On Scope: The Marketing Podcast

From commercial sets to global newsrooms, tech-integrated builds and large-scale experiential activations, Roma Ahi has ample experience working across formats, continents, and cultures. In her role as president at Makers — a producer-led media company — she helps shape what’s next by investing in what matters most: people, process, and purpose.

On this episode of On Scope, Roma joins host Mike Berberich to break down how brands can maximize ROI when engaging consumers IRL. The duo covers a lot of valuable ground, including:

• How marketers can “de-risk” their experiential activations without diluting the elements that will make the event attractive to consumers.
• How marketers can approach both measuring the success of their experiential activations and also turn those activations into a data goldmine.
• The key steps marketers must take to maximize the value of the event after it has ended.

On “Marketing News You Might Have Missed,” producer Ryan Dinger joins Mike to discuss a MediaPost report on Heineken’s new “Pubscription” service, an application created in collaboration with Amazon’s Fire TV that allows subscribers to search for nearby pubs and invite friends to meet up. Mike and Ryan share the reasons why they find the activation to be bold and brave and speculate on the secondary benefits such an effort might provide to the Heineken brand.

IRL experiences may be rising in popularity, but marketers still need to make sure they’re leveraging AI to the best of their abilities to get the most out of these types of activations. For that reason, you need to check out the ANA’s Generative AI Essentials for Marketers Certificate Program. This series of six focused courses gives you exactly what you need to keep up with AI, including real-world practitioner experience that you can apply directly to your own work. Best of all, completing the courses will only take you 90 minutes. To learn more and register, visit us www.ana.net/AICert26.

Have a topic or guest that you'd like to see on an episode of On Scope? Let us know by emailing onscope@ana.net

Jean-Pierre LaCroix is the president and founder of Shikatani Lacroix Design and the author of ThinkBlink Manifesto: Creating Deep, Lasting Emotional Brand Connections in the Blink of an Eye. During his long and successful career as an innovator, designer, strategist, and transformer of brands for growth, Jean-Pierre — who goes by JP for short — has pioneered the use of neuroscience and virtual reality to gain insights about branded environments and was one of the first individuals to use in-store digital signage and gesture motion UX to engage with consumers.

On this episode of On Scope, the design legend joins host Mike Berberich in studio to discuss what brands misunderstand about good design and why the craft of design often ends up on an organizational island. During a lively and informative conversation, the duo covers a lot of ground, including:

• The reasons why so many brands and marketers have begun to underestimate the value of good design
• JP’s thoughts on the minimalist design trend and its effects on brand differentiation
• How marketers can be better partners to their design teams

On “This Week in ANA Magazine,” magazine editor Matthew Schwartz joins Mike to discuss a new piece on the growing data skills gap in marketing. Mike and Matthew break down why the gap is growing, what marketers can do to make themselves more data savvy, and how artificial intelligence (AI) fits into the picture.

Brand visual identity and human creativity both still matter. But you still need to make sure you’re leveraging AI to the best of your abilities throughout the marketing campaign lifecycle. For that reason, you need to check out the ANA’s Generative AI Essentials for Marketers Certificate Program. This series of six focused courses gives you exactly what you need to keep up with AI, including real-world practitioner experience that you can apply directly to your own work. Best of all, completing the courses will only take you 90 minutes. To learn more and register, visit us www.ana.net/AICert26.

Have an idea for a guest or topic that you'd like to hear On Scope? Let us know by emailing us at onscope@ana.net

For the last 15 years, Shari Muñoz has helped Fortune 500 organizations transform complex market, customer, competitive, and AI-driven intelligence into executive decisions that accelerate growth, improve marketing effectiveness, and reduce strategic risk. In her role as Head of Research and Measurement at Seedtag, Shari led one of the industry’s first neuroscience-based validations of AI-powered contextual advertising, partnering with a Columbia University neuroscientist to demonstrate how emotional context influences attention, engagement, and attention.

On this episode of On Scope, Shari joins host Mike Berberich to deep dive into the research. Together, the duo breaks down:

• The ways in which marketers and brands can develop deeper relationships with consumers by tapping into specific emotional and cognitive signals
• Real-world examples of brands use neuro-contextual targeting techniques effectively
• How marketers can strike a balance between leveraging hyper-personalized ad targeting and more broad channel ad targeting, using both in tandem to drive better business results

On “News You Might Have Missed,” Mike and show producer Ryan Dinger react to a new report from The Wall Street Journal on how business professionals are beginning to sound like the AI chatbots they use so often, both in written and verbal communication. Mike and Ryan express their concern and discomfort for this development, invent a new term for how marketers can combat this unfortunate trend, and imagine what all of this might mean for where society is headed in the future.

While you’ll want to avoid sounding like a large language model in your communications, you still need to make sure you’re leveraging AI to the best of your abilities throughout the marketing campaign lifecycle. For that reason, you need to check out the ANA’s Generative AI Essentials for Marketers Certificate Program. This series of six focused courses gives you exactly what you need to keep up with AI, including real-world practitioner experience that you can apply directly to your own work. Best of all, completing the courses will only take you 90 minutes. To learn more and register, visit us www.ana.net/AICert26.

Have an idea for a guest or topic that you'd like to see on the show? Let us know by emailing us at onscope@ana.net.

Michele Evans is the artificial intelligence (AI) advisor to the stars. In her role as the founder and CEO of NxtWaves, Michele helps CEOs and leadership teams navigate the era of AI with clarity, confidence, and momentum, helping them discover practical, non-technical methods for adopting AI across their organizations without hype, fear, or unnecessary complexity. This position gives her an unvarnished view of how business leaders really feel about this emerging technology.

On this episode of On Scope, Michele joins host Mike Berberich to share what business leaders are saying about AI behind closed doors. Together, Mike and Michele discuss:

• What CEOs and other business leaders are consistently getting wrong about AI readiness
• The role that frontline managers can play in developing organizational trust in AI
• The one thing no marketer should do when it comes to AI

On a brand new segment called “The Winner’s Circle,” Mike and show producer Ryan Dinger break down the case study for Sensodyne’s “Sensory Overload” campaign, which was the Best in Show Winner at the 2026 ANA REGGIE Awards. Mike and Ryan discuss the details of the campaign and share the reasons they think it was chosen to win the top award at this year’s REGGIEs. To check out all 60 case studies on the 2026 REGGIE Award winners, you can visit us here.

Whether you’re looking to better implement AI at your organization, craft an award-winning marketing campaign, or solve a different marketing challenge altogether, you can find the know-how you need to get it done at an ANA National Industry Conference. These premier events are where the industry’s sharpest marketers compare notes, set standards, and pressure-test what’s next. Attend the 2026 Masters of Marketing Conference, presented by Havas and taking place October 20-23 in Orlando, Fla., and you’ll hear from leaders at Coca-Cola, LEGO, P&G, Rivian, Harley-Davidson, and Manscaped. To check out the full lineup of upcoming National Industry Conferences, visit us at https://www.ana.net/events.

With so much hype around agentic AI, it can be difficult for marketers to know where the real value lies or how they need to position their existing technological capabilities to optimize agentic implementation. That’s where Bob Walczak, CEO of MadConnect, comes in. Bob’s opinion on the implementation of agentic AI is a simple one that the marketing industry seems to be resisting: The real bottleneck in modern ad tech isn’t data, it’s plumbing. With agentic AI looming, the connectivity problem that exists across most modern tech stacks is now critical and marketers need to act fast to avert disaster.

On this episode of On Scope, Bob joins host Mike Berberich to have a frank discussion around what’s needed to ensure agentic AI actually works with existing tech stacks and drives real ROI. Together, the pair covered:

• The prevailing misconceptions around infrastructure, integration, and engineering, and why businesses will need to be buttoned up across all three fronts if AI is going to work reliably.
• Where humans still need to be in the loop and the ways in which they can track what an AI is and isn’t doing.
• Bob’s tips for both CMOs and junior marketers on what they need to do right now to prepare for an agentic future.

On the return of our “Research Roundup” segment, ANA VP of Marketing Operations Peter Kenigsberg joins Mike in the studio to highlight key insights from Unlocking the Strategic Value of Marketing Operations, a report on the state of marketing operations within the broader industry. Peter shares the methodology behind this critical research, the common characteristics found among organizations getting the most from their ops departments, and the ways in which your marketing operations team can be deployed to drive better business results.

Whether you’re looking to take your tech stack to the next level, transform your marketing operations department into a profit-driving powerhouse, or have a different marketing problem you need to solve, you can find the answers at an ANA National Industry Conference. These premier events are where the industry’s sharpest marketers compare notes, set standards, and pressure-test what’s next. Attend the 2026 Masters of Marketing Conference, presented by Havas and taking place October 20-23 in Orlando, Fla., and you’ll hear from leaders at Coca-Cola, LEGO, P&G, Rivian, Harley-Davidson, and Manscaped. To check out the full lineup of upcoming National Industry Conferences, visit us at https://www.ana.net/events.

As VP of Research and Insights at ANA member company Basis, Maggie Nemoy spends her days researching shifting trends in retail and digital commerce and identifying how those trends will affect the marketing practice. Her latest focus was on the holiday season — a time of abundant opportunity for brands that know how to get their messaging and targeting right.

On this episode of On Scope, Maggie joins host Mike Berberich to discuss how economic uncertainty and emerging consumer behaviors are poised to affect not just the 2026 holiday season but every holiday season going forward. Together, the pair covered:

• How the rise of social commerce has led to an accelerated purchase cycle and why many brands are failing to leverage this opportunity.
• The ways in which cultural identity and inclusive marketing are shaping the 2026 holiday season and beyond.
• The emerging behaviors that are forcing marketers to abandon legacy holiday planning models in favor of a more continuous, year-round approach.
• Why it’s not yet too late to capitalize on this year’s holiday season.

On “This Week in ANA Magazine,” ANA magazine editor Matthew Schwartz joins Mike in studio to spotlight a new article on the increasing importance of cultural fluency. Schwartz highlights a few of the brands that are excelling in this space — including Heinz 57, Purina, and e.l.f. — and shares some best practices experts shared for how marketers can effectively approach having their brand play in culture.

Whether you’re looking to develop campaigns that ensure every holiday season is a success, learn to become more culturally fluent, or have a different marketing problem to solve, you can find the answers at an ANA National Industry Conference. These premier events are where the industry’s sharpest marketers compare notes, set standards, and pressure-test what’s next. Attend the 2026 Masters of Marketing Conference, presented by Havas and taking place October 20-23 in Orlando, Fla., and you’ll hear from leaders at Coca-Cola, LEGO, P&G, GEICO, Rivian, Harley-Davidson, and Manscaped. To check out the full lineup of upcoming National Industry Conferences, visit us at https://www.ana.net/events.

Microgenerational research is a personal passion for Armida Ascano, chief insights officer at Trend Hunter. She first became interested in the field years ago when she noticed she was regularly having to defend millennials, reminding colleagues that her generation was not a monolith and was, in actuality, comprised of an entire spectrum of thoughts and perspectives around technology. Those experiences got Armida thinking about the misconceptions that might exist for every generation and how business professionals might be able to better understand consumers by categorizing generations into subsets or microgenerations. Since then, she’s been doing research at Trend Hunter, the world’s largest and most powerful trend platform and innovation accelerator.

On this episode of On Scope, Armida joins host Mike Berberich to review her organization’s latest research on microgenerations, highlighting the macro opportunities that exist within emerging microgenerational trends. Together, the duo covered:

• The defining misconception of each of the major generations, including baby boomers, gen X, millennials, and gen Z
• How brand marketers can navigate the use of AI without alienating audiences that have expressed a growing anti-AI sentiment
• How marketers can develop campaigns that balance “universal truths” with microgenerational personalization

On “News You Might Have Missed,” Mike and show producer Ryan Dinger discuss new research that shows that, despite total AI spending projected to grow to $2.59 trillion this year, 57 percent of businesses are not seeing positive ROI on their investments. The pair posit some theories about why AI is not moving the needle on ROI the way many predicted it would and offer their thoughts on how organizations might approach AI implementation more realistically and thoughtfully.

Whether you’re looking to use microgenerational research to improve your messaging with a specific audience or leverage AI effectively and efficiently at your organization, you can find the answers at an ANA National Industry Conference. These premier events are where the industry’s sharpest marketers compare notes, set standards, and pressure-test what’s next. Attend the 2026 Masters of Marketing Conference, presented by Havas and taking place October 20-23 in Orlando, Fla., and you’ll hear from leaders at Coca-Cola, LEGO, P&G, GEICO, Rivian, Harley-Davidson, and Manscaped. To check out the full lineup of upcoming National Industry Conferences, visit us at https://www.ana.net/events.

Have a topic idea or guest suggestion for On Scope? Let us know by emailing us onscope@ana.net.

How do brands reconcile their sustainability pledges with the rapid acceleration of artificial intelligence (AI), a technology that comes with a set of valid ecological concerns? That was the core question the On Scope team set out to answer when it sat down with Manoj Saxena, founder of the Responsible AI Institute, for a frank and insightful conversation on LinkedIn Live.

On this bonus episode of On Scope, host Mike Berberich and Saxena covered a wealth of valuable topics, including:

• Why so many businesses seemed to get caught up in the AI hype cycle without considering all the effects of the technology
• How brands with sustainability pledges should think about scaling AI and the safeguards they might put in place to ensure they uphold their commitments
• What Saxena means when he refers to AI as “alien intelligence”

Listeners will come away with key advice and action steps to implement AI responsibly, while also ensuring they don’t let the benefits of this emergent technology pass them by.

With the 2026 FIFA World Cup ready to kick off, brands are gearing up for one of the most anticipated marketing opportunities of the year. But with activations ranging from out-of-home display to IRL activations, measuring the success of these branded efforts will be a challenge. That’s where Greg Joseph, VP of inventory development at StackAdapt, comes in.

On this bonus episode of On Scope, Greg joins host Mike Berberich to discuss how marketers are fully leveraging the unprecedented scale, energy, and geographic distribution of the tournament. Together, the duo cover:

- Best practices for brand marketers to determine which markets they should target and which might not be worth the investment.

- How to maximize brand impact when there are so many different markets and competing cultural norms converging for the World Cup.

- Broad approaches brand marketers should consider to layer over top their more localized activations.

Listeners will learn how brands can move beyond traditional broadcast thinking and instead embrace omnichannel, programmatic approaches that connect with consumers throughout their real, physical, and digital journeys, whether the target audience is from commuting and attending a match, watching on TV, or both.

Have a topic or guest suggestion for On Scope? Let us know by emailing us at onscope@ana.net.

On a special bonus episode of On Scope, Alex Josephson, VP of BrandWorks at LinkedIn, went live on LinkedIn with host Mike Berberich for a deep dive on how marketing and business professionals can turn personal branding into a powerful growth driver. Along with questions from the audience, Mike and Alex discussed best practices for growing the personal brand of executives and frontline employees, how companies can systematize professional brand development, and what you can do to build your own personal brand without coming off as — well — cringe.

Dr. Marcus Collins, an author and clinical professor of marketing at the University of Michigan, is an expert on culture and how it influences human behavior. As both an academic and a practitioner, his strategies and creative contributions have led to hugely successful activations for clients like McDonald’s, Google, and even pop superstar Beyoncé.

On this episode of On Scope, Marcus joins host Mike Berberich to unpack why brands so often misinterpret culture and how marketers can move from chasing popularity to facilitating meaningful connection with consumers. Together, Mike and Marcus explore why understanding brand purpose — or brand conviction, as Marcus prefers to call it — is so crucial to successfully engaging in culture, why treating culture as a monolith flattens nuance and strips marketing of authenticity, the biggest lessons Marcus learned while spearheading Beyoncé’s digital strategy, and how employees lower down on the corporate ladder can positively affect their own company’s internal culture.

On “News You Might Have Missed,” Mike and show producer Ryan Dinger discuss a report from ADWEEK that Spotify is debuting carousel ads and branded playlist takeovers on its app. This news from Spotify, plus pricing trends on platforms like Netflix, has Mike and Ryan wondering if we’re witnessing the death of premium content, with consumers seemingly being nudged toward ad-supported experiences. The pair highlight some potential concerns for advertisers in this new reality — including how audiences entering ad tiers may be resentful, more sensitive to interruption, and less tolerant of lazy or repetitive creative — and offer some thoughts on how brands might engage these spaces without incurring consumer ire.

As you’ll learn during this episode, culture moves quickly, and the cost of getting it wrong is real. The best marketers build stronger cultural instincts by learning from people who are doing the work at the highest level. ANA National Industry Conferences put marketers in the room with CMOs and senior leaders shaping what’s next, with practical takeaways and connections that carry beyond the event. Check out the full lineup of upcoming conferences by visiting http://www.ana.net/conferences.

Have a topic idea or guest suggestion for On Scope? Let us know by emailing onscope@ana.net.

Bob Regular, CEO at Infolinks Media, has been in ad tech long enough to see every hype cycle come and go. With all that experience, Bob now maintains that the marketing industry is stuck chasing the wrong things, arguing that smarter media buy paths — rather than shorter ones — are the key to unlocking efficiency, performance, and trust in programmatic media.

On this episode of On Scope, Bob joins host Mike Berberich to break down why proprietary inventory and context signals are rewriting the rules for programmatic and why advertisers who optimize for outcomes instead of shortcuts will be the ones who win in the long run. Together, Bob and Mike explore where the industry has gone wrong in its quest for programmatic efficiency, the engagement signals that indicate high-performing ad placements that all marketers need to know, and Bob’s tips for how marketers can get beyond the jargon and begin to apply common sense to achieve optimized, transparent media buys.

In a special segment, Matthew Schwartz, editor of ANA magazine, provides an on-the-ground report of PepsiCo’s in-house content agency, the Content Studio, and an in-depth look at broader trends within the in-house agency space. Matthew sits down with Lou Arbetter, head of the Content Studio, Jayne Amrosini, head of strategy at the Content Studio, and representatives from BBDO and Vaynermedia to learn how in-house and external agencies are collaborating to power stronger business results and what the future of in-house agencies looks like.

If this episode has made you realize you need to rethink your entire approach to media, the ANA Media Practice has the tools and insights to help. From CTV and retail media to influencer and programmatic transparency, this is the hub for smarter media, cleaner supply chains, and billions in efficiency gains. Check out all the resources available by visiting http://www.ana.net/media.

The On Scope team would love to hear from you! If you have an idea for a topic or guest you’d like to see on a future episode, let them know by emailing onscope@ana.net.

Laura Ries is a globally recognized branding strategist and bestselling author of the book, The Strategic Enemy: How to Build and Position a Brand Worth Fighting For. Since 2022, Laura has continued her father’s legacy, serving as the chairwoman of RIES, a consultancy that aims to lead brands to clarity and focus by using proven positioning strategies that help them stand out in the minds of consumers.

On this episode of On Scope, Laura sits down with host Mike Berberich for a compelling conversation on visual hammers, brand anchors, and strategic enemies. Together the duo covers what most marketers get wrong about brand positioning, what a strategic enemy is and how it can actually be a force multiplier for branding, and the most common missteps brands take when with their positioning as they expand the business.

On “This Week in ANA Magazine,” Matthew Schwartz, editor of the magazine, joins the show to spotlight a new article on the great B2B marketing reset and how AI is upending search. Matthew outlines the ways in which B2B brands will have to adapt to this new reality, including a need to lean into more human activations like live events to build meaningful relationships with buyers.

Your brand strategy can only go as far as your execution allows. And right now, AI is changing what great execution looks like. The ANA Generative AI Essentials for Marketers Certificate Program gives you exactly what you need to keep up. In just ninety minutes, our six focused courses will provide real practitioner experience you can apply directly to your work. Get certified by visiting us at http://www.ana.net/AICert26.

The On Scope team would love to hear from you! If you have a topic or guest idea, you can email them at onscope@ana.net.

Kellie Pean and Alyssa Convertini Lindquist are the co-founders of Brand New: A Collective, a bicoastal and award-winning marketing agency with disciplines across creative, strategy, experiential production, and talent partnerships. The agency is guided by a penchant for cultural mastery, using its team’s deep understanding of culture to craft stellar campaigns and activations that drive meaningful business results.

On this episode of On Scope, the women behind Brand New join host Mike Berberich to share their founders’ story and explain how company culture is the ultimate catalyst for producing great work. Together, the trio covers the realities of being a female entrepreneur in a patriarchal society, the silent killers Kellie and Alyssa believe pull down company culture, how smaller brands can participate in and own culture without needing a massive media budget, and how brands of all sizes can engage in culture without coming off as cringe.

On “News You Might Have Missed,” Mike and show producer Ryan Dinger discuss a story from ANA Magazine covering key takeaways from the ANA’s latest report, “The Continued Acceleration of Principal Media.” The report shows that marketers are leveraging principal media more, despite their growing concerns. Mike and Ryan discuss why this contradiction might be occurring, highlight how marketers are still dropping the ball when it comes to media governance, and point out how misguided, top-down organizational pressure might be forcing marketers to invest in media buys that they don’t have the utmost confidence in.

As you’ll learn during this episode, culture moves quickly, and the cost of getting it wrong is real. The best marketers build stronger cultural instincts by learning from people who are doing the work at the highest level. ANA National Industry Conferences put marketers in the room with CMOs and senior leaders shaping what’s next, with practical takeaways and connections that carry beyond the event. Check out the full lineup of upcoming conferences by visiting http://www.ana.net/conferences.

The On Scope team would love to hear from you! If you have a topic or guest idea, you can email them at onscope@ana.net.

Rita Ramakrishnan is an executive coach with more than 15 years’ experience leading people strategy and helping neurodivergent executives turn their cognitive differences into competitive advantages. Through the years, she has developed a keen understanding of how team structures can be designed to maximize the strengths of all individuals, but especially those who are neurodivergent.

On this episode of On Scope, Rita, who is the founder and CEO at Iksana Consulting, joins host Mike Berberich to discuss what brands and business leaders can do to tap into the superpowers of their neurodivergent workforce, an increasingly critical business imperative, as more than half of gen Z now identify as neurodivergent. Together, Mike and Rita discuss the specific advantages of creating a work environment where neurodivergent employees can thrive, what steps companies can take to create this type of environment, and how those lower down on the corporate ladder can convince leadership that making accommodations for neurodivergent individuals is not about entitlement but rather about maximizing the potential of the entire team.

On “News You Might Have Missed,” Mike and show producer Ryan Dinger discuss an article from ADWEEK on the persistent gender wage gap in advertising, with a new study showing women working at ad agencies still earn 5 percent less than their male counterparts, despite ongoing efforts to achieve pay equity. Mike and Ryan acknowledge that this issue probably exists on the brand side, as well, before hypothesizing on why the industry continues to struggle to make progress, highlighting the culture they both experienced when working at agencies and speculating about the need to rethink leadership models in business.

If the conversation with Rita has you wondering how to get the most out of your own team, then you’ll want to check out the ANA’s Marketing Training and Development Center, which helps build capabilities through open workshops, both online and in-person, and certification programs. Learn more by visiting us at www.ana.net/mtdc.

The On Scope team would love to hear from you! If you have a topic or guest idea, you can email them at onscope@ana.net.

Gravity Research’s Joanna Piacenza has a knack for driving enterprise growth through research-backed thought leadership and integrated marketing strategy. As VP of thought leadership and marketing, she excels at translating proprietary research into executive-ready narratives and strategic communications.

On this episode of On Scope, Joanna joins host Mike Berberich to share recent research from her organization indicating that 2026 looks to be a year of playing it safe for marketers and explain why that just may be the riskiest move a brand can make.

Together, Joanna and Mike cover the role AI has played in marketers opting to play it safer this year, what Joanna is hearing from Fortune 500 executives about their concerns for 2026 that hasn’t shown up in public discourse yet, and her advice for how marketers can take risks without upsetting brand stakeholders.

On “This Week in ANA Magazine,” Matthew Schwartz, editor of the publication, joins Mike to spotlight an article on the proliferation of creator partnerships in marketing. Together, the pair underscore some of the best practices needed to make these activations succeed and highlight some of the KPIs marketers should consider.

If your business wants real connection, then it’s time to partner with the ANA. Become an official ANA sponsor and you will connect with the brands shaping the future of our industry, from Google and Amazon to Meta and TikTok. You can learn more about the fantastic opportunities available to you by visiting http://www.ana.net/sponsorship.

The On Scope team would love to hear from you! If you have a topic or guest idea, you can email them at onscope@ana.net.

Since 2021, when the Supreme Court rejected an NCAA appeal of its antitrust lawsuit, student athletes have been able to receive compensation for licensing their name, image, and likeness (NIL) in business partnerships. This watershed moment not only changed the college sports landscape, but also opened up the door to a new and exciting opportunity for brand advertisers increasingly under pressure to connect with consumers. Now, just five years after that landmark court decision, NIL partnerships are big business, with the total investment in these deals exceeding $2.5 billion in 2025 alone. However, the space is still nascent, with many marketers stumbling to figure out how to best maximize these new partnerships.

Ahead of March Madness, Solly Fulp and Grant Jones, both of Learfield — a media, data, and technology services company with an unparalleled footprint in college sports — join the On Scope team to break down everything marketers need to know about the current state and future of NIL partnerships.

With host Mike Berberich running point, Solly and Grant cover some of the less obvious characteristics brands should be looking for in student athlete partners, how brands might maintain stability with NIL partners during transfer portal chaos, and their one piece of advice on what every brand marketer needs to be doing to maximize the ROI of their NIL agreements.

On “News You Might Have Missed,” Mike and show producer Ryan Dinger discuss a Zappi report that found that an alarming number of women think brands aren’t investing in ads that genuinely reflect them, with many calling the efforts “performative.” The pair speculates about where brands are going wrong on this front and offers some insight into how they might get back on track.

NIL changed college sports marketing fast. The brands that will win now are the ones who understand the landscape, set smart standards, and move early. That’s the point of ANA Practices. Members come together to raise the bar in AI, Brand, Media, Measurement, B2B, and more, so teams can lead change instead of chasing it. Check out the resources from the ANA Practices and get involved by visiting www.ana.net/leadership.

The On Scope team would love to hear from you! If you have a topic or guest idea, you can email them at onscope@ana.net.

With more than 20 years of experience working as an executive at NBC, MTV Networks, and major advertising agencies with accounts such as Miller Lite, Uncle Ben’s, and Dole Foods, Dr. Mara Einstein knows a thing or two about media and marketing. Now working as a self-proclaimed marketing critic, Dr. Einstein, who authored the book, HOODWINKED: How Marketers Use The Same Tactics As Cults, believes marketers have become way too focused on the digitally drivenattention economy, often to the detriment of their own brands.

On this episode of On Scope, Dr. Einstein joins host Mike Berberich to outline exactly why it is that she thinks attention at all costs is a net negative for the marketing practice. She covers why thinking about digital as a strategy instead of a tactic is misguided, how marketers might convince executives that harder-to-measure analog channels viewed more favorably by consumers might be worth a larger investment, and shares the fascinating story of a cosmetic brand that moved off social media entirely and saw a huge surge in business as a result.

On “News You Might Have Missed,” Mike and show producer Ryan Dinger discuss a new GetResponse survey of more than 2,400 consumers indicating that they think new customers get all the love from brands, despite most brands reporting a 50/50 split on spending on new customers versus retaining existing ones. The pair hypothesize about what brands are doing to enhance existing relationships with consumers and express skepticism that the tactics are truly about building the relationship rather than just trying to upsell. They also note a huge disconnect in the number of consumers who are interested in high-end luxury programs and the number of brands that offer them.

Dr. Mara Einstein feels strongly that digital fixation is pulling brands off course. If you agree with that assessment, it’s time to rethink your team’s approach. The ANA Talent and Marketing Operations Practice helps you develop sharper skills, build stronger teams, and identify smarter ways of working, while still delivering stellar business results. Explore the resources and start getting smarter by visiting http://www.ana.net/talent.

The On Scope team would love to hear from you! If you have a topic or guest idea, you can email them at onscope@ana.net.

Arun Kumar is an accomplished global data and marketing leader with a proven track record of setting strategies and developing products that stimulate business growth while reducing costs. He’s an accomplished public speaker, an advisory board member, and the author of The Data Deluge: Making Marketing Work Better for Brands and People.

On this episode of On Scope, the Global Head of Data and AI at Accenture Song joins the show to discuss how marketers can reclaim their data and digital destiny and take back marketing. Along with host Mike Berberich, the conversation begins by an examining an emerging marketing conundrum: Why the industry has ceded virtually all control of its channels to tech giants. From there, the duo discusses how the industry found itself in this unfortunate position and how it might work its way out, why an ongoing lack of coordination between customer service and marketing departments leaves consumers with less-than-ideal brand experiences, and why marketers need to rethink their approach to leveraging data and aim to find a happy medium between broadcast messaging and hyper personalization efforts that often leave consumers feeling — well — a bit creeped out.

On “News You Might Have Missed,” Mike and show producer Ryan Dinger discuss an article from Fast Company on the “zombie internet” and a new social media platform developed exclusively for agentic AI bots. They explain why they’re incredulous at the idea that a social media platform built exclusively for chatbots would have any long-term appeal for humans and speculate about the consequences such a thing would have on the advertising ecosystem.

Speaking of the zombie internet, it sure is a confusing time for marketers trying to wrap their head around emerging technology, especially when evaluating what is worth their time and what isn’t. You can cut through the noise and better understand where your time and money is best spent with tools from the ANA’s Technology Practice. Check out the practical frameworks, real-world case studies, and peer guidance available to help you make smarter tech choices by visiting http://www.ana.net/technology.

The On Scope team would love to hear from you! If you have a topic or guest idea, you can email them at onscope@ana.net.

Every year at the conclusion of the Super Bowl, Zappi conducts a real-time analysis of the ads, generating a robust report on which commercials performed well, which missed the mark, and the lessons marketers can learn from both.

Zappi CMO Nataly Kelly joined the On Scope team in ANA Studios to breakdown this year’s analysis, covering all the key takeaways from Super Bowl LX’s slate of ads. Along with host Mike Berberich, Nataly covers which commercials were the best performing across key categories, what this year’s batch of winning ads all have in common, and what brand marketers can learn from another, lesser known tentpole marketing moment that is historically much more effective at connecting with consumers.

On “This Week in ANA Magazine,” Mike and ANA Magazine editor Matthew Schwartz discuss a new article on emerging trends within brand-celebrity partnerships. The duo outlines how the traditional model of celebrity endorsements has been completely upended, what the new model looks like, and how brand marketers of all kinds can apply these lessons to their own efforts.

We all love a great Super Bowl spot. But on Monday morning, the question is simple: How does this build the brand? The ANA Brand Practice helps you turn creative moments into measurable brand growth, with practical tools, research, and brand leaders who’ve been there. Explore all the resources available to you by visiting http://www.ana.net/brand.

The On Scope team would love to hear from you! If you have a topic or guest idea, you can email them at onscope@ana.net.