Up Next with Gabriella Mirabelli

Thomas Bunn is Global Chief Client Impact Officer at Zeno Group and the architect of Clarity 2030, a study of more than 1,400 communications professionals across 10 countries. The data surfaces a striking gap: 72% of respondents expect communications to have greater influence over business strategy by 2030, but only 29% feel fully ready. Thomas and Gabriella examine what's behind that gap, whether...

Ryan Webb , associate professor at the Rotman School of Management and director of the Management Data Analytics Lab, has spent years studying why consumer behavior is so hard to change, and why marketers are often measuring the wrong thing. His research, co-authored with experts across neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral economics, and published in the IJRM -   International Journal of Resea...

AdGood Foundation accepts CTV ad inventory that publishers donate, routes it to nonprofits at $5 to $6 CPM, and charges roughly 70% below market rates. The model sits inside the existing ad stack, uses the same targeting and reporting tools as any commercial buyer, and requires no production budget: a self-serve AI tool generates a broadcast-ready 30-second spot from a nonprofit's URL for a minimu...

MaryLeigh Bliss , chief content officer at YPulse , joins Gabriella Mirabelli to discuss YPulse 's Post-Social Playbook report, based on a survey of 1,500 13 to 39-year-olds in the US and Canada. The data makes clear that algorithm-driven feeds have made follower counts functionally irrelevant for brands, and that reaching young consumers now requires a different model entirely: entertainment focu...

Jesse Weinstein is a partner at Phillips & Associates , a former Bronx prosecutor, and a U.S. Navy combat veteran who now represents employees in discrimination, retaliation, and whistleblower cases. In this conversation, he breaks down what counts as discrimination under New York law, why vague complaints to HR can undermine your legal standing, and how retaliation often shows up not as terminati...

Arnd Vomberg , Associate Professor of Marketing at HEC Paris, and his colleagues have spent years studying how consumers respond when prices shift without notice. Their findings, published in the International Journal of Research in Marketing , are directly relevant to every brand competing for attention in an algorithmically priced marketplace. He joins the show to discuss price fairness theory,...

Most AI safety conversation focuses on what's happening inside the model. In this episode, Dr. Ilan Strauss , co-director of the AI Disclosures Project , shares why he thinks that's the wrong place to look. The bigger risks, he argues, live in the market — in how AI products get optimized for engagement, how infrastructure concentration replicates the platform economy's worst outcomes, and why con...

MaryLeigh Bliss , chief content officer at YPulse , brings proprietary brand tracker data to a conversation about how young consumers perceive entertainment and streaming brands right now. Media analyst Evan Shapiro joins her to connect those findings to the structural shifts reshaping the industry. Together, they make the case for why YouTube may already be winning, why fandom is the most durable...

In this episode , Jack Oujo discusses his book, Too Smart to Be an Umpire. After eight years chasing his dream of becoming a major league umpire, Oujo was let go and faced with the fact that his "Plan B" was now his "Plan A." The rejection could have broken him. Instead, he translated everything he learned from officiating into building an incredibly successful wealth management firm. The conversa...

Simon Blanchard , Dean's Professor of Marketing at Georgetown University and co-editor at the Journal of Marketing Research , joins Up Next to discuss research published in the International Journal of Research in Marketing on consumer financial data exchange. When a customer earns loyalty points at an affiliate restaurant or checks out using a buy-now-pay-later option, their financial data typica...

Ron Rubin , entrepreneur and author of Gold in Your Backyard , built the Republic of Tea and River Road Family Vineyards over five decades while maintaining debt-free operations. His book, named after his father's expression about recognizing opportunities right in front of you, compiles 50 life lessons drawn from Ron's entrepreneurial career. The conversation covers his approach to risk evaluatio...

Paul D'Arcy , CMO at Moloco , explores how AI has fundamentally shifted the balance between human and machine decision-making in marketing, with digital advertising leading this transformation over the past decade. The conversation examines the tension between operational efficiency and strategic thinking as consumer behavior undergoes generational shifts in how people discover and purchase produc...

MaryLeigh Bliss , Chief Content Officer at YPulse, has been tracking what young consumers find cool and what keeps them loyal to brands. The two things turn out to be driven by different forces, and understanding the gap between them can change how brand investment decisions should be made. Bliss brings data from YPulse's brand tracker, which covers affinity for over a thousand brands among 13-to-...

Rick DeLisi , Lead Research Analyst at Glia and co-author of The Effortless Experience , discusses research showing that less than 30% of organizations achieve full value from customer support AI investments. The conversation covers the "AI maturity gap" where adoption does not equal adaptation, why focusing solely on cost reduction limits AI potential, and barriers, including organizational readi...

Finola Kerrigan , professor of marketing at Birmingham Business School , spent ten years with colleagues studying James Bond fan communities online. Their findings, published in the International Journal of Research in Marketing , upend a basic assumption in brand management: that loyal, vocal fans are always an asset. The research identifies a pattern called regressive nostalgia, where a subset o...

In this episode, Mickie Kennedy , founder of eReleases , explains how small businesses can access national press distribution at a fraction of standard costs through eReleases' partnerships. The conversation covers why 97% of press releases fail to generate earned media, the importance of story arc elements like use case studies, and strategic approaches, including industry surveys and contrarian...

MaryLeigh Bliss , chief content officer at YPulse, breaks down new survey data on how 8-to-12-year-olds consume media. Based on a survey of 1,500 tweens in North America, the findings show YouTube operates as the dominant platform in this age group's life, preferred over streaming services by 66% of respondents. Bliss explains what Mr. Beast's formula gets right, why 70% of tweens still have weekl...

Rachel Boucher , head of content at Event Marketer magazine, discusses how experiential marketing has evolved from tactical activations to strategic campaign hubs. The conversation covers how the pandemic accelerated planning cycles and hybrid integration, why networking ranks as the top attendee goal at B2B events, and how Gen Z drives demand for offline connection around niche digital communitie...

Henri Weijo is an associate professor of marketing at Aalto University School of Business in Helsinki. His research examines how algorithmic recommendation systems are reshaping how consumers build identity and compete for cultural status, particularly in fashion. In this episode, he walks through field research conducted across multiple countries examining how mainstream and indie consumers respo...

Tina Dietz , founder of Twin Flames Studios , explains how audio content builds trust through intimacy and strategic development. The conversation covers why vocal variety maintains engagement while presentation-style delivery fails, how podcast saturation fears are overstated with only a couple million active shows worldwide, and the difference between podcasting as a business versus for business...

MaryLeigh Bliss, Chief Content Officer at YPulse , discusses findings from two reports: the Social Media Monitor tracking platform usage trends and a deep dive into YouTube's role in Gen Z's lives. While marketers have focused intensely on TikTok, YouTube has maintained steady relevance as a multimodal platform serving simultaneously as entertainment hub, search engine, TV replacement, and trusted...

In this episode, Jason Fairchild , CEO of tvScientific , discusses how performance marketing principles are being applied to connected TV advertising. The conversation covers deterministic attribution matching household ad exposure to outcomes, supply path optimization through direct publisher relationships, and radical transparency, including log-level data access. Fairchild explains how the plat...

Guilherme Ramos , assistant professor of marketing at Rochester Institute of Technology, and Larissa Elmor , PhD student at FGV Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration and visiting scholar at Imperial College Business School, discuss their research published in the International Journal of Research in Marketing . Their study of nearly 8,000 consumers across three countries examines...

In this episode, Dave Bernath , CEO of Wurl and former Comedy Central GM, explains the technology infrastructure behind ad-supported streaming TV. The conversation covers how FAST channels work, the relationship between content owners and platforms, and why major studios sometimes cede advertising control to distributors. Bernath discusses contextual targeting that matches emotional tone between a...

MaryLeigh Bliss from YPulse reveals how media headlines systematically misrepresent Gen Z through sensationalized claims based on viral social content rather than representative research. The conversation debunks major myths about financial expectations, workplace behavior, technology adoption, and mental health by contrasting bold headlines with actual survey data from thousands of young consumer...