Podcast Summary: AdTechGod Pod – Unlocking the Overlooked 40% with John Piccone from Adform

Episode Date: September 29, 2025
Guest: John Piccone, Regional President Americas, Adform
Host: AdTech God (The AdTech God)

Overview

This episode dives into the critical issue of “the overlooked 40%” of digital audiences missed by advertisers due to identity fragmentation, privacy changes, and the complexities of the programmatic ad marketplace. John Piccone, with decades of experience in pioneering adtech companies, discusses how Adform addresses this challenge, its positioning as an independent European-founded platform, and why transparency and true incremental reach are now table stakes for advertisers aiming for efficiency over mere spend.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. John Piccone’s Journey in AdTech (01:20–04:01)

• Early Days in AdTech:
  • John recounts his start at Real Media, the European expansion, and the evolution to 24/7 Real Media and beyond.
    • “I spent better part of 10 years based out of Paris, France during those heady days of 1996 to 2005.” – John Piccone (01:53)
    • Emphasized the importance of understanding both the publisher and advertiser sides.
• Serial Market Builder:
  • John is known as the “go to market guy” brought in post-funding to scale businesses.
  • Worked with leading innovators and rejoined Dave Morgan at Simul Media to bring data-driven approaches to linear TV before joining Adform.
  • Attracted to Adform’s comprehensive full-stack approach, spanning DSP, ID, ad serving, and dynamic creative.

2. The Overlooked 40%: Identity Fragmentation and Opportunity (04:01–07:13)

• Industry’s Core Problem:
  • Marketers overlook up to 40% of their potential audience due to cookies being disabled, evolving privacy standards, and device fragmentation.
    • “Nearly half of your audience is invisible, unmeasured and unmonetized.” – AdTechGod (00:04, sponsor message)
• Adform’s Approach:
  • Aims to help brands “walk a mile in their own shoes,” recognizing the dual pressure of building effective products while reaching elusive audiences.
  • The challenge is compounded by cookie deprecation and the difficulty of cross-platform targeting.
    • “You have this massive fragmentation of how people are engaging with content, but also how we can target them now that we have things like cookie deprecation and changes in device behavior.” – John Piccone (04:59)
• Transparency Through the Bid Stream:
  • Adform participated in the ANA’s programmatic transparency initiative, prioritizing actionable transparency over buzzwords.
    • “Transparency is not just a buzzword. How do you actually activate what's happening in the bid stream?” – John Piccone (05:54)
  • Cookie deprecation leaves a data blind spot, especially for the 40% of Americans unreachable through traditional IDs.

3. Adform’s Independent Edge and European Outlook (07:13–08:42)

• Independence in Practice:
  • Adform remains neutral, not taking an economic position on inventory; this builds trust with brands.
  • True independence means a “brands-first” mentality, rooted in European GDPR compliance.
    • “Their ad form doesn't have a position on inventory... brands know that they can trust us, that their money is going to work.” – John Piccone (07:51)
  • Adform leverages “ID Fusion”—a “graph of graphs” approach to identity and targeting.
• European Roots Influence U.S. Strategy:
  • Early exposure to GDPR gave Adform a strategic edge in privacy and compliance as they entered the U.S. market.

4. Demystifying “Find Your 40” & Smarter Media Spend (08:42–10:32)

• What Does “Find Your 40” Mean?
  • 40% of audiences are invisible due to limitations in identity solutions and gaps in the bidstream.
  • Key Questions for Marketers:
    • “Do you know how often that first party data ID gets through the bid stream to actually reach the DSP?” (09:41)
    • “If I'm going to do a match with an onboarder, is my match rate equal to my reach rate?” (09:48)
  • John clarifies that match rates do not equate to true audience reach; marketers should better allocate budgets by removing excessive frequency and prioritizing true expansion.
    • “A marketer doesn't need to change their absolute budget size. They can carve off the excessive frequency and go find accretive reach without changing any size of the budget.” – John Piccone (10:14)

5. The Future: Media Planning & Incremental Reach (10:32–11:22)

• Shifting Brand Mindsets:
  • Brands must open their eyes to audience gaps and embrace solutions that enable better measurement and incremental reach.
    • “I just think that people haven't opened the shades to what's actually happening behind the scenes so they can see it, so they can activate better.” – John Piccone (10:54)
  • Adform provides a consultative approach—helping marketers analyze match and reach rates transparently to uncover incremental opportunities.

6. Looking Forward: Q4 Optimism and Ecosystem Growth (11:22–12:27)

• Q4 and Beyond:
  • John is “bullish on brands doing more with less.”
    • “Every time that they get the chance to be more aware of what's going on, they get smarter. And when brands get smarter, everybody wins downstream.” – John Piccone (11:48)
  • Reinforces the ecosystem dynamic: Brands and publishers are principals—the rest are agents supporting their growth.
  • Smarter activation equates to economic and industry growth for all.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Transparency is not just a buzzword. How do you actually activate what's happening in the bid stream?”
  – John Piccone (05:54)

• “A marketer doesn't need to change their absolute budget size. They can carve off the excessive frequency and go find accretive reach without changing any size of the budget.”
  – John Piccone (10:14)

• “I just think that people haven't opened the shades to what's actually happening behind the scenes so they can see it, so they can activate better.”
  – John Piccone (10:54)

• “Every time that they get the chance to be more aware of what's going on, they get smarter. And when brands get smarter, everybody wins downstream.”
  – John Piccone (11:48)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Introduction & Guest Background: 01:17–04:01
• Defining and Addressing the Overlooked 40%: 04:01–07:13
• Adform’s Market Position & Philosophy: 07:13–08:42
• Clarifying “Find Your 40” & Budget Efficiency: 08:42–10:32
• Changing Mindsets & Incremental Reach: 10:32–11:22
• Q4 Outlook & Industry Growth: 11:22–12:27

Tone and Style

The conversation between AdTech God and John Piccone is candid yet deeply insightful, geared towards practical solutions for marketers and transparent industry evolution. John’s straightforward, data-driven optimism is counterbalanced by the host’s curiosity and focus on actionable outcomes.

This summary captures the essence and actionable insights of the episode, ideal for adtech professionals, marketers, and those interested in the evolving challenges of digital advertising.