UN 408 - Paul D’Arcy. AI + Marketing.
Up Next with Gabriella Mirabelli
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 products. D'Arcy argues marketers are too focused on using AI to optimize internal workflows while missing the larger strategic implications of AI-driven changes in consumer search, discovery, and purchase...
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UN 407 -YPulse. Loyal Consumers & Cool Brands.
Up Next with Gabriella Mirabelli
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-39-year-olds, alongside a separate brand loyalty study. The findings on loyalty, in particular, point to a shift in consumer behavior that happened fast and has a specific cause.
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UN 406 - Rick DeLisi. AI ROI.
Up Next with Gabriella Mirabelli
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 readiness gaps and measurement challenges. DeLisi explains how high-performing organizations approach AI differently through operational changes beyond technology deployment, why low-effort experiences...
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UN 405 - IJRM. Regressive Nostalgia.
Up Next with Gabriella Mirabelli
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 of fans resists a brand's cultural evolution and pulls it toward an idealized past. The conversation covers how brand stewards can distinguish between constructive loyalty and regressive attachment, why...
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UN 404 - Mickie Kennedy. Smarter PR.
Up Next with Gabriella Mirabelli
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 viewpoints. Kennedy discusses how AI replicates unsuccessful patterns, why journalist inboxes have become chaotic from database blasting, the limited value of pay-for-play placements, and how earned...
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UN 403 - YPulse. Tweens & Screens.
Up Next with Gabriella Mirabelli
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 weekly family movie nights, how short-form content breadcrumbs viewers into bingeable series, and what it means that 87% of tweens want diverse representation on screen.
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UN 402 - Rachel Bouchar. Event Marketing.
Up Next with Gabriella Mirabelli
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 communities. Boucher explains why content generation became the number one investment area, how nano-influencers with under 100,000 followers enable personalized messaging at scale, where AI meaningfully...
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UN 401 - IJRM. Algorithm Killing Cool?
Up Next with Gabriella Mirabelli
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 respond to the same algorithm in opposite ways, and what that split means for brand managers trying to grow without destroying what makes their products desirable.
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UN 400 - Tina Dietz. Sound Content Strategy.
Up Next with Gabriella Mirabelli
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 development. Dietz discusses why audiobooks have grown double digits for fifteen years, where AI voice cloning currently works effectively, how over 80% of audio consumption happens during...
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UN 399 - YPulse. YouTube Youth.
Up Next with Gabriella Mirabelli
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 information source. The conversation examines how young people navigate six platforms at once, each serving distinct purposes, and why YouTube's embedded presence since childhood creates advantages...
info_outlineRachel 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 communities. Boucher explains why content generation became the number one investment area, how nano-influencers with under 100,000 followers enable personalized messaging at scale, where AI meaningfully improves personalization, and why mobile tours remain among the most affordable and effective formats.