Unlocked with Austin and Elizabeth
Unlocked with Austin and Elizabeth
Podcast Description
Hosted by Austin Leonard and Elizabeth Donovan, this podcast takes you behind the scenes of the third wave of advertising—where digital innovation, brand storytelling, and data-driven strategies collide. Featuring candid conversations with the industry insiders who lived it, we uncover the real stories, game-changing moments, and lessons learned from the frontlines of modern marketing.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast covers themes around digital marketing innovation, brand storytelling, and retail media networks, with episodes featuring discussions on leadership strategies in retail media commerce, the evolution of digital advertising, and insights into navigating modern marketing challenges.
Hosted by Austin Leonard and Elizabeth Donovan, this podcast takes you behind the scenes of the third wave of advertising—where digital innovation, brand storytelling, and data-driven strategies collide. Featuring candid conversations with the industry insiders who lived it, we uncover the real stories, game-changing moments, and lessons learned from the frontlines of modern marketing.
Building Community and Commerce: The Ascendant Network Journey with Susan MacDermid
How do you build a community that transforms careers while shaping an entire industry? Susan MacDermid, founder of Ascendant Network, reveals the strategic decisions behind creating the retail media industry's most influential professional community and shares hard-won lessons from her journey through digital transformation.
From her academic roots studying mass media evolution to launching Digital Ascendant in 2014, Susan discusses spotting the retail media wave early, the art of asking for what you're worth, and why doing work that drives real shareholder value matters more than flashy presentations.
On a personal note, Susan continues to fight her personal battle with cancer, and we'd like to share a few notes about this:
She is a FIGHTER and loves to hear from the community as we all send love and good energy her way. She is doing as well as can be expected, but wants to remind everyone to take the time to check in on their own health, as well. Her personal message to everyone is this:
The American Cancer Society (ACS) research announced colorectal cancer as the top cancer killer of adults under 50 and said people should screen for colorectal cancer from 45. Recent ACS research revealed a 50% relative increase in diagnoses in adults aged 45 to 49. This surge in early-stage detection is largely attributed to the lowering of the recommended colorectal screening age from 50 to 45.
So pls, pls, pls don’t wait until 45, get screened from 40 even if you need to pay for it yourself. ACS research is years behind.
Expert tip: do the pills vs Gatorade for your colonoscopy, it is way better.
Cancer is a bitch so fight.
Learn more at Cancer.org!
Now tune in to this episode as we explore:
(00:00) Susan's health update and resilient mindset
(04:04) Academic foundation studying mass media evolution
(05:24) Digital Ascendant origins and leadership development focus
(08:08) Early retail media signals from Walmart trials
(09:37) How COVID accelerated commerce media adoption
(12:30) Building business within business intrapreneurship challenges
(17:42) Commerce upfronts event creation and market demand
(20:06) Diverse sponsor lineup and buyer requirements
(23:45) Driving shareholder value beyond gross margins
(25:37) The 100% salary raise negotiation story
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