The AI Marketing Companion

Mark Schaefer and Tom Webster discuss the growing challenge of establishing emotional connection in a world of declining loyalty and point to an amazing success at Spotify, the rise of anger on Facebook, and a revolution at LinkedIn. They also vanquish Mercury Retrograde.

The retail industry has been in a state of upheaval for decades. Is a store that sells no goods the future? Tom Webster and Mark Schaefer think so, and they discuss it in this new episode of The Marketing Companion. Listen in as they also debate what will happen when digital ad prices keep rising, a threat to marketing nobody's really discussing, and their effort to make The Marketing Companion th...

Hosts Mark Schaefer and Tom Webster dissect several big new ideas, including the role of customer engagement in digital transformation, Facebook's big new opportunity for community leaders, and a content marketing fail from GE (or, is it?). Plus, Tom riffs on cows.

Against all odds, Mark and Tom have completed five years of podcasting together. In this episode, the hosts reflect on how they got started, how the program has changed and what's next for The Marketing Companion faithful.

In this episode, hosts Mark Schaefer and Tom Webster review some of their favorite recent marketing books, including new releases from Bernadette Jiwa and Neen James.

Hosts Mark Schaefer and Tom Webster examine several current marketing issues, including a stroke of brilliance from Amazon, Google culture, and the unexpected dominance of Facebook in the surging private messaging space.

In this episode, hosts Mark Schaefer and Tom Webster talk about a new Schaefer book in the works, AI, hacking, and how companies are being forced to take a social, and even political, stand in the world today. This trend is undeniable, but flies in the face of classical economics. how does a marketer sort it out?

There are a number of ethical issues emerging as technology allows us to connect to consumers in new ways. Just because we can, should we? In this episode, hosts Mark Schaefer and Tom Webster look at "addiction" as a goal, the cultural implications of AI, and new research on the time it takes to become a friend. And oh yes, to celebrate a milestone, they introduce the world's first audio infograph...

Hosts Mark Schaefer and Tom Webster reflect on the hot topics they covered five years ago and discuss the relevancy of influence marketing (and Klout), Google Glass, Twitter strategy and more. And they bring out a retro look at Google Pants!

Mark Schaefer and Tom Webster discuss revealing new research that may indicate a tipping point for social media, video, podcasts and smart speakers like Alexa and Google Home.

Social media marketing has been the hottest marketing concept for the last 10 years. Is it losing steam, or just taking off? In this episode, hosts Mark Schaefer and Tom Webster look at the data and reveal new perspectives on where social media fits in the marketing mix. The fellas also reveal a new premium service to sell fake followers so you can become an influencer in record time!

How important is it to create customer experiences that lead to awareness and loyalty? In this episode, Mark and Tom explore dramatic trends impacting any strategy involving customer experience. They also dive into stupid agency tricks and a wishlist for our favorite tech leaders. And Tom issues an apology for mis-casting Mark!

What is "Tech-lash?" Mark and Tom cover a variety of subjects in this fast-paced show. They cover the Facebook changes, an explosive report on influence marketing, the fastest-growing tech gadget (surprise!) and new rumbles about a backlash against the largest tech companies.

Have you ever wanted to learn what Mark and Tom actually do for a living? In this unusual episode Mark and Tom open the curtains and talk about their careers -- How they got to where they are today and how they intend to remain relevant for the next level. A fascinating discussion about relevance in the fast-changing digital age!

Special guest Mitch Joel, president of Mirum, discusses the challenges of the modern marketing agency. What are the implications of higher levels of competition, the trend toward bringing work in-house, the impact of AI and other new technologies, and the emerging eCommerce on-ramps? You won't want to miss this fascinating discussion!

New research from Ford shows that consumers are polarized, energized and a bit weirded out by what marketing is up to these days. Hosts Mark Schaefer and Tom Webster take a look at this new report and discuss the implications for business leaders. And they have a casting call for "Marketing Companion: The Movie." Who will play Mark?

How could writing a book help you establish thought leadership, open new opportunities, and grow your business? Hosts Mark Schaefer and Tom Webster explore these issues and open the Marketing Companion Holiday Catalogue for exciting gift "ideas."

Five years ago I predicted that Facebook would become the most evil company on earth. The claim was tongue-in-cheek, but the logic was solid: The "raw material" that Facebook uses to build its wealth is our personal information. As a public company, Facebook has a mandate to grow its profits every quarter, without exception, without end. At some point, to meet that relentless financial goal, Faceb...

On the new episode of The Marketing Companion, Tom Webster and I open up a discussion on three touchy issues in the digital realm. YouTube's deplorable algorithm: The New York Times reported that evil people have been slipping violent cartoon knock-offs into the YouTube Kids channel. In this case, relying on an algorithm to vet children's programming is unacceptable. This is a problem that is not...

One of my great marketing heroes is Tom Fishburne . Not only is he a brilliant innovator and marketer, he is THE WORLD-FAMOUS MARKETOONIST: On the new episode of The Marketing Companion, Tom Webster and I had the great fun and pleasure of interviewing Tom about humor in marketing including ... The "slow revelation" that made him realize humor could be a key part of his marketing future The connect...

I had an opportunity to attend the outstanding Marketing Profs B2B Forum and witness a truly tour-de-force speech by my friend and podcast co-host Tom Webster. Although we had mentioned this talk in a previous podcast episode, I had not seen Tom's presentation and I found his insights to be remarkable and very relevant to marketing today. I thought our Marketing Companion fans needed to hear some...

There's a lot of pressure to create content today. Epic, authentic, viral content. But perhaps the key to content success is not necessarily through originality, but through creating a wise curated content stream that helps people save time and money. Most industries have at least one go-to newsletter of curated business highlights. If your industry doesn't have that, maybe it's a golden opportuni...

In this new episode of The Marketing Companion , Tom Webster and I cover some of the highlights of the 2017 Content Marketing World. It was the first conference Tom and I attended together for some time so it was a good opportunity to compare notes on the content marketing spectacular. We discuss: Why Tom faced a nearly empty room for his politics-related talk Why Mark thinks "loyalty" is a fading...

It seems like everywhere you look the news is bad for the ad industry. In just the last few weeks, the news has reported ... The stock value for many large agencies is in decline as company billings fall. Traditional ad impressions are down almost everywhere as newspapers, radio, and magazines struggle to survive. Many of their customers -- the big CPG brands -- are cutting ad spending as their mo...

In this very personal episode of The Marketing Companion, hosts Mark Schaefer and Tom Webster reveal their own best marketing successes and failures. Learn why desperation may be a key to success, how money is made in the margins, and why a dial-up internet connection destroyed a great business. Mark and Tom also announce plans for the first human-powered self-driving vehicle!