Justin Ruiss is the SVP of the Media Sector at BWG Global, a knowledge-sharing network hosting in-person and virtual industry events. In his role, he hosts Q&A forums with executives from various sectors, including social media, advertising, connected TV, streaming, and gaming. Before joining BWG Global, Justin was the Investor Relations Activations Developer at Cision and an Equity Analyst at The Benchmark Company.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

• [2:56] Justin Ruiss shares trends in the CTV space
• [9:02] How brands are meeting multi-platform content demands
• [14:52] Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) as a cost-effective ad tech tool
• [20:22] AI Overview’s impact on search behavior and traditional CPC models
• [25:39] How AI agents are enabling voice commerce and shifting the focus back to human-driven creativity and storytelling
• [33:45] The uncertain future of the eCommerce space

In this episode…

Retail media, CTV advertising, and AI-powered search are evolving faster than many brands can adapt. Marketers are grappling with fragmented content strategies, fluctuating CPMs, and uncertainty around how to allocate budgets effectively across platforms. With performance expectations rising and consumer behaviors shifting, how can brands stay competitive without overspending?

According to media and eCommerce analyst Justin Ruiss, now is an ideal time to invest in CTV due to oversupply, lower CPMs, and advanced targeting capabilities. He recommends increasing production budgets to create modular, high-quality content that can be repurposed across channels like TikTok, Amazon, and streaming platforms. Brands can also adopt centralized content planning and leverage tools like Amazon Marketing Cloud to drive enhanced targeting and performance while planning for economic volatility and regulatory changes.

In this episode of The Digital Deep Dive, Aaron Conant interviews Justin Ruiss, SVP of the Media Sector at BWG Global, about the future of digital media buying and AI in eCommerce. Justin explores CTV trends, the rise of agentic AI, and how brand guidelines shape content in gaming environments.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Aaron Conant on LinkedIn   
• BWG Connect 
• Justin Ruiss on LinkedIn 
• BWG Global
• “The Need for Content That Converts With Eric Sheinkop” on The Digital Deep Dive 
• “Next Level Amazon Advertising With Adam Epstein” on The Digital Deep Dive 

Quotable Moments:

• “It's a great time to be a buyer for CTV — really good trajectory there from advertisers.”
• “Our promotional budgets are down, but our production budgets are oddly up.”
• “The left hand is starting to know what the right is doing; that’s a huge unlock.”
• “Amazon is creating more tools, and I think AMC is one of those points.”
• “AI is getting to scary types of effectiveness; it’s three guys or gals running three dozen agents.”

Action Steps:

1. Consolidate your content strategy across platforms: Aligning creative efforts under one plan helps maintain brand consistency and maximize production efficiency. This is especially critical as content is repurposed for CTV, social media, and eCommerce channels.
2. Leverage Amazon Marketing Cloud for targeting: AMC offers powerful tools for building custom audiences and analyzing performance across platforms. Using it effectively can drive ROI while keeping ad spend efficient.
3. Increase investment in production over promotion: High-quality, reusable content can stretch further across campaigns than one-time promotional efforts. This shift enables brands to stay nimble in fast-changing media landscapes.
4. Plan for multiple economic and regulatory scenarios: Scenario planning prepares brands to respond quickly to changing tariffs, costs, and retail behaviors. It ensures teams remain adaptable rather than reactive.
5. Monitor ad experience and frequency: Ensuring viewers aren’t overwhelmed with repetitive ads improves engagement and brand perception. Thoughtful frequency capping supports better campaign outcomes and user sentiment.

About BWG Connect...

BWG Connect provides executive strategy and networking sessions that help brands from any industry with their overall business planning and execution. We network and knowledge share together to better understand and adapt to the newest trends, strategies, and pain points shaping growth in the digital space. BWG Connect, in conjunction with BWG Strategy, has built an exclusive network of 125,000+ senior professionals and hosts over 2,000 virtual and in-person networking events on an annual basis.

In addition, we have had 1x1 conversations with over 5,000 brands and have a real-time pulse on what digital strategies are successful and why. This in-depth knowledge allows our team to operate on the cutting-edge and provide our clients with best-in-class guidance on how to win in the digital world. We have provided free consultations and strategy sessions for companies of all sizes, from start-ups to Fortune-100, to enable growth, resolve issues and make curated service provider introductions that can impact your digital footprint.

We have held to the philosophy of providing high-level insights and actionable knowledge with no sales pitches in order to provide to our network the ability to listen, learn and act to improve themselves as well as their organizations. Our ultimate goal is to be the resource out there to help digital executives find the research they need to excel in the modern marketplace.

If you are interested in getting involved with any of our current or past events, you can find them here. If you are looking for help & would like to set up some time to chat with our team, you can schedule a time or reach out directly to Aaron@bwgconnect.com or Tiffany@bwgconnect.com.