The Marketing Marriage

Does strength need a rebrand? That is a question Tobi Gbile had to ask herself as she recently embarked on her TEDx Talk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1gXbKsOFc0&t=1s) journey. Frustrated with the stereotypical media portrayal of black women, who are expected to "shake things off" and recovering from an unhealthy relationship with pushing herself beyond limits, Tobi talks about using her exper...

Every marriage needs love, mutual respect…and a therapist. Ours is no exception. With a fresh year ahead of us and many setting resolutions for a more balanced and meaningful life, we found it fitting to invite our "shrink". Not to worry, we won't air (too much) of our own dirty laundry on this episode. Ingo Vauk, a psychotherapist working with people from all walks of life in his private practice...

The role of a CMO has significantly changed and evolved over the last few years. There's a plethora of job descriptions and titles out there associated with this highly coveted yet often short-lived C-level seat. Many talented marketers get mismatched in the process of a company selecting their lead marketer. Why does that happen? How can it be prevented? What are the right questions and first ste...

A husband, a father, an entrepreneur, a founder, a sport enthusiast…and formerly an incarcerated heroin addict. Our guest had his feet firmly planted in a prison cell as well as fancy conference rooms in Paris, London, and NYC. Jordan Rogers - who built a decade-long career in brand marketing at Nike - has been on a rebranding journey himself since his early 20s. Starting from the very bottom taug...

What do fascination with laundry making and true understanding of the difference between a fact and an insight have in common? Guest of this episode Molly Bruttomesso, Senior Vice President of Customer Success at Wunderkind, has a lot to say about that. She spent a good chunk of her professional life in the ad agency world with Procter & Gamble clients, before transitioning into tech. There, she q...

If you think that rock 'n' roll and leadership don't have much in common, let our guest Andreas "Anttu" Forsberg - a leadership anthropologist, observer, and behavioral analyst show you otherwise. Through observation, behavioral analysis, and feedback, Anttu is devoted to helping executive teams understand how their behavior impacts the engagement of people around them – either increasing or decre...

Diego Borgo is a Metaverse native, Web3 ambassador, NFT collector and advisor to global brands. He is on a personal mission to help mainstream adoption of blockchain and NFT technology. Where do relentless drive and deep passion for his work come from? We unpack Diego's pursuit of freedom of choice and its link to the Web3 movement in the second part of our chat. We talk about his defining journey...

What is all the buzz about Web 3, Metaverse, NFT, and blockchain? If you're trying to make sense of it all and how it applies to your work, or if you just want to learn more from a guy who lives and breathes it on a daily basis, this episode is for you! Diego Borgo is a Metaverse native, Web3 ambassador, NFT collector and advisor to global brands on a personal mission to help mainstream adoption o...

In part two of our chat with Kelly Cahill, a digital marketer through and through, we couldn't resist touching upon the topic of Twittercalypse unfolding in front of us. But to not dwell on a doomsday topic, in this episode we also talk about Kelly's favorite brand project (hint: Atlanta Super Bowl), (female) leadership and its challenges, and her philosophy to make oneself dispensable as a leader...

You hail from the 20th century if you're still asking a current marketer if they have experience with "digital". Marketing today IS digital and it's hard to imagine how one could survive if their primary focus wasn't on digital channels and connections with the audience via plethora of such platforms. Kelly Cahill, a dear friend and the guest of the episode has been part of this ever-changing spac...

Are you seasoned enough to remember the times when direct marketing was limited to receiving a pile of mailed ads at home? Most of you will  chuckle at the thought of spending evenings and nights at a mail house sorting out direct mail letters to reach customers. Our guest, Dave Paulus was part of an incredible journey that started in a black and white print shop (there were no color printers at t...

Starting what later turns out to be a prerequisite to the current career at the age of 16 and being exceptionally successful at 23 presents an interesting path of personal and professional growth. It's no surprise that we get more personal in the second part of our conversation with Ziad Ahmed - the founder and CEO of JUV, GenZ consultancy that works with clients to help them understand young peop...

It seems that these days every company is talking about or searching for the best way to win with the GenZ. Countless studies and research projects have been conducted on this generation and an equal amount of Gen Z "experts" has emerged across different walks of marketing life, and beyond. All in search of a magic formula that would inspire this sometimes misunderstood generational cohort to embr...

With one of the largest sporting moments - The World Cup - about to take off, expect millions of fans worldwide living and breathing soccer for the next month. How and why is the "beautiful game" capable of connecting people in a manner like no other sport? Your hosts could tell some stories from their time working on the 2014 World Cup first-hand. But it's much more fun to bring in a perspective...

Our guest Jason Faustino doesn't talk about street culture, he is part of it. With genuine and deep ties within the sneaker community, he embodies the OG nature of that scene before hype and countless collaborations commercialized it. Simply put, Jason is cool! Though, he himself dislikes that label. In the second part of our conversation, we  chat about relativity of cool and unpack why in today'...

In the world of fashion and lifestyle (among others), the importance of "being part of culture" is emphasized all the time. But what does it actually mean to be "of culture"? Why is it important for brands and marketers to be authentically connected to culture? We invited the mastermind behind Saucony's collaborations and energy products - Jason Faustino to answer these questions.  We discuss his...

What if someone told you that they could solve your biggest business problem in five days? With 12 strangers that never met and are not part of your company. Does it sound like a bad informercial? We sit down with Barbara Soalheiro -  the founder of Mesa Company and the creator of Mesa Method to talk about how her approach solves complex challenges in record time for companies like Google, Meta, a...

The second half of our chat with Shawn Hoy, who was behind some of the most iconic Nike and Saucony products, gets more personal and vulnerable. Despite being told he was an "acquired taste," he decided not to change who he was and instead invest in spending time with people so they'd get to know him and where he was coming from. Which ain't that easy when you come from Boston, where sarcasm is a...

There is no brand without a product, and there is no product without a brand. They need to live in harmony. But. Too often, the product and the brand teams don't work together. The outcome? A subpar and disconnected customer experience. In this conversation, product guru Shawn Hoy (accompanied by his snoring bulldog Mack) spotlights the importance of trust and a common level of understanding of th...

We continue the conversation with Nike veteran Cory Hansen, who has spent his professional life crafting art from words. In this episode, we talk about some of his favorite work charged with emotional appeal and about the benefits of having his scripts voiced over by none other than the Shoe Dog himself - Phil Knight. You'll also learn why other people taking credit for your work can in fact be a...

Creative copywriting can sometimes sit somewhere between serving as a translation service and acting as a lawyer for your clients. In a world where everything seems important, a copywriter needs to determine what is essential and make it compelling. In this episode, we're talking to Cory Hansen, who spent the first decade of his career in advertising before joining Nike, where he worked on pretty...