Buffering

This week on Buffering, Zack and Gabe are back from ConneXions 2026 with a recap of the conversations, ideas, and industry shifts that stood out throughout the week. From growing concerns around subscriber churn and increased competition from satellite and wireless providers to the industry's evolving approach to value based offers, we explore why broadband providers are moving beyond traditio...

This week on Buffering, we’re live from ConneXions 2026 with Steve from GetFused to discuss why great broadband marketing starts with a strong brand, not a stack of ready made marketing assets. From avoiding cookie cutter campaigns to understanding your audience, differentiating your local brand, and refining AI generated content, we explore why the final 20% of marketing is often what separates p...

This week on Buffering, we’re live from ConneXions 2026 with Jordan from Jade Communications to explore why the best broadband marketing isn’t about telling your story, it’s about solving your customers’ problems. From building a brand around real subscriber needs to simplifying website experiences, creating lifestyle based offers, and using data to personalize marketing, we discuss how broadband...

This week on Buffering, we’re live from ConneXions 2026, breaking down why broadband providers need to rethink how they market, sell, and deliver value to subscribers. From escaping the speed and price trap to building value based offers, creating seamless mobile first buying experiences, and turning websites into your best salesperson, we explore how providers can move beyond technical specificat...

This week on Buffering, we’re exploring the rise of the synthetic consumer and what happens when AI agents start acting on our behalf. From autonomously shopping and negotiating bills to managing subscriptions and planning travel, tools like Meta’s Muse are changing how consumers interact with businesses. But as AI takes on more responsibility, questions around trust, privacy, and customer loyalty...

This week on Buffering, Gabe sits down with Kyle Redman of ATC to talk about one of the biggest challenges facing broadband providers today: competing with Starlink. From its massive marketing presence and growing subscriber base to its simple buying experience and undeniable cool factor, Starlink is changing the competitive landscape and forcing providers to rethink how they win and retain custom...

This week on Buffering, Gabe sits down with Melina Palmer, founder of The Brainy Business and a leading voice in behavioral economics, to explore the psychology behind why people buy. From the subtle power of how products are presented to the hidden fears and motivations that shape decisions, the conversation uncovers why small changes in marketing can have an outsized impact on customer behavior....

This week on Buffering, Zack and Gabe take on one of broadband’s most debated terms: managed Wi-Fi. While operators know exactly what it means, customers may not see the same value in the language. From confusing product names to Wi-Fi being treated as an add on, the conversation explores what happens when industry terminology gets in the way of the customer experience. Join Zack and Gabe as they...

This week on Buffering, Zack and Gabe explore how AI is changing the way websites are built, maintained, and personalized. From moving beyond rigid templates and drag and drop editors to creating custom websites in minutes, the conversation looks at why businesses may no longer need to settle for a website that looks like everyone else's. They also dig into AI assisted development, structured...

This week on Buffering, we are counting down ten broadband marketing taglines that might be ready for retirement. From “blazing fast” and “future proof” to “powers every device in your home,” we break down why generic claims fall flat and how we can replace them with experiences customers can actually see, understand, and trust. Join Zack and Gabe as we rethink how we market speed, reliability, lo...

This week on Buffering, we’re retiring six customer experience mantras that may have helped build businesses but won’t necessarily help them grow. Inspired by Customer Experience expert Jon Picoult, we explore “the customer is always right” to “every interaction should delight,” Zack and Gabe challenge the CX absolutisms that oversimplify increasingly complex customer journeys. They explore why no...

This week on Buffering, we’re going beyond the AI slop problem and asking a bigger question: how can organizations actually enable their employees to use AI well? Zack and Gabe break down the training gap, why simply handing employees powerful AI tools isn’t enough, and how organizations can create clear standards for what good AI use looks like. From prompt libraries and AI labs to forklifts and...

This week on Buffering, we dive into the AI slop problem and the growing debate over whether AI is making people dumber. From cringy LinkedIn posts to low effort AI generated content, Zack and Gabe explore why bad AI is creating skepticism around the technology and why writing off AI because of its worst use cases may be a mistake. Join Zack and Gabe as they unpack how to use AI as a strategic par...

This week on Buffering, Zack and Gabe take a deep dive into Starlink's latest moves and what they could mean for Communication Service Providers (CSPs). With Starlink reaching 12 million subscribers, expanding beyond broadband, and making its ambitions in mobile increasingly clear, the competition is no longer limited to rural and unserved markets. Zack and Gabe explore why Starlink is becomin...

This week on Buffering, Zack is joined by Kristin and Christina for a conversation about one of the biggest challenges facing Communication Service Providers (CSPs): standing out in a market where speed and price have become commodities. Using Simon Sinek's Golden Circle framework, they explore why subscribers don't choose providers because of gig speeds alone, and how leading with purpose...

This week on Buffering, Zack and Gabe explore what it really means to become AI-native—and why simply using ChatGPT is no longer enough. They discuss how Communication Service Providers (CSPs) can move beyond basic prompting to embed AI into existing workflows, improve websites, automate repetitive tasks, accelerate development, and unlock new levels of productivity. Along the way, they tackle why...

This week on Buffering, we’re diving into one of the most powerful tools available to Communication Service Providers (CSPs): Meta Ads Manager. Zack and Gabe walk through how to build high-performing Facebook and Instagram campaigns from the ground up, covering best practices for campaign structure, audience targeting, creative strategy, budgeting, and the settings that can make the difference bet...

This week on Buffering, Zack and Gabe explore how the broadband industry has reached a turning point. As network expansion slows and new competitors like Amazon and satellite providers reshape the market, success is no longer defined by homes passed. It is defined by the strength of the subscriber relationship. From retention strategies and customer experience to ecommerce, self install, and proac...

This week on Buffering, We are tackling one of the most debated topics in broadband: promotional pricing. As more providers look to discounts and introductory offers to boost take rates, they examine what decades of cable industry history can teach us about the long-term consequences of competing on price alone. From subscriber losses and declining brand trust to the hidden impact on customer life...

This week on Buffering, Zack and Gabe unpack two of the biggest technology stories of the summer: Apple's latest WWDC announcements and SpaceX's record-breaking IPO. From the launch of Siri AI to Starlink's growing influence, they explore what separates products people use from products people get excited about. Join Zack and Gabe as they discuss why "cool" has less to do wit...

This week on Buffering, we welcome back Charlene Li, New York Times bestselling author and co-author of Winning with AI: The 90 Day Blueprint for Success. Together, we explore what AI fluency really means, why the gap between AI leaders and laggards is widening, and how organizations can move beyond pilots to create measurable business value. Charlene shares practical insights on building AI-ready...

This week on Buffering, we do something a little different. Instead of just talking about bad broadband websites, we built one. Based on real world ISP websites and real mistakes we see every day, we created the ultimate “what not to do” example packed with confusing pricing tables, outdated messaging, technical jargon, weather widgets, and download calculators straight out of 2009. Then we handed...

This week on Buffering, we are exploring Google's latest search transformation and what may be the biggest shift to search in more than 25 years. From the end of the ten blue links to AI powered answers, autonomous agents, and the rise of the synthetic consumer, the rules for how people discover information and interact online are changing in real time. As search evolves from finding information t...

This week on Buffering, we are diving into the state of broadband websites in 2026 and asking a simple question: what is a bad website actually costing you? From outdated service pages and broken buyer flows to zombie pages, endless pricing tables, and mobile experiences that still feel stuck in 2014, Zack and Gabe unpack why so many providers are still losing customers before the sale even starts...

This week on Buffering, Gabe and Zack are joined by Frank Ploumen, SVP of Product Line Leadership at Calix, to unpack a growing risk in today’s AI race: “AI orphans.” As service providers accelerate experimentation, many are deploying isolated AI solutions that deliver short term wins but fail to scale, integrate, or sustain long term value. Frank shares why this pattern is emerging, how it mirror...