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

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

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

Reach Out:

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

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

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

Reach Out:

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

Michael Magnusson, founder and CEO of Pinnacle Advertising, joins Brian Wieser and Olivia Morley to discuss what it means to run an agency built on retail performance and measurable outcomes.

Michael explains how that focus shapes team structure, client relationships, and day-to-day decision-making, as well as how the agency operates in a market defined by consolidation and evolving client demands.

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

Reach Out:

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

Scott Shamberg, president and CEO of independent media agency Mile Marker, joins Brian to discuss the growing opportunity for independent agencies serving mid-market and private equity-backed brands. 

Shamberg explains how Mile Marker is positioning itself between small media boutiques and holding companies, why its clients prioritize flexible, “human in the loop” service models, and how the agency is using automation and AI to enhance — not replace — talent. 

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

Reach Out:

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

This week, Olivia and Brian interview Boston Consulting Group's Janet Balis. We discuss how AI is reshaping the agency business beyond efficiency gains. Janet argues that many agencies and clients are underestimating AI’s impact by treating it as a cost-saving tool rather than an opportunity to rethink operating models, partnerships, and growth strategies.

We explore how agencies should adapt to evolving client expectations, where work should sit between agencies and in-house teams, and why success increasingly depends on designing more flexible, account-specific models that better align creative, media, and technology capabilities.

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

Reach Out:

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

This week, Madison and Wall’s Tucker Lake joins Olivia and Brian to discuss new research examining how the largest agency groups are approaching AI. Based on M&W's interviews with senior leaders across holding companies, one theme stood out: while AI has become a central focus, agency offerings today are far more similar than they are different.

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

Reach Out:

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

This week, Brian and Olivia interview Andrea Bendzick, CEO of independent digital agency, Wpromote. The group discusses Wpromote's recent acquisition of Giant Spoon and what it signals for the future of advertising agencies, including the convergence of creative and performance marketing.

Drawing on her background in finance and technology, Bendzick explains why the traditional divide between brand and performance no longer reflects client needs, how Wpromote is integrating creative, media, and data through its PolarisIQ platform, and why the company is building a tech-enabled services model to drive measurable outcomes.

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

Reach Out:

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

Rick Milenthal, chairman and CEO of independent agency, The Shipyard, joined Brian and Olivia for a conversation about building and sustaining a full-service independent agency — with major operations in Columbus, Ohio and San Diego — around the philosophy of "engineering brand love" through the integration of paid, earned, and owned media.

Rick shares how The Shipyard has grown to ~450 people by bringing together best-in-class talent across creative, media, PR, and experiential disciplines rather than treating them as separate businesses. He discusses the agency's sweet spot serving mid-market clients spending $50–$100 million, why he sees a significant greenfield opportunity in media buying for that segment, and how he thinks about acquisitions as talent acceleration rather than traditional M&A. Brian and Olivia also dig into the appointment of Nancy Hall as the new U.S. head of WPP Media, Havas' agency acquisition in Germany, the $220 million DHS media campaign and the political agency world it surfaced, and how agencies navigate clients or campaigns that staff find ethically fraught.

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

Reach Out

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

This week Dan Khabie, cofounder of CourtAvenue, joined Olivia for a conversation about building an independent digital and AI transformation agency — from a garage startup in San Diego to a 250-person company growing at 64% year-over-year.

Daniel discusses CourtAvenue's five pillar go-to-market strategy — spanning digital ecosystems, retail media, physical-digital experiences, and AI consulting — and how AI has become the central accelerant across all of it. He also shares his "fresh water" philosophy for working alongside in-house teams, reflects on lessons learned inside WPP and J. Walter Thompson, and offers his take on holding company consolidation. Brian and Olivia also dig into WPP's Elevate28 restructuring plan, Globant's client losses, and a remarkable 36-page court document that revealed the actual media spending of WPP's largest clients across major platforms.

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

Reach Out

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

Brian and Olivia interviewed Beth Ann Kaminkow, CEO of the Americas and global chief client officer at Dentsu, following a significant leadership transition and renewed scrutiny of the company’s international business. The conversation comes as Dentsu posted weak financial results, announced Takeshi Sano as its new global CEO and president, and signaled that a previously explored sale of its international operations is no longer under consideration.

Beth Ann discusses Dentsu’s strategy to prioritize Japan and the U.S. as growth engines, strengthen its power brands including Merkle, and position the company as “right-sized” for the AI era. She addresses questions around integration, talent turnover and global alignment, and confirms that partnership models — similar to the recent Horizon–Havas arrangement — remain a possibility as Dentsu evaluates ways to accelerate growth without creating further internal disruption.

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

Reach Out

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

John Elder, CEO and co-founder of independent creative agency Supergood, joined Brian and Olivia to discuss how data — not AI alone — may become the real differentiator for agencies navigating margin pressure and rising client expectations.

Reach Out

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

Patti McConnell, co-founder and managing partner, and Tommy Henvey, co-founder and chief creative officer of independent creative agency Something Different, joined Brian and Olivia for a conversation about building an agency designed for closeness, flexibility, and creative fulfillment rather than scale.

Patti and Tommy discuss the studio model that allows Something Different to expand and contract around client needs, how trust and chemistry still decide pitches once you’re in the room, and why disciplined scoping and margin protection still matter even when agencies take on passion projects or long-term bets.

We also explore cautious approaches to new business investment, rising expectations around transparency and security driven by procurement and fintech clients, and why many independents continue to prioritize culture, senior involvement, and client relationships as holding companies focus on profitability and structural change.

Reach Out

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

Judith Carr-Rodriguez, CEO and partner at independent full-service creative agency, FIG, joined Brian and Olivia this week on the podcast.

Judith shared how clients increasingly value small, senior teams over large pyramidal organizations, how FIG has grown by focusing on long-term AOR relationships rather than project-based work, and why the agency has become more selective as demand increases.

Judith also shares how Fig thinks about controlled growth, client fit and longevity, arguing that focus — not scale for scale’s sake — has become one of the most important disciplines for independent agencies.

Reach Out

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

Andrew Cohen, CEO of independent St. Louis creative agency Moosylvania, joined Brian and Olivia for a candid conversation about building an agency around senior talent, continuity, and long-term thinking.

Andrew shares the origin story of Moosylvania, founded by his father after leaving an IPG-owned agency, and reflects on taking over leadership during the pandemic as the firm evolved into a more digital, hybrid operation.

Reach Out

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

Brian and Olivia interview Dean Broadhead, founder of independent agency, Broadhead about how agencies should rethink production, talent, and investment as AI reshapes how work gets done.

Drawing on his “stop making shoes” framework, Dean explains why agencies should focus less on long-tail production and more on strategy, creativity, and risk mitigation, using AI to create space for higher-value work rather than replace it. The conversation also explores culturally led AI adoption, proprietary platforms built around subscription models, capital allocation decisions — including exiting an ESOP — and why independents may be better positioned to stay closely connected to clients as holding companies navigate structural change.

Reach Out

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

Brian interviews Ammunition CEO Jeremy Heilpern to examine how agencies can defend pricing and articulate value as AI reshapes workflows, timelines and client expectations.

Drawing on Ammunition’s growth from a category-focused shop into an independent agency with a broad client roster, Jeremy explains why specialization, internal production and deliberate investment decisions have been central to maintaining margins and client retention.

Reach Out

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

Brian and Olivia discuss 2026 agency trends with media and tech analyst Ian Whittaker. Drawing on his background in financial markets and consulting, Ian frames 2026 as a crossroads year for agencies, one defined less by immediate disruption than by a series of strategic choices that will determine longer-term positioning.

The conversation explores whether agencies can move up the value chain by better articulating the financial value of creativity, how AI has intensified pressure from tech platforms, and why independent agencies may be better positioned to defend pricing and confidence than holding companies. Whittaker also shares his outlook on organic growth across the major holding companies, the risks facing Dentsu’s international business, and what agency leaders should prioritize when hiring senior leadership in a market where creative credibility and business fluency increasingly need to coexist.

Reach Out

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

Mollie Rosen, president of member experience at the 4As, joins Olivia and Brian this week to unpack the 4As' 2026 Look Ahead report and what it signals about the future of agencies.

Agencies face two divergent but overlapping paths, according to Mollie. They can 1. Become platform- and technology-led or 2. Double down on creativity and strategic partnership. We explore how AI is accelerating this tension, why most agencies are likely to land somewhere along a continuum between the two extremes, and how longstanding issues around compensation models, talent strategy and investment risk could determine which agencies are best positioned to adapt.

Reach Out

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

The episode also features a brief mention of Olivia's new subscription PR model offering agencies a weekly hour of senior strategic thinking. For details, email olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com.

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter for episode notes and analysis. It’s free and drops every Monday.

Reach Out

Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

📬 Pitch a guest or inquire about sponsorships:

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

This week, Olivia and Brian talk with Steve and Robin Boehler of Mercer Island Group as the industry absorbs one of the most disruptive weeks in recent holding company history. The Bowlers break down Omnicom’s restructuring, including the abrupt shuttering of several legacy creative agencies, and explain why decades of diluted positioning left many large networks vulnerable. They also outline why consolidation is sharpening client anxiety, how brand clarity deteriorated across holding companies, and what marketers really look for when evaluating agency partners in periods of instability.

Steve and Robin discuss expected downstream effects for talent, pricing and media consolidation, the likelihood of further restructuring inside Omnicom, and why middle management may face the harshest employment cycle. They close by previewing their new book, a field guide designed to help agencies sharpen positioning, pitch more effectively and win more business.

The episode also features a brief mention of Olivia's new subscription PR model offering agencies a weekly hour of senior strategic thinking. For details, email olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com.

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter for episode notes and analysis. It’s free and drops every Monday.

Reach Out

Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

📬 Pitch a guest or inquire about sponsorships:

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

This week, Olivia and Brian talk with Tombras president Dooley Tombras, who leads one of the industry’s few scaled, family-owned independent agencies. Dooley explains why Tombras built its full-service model by zigging against industry convention, how independence enables long-term investment in AI and first-party data, and why today’s consolidation cycle is pushing top talent toward indies.

He also discusses the agency’s hub-and-spoke staffing strategy, what “independence with scale” looks like across Knoxville, New York, Atlanta, and Buenos Aires, and why cultural stability at the top helps Tombras maintain an 83% new-business win rate.

In News of the Week:

• Majority of R&CPMK staff exit IPG to join Michael Nyman’s ACC
• Alex Lubar leaves DDB amid broader Omnicom consolidation.
• FutureBrand’s global leadership departs as the agency is folded into McCann.
• WPP Media wins the Henkel account across roughly 30 European markets.

The episode also features a brief mention of Olivia's new subscription PR model offering agencies a weekly hour of senior strategic thinking. For details, email olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com.

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter for episode notes and analysis. It’s free and drops every Monday.

Reach Out

Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

📬 Pitch a guest or inquire about sponsorships:

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

This week, Olivia and Brian sit down with consultant and author Michael Farmer, who has spent three decades diagnosing the economic pressures inside agencies. Farmer explains why agencies still struggle to measure work, how rework distorts staffing needs, and how digital and social accelerated the long-running pattern of falling fees and rising workloads. He also outlines what AI will mean for both creative and media agencies, including major productivity gains that could compress fees unless leaders reinvest efficiencies into senior talent and reconnect creativity, media and brand strategy.

Michael shares insights from his early consulting work at Ogilvy, his analysis of media agency staffing models and his belief that MMM tools like Mutinex can help clients and agencies better understand where growth is actually coming from. He closes with what is ahead for him as he completes his new book Madison Avenue Media Madness and shifts his focus toward teaching and training.

In News of the Week:

• IPG, Dentsu, and Globant report financial results.
• Publicis publicly challenges Omnicom’s accounting approach.
• Paramount Skydance discloses that Publicis and Interpublic won its business with media sales agreements.

The episode also features a brief mention of Olivia's new subscription PR model offering agencies a weekly hour of senior strategic thinking. For details, email olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com.

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter for episode notes and analysis. It’s free and drops every Monday.

Reach Out

Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

📬 Pitch a guest or inquire about sponsorships:

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

This week, Olivia and Brian record in person for the first time with Doug Zanger, founder of Indie Agency News, a growing platform built to help independent agencies increase visibility and confidence. A former radio producer and trade journalist, Doug shares how his background shaped the creation of Indie Agency News, which is now more than 300 members strong. Doug explains why confidence should be every agency’s most important KPI.

Doug explains how the platform supports agencies with tools like First Pass, which helps optimize press, awards, and messaging, and why language rooted in solutions rather than services can change how marketers perceive value. The group also discusses the rise of partnerships among indie shops, how AI fits into Doug’s workflow, and why he says technology should always serve people—not replace them.

In News of the Week:

• S4 Capital reports weak earnings and ongoing client concentration issues.
• Stagwell reports stronger-than-expected results despite confusing organic growth definitions.

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter for episode notes and analysis. It’s free and drops every Monday.

Reach Out

Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

📬 Pitch a guest or inquire about sponsorships:

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

This week, Olivia and Brian interview Josh Rosenberg, co-founder and CEO of Day One Agency, the creative shop founded 11 years ago to bridge the gap between earned media and brand storytelling. With offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Portland, Day One works with clients including American Express, Chipotle, Nike, Converse, and e.l.f. Beauty.

Josh shares how Day One was built around what he calls “earned creativity”—an approach that pairs editorial thinking with culturally relevant storytelling. He explains why curiosity has become the most essential trait in the age of AI, how the agency’s apprenticeship program helps identify emerging talent, and why Day One created its Learning Fund, a $30,000 internal grant program for employees to pursue continued education.

The group discusses how Day One resists adding a media practice in favor of deeper creative partnerships, how editorial projects like Ask Gen Z and a new Gen Alpha research report inform client work, and why investing in in-house content such as podcasts and newsletters fuels both learning and new business. Josh also details how the agency’s structure—organized around its Shape, Share, and Fuel teams—keeps it nimble and “built for change.”

In News of the Week:

• WPP’s disappointing results and CEO Cindy Rose’s remarks on simplification.
• The continued consolidation of DDB under Omnicom and what it signals about holding-company structure.
• Globant consolidates marketing-related activity under Gut.

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter for episode notes and analysis. It’s free and drops every Monday.

Reach Out

Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

📬 Pitch a guest or inquire about sponsorships:

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

This week, Brian interviews Mark Sherman, founder of Media Experts, Canada's largest independent media agency prior to its sale to Interpublic. Mark provides a wide range of perspectives on independent media agencies, how to make the most of selling an agency and how to make the most of buying one, too.

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter for episode notes and analysis. It’s free and drops every Monday.

Reach Out

Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

📬 Pitch a guest or inquire about sponsorships:

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

This week, Olivia and Brian interview Paul Venables, founder and chairman of Venables Bell & Partners, the independent San Francisco agency known for its work with Audi, Chipotle, and Intel.

Paul shares how “doing right by people” became both a cultural mantra and a competitive business strategy that’s guided VB&P’s decisions for nearly 25 years of independence. He explains how the team evaluates client fit, and why growth for its own sake is a “false choice.”

The group also explores San Francisco’s creative scene, VB&P’s approach to AI-driven production, and how the agency is training every art director to work fluently with generative tools.

In News of the Week:

• Stagwell takes a 35% stake in Real Clear Politics and 12 other media sites, raising questions about ad agencies investing in news.
• Havas’ Q3 growth and hints at a potential Dentsu collaboration
• Publicis' Q3 growth.

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter for episode notes and analysis. It’s free and drops every Monday.

Reach Out

Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

📬 Pitch a guest or inquire about sponsorships:

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

This week, Olivia and Brian interview Robin Bonn, founder of Co:definery and host of The Immortal Life of Agencies. Robin advises agency leaders on positioning, growth strategy, and differentiation to help them define what makes their business truly distinct in a changing market.

Robin explains why so many agencies confuse positioning with packaging, how differentiation goes deeper than branding, and what it really means to specialize in today’s post-capability world. Robin discusses why “being different” can’t just be a tagline, how independents can leverage scale through precision, and why culture — not just creativity — determines an agency’s staying power.

We hit on the dangers of sameness, the tension between consolidation and client-centricity, and how artificial intelligence is accelerating long-needed shifts in pricing, productization, and agency business models.

In News of the Week:

• WPP Media’s North America CEO departs.
• General Motors shifts its marketing org, combining communications and marketing under one leader.
• Omnicom–IPG to consolidate creative agencies and create a conflict agency to manage client overlaps.

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter for episode notes and analysis. It’s free and drops every Monday.

Reach Out

Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

📬 Pitch a guest or inquire about sponsorships:

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

Olivia and Brian interview Andrew Graff, CEO of Boston-based independent agency Allen & Gerritsen (A&G). Under Andrew’s leadership, A&G has built a behavioral-science approach to creativity, focused on what drives human decision-making.

Andrew explains why curiosity is essential to leadership, and why he calls himself a “chief executive intern.” He discusses A&G’s collaborative model for independence, its balance between data and behavioral insight, and how hiring talent from psychology, social sciences, and data helps fuel creative thinking.

We hit on why curiosity keeps independents competitive, how culture sustains long-term growth, and what it means to “zag” toward consumer brands while borrowing lessons from tech.

In News of the Week:

• Havas and Horizon form Horizon Global to achieve international reach.
• Madison and Wall data show independents growing faster than holding companies, perhaps driven by in-housing and selective partnerships.
• Pharma and healthcare reviews surge.

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter for episode notes and industry analysis. It's free and comes out every Monday.

Reach Out

Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

📬 Pitch a guest or inquire about sponsorships:

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

Olivia and Brian interview Rachel Huff, founder of Victoire & Co. and a leading agency search consultant. Rachel works with CMOs and brand leaders to run agency reviews and has a clear view of what clients actually value when choosing partners.

She explains how brand marketers approach agency search and compensation models, and why many are leaning toward specialist partners rather than 'one-stop-shops'. Rachel also unpacks how AI is showing up in creative scopes of work, how client budgets are shifting, and why clarity and transparency in positioning matter more than ever for agencies.

We hit on the tension between doing more for less, the pitfalls of agencies claiming they can do everything, and what differentiates firms that win reviews. Rachel also shares how client needs vary across sectors, from Fortune 100 companies to nonprofits, and why business problem-solving — not splashy creative alone — is what CMOs demand.

In News of the Week:

• Publicis’ latest acquisition in Dubai and what it signals about regional growth strategies
• COMvergence data showing Publicis on top in media new business and GroupM on the other end
• Accenture Song’s earnings update, decelerating growth, and a sharper focus on AI

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter for episode notes and industry analysis. It's free and comes out every Monday.

Reach Out

Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

📬 Pitch a guest or inquire about sponsorships:

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

She explains how Campaign US covers the ad agency beat with depth and context, including its signature “100 days” follow-ups on leadership appointments. Luz outlines the biggest stories she is tracking now: the Omnicom–IPG acquisition, WPP’s consolidation under new leadership, and the wave of talent leaving holding companies to launch independent advertising agencies.

We hit on why independent agencies continue to gain ground, how clients balance cost and value, and how AI is reshaping staffing and creative work inside advertising agencies. Luz also points to sports marketing as the next major growth area—an arena where both indie agencies and holding companies compete for ad spend.

In News of the Week:

• S4 Capital’s challenges and the risks of over reliance on tech clients
• M&C Saatchi’s results
• Stagwell’s decision to divest government contracts and what it signals for agency reputation management

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter for episode notes and industry analysis. It's free and comes out every Monday.

Reach Out

Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

📬 Pitch a guest or inquire about sponsorships:

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

Now leading one of AKQA’s three global P&Ls, Geoff describes how the agency is evolving after a period of major change. Its founder stepped down, WPP reorganized AKQA into three regional structures, and a new global CEO arrived with a consulting background. Geoff explains what this new model means in practice, how AKQA is integrating more tightly with WPP platforms like WPP Open, and why the role of AI is reshaping both client work and staffing models.

He also reflects on the enduring tension between autonomy and scale in creative agencies. While AKQA has moved away from its studio-level P&L system, he argues that the new structure maintains entrepreneurial energy at the local level while giving clients access to the full depth of the network.

Plus, News of the Week, with analysis of the headlines impacting agencies today:

• A raid at Hyundai and LG’s battery plant in Georgia and its potential impact on cross-border talent
• Stagwell canceling a London event amid scrutiny of its work for the Israeli government
• The Trump administration’s reported plans to ban pharmaceutical advertising on television

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter for episode notes and industry analysis. It's free and comes out every Monday.

Reach Out

Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

Email us!

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

This week, James Dale, CEO and founder of Sine Group and Sine Digital, joins Olivia on the show.

Dale’s path into agency life was anything but conventional. A former musician whose band once played at Glastonbury and toured with Band of Horses, he saw his career collapse when streaming upended the music business and data slipped away from artists. That experience led him to build an agency rooted in performance marketing, conviction-based media, and data ownership.

Sine Digital began advising musicians and grew quickly into a 50-person agency serving Broadway and West End productions, music artists, and major arts institutions. Dale explains how the company scaled by building out its own programmatic desk and data warehouse, expanding into connected TV and digital out-of-home, and developing deep relationships with producers and venues. He also reflects on the volatility of project-based work in theater, how the agency manages staffing when shows suddenly close, and why Sine Digital has stayed focused on a specialized niche rather than diversifying into full-service creative.

Plus, News of the Week, with analysis of the headlines impacting agencies today:

• WPP’s leadership shuffle, with Laurent Ezekiel staying on as Ogilvy CEO
• Empower acquiring Ocean Media in a significant independent media merger
• Serviceplan’s MediaPlus hiring its first COO in North America

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter for episode notes and industry analysis. It's free and comes out every Monday.

Reach Out

Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

Email us!

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

This week, Pedro Lerma, CEO and founder of LERMA/ joins us on the show.

Pedro shares his unconventional career journey—from selling radio spots in Wichita Falls to spending 23 years at The Richards Group, where he built both its digital practice and its Hispanic marketing arm, Richards/Lerma. He explains how that experience laid the foundation for launching LERMA/ as an independent agency in 2021, and how he has scaled it into a purpose-driven shop working with brands like The Home Depot and Salvation Army.

He also discusses how LERMA/ approaches multicultural marketing through its “cultural fluency” practice, helping brands grow by leading with underrepresented communities without alienating legacy customers. And he reflects on the challenges and opportunities of running an independent agency at a moment when inclusivity is both politically charged and essential for growth.

Plus, News of the Week, with analysis of the headlines impacting agencies today:

• Dentsu considers divesting its international business, raising questions about what buyers might emerge and whether the company can avoid a prolonged decline.
• T-Mobile pulls creative in-house while Walgreens reverses course on media in-housing, highlighting the shifting balance between external agencies and internal teams.
• S4 Capital is reportedly cutting its workforce.

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter for episode notes and industry analysis. It's free and comes out every Monday.

Reach Out

Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

Email us!

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

This week, Brian interviews Kat Ott, president of Havas Chicago.

Kat’s unconventional path into advertising—from professional ballerina to agency president—shapes her perspective as what she calls a “modern marketer.” She explains how Havas Chicago operates like a speedboat: integrated, mid-size, and agile enough to make quick turns that larger holding companies can’t.

She also describes how Havas Chicago won Stanley Steemer after competing in a pitch that started with 50 agencies. The scale of that process shows how competitive the pitch market has become—and how agencies must invest heavily to stand out.

Plus, News of the Week, with analysis of the headlines impacting agencies today:

• WPP wins MasterCard, while Dentsu retains Vodafone
• Accenture acquires influencer agency Super Digital
• Gravity Global buys Marketing Doctor

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter for episode notes and industry analysis. It's free and comes out every Monday.

Reach Out

Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

Email us!

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

This week, co-hosts Brian and Olivia are joined by Chad Maxwell, president of Kelly Scott Madison (KSM).

Maxwell’s path into advertising started in anthropology, a background that still informs how he runs KSM today—both in understanding consumers and in building culture inside the agency. He shares how that perspective shapes hiring, talent development, and client strategy.

We also discuss:

• How the agency balances independence with partnerships in creative and technology.
• The role of geography in staffing and client relationships.
• Why Chad emphasizes relationships over spend thresholds in navigating platform support.

Plus, in News of the Week:

• Dentsu’s international struggles and layoffs.
• Globant’s slowdown and what it could mean.
• S4 Capital’s odd and short-lived talks with One Equity Partners.

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter for episode notes and industry analysis. It's free and comes out every Monday.

Reach Out

Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

Email us!

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

This week Jason Mitchell, CEO of Movement Strategy, joins us to discuss how a social‑first shop scales from a college startup into a 180‑person creative agency. He explains why early pricing was a competitive advantage, how Movement Strategy grew from social AOR work into 360 creative projects, and why creator marketing works best when platform tools are paired with real relationships.

Jason also breaks down the agency’s pod-based reorg for speed, its investment in a proprietary AI stack, and a partner-led approach to international expansion—plus where media buying fits alongside creative without trying to be a full-service media AOR.

Plus, in this week’s news recap:

• WPP’s earnings show a 5.8% organic decline and broad regional weakness.
• Omnicom–Interpublic move closer to closing with U.K. clearance, raising questions about client and talent shifts.
• Marketers continue exploring in-housing: Georgia-Pacific’s programmatic example prompts a wider look at what’s realistic to bring inside—creative vs. media.

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter for episode notes and industry analysis. It's free and comes out every Monday.

Reach Out

Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

Email us!

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

We talk about how Party Land embeds humor in campaigns without sacrificing performance. Plus, Haley gets candid about attracting top talent, the agency’s evolution beyond just top-funnel work, and how staying “very human” might be the best defense against mediocrity in the AI age.

Plus, in this week’s news recap:

• Stagwell touts revenue growth, but organic gains remain modest
• Havas sees improved margins, keeps growing steadily and quietly
• Dentsu sees more high-level turnover as execs exit amid continued change.

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter for episode notes and industry analysis. It's free and comes out every Monday.

Reach Out

Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

Email us!

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

We cover what “agency therapy” really means, and why the firm’s relationship with parent company UTA makes sense.

Plus, in this week’s news recap:

• WPP loses Laurent Ezekiel to Publicis in another blow to its Coca-Cola business
• Falfurrias-backed Brainlabs acquires Exverus, signaling continued private equity interest in midsize independents?
• Interpublic posts improved margins—should it get credit despite major account losses?

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter for episode notes and industry analysis every Monday.

Reach Out

Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

Email us!

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

Nadja explains how the agency is structured to compete across disciplines—from creative and PR to sports marketing and issues management—while remaining lean and independent. She outlines how the team scopes work through upfront strategy sessions and how a focus on speed, senior talent, and selectivity shapes their client roster.

She also discusses:

• Working across time zones and markets without holding company overhead
• How M+C Saatchi is experimenting with hybrid and outcome-based pricing
• The impact of AI on pricing, talent needs, and critical thinking
• What it means to be publicly traded in a market dominated by private peers
• How clients are shifting toward smaller RFPs and project-based work

Plus, in our weekly news segment, Brian and Olivia discuss:

• Publicis’ continued growth and investment in tech
• Omnicom’s increased use of principal-based trading
• Accenture’s reported talks with WPP and what it might signal for both firms
• How agency models are evolving in response to uncertainty in the U.S. market

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter for episode notes and industry analysis every Monday.

Reach Out

Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

Email us!

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

Emma shares how FCB’s structure gives local offices real autonomy, and how her newly formalized transformation role helps scale innovation across the network. She reflects on how her team built a strong creative reputation, why agency operations must evolve alongside new pricing models, and how FCB New York has maintained just 10% voluntary turnover for three years running.

She also discusses:

• How AI is reshaping lower-funnel work, but not brand fundamentals
• Why the project-vs-retainer debate misses the bigger picture
• The business case for culture and psychological safety
• Her perspective on in-housing, the Oliver model, and evolving client collaboration
• How agency leaders should think about succession and structural change

Plus, in our weekly news segment, Brian and Olivia discuss:

• WPP’s appointment of new CEO Cindy Rose, and why the board remains the key power center
• Whether Rose’s tech and sales background will help the holding company reverse its trajectory
• If Dentsu’s continued turnover and losses could signal a future divestment
• Updated data from Madison and Wall showing between 2 and 3% growth across top independent agencies despite macro uncertainty

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter for episode notes and industry analysis every Monday.

Reach Out

Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

Email us!

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

Chris shares how he helped scale Chase Design Group from a three-person studio in a Silver Lake house into a global design agency with offices in Los Angeles, New York, and the UK. He reflects on the company’s creative roots in music and entertainment, the influence of founder Margo Chase, and how the agency has grown without acquisitions—by planting cultural seeds in new markets through longtime team members.

He also describes:

• What distinguishes design-focused agencies from traditional creative shops
• How Chase maintains brand consistency for clients over decades-long relationships
• Why the company operates with a flat, “player-coach” leadership structure
• How he approached the sudden loss of Margo Chase and led the agency forward
• Chase’s view on AI, remote work, and where future growth might come from.

Plus, in our weekly news segment, Brian joins from Europe to discuss:

• What the FTC’s restrictions on IPG and Omnicom mean for political and ideological targeting
• Whether the new decree will harm the open web and brand safety practices
• The fallout from fabricated Cannes Lions case studies
• What Ogilvy’s shift from a global to regional DEI structure signals about holding company strategy.

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter.

Reach Out

Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

Email us!

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

Tim shares how his global performance marketing background and time at IPG informed his vision for Meet the People, an independent agency group now 800 people strong. The company’s pitch? A multi-agency model designed to preserve individual agency cultures while operating under a single P&L and shared equity system. That structure, he says, fosters collaboration without the bureaucracy of traditional holding companies.

He also discusses:

• Why Meet the People keeps acquired agency brands intact
• How its tech layer underpins collaboration across creative, media, and commerce
• The group’s plan to grow geographically and fill capability gaps
• Why they’re building proprietary AI tools in-house

Plus, Brian joins in post-Cannes to share his impressions from the festival floor, including:

• Why he believes AI will lead to more agency jobs, not fewer
• How Accenture Song’s latest moves—including the hire of Dimitri Maex—position the firm to build a media practice from scratch
• What the influx of IPG leadership to Accenture may signal in light of merger speculation

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter.

Reach Out

Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

Email us!

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

Tyler traces his own journey from intern to global CEO, shares how FCB evolved after the DraftFCB merger, and explains why the network empowers its office-level CEOs with operational independence while still supporting global brand clients. He also discusses how the agency integrates strategic media planning earlier in the creative process, and how it’s approaching AI: not just for cost savings, but for expanding creativity and driving business transformation.

Plus, Olivia, Brian, and Tyler discuss:

• The future of holding company brands
• Interpublic’s approach to internal competition between FCB and McCann
• How political polarization is reshaping brand sentiment, media investment, and the stakes of creative missteps
• And what Tyler looks for when hiring new CEOs to lead regional agency operations

Stick around for our news of the week, including discussion of leadership changes at WPP and Dentsu, and the implications of potential political conditions on an IPG-Omnicom merger.

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter.

Reach Out

Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

Email us!

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter.

Reach Out

Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

Email us!

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

Jill shares her unconventional path to executive leadership, which spans media buying, corporate communications, and group-level leadership roles across several major holding companies. She reflects on how the practice of media has evolved—from basic reach and frequency toward nuanced brand performance KPIs—and why Assembly is leaning into both agility and simplification to meet marketers’ changing needs.

She also explains how her team is approaching AI implementation, platform strategy, and compensation innovation—including her take on why Assembly’s size and client mix allow it to experiment with alternative pricing structures.

Plus, Olivia, Brian, and Jill discuss:

• The new WPP Media—and the retirement of the GroupM name
• Accenture Song’s next chapter as David Droga steps down
• Johnny Hornby’s expanded role at WPP

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Reach Out

Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

Email us!

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

Talia shares her nontraditional path into media, why she believes “anyone can start an agency, but not everyone is a chef,” and how Exverus grew from an attic startup into an award-winning agency serving Fortune 500 brands and fast-scaling CPG and streaming clients.

She also explains how Exverus manages to punch above its weight, how the team thinks about outsourcing and automation, and what makes their hiring philosophy different from the standard risk-averse approach.

Plus, Olivia, Brian, and Talia discuss:

• IPG Mediabrands moving talent offshore amid broader restructuring
• Publicis’ latest acquisition in the influencer space, Captiv8
• Ongoing leadership turnover at Gale.

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter.

Reach Out

Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

Email us!

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

Sean walks through his career path, from political work and affiliate marketing to stints as a Forrester analyst and co-founder of Mediahub. He explains how his experience defining media categories and evaluating agencies from the outside shaped his approach to building challenger shops on the inside.

At MissionOne, he’s aiming to blend the tech-forward strengths of acquisition Adlucent with a human-first, creative-led philosophy. He also unpacks how integrated P&L models help avoid internal competition, what it’s really like working with private equity backers like Keystone, and why the “murky middle” is the most dangerous place for agencies to be.

Plus, Olivia, Brian, and Sean discuss:

• Omnicom CEO John Wren’s $1 salary contract extension through 2028.
• Keurig Dr Pepper’s decision to disband its in-house agency, Liquid Sunshine.
• Dentsu’s ongoing struggles in the U.S. market.
• Globant’s surprising earnings guidance downgrade.

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Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

Email us!

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

In a wide-ranging interview, Reid shares the history of his agency, its focus on integrated services and the choices he has made as the business has grown.

Plus, Brian and Reid discuss:

• S4 Capital and Stagwell's diverging Q1 2025 results
• Layoffs at GroupM (or WPP Media Services) and of Dentsu’s latest Americas CEO, too
• 4As new CEO appointment.

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter.

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Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

Email us!

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

Jared shares what led him to co-found Acadia after leading 360i, and why the firm has centered its business model around operational efficiency, cultural values, and a diversified client base. He explains why Acadia has no VPs, how it’s maintained 9% unwanted turnover, and why staying private has helped the agency say no to misaligned opportunities — including a $150 million account.

He also breaks down why principal-based media buying is, in his view, a “reprehensible” practice that undermines client trust and how opacity around these deals is enabling broader normalization of rebates, fraud, and poor media outcomes.

Plus, Olivia, Brian, and Jared discuss:

• Publicis’ disclosed 21% 2024 employee churn and what that signals about the talent market
• The holding company’s acquisition of sports marketing agency Adopt and where it fits within Publicis Connected Media
• ANA’s latest findings on AOR tenure, and whether the real takeaway is that fewer clients are signing AORs to begin with.

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Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

Email us!

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

José shares the origin story behind Sensis, how the agency evolved from a digital-first shop building Spanish-language websites into a full-service cross-cultural advertising firm, and why research and strategy have been central to its growth. He explains how Sensis structures its offerings across media, creative, research and earned media, and how the agency navigates pricing, bundling, and staffing challenges as a 150-person independent shop.

He also discusses how the broader pullback on DEI rhetoric is impacting multicultural marketing investment, why brands are being more cautious about language but not cutting multicultural spending, and what it really takes to build a workforce equipped to meet today’s cross-cultural market demands.

Plus, Olivia, Brian, and José discuss:

• IPG’s Q1 results and whether large account losses should be viewed as isolated or systemic
• WPP’s Q1 results and broader macroeconomic headwinds
• WPP resigning PayPal’s media account.

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter.

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Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

Email us!

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

Nicole walks through her career journey, beginning with her early media roles at Digitas and Neo to later leading the Nike account at Mindshare, serving as global chief client officer at Initiative, and now taking the reins in the U.S. for Mediahub. She reflects on the client and agency-side experiences that shaped her commercial instincts, what it means to build integrated teams today, and how to preserve Mediahub’s challenger DNA even as it scales.

She also shares how Mediahub is positioned within IPG’s Mediabrands group, how the agency evaluates inbound RFPs, and why clients increasingly ask their media agencies to solve for more than media.

Plus, Olivia and Brian discuss: 

• Publicis Groupe’s strong Q1 earnings, and why it’s outpacing peers on growth
• Omnicom’s more modest Q1 results and how principal media trading is shaping holding company margins
• Omnicom scaling its influencer marketing under the Creo brand name.

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter.

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Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

Email us!

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work — plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

A Note From Our Sponsor

This episode is sponsored by Ebiquity.

Picture this: complete confidence that every dollar of your media budget is working as hard as possible.

That's what Ebiquity delivers. They are the world's leading media investment analysts, helping global brands turn media complexity into competitive advantage. Through independent, data-driven analysis, they identify inefficiencies, create transparency, and unlock hidden value in your media investments.

Over 80 of the world's largest advertisers trust Ebiquity for a reason. Visit ebiquity.com today and discover how they can help your brand.

Jon walks through how VML was formed through a series of mergers — including Wunderman, J. Walter Thompson, and Y&R — and how the newly unified brand operates across creativity, commerce, customer experience and technology. He explains the structure of VML’s Enterprise Solutions group, which makes up roughly 40 percent of the company, and why the agency’s growth often hinges on integrating those capabilities with its creative engine.

The conversation also covers AI investments, DEI policy implementation across markets, and how the agency prepares for geopolitical uncertainty while staying grounded in consistent values.

Plus, Olivia, Brian and Jon discuss:

• Havas earnings and the tone of “normal” in Q1 performance
• The brand power — and business dissonance — of Stagwell’s Sport Beach
• BarkleyOKRP’s latest acquisition and how VML thinks about fine-tuning through M&A.

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter.

Reach Out

Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts, including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

Email us!

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work—plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia media manager Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

A Note From Our Sponsor

This episode is sponsored by Ebiquity.

Picture this: complete confidence that every dollar of your media budget is working as hard as possible.

That's what Ebiquity delivers. They are the world's leading media investment analysts, helping global brands turn media complexity into competitive advantage. Through independent, data-driven analysis, they identify inefficiencies, create transparency, and unlock hidden value in your media investments.

Over 80 of the world's largest advertisers trust Ebiquity for a reason. Visit ebiquity.com today and discover how they can help your brand.

Simon shares how FutureBrand operates as a brand-led strategy and design company within IPG, and how the firm balances its project-based model with the broader agency network. He discusses FutureBrand’s role at critical moments of change for clients—like M&A, private equity transitions, and category disruptions—and how the team works alongside AORs and sibling agencies across IPG to shape brands from the inside out.

Simon also explains how FutureBrand competes with both management consultancies and independent shops, why brand experience has become a priority for clients navigating commoditized categories, and how the firm thinks about talent, offshoring, and cross-border collaboration.

Plus, Olivia, Brian, and Simon dig into the news of the week, including:

• Stagwell’s bold projections for 9% annual organic growth and its surprisingly dismissive take on tariffs.
• WPP’s acquisition of data clean room provider Infosum, and what it signals about the industry’s growing appetite for software businesses.
• New Madison and Wall data on independent agency growth trends and why headcount is up at some performance-focused agencies.

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter.

Reach Out

Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts, including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

Please reach out:

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work—plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia media manager Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

A Note From Our Sponsor

This episode is sponsored by Ebiquity.

Picture this: complete confidence that every dollar of your media budget is working as hard as possible.

That's what Ebiquity delivers. They are the world's leading media investment analysts, helping global brands turn media complexity into competitive advantage. Through independent, data-driven analysis, they identify inefficiencies, create transparency, and unlock hidden value in your media investments.

Over 80 of the world's largest advertisers trust Ebiquity for a reason. Visit ebiquity.com today and discover how they can help your brand.

From JOAN's origins in New York to its expansion into Berlin and London, Lisa shares how the company has evolved into a multi-faceted creative firm—with an advertising agency, production studio, and influencer arm—all while staying founder-owned and values-driven.

Lisa discusses the financial logic behind JOAN's production studio, how influencer marketing is diversifying beyond the “tonnage” model, and why integration across functions like creative, media, influencer, and social allows the agency to move with both agility and intention. She also explains how JOAN navigates resource allocation without external investors and how its growth decisions are often shaped by client needs and opportunity—not just ambition.

Plus, Olivia, Brian, and Lisa explore how holding companies are grappling with geopolitical and cultural tensions, what recent earnings reports from S4 Capital and M&C Saatchi suggest about agency performance, and why some agencies might regret playing it safe when it comes to their values.

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter.

Reach Out

Agency Business works with sponsors, but it’s not pay-to-play. We consider guests who are decision-makers at the highest level of their agencies. We’d love to feature more women and leaders of color—if that's you or someone you know, please reach out:

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work—plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia media manager Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

A Note From Our Sponsor

This episode is sponsored by Ebiquity.

Picture this: complete confidence that every dollar of your media budget is working as hard as possible.

That's what Ebiquity delivers. They are the world's leading media investment analysts, helping global brands turn media complexity into competitive advantage. Through independent, data-driven analysis, they identify inefficiencies, create transparency, and unlock hidden value in your media investments.

Over 80 of the world's largest advertisers trust Ebiquity for a reason. Visit ebiquity.com today and discover how they can help your brand.

Drawing from her extensive experience leading media strategy for global brands, Kate shares insights into launching her own consultancy and advising clients on media strategy, pricing models, and managing economic uncertainty. The conversation explores the tension between principal-based buying and transparent partnerships, as well as how agencies can deliver value while navigating client demands for efficiency and growth.​

Plus, Olivia, Brian, and Kate talk recent leadership changes at GroupM, trends in agency compensation, and the ongoing debate over performance-based models.

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter.

Reach Out

Agency Business works with sponsors, but it’s not pay-to-play. We consider guests who are decision-makers at the highest level of their agencies. We’d love to feature more women and leaders of color—if that's you or someone you know, please reach out:

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work—plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia media manager Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

A Note From Our Sponsor

This episode is sponsored by Ebiquity.

Picture this: complete confidence that every dollar of your media budget is working as hard as possible.

That's what Ebiquity delivers. They are the world's leading media investment analysts, helping global brands turn media complexity into competitive advantage. Through independent, data-driven analysis, they identify inefficiencies, create transparency, and unlock hidden value in your media investments.

Over 80 of the world's largest advertisers trust Ebiquity for a reason. Visit ebiquity.com today and discover how they can help your brand.

Jane shares her journey from leading digital practices at holding company agencies to taking the helm at Rain, a Portland-based, female-led independent agency. She talks about Rain’s performance-driven approach, the importance of integrating creative and media strategies, and how the agency’s proprietary technology infrastructure supports speed and agility in today’s complex environment.

Plus, Olivia and Brian discuss Coca-Cola’s media account shift to Publicis, Havas’ Q4 earnings and M&A strategy, the FTC’s second request in IPG/Omnicom’s merger review, and what WPP’s plans to break up Kantar signal for the future of market research.

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter.

Reach Out

Agency Business works with sponsors, but it’s not pay-to-play. We consider guests who are decision-makers at the highest level of their agencies. We’d love to feature more women and leaders of color—if that's you or someone you know, please reach out:

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work—plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia media manager Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

A Note From Our Sponsor

This episode is sponsored by Ebiquity.

Picture this: complete confidence that every dollar of your media budget is working as hard as possible.

That's what Ebiquity delivers. They are the world's leading media investment analysts, helping global brands turn media complexity into competitive advantage. Through independent, data-driven analysis, they identify inefficiencies, create transparency, and unlock hidden value in your media investments.

Over 80 of the world's largest advertisers trust Ebiquity for a reason. Visit ebiquity.com today and discover how they can help your brand.

Kern shares his journey from building a data science consultancy to leading Viacom’s advanced TV efforts and ultimately launching Known, an agency designed to address the inefficiencies of traditional holding company structures.

He shares his viewpoints on why separating media and creative has led to broken marketing strategies, how Known is applying AI to optimize media performance, and why the agency’s consulting-inspired business model is designed to align directly with client outcomes.

Plus, Brian and Olivia discuss agency holding company earnings, the latest M&A activity in adland, and how independent agencies are positioning themselves against industry giants.

Subscribe to the Agency Business newsletter.

Reach Out

For sponsorship inquiries or to discuss potential guests, email:

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work—plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia media manager Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

A Note From Our Sponsor

This episode is sponsored by Ebiquity.

Picture this: complete confidence that every dollar of your media budget is working as hard as possible.

That's what Ebiquity delivers. They are the world's leading media investment analysts, helping global brands turn media complexity into competitive advantage. Through independent, data-driven analysis, they identify inefficiencies, create transparency, and unlock hidden value in your media investments.

Over 80 of the world's largest advertisers trust Ebiquity for a reason. Visit ebiquity.com today and discover how they can help your brand.

Bob explains why he believes the media industry is in a “Great Marketing Emergency”—lagging behind other sectors in adopting technology and transparency. He shares how Horizon’s proprietary platform, Blu+, is redefining agency-client relationships by putting more control in the hands of marketers and brands.

He also discusses the evolution of agency compensation models, the increasing demand for performance-based pricing, and why a single client making the switch could accelerate change across the industry. Bob breaks down the blurring lines between media and creative, why today’s CMOs are more tech-savvy than ever, and how independent agencies like Horizon are positioned to thrive.

Reach Out

For sponsorship inquiries or to discuss potential guests, email:

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work—plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia media manager Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

A Note From Our Sponsor

FirmDecisions, part of Ebiquity Group plc, is the world's largest marketing contract compliance specialist, dedicated to enhancing commercial transparency in client-agency relationships.

With expertise across all agency types—creative, media, influencer, and shopper—FirmDecisions provide comprehensive coverage of a brand's agency portfolio.

Stop wondering if your marketing budget is working as hard as it can. Let FirmDecisions help you strengthen agency relationships, improve governance, and drive better business outcomes.

Learn more at firmdecisions.com.

Tim explains how financial pressures, shifting client demands, and competition from consulting firms and ad tech companies are forcing holding companies to evolve. He shares insights on media and creative integration, how agencies are adapting to new economic realities, and the potential impact of the Omnicom-IPG merger.

He also reflects on his career analyzing the business of advertising and shares his perspective on where the industry is headed next.

Reach Out

For sponsorship inquiries or to discuss potential guests, email:

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work—plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia media manager Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

A Note From Our Sponsor

FirmDecisions, part of Ebiquity Group plc, is the world's largest marketing contract compliance specialist, dedicated to enhancing commercial transparency in client-agency relationships.

With expertise across all agency types—creative, media, influencer, and shopper—FirmDecisions provide comprehensive coverage of a brand's agency portfolio.

Stop wondering if your marketing budget is working as hard as it can. Let FirmDecisions help you strengthen agency relationships, improve governance, and drive better business outcomes.

Learn more at firmdecisions.com.

Kevin explains why creative and media have been siloed for decades, how AI is accelerating the velocity of content production, and why marketers are overwhelmed by a flood of assets they can’t effectively manage. He shares how mktg.ai is tackling these challenges by creating a creative operating system that helps brands optimize content performance in real time.

Kevin also reflects on his career, from launching some of the first digital marketing initiatives at major agencies to pioneering AI-powered solutions for modern advertisers.

Reach Out

For sponsorship inquiries or to discuss potential guests, email:

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia media manager Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work—plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

A Note From Our Sponsor

FirmDecisions, part of Ebiquity Group plc, is the world's largest marketing contract compliance specialist, dedicated to enhancing commercial transparency in client-agency relationships.

With expertise across all agency types—creative, media, influencer, and shopper—FirmDecisions provide comprehensive coverage of a brand's agency portfolio.

Stop wondering if your marketing budget is working as hard as it can. Let FirmDecisions help you strengthen agency relationships, improve governance, and drive better business outcomes.

Learn more at firmdecisions.com.

Samir shares thoughts on why mid-sized brands struggle with top-of-funnel marketing and how his agency bridges the gap between performance marketing and brand-building. He explains the importance of media forecasting, how QRY helps clients de-risk brand investments, and why CFOs remain skeptical about long-term marketing returns.

Reach Out

For sponsorship inquiries or to discuss potential guests, email:

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia media manager Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work—plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

A Note From Our Sponsor

FirmDecisions, part of Ebiquity Group plc, is the world's largest marketing contract compliance specialist, dedicated to enhancing commercial transparency in client-agency relationships.

With expertise across all agency types—creative, media, influencer, and shopper—FirmDecisions provide comprehensive coverage of a brand's agency portfolio.

Stop wondering if your marketing budget is working as hard as it can. Let FirmDecisions help you strengthen agency relationships, improve governance, and drive better business outcomes.

Learn more at firmdecisions.com.

Chrissie shares her journey from strategist to CEO, highlighting how her background in media buying and planning has shaped her leadership style. She offers a candid look at the challenges and opportunities facing agencies today, from the push for centralization within holding companies to the evolving expectations of clients navigating an increasingly complex media landscape.

From fostering a culture of innovation to leveraging data and technology for better media outcomes, this conversation explores the intersection of strategy, creativity, and business leadership in today’s agency world.

Reach Out

For sponsorship inquiries or to discuss potential guests, email:

📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore Our Other Podcasts:

🎬 Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia media manager Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work—plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

A Note From Our Sponsor

FirmDecisions, part of Ebiquity Group plc, is the world's largest marketing contract compliance specialist, dedicated to enhancing commercial transparency in client-agency relationships.

With expertise across all agency types—creative, media, influencer, and shopper—FirmDecisions provide comprehensive coverage of a brand's agency portfolio.

Stop wondering if your marketing budget is working as hard as it can. Let FirmDecisions help you strengthen agency relationships, improve governance, and drive better business outcomes.

Learn more at firmdecisions.com.

Ruben shares insights into how brands can ensure their media dollars are working harder, the importance of transparency in agency relationships, and why now—more than ever—marketers must take a data-driven approach to media planning and buying.

From uncovering hidden inefficiencies to leveraging insights that drive real business impact, this conversation dives into the critical factors shaping today’s media investment strategies. Ruben also sheds light on the common pitfalls brands face and offers actionable advice to improve media performance across channels.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How media audits provide transparency and accountability for brands.
• The biggest mistakes brands make in their media investment strategies.
• Why cost efficiency doesn’t always mean effectiveness—and what to focus on instead.
• The evolving role of procurement and finance teams in media decision-making.
• Practical steps brands can take to ensure they're getting the most from their ad budgets.

Reach Out

For sponsorship inquiries or to discuss potential guests, email Brian brian@madisonandwall.com and Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com.

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore our other podcasts:

• Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia media manager Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.
• The M&W Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work—plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

Key topics covered in this episode include:

• Crossmedia’s origin story and its mission to provide integrated media solutions outside of the holding company model.
• How Crossmedia’s partnership with Joan Creative is shaping new approaches to collaboration.
• How Asghar thinks about delivering scale, cost efficiencies, and transparency to clients. "There are more integrated remits now than there have been before," he says. "I don't think there are many solutions out there."
• The growing demand for principle-based media buying.
• Asghar’s take on recent industry news, including leadership changes at major holding companies and what it signals for agency culture.

Key Moments:

[1:20] Asghar’s journey from Ogilvy to launching Crossmedia USA.

[5:30] How Asghar bootstrapped and grew Crossmedia.

[10:45] The importance of integrated media and creative partnerships, featuring the Crossmedia and Joan Creative collaboration.

[15:20] How Crossmedia is addressing client expectations around cost efficiency and transparency.

[20:05] Insights on agency leadership turnover and the evolving role of agency brands.

About the Guest:

Kamran Asghar is the CEO and founder of Crossmedia USA, an independent, data-driven media agency founded with the vision of bringing transparency and accountability to media buying.

Reach Out

For sponsorship inquiries or to discuss potential guests, email Brian brian@madisonandwall.com and Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com.

Follow Madison and Wall and FusionFront Media on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore our other podcasts:

• Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia media manager Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.
• The M&W Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work—plus crucial economic, financial, and industry trends.

Joanne founded Joanne Davis Consulting in 2000 and became a partner in SCAN International in 2006 and is currently Co-CEO. The firm specializes in agency models – internal and external, agency search/selection, agency compensation and client/agency optimization and training. Clients include and have included: Benjamin Moore, Cotton (“The Fabric of Our Lives”), ExxonMobil, Johnson & Johnson, Marriott, Microsoft and Sonic.

In this episode we talk about the impact of AI on fees (and related emerging functions such as prompt engineers and creative lawyers), whether clients get the agencies they deserve, how important agency culture is and much more.

We also review news of the week covering WPP's new back-to-the-office mandate, Havas' reduced guidance and the sudden shift of Starbucks' account from WPP to Stagwell's Anomaly.

We also discuss recent industry news including the appointment of Bob Lord at Horizon, recent results at Accenture and the politicization of advertising.

• What the acquisition signals about the future of agency holding companies.
• How IPG’s media and creative operations might integrate into Omnicom’s structure.
• Why consolidation of brands seems likely, despite public assurances to the contrary.

The discussion also explores broader trends in the agency world, such as:

• The Forrester Wave for media and creative agencies.
• Intelligent creativity—where AI and advertising services intersect.
• How agencies are incorporating technology into their service models to create new revenue opportunities.

Key Moments:

• [1:50] Introducing Jay Pattisall and his role at Forrester.
• [3:15] Exploring the Forrester Wave, intelligent creativity, and key industry trends.
• [8:40] Are agencies becoming software companies? Wieser, Morley, and Pattisall reflect on the concept.
• [12:00] Breaking down Omnicom’s acquisition of IPG—what it means for agency brands and operations.
• [16:30] Predictions on consolidation and restructuring within Omnicom Media Group and creative networks.

About the Guest:

Jay Pattisall is a vice president and principal analyst at Forrester, where he conducts research on agency performance, advertising and marketing trends, the intersection of AI and creativity, and more. Learn more about Jay and his work on his Forrester analyst page.

Reach out

For sponsorship inquiries or to discuss potential guests, email Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com and Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com.

Follow FusionFront Media on LinkedIn and Madison and Wall on LinkedIn for updates.

Explore our other podcasts:

• Screen & Sponsor – Olivia & VaynerMedia media manager Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.
• The M&W Podcast – Brian opens up about his latest work—plus crucial economic, financial and other trends industry leaders should be watching.