Are we entering a new golden age of content marketing? In this week’s This Old Marketing, Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose dig into why the industry feels more alive than ever and what this resurgence means for brands and creators alike.

The Big Stories:

• When Hollywood Hits the Break Room: A credit-card company launches a sitcom (Roomies) that blurs the line between branded content and binge-worthy entertainment. Read more →

• From Tackles to Talk Shows: The NFL’s Broadcast Boot Camp trains players to pivot from pads to teleprompters. Is this a new playbook for employee-driven media? Read more →

• Redline, Red Flag: Creators push back on restrictive contracts, but many brands are saying “no edits allowed.” What does this mean for the creator–brand relationship? Read more →

Marketing Winners of the Week:

• Taylor Swift (once again setting the standard for creator-driven marketing)

• MSNBC’s bold rebrand

• Billy Joel (yes, he’s still moving the needle)

Rants & Raves:

• A surprising return to print media: why it may be smarter than you think

• A deeper dive into the true meaning of “rented land” in today’s marketing mix

Key Takeaway:
Content marketing isn’t just back. It’s maturing into a stronger, more essential discipline. Brands and creators who double down on owned media, storytelling, and consistency will be the ones who thrive in this new golden age.

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This week's sponsor:

You don't become the world’s most valuable women's sports franchise by accident.

Angel City Football Club did it with a little help from HubSpot.

When they started, data was housed across multiple systems.

HubSpot unified their website, email marketing, and fan experience in one platform.

This allowed their small team of three to build an entire website in just three days.

The results? Nearly 350 new sign-ups a week and 300% database growth in just two years.

Visit https://www.hubspot.com/ to hear how HubSpot can help you grow better.

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Get all the show notes: https://www.thisoldmarketing.com/

Get Joe's new book, Burn the Playbook, at www.joepulizzi.com/books/burn-the-playbook/
Subscribe to Joe's Newsletter at https://www.joepulizzi.com/signup/.

Get Robert Rose's new book, Valuable Friction, at https://robertrose.net/valuable-friction/
Subscribe to Robert's Newsletter at https://seventhbearlens.substack.com/

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This Old Marketing is part of the HubSpot Podcast Network: https://www.hubspot.com/podcastnetwork

Big news in the tech and marketing world this week.

AI search leader Perplexity stunned the industry with a $34 billion offer to buy Google Chrome. Is this just a headline-grabbing PR stunt… or could it actually give Google a way out of its ongoing antitrust mess?

Meanwhile, OpenAI is scrambling to turn lemons into lemonade after the botched ChatGPT-5 launch. Did they completely miss the mark with their audience, or has their technology hit a temporary wall — giving Google, Anthropic, X, and others a window to catch up?

Over on YouTube, creators who target children are sounding alarms over the platform’s new age verification and machine learning plan, which goes into effect this week. Many fear it could hurt discoverability and revenue.

Marketing Winners this week include Marketing AI Institute and the sweet, unexpected Oreos/Reese’s mashup.

Rants and Raves feature the surprisingly catchy Hampton Jitney Bus Song and a look at the Wall Street Journal/McKinsey partnership.

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This week's sponsor:

You don't become the world’s most valuable women's sports franchise by accident.

Angel City Football Club did it with a little help from HubSpot.

When they started, data was housed across multiple systems.

HubSpot unified their website, email marketing, and fan experience in one platform.

This allowed their small team of three to build an entire website in just three days.

The results? Nearly 350 new sign-ups a week and 300% database growth in just two years.

Visit https://www.hubspot.com/ to hear how HubSpot can help you grow better.

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Liked this show? SUBSCRIBE to this podcast on Spotify, Apple, Google and more. Catch past episodes and show notes at ThisOldMarketing.com.

Catch and subscribe to our NEW show on YouTube. NOTE: You can get captions there.

Subscribe to Joe's Newsletter at https://www.joepulizzi.com/signup/.
Subscribe to Robert's Newsletter at https://seventhbearlens.substack.com/

This Old Marketing is part of the HubSpot Podcast Network: https://www.hubspot.com/podcastnetwork

The boys are back (and better than ever) with a brand-new episode on what influencer marketing will look like soon (including AI).

In this episode, they break down the new deal between ESPN and the NFL. Does this partnership signal new opportunities for brands and content marketing deals in the near future?

YouTube announced that it will begin testing a new AI feature designed to estimate whether a user is a minor...regardless of the birthday listed on the account. Some creators fear it will hurt business, while others worry that large organizations and institutions will use the data in nefarious ways.

Winners and losers include the future of influencer marketing, the Savannah Bananas, American Eagle, Sydney Sweeney, and Vogue.

Rants and raves feature CMOs uncovering a new trend in influencer strategy—and Superman.

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This week's links:

ESPN to buy NFL Network

How YouTube Age Verification Could Hurt the Creator Economy

What MLB Can Learn from the Savannah Bananas?

Mentions of Creator Economy on CMO Calls

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This week's sponsor:

You don't become the world’s most valuable women's sports franchise by accident.

Angel City Football Club did it with a little help from HubSpot.

When they started, data was housed across multiple systems.

HubSpot unified their website, email marketing, and fan experience in one platform.

This allowed their small team of three to build an entire website in just three days.

The results? Nearly 350 new sign-ups a week and 300% database growth in just two years.

Visit https://www.hubspot.com/ to hear how HubSpot can help you grow better.

-------

Liked this show? SUBSCRIBE to this podcast on Spotify, Apple, Google and more. Catch past episodes and show notes at ThisOldMarketing.com.

Catch and subscribe to our NEW show on YouTube. NOTE: You can get captions there.

Subscribe to Joe Pulizzi's Orangeletter and get two free downloads direct from Joe.

Subscribe to Robert Rose's newsletter at Seventh Bear.