The AI Marketing Companion

Mark Schaefer and Keith Jennings explore a vastly overlooked aspect of marketing -- status. While this may seem like a taboo topic, seeking status drives almost every aspect of our lives from where we live to our art, music, and brand devotion. Mark and Keith connect the dots between status and key cultural trends, especially the shifts we are seeing from Gen Z.  

NFTs have been in the news so much lately, and there's so much to learn! In this show, Mark Schaefer and Mathew Sweezey talk about NFTs as a tool to build community, loyalty, and brand identity through some exciting new use cases.

Social listening platforms are meaningless when it comes to young people today. Gen Z is hiding out in their digital campfires on Fortnite, Roblox and other hard-to-reach places. Mark Schaefer and Sara Wilson discuss how this new generation of tastemakers are re-defining community, marketing, and how we reach our customers. Sara Wilson  is a journalist-turned-social-marketer (former Facebook & Ins...

Mark Schaefer and Dennis Yu get out their crystal balls to look at the biggest impacts on marketers in the next two years. Will it be the metaverse? NFTs? Influencer marketing? The hosts don't always agree on this but you'll gain a fascinating perspective on what's coming next! 

Put down your smartphone, shut down the metaverse, and close TikTok for a moment to re-visit one of the most important marketing theories of all-time, the Four Ps of marketing. Mark Schaefer and Robbie Fitzwater provide a fresh, surprising, and perhaps controversial take on what the theory means to marketers today.

Mark Schaefer and Amanda Russell both have globally-recognized brands but took drastically different routes regarding their self-promotion strategies. In this show, the co-hosts discuss their pitfalls and challenges, the need to evolve strategies over time, the limits of self-disclosure, being "on-brand," over-sharing, and more.

Have you considered how brand and marketing messaging evolve over time? Have you noticed a trend from product attributes to values? Mark Schaefer and Keith Jennings offer a new way to think about marketing in a changing world with implications for how you and your business can stand out in a noisy world. 

Digital marketing pioneer Dennis Yu and futurist Mark Schaefer debate the state of the marketing jobs market. The market is red hot but can it stay that way? What job skills are needed to compete now in and in the future? And how can we take advantage of technology to fill marketing jobs in creative new ways? It's a can't-miss show!

Mark Schaefer and co-host Brooke Sellas talk about a ground-breaking new book that covers the essential online customer care strategies. They discuss the elevated emotional furor on the web today, the risk that comes with taking a stand, the impact of Web3 on customer service, and practical strategies for nurturing meaningful customer connections. 

Mark Schaefer and Mathew Sweezey have a wide-ranging conversation exploring the truth and consequences of crypto winter, co-creating brands, NFTs as the future of CRM and much more. This is an amazing opportunity to peer into the mechanics of Web3 with an industry futurist and thought leader. 

Like many of us, Mark Masters struggled to build his marketing agency. His own marketing and advertising weren't creating momentum for his business. And he felt rather empty with the transitory, transactional nature of marketing. So he tried a bold experiment. He started a learning community that revolutionized his business. This is a bold discussion that may point to the future of marketing.

Mark Schaefer and Amanda Russell dive into their consulting practice secrets. How do they keep the clients coming in? When do you "fire" a customer? What is their best consulting advice? All this and more in this jam-packed episode. 

Mark Schaefer and Keith Jennings discuss a creative new way to think about products and services that opens up new marketing strategy possibilities.

Dennis Yu just published the bestselling book on TikTok and had unprecedented access to the inner workings of the company. This is a fun show filled with surprises, insights, and practical ideas. 

Mark Schaefer and Brooke Sellas explore the vital role of conversation in the marketing mix. How has the pandemic changed customer care? AI? The metaverse? How are marketing leaders grossly misunderstanding the connection between sales and marketing conversations? All this and more in this fascinating episode! 

Traditional marketing is fracturing before our eyes. Web3, NFTs, and the metaverse will become the standard way of connecting to a new generation. Mathew Sweezey helps us navigate this bold new world and understand the implications of a post-cookie, post-SEO, post-content world.

Is it possible to create a meaningful and effective digital presence for even boring companies? Commodity products? This is a surprising discussion between Mark Schaefer and Jay Acunzo that will push your brain in some new directions! Let's take a fresh look at marketing boring companies and products!

Amanda Russell occupies the epicenter of influence marketing and in this show, we cover the dirty secrets, the corruption, and the true opportunity for influence marketing in the digital era. You'll also hear a world premiere announcement of a significant new development that could have a far-ranging impact on the marketing world!

This is an epic discussion between Mark Schaefer and Keith Jennings exploring 50 years of cognitive research and a conclusion that it is almost impossible to change a person's deeply-held beliefs. Certainly this is a massive marketing challenge. But at least under three conditions, change is possible. And in fact, we may be in the perfect storm of opportunity. Get out your pen and paper. You're go...

Marketing legend Sandy Carter joins the show to talk about the hottest topic in marketing: Web3. Is it over-hyped, the future of our field, or a little of both. Tune in to hear Mark Schaefer and Sandy sort it out. 

In this revealing show, Mark Schaefer and Brooke Sellas look at the rapidly changing world of civil activism and "woke" movements on company culture and marketing strategy. We are in an unprecedented time when outside forces unrelated to our company and product can influence marketing strategy in unprecedented ways. This is an unmissable episode

Mark Schaefer and Mathew Sweezey apply a rapid-fire approach to marketing trend analysis in this fast-paced show. What's hot, what's not? Is it social media, content marketing, podcasts, web3? You won't want to miss this expert analysis. 

Mark Schaefer and Jay Acunzo break down their creative journeys and the relationship between money and creativity. This episode is full of unique insights as they talk about resources versus resourcefulness, the bane of money, the future of creativity, and the poetic inspiration of "Rocky."

Influencer and educator Amanda Russell joins Mark to reveal how she has transcended tragedy to create a bold new personal future. As we close out another pandemic year we look back into our lives and reveal the lessons we learned about how to find light in the darkness, hope in despair and a survival mindset when your world seems to be falling apart. You've never heard an episode like this before....

Keith Jennings climbs aboard the Companion train to discuss the role of habit in marketing strategy, success, and results. It's a topic that has been overlooked for too long and this discussion shines a light on the role of habit in leadership, cultural change, and gains.