Life in Digital

Scaling your business in Eastern Europe, Yaraslov Kholod, Head of Programmatic at Admixer

Our latest guest on this week’s episode of the Life in Digital Podcast, Yaroslav Kholod, Head of Programmatic at Admixer, brings insight into how the ad tech industry in Eastern Europe (CIS) has adapted to standardising their practices. Yaroslav talks about how important it is to have relations with publishers and advertisers when going global and how the SaaS DSP product is helping companies who are looking for a barrier-free entry into the programmatic world. CTV remains a vulnerable ecos...

Privacy and personalisation: when both work, Nick Pinks, Founder & CEO of Covatic

Our latest guest on this week’s episode of the Life in Digital podcast, Nick Pinks, CEO and Founder of Covatic goes into depth on how personalisation can still be formed whilst prioritising consumer privacy. In this episode, Ed hears from Nick about the work Covatic are doing to tackle the industry shift by combining privacy and personalisation to create the perfect solution, discussing how the industry is making reparations from the impact of Covid, and insight into the future of the Ad Te...

Taking the profit out of piracy, Peter Szyszko, CEO and Founder of White Bullet

The amount of pirate websites and apps is on the rise and it’s now easier than ever to find and consume content via channels that are engaged in IP crime. It’s estimated that the top pirate web domains earn around $7 million in ad revenue annually. In this week’s episode of the Life in Digital Podcast, Ed chats with Peter Szyszko, CEO and Founder of White Bullet, a software company which sits at the intersection of content protection and brand safety. Whether you work for a brand, publish...

Asking the difficult questions: Diversity and Inclusion, Jasmine Dotiwala, Advisor at Media Trust

Diversity, inclusion, equality… it’s fast making its way to the top of the agenda for most businesses. However, more is still needed to be done to move the topics away from simply a box ticking exercise to one which drive positive change and involves everyone at every level across an organisation. In this week’s episode of the Life in Digital Podcast, Amy spoke with the incredible Jasmine Dotiwala. For those unfamiliar with Jasmine’s experience, she’s currently part of Netflix’s UK Editor...

Is short-term performance marketing crushing creativity?, Matthew Newcomb, CEO of Inskin Media

In this week’s episode of the Life in Digital Podcast, Ed caught up with Matthew Newcomb, CEO of Inskin Media, the global leader in delivering unmissable and unforgettable digital advertising campaigns for brands. Throughout this episode, Matthew talks to Ed about how Inskin’s platform generates greater attention online for their clients, the role of creativity in effective brand campaigns and driving sales, as well as the future of advertising experience online for consumers. Matthew Newc...

Hiring for culture-add not culture-fit, Kitty Day, Head of Talent at A Million Ads

For anyone looking to grow their teams in the coming months and create a hiring process that centers around focusing on the right values and behaviours then this episode isn’t one to be missed. Amy speaks to Kitty Day, Head of Talent at A Million Ads, the personalisation experts who help their clients harness data to create personalised advertising with more context and relevance to better connect with people. Kitty shares her experiences of how to create a culture that’s transparent, incl...

Navigating the Publisher Landscape - Tom Jenen, Chief Revenue Officer of Brand Metrics

Effectively measuring brand lift, disruption to and by publishers in recent years, the need to deliver the right content to engaged audiences – the list of topics dominating the industry is a diverse one. In our latest episode, Ed’s joined by industry heavyweight Tom Jenen who’s currently working as Brand Metrics’ Chief Revenue Officer, but who’s also an experienced advisor and Director for a multitude of technology and media businesses globally. We’re lucky enough to have Tom breakdown hi...

Authenticity… The Driver of D&I - Akama Davies, Co-Founder of We Are Stripes

Creating a diverse, equal, and inclusive company, it’s been a topic on many companies’ agendas for a while now. But where do you start, what journey do you need to go on and what organisational changes do you need to make to drive a culture shift and bring D&I to the forefront? This week, Amy’s joined by Akama Davies, Director of Global Solutions & Innovation at Xaxis and Co-Founder of We are Stripes, a DEI consultancy whose mission is to address the ethnic imbalance in the creative and ad...

Being opportunistic during the uncertainties - Steffen Svartberg, Founder and CEO of Cavai

As the wants and needs of the consumer change, the role of conversational advertising allows for better engagement, two-way conversations and ultimately puts the user experience front and centre. On this week’s episode of the Life in Digital Podcast, Ed’s joined by Steffen Svartberg, Founder and CEO of Cavai, a conversational advertising platform which allows for more captive and valuable ad experiences on display, mobile and video. For more information on Cavai and the work they’re doing ...

Maintaining great company culture whilst growing remotely - Matthew Goldhill, CEO & Founder of Picnic

Company culture has been impacted significantly over the past 12 months. The best businesses have put their people at the heart of their strategies and have worked hard to maintain a great culture and high levels of engagement. On this week’s episode of the Life in Digital Podcast, Amy’s joined by Matthew Goldhill, Founder and CEO of Picnic, a social display ad marketplace which enables better, more engaging advertising campaigns for brands. We dive into the unique challenges and opportuni...

The Importance of the Creative in Ad Campaigns - Simon Kvist Gaulshøj, CEO of Adnami

With new technologies, platforms and opportunities to reach consumers emerging at almost breakneck speeds, has the focus on the importance of delivering engaging creative been forgotten along the way? Welcome to the 3rd episode of this year’s Life in Digital Podcast series hosted by Ed Steer. Today we’re joined by Simon Kvist Gaulshøj, CEO of Adnami to talk about the Importance of the Creative in Ad Campaigns. For more information on Adnami and how they’re delivering high impact campaigns ...

Creating Exceptional Virtual Onboarding Experiences - Daniel ‘DanTheAgencyMan’ de la Cruz, Polymensa

For most businesses, remote onboarding and managing a more remote workforce has become a priority since March 2019. Businesses who can hire, develop and retain talent as the world evolves will hold a competitive advantage. Attracting, training and retaining the very best talent, that powers your business, has never been more important. Daniel "DanTheAgencyMan" de la Cruz, Founder at Polymensa, has researched 41 carefully selected agencies and technology vendors to understand what makes a ...

LIVE "IR35: Remove the Risk" webinar

IR35 legislation is changing on 6th April 2021. Listen to our live webinar, recorded on the 17th of February, where Sphere were joined by the experts at Kingsbridge on how to remove the risk of IR35 from your business.  We will be hosting live industry events throughout the year and will share these recordings via our Life in Digital podcast.  If you have any questions, please reach out to our contract team directly. Details can be found via our website: https://www.spheredigitalrecruitmen...

Partnerships… an untapped wave of growth - Owen Hancock, Impact

“I’m a big believer in a more diverse internet, and I think that’s part of what partnerships do. They create more and more relationships rather than everyone stuck having to work with Facebook and Google." This week we’re joined by Owen Hancock, Marketing Director, EMEA at Impact – a partnership automation platform that enables better, more effective partnerships across the marketing lifecycle at scale. In this episode of the Life in Digital Podcast, we look at how Owen, and the team at Im...

Struggling with Pregnancy - Niki Stoker, A Million Ads

In the final episode of this season’s Parenting is a Juggling Act, I’m humbled to be joined by Niki Stoker, mother of Fred and Chief Operating Officer at A Million Ads. Niki endured a rollercoaster of a journey into motherhood, including an ectopic pregnancy that left her feeling that she and her husband would never conceive. Her story is one of hardship, endurance and in the end, hopefulness. If you are struggling with any of the topics mentioned, please reach out to myself (Amy) or Niki...

Overcoming Guilt in Parenthood - Claire Leon, Acorn-i

I’m proud to be joined by Claire Leon, mother of 3 and co-founder of Acorn Intelligence – a technology-enabled Amazon sales agency. Claire’s youngest was just 2 years old when she launched the business and since then they have seen huge growth. Claire shared her experience raising a small family whilst at Amazon, her difficulties in pregnancy and childbirth, launching a start-up, juggling a career with a husband in a global role, and the importance of delegating. Links:  Claire Leon: htt...

Regaining your Confidence - Marie Wright, Bold Bean Coaching

In our 2nd episode of Parenting is a Juggling Act, we're joined by Marie Wright (Executive Coach, Life Coach, and all-around brilliant human!).  She shares not only her experience of raising a family but how she has helped 100’s of other men and women on their journey back into work and regaining their confidence. Marie Wright: https://www.boldbeancoaching.com/ Blog and Sign Up to Newsletter: https://www.boldbeancoaching.com/blog

Building Resilient Teams - Ete Davies, Engine

“We need to see people as business-critical”, Ete Davies, CEO of Engine, shares how we can learn from parents who maintain high performing roles. As someone who has been a single parent whilst managing his career into MD and CEO positions, Ete understands how important it is to listen and accommodate the lives of the people you employ. Building high performing, resilient teams? It starts with trust. Links: Ete Davies: https://www.linkedin.com/in/etedavies/ Engine: https://enginegroup.com...

Diversity isn't a tick box - Simone Harvey, The Unmistakables

“A time to rebuild businesses” is the theme of our final episode of Season 1's Life in Digital podcast and is a quote from our guest, Simone Harvey, Director of The Unmistakables.  The Unmistakables are a diversity and culture agency and Simone was the perfect guest to round off what’s been an incredible couple of months speaking to leaders and shapers of the digital sector. We started this podcast in response to the accelerated changes happening in the digital sector in light of the pande...

From start-up to scale-up - Ben Williams, KILN

Advertising is a $5 billion industry and the average attention span is 5 seconds… so how do you compete? This week we're joined by Ben Williams, founder and managing director or Kiln. Kiln is a growth agency, working with founders in the media-tech space with a focus on strategy, business development and product. In 2019, Kiln supported the founders they work with to raise over 2.5 million dollars in funding. In this episode, we dived into how successful companies get started, innovation ...

Well-being and Gratitude - Lisa Targett, TRIBE

This week on Life in Digital, we're joined by Lisa Targett, UK General Manager at Tribe. We focused in on the rise of influencer marketing and the need for purpose to be built into brand and creator campaigns. Lisa also shared the ways in which the team at Tribe has been able to stay connected, albeit across multiple time zones and whilst still working remotely. Links Lisa Targett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisatargett/ TRIBE: https://www.tribegroup.co/ Marketers in Pyjamas: https://...

Gen-Z, Brutally Honest

Today on Life in Digital I’m speaking to the experts in Gen-Z on why brands should take notice of this audience that hold 4.4 trillion in spending power.    Imagen, one this year’s Techround100 finalists and its founders Jay Richards and Cat Agostinho. Imagen Co-founder and CEO, Jay Richards is the 5th of 6 children from migrant parents. From a rebellious start while at school to now the Founder of Imagen and a Forbes 30under30 entrepreneur, he credits his Business Studies teacher at schoo...

Gen-Z, Brutally Honest - Jay Richards and Cat Agostinho, Imagen

Today on Life in Digital I’m speaking to the experts in Gen-Z on why brands should take notice of this audience that hold 4.4 trillion in spending power.    Imagen, one this year’s Techround100 finalists and its founders Jay Richards and Cat Agostinho. Imagen Co-founder and CEO, Jay Richards is the 5th of 6 children from migrant parents. From a rebellious start while at school to now the Founder of Imagen and a Forbes 30under30 entrepreneur, he credits his Business Studies teacher at schoo...

Black Lives Matter

This week we're joined by the brilliant Darren Thompson, Kiln Associate and Entrepreneur. Join us for an in-depth conversation about the Black Lives Matter movement, why we should avoid using the term BAME, how change comes from within, and what life in digital is like for the Black community. Links Darren Thompson https://www.linkedin.com/company/2744200/admin/ Kiln Radio Episode 'Black Lives Matter' with Ben Williams and Chris Lambert  https://kiln-radio.simplecast.com/ Chris Lambert's...

Black Lives Matter - Darren Thompson, Kiln

This week we're joined by the brilliant Darren Thompson, Kiln Associate and Entrepreneur. Join us for an in-depth conversation about the Black Lives Matter movement, why we should avoid using the term BAME, how change comes from within, and what life in digital is like for the Black community. Links Darren Thompson https://www.linkedin.com/company/2744200/admin/ Kiln Radio Episode 'Black Lives Matter' with Ben Williams and Chris Lambert  https://kiln-radio.simplecast.com/ Chris Lambert's...

Purpose led advertising

We address why trust is at an all-time low for consumers. Speaking with the leading ethical agency, Good Loop, we caught up with Julia Hitchman, Head of Brand and Agency partnerships on purpose-led advertising and which businesses are going to stand the test of time. Show Notes:  Good Loop  B-Corps 

Purpose led advertising - Julia Hitchman, Good Loop

We address why trust is at an all-time low for consumers. Speaking with the leading ethical agency, Good Loop, we caught up with Julia Hitchman, Head of Brand and Agency partnerships on purpose-led advertising and which businesses are going to stand the test of time. Show Notes:  Good Loop  B-Corps 

Life in Digital (Trailer)