Marketing BS with Edward Nevraumont

I realize there has not been an essay or a briefing in a while. I am trying hard not to let this newsletter distract me from writing comedy. It’s coming along nicely, but at some point I will pivot back to writing more here. In the meantime, I hope you continue to enjoy these short conversations I am having with Peter and we are hitting the more interesting marketing news in any given week or two. In other news, my 1960s comic book podcast is re-branding. “Super Serious 616” is becoming...

Some quick updates: * I have an essay in progress. Will hopefully get it to you in the next couple of weeks * Stand up comedy is coming along. My first “big show” is on Tuesday. If you are in Seattle feel free to stop by at Club Comedy. * If anyone is interested in learning how to edit these podcasts and is willing and able to do fast turn-arounds, just reply to the email and let me know. It’s not hard and it’s kind of fun with the software I am using, but it is something I am ready to...

Happy new year! Expect fewer posts this year. I will keep going with this podcast, but I am shifting my time commitment to (1) get the book over the line. No more excuses; and (2) Work on developing “business comedy”. I will write more about #2 at some point, but for now enjoy the podcast, and be happy if you weren’t flying Southwest the last few weeks! Full Transcript Edward: Peter, how were the holidays? Peter: Wow. It seems like a million years ago, doesn't it? It's amazing. We had...

Essay and Briefing production has been low the last few weeks as I have been spending more time on building a GPT-3 powered comedy writing tool (and writing “business comedy” with the tool). If you have not checked out ChatGPT in the last two weeks, you should really do so. It is much slower now than when it launched, but still mind blowing. If it is too slow you can just use the GPT Playground, which is powered by the same back-end. GPT itself moved from 3.0 to 3.5 right around when chat...

Last week I published the first chapter of Peter’s new book. This week I interview Peter on the book, who should read it, what the conclusions are, how it is different from his last two books, and why he is like George Lucas. If you are interested in buying the book, you can do that on Amazon, but this week it is 40% off if you buy direct from the University of Pennsylvania press. Use the code “HOLIDAY22-FM” Full transcript below. Main Takeaways: I fed the full transcript into ChatGPT...

Today’s episode further explores topics discussed in this week’s essay. In the preamble to that essay I said that there would be no content next week. I am going to reverse that. Next week will be an excerpt from Peter Fader’s new book. Stay tuned! Full Transcript: Peter: Ed, I love your piece on strategy versus tactics at Disney, Twitter and Dominion Cards. I love the way that you're weaving together a narrative that's taking three of the super hot, interesting topics and a fourth one...

I have been exploring a new AI tool that is allowing transcript creation while I edit the episodes. It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty great for those who prefer reading to listening. I plan on including transcripts of all episodes going forward. Also: Apologizes that yesterday’s essay did NOT have more than 1-second of audio. I am still working through these tools. The audio should be live on that post now (I chose not to re-send it to your email) In This Episode Fader and Nevraumont...

Hi everyone, Post-send note: In the original post the audio was only 1-second long. That has been fixed now. As mentioned in yesterday’s email, I will now begin including an audio version of these essays. The audio is created in my voice with an AI. For those who listen please provide feedback on the quality and whether it is worth continuing. Between Meta’s stock collapse and Musk’s takeover of Twitter, the future of social platforms dominated headlines last week. On that note, today’s...

I have been playing around with some AI audio tools. This should allow all podcasts going forward to have full transcripts. It has also allowed for pretty fantastic text-to-voice applications. I spent an hour recording my voice to have it analyzed by the AI. This allows text editing of podcasts (i.e., In the live recording I say “price insensitive” when I should have said “price sensitive”. I can use a text editor to just delete and replace and the AI will put the new words in seamlessly -...

The experiment continues. Fader and Nevraumont explore the latest earnings results where brand spend seems to be up, while direct response spend is down. This is very different than any other downturn we have seen in the past. What is going on? We explore at least three theories. Thank you for the feedback on last week’s episode. I WILL work on getting some sort of “instant transcript” for these so they can be read as well as heard, but it may take me a while as it does not land on the top...

A new experiment! Wharton Professor Peter Fader and I are going to try something new. Ever Wednesday (give or take) we will spend 10-20 minutes discussing the marketing implications of something topical in the news. In this first episode we discuss the parallels between P&G’s recent announcement that they are raising prices, and Netflix’s recent earnings call (and their move into a lower-priced ad-supported tier). Some relevant links: Peter’s two part interview with Edward in November...

This is Part 2 of my interview with Stuart Wood (CEO of Caravel Law). Part 1 here. In this part of the interview we talked about how one goes about marketing professional services firms. Stuart marketed both the leading firm in Canada, and now oversees a “start-up” law firm. There are some similarities and some real differences in how marketing is done in these environments. I hope you enjoy this - it is a little different than our normal discussions on Marketing BS. Transcript: Edward:...

Thank you for your patience as I take time with the new baby. It has been pretty great barely working (professionally) for the last six weeks. I have half-written a briefing that I keep thinking I will finish and send, but it continues not to happen. I have not decided when I will really ramp back up. In the meantime, here is another Marketing BS interview. This one is pretty unique. Stuart was CMO of the largest law firm in Canada without ever being a lawyer (and is now the CEO of a newer...

You can find Part One of my interview with Vineet Mehra here. In Part Two of the interview I spoke with Vineet about his time at Walgreens. We talked about what makes Walgreens/Boots different from CVS and their other competitors. We dove into how Vineet used the vast amounts of data Walgreens was collecting (>80MM people in their US loyalty program) to fairly radically change business processes (including eliminating the flier completely). Enjoy. Transcript: Edward: This is part two of...

I delayed this week’s edition on the hope I would spend Tuesday after the long weekend completing a briefing. I have a ton of great stuff to share with you all, but the time to write it all down did not happen. Instead I want to share with you a great interview I did with Vineet Mehra. In part one we talk about Vineet’s big break to a head of marketing role in his early 20s, and how he leveraged that into the career he has today. Lots of great stuff in here on how to think about things like...

This is Part 2 of my interview with Angela Rizzo. Angela was the CMO of eSentire, a leading company in the cyber-security space. Since the recording of this episode she has left eSentire and is looking for her next opportunity. If you would like to get in contact with her, please just reply to this email. (For all interviews you can click on the link next to the audio player to add the stream to a podcast player). I expect to be back with an essay or briefing next week. I will also be going...

I wasn’t sure I would have a new essay for you this week. Unfortunately the new kiddo has had to spend more time in the hospital (nothing serious, but out of caution “just in case”). I’m not worried about him, but it has taken up a fair amount of time (beyond the normal baby-taking-care-of time). Rather than leave you with nothing this week (and next) I am polishing off this interview that has not been released yet. Angela WAS the CMO of eSentire, a leading company in the cyber-security...

Sam Heath and I worked together at McKinsey many many years ago. He is now responsible for marketing Tim Horton’s in Canada (where it is by far the largest quick service restaurant chain), and Timmie’s fledging business of selling its product in grocery stores. Last year, out of nowhere, Sam’s heart stopped and he “died”. Last week we explore how that event affected him and his overall career in this episode. This episode dives into Tim Horton’s - both the stores and the CPG products - and...

Sam Heath and I worked together at McKinsey many many years ago. He is now responsible for marketing Tim Horton’s in Canada (where it is by far the largest quick service restaurant chain), and Timmie’s fledging business of selling its product in grocery stores. Last year, out of nowhere, Sam’s heart stopped and he “died”. We explore how that event affected him and his overall career in this episode. Next week we dive into Tim Horton’s - both the stores and the CPG products - and how he is...

This is part two of my interview with Jon Mamela. Yesterday we explored his career at Procter & Gamble, Fairmont and his path to becoming Canada’s top destination marketing leader. In this part of the interview we explore how destination marketing is different from traditional “company” marketing. You can also listen to these interviews in your podcast player of choice: Apple, Sticher, TuneIn, Overcast , Spotify. Private Feed (for premium episodes). Transcript Edward: This is part two of...