This Old Marketing - Content Marketing News with Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose

The Mullet Content Strategy [Special Episode] (490)

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Jul 25, 2025

Dive into the urgent tension between human creativity and AI in content strategy. The discussion highlights the impending challenge of creating nuanced, emotional content while ensuring machines understand it correctly. Explore the significance of legacy content and its potential as training data in the AI age. Learn practical steps to structure content that resonates with both humans and algorithms, while also treating content creation like product development for meaningful engagement. Tune in for insights and a renewed sense of purpose!

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INSIGHT

Content Trains Machine Memory

Content today not only communicates but also trains machines on our intent and identity.
Our digital legacy forms how AI and algorithms interpret and remember us over time.

INSIGHT

Craft Beats Volume in Content

The real content differentiator now is human craft, not speed or volume
AI content feels mechanical because it lacks emotional judgment and subtlety humans provide.

ANECDOTE

AI Email Misses Emotional Mark

Robert received an AI-generated email using technically accurate but emotionally wrong word choice.
This shows AI's lack of nuance and why human judgment remains critical for authentic content.

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In this solo episode of This Old Marketing, Robert dives headfirst into the uncomfortable - and increasingly urgent - tension at the heart of modern content strategy:

Can we still create truly human content, full of nuance, voice, and emotional honesty… while also making sure the machines don’t misinterpret (or mangle) what we mean?

Inspired by the announced end of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Robert explores how the final stretch of a show - or a career, or even a blog archive - can shape both public perception and machine learning for years to come.

This week Robert covers:

Why “good” content now means craft, not just output.

The shift from writing for search engines to teaching AI what to say about you.

The danger (and opportunity) of legacy content becoming training data.

A new strategy for structuring content that serves both people and machines.

Four practical steps you can take right now to future-proof your brand’s voice.

Oh - and Joe’s out this week, off pitching new names for the Guardians and Commanders to the Trump administration. Don’t worry. Robert’s got it handled.

Tune in, laugh a little, squirm a little, and leave with a renewed sense of purpose—and a checklist.

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