Next in Media

Next in Media talked to Michael Wayne, co-founder and CEO of Kin, about his nearly 20-year journey building a media company alongside YouTube's evolution. Wayne shared how his company navigated multiple business model shifts—from the MCN era to working with traditional celebrities on digital platforms, licensing content to streaming services and cable networks during the pandemic, and experimenting with FAST channels. The conversat...

Next in Media talked to Selina Sykes, Global Marketing Transformation Leader for Beauty and Wellbeing at Unilever, about the company's ambitious goal to allocate half of its media budget to creators. The conversation explored how a legacy CPG giant is reimagining its marketing model to stay relevant in a social-first world.

Sykes discussed Unilever's shift from traditional broadcast advertising to a "many-to-many" model that harness...

Next in Media talked to Dhar Mann, Creator and founder of Dhar Mann Studios, and Sean Atkins, CEO of Dhar Mann Studios, about building one of YouTube's most successful scripted content operations. They discussed creating family-friendly scripted series at scale, working with brands beyond traditional advertising, and expanding their studio model to support other creators.

Mann and Atkins also covered why scripted content is breaking...

🔖Chapters:

[00:01:12] - Kelly's Background: From Soccer to Ad Tech

[00:03:22] - Making the Move from Meta to Amazon

[00:04:44] - Amazon DSP's Evolution from Single to Multi-Purpose

[00:06:10] - Adapting to the Streaming TV Revolution

[00:07:31] - Technical Differentiators and Competitive Positioning

[00:13:30] - AI Integration and the "Crystal Box" Approach

[00:16:54] - The Future of Automated Advertising Agents

[00:18:03] - Impact of Cha...

🔖Chapters:

00:00 - Introduction and DAZN Overview

01:12 - DAZN's Global Sports Streaming Scale

03:58 - Creating the FIFA Club World Cup Tournament

07:43 - Managing Complex Global Live Streaming

14:26 - The State of Sports and Streaming Industry

18:40 - Lessons from Amazon's Thursday Night Football Launch

27:30 - DAZN's US Growth Strategy and Original Content

💡Takeaways:

🌍 DAZN operates as the world's largest sports streaming service, ha...

Next in Media spoke with Drew Muller, VP and General Manager of House of Highlights, about how the Warner Discovery-owned property is looking to bridge sports fandom with top creators' content via the Creator League. The event, founded in 2023, features top creators such as Kai Cenat, Jesser and FaZe Rug playing a series of tournaments in sports such as slamball, dodgeball and basketball for big prize money, both on social platform...

Next in Media chatted with Rich Bloom, GM, Creator Programs & EVP, Business Development at Tubi, about the Fox-owned streamers new creator program, which has quickly expanded for five to 50 participants. Bloom also talked about Tubi's overall growth, Gen Z misconceptions, and whether TV needs to adopt more YouTube-like qualities.

💡Takeaways:

• 🎬 Creator Content is Blurring the Lines with Traditional TV: The distinction between co...

Next in Media spoke with Marketecture CEO Ari Paparo, author of the new book "Yield: How Google Bought, Built, and Bullied Its Way to Advertising Dominance" about how Google was able to build a monopoly on programmatic ads, despite so many people in the ad industry shouting about it for years - and whether we can stop the next one.

💡Takeaways:

• 🏛️ The initial small scale of programmatic advertising in the early 2000s made it dif...

Next in Media spoke with WPP Media's Jessica Brown and Spark Foundry Worldwide's Kelly Metz, focusing on YouTube's growing role in the TV marketplace, the shift towards holistic video measurement, the increasing importance of AI and streamlined approaches in media buying, and the evolving challenges and opportunities in creator partnerships and cross-platform attribution.

💡Takeaways:

• 📺 YouTube's Growing TV Presence: YouTube is ...

This episode is brought to you by Walmart Connect. From homepage to home improvement. Win Carts and Minds with Walmart Connect.

Next in Media spoke with Sarah Hofstetter, chairwoman of Profitero, a division of Publicis, about the haves and have nots in retail media, whether the big players TV presence is going to cause a bifurcation in the market, and what agentic shopping might do to the whole category.

💡Takeaways:

• 💸 Retail Med...

In this episode of Next in Media, Mike Shields interviews Dani Mariano, CEO of Razorfish, about their research into Gen Alpha, highlighting this generation's unique media consumption habits, brand maturity, and influence on household purchasing decisions, as well as Razorfish's "creator collab" program designed to meet the evolving demands of creator-centric marketing.

💡 Takeaways:

• 👶 Gen Alpha is more "Gen Z than Gen Z" at age ...

Grace Kao, CMO of Snap, discusses Snapchat's unique position as a platform focused on authentic connection and creativity, highlighting its diverse audience (consumers, B2B, developers) and innovative features like Promoted Places on the Snap Map and opportunities for brands in Chat, emphasizing the platform's ease of use and its appeal to a generation valuing real self-expression.

💡Takeaways:

• 📸 Camera-First Communication: Snap...

Chief Media Officer at Known, Kasha Cacy, discusses YouTube's growing prominence against traditional television, despite challenges for brands regarding content predictability and measurement. Cacy, also touches on the evolving landscape of big creators acting as media companies and the current economic outlook from a business perspective.

💡Takeaways:

• 📈 YouTube's Continued Growth: YouTube consistently gains viewership from trad...

Next in Media discusses the evolving role of influencers in marketing with Megan Pagliuca, Chief Product Officer at Omnicom Media Group, and Khurrum Malik, Head of Marketing for Walmart Connect, focusing on how data and new strategies are integrating influencers into broader media plans to drive sales and brand building.

💡Takeaways:

• 🛒 Retail Data for Influencer Selection: The integration of retail data, particularly from large ...

In this episode of Next in Media, Mike Shields interviews Ann Harrell, Head of Product Enablement at Pacvue, about the evolving landscape of retail media. Harrell explains the challenges of data availability and cross-channel attribution in retail media, highlighting the role of data clean rooms and the blurring lines between retail, social, and traditional search as all become channels for commerce.

💡Takeaways:

• The Challenge of...

As part of its exclusive series on the YouTube Ecosystem, Next in Media spoke with John Terrana, President, Americas at VaynerMedia, about why most clients aren't racing to lock up much inventory beyond sports this year, and the 'weirdo' spot YouTube still finds itself in.

💡Takeaways:

• 🏈 Sports Media Dominance: Live sports, particularly NFL and NBA, are highly competitive and fast-moving in the media marketplace, unlike other co...

Next in Media sat down with Chloe Wix, Head of Global Product & Commercial Growth at Spotify at the company's beach venue in Cannes, to talk about AI-generated audio ads, why Spotify is leaning more into monetizing non-subscribers, and whether the 'background' medium can graduate into the video ad market.

💡Takeaways:

• 🎧 Shifting Perception of Spotify's Business Model: While initially perceived primarily as a subscription service...

Next In Media spoke with Ryan Mayward, SVP of Retail Media Sales for Walmart Connect, about the company's expansion of its retail media capabilities beyond its own platforms. Walmart Connect is focusing on off-platform strategies through partnerships in CTV (NBC Universal, Disney, Paramount Plus), social media (Meta, TikTok, Pinterest), and new integrations like Vizio. 

💡Takeaways:

• 🌐 Off-Platform Retail Media Expansion: Walmart...

Next in Media and Sean Downey of Google discuss YouTube's evolving role in connecting brands with creators, highlighting new platforms like Brand Connect and "Peak Points" to foster authentic partnerships and drive full-funnel outcomes for advertisers. They also touch on YouTube's expansion into live events like the NFL's global broadcast and the growing potential of shoppable content across all formats.

💡Takeaways:

• 🤝 Creator-B...