Quo Vadis: AdTech Economic Forum Podcast Episode #1 with Brian Wieser

Welcome to the Quo Vadis podcast series dedicated to one-to-one interviews with the speakers who took the stage at the AdTech Economic Forum.

In this pod series, we get to know what our esteemed speakers are up to touching on their career journeys and hearing their unique perspectives across the many facets shaping the AdTech scene.

Takeaways:

• 📈 Ad Market Outlook: The US advertising market currently looks positive, but carries significant risks, particularly following the recent election.   
• US Political Uncertainty: Potential policy changes like tariffs, especially impacting cross-border advertising from China, and new regulations (e.g., around pharmaceutical or high-fat/sugar food advertising) could significantly affect ad spend.   
• 📊 Unsustainable Growth?: Current high single-digit or low double-digit growth rates in advertising are historically elevated and likely won't last long-term; mid-single-digit growth is more realistic baseline.   
• 💰 Valuation vs. Reality: There's often a disconnect between high stock valuations (like The Trade Desk's) and fundamental business analysis, reminding us that investor sentiment doesn't always perfectly reflect a company's underlying business.   
• 🤖 AI & Agency Jobs: AI isn't expected to eliminate agency jobs wholesale; rather, it will shift the required skills. Professionals who know how to use AI will likely replace those who don't.   
• 💡 Agency Adaptation: For agencies to stay relevant through technological shifts like AI, continuous investment in new skills, people, and products is crucial, rather than just returning cash to shareholders.   
• 🤝 Ad Tech M&A: While M&A activity has been somewhat quiet, potentially due to regulatory caution, there's an expectation it might pick up, especially with dry powder available from private equity.   
• 🔍 The Transparency Trade-Off: While marketers say they want transparency, many will accept less transparency if it means achieving better outcomes for the same or lower budget. True transparency is arguably an illusion anyway.