Sound Check: Inside the New Unplugged Studio
- Mike Richter
- Oct 5
- 4 min read
The Contextual Clipper Special Edition: Unplugged State of Mind, AWNY 2025
This article was originally published in The Contextual Clipper, our on-site newspaper for Unplugged State of Mind, a three-day activation during Advertising Week 2025. It highlights the debut of the Unplugged Studio, built inside the Pavilion at the Virgin Hotel as a hub for live podcasts, thought-leadership recordings, and industry storytelling. Over three days, Humans & Brands, The Digital Marketeer, Multilocal’s Curation Conversations, Sightly’s Breaking Through the Mayhem, and Wurl’s thought-leadership series all took the mic. The piece was authored by our adventurous correspondent, Finnegan “Splash” Tailfin — The Adventurer, and read aloud in its audio edition by Andrew Kraft, Executive-at-Large, On a Listening Tour.
Curious listeners, this week marks the arrival of something new at the Pavilion inside the Virgin Hotel. For the first time, Unplugged Collective has built a full studio on site, a space designed for live podcasts, thought-leadership recordings, and the sort of conversations best captured when the coffee is strong and the doors are open.
Monday sets the tone. From 9 a.m., Humans & Brands with Lauren Douglass reminds us that the people behind logos and campaigns carry stories worth hearing. “No one is alone in this industry,” she mused, “and the more we share, the stronger we get.”
At 11 a.m., Stefanie Beach slides in with The Digital Marketeer Podcast, her antidote to jargon fatigue. “If you’re not laughing while learning,” she told this columnist, “you’re doing it wrong.” Later that afternoon, Fern Potter from Multilocal takes the mic, showing why they call themselves the Curation Experts. As one guest teased, “When Multilocal curates, chaos has no chance.”
Tuesday belongs to Sightly. From morning to late afternoon, their podcast Breaking Through the Mayhem will explore how culture moves faster than
most marketers can keep up—and how
their Brand Mentality® platform gives brands a way to act in real time. CEO Adam Katz will host, and if his past interviews are any indication, listeners can expect candor as much as insight. He put it plainly: “Marketers need more from their dashboards. They need decisions.” Overheard in the hallway: whispers about Sightly’s UK expansion, which may be just the beginning of a wider leap.
Wednesday brings Wurl. With 95 billion monthly ad impressions coursing through their pipes, their presence needs little introduction. But what’s interesting is not just the scale, it’s the precision. Using generative AI to match ads to scenes, Wurl offers a glimpse at how advertisers might finally reach the right audience in the right moment.
Three days, five content creators, and more stories than one studio should reasonably hold. The Unplugged Studio is not just a backdrop but a pulse point. Here, content is made in real time, with the people who shape the industry speaking plainly, sometimes for the record, sometimes just within earshot of this columnist.
And if the whispers prove true, what’s captured inside these walls may echo long after Advertising Week has packed up its banners.
About Sightly
Sightly is a data and technology company that helps brands and agencies navigate real-time marketing with its Brand Mentality® platform. Powered by AI and strategic data, Sightly delivers custom insights for contextual targeting, trend spotting, and brand suitability across YouTube, TikTok, CTV, and programmatic platforms—driving results with cultural relevance. www.sightly.com
About Wurl
Wurl is a leader in the streaming TV industry, helping connect viewers to the content they want to see with technologies for distribution, monetization, and advertising. The company supports publishers, streamers, and advertisers in growing viewership, maximizing revenue, and strengthening brand value. Wurl, LLC is owned by AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ: APP). For more information, visit www.wurl.com.
About Multilocal
Multilocal is a technology company redefining media curation. Our proprietary Curation Intelligence Engine unites automation, data, and human expertise to simplify programmatic complexity and deliver unbiased, high-performance campaigns. From planning audience strategies to activating curated deals and continuously optimizing them for maximum impact, we help agencies, brands, and publishers achieve greater precision, transparency, and efficiency, driving meaningful connections that deliver real results. Multilocal hosts Curation Conversations, a monthly podcast where brand leaders and decision-makers share practical insights, strategic perspectives, and bold ideas, always through the lens of curation. www.multilocal.media
About Humans & Brands
Humans & Brands is a podcast about how personal building a career is. Hosted by Lauren Douglass, Founder of Reverve, the show features honest conversations with people who are brands, work in brands, or build brands. Lauren talks with guests about what has shaped and challenged them in work, life, leadership, and marketing. She’s not the expert in the room, but is asking the questions we all think about but are too afraid to ask, figuring it out alongside the audience. Each episode is meant to leave you feeling a little less alone, and a little more confident. www.reverve.xyz/humans-and-brands
About The Marketeer Group
The Marketeer Group is a digital media agency dedicated to transforming how brands, agencies and publishers approach digital media solutions. We provide expert services across paid and organic media, including search, social, programmatic, SEO, email, ad operations, data, and analytics. www.TheMarketeerGroup.com
Comments