Episode · 2026-03-06
2026 State of Agencies Report
2026 State of Agencies Report | Netflix + Amazon Data ($30 CPMs) | Sean Stone x Jason Levin Join
Rundown
The episode covers the 2026 state of agencies report, analyzing why perceived agency underperformance remains surprisingly low (16%) despite widespread industry complaints. Guests explore challenges facing Amazon-first brands due to rising fees and minimal data access, while discussing Netflix's partnership with Amazon offering $30 CPMs using shopping data, alongside strategies for platform-specific product offers and the underutilized power of humor in brand marketing.
Takes from this episode
Only 16% of agencies report perceived lack of performance, which is surprisingly low given the frequent complaints from brands about agencies failing to deliver.
Only 16% perceived lack of performance. That's pretty wild. I mean, especially what we hear directly within our industry.
Amazon's ad business growth is capturing disproportionate value from sellers while reducing profitability for small business owners across the world.
Amazon's ad business in Q1 of 2025 was growing 3x, three times as fast as the retail business... they are just continually capture more value from sellers and putting less dollars in the pockets of small business owners
Amazon provides sellers almost no customer data—only first name, last name, and shipping address—and recently removed email access, limiting their ability to build customer relationships.
You don't get anything... They took away email from the API... they don't give you anything else. They give you first name, last name, address, but like they're not giving you anything else.
Humor and memes are underrated marketing levers that drive engagement and differentiation, though they should complement rather than replace core brand strategy.
humor is a lever to pull like anything else. It shouldn't be your whole strategy and memes will never save your brand... It's just a lever
$30 CPMs backed by Amazon's real-time shopping data represents exceptional advertising value that other streaming platforms should model by integrating shopping platform data.
$30 CPMs with Amazon's data for what people are currently shopping for, that is bananas.