The Digiday Podcast

Jennifer Quigley-Jones, founder and CEO of Digital Voices who sold her influencer agency to PMG, shares her journey from scaling creator-driven services to preparing for acquisition. She discusses why influencer agencies are hot M&A targets, hiring finance and legal help early, organizing contracts and data rooms, and navigating team communication and culture during a sale.

Seb Joseph, Digiday executive editor who broke WPP document stories, and Michael Burgi, senior editor focused on media buying and agency practices, discuss principal media buying. They explain what principal deals are and why WPP revelations put the practice back in the spotlight. Conversations cover proprietary inventory, agency-as-supplier tensions, platform-driven principal products, and whether transparency can be a market advantage.

Since its legal woes have been resolved, and the U.S. app was spun out earlier this year, TikTok has taken a muted approach to business. Digiday senior platform reporter Krystal Scanlon joins this episode of the Digiday Podcast to discuss why what looks like business as usual on the surface is more likened to hushed plight for more ad dollars, creators and users.

Jenny Lewis, CMO at The Knot Worldwide, leads marketing and digital initiatives including The Knot’s early ChatGPT ad pilot. She discusses joining OpenAI’s ad trial, balancing brand and performance, measuring AI-driven channels versus traditional search, reorganizing SEO for AEO/GEO, and the company’s ChatGPT app strategy and measurement goals.

Creators reevaluate partnerships after a controversy tied to a major social platform. One creator describes auditing past deals with spreadsheets, red flags and morality clauses. The conversation covers AI boundaries, surveillance concerns, contract protections and community coordination. Practical steps for monitoring brands and protecting likeness are highlighted.

Krystan (Crystal) Scanlon, Digiday senior platforms reporter who covers platform advertising and OpenAI, breaks down ChatGPT’s new ad pilot. She explains the ad format and pricing. She walks through who OpenAI targeted first and the team’s internal debates. She outlines measurement, privacy concerns, and how ad dollars might shift as performance data emerges.

Sunny Bonnell, co-founder and CEO of Motto and brand strategy expert, helps rank Super Bowl 2026 ads. She breaks down nostalgia plays, AI-company spots, celebrity and influencer uses. Short takes on which ads achieved brand recall and which ones missed the mark.

Ryan McConville, CPO and EVP of Ad Products and Solutions at NBCUniversal, led a proof-of-concept using AI agents to buy ads during a live NFL game. He describes how agentic automation accessed linear and streaming data, contrasted with programmatic buying. Short takes cover governance, human approvals, trusted registries, and future real-time creative possibilities.

Sarah Jurdy, Digiday managing editor, argues language and context shape whether someone is called a creator. Seb Joseph, Digiday executive news editor, insists creators and influencers serve different marketer needs. They debate definitions, marketing value, platform effects, business intent versus content craft, and which roles blur or stand apart.

Jessica Davis, a senior media editor at Digiday, and Sara Guaglione, a senior media reporter, dive into the rapidly evolving world of AI platforms and publishers. They discuss their scorecard ranking major AI companies like Microsoft and OpenAI, revealing how publishers feel about compensation models amidst ongoing uncertainties. The duo highlights critical contract terms, the meaningfulness of licensing payments, and why platforms like Anthropic are lagging. With insights into Google’s cautious approach and Amazon’s targeted deals, they provide a compelling look at the AI landscape for publishers.