Welcome — Linda Schwab, Partnership Director, ThinkLA

Linda opened the morning by welcoming ThinkLA members and thanking attendees for their support. 

Setting the Stage — Darryl Hawes, Board Member, ThinkLA

Darryl framed the conversation by noting that AI has rapidly moved beyond experimentation and buzzwords. Marketers are now seeking practical applications that drive measurable business outcomes. He highlighted local advertising as a space where AI is creating exciting new opportunities to plan, optimize, and measure campaigns — and thanked Madhive for their partnership in making the event possible.

"AI has quickly become one of the most talked-about topics in our industry. But the conversation is moving beyond experimentation. Marketers today are looking for practical applications that drive measurable business outcomes."

— Darryl Hawes, ThinkLA Board Member

1. AI is No Longer Experimental — It’s Essential

From generative creative and synthetic talent to real-time weather- and traffic-triggered ads, panelists agreed that AI capabilities have crossed from "nice to have" into daily workflow. Speed-to-market and personalization were cited as the top pressures driving rapid adoption across local campaigns.

• Generative AI is now embedded throughout the creative process, including synthetic talent and voiceover

• Hyper-local, real-time triggers (weather, traffic) are enabling more relevant and timely creative

• AI allows even smaller-budget brands to compete more effectively in local markets

2. Smarter Planning at the Local Level

AI agents are helping teams build market-specific plans faster, process vast audience datasets, and surface new customer insights that human planners might otherwise miss. The panel noted a meaningful shift — from simply "finding an audience" to genuinely discovering new audience intelligence.

• Market-specific AI agents accelerating the planning and buying process

• Audience intelligence revealing insights beyond conventional assumptions

• AI’s ability to process large data volumes and identify patterns at scale

3. Human Oversight Remains Non-Negotiable

Automation can optimize for lowest CPM — but that's not always the right answer. Local market expertise, strategic judgment, and neighborhood-level geographic context are areas where human intelligence still outpaces AI. Trust must be earned as agent-based buying matures.

• Lowest CPM ≠ best outcome; strategic judgment still requires human input

• Local market expertise is critical for evaluating and contextualizing AI recommendations

• Context, geography, and neighborhood-level nuance remain areas where AI falls short

4. Measurement Gaps Remain the Hardest Problem

Walled gardens and inconsistent cross-channel attribution continue to frustrate marketers. Michael shared a compelling case study — a $26K media investment generating $488K in sales — illustrating both the tremendous potential of AI-powered campaigns and the pressing need for cleaner, apples-to-apples measurement standards.

• Walled gardens and cross-channel attribution remain major unresolved challenges

• Case study: $26K media spend → $488K in sales

• Apples-to-apples measurement across channels is still elusive

— Christiana Cacciapuoti, SVP Growth, Madhive

— Jillian Saul, VP Local Media Investments, Empowered Ocean Media Group

— Michael Shields, CEO, Vica

When asked what would define the next generation of successful local advertising campaigns, panelists pointed to five key trends:

• Agent-based buying and planning as the next frontier of automation

• Faster personalization at scale, driven by real-time local signals

• AI-powered audience intelligence and outcomes-first optimization

• Hyper-local creative triggers tied to real-world context

• Greater operational efficiency across planning, reporting, and creative workflows