The Digital Deep Dive With Aaron Conant Aaron Conant

Chris Bruderle is the Vice President of Industry Insights and Content Strategy at the Internal Advertising Bureau (IAB), which empowers the media and marketing industries to thrive in the digital economy. As a web analytics, market research, advertising, and content expert, he has over 10 years of experience mining data and collecting insights for various web publishers. 
In this episode… Retail media and CTV are the key drivers of growth in the digital advertising ecosystem. However, with consumer privacy regulations hindering targeting efforts, brands must maintain compliance while gathering insights. What should you know about the evolving digital media space, and how can you profit from it?
Digital media researcher Chris Bruderle recommends partnering with retail media networks to obtain consumer insights in a privacy-compliant manner. Once you’ve gathered data from your target demographic, upload the information to a data clean room to remove sensitive material. Retailers can also integrate their first-party data and offer feedback and results-driven metrics. Leveraging CTV advertising is essential for profitability in the digital landscape, so Chris advises developing and adapting shoppable videos, QSR codes, and sponsored ads on streaming networks to encourage action from consumers. 
In today’s episode of The Digital Deep Dive, Aaron Conant welcomes Chris Bruderle, IAB’s Vice President of Industry Insights and Content Strategy, for a discussion about the exponential growth of retail media and CTV. Chris addresses the integration of CTV and retail and social media, his predictions for live digital shopping, and how to maximize retail media spend.

Jacob Cooke is the Co-founder and CEO of WPIC Marketing + Technologies, a leading eCommerce and technology consultancy driving growth for global brands in China, Japan, and Southeast Asia. Under his leadership, the firm has built an expansive solution set in data analytics, eCommerce activations and store management, brand strategy, creative campaigns, merchandising, and more. Having lived in Beijing since 2003, Jacob frequently contributes to Bloomberg on eCommerce, retail, and technology trends in China.
In this episode… As sales growth in the US declines, brands are launching in the China and APAC markets to drive additional sales. eCommerce is a profitable market in China, with 50% of retail sales occurring online and 80% influenced by social platforms. What should you know about China’s eCommerce market, and how can you launch products there?
As consumers focus more on health and wellness, categories like supplements, outdoor wear, and appliances have expanded significantly in Asian markets. With deep expertise in China market trends, Jacob Cooke emphasizes launching with an exclusive online strategy and innovating in these categories to demonstrate value to consumers. Partner with experienced agencies, leverage influencers, and live stream videos on Chinese platforms like Douyin to develop a widespread presence in these markets.
Join Aaron Conant for another episode of The Digital Deep Dive as he interviews Jacob Cooke, the Co-founder and CEO of WPIC Marketing + Technologies, about breaking into the China eCommerce market. Jacob explains how to drive sales and target consumer demographics, the costs of launching in the market, and the difference between China, Japan, and South Korean markets.

Michael Zakkour is the Founder and Chief Strategist at 5 New Digital, a consultancy that advises clients on strategy, structure, implementation, and transformation in the digital realm. Michael has over 20 years of experience in eCommerce, specializing in digital transformation, data science, the China/APAC market, digital commerce, and new retail strategy. He is also the Founder and Managing Director of China BrightStar, LLC. As an author and speaker, Michael has been interviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, NPR, the BBC, and many other media outlets.
In this episode… Younger generations like Gen Alpha interact with commerce brands by balancing physical and digital interactions, playing video games like Fortnite and Roblox while socializing with friends. This online and offline integration has initiated a new retail class, where brands must amplify the shopping experience to reach younger audiences. How can you leverage immersive and experiential commerce to excel in the new digital age?
With consumers becoming disinterested in two-dimensional shopping experiences, traditional eCommerce is underperforming. According to digital thought leader Michael Zakkour, eCommerce’s pervasive presence has led consumers to desire more meaningful interactions. Immersive commerce integrates live streams, shoppable videos, virtual environments, and avatars to create engaging and pragmatic experiences. Capitalizing on modern retail requires identifying top-performing digital tools and channels and developing a video commerce strategy involving streaming and live shopping videos with real-time purchasing options. 
Tune in to the latest Digital Deep Dive episode as Aaron Conant welcomes Michael Zakkour, the Founder and Chief Strategist at Five New Digital, back to the show to discuss leveraging immersive commerce to engage younger generations. Michael shares actionable steps for success in the new digital realm, the importance of interactive video content, and how to optimize your budget for experiential commerce.

Steven Moy is the CEO of Barbarian, a leading creative digital advertising agency. Throughout his career, Steven has worked on large-scale digital transformation initiatives for global brands, including American Express, McDonald’s, CVS Health, and AT&T. Since joining Barbarian in 2019, he has significantly reshaped the agency by launching its first global office, adding new clients, and initiating new business practices.
In this episode… According to a recent study conducted by Insider Intelligence, social media is the first touch point for over 40% of consumers under 30. These younger generations consume hours of high-velocity, compelling content, prompting brands to compete for attention. How can you produce large volumes of creative content to target digital-first generations?
As an early adopter of digital during the dot-com bubble, Steven Moy endorses attention economics, which forces brands to capture consumers’ limited attention spans on fast-paced, content-rich platforms like TikTok. Highly targeted content captures consumers within the first second and communicates value propositions in the following three to four seconds. To reach younger generations effectively, Steven recommends hiring college students to create engaging short-form videos that resonate with audiences.
In today’s episode of The Digital Deep Dive, Aaron Conant welcomes Steven Moy, the CEO of Barbarian, to discuss creating content for digital-first generations. Steven explains how to adapt to the digital paradigm shift, AI and the metaverse’s roles in the creative process, and how to budget for rapid content creation.

Brad Dey is the President of Dey’s End Consulting LLC, a full-service certified Shopify Plus partner focused on solving eCommerce and operational challenges. He has experience working on enterprise-level projects in financial services at Fortune 100 and 200 companies. As an eCommerce solutions architect, Brad has had CIO-level involvement at some of the world’s largest eCommerce companies.
In this episode… At the height of Q4, profitability remains top of mind for many Shopify brands. As you evaluate new integrations and tools, how can you drive sales while managing demand challenges?
Rather than exhausting resources by upgrading your front-end tech stack, eCommerce solutions consultant Brad Dey encourages brands to focus on optimizing their back-end operations to ensure sufficient demand. As you prepare for the holidays, manage your inventory by identifying your highest and lowest-selling products to determine discounted items. This allows you to develop an ideal cost structure for your 3PLs. With consumers purchasing and returning multiple sizes and variations of one product, you must develop systems to mitigate the resulting profit loss. Consider leveraging a sizing tool to provide customers with accurate sizes, boost loyalty, and improve experiences.
Tune in to this episode of The Digital Deep Dive as Aaron Conant hosts Brad Dey, the President of Dey’s End Consulting LLC, who shares strategies for a profitable Q4 on Shopify. Brad explains how he conducts tech stack audits, Shopify’s new releases and functions, and how to integrate Buy with Prime and Shopify.

Meghan Corroon is the Founder and CEO of Clerdata, a marketing intelligence platform that drives sales. As a data scientist, she has completed data science research for several national governments in Africa. Before founding Clerdata, Meghan was the Technical Director for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation portfolio evaluation.
In this episode… Incrementality has become imperative in distributing retail media spend and measuring sales growth from marketing efforts. With so many trending advertising channels and retailers, brands often invest in each one simultaneously, creating data silos and inhibiting visibility into top-performing platforms. How can you measure incremental ROI holistically?
In today’s volatile economy, consumers are spending less money, so brands must invest in their shoppers’ most frequented platforms. According to data enthusiast Meghan Corroon, this requires evaluating your channel budgets and resulting performance to make real-time, data-driven decisions. After performing a comprehensive analysis, brands often find they’ve invested too much money in underperforming channels. By reducing your budget for low-engagement platforms, you can measure impacted sales growth to identify your most profitable networks and boost ROI.
Tune in to this episode of The Digital Deep Dive as Aaron Conant invites Meghan Corroon, the Co-founder and CEO of Clerdata, to speak about measuring incremental sales growth on retail media networks. Meghan explains the importance of incrementality, real-time marketing analytics, and how the evolution of retail media has impacted brand growth.