AI's impact on marketing headcount and productivity

Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose kick off this week's episode by unpacking the TikTok "sale" and what actually happened behind the headlines. Was it really a sale? Why was a true divestiture nearly impossible? And what does the outcome tell us about platform risk, regulation, and the future of rented audiences.

From there, Joe and Robert shift into what they believe will be the most important marketing, content, and AI stories of 2026. Not predictions, but the conversations marketers will be having once the year is underway.

They dig into whether the long-awaited AI bubble ever actually bursts in marketing, how AI changes headcount and team structures, and what happens to the brand website when search and discovery are increasingly mediated by AI systems instead of humans.

The episode wraps with rants and raves. Robert rants about marketers' obsession with declaring everything dead, while Joe rants about Denmark's decision to shut down its postal service and what that signals for the future of physical letters and communication.

• What really happened with the TikTok deal and why it was never a traditional sale

• Why the AI "bubble" may never pop in marketing the way people expect

• How AI could lead to fewer marketing jobs, or more leverage for the right roles

• Why the role of the website is changing for brands and creators

• What Denmark ending postal service delivery says about the future of letters

• Robert's rant: Marketers love predicting the death of everything

• Joe's rant: Denmark shuts down postal service delivery and the slow disappearance of letters

Subscribe and Follow: Follow Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose on LinkedIn for insights, hot takes, and weekly updates from the world of content and marketing.

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Get all the show notes: https://www.thisoldmarketing.com/

Get Joe's new book, Burn the Playbook, at http://www.joepulizzi.com/books/burn-the-playbook/ Subscribe to Joe's Newsletter at https://www.joepulizzi.com/signup/.

Get Robert Rose's new book, Valuable Friction, at https://robertrose.net/valuable-friction/ Subscribe to Robert's Newsletter at https://seventhbearlens.substack.com/

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This Old Marketing is part of the HubSpot Podcast Network: https://www.hubspot.com/podcastnetwork