The Marketing Companion

AI is everywhere and seemingly everything these days in the world of marketing. But now that we're getting through the magic trick phase of AI we're beginning to observe the powerful impact it could have on culture, community, and careers. Let's begin the discussion today, a discussion that is just starting in our world today.

Sara Wilson has been studying Gen Z with a detective-like intensity and her new research report gives us a guide for connecting with them. We talk about their hideouts, their curious aesthetic, the role of "faux-stalgia," the importance of the absurd, and much more. Your head will spin with new insights and ideas in this conversation with Mark Schaefer. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN" and "Marketing Rebellion," and "Belonging to the Brand." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising. Sara Wilson is a journalist-turned-social-marketer (former Facebook & Instagram) who works with brands, publications, and platforms like YouTube, Nike, Bumble, the New York Times and many others find, engage and grow obsessive communities across digital channels through her consultancy SW Projects. Sara also writes frequently on the subject of digital marketing trends; she coined the term "digital campfires" in the Harvard Business Review to describe the types of spaces where young audiences are gathering online today, and often speaks and leads workshops on this and other topics related to social innovation, web3, and Gen Z consumption trends to companies around the world such as Microsoft and McKinsey.

Mark Schaefer and Jay Acunzo take a deep dive into the utility and threat of AI platforms like ChatGPT. They explore the very nature of creativity and Jay explains the three foundational ideas and why AI falls short on two of them. Mark presents a dystopian future view of creativity, a scenario he says is probable in five to 10 years. Ultimately Mark and Jay agree that personal connection through content will determine success or failure. Mark describes three different types of content and why AI will dominate at least one of those categories. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," "Marketing Rebellion," and "Belonging to the Brand." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising. Jay Acunzo is an author, speaker, and host of the podcast Unthinkable -- the show about marketers who trusted their intuition, not the best practices, and all the unconventional, refreshing things they did to build their brands and leave their legacies. Learn more and find a Starter Pack of episodes at https://jayacunzo.com/unthinkable-podcast

Mark Schaefer and nonprofit marketing authority Keith Jennings unwrap new ideas in nonprofit marketing, including a new way to segment audiences, why a focus on "product" enables better nonprofit marketing, and why nonprofits should consider community-based marketing.

In this show, Mark Schaefer and two friends, Samantha Stone and Chad Parizman, weave a story of his greatest professional accomplishment -- ten years in the making. It's not a book, it's not a famous speech. This is the story of 30 people who took a risk together. Samantha Stone is the founder and CEO of The Marketing Advisory Network. She is a teacher, consultant, marketing strategist, researcher, and the author of Unleash Possible. Chad Parizman has been a digital marketing strategist for HGTV and Pfizer and currently leads brands into an effective social audio strategy through his company Ader Communications.

In this unique episode, Mark Schaefer talks about how viewing "community" through the lens of brand marketing is not a strategy that works, it is marketing that heals. In fact, community might be the greatest overlooked marketing opportunity in the history of marketing opportunities. The legendary Douglas Burdette serves as a special co-host for this episode. This episode includes a free chapter of Mark's new book "Belonging to the Brand." Douglas Burdette is the founder of Artillery Marketing and the host of the well-known Marketing Book podcast. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," "Marketing Rebellion" and "Belonging to the Brand." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising.

Tom Peters was named as one of the top 10 business minds of this century and he just published an extraordinary new book. In this interview, he covers some surprising topics with typical boldness: His surprising take on "quiet quitting." "You don't have to like your employees, but you have to love them." Why great speakers act out of a sense of desperation about their message Why "business is community, period." Your job as a leader is to "hire well and promote." Why he is perpetually pissed off Why we need to hire "the quiet ones." Tom is best-known for his book "In Search of Excellence" and his new book is "The Compact Guide to Excellence."

Mark Schaefer and Mathew Sweezey talk about some of the landmark marketing events of 2022 and project what might be important in the coming year. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN" and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising. Mathew Sweezey is the Co-Founder of Salesforces Web3 Studio where he helps Salesforce and their top customers transition into Web3. Mathew is also a best selling author, and avid adventurer.

In five days, one million people signed up for ChatGPT, a sophisticated artificual intelligence program now broadly available in a user-friendly interface. At a minimum this upends our approach to content, social media, research, and strategy. For many, it will be the end of their careers as they've known it. To help us figure out what's next, I turned to a revered tech analyst, Shelly Palmer. In this special episode, Shelly explains why he things ChatGPT "changes everything," the opportunities and limitations, and his career strategy. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN" and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising. Shelly Palmer is an author, speaker, educator, and tech analyst.

Mark Schaefer and Jay Acunzo re-think content marketing from the ground up, contending that that the personal brand and their trusted audiences may drive strategy more than "helpful content." Instead of a content department, Mark and Jay think through what a "content culture" would look like that nurtures in-house creators, establishes a space for outside industry thought leaders, and assigns full-time creative duties at an executive level. This is a model that is already happening at media companies. Why not transfer these best practices to the corporate and agency world? Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN" and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising. Jay Acunzo is an author, speaker, and host of the podcast Unthinkable -- the show about marketers who trusted their intuition, not the best practices, and all the unconventional, refreshing things they did to build their brands and leave their legacies. Learn more and find a Starter Pack of episodes at https://jayacunzo.com/unthinkable-podcast