Adspeak

What does it take to disrupt a legacy industry without losing sight of what consumers actually want? Sometimes, the answer lies in rethinking something as familiar as the packaging. But turning an unconventional product idea into a lasting brand requires more than innovation. It takes a distinctive voice, genuine consumer insight, and a commitment to sustainable growth.

In this episode of Adspeak by ADWEEK, host Zoë Ruderman, Chief Content Officer at ADWEEK, sits down with Marian Leitner-Waldman, Founder and CEO of Archer Roose Wines, and Elizabeth Banks, Actor, Producer, Director, and Chief Creative Officer at Archer Roose Wines, to explore how they're challenging conventions in the wine industry. The conversation examines how canned wine, premium positioning, and irreverent brand storytelling are helping Archer Roose rethink wine accessibility and redefine consumer perceptions of the category.

The guests discuss how identifying an overlooked consumer frustration, the waste of unfinished wine bottles, helped inspire a different approach to wine innovation. They also explain why brand voice matters as much as product quality, and how humor, authenticity, and a willingness to avoid condescension can build meaningful consumer engagement.

A central theme is the importance of "Velocity Over Volume": prioritizing reorder metrics, customer loyalty, and sustainable growth over short-lived viral success. The discussion also explores Archer Roose's patient partnership marketing strategy with JetBlue, demonstrating how long-term thinking can turn an unexpected opportunity into a lasting distribution channel.

What You'll Learn:
How canned wine can disrupt a traditional luxury category
Why authentic consumer insights drive brand disruption
How brand voice and storytelling build consumer trust
Why velocity growth matters more than volume
How reorder metrics reveal genuine brand loyalty
How patience transformed Archer Roose's JetBlue partnership
Why sustainable packaging and aluminum cans support wine innovation
How to pursue cultural relevance without chasing every trend

About the Host and Guest:
Marian Leitner-Waldman is the Founder and CEO of Archer Roose Wines, where she is redefining wine accessibility through premium, single-serve canned wine. Built around the insight that consumers often want just a glass rather than an entire bottle, Archer Roose has become the #1 canned wine by on-premise velocity. Marian has driven its growth through consumer-led innovation, strategic partnerships, and a focus on customer loyalty. Before entering the wine industry, she worked in global health finance, raising $57 million for GAVI and helping lead a $2 billion campaign for the Global Partnership for Education.

Elizabeth Banks is an award-nominated actor, producer, director, and entrepreneur known for her versatility across film and television. Her notable credits include The Hunger Games, Pitch Perfect, Spider-Man, 30 Rock, and The 40-Year-Old Virgin. She co-founded Brownstone Productions, the company behind the Pitch Perfect franchise, and has directed films including Pitch Perfect 2 and Charlie's Angels. Beyond entertainment, Elizabeth serves as Chief Creative Officer at Archer Roose Wines, bringing her creative perspective to the brand's marketing, storytelling, and category innovation.

Zoë Ruderman is the Chief Content Officer at ADWEEK, where she oversees the newsroom and editorial operations, including audience growth, audio, video, social, and product. A media executive with more than 15 years of experience, she previously served as Vice President and General Manager of People and Head of Editorial for People Digital. During her tenure, she helped grow the brand's digital audience to more than 100 million monthly users, while developing new content formats, expanding video and audio offerings, and driving audience engagement.
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AI is giving marketers new ways to understand consumers, optimize creative, and improve campaign performance. But how can brands move beyond experimentation to turn these capabilities into measurable business results? It starts with better data, smarter targeting, and a willingness to rethink how marketing decisions are made.

In this episode of Adspeak by ADWEEK, host Ryan Joe, Editor-in-Chief at ADWEEK, brings together Eric Danetz, President at Cognitiv, and Nicole Vinson, VP of Agency Ecosystem and Growth Marketing Integration Lead at Mars, to explore how AI and deep learning are reshaping modern marketing. The conversation examines how brands can move beyond cookie deprecation to build stronger data foundations, uncover consumer insights, and drive greater efficiency across media and creative.
The panel discusses why behavioral data offers a more accurate picture of consumer preferences than traditional panel research, and how clean room technology can bring together different data sources to create a more complete understanding of audiences.

They also explore how a pilot-first approach helps organizations test AI applications before committing to large-scale implementation. Real-world examples illustrate the potential, including reducing creative analytics from 100 hours to under 10 and achieving a 36% lift in campaign results through more precise audience targeting.
The conversation also addresses the organizational challenges of adopting AI, from establishing responsible governance to building partnerships that prioritize long-term business outcomes over technology for its own sake.

What You'll Learn:
How clean rooms create a more complete consumer picture
Why behavioral data beats traditional panel research
The "Pilot-First" approach to AI adoption
How AI can dramatically accelerate creative analysis
Why behavior-based targeting can outperform demographics
How Special K achieved a 36% campaign lift
Why AI governance and strong partnerships matter

About the Host and Guest:
Eric Danetz is President of Cognitiv, the deep learning advertising platform helping brands predict consumer behavior and deliver more relevant advertising. An accomplished executive, he has held senior global leadership positions at organizations including Thomson Reuters, AccuWeather, Time Inc., IAC, CBS, and Ziff Davis. With extensive experience scaling businesses, driving revenue growth, leading large teams, and navigating M&A, he is also an active investor, board member, and advisor to numerous organizations across the technology and media industries.

Nicole Vinson is Vice President, Agency Ecosystem and Growth Marketing Integration Lead at Mars, where she leads the transformation of Mars’ global marketing agency ecosystem. With more than 20 years of experience in digital marketing, media, and strategic marketing management, she previously led Kellanova’s Global Marketing Excellence Center of Excellence and its global digital marketing transformation. Her work focuses on leveraging data, technology, and AI to build more effective marketing strategies, strengthen consumer engagement, and accelerate brand growth.

Ryan Joe is Editor-in-Chief at ADWEEK, where he leads coverage of the advertising and marketing industries. He has spent more than a decade covering data-driven marketing and advertising, making complex industry developments accessible to a wider audience. Previously, he served as Managing Editor at AdExchanger, where he spent nearly eight years reporting on the shift toward digital advertising, before joining Business Insider in 2021. He began his career at DMNews and is a graduate of UCLA and Columbia.

Host and Guest Resources:
Eric Danetz on LinkedIn
Cognitiv Website
Nicole Vinson on LinkedIn
Mars Website
Ryan Joe on LinkedIn
ADWEEK Website
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Women's sports are gaining unprecedented momentum, but how can brands turn that growing attention into meaningful partnerships that deliver lasting cultural and commercial value? It starts with authenticity, collaboration, and a deeper understanding of the communities they serve.

In this episode of Adspeak by ADWEEK, host LaTecia Johnson, Founder and CEO of INGENIUS, brings together three Sports Marketing Leaders: Shayne Odum, Director of Global Partnerships & Media Sales at Phoenix Suns, and former Director of Corporate Partnership and Sales at Atlanta Dream; Naz Hillmon, Forward with the Atlanta Dream in the WNBA; and Connor Thompson, Senior Manager, Energy at Reebok. Recorded live at Brand Week, the conversation explores how athlete partnerships, brand collaborations, and the growing influence of women's sports are reshaping the marketing landscape.

The discussion examines why athletes are increasingly becoming media companies in their own right, how brands can move beyond transactional endorsements to build authentic relationships, and why cultural relevance requires more than simply attaching a logo to a sporting event. The speakers also explore the importance of community pillars in evaluating brand alignment, giving athletes greater control over their storytelling, and creating partnerships that reflect shared values.

What You'll Learn:
How to build brand partnerships rooted in authenticity rather than chasing cultural trends
The "Community Pillars" framework teams can use to vet whether a partnership truly fits their identity
Why athletes must control their own narrative and content to build lasting trust with their audience
How to turn one-off activations into long-term, trust-based collaborations
The shift from awareness-based marketing to measurable "return on influence"
Why intentionality and follow-through, not just big budgets, are what separate real brand investment from empty gestures

About the Host and Guest:

Naz Hillmon is a professional basketball player for the Atlanta Dream in the WNBA, currently in her fourth year with the organization. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, and a University of Michigan graduate, Hillmon has established herself as a dynamic athlete and emerging brand partner.

Shayne Odum is the former Director of Partnerships and Sales for the Atlanta Dream and currently the Director of Global Partnerships and Media Sales at the Phoenix Suns. Shane brings a background in sports marketing and community-focused brand strategy. With expertise in building meaningful partnerships that align with organizational values, Shane shares strategic approaches to evaluating brand collaborations through the lens of community pillars: growing the game of basketball, empowering girls and women, and equity for all.

Connor Thompson is Senior Manager of Energy at Reebok, overseeing brand campaigns, product collaborations, and cultural partnerships that drive brand perception and equity. With four years at the brand, Thompson articulates Reebok's strategy of creating authentic, long-term relationships with athletes and creators rather than chasing trends.

LaTecia Johnson is CEO and Founder of INGENIUS, a platform building social commerce programs that connect brands, athletes, and creators as the media companies of the future. Her expertise centers on mapping cultural trends and evaluating the relevance and ROI of brand partnerships in the evolving creator economy.

Host and Guest Resources:
Naz Hillmon on Instagram
Shayne Odum on LinkedIn
Connor Thompson on LinkedIn
LaTecia Johnson on LinkedIn
ADWEEK Website
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What if CPG brands could measure the true impact of digital promotions in real time, rather than relying on sales figures that may not tell the whole story? The answer starts with incrementality, not ROAS.

In this episode of Adspeak by ADWEEK, host Bryan Leach, Founder and CEO at Ibotta, sits down with Benoit Vatere, Chief Media & Digital Commerce Officer at Liquid Death, to explore how performance marketing principles are transforming promotional ROI. Recorded live at Brandweek, the conversation examines how brands can bring greater accountability to retail media and in-store promotions through real-time data, matched-audience testing, and more rigorous measurement.
The discussion unpacks why conventional ROAS can overstate promotional effectiveness, how to identify genuinely incremental sales, and why third-party verification matters. Benoit also shares insights into optimizing promotional spend across retail channels, reducing customer churn, growing household penetration, and reallocating budgets based on emerging sales signals rather than quarterly recaps.

What You Will Learn:
Why incrementality provides a clearer picture of promotional performance than ROAS alone
How matched-audience testing identifies genuinely incremental sales
How cost per incremental dollar helps protect margins
Why churn reduction can improve household penetration
How real-time measurement enables smarter budget allocation
Why independent verification builds trust in retail media results

About the Host and Guest:
Bryan Leach is the Founder and CEO of Ibotta (NYSE: IBTA), a leading performance marketing platform delivering digital promotions to over 200 million consumers. Under his leadership, Ibotta’s app has surpassed 50 million downloads and powers digital offer programs for major brands, including Walmart, DoorDash, and Instacart. In 2024, he led Ibotta through the largest tech IPO in Colorado history. A frequent commentator on AI and CPG performance marketing, Bryan previously practiced law at Bartlit Beck LLP and clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter.

Benoit Vatere is the Chief Media & Digital Commerce Officer at Liquid Death and is known for his expertise in performance marketing and digital promotions within the CPG industry. With a background in digital-first brand building, he has pioneered innovative approaches to measuring incremental sales and ROI in retail environments.

Host and Guest Resources:
Benoit Vatere on LinkedIn
Liquid Death Website
Bryan Leach on LinkedIn
Ibotta Website
ADWEEK Website
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What makes a brand stand out in a crowded digital landscape, capture attention, and create campaigns that genuinely resonate? It starts with understanding culture, not chasing virality.

In this episode of Adspeak by ADWEEK, host Lauren Probyn Aouad, VP of Entertainment & Culture Marketing at UTA, sits down with Anthony Po, creator, performance artist, and co-founder of Pufferfish. Recorded live at Brand Week, the conversation explores how creators are redefining brand marketing, why authenticity matters more than strategy alone, and what it takes to turn cultural moments into meaningful audience connections.

The discussion examines why copying viral campaigns rarely works, how brands can recognize the “ick factor” that makes audiences disengage, and why marketers must earn attention before delivering their message. Anthony also shares insights on the growing business opportunities for creators, the importance of involving culturally immersed talent, and how testing content with engaged communities can help refine campaigns before launch.

For marketers looking to connect with digital-native audiences, the conversation offers a valuable reminder: genuine cultural understanding and creativity can accomplish far more than simply chasing the next viral moment.

What You Will Learn:
Why copying a viral campaign's format (not its feeling) guarantees audience rejection and algorithmic punishment
How to identify the "ick factor" that signals to digitally native audiences you're exploiting culture rather than participating in it
The "earn the view first" principle with creating genuine attention
Why hiring people who are actually immersed in culture is non-negotiable for authentic digital content
How to decide whether a campaign should optimize for direct conversion versus long-term brand equity
The value of pre-launching content to small, engaged fan communities for real-time feedback before a public release

About the Guest:
Anthony Po is the co-founder of Pufferfish, a media company specializing in creator-led brand activations and cultural storytelling. With a decade-long background as a content creator across Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, including a tenure leading short-form creative at MrBeast, Anthony has mastered the art of building authentic connections with digitally native audiences through innovative, culture-first campaigns.

Host and Guest Resources:
Anthony Po on LinkedIn
Anthony Po Website
Pufferfish Website
ADWEEK Website
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