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.

-------

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.

-------

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/

-------

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.

-----

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'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.

-----

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

-----

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.

This is the last special solo episode for a while. Thankfully, Robert and Joe will be back next week to make nonsense about marketing and content news. But today’s episode is something a little different.

In 1937, Napoleon Hill wrote Think and Grow Rich. His ideas about belief, desire, and persistence changed lives—Joe's included.

Joe's new book, Burn the Playbook, is his answer to what Think and Grow Rich would look like today. It's not just about financial wealth...it's about freedom. Mental freedom. Physical health. Time freedom. It’s the book Joe wanted his kids to have…the book that they could share with their kids about living a life of purpose.

This episode of This Old Marketing is about how to build a platform strong enough to carry the weight of your dreams.

Six months ago, Joe was 20 pounds heavier. He felt foggy, sluggish, reactive. He was still productive, sure...but didn’t feel sharp. He didn’t feel like he was operating at his best. And he decided that wasn’t okay anymore.

Many of you know this, but Joe's family has a history of Alzheimer’s as well. He always thought he was relegated to this fate and there was nothing he could do. Joe's since found there are many things he can do to build a better brain (if you will), so that he can live a better life and be around, in all forms, for his kids and their kids, in addition to living a life of freedom (which we’ll discuss).

So he made some changes. Not radical ones. Just simple, consistent ones. And Joe wants to share them with you—not as a health expert, but as a creator who realized that if your body and brain break down, your business doesn’t stand a chance.

Let’s get into it.

-----

This week's links:

Americans Check Phone 144 Times Per Day

The Cost of Multitasking

-----

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.

In this solo episode of This Old Marketing, Robert dives headfirst into the uncomfortable - and increasingly urgent - tension at the heart of modern content strategy:

Can we still create truly human content, full of nuance, voice, and emotional honesty… while also making sure the machines don’t misinterpret (or mangle) what we mean?

Inspired by the announced end of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Robert explores how the final stretch of a show - or a career, or even a blog archive - can shape both public perception and machine learning for years to come.

This week Robert covers:

Why “good” content now means craft, not just output.

The shift from writing for search engines to teaching AI what to say about you.

The danger (and opportunity) of legacy content becoming training data.

A new strategy for structuring content that serves both people and machines.

Four practical steps you can take right now to future-proof your brand’s voice.

Oh - and Joe’s out this week, off pitching new names for the Guardians and Commanders to the Trump administration. Don’t worry. Robert’s got it handled.

Tune in, laugh a little, squirm a little, and leave with a renewed sense of purpose—and a checklist.

-----

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.

Get ready for this special episode that you needed to hear years ago.

Let me say this plainly: Working for someone else is the riskiest thing you can do right now.

For decades, we believed that a "good job" was the ultimate security.
A steady paycheck.
Healthcare.
Maybe a 401(k) with a match.

But that model is falling apart in real time.

I’ve seen this from the inside. I’ve been the employee. I’ve been the boss. I’ve been the guy who signed the layoff papers. When I was at Penton we went through three rounds of layoffs in 18 months and it was devastating for everyone involved. And this continues today but at breakneck speed. Here’s the truth: no job is safe anymore...especially in marketing.

AI is replacing entry-level marketers faster than we can track. Some agencies I know are in desperation mode. The only advice brand marketing teams get is to lean more into AI. Is that even the right strategy? And executive teams still don’t understand what content actually does...until they decide it’s too expensive (even thought it’s not) and cut it.

Here’s the harsh truth: Most people following the “good job, good life” blueprint are broke, stressed, unfulfilled, and trapped.

The old dream isn’t dead because people stopped working hard. It’s dead because the game changed and nobody updated the playbook.

-----

This week's links:

Dallas Cowboys NOT America's Team

Joe Pulizzi's New Book "Burn the Playbook" Pre-Order

-----

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.

This week Robert flies solo (Joe’s busy revolutionizing dairy on the blockchain) to ask a question: 

What if slower is the new smarter?

After riffing on OpenAI’s burnout‑induced shutdown, he unveils a sneak peek of his upcoming book, Valuable Friction. From Netflix’s “Skip Intro” button to AI‑generated sameness, Robert shows how our obsession with frictionless everything is draining the meaning out of marketing...and life.

Tune in for the four kinds of friction that sharpen ideas, deepen relationships, steady operations, and save you from knee‑jerk strategy. No co‑host, no fast‑forward, just 100 percent Robert. Press play, don’t skip the intro, and discover why a little resistance might be your brand’s unfair advantage.

-----

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.

After a quick cover of the Cloudflare news where it will be possible to select and make money from AI companies crawling your site, Joe and Robert dive into marketing plan B.

Specifically -

The New Normal: Why Everyone Needs a Personal Brand (Even If You’re Not Selling Anything)

The collapse of the idea that a job = stability.
From creators to CMOs: why everyone needs visibility.
The difference between self-promotion and self-preservation.
Hot take: You’re always in stealth mode for your next job (even if you don’t know it yet).

And...Content as Career Insurance: Best Practices for Building Your Brand
What platforms actually matter (and which ones are dead weight)?

Where to start?

We have the answers in this episode.

-----

This week's links:

Cloudflare Launches AI Marketplace

Paramount Settles Trump Case

Joe's Newsletter Post on Freedom

-----

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.