BRAINS: SUPERSIZED
Advertising Thought Leaders Think Aloud
Happy Monday Peaceniks. Ready to learn some shit? This spring I went on a worldwide tour of the Media Universe. Today, I’m sharing what I’ve learned about the current state of TV advertising, through some exclusive conversations I’ve had recently with leading thinkers in the space.
If you read my junk regularly, you’ll know that LinkedIn is my platform of choice — if not my digital happy place. But did you know that LinkedIn generated $17 billion in revenue in 2024? Ok, but did you know that LinkedIn has a growing connected TV ad business as well as marketing data partnerships with Roku and NBCU? Well, you do now, because Lee Womer from LinkedIn told you so in the clip above.
I interviewed Lee, LinkedIn VP of Product and Business Development, at Cannes Lions, as part of a special series co-produced with The Measure, Big Brains with Evan Shapiro.
The only ads I watch on TV are in sports. When I see B2B spots targeting small business owners in expensive slots in events like Wimbeldon, I imagine how much of that exposure and cost is waste? The data from LinkedIn’s billion users, connected to connected TVs, helps marketers avoid that.
The LinkedIn case study proves the importance of rich data in today’s ad game. Data depth and quality came up in every conversation I’ve had around the Media business this spring. Lee’s interview also shows how, after years of siloed selling, collaboration and partnership are now widely seen as the central solutions to waste and fragmentation in CTV advertising. You can see my whole interview with Lee here.
If you visit this newsletter often, you might’ve seen me advocate (aka rant and rage) for a multi-currency system in the TV ad industry. There are countless reasons why the monopolistic methodology of past eras will not play in today’s fragmented, multi-device, user-centric era.
“That’s why we focus on standardizing video measurement across formats, whether it’s linear, digital, or walled gardens. We go down to the ad unit level, track impressions and audience, and ensure comparability across platforms. Ultimately, we connect that to outcomes. That’s the holy grail for marketers—and for us.”
— Sean Muller, iSpot Founder
In my Big Brains interview with Sean Muller, CEO and Founder of the big data measurement platform iSpot, Sean focuses on advertisers’ table-stakes need to unify video measurement across platforms with consistent metrics. Sean also teased a new technology coming soon that will allow iSpot to use AI to deliver better insights about ad effectiveness, infinitely quicker, to help marketers make smarter decisions, exponentially faster.
If you’ve followed this space for some time, you’ll know I have pushed hard to end the zero-sum, winner-take-all business models of the last Media era, in favor of radical collaboration — particularly around data and measurement.
Like LinkedIn Lee, iSpot Sean emphasized collaboration and partnership as core elements to success for everyone in the ad business up against the big walled gardens.
A year ago, I warned Big Media that the only way they can transform themselves enough to competently compete against big tech is to work together, across all their silos to offer a true collective alternative to the Meta-Google-Amazon performance marketing, ROAS-focused, ad-and-data triopoly.
As I wrote a few weeks ago, based on all the conversations I’ve had across numerous Media disciplines in the first half of 2025 and the industry-shifting deals made over that time, Media has turned a crucial corner, into a new normal.
The iSpot Founder’s illuminating interview is here.
These hot-take-best-practice conversations help me see the Media Universe from a wider perspective. I hope you feel the same way! There’s more Big Brains with Evan Shapiro (sounds like the worst tasting menu ever - but fun to say!) soon.
Until then, enjoy the week!
ESHAP