The Brave Technologist

Michael Liu, SVP, Head of Innovation at Dentsu Media and Kevin Villatoro, Partnerships at Dentsu, share how their agency clients are responding to Web3 marketing opportunities and taking their first (small) steps. They also explain why Web3 isn't the channel to fight for attention, but rather to engage consumers in meaningful ways, embracing innovation while providing real value.     Key Takeaways...

Avery Akkineni, President of Vayner3, discusses the current state of Web3 adoption and her predictions for its future. She explains how brands are currently experimenting with Web 2.5 – a bridge offering the speed and ease of use from Web2 but with the ownership and self-sovereignty of Web3.  Key takeaways:  The difference between stunt campaigns and always-on marketing when it comes to the metave...

Brands are navigating the new Web3 world and with it comes an opportunity for experimentation, innovation and engaging consumers in entirely new ways. But where do you start and when?  In this new season of The Brave Marketer Podcast, we're talking Web3 Marketing and how to market in the Metaverse.  You'll hear from marketers from top brands and agencies who will help us leverage this exciting mom...

Kelly Poquiz Burke, Associate Director of Brand Marketing & Strategy at Avocados From Mexico, discusses many of the brand experiences their team has launched in an effort to create a deep, emotional connection with consumers, despite lacking any marketing ability on their products themselves. She also shares her approach to Web3 marketing: sticking to a strategy instead of chasing shiny objects. K...

Lisa Marie Paul , Head of Content and Partnerships at Talenthouse AG, discusses how millenial and Gen Z mindsets have changed consumer expectations surrounding advertising. We examine how marketers are challenged with creating large amounts of content very quickly, without compromising quality, authenticity or relatability. Key Takeaways:  What brand marketers can learn from the "race to space"  H...

Stacy Wakefield, VP of Marketing at Delphia, discusses her biggest new marketing challenge: building a Web3 brand and community. She explains the complexities of managing risk and compliance and how Web3 differs from Web2 marketing tactics.  In this episode we discuss:  Importance of marketing team building strong working relationships across product and compliance departments Ways to collect dire...

Kate Brady, Head of Next Gen D2C Consumer Experience & Direct Digital Marketing Capabilities at PepsiCo, shares how mainstream brands and marketers can utilize Web3 technologies. Kate's team is currently testing a number of next gen initiatives as part of PepsiCo's newly established Web3 & Metaverse Center of Enablement.  We also discuss the removal of third-party trackers and moving towards a pri...

Sierra Reed, Vice President Director of Social Strategy at Digitas, discusses how she's successfully leaned into brave marketing moments and stood up for her values, even in the early days of her career. She also shares how she's helping brands like Macy's and Crocs act boldly through her agency work.  Key Takeaways:  Why marketers should think long term and create memorable brand experiences that...

Laura Mesa , Vice President of Community and Marketing at Product Hunt, shares how allowing your team to be vulnerable in the workplace, allows your brand to show up authentically too. She also discusses the importance of developing a customer first product strategy and putting in extra effort to personalize based on real needs of your users In this episode we discuss:  How "Makers" like Notion an...

Quynh Mai , Founder & CEO of Qulture shares how culture is changing quickly from Gen Z and what brands need to change in order to be successful on platforms like TikTok, the Metaverse and Twitch. We also talk about making your audience the star of your campaigns with user-generated, collaborative content.  In this episode we discuss:  Working with Kanye West on the "Life of Pablo" International Ca...

Liz Caselli-Mechael ,  Global Head of Digital & Content for Nestlé, discusses how she's built her career around purpose-driven digital storytelling and engagement. She shares how to focus on favorability rather than driving sales, by integrating  important values like sustainability, social responsibility, and climate action into Nestle's brand strategy. Key Takeaways:  Measuring favourabilty and...

Claire Kart, VP Marketing & Community at Mina Foundation, discusses how they're leveraging "just in time marketing" as a go to market strategy for their upcoming SDK launch. Claire also shares Mina's rebrand story and how it actually started with getting sued by a larger player in crypto!  Key takeaways: What "zero-knowledge proof" means and the practical utility of it  Marketing to ever evolving...

Maura Tuohy Di Muro , Global Head of Product Marketing at Twitter, discusses how Twitter is promoting safety on their platform and the unique ways they're adding gamification to privacy, including a recently released video game experience they made for their users. We also discuss how Web3 can deliver on its big promises of accessibility and inclusivity and how Twitter thinks about earning trust. ...

Many of the most memorable brand campaigns have been driven by cutting edge marketers who are driving innovation and massive growth for some of the most beloved brands. In Season 5 of The Brave Marketer Podcast, we're getting a fresh perspective and highlighting women marketers who are making an impact in both crypto and mainstream brands.  We'll cover topics like: Web3, cookieless advertising, cr...

Winston Zhang , Co-founder at Cega, shares how they're preparing for their upcoming mainnet launch. He discusses the marketing strategies they're working on, including an NFT collection, and a major risk they took by differentiating their visual branding. He also educates us on the benefits of exotic options, even in a bear market.    In this episode we discuss:  How to increase mainstream of adop...

Jay Kurahashi-Sofue, VP of Marketing at Ava Labs, discusses how his team disrupted the traditional event experience with their recent Avalanche Summit in Barcelona, along with some of the risks they took that really paid off. He also shares the biggest opportunities for crypto marketers across all stages of the funnel. In this episode we discuss:  How optimizing for speed and cost impacts blockcha...

Brad Michelson , Head of US Marketing team at eToro , discusses the unique social features their platform offers in an effort to reduce intimidation and attract new investors into crypto trading. He also shares his thoughts on the biggest challenges with crypto marketing and the effective strategies they've implemented to overcome them. In this episode we discuss:  What makes the eToro marketplace...

Aaron Schneider, Business Development and Partnerships at Bitpay , discusses ways that crypto can become more useful in order to maintain its relevance into the future. He shares what Bitpay is doing differently to solve this with e-commerce, along with the challenges they're up against in transitioning to crypto as a mainstream form of payment. In this episode we discuss:  Trends in fintech marke...

Dylan Dewdney , Co-Founder and Lead Initiator at NFT3.com and Kylin Network, discusses the world of DIDs (decentralized identifiers) and some of the future use cases, along with how Web3 will change the way data is handled. He also talks about the changing relationship between marketers and the data needed to optimize their businesses, and why privacy is often highlighted but becomes compromised i...

David Feinstein , Head of Partnerships at SuperRare, discusses the economics of digital art and how valuing NFTs compares to the traditional art world. He also shares how luxury products, designers and brands can get into the Web3 game via the SuperRare marketplace.  We also discuss: How SuperRare is creating marketing moments that go viral while also empowering artists  Digital scarcity and lever...

Duke Kim , Director of Crypto Partnerships at The Giving Block, educates us on the benefits of crypto philanthropy and the work they're doing to connect donors and nonprofits, along with ways that companies can create corporate social responsibility programs to make and impact. Discover why donors should donate cryptocurrencies versus dollars, and the associated tax implications to consider. We al...

Aggroed Lighthacker, CEO at Splinterlands, discusses why gaming was the winning solution to support the mass market to engage with crypto. He discusses how Splinterlands massively exploded its user base through word of mouth advertising among hardcore gamers, along with growth tactics that other crypto companies can replicate.  In this episode we discuss: Why mass adoption of cryptocurrency can le...

Chris Ghent, Global Head of Brand Strategy & Partnerships at the NEAR Foundation, shares how he and his team are taking a unique approach to making crypto more tangible to new users, along with how Layer 1 protocols such as NEAR can really bring in the masses and remove friction through branding.   In this episode we discuss:  Broader applications of NFTs outside of just art and collectibles Oppor...

Matty Taylor, Head of Growth at Solana Labs, shares how and why community drives the growth of Solana. We also discuss some of the challenges with trying to shift to a decentralized company / model, and why having a great user experience is even more crucial in building trust within a DeFi application.  In this episode we also discuss: Ways that crypto marketing differs from traditional marketing...

Steven Kalifowitz, CMO at Crypto.com, shares the strategies and tactics he's implementing on his team's quest to become a world renowned brand like Coke and Netflix. This includes how they've approached their partnerships with the UFC, Formula One, Matt Damon and the Sixers, along with their record breaking naming acquisition of the Staples Centre in LA.    In this episode we discuss: The importan...