The Marketing Companion

The world’s most entertaining marketing podcast! Mark Schaefer and a rotation of brilliant guest hosts provide new marketing insights and timely advice that help you navigate the future of digital business, The Marketing Companion is always fun, always interesting, and always on-target with ideas that will turn up your marketing intellect to an “11.”

How AI is Changing Your Customers

A new research report shows how AI is re-wiring our customers — literally changing their psychology and buying habits. In this episode, Mark Schaefer previews a new book and explores what happens when humans offload their thinking to a machine.

09-22
34:47

How AI impacts the sales process

One of the most urgent and interesting questions in business today: How does AI affect the sales process? From product discovery to referrals and recommendations, AI is making its way into customers' hearts and minds. Whether B2B or B2C, the implications are enormous.   Marketing legend Sandy Carter joins the Marketing Companion to explore these new commercial realities. What is the new role of brand, trust, and human relationships in the commercial process?

09-08
36:25

Our children, their education, and AI

Mark Schaefer has a new grandchild. Amanda Russell has a toddler. Both of them wonder what an AI-dominant world has in store for them.    In this personal and introspective episode, Mark and Amanda reflect on what college meant to their careers, the advice they would give to kids about college today, and how education will need to change for Gen Alpha.    This is an essential episode for everyone wondering how AI will impact the next generation.   Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Audacious: How Humans Win in an AI Marketing World." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising.   For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog. Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking.      Amanda Russell is a marketing leader, entrepreneur, and scholar. By age 32, she built and sold two successful businesses: an online fitness subscription community for women and a digital marketing and production company. She served as Chief Marketing Officer at a NYC-based portfolio fund and developed the world’s first accredited MBA & EMBA Influencer Marketing programs at Northwestern University. She also founded the Global Center for Influence at the University of Texas. Amanda has taught at renowned institutions such as Bocconi University, London Business School, Harvard, Wharton, HEC Paris, NYU, and the University of Stockholm. Her book, "The Influencer Code," explores influence, consumer behavior, and the future of marketing. Amanda advises major companies, including Lamborghini, Cedars-Sinai, Lionsgate, and Silk-FAW.  

08-25
35:21

AI Signals to influence the purchasing decision

As use of AI soars and customers place more trust in AI, the bots are making decisions for our customers. From vacations to recipes, we're using AI in creative ways to make our lives easier and skip the time to analyze options. But how does AI make the decision? The platforms are getting their information from somewhere. What is the role of traditional content and marketing? The answer will surprise you. In this far-reaching show, Mark Schaefer and Andy Crestodina explore new research on how AI makes decisions and what matters. This episode also contains extraordinary bonus content.   Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Audacious: How Humans Win in an AI Marketing World." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising.   For more of Mark’s insights every week, subscribe to his award-winning blog. Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking.   Andy Crestodina is CMO and Co-Founder of Orbit Media, an award-winning 55-person digital agency. He has 23_ years of experience in analytics, SEO, content strategy and visitor psychology ...and months of experience in AI.   Andy has applied his expertise in SEO and conversions to drive both visibility and lead generation for 1000+ businesses since 2001.

08-11
44:44

Attention Economy 2.0

Gini Dietrich is a well-known thought leader, author, and entrepreneur in the corporate communications space. Her PESO marketing framework has become a standard framework for PR and marketing professionals. In this episode, Mark Schaefer's special guest host talks about how the model has evolved in an era where consumer attention "acts differently." She also discusses how she is aggressively integrating AI in her client relations practices. 

07-28
26:56

Create an AI Bot to Build Your Business

Mark Schaefer and Dana Malstaff discuss practical applications to use ChatGPT to build your own private, personal AI advisors to reach clients, expand your reach, and fuel your personal growth. This is an easy and accessible way to create new capabilities for your business without any coding knowledge.   Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Audacious: How Humans Win in an AI Marketing World." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising.   For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog. Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking.   Dana Malstaff is a serial entrepreneur, author, and founder of the Boss Mom franchise of media properties and businesses. 

07-14
32:33

AI marketing agents gain ground

In this wide-ranging talk with AI marketing strategist Mathew Sweezey, we cover a lot of ground, including AI's need for marketing speed, the human bottleneck, the reality of agents, a softer view of generative AI legal concerns, and reimagining the nature of creativity.    Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books, including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Audacious: How Humans Win in an AI Marketing World." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising.   For more of Mark’s insights every week, subscribe to his award-winning blog. Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking.   Mathew Sweezey is the Principal Consultant – AI Transformation for the Monks Agency. He has been a leading futurist and thought-leader on AI, Web3, and eCommerce. He is a best selling author, and avid adventurer. 

06-30
34:13

Content and compromise

Are you creating content to build an audience, build a brand, or win the SEO sweepstakes? How does content really work in the world today? It's complicated, but Mark Schaefer and Jay Acunzo have a meeting of the minds in this fast-paced and provocative show.    Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising.   For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog. Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking   Jay Acunzo consults experts and entrepreneurs to differentiate their messages and content. He hosts the podcast How Stories Happen, where guests dissect signature stories piece by piece, and runs the Creator Kitchen, where experts learn to become stronger storytellers. Learn more at jayacunzo.com

06-16
35:52

The Curse of Authenticity

Other than AI, is there any word about marketing more prevalent than "authenticity?" And yet, it might be one of the most misunderstood and abused words out there.    In this deeply personal show, Mark Schaefer and Amanda Russell discuss how authenticity can help you, how it can destroy you, and how it might be more of a strategy than a default setting for a personal brand. 

06-02
35:04

The Frontier Agency Model

New research from Microsoft provides a glimpse of the near-term future of marketing agency life, including AI bosses, agentic employees, and new organizational charts. And, if you're a small agency, this might be your time to shine! Mark Schaefer and Andy Crestodina riff on the implications of te AI-first agency in this new episode of The Marketing Companion.

05-19
34:33

How to be an AI Forward Company

As AI marches forward with speed and power, new questions emerge about how humans thrive in a world of super intelligence. We already see AI creeping into workflows, organizational charts and even our personal relationships. Mark Schaefer and Paul Roetzer look at a few of these topics as they help us navigate an AI-First World. 

05-05
31:01

How do you work through the suffering?

In this highly intimate and vulnerable show, Mark Schaefer and Dana Malstaff discuss the times in their lives when they've had to keep a business running through illness, loss, and betrayal. To be human is to suffer and the world doesn't stop for us when the suffering comes. Mark and Dana share how they have kept going even through the hardest moments in their lives. A Marketing Companion episode you won't soon forget.

04-21
41:59

The Crisis of Imagination

How do we break through the noise in industries that have normalized dull? You're about to embark on a crazy journey of misfit Barbies, back alley tee shirts, and criminal wine as Mark Schaefer and Carla Johnson explore the crisis of imagination in marketing. We all want to do better work ... what is holding us back? Plenty, as it turns out! 

04-07
43:20

Staying ahead of the learning curve

It's harder than ever to keep up with the world and you can't do it alone. Mark Schaefer and Jay Acunzo share their favorite strategies for tapping into expert advice and staying relevant in a fast-changing world. 

03-24
31:25

The personal brand pivot

Are you working on your personal brand? I hope so! It's like an insurance policy for your career. But what happens when you out-grow your brand and it's time to climb a new mountain? Moving on can be difficult and emotional. Amanda Russell discusses the next step in her journey and why it was time to take a risk.

03-10
32:05

The AI impact on SEO

New co-host Andy Crestodina unwraps the hottest topic on the web these days — the impact of AI on SEO. Most websites are starting to get hits from AI sites, and Mark Schaefer reports that he's gained new customers. But what is the secret to success? Mark and Andy also debate LinkedIn newsletters — is it too late to find success? Is it robbing readers from your website?

02-24
35:47

We must disrupt marketing now

In this special episode, the legendary host of the Marketing Book podcast, Douglas Burdett, comes out of retirement to interview Mark Schaefer about his new book "Audacious: How Humans Win in an AI Marketing World." From now on, "competent" doesn't cut it. The bots are coming but we still own crazy. This is a time to ignite the human fireworks of creativity if marketing professionals are to transcend the threat from artificial intelligence.

02-17
31:34

AI and cognitive decline

As we hurtle into the AI Era, there will be many unintended consequences, and one of them might be a cognitive decline. Early research shows that as we increasingly depend on AI for our thinking and decisions, our brains become lazy. What are the implications for education? Are we re-defining humanity or returning to a simpler time before information overload?   Paul Roetzer and Mark Schaefer also discuss the DeepSeek outfall, Ai marketing fails, and more

02-10
34:58

The Most Human Company Wins

In an AI world, the need for human connection will be more profound than ever. Dana Malstaff and Mark Schaefer talk about new ideas to integrate a human connection into AI prompts, communities, and content strategies. Here are some truly unique ideas that will make you re-think how you connect with customers and audiences. 

01-27
37:35

Big marketing ideas for 2025

Mark Schaefer and Mathew Sweezey pluck out a few big trends that have them excited for the new year. From the executive implications of AI to a focus on premium experiences, this is a fascinating exploration of what's coming next.   Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising.   For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog. Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking.   Mathew Sweezey is the Co-Founder of Salesforces Web3 Studio where he helped Salesforce and their top customers transition into Web3. Mathew an independent consultant, a best selling author, and avid adventurer. 

01-13
31:24

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