Agency Business

#76: Mark Penn on Stagwell’s capital allocation and global growth

Welcome to Agency Business. Mark Penn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/markjpenn/], chairman and CEO of Stagwell [https://www.stagwellglobal.com/], join Brian Wieser [linkedin.com/in/brianwieser] live last week at Cannes to discuss why he sees marketing services as more resilient than many technology businesses, how Stagwell is investing in AI, software and digital transformation, and why he believes agencies are undergoing transformation rather than decline. Mark also talked about Stagwell’s global expansion, capital allocation, investor perceptions of the agency sector and the company’s push to combine services and technology. The Agency Business podcast is part of the Marketecture Media podcast network [https://news.marketecture.tv/podcasts]. Reach Out: 1. Subscribe for free to the Agency Business newsletter. [https://agency-business.captivate.fm/newsletter] 2. Interested in joining Agency Business as a guest? Submit a pitch. [https://agency-business.captivate.fm/pitch] 3. Listen to 📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast [https://open.spotify.com/show/5FBqqS9Do80xARYbxTXIoP]: 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 [https://open.spotify.com/show/2WueG1iSTM1j31hYxaoCWR]: Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

#75: PJ Pereira and Rob Wrubel on launching SILVERSIDE, an AI innovation lab

Welcome to Agency Business. PJ Pereira [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PJ_Pereira] and Rob Wrubel [https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-wrubel-2a09655a/], co-founders of SILVERSIDE [https://www.silverside.ai/], join Olivia Morley [https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliviamorley/] this week to discuss what it means to build an AI-native marketing innovation lab outside the traditional agency model. PJ and Rob discuss how SILVERSIDE grew out of an experimental AI group inside Pereira O’Dell, and why they believed the technology required a separate structure built for speed, experimentation and new ways of working. They explain how early work with Coca-Cola helped shape SILVERSIDE’s approach to creative production, personalization and client collaboration, and why the company often enters organizations through the “side door” of innovation and chaos management. They also discuss why senior creative leaders need to work directly with AI tools, and why hands-on experimentation matters more than big technology announcements in a market changing day by day. The Agency Business podcast is part of the Marketecture Media podcast network [https://news.marketecture.tv/podcasts]. Reach Out: 1. Subscribe for free to the Agency Business newsletter. [https://agency-business.captivate.fm/newsletter] 2. Interested in joining Agency Business as a guest? Submit a pitch. [https://agency-business.captivate.fm/pitch] 3. Listen to 📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast [https://open.spotify.com/show/5FBqqS9Do80xARYbxTXIoP]: 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 [https://open.spotify.com/show/2WueG1iSTM1j31hYxaoCWR]: Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

#74: Kin’s Kwame Taylor-Hayford on specificity over scale

Welcome to Agency Business. Kwame Taylor-Hayford [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kthayford/], co-founder of Kin, joins Brian Wieser [https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianwieser/] and Olivia Morley [https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliviamorley/] this week to discuss what it means to build an independent agency around specificity rather than scale. Kwame discusses how his global upbringing shaped his approach to advertising and design, and how Kin’s work sits at the intersection of innovation, culture and community. He explains why the agency is focused on helping brands become meaningful participants in communities — whether those communities are defined by demographics, interests or geography — through original ideas and intellectual property that can take many different forms. The Agency Business podcast is part of the Marketecture Media podcast network [https://news.marketecture.tv/podcasts]. Reach Out: 1. Subscribe for free to the Agency Business newsletter. [https://agency-business.captivate.fm/newsletter] 2. Interested in joining Agency Business as a guest? Submit a pitch. [https://agency-business.captivate.fm/pitch] 3. Listen to 📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast [https://open.spotify.com/show/5FBqqS9Do80xARYbxTXIoP]: 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 [https://open.spotify.com/show/2WueG1iSTM1j31hYxaoCWR]: Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

#73: How Viral Nation is building social at enterprise scale, with Joe Gagliese

Welcome to Agency Business. Joe Gagliese [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joegagliese/], co-founder and co-CEO of Viral Nation [https://www.viralnation.com/], joins Brian Wieser [https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianwieser/] this week to discuss how the company grew from representing creators into a social-first business working with enterprise brands. Joe discussed Viral Nation’s early days in influencer marketing, why the company raised capital to build AI, data infrastructure and measurement tools, and how it is trying to make social operate more like a mature marketing channel. He also talked about creator pricing, global social strategy, working alongside holding companies and why Viral Nation remains focused on services as it builds more technology into its model. The Agency Business podcast is part of the Marketecture Media podcast network [https://news.marketecture.tv/podcasts]. Reach Out: 1. Subscribe for free to the Agency Business newsletter. [https://agency-business.captivate.fm/newsletter] 2. Interested in joining Agency Business as a guest? Submit a pitch. [https://agency-business.captivate.fm/pitch] 3. Listen to 📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast [https://open.spotify.com/show/5FBqqS9Do80xARYbxTXIoP]: 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 [https://open.spotify.com/show/2WueG1iSTM1j31hYxaoCWR]: Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.

#72: How DEPT built a global agency around marketing and technology, with Dimi Albers

Welcome to Agency Business. Dimi Albers [https://www.linkedin.com/in/dimialbers/], CEO of DEPT [https://www.deptagency.com/], joins Brian Wieser [https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianwieser/] and Olivia Morley [https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliviamorley/] this week to discuss how the marketing and technology company has scaled globally while operating as one agency. Dimi discussed DEPT’s expansion across Europe, the Americas and APAC, why the company sees cultural alignment as central to successful acquisitions, and how its independent structure shapes its competition with holding companies, consultancies and systems integrators. He also discussed DEPT’s technology platform, its private equity backing and why the company remains focused on managed services rather than a pure SaaS model. The Agency Business podcast is part of the Marketecture Media podcast network [https://news.marketecture.tv/podcasts]. Reach Out: 1. Subscribe for free to the Agency Business newsletter. [https://agency-business.captivate.fm/newsletter] 2. Interested in joining Agency Business as a guest? Submit a pitch. [https://agency-business.captivate.fm/pitch] 3. Listen to 📊 The Madison and Wall Podcast [https://open.spotify.com/show/5FBqqS9Do80xARYbxTXIoP]: 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 [https://open.spotify.com/show/2WueG1iSTM1j31hYxaoCWR]: Olivia & VaynerMedia's Jessie Holder explore how brands are shaping Hollywood.