I don’t do click-bait laundry list posts of the top 18, top 46, top 613 or whatever of something. They’re more confusing a.f. then helpful for you. Do you really have time to go through all the options? I know I don’t. Less is more.
Just like gold-silver-bronze or 1st-2nd-3rd place; these are my picks for the top 3 podium-worthy “marketing” marketing podcasts that I listen to at least a couple of episodes each month.
Do you wonder what I mean by “marketing” marketing? These are podcasts delivering thought leadership on core marketing topics like consumer behaviour, brand building, storytelling, and modern business thinking. Each podcast is thoughtful and strategic vs. tactics and tips. These podcasts are best when you can focus and really listen to the episode.
Six Pixels of Separation podcast
Insight on brands, consumers, technology and how connected we’ve all become
Advisor, author, “chronic reader” (🙌🏼) and…Mitch Joel promises to help decode the future through his various content, including the Six Pixels of Separation podcast where he interviews different people on their areas of expertise which covers a range of topics under brands, business, people and technology.
I find this especially good for getting me to think about my personal brand and personal development.
The Six Pixels of Separation podcast is a single-host interview format with in-depth episodes that run for ~60 minutes.
Under The Influence podcast
It’s a show about life through the lens of advertising
Ex-adman Terry O’Reilly takes listeners on “an unprecedented ride through the hallways of the advertising industry” with the Under The Influence podcast. Each meticulously researched episode goes deep into brand building and marketing communication of the past, the present, and explores the future.
It’s a bit like Mad Men without the booze and misogyny–classically modern, deeply insightful, wickedly creative and thoroughly entertaining. This is mandatory listening if you’re truly a student of brands and marketing like I am.
The Under The Influence podcast is an individual host storytelling format with episodes that run for ~30 minutes.
This Old Marketing podcast
Although most people think content marketing is brand new, telling stories to attract and retain customers is, perhaps, the oldest of marketing disciplines–This Old Marketing is our tribute to that fact
As you’d expect, content marketing advisory and training company Content Marketing Institute (CMI) has a fantastic content marketing program. One of the pillars of it is the This Old Marketing podcast. Hosted by CMI founder Joe Pulizzi and content strategist Robert Rose, each episode includes three (3) parts:
- Content Marketing in the News that discusses three or four stories that hit the marketing scene each week, with a perspective on each and how they impact marketing
- Rants and Raves a one-minute rant on something that we feel is “hard to swallow” about the current marketing landscape; or a one-minute rave on something epic
- This Old Marketing Example of the Week discusses an amazing content marketing example from the past that we can all still learn valuable lessons from
Content marketing is an essential strategy for brand building but is misunderstood by most marketers. It’s often confused with paid advertising, which it’s absolutely 100% NOT. This is mandatory listening if you want to get better at brand storytelling and content marketing.
This Old Marketing podcast is a multi-host conversation format, with episodes that run for ~60 minutes.
OK, so I had to include a 4th marketing podcast to this list. This one is brilliant, but…
Bonus: Akimbo podcast
About our culture and about how we can change it; about seeing what’s happening and choosing to do something
Author, teacher and thinker Seth Godin knows that everything is marketing, which is explored in the Akimbo podcast that digs into everything from effective marketing and leadership, to the spread of ideas and changing everything.
If you work in marketing then you need to know about Seth Godin. His books are better than any marketing textbook. His daily blog posts are pithy and insightful. But Seth is a DEEP thinker and he uses a lot of metaphors that can be confusing. At times the simple point he’s trying to make gets lost in the abstract metaphor.
The Akimbo podcast is a single-host storytelling format with episodes that run for 20-30 minutes.
So there you have it. Those are my top 3+1 podium-worthy “marketing” marketing podcasts. I know they’re not the only podcasts out there. Do you have a #4 to recommend? Or maybe one that’s so good it deserves a place on the podium…and knocks off one of these top 3? Share it and explain why in the comments below or Tweet me @blairaasmith.
Updated June 2021 | Featured Photo by Jonathan Velasquez on Unsplash
Blair Smith 