Sneakers and Strategies

Send a text Agile marketing is powerful — but only if you don’t overcomplicate it. In this season finale, Nick recaps the nine Agile Marketing principles covered so far and shows why simplicity is the real secret weapon: fewer priorities, clearer alignment, stronger fundamentals, and faster execution. If your “agile” process feels heavier than the old way, this episode is your reset — and your cha...

Send a text It's easy to think if you're running agile you know marketing. But the truth is - agile marketing isn't marketing without fundamentals. In this episode we go to back to basics as a reminder that goals, value propositions, and target markets still matter. Support the show Follow Nick online at @professoroflife on X and Instagram, or find him on LinkedIn. Nick serves as th...

Send a text In this episode, Nick covers probably one of the most important principles: understanding how to operate at a sustainable pace to generate long-term marketing success. Agencies and marketing teams alike struggle from burnout because in marketing - the iron burns really hot. Learn the red flags of marketing burnout and how to protect your team - and culture - at all costs. Support the s...

Send a text In this episode Nick goes hard in the paint discussing the importance of motivation and trust with your marketing team. Agile marketing is really about people and giving them the freedom and structure to be successful. Nick provides a number of tips and tricks to ensure that you're giving your team the autonomy they need to succeed. Support the show Follow Nick online at @professo...

Send a text In this latest (and late) episode of Sneakers and Strategies, Nick catches listeners up on life and explains why agile works best when you have the right teams (and people) in the room. Also, listeners are invited to Forum Communications ' first ever webinar hosted by Nick Kastner on how recent changes to Google search results are impacting businesses in regards to website traffic...

Send a text What does it look like to have the safety of failure on your marketing team? Many organizations struggle with the idea of failure not realizing this is how they learn. This week's episode is all about learning how to grow from failure, actual encourage risk, and being smart along the way. Support the show Follow Nick online at @professoroflife on X and Instagram, or find him on Li...

Send a text Careful building big-bang campaigns with long planning times. In agile marketing, the goal is to ensure that we are delivering value quickly and to do that - we have to plan accordingly. This week covers the 4th principle provides some ideas on how to ensure your plan isn't over-cooked from the get-go. Support the show Follow Nick online at @professoroflife on X and Instagram, or...

Send a text No marketing plan is perfect, but learning to learn and adjust frequently is one of primary jobs of a marketer. After a week of adjusting to change - this week Nick discusses this very topic and the importance of focusing on the customer and not your plan. Support the show Follow Nick online at @professoroflife on X and Instagram, or find him on LinkedIn. Nick serves as the director of...

Send a text Sometimes our marketing teams become echo chambers for our leadership. They start to sound like our CEOs or marketing directors and struggle to create anything new. Agile marketing works to prevent that by encouraging diversity of opinion and point of view. This week's episode dives into that topic with 5 points that you can use today to ensure that your team creates value in ever...

Send a text Continuing on in season 3 on agile marketing, Nick talks about the importance of transparency in marketing across the organization including your relationship with leadership and your marketing agency. Support the show Follow Nick online at @professoroflife on X and Instagram, or find him on LinkedIn. Nick serves as the director of brand and digital strategy at Forum Communications jus...

Send a text Over the past year, Google has found new competition in terms from ChatGPT and other AI platforms. But, that's not all. Marketers are finding that Instagram and many of today's most popular social media platforms are also operating as search engines. In today's bonus episode, we skip over agile marketing to discuss tactics and how your organization can take advantage of...

Send a text No marketing plan survives a full year. In this week's episode Nick covers how agile marketers manage change. Rather than reacting to change, agile marketers respond to it in a calculated fashion to make sure their organization finds success in an ever-changing environment. Support the show Follow Nick online at @professoroflife on X and Instagram, or find him on LinkedIn. Nick se...

Send a text In this week's episode, Nick tears down hierarchy and provides guidance on how to shift from worrying about the highest paid person in the room and building marketing and business strategies that focus on collaboration across your team. Support the show Follow Nick online at @professoroflife on X and Instagram, or find him on LinkedIn. Nick serves as the director of brand and digi...

Send a text In this week's episode, Nick targets the opinion of everyone in marketing to ensure your organization is focused on using data and experimentation to drive real value. This is the third episode in Season 3 focused on discussing the Agile Marketing Manifesto and how it can help your organization win. Support the show Follow Nick online at @professoroflife on X and Instagram, or fin...

Send a text This week Nick talks how to make sure that your focused on delivering value fast in an even faster moving marketing environment.  Support the show Follow Nick online at @professoroflife on X and Instagram, or find him on LinkedIn. Nick serves as the director of brand and digital strategy at Forum Communications just northeast of Atlanta, GA.

Send a text In the first episode of Season 3, Nick introduces the Agile Marketing Manifesto by discussing the history of agile project management and the first of the 5 values of agile marketing. During this season of Sneakers & Strategies, Nick will walk you through the 5 values and 7 principles of agile marketing and how they directly can apply to marketing for your organization. Support the...

Send a text On my way home from work two weeks ago, I thought I had a great new theory. I didn't - because in 1976, two American communications scholars developed a well known theory in mass communications called Media Dependency Theory. 1976?!?! Anyway, in this episode, I discuss media dependency theory and it's application in 2024 - as well as its relation to recent events with AT&...

Send a text In this episode, brand and digital marketing veteran Nick Kastner discusses this year's Super Bowl ads, the good and the bad, Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management Super Bowl ad review, whether the ads are worth it, and the latest sneaker release from Nike. Support the show Follow Nick online at @professoroflife on X and Instagram, or find him on LinkedIn. Ni...

Send a text 2023 brought a number of critical changes to marketing - specifically in the areas of scale, SEO, and artificial intelligence. In this episode, Nick discusses a recent article in Search Engine Land by legendary SEO Bruce Clay ( https://searchengineland.com/seo-predictions-2024-436574 ) and his view of SEO in 2024 as well as the absence of the podcast over the past few months. Support t...

Send a text In our latest episode, Nick spends some time with marketing expert and former Coca-Cola executive Pat Magill. From McDonald's to Happy Meal toys (and Teenie Beanie Babies), Pat has spent his entire career in marketing execution in the restaurant and foodservice industry. In this interview, Pat discusses his career, his new venture and volunteerism at the University of North Georgi...

Send a text In this episode, Nick goes off the rails (and script) a bit discussing the latest Google update, his frustration with the update, its impact on small businesses and on a lighter note - his latest favorite upcoming release from Nike. Note: Small businesses who DO NOT list all products in certain industries on site, reviews on site, or build custom products are most negatively affected b...

Send a text This week we have our first guest since Episode 1 - Erin Williamson, senior account manager at Forum Communications. During the Super Bowl, Erin and I traded a ton of texts about the game and the ads. In this episode, we discuss the ads during Super Bowl LVII and whether the spend is really worth the effort. Support the show Follow Nick online at @professoroflife on X and Instagram, or...

Send a text Nick talks about ChatGPT, its rise and how it will impact marketing both now and in the future. Support the show Follow Nick online at @professoroflife on X and Instagram, or find him on LinkedIn. Nick serves as the director of brand and digital strategy at Forum Communications just northeast of Atlanta, GA.

Send a text On this week's episode, we discuss marketing and its relationship with sales and development and the upcoming release of the Nike Jordan 1 Chicago Lost and Found. Support the show Follow Nick online at @professoroflife on X and Instagram, or find him on LinkedIn. Nick serves as the director of brand and digital strategy at Forum Communications just northeast of Atlanta, GA.

Send a text How do you develop a marketing strategy? Where do you start? Also, how do you manage relationships with your team and even influencers in the era of cancel culture? All of that - plus a conversation about Nike dropping Kyrie in this episode. Support the show Follow Nick online at @professoroflife on X and Instagram, or find him on LinkedIn. Nick serves as the director of brand and digi...