Unpacking the Digital Shelf

Almost 2 months ago to the day, we had Futurist and Author Byron Reese on the podcast to talk about AI and its possibilities and risks. I warned you all then that I would have him back on to talk about his new book, We Are Agora, in which he sets out to scientifically prove that humans together make a superorganism, like bees make a hive, and what that means for our future and how we should spend our day. Nerdy, inspiring, awesome. He joined Rob Gonzalez and me to talk us through it.

Did you know that of the users who have engaged with TikTok Shop, 71.2% of them have bought a product? Smells like social shopping to me! Their advancements, from getting in the fulfillment game to an affiliate program, are driving some really impressive results with Gen Z, with acquisition costs still lower than other channels. Are you playing? Should you be? What’s working? What’s not? Here we are with Ben Rey, Chief Revenue Officer at Teikametrics, to get all the answers for you to refresh or create your TikTok Shop strategy.

The cookie has finally crumbled. Consumers are shopping and buying everywhere they darn well please. Brands and retailers are fighting over margin more fiercely than ever before. Rachel Tipograph, from her role as Founder & CEO of MikMak, is in the center of this generational maelstrom of the shifting rules of commerce, and joins the podcast to share her view of the trends that will matter in the next 18 months. Buckle up, it’s going to be an exciting ride.

Driving growth while cutting costs - the gordian knot of commerce today. Our listeners know that achieving that over the longer term will require deep investments in systematic automation and data, and many of you have struggled with convincing the C-suite and Board of why these investments are key to survival. Jeriad Zoghby, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer at IPG, joins the podcast with insights from years of 15 minute CEO conversations that ignite change as well as a new set of research on where some of those opportunities lie.

Dave Feinleib has been at the forefront of content and commerce throughout the last decade of the digital shelf, and he is now pouring that knowledge and experience into a new venture focused on the next great unlock for commerce which, it will not surprise you, is AI. At ItsRapid.ai, his new technology and wisdom on the process and people side of content creation and optimization is powering the AI “test and learn to production” timeline for some of the world’s largest brands. Dave joins the podcast to bring that timeline and its lessons and benefits to life.

Every quarter, the ecommerce education consultancy Allume Group consolidates the output of expert conversations, annual reports, and the latest data to create their Allume Insider report, or AIR. It’s chock a block full of the most current insights into the present and future of ecommerce. Andrea Leigh, Founder & CEO of Allume Group rejoins the podcast with the takeaways from Q2 based on their research.

Folks, we live in a VUCA world: volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. To thrive in this environment, transformation by inches will simply not be enough. Leaps are required. Seven mind leaps, in fact, according to best-selling author Steve Dennis. His new book, Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption is a primer of the transformations leaders must make to be able to drive the vision, course, and speed required to be remarkable. Steve joined the podcast to lay out the core tenets in his clarion call of a book.

A couple of weeks ago, the advertising and communications industry gathered on the beaches of Cannes for the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. In addition to celebrating the best creative work of the past year, there are executives from around the industry connecting to figure out what’s next. Our own Lauren Livak Gilbert was part of that throng, and she returned with some great insights we just had to share, so we put her in the hot seat for a change.

Live from the Cannes Lions Festival of creativity where commerce and retail media took center stage we turned to Jeff Cohen, Principal Evangelist at Amazon Ads to help navigate the changing world of the Amazon Canvas and how brands should be utilizing the suite of options from AMC to Prime Video and beyond.

There are tremendous amounts of trepidation and hope being invested in AI right now, with often trepidation winning out. Is all this angst really necessary? We turned to Byron Reese, an endlessly provocative futurist and author of the newly released book We Are Agora, to provide a long view of transformational technologies through the ages and therefore, the positivity we can take into a sometimes uncertain future. Grist for all the transformation cheerleading you do in your careers and lives.