The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström®: Expert Mode Marketing Technology, AI, & CX

Marketers' roles are changing, but their goals are still the same: reach and engage customers, meeting them where they are, and for better or worse, often needing to do more with less while delivering greater value. Agility requires both adapting to change quickly while also having the wisdom to know which changes truly matter. It demands a delicate balance between embracing new technologies and s...

This episode is brought to you by Reka, a developer of industry-leading, multimodal, AI models that enable individuals and organizations to deploy generative AI applications. Agility requires brands to utilize technology like AI in new and innovative ways to better understand information and interact with their customers, giving them what they want, when and how they want it. To help me discuss th...

Being strategic means asking the right questions and meaningfully applying the learnings. How do you do this while innovating and outpacing the competition? Agility requires a willingness to experiment and adapt quickly to changing market conditions and customer preferences. It also demands breaking down silos and fostering collaboration across teams. Today, we're going to talk about how leading b...

Is the pursuit of the "perfect" customer experience actually holding brands back from achieving true agility? Agility requires a willingness to embrace calculated risks and adapt quickly to changing market dynamics. It also demands a shift in mindset, from a focus on rigid planning to iterative experimentation and continuous learning. Today, we're going to talk about how brands can navigate the ev...

Is the hype around AI in marketing justified, or are we setting ourselves up for another "tech bubble" disappointment? Agility requires not only embracing new technologies like AI, but also a fundamental shift in mindset, processes, and even organizational structure. It demands a willingness to experiment, learn, and adapt quickly to the ever-changing marketing landscape. Today, we're going to tal...

This episode is brought to you by Landrum Talent Solutions, a national recruiting firm specializing in marketing and HR positions. My guest today has been keeping us up to date with the current state of hiring for marketers on a quarterly basis, and there is surely never a dull moment. Today we’re going to look at how marketing and communication execs are responding to the latest developments, plu...

What happens when your best sales strategy from a year ago is now driving customer attrition instead of acquisition? Agility requires brands to rethink how they create consumer value in real time, especially when traditional strategies no longer work as consumer behavior shifts unpredictably. Today we’re going to talk about driving sales growth amidst economic uncertainty—something every brand lea...

If Google sent you zero traffic tomorrow morning, would your P&L still be breathing by lunchtime? Agility requires re-engineering your revenue model at the speed of AI. Today we’re going to talk about how AI chatbots are siphoning off audience attention—and what forward-thinking publishers can do about it instead of panic-refreshing their analytics dashboards. To help me discuss this topic, I’...

Are brands prepared for a consumer base that's simultaneously more confident and more cautious? Agility requires not just reacting to current consumer behavior but anticipating the shifts to come. It also requires a deep understanding of the nuances within different consumer segments, particularly as generational behaviors diverge. Today, we're going to talk about the evolving landscape of consume...

Are most brands still designing customer journeys, or are they just trying to keep up with where their customers are leading them? Agility requires a willingness to meet your customers where they are—not just where you wish they’d convert. In an era where the consumer journey can begin and end on a social platform or anywhere in between, brands must be fluid enough to engage meaningfully across ch...

If you had to pick one of the biggest challenges facing CMOs today, how high on your list would customer loyalty be? Agility requires a deep understanding of your customer and the ability to adapt to their ever-changing needs and expectations. It also requires a willingness to experiment and learn from failures, quickly iterating on strategies and tactics. Today, we're going to talk about the evol...

Building on the talk of AI in recent years, Agentic AI is an exciting area for retailers. But beyond talk, finding real-world examples and best practices can be tricky. Today we are here at eTail Boston, and I am excited to talk today about a company that is innovating in this space, not a traditional retailer, but an innovative aggregator using AI to standardize product data across multiple retai...

Is your brand ready to thrive, not just survive, in the face of evolving global consumer expectations and market shifts? Agility requires more than just quick reactions; it demands proactive foresight, strategic adaptability, and a willingness to embrace continuous evolution. This is particularly critical in today's ever-changing global ecommerce landscape. Today, we are here at eTail Boston and w...

AI can create immersive, human-centric experiences that not only drive sales but also foster enduring brand relationships in a rapidly evolving market. Today we’re going to talk about how AI-driven personalization allows retailers to move beyond generic experiences, crafting unique interactions that resonate with individual preferences and behaviors, thereby enhancing customer satisfaction and loy...

Are you building your customer data strategy around your goals, or are your goals constrained by your data platform? Agility in today’s marketing technology landscape isn’t just about speed—it’s about flexibility. Brands need data architectures that adapt to their needs, not the other way around. And with the right approach, that agility can fuel personalization, better customer outcomes, and real...

When consumer trust is more fragile than ever, how can brands, particularly in highly scrutinized categories like infant nutrition, utilize the latest approaches to not only build trust but also deepen consumer relationships? Agility requires not only adapting to evolving consumer expectations and technological advancements but also maintaining ethical and transparent practices, especially when de...

Is the most effective way to understand real human behavior to simulate it first? Agility requires a willingness to test ideas that sound strange at first—like asking bots to act more human by narrowing their point of view, or treating synthetic personas as real sources of insight. But when applied correctly, this thinking unlocks entirely new ways to scale customer understanding. Today we’re goin...

What if building a brand partnership with a major entertainment property could happen in 5 minutes instead of 6 months—and drive 10x better results? What would that change for your marketing strategy? Today I’m joined by Alan Gould, CEO of Mutual Markets. Alan is at the forefront of a major shift in digital marketing and advertising—using AI to reduce friction between brands and entertainment part...

What could your CX teams do to strategically move your brand forward if they weren’t tethered to dashboards? Agility requires CX teams to move beyond reactive reporting and embrace proactive insight delivery. In an era where insights are instantly available through conversational AI, the strategic role of CX is about to shift—big time. Today we’re going to talk about how AI is reshaping customer e...

One thing is for certain: the world of e-commerce never sits still. But what should retailers be paying attention to now? Agility requires not only adapting to changing consumer behaviors but also anticipating them. It's about proactively shaping the future of retail, not just reacting to it. Today, we're going to talk about navigating the ever-shifting landscape of e-commerce, from micro-shopping...

Agility requires more than just speed—it demands relevance and empathy, especially when AI is stepping in to play a bigger role in the customer experience. What if the problem isn’t that AI moves too slowly—but that it moves without context, without empathy, and without earning trust? Today we’re going to talk about how Agentic AI is changing that—offering a way to transform experience management...

If your marketing grew like a dividend-reinvestment plan, would you still let a quarterly target dictate every decision? Agility requires stacking returning gains faster than the market changes—think compound interest, but for marketing campaigns. Today we’re going to talk about the Compound Marketing Engine, agentic AI, and why “data-driven” still needs greater adoption among leaders. To help me...

The 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was July 26, so today's episode is a special one. Most companies obsess over SEO, performance, and conversion rates—but overlook 25% of their audience entirely. Why do so many businesses miss the opportunity to serve users with disabilities, and what are they leaving on the table? Today I’m joined by Michael Paciello, Chief Accessib...

How often do big, meaningful shifts inside a company actually start small? And more importantly, how do you avoid squashing them before they have a chance to grow? Agility requires more than vision—it requires giving your team the power to act on that vision. Today we’re going to talk about how a global company like Belkin empowered its employees to lead a sustainability transformation from within...

Agility requires that brands have a fundamental understanding of why they’re doing things, and what customer expectations are, rather than chasing trends and implementing the latest tech. Without this, customer satisfaction will continue to slide, and brands won’t be any closer to knowing what to do to solve for that. I am here in Edinburgh with my guest today, who has worked with some of the worl...