortar retail
Trends in grocery shopping as it continues to move online
Hot takes on Walmart’s new luxury shopping service Jetblack
Brand takeaways on how to stay connected to consumers as ecommerce takes over

Related Links:

MAGNA’s 2018 Media Ecom Report [MAGNA]
Walmart announces concierge shopping service, Jetblack [Bloomberg]

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Episode 18 - WWDC 2018

Thu, 07 Jun 2018 19:16:13 GMT

Welcome to Floor 9! Apple kicked off its annual Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) with their keynote address on Monday. This year, the iPhone maker is completely focused on software, introducing new iterations of operating systems across its line up, including iOS 12 for iPhone and iPad, watchOS 5 for Apple Watch, tvOS 12 for Apple TV, as well as macOS Mojave for Mac computers. We discuss the top announcements and what this all means for brands and marketers.

What We Coved:

Siri Shortcuts and gesture control for Apple Watch
Scott talks about his love for Memojis
ARKit 2.0 comes with 3D object detection and object permanence
New screen time control features in iOS 12
New anti-ad tracking features in new iOS and macOS
We laugh about Memojis and tongue detection

Related Links:

WWDC 2018 Keynote [Apple]
Fast Forward: Apple Preps For Post-Mobile With WWDC 2018 Announcements [Medium]
Tim Cook says he spends too much time on his iPhone [Business Insider]

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Episode 17 - Legalizing Sports Betting & Its Media Implications

Thu, 31 May 2018 18:53:40 GMT

Overview:

Welcome Floor 9! This week we discuss the recent decision by the US Supreme Court to repeal the 1992 ban on sports betting. Our very own Ben Hone picks up the mic to discuss the potential impact this decision has on sports viewership, interactive TV and esports, as well as distills what this all means for brands. Place your bets and take a listen now!

Related Links:

Supreme Court Ruling Favors Sports Betting [NY Times]

FanDuel Gets Acquired [Variety]

Potential $65B Sporting Betting industry for the US [The Conversation]

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Episode 16 - Recap of Facebook F8 / Microsoft Build / Google IO

Thu, 17 May 2018 21:12:38 GMT

Welcome to Floor 9! Developer conference season is in full swing and this week we dive into the three big tech conferences that took place in the past two weeks — Facebook F8, Microsoft Build, and Google IO. We discuss the latest product developments from these companies such as the Oculus GO from Facebook, Google’s new AI product Google Duplex, as well as Microsoft’s positioning to focus completely on the enterprise market. If you wanna keep your finger on the pulse of the major tech platforms but missed the three events, this episode is for you!

Episode 15 - All Culture is Digital Culture ft. Wattpad

Thu, 03 May 2018 21:28:01 GMT

Welcome to Floor 9! This week’s episode takes an in-depth look at one of our 2018 Outlook themes: All Culture is Digital Culture. As our media and content become increasingly digitized, the separation between “online” and “offline” is getting blurred as we enter an age where all popular culture is now part of the digital culture.

In this week’s episode, we are joined by Chris Stefanyk, Head of Brand Partnerships at Wattpad, a massive online community of self-publishing writers and readers. Together we dived into how news, sports and entertainment — three key domains of pop culture — are being deeply impacted by digital technology and what that means for media owners and brands. Chris shed some light on how Wattpad is capturing the attention of the youth and helping brands to tap into the digital-native culture of today.

Get in contact with Wattpad Team here!

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Episode 14 - The Battle For The Home

Thu, 12 Apr 2018 19:46:59 GMT

Welcome to Floor 9! This week we break down the status quo and shifting dynamics of the smart home market. 2018 is the year where we are finally seeing the smart home emerge from its infancy. Largely driven by voice assistants from Amazon and Google, our major tech platforms are looking to infiltrate the most intimate space in consumers’ daily lives. How will the next platform war play out in our living rooms? Download and listen to find out!

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Episode 13 - The Sight and Sound of Search

Thu, 29 Mar 2018 20:49:11 GMT

Welcome to Floor 9! This week we have an in-depth conversation about how visual search and voice search are changing the way consumers are discovering products and information. Our friends and search experts at Reprise – David Thai VP Paid Search; Adam Edwards, Senior VP and Head of SEO; and Dan Toplitt, VP of SEO – join us for a lively discussion about the future of search and the implications they hold for brands.

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Episode 12 - Meet Over Meat Live @ SXSW

Fri, 16 Mar 2018 17:54:34 GMT

Welcome to Floor 9! This week we are live from Austin, Texas at the South by Southwest festival (SXSW). Each year the Lab heads down to Austin to meet with emerging startups, experience brand activations, and discover the trends coming out of SXSW that brands need to know about. We are joined this week by special guests Chris Grove, VP US Production, and Suraj Ghandi, SVP, Group Director, from UM Studios. After five frantic days on the ground and a bit too much brisket we talked about the trends coming out of SXSW and did a temperature check on where the industry heading in 2018.

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Episode 11 - The Changing Movie-Going Experience

Wed, 07 Mar 2018 14:59:53 GMT

Welcome to Floor 9! This week’s episode is inspired by the runaway success of Black Panther. But big box office successes like Black Panther are becoming rare outside of superhero movies and established franchises. This is largely due to a shift happening with consumers and how they consume content. The traditional windowing strategies are now at a precarious tipping point as less and less people attend movies in favor of on demand streaming services. How did this all happen and where is movie-going going? Download and listen to find out!

Note: This episode contains ZERO spoilers for Black Panther.

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Episode 10 - The Paper Towel Effect

Thu, 15 Feb 2018 19:55:06 GMT

Welcome to Floor 9! In this week’s episode we discuss the hidden threat that private label brands pose to traditional CPG brands as shopper behavior continues to shift . Born out of a spontaneous discussion over preferences for paper towels, the Lab team dives deep into the changes in brand loyalty over the past few years and how CPG brands need to rethink how they are adapting to the new paradigm of omnichannel shopping.

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Episode 9 - Outlook 2018 Preview

Thu, 01 Feb 2018 23:08:37 GMT

Welcome to Floor 9! We are back in NYC and ready to release the IPG Media Lab’s Outlook for 2018. This is our yearly publication of all the ideas that excite us for 2018 and beyond. We looked at new technologies, market forces and shifts in consumer behavior to help us formulate the overarching trends that brands need to pay attention to this year. Tech-driven disruption is coming to every industry at a rapid rate, and the IPG Media Lab is here, armed with the Outlook 2018, to help our agencies and clients navigate and adapt to these changes.

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Episode 8 - Live from CES 2018

Thu, 18 Jan 2018 22:20:06 GMT

Welcome to Floor 9! We are live from CES 2018 in lovely Las Vegas. Every year that IPG Media Lab ventures to CES to scout out new startups, technologies and trends for the year ahead. The entire team makes an appearance on this episode to discuss everything you need to know about CES. Chad Stoller, Global Chief Innovation Officer of UM Worldwide makes a special guest appearance to talk shop about how the show has developed over the past 20 years. Download and listen now!

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Episode 7 - Holiday Special! 2017 Reflections & Looking Ahead

Thu, 14 Dec 2017 19:12:30 GMT

Welcome to Floor 9! In this week’s episode, we look back on the past year, dissecting how the three trends we delineated in our 2017 Outlook at the beginning of the year are holding up while offering our takes how they will continue to play out in 2018. So, grab a glass of eggnog and listen up! This is a holiday special you don’t want to miss.

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Episode 6 - What's Up With Retail

Thu, 30 Nov 2017 19:56:33 GMT

Welcome to Floor 9! This week is all about retail, retail, retail. We cut through the media headlines warning of a “retail apocalypse” and break down exactly what is happening to the retail industry. Give this episode a listen if you are curious to hear our take on the future of retail.

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Episode 5 - Esports and Gaming feat Twitch

Fri, 17 Nov 2017 06:19:23 GMT

Welcome to Floor 9! This week we geek out about esports and gaming with our friends Taylor and Nate from Twitch. If you have ever wondered why someone would watch another person play a video game or what exactly is professional gaming, this is the episode for you. Download and listen now!

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Episode 4 - Conversational Interfaces

Wed, 01 Nov 2017 19:10:22 GMT

Welcome to Floor 9! This week we talk about Conversation Interfaces. Chatbots, Alexa, Google Home and Siri are at the forefront of this episode and who better to help us dissect this topic then our special guest, Alexa! She joins the IPG Media Lab team this week to discuss how the very nature of communicating between human and machine is changing. Download and listen now! What We Covered:A definition of Conversational InterfacesDiscussion on where these devices will have an impactRecommendations on how to best activate in the space as a brandAlexa has a most excellent dad joke

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Episode 3 - Camera As Input

Thu, 19 Oct 2017 21:23:26 GMT

Overview: Welcome to Floor 9! This week we dive into the trend Camera as Input. Building off last week's episode we discuss the importance of the smartphone’s camera. From AR and selfie culture to defining the next iteration of the branded asset pack, cameras have had a greater impact than one might think. But to what extent? Download and listen to find out! What We Covered: Brief definition of the trend Camera as Input We tally up how many cameras are in circulation Discussion on mobile AR, visual search, 3D assets and moreAngel makes us laughSelf Fatalities Chart: https://www.statista.com/chart/4341/the-most-frequent-causes-of-selfie-fatalities/

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Episode 2 - Advanced Interfaces

Fri, 06 Oct 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Welcome to Floor 9! This week we talk about one of our 2017 Outlook trends, Advanced Interfaces. These Advanced Interfaces offer new types of inputs and outputs, dramatically diversifying the user experience as well as the kinds of data we create. But what does all this mean? Give us a listen and find out. Download and listen now!

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Episode 1: 2017 Apple iPhone Launch Event

Sun, 17 Sep 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Welcome to Floor9! This week we talk about all the new iPhones and everything else Apple announced at their 2017 iPhone Launch Event.

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