Floor 9

Welcome back to Floor 9! In this episode, the Lab team breaks down the “betting on everything” trend, tracing the surge in sports betting and prediction markets and the spread of those mechanics across culture and business. Led by your host Tom Trudeau, the team discusses the trend’s many manifestations, from status-symbol collectibles to frictionless betting apps. Then we unpack why this boom is happening, and ask whether it’s sustainable for society, or even for the platforms monetizing this trend. We debate sports betting vs. prediction markets, what tighter guardrails might look like, and where brands should draw the line. The team also shares some brand-safe ways to play, including bragging-rights challenges and other loyalty-driven tactics, that capitalize on on this trend.For an in-depth written POV on this trend, please click here. If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Floor 9! In this episode, recorded on Thursday Sep. 18, Tom and Ryan, the power duo of our partnerships team, are joined by Lab’s managing director Adam to recap and discuss the latest announcements from Apple’s iPhone 17 event and the Meta Connect event. Starting with Apple's new products, including the iPhone 17, new Apple Watch features, and the latest AirPods, the Lab team share their thoughts on some of the most exciting updates, such as the AirPods' new live translation feature. The discussion then shifts to Meta's new Display AI glasses, debating their potential use cases and whether they justify the $800 price point. The hosts also touch upon Meta's focus on AI and how that compares to Apple's more conservative approach. The episode concludes with a broader conversation on the future of personal computing and whether wearable technology will one day replace smartphones for certain tasks.You can read more about our thoughts on the two press events by reading our recaps of Apple’s iPhone 17 event and the Meta Connect event on Medium.If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on LinkedIn and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to another episode of Floor 9. For this episode, host Tom Trudeau chatted with Adam Simon and Richard Yao from the Lab’s strategy team about our latest insights on travel. Together, they discussed some of the biggest trends in the travel and hospitality sector in 2025, including the financialization of the travel industry, the increasing use of AI chatbots in trip planning, and the appeal of intentional under-planning and flexible travel. All these topics ladder up to a discussion about the future of a “connected trip” experience that is being shaped by shifting consumer expectations and AI adoption.If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on LinkedIn and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Floor 9, we’re diving deep into the fast-changing world of retail media networks with Parbinder “Parbs” Dariwhal, VP and GM of CVS Media Exchange (CMX). With 72% of purchases now beginning within retail ecosystems and average U.S. consumers seeing 47 retail media ads daily, it’s clear we’re in a new media era—one driven by data, co-creation, and in-store innovation. Parbs joins hosts Ryan and Adam to break down how CMX is redefining retail media through partnerships with platforms like Reddit, leveraging interest-based conversations to drive brand advocacy. We also explore the collapsing purchase funnel, the rise of in-store formats like audio and end-cap screens, and the importance of transparency and first-party data in an age of “creepy” personalization. Listen now to learn why the future of retail media is collaborative, measurable, and surprisingly immersive. If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on LinkedIn and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Floor 9, four members of the Lab team — Adam, Tom, Chelsea, and Elisa — assemble to discuss in-depth about everything brand marketers need to know about the latest news coming out of Apple’s WWDC developer event this week.Specifically, the team discussed Apple’s practical approach to AI, which focuses on incremental “quality-of-life” improvements, and what it means in the context of a heated AI race among the big tech companies. They also discussed the new “Liquid Glass” design that Apple announced for all upcoming operating systems, and what its spatial computing-oriented design says about Apple’s vision for the future of digital interactions. Furthermore, the team explored specific updates to Apple Wallet, CarPlay, Apple Music, and other corners of the Apple ecosystem that will have direct or indirect impact on brand experiences in relevant categories. If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on LinkedIn and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the latest Floor 9 episode, four members of the Lab team — Tom, Ryan, Richard, and Elisa — assemble to discuss in-depth about everything brand marketers that need to know about the AI-centric announcements coming out of Google’s annual developer event. From Google’s ambition of using AI Mode to transform its search products, to the “agentic web” that the AI stakeholders are aiming towards, the team places the various key announcements within the larger industry context and discuss their implications for consumers and brands alike. Listen now to learn more about how you brand should respond to the latest developments in consumer-facing AI.If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on LinkedIn and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Floor 9, host Tom Trudeau is joined by Lab members Chelsea Freitas and Ryan Miller for a dive deep into the evolving role of creators in the media ecosystem. From parasocial dynamics to AI's impact on content creation, the trio explores how influencer strategies are maturing—shifting from short-term content sprints to long-term brand partnerships. With insights on niche creators, multi-platform storytelling, and creators as storefronts, plus examples ranging from Nike’s tiered creator playbook to MrBeast’s media franchise, the team discusses what it takes for creators and brands to build trust, convert audiences, and stay nimble in a fragmented digital landscape. This episode is a must-listen for anyone tracking the future of influencer marketing and creator-led brand collaboration. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Floor 9! This week, host Ryan Miller is joined by Chelsea Freitas, the Lab’s strategy maven, and Tom Trudeau, our partnerships maverick, to chat about a shared passion topic — sports! Specifically, how the shifting sports audiences and viewer behaviors have impacted sports as a media business, the movement of women’s sports and the brand opportunities it brings, and the rise of next-gen alternative sports such as pickleball and drone racing. Together, they take a deep dive into the evolving landscape of sports media, and how brands can best reach sports fans.Some key segments of this episode, with corresponding timestamps, include:The impact of changing sports audiences and behaviors – 9:12Sports media entering the streaming era and its implications – 12:34Women’s sports gaining momentum and brand opportunities – 21:19The rise of next-gen alternative sports and their advantages – 27:10Capturing value beyond game day via cross-media companion content - 30:28For more insights into this topic, you can also read the companion post on our Medium blog here.If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on LinkedIn and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Floor 9. As usual, we kicked off the year with an Outlook report to forecast some emerging trends in media and consumer behavior that we think will be crucial to brand strategy in 2025 and beyond. In this episode, your host Ryan is joined by Adam Simon, the Lab’s managing director and the author of the Outlook, and Chelsea Freitas, SVP of the Lab’s Strategy team, to take a deep dive into the key trends outlined in this report. Titled “Ports in a Storm,” this year’s Outlook is centered around the idea that consumers are increasingly seeking out “havens” in the face of an increasingly chaotic and stressful world. Together, the team discusses the rise of post-text, hyper-personalized media diets, the reshuffling of social media audiences, the impulse-driven consumer behaviors, the deployment phase of AI, and the opportunities and challenges they bring for brandsFor deeper insights into the discussion, you can also read the full 2025 Outlook report on our Medium blog: https://bit.ly/IPGLabOutlook2025If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on LinkedIn and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Floor 9. As always, we are kicking off the new year with a CES episode featuring the entire Lab team. Together, we recapped the highs and lows of CES 2025, shared our personal favorites, and voiced some skepticism towards some potential "vaporwares." From smart home and smart cars to cutting-edge food and health tech, we saw a lot of interesting, innovative products across categories from the show floor this year that could, down the road, shape consumer expectations and enhance brand experiences. If you're curious about the latest and hottest in consumer tech gadgets, this episode is a must-listen!For more insights into this year's CES, please visit our Medium blog for our in-depth trend recap and analysis.If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on LinkedIn and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Closing out this remarkable year of innovations, the entire Lab team came together for our annual recap of the biggest trends that defined the tech and media landscape in 2024, and look ahead to see what 2025 may bring. Together, the team discussed:The maturing deployment of AI and the long-term prospect of the AI hypeThe future of search and the impact that AI-driven challengers could have on Google’s dominance The shifting landscape of social media—more media, less “social”—and how creators navigate evolving platforms and parasocial dynamics. The major developments in mixed reality, esp. in hardware, and how its user cases might evolve The streaming landscape in the post-streaming wars era, doubling down on live sports and battling subscription fatigueJoin us for this year-end roundup as we celebrate our team, our guests, and you—our listeners—and head into 2025 with fresh insights and excitement.If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on LinkedIn and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

‘Tis the season again, and the Lab is here to discuss the latest shopping trends that we think brands should keep an eye out for this year. From a renewed emphasis on experiential in-store shopping to interesting loyalty plays, not to mention the new entrants like Amazon Haul and metaverse shopping, there’s no shortage of interesting things for Adam and Chelsea to talk about. Listen now to learn more about the latest trends in retail and shopper behaviors. If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on LinkedIn and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Floor 9! This month, we welcome long-time host and director of partnerships, Ryan, back from his paternity leave to chat with Adam, the managing director of the Lab, to round up all the recent news around mixed reality headsets. From the Orion AR glasses prototype that Mark Zuckerberg showcased earlier this month, or Meta’s Ai-infused Ray-Ban smart glasses, to the developer-oriented Snap Spectacles, as well as the headset that kicked off this wave of spatial computing hardware, Apple’s Vision Pro, we covered them all! In addition, Adam and Ryan also analyzed the current competitive landscape among the tech companies trying to crack the MR hardware market and prognosticated how things might shake out over the next five to ten years. Listen now to hear our take on this potentially revolutionary emerging category. If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on LinkedIn and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to another episode of Floor 9. This week, Tom Trudeau from our partnerships team chats with our managing director Adam Simon about everything that marketers should know coming out of the Apple event on Monday. Together, they discussed various new Apple products, the upcoming Apple Intelligence features, as well as these AI-driven features will change consumer expectations and reshape brand interactions. Topics covered include:The new iPhones’ surprising hold on pricing, and what it means for the smartphone market (0:58)Analysis of the upcoming suite of Apple Intelligence features (2:23)The new “visual intelligence” features coming to iPhones, and what it means for marketers (5:30)The ability to capture immersive spatial video and images, and what it means for Vision Pro (7:13)Updates to AirPods and additional support for contextual audio (8:32)New hearing health features coming to AirPods Pro (11:47)New health & fitness features to Apple Watch and Apple’s sustainability goals (14:41)What brands should do to prepare for the new era of AI search (17:42)How Apple is positioning Apple Intelligence and where the company stands in the AI competitive landscape (19:51)Why spatial computing remains a key focus in Apple’s strategic roadmap (21:28)The long-term prospect for Apple Intelligence and large language models in general (22:05)Closing thoughts on Apple’s latest products and what they mean for a new deployment phrase of consumer-facing AI (25:30)If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on LinkedIn and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special bonus episode of the month, the Lab’s strategy team assembles to discuss the highlights from the results of our latest Futurecaster survey! Futurecaster is the Lab’s proprietary innovation tool that identifies how your audience is engaging with the tactical areas of innovation across emerging technologies and media channels.In partnership with Dynata, we survey 2,500 smartphone owners aged 16-74, asking them about their awareness, past and planned usage, and perception of emerging technologies and media channels. That survey data is fused with our Acxiom data stack, allowing us to identify which tactical areas of innovation your audiences engage with.With each new edition of the survey, we gain interesting new insights into how consumers are adopting and interacting with new technologies. This year, the results showed noteworthy developments across a wide range of innovation territories, including generative AI, augmented reality and mixed reality, retail and lifecycle loyalty, smart city and mobility solutions, the experience economy, and the creator economy. For example, awareness of generative AI tools continues to grow, with 55% of respondents saying they have heard of them, up from 36% who said so last year. Listen now to learn more about Futurecaster and the key insights we learned from this year’s survey!If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on LinkedIn and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Floor 9, the Lab’s managing director Adam Simon welcomes two senior UM executives, Dan Chapman, Global Chief Strategy Officer, and Andy Littlewood, Global Chief Product Officer, to Floor 9 for an insightful discussion on the impact of the over-reliance on AI within the media landscape, how agencies can work with clients to avoid becoming “bland brands” and lead the Renaissance of Media. Specifically, they took a deep dive into the following topics:The shifting landscape of the media industry and the end of digital ad triopolyThe impact of generative AI on the ad & media industry, and the best strategies to deal with itThe role AI in brand-building, and how to increase brand differentiation in an era of homogenizing digital platforms and ad toolsThe “brand vs. agency” dynamic and what agencies can do to help clients navigate AI’s impactHow to avoid becoming a “bland brand” and being commoditized by AI by rediscovering nuanced brand patternsHow marketers can lead a renaissance of creativity in this new eraIf you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on LinkedIn and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This month on Floor 9, the Lab team assembles for a panel discussion on the future of the entertainment industry. Faced with rising streaming fatigue, high-churn “nomadic subscribers,”  and the looming threat of AI-generated “slop content,” Hollywood needs to be smart about navigating the post-streaming-wars industry landscape, and that begins with re-aligning their business model with the market reality. In this episode, host Ryan Miller is joined by Chelsea Freitas, Tom Trudeau, and Richard Yao to break down the various issues facing the entertainment industry today and point to the best practices going forward. If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on LinkedIn and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As usual, Apple’s latest WWDC event brought forth many software updates, but the star of the show was Apple’s major AI update — Apple Intelligence, which will enable LLM-powered new features across Apple’s entire ecosystem. In this episode, Adam and Ryan took a deep dive into Apple Intelligence, the ChatGPT integration, its impact on the AI competitive landscape, and more. Listen now to hear our analysis on the WWDC announcements, including: Apple Intelligence overview - 2:20Siri’s big upgrade - 5:58Fun AI features: Genmoji and Image Playground - 10:26Apple’s AI privacy promise & how it works - 14:04Apple’s OpenAI partnership & ChatGPT integration - 21:07How Apple’s AI strategy differs from competitors - 26:20Safari Highlights & new Photos app updates - 30:01New immersive Vision Pro content - 33:20Implications for brand marketers - 37:58f you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

May marks the beginning of the tech conference season, and this year, we had three key players in the AI race — OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft — all hosting their respective developer conferences within a two-week period in May. If you missed the announcements, fret not! The Lab team is here to help you keep up with the fast-evolving AI developments and competitive landscape.In this episode, Chelsea Freitas from our strategy team, along with Ryan Miller and Tom Trudeau from our partnerships team, took the Floor 9 mic and discussed all the highlights from the recent developer conferences, including:Microsoft’s hardware-centric Surface event - 0:52Is AI-powered Surface laptops a legitimate competitor to Apple? - 3:27AI-powered Recall feature for the Copliot+ PCs - 5:01Key announcements from Microsoft's Build event - 9:03Will people call them “AI” as more AI-powered features become productized - 15:25The advertising implications of Copilot and Microsoft’s AI features - 16:45Key announcements from Google’s I/O developer event - 19:55The impact of Google rolling out AI search - 21:23Google integrating Gemini AI into its suite of popular products - 24:31Google’s new multimodal AI-powered creative tools - 29:03Last thoughts on the AI race and wrap up - 32:52If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kids these days! In this episode of Floor 9, the Lab’s strategy team (Adam Simon and Cheslea Freitas) and partnerships team (Ryan Miller and Tom Trudeau) join forces to analyze the youngest generation on the scene and their Millennial parents. Together, the team tackles topics that include:Gen Alpha’s key media behaviorsHow Gen Alpha socialize digitally  Gen Alpha as “AI natives”Millennials’ collaborative and overprotective parenting styleThe major concerns of Millennial parents The recent “no phone childhood” movementKey takeaways for brands looking to reach kids and parentsIf you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Floor 9, it’s about the Vision Pro! Ryan, Adam, and Chelsea regroup on Floor 9 for an in-depth discussion of Apple’s groundbreaking “spatial computing” headset. From our team’s first impressions of trying it on, to unpacking its use cases and market implications, the Lab team is eager to share our hot takes on Vision Pro. Key topics include:Assessing the Vision Pro launch and initial reception - starting around 0:57The Lab team’s first impressions of Vision Pro - starting around 3:31Discussing Vision Pro’s primary use cases - starting around 7:37Does Vision Pro signal a computing paradigm shift? - starting around 18:57The entertainment value of Vision Pro - starting around 21:40The user experience of Vision Pro: isolating or shared? - starting around 29:24Vision Pro’s impact on the mixed-reality headset market - starting around 34:23The marketing implications of Vision Pro and brand takeaways -  starting around 39:34If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Floor 9! This week, your hosts Ryan and Adam are joined by Chelsea Freitas from our Strategy team to take a deep dive into the trends and themes from our latest annual Outlook report, which includes:Macro trends in consumer behaviors - starting at 0:42Life's New Beats - starting at 13:36The Remixed City - starting at 24:50The Revenge of the Monoculture - starting at 37:50The Expanding Experience Economy - starting at 45:48Make sure to check out the full version of Outlook 2024 report on Medium here: https://bit.ly/LabOutlook24If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Floor 9! As always, we’ll kick off the year with a CES episode, in which the Lab team assembles to recap the biggest trends we spotted at CES 2024, including:How the AI hype manifested on the CES show floors, both the good and the bad (1:05)How the translucent TVs wow'ed the crowd and could be interesting for retail (2:56)How interoperability emerged as a major trend for smart home devices (4:25)How digital health solutions continue to be on-demand and home-centric (11:09)How immersive experiences are evolving and supercharging next-gen entertainment (15:17)How some CES exhibitors brought a luxury touch to their products through cutting-edge tech and design (26:10)How the CES showcased the latest trends in play and toy: the rise of educational toys, and AI-enabled play (37:48)How the auto industry is rushing to integrate AI into the dashboard and re-adjust their EV strategies (47:44)And many more!In addition, we also each named our favorite CES product this year!To learn more about CES trends, read our written recap here on Medium.If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast and Spotify. Follow the Lab on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening!Correction: at the 22:21 mark, Richard mistakenly said "Roku" when he meant to say "Roxi" when mentioning their new interactive linear broadcast channel. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To close out this significant year of innovations, the Lab team assembles for an end-of-year recap of the biggest trends that defined the tech and media landscape for the past 12 months:The rise of generative AI & its impact on creator economy and marketingThe “post-streaming wars” reality & the new opportunities in interactive ad formatsThe shifting social media landscape & the pivot in social commerce The revival of monoculture & the resulting “funflation” on consumer spendingThe emergence of spatial computing and immersive headsets, spurred by the impending release of Apple’s Vision ProListen now to hear what the Lab team has to say about each of these five topics that will continue to influence consumer behavior in 2024 and beyond. You can read more about the trends discussed in this episode in our year-end roundup piece here on Medium.If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast and Spotify. Follow the Lab on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

Welcome back to Floor 9. This week, we are tackling the hottest innovation territory of the year, generative AI, and its impact on the ad industry with the help of two brilliant UM thought leaders: James Fox, Global Chief Strategy Officer, and Andrew Littlewood, Global Chief Product Officer. Together with the Lab’s managing director Adam Simon, the trio discussed the state of generative AI, especially in terms of where it is in the Gartner hype cycle, the industry leaders in consumer-facing AI, what marketers can do with the new AI tools, and what’s next for generative AI. In addition, the following intriguing questions were also raised and explored:Is generative AI already over the peak of its hype cycle?How quickly will we culturally accept to use private data to train generative AI?Will generative AI cause the ad industry to implode? How far away are we from achieving human-level general artificial intelligence? If you’re curious about generative AI and want to learn about how it impacts the world of advertising and marketing, this episode is a must-listen!Floor 9 is a podcast created by the IPG Media Lab to bring you our latest musings and hot takes at the intersection of consumer technology and digital media.If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Floor 9. In this episode, we had the honor of having Kara Manatt, EVP of Intelligence Solutions at MAGNA, and Edwin Wong, SVP, Insights & Innovation at Vox Media, to chat about their recent blockbuster research on the persuasive power of podcasters and podcasting’s growing influence. When asked which media figures’ influence matters most, their study found that 75% of listeners say podcast hosts compared to 15% who say social media influencers.Kara and Edwin shared which podcasts they love most, then dived into the most revelatory findings from the joint study, “Podcasts: A New Era of Influence” (starting at 11:07). Some highlights of their discussion include:Why podcasters are now more influential than other types of influencersWhy IPG choose to partner with Vox to learn more about podcastsHow podcasters can help listeners with mental health and self-actualization How brands can harness the persuasive power of podcasters and drive results You can learn more about this joint research here: https://www.voxmedia.com/2023/5/10/23718269/podcasts-a-new-era-of-influence If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Thanks for listening!  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode: What the Lab thinks about Vision Pro, Apple’s first spatial computing device, and its potential impact on media consumption habits. Plus, various other interesting tidbits from Apple’s WWDC event this week, including the unified presence of widgets across OS’s, and Apple’s deliberation omission of generative AI. Floor 9 is a podcast created by the IPG Media Lab to bring you our latest musings and hot takes at the intersection of consumer technology and digital media. In this episode, you’ll hear from Adam Simon, our managing director, and Ryan Miller, director of partnerships. If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Floor 9! As usual, we are kicking off the year with a CES recap episode that features the entire IPG Media Lab team, plus Chad Stoller, Global Chief Innovation Officer of UM Worldwide. Listen now to hear about our team’s thoughts on the biggest trends in digital health, entertainment, mobility, smart home, and vice economy coming out of this year’s CES show floors! If you'd like to learn more about our CES learnings, please check out the Lab's CES content, including an in-depth written recap, here: https://ipglab.com/ces/Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights. Click here to listen and subscribe! If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Come one, come all! ‘Tis the season for our annual holiday episode of Floor 9. This year, we’re closing out the year with a not-so-Secret Santa gift exchange featuring co-hosts Ryan and Adam, along with the entire Strategy team here at the Lab — Chelsea, Katy, and Richard. All the gifts given in this episode have ties to one or more of the Innovation Territories that we track throughout the years at the Lab, while also reflecting what we know of each other. So listen now to find out what we gifted each other, and why we think they are representative of the key innovation trends. Maybe our selection of innovation-minded gifts will inspire gifts for your loved ones, or highlight innovation territories to pay attention to!As always, you can find Adam on Twitter @adamjsimon, and Ryan on LinkedIn. Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights. Click here to listen and subscribe! If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Floor 9! 'Tis the season again to talk about holiday shopping trends. Listen now to hear co-hosts Adam and Ryan walk you through the following trends in holiday shopping and recent news from the streaming services:Highlights from recent holiday shopping reports from Insider Intelligence and the Deloitte holiday survey;The looming recession’s impact on holiday shopping (or the lack thereof);Amex’s Small Business Saturday event and how to support SMBs during the holidays;News on emerging shopping trends: Amazon partnering with Snapchat for Shoppable AR lenses & Peloton’s new ecommerce widget;Latest streaming news on Netflix and Apple adding live sports content, the resulting increase in ad opportunities, and Disney’s broadening ecosystem playWe close out the episode with a quick discussion on the ongoing FTX debacle and a potentially long crypto winter. If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast.As always, you can find Adam on Twitter @adamjsimon, and Ryan on LinkedIn. Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Floor 9, we welcome a panel of experts on direct mail, including Dave Fink, Founder and CEO of Postie, Paul Tracey, VP of Advisory Services at Matterkind, and Lauren Banks, Brand Marketing Specialist at USPS. Moderated by Ryan Miller, Senior Manager of Partnerships at the Lab, our group of industry insiders dive into the unique capabilities of direct mail as a media channel, dispel some common misconceptions about direct mail among marketers such as addressability and sustainability, and explain how modern direct mail companies (like Postie) have digitally enhanced a century-old marketing channel. If you wish to learn more about how direct mail has become a privacy-first, brand-safe media channel, along with some suggestions on best practices, you won’t want to miss out on this great discussion on Floor 9!Recommended reading:2022 Holiday Marketing Playbook by PostieUSPS Educational Portal: https://uspsmailjourney.comLogistics and marketing insights from USPS: https://www.uspsdelivers.com/As always, you can follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights. Click here to listen and subscribe! If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Lab team is back on the mic to discuss the latest announcements from Apple. Host and Senior Manager of Partnerships, Ryan is joined by Adam and Katy from our Strategy team to chat about everything Apple unveiled during Wednesday’s “Far Out” event, from the funky Dynamic Island design for the new iPhone 14 Pro to the rugged Apple Watch Ultra with new emergency SOS features, as well as all the brand implications these new products and features will entail. Listen now! As always, you can find Adam on Twitter @adamjsimon, and Ryan on LinkedIn. Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights. Click here to listen and subscribe! If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Floor 9, we’re delighted to chat with Jennifer Solomon-Baum, North America Marketing at Microsoft Advertising and Innovation Lab Lead, to learn about how the maker of Windows has emerged as the latest heavy-hitting player to join the digital advertising arena. In this episode, we talked about Microsoft’s growing advertising capabilities (many of which were announced at the Microsoft Build 2022 event), the unique ecosystem of services that Microsoft has at its disposal to reach the “Workday Consumer”, and the myriad of ways that brands can take advantage of their ad offers. You can follow Jennifer on LinkedIn, or watch her in The Download, a video series that she produces (highly recommend the special episode from Cannes!) In addition, you can also read more about the Workday Consumer, a new commissioned research conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft Advertising, and read more about the future of work on WorkLab.  As always, you can find Adam on Twitter @adamjsimon, and Ryan on LinkedIn. Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights. Click here to listen and subscribe! If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Floor 9! This week, we welcome back Joshua Lowcock, UM’s Global Chief Media Officer, for an in-depth discussion about all things metaverse with our SVP, head of strategy, Adam Simon. From where the metaverse currently sits in the hype cycle, to the competitive landscape of the platforms with “metaverse aspirations," to understanding the metaverse as a operating system, Joshua and Adam talk through the various key aspects of this hot-button concept and, more importantly, what it means for brand marketers eager to enter the metaverse.As always, you can find Adam on Twitter @adamjsimon, and Joshua on LinkedIn. Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights. Click here to listen and subscribe! If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Floor 9! This week, co-hosts Adam and Ryan bring you the must-know highlights from the 2022 WWDC keynote that Apple gave on Monday. From new lock screen UI design to new Apple Wallet features, they chat about how Apple continued to show commitment to creating seamless user experiences, with a newfound emphasis on customization and shared experiences. Innovation-minded brands know that Apple’s WWDC announcements often offer a sneak peek into the future, and we hope this episode will help you better understand the new features coming soon to millions of consumers.As always, you can find Adam on Twitter @adamjsimon, and Ryan on LinkedIn. Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights. Click here to listen and subscribe! If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Floor 9, we’re delighted to welcome audio ads expert Alyssa Meyers, who works as a reporter for Morning Brew's Marketing Brew newsletter. Adam Simon, US Head of Innovation at UM, talked with Alyssa about the state of podcast advertising, a booming ad market that is forecast to exceed $2 billion in revenue in 2022. From major growth drivers like Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI) and programmatics to newer formats beyond host-read ads, Alyssa shared with us her insights on how and why brands should consider leveraging podcasts to reach an increasingly mainstream and diverse audience.You can find Alyssa on LinkedIn and follow her work on Morning Brew for the latest insights on audio ads.Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights. If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to another recap episode of Floor 9! This week, Adam and Ryan will walk you through all the major announcements from the latest Google I/O developer event, where the search giant announced several brand-friendly features on visual search, voice assistant, digital wallet, data privacy, and more. In addition to these software updates, Adam and Ryan also talk about Google’s hardware news from the event, including the all-new Pixel Watch and a pair of AR glasses that Google subtly showcased in a demo video (which may or may not be vaporware). Listen now to hear our take on Google’s announcements and their implications for brand marketers. You can read an in-depth recap of this event on our Medium site here.As always, you can find Adam on Twitter @adamjsimon, and Ryan on LinkedIn. Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights. If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode, we had the pleasure of chatting with Randall Rothenberg, Executive Chair at IAB, and ​​Chris Bruderle, Vice President of Research & Analytics at IAB, about the insights on social commerce from their brilliant annual Brand Disruption report. Together with your host Ryan Miller, we discussed the rise of direct brands and storeless commerce, how social media has become the new TV, the role of micro- and nano-influencers in social commerce, and the best practices for brands to tap into social commerce. If you’re a brand looking to understand how shopper behavior is shifting in the age of social commerce, this episode is a can’t-miss!You can find Randall on Twitter @r2rothenberg and on LinkedIn, and Chris on LinkedIn. You can find the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights. Click here to listen and subscribe! If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Floor 9 is back with a special post-event recap episode! Co-hosts Adam Simon and Ryan Miller are joined by Chelsea Freitas, our VP of Strategy & Innovation, to discuss the 2022 Snap Partner Summit. Listen now to hear our thoughts on the new creator tools and brand-friendly features that the Snapchat parent company announced during its annual media event, in addition to some brand suggestions on how to utilize AR to deliver brand value, today and tomorrow.If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Floor 9. This week, we chatted with Arielle Garcia, Chief Privacy Officer at UM Worldwide and our resident expert on online safety, about how companies are taking actions against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine. Many international companies, including big tech companies, have paused marketing operations in Russia, or pulled out of the market entirely. Adam Simon, UM’s U.S. head of Innovation, talked with Arielle about how brands are thinking about brand safety in response to a devastating world event like this, the brand responsibility of continuing to support quality news and combat misinformation, and why taking a more nuanced approach is crucial in times like this.You can click here to check out the Human Rights Watch site that Arielle mentioned towards the end of the episode.Click here to listen and subscribe! If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to another new episode of Floor 9. This week, co-host Ryan Miller and Adam Simon are back on the mic to share their hot takes on the latest Apple event that took place on Tuesday, including our thoughts on Apple’s content strategy and its MLB content deal, its 5G approach, and its pursuit of faster, better CPU chips with Apple Silicon. In addition, they also talked about some latest news of brands in metaverse and web3, including:American Eagle Debuts on Roblox via Role-playing Game Livetopia [Ad Age]Gucci Plans Virtual World for Gen Z  in The Sandbox [Vogue Business]Rolling Stone Inked Partnership with Meta for A Creator Initiative at Festivals [Variety]Coachella To Sell lifetime Festival Passes as NFTs [The Verge]As a bonus,, Adam also shares his thoughts on the “flight subscription” plans that Alaska Airlines recently announced.We hope you enjoy this episode. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 133 — Outlook 2022 Trends: Embracing Entropy, Part 2Welcome back to Floor 9! In this episode, the Lab’s strategy team will continue to walk you through the remaining two trends in our Outlook 2022 report: The Multiplayer Internet, and The Great Escape. Co-hosts Ryan and Adam will be joined by Richard Yao to chat about things like:what our increased sense of online “presence” can unlock new types of digital experiencesWhat “time-shifted togetherness” means and why brands can leverage that to enrich their offeringsthe roots behind our increasing need for a mental escape and how brands can help without being tone-deafthe role that various vice economies play in enabling our collective need for escapism and the brand opportunities withinIf you missed the first part of this conversation on our Outlook trends, please check out the last episode here.We hope you enjoy this episode. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!Click here to listen and subscribe! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Floor 9! To kick off the year, the Lab’s strategy team will be walking you through each one of the key trends in our Outlook 2022 report with a two-part special. In this first half, you will hear Ryan talk with strategy team members Adam, Katy, and Chelsea on the first half of our Outlook report, including insights on trends like: what "hyperobjects" are and why they matter to everyonewhy the only common theme of the 2020’s will be entropy and what that means for brandshow the creator economy and web3 technologies are tipping power balance to the people and connected communities how the relationship between consumer and brand is extending well beyond the point of purchase and unlocking new lifecyclesWe hope you enjoy this episode. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast!Click here to listen and subscribe! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Lab team assembles once again at the beginning of the year to take on CES, the biggest consumer tech event of the year. With Ryan Miller, manager of partnerships, as our MC, the Lab team recapped the most interesting trends and discoveries from this year’s show floors, including:Ben Hone talks about the key cross-category trends from CES - starts at 0:25Chelsea Freitas explains how CES vendors are responding to the at-home economy - starts at 14:56Adam Simon walks us through the new creator tools and how they impact the future of work - starts at 21:44Richard Yao talks about the CES discoveries relevant to entertainment brands - starts at 36:04Josh Mallalieu analyzes the future of mobility through what the auto brands brought to CES - starts at 41:33Richard jumps on again to explain some of the major smart cities trends - starts at 50:40Katy Geisreiter sheds some light on the new trends coming out of the digital health space this year - starts at 57:51Chad Stoller, Global Chief Innovation Officer at UM and CES veteran, wraps things up with some of his insights and takeaways - starts at 1:08:29We hope you enjoy this episode. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast! Click here to listen and subscribe! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join us as the Floor 9 team makes merry with our annual holiday special episode! Joined by UM’s Global Chief Innovation Officer, Chad Stoller, we bring you a special edition of a drafting game, in which we look back on the previous annual Outlook trend reports from the Lab to draft the all-star innovation trends. Competing with each other, Chad, Adam, and Scott pick their favorite Outlook trends from years past in three categories — tech, media, and culture — and discuss why they are still relevant for brands and marketers going into 2022. Listen now to hear their picks!In addition, this episode also marks the last episode of Scott Elchison’s marvelous tenure as a host of Floor 9. Please join us in bidding Scott a warm farewell and good wishes! As always, you can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast! If you’re a part of the IPG Mediabrands family, come join the Floor 9 community on our dedicated Teams channel here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we are delighted to chat with Kenton Langstroth, CMO at Decubate, a blockchain-powered social investing platform, all about how the DeFi movement impacted the personal investing space and changed investor mindset. Before the conversation, you will hear co-hosts Adam and Scott having a lively discussion about the latest news in the world of NFTs, the metaverse, and, funnily enough, Barbados, including:Infinite Objects is creating a way for NBA Top Shot collectors to display a “video print” of their NFTs [AgAge]AMC, Sony offering NFTs to people who purchase advance Spider-Man tickets [CNBC]Adidas has joined the Bored Ape Yacht Club with its own NFTs [Engadget]Nike teams up with Roblox to create a virtual world called Nikeland [CNBC]Fortnite’s new ‘Party Worlds’ put the focus firmly on socializing [The Verge]Barbados to become the first sovereign nation with an embassy in the metaverse [CoinDesk]As always, you can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast! If you’re a part of the IPG Mediabrands family, come join the Floor 9 community on our dedicated Teams channel here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we are back to the basics with co-hosts Adam and Scott doing a deep dive into the current competitive landscape that is shaping up for the metaverse. Following Facebook’s splashy rebranding as Meta, Adam and Scott discuss Facebook motivations behind its newfound metaverse ambitions, why the metaverse adoption may start on the enterprise front, how Microsoft and Apple are positioning themselves for the metaverse, and capping it off with a rough timeline estimate how when we’d be working and socializing in the metaverse.As always, you can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast! If you’re a part of the IPG Mediabrands family, come join the Floor 9 community on our dedicated Teams channel here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we had the pleasure of chatting with Gabriel Nicolau, Global Head of Vertical Ads Solutions at TikTok, to discuss the inaugural TikTok World event. Together with guest co-host Ryan Miller, Scott interviewed Gabe on topics such as what made TikTok so popular, what’s the best strategy for brands to engage with TikTok’s vibrant communities, and how brands can identify the right creators to work with. Gabe also recapped the key announcements from the TikTok World event, with an emphasis on its robust suite of creator tools and social commerce solutions. As always, you can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast! If you’re a part of the IPG Mediabrands family, come join the Floor 9 community on our dedicated Teams channel here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we celebrate the launch of our 2021 UM Innovation Annual (the U.S. edition) by talking with Arielle Garcia, Chief Privacy Officer at UM Worldwide, about the latest news on the consumer privacy debate. As always, Arielle shared some great insights into this important topic, including how the new privacy settings in the new iOS 15 are accelerating the arrival of a cookieless future, why there is a need for a set of global privacy control standards at the browser level, and what advertisers can do to bring data privacy out of its own silo and integrate it into the overall consumer experience and relationship. If you like what you hear and what to know more about the 2021 UM Innovation Annual, to which Arielle contributed a fantastic piece on consumer privacy and preference settings, you can find the link on our dedicated Teams channel here (open to the IPG Mediabrands family only), or reach out to us on Twitter @ipglab.As always, you can find Adam and Scott on Twitter at @adamjsimon and @tippier. If you like what you hear, please spare a minute and give us a five-star review on Apple Podcast! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.