The A-Game: An Adcom Podcast

Today our guest is Andrew Alexander, an attorney in the Intellectual Property group at Calfee, Halter and Griswold. We sit down with Andy to investigate copyright law as it relates to social media. When is it ok for a brand to repost someone else's content? What are some of the safeguards brands can put in place? What does the average user need to think about when making and posting UGC?  It turns out that because this media sector has moved far faster than case law or legislation, the answers are far from black and white – instead, they're many shades of gray.

Adcom presents The A-Game Podcast hosted by Jeff Culliton with guest host Abbey K. During this episode, we're talking with someone who lives on the other side of social media, Eric Aune, plumber and social media influencer who enlightens us about the power of tradespeople as storytellers, because of the passion they feel about their work.

Jeff and Nadya sit down with RIDGID Tool's own Becky Brotherton, Director of Brand & Engagement Marketing, to discuss her success using a variety of marketing tactics that include sharing user generated content to increase authenticity. Becky also talks about planning for RIDGID's 2023 "RIDGID Experience" - the brand's 6th annual contest for its social followers and influencers. Ultimately, this innovative way of engaging with its community became a turning point for the brand.

In this episode of Adcom's A-Game podcast, hosts Jeff Culliton and Nadya Scheiner talk with special guest Jim Ganzer about how streaming services like Netflix are changing the marketing landscape, and how these platforms can be accessible to marketers in a way that broadcast never could. Currently Adcom's Chief Strategy Officer, Jim is an expert at finding the precise media channels where any given audience lives.

Adcom presents the A-Game Podcast, hosted by Jeff Culliton and Nadya Scheiner. Today we're talking about ABM – Account Based Marketing – with Justin Morcelle, Adcom's new partner and COO. Most recently the CMO of a Fortune 500 company, Justin has unique insight into B2B marketing. In today's conversation, we cover whether and how account-based marketing can be both intensely targeted and cutting edge.

In the final episode of our series on NFT's in Marketing, Fandem (www.fandem.com) CEO G.I. Zaratsian discusses how to sell an NFT. While some artists have made fortunes by NFTing their original pieces and selling them on marketplaces like OpenSea, the process is still murky at best for most. We use our own Nadya Scheiner, an accomplished artist in her own right, as a guinea pig to outline the process.

On this episode of The A Game we talk to entrepreneur & investor Kumar Arora. A constantly evolving entrepreneur, Kumar is the CEO of Arora Ventures. Arora Ventures provides resources, investment, consulting services to assist early-stage to mid-sized businesses. Some of his portfolio brands include Trust Foods, Rogue Eyewear, ILTHY®, and most recently, Sora Sushi. The topic of discussion is creative confidence and how it drives his new ventures and the massive engagement from the communities that follow them.

In part 3 of our discussion with G.I. Zaratsian, CEO and Co Founder of Fandem (www.fandem.com) we discuss how brands are beginning to explore the concept of a metaverse and what role NFT's play in it.

In part 2 of our 4 part series on NFTs in marketing, CEO and Co-Founder of Fandem (www.fandem.com) G.I. Zaratsian discusses tangible examples of how NFT's are currently being used by progressive brands and how the early adopters are gaining an edge.

On a new episode of The A Game we explore the future of NFT's in marketing with CEO and Founder of Fandem (www.fandem.com) G.I. Zaratsian. Episode 1 of this 4 part series lays the groundwork for what NFT's are and how the early focus on art has shaped the perception of their utility.

While all may not be right in the world this holiday season, some things point to brighter days ahead. The breakout Cleveland Browns are on a roll and the sky is the limit. This is all so very 2020! The Adcom Players, who are always looking to croon, decided to celebrate this unexpected rise with a holiday tune.

It's a double-dose of the A Game this week. You'd be hard pressed to find two guys that can discuss media strategy as deftly at Jim Ganzer and TJ Salopek (Interactive Marketing Lead at Goodyear). The team nerds out over the growing strength of Facebook, Google, Amazon and the like while helping to level set what the near future looks like for the media landscape. All this and we take our new logo for a test drive on this week's episode of The A Game.

iHeart Radio Northern Ohio market President Keith Hotchkiss joins us to discuss the current state of radio as companies emerge from COVID-19 with the need to generate momentum. Audio formats in general have expanded dramatically with the the growing audience for podcast content and iHeart is positioning itself to be one of the lead players in the field. Audio's role in a brand's marketing mix looks to continue gaining momentum in 2020 and beyond. All this and we are now available on the iHeart Radio podcast platform!

The A Game welcomes Ohio X co-founder Ari Lewis to discuss the mission of his new technology and innovation association, the need for people to take the reigns of their personal branding and why we don't need a "response to COVID-19" email from every brand that's ever existed. All this and much more on this week's episode of The A Game.

In a Special Episode, Adcommers Kevin Griffin and Jeff Culliton discuss the business of sports marketing now and following COVID 19 with some of the biggest names in Sports Marketing. Mary Beth Pate of the Cleveland Clinic, Shelly Cayette-Weston of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Justin Morcelle from KeyBank and Sam Pines of ESPN Cleveland join the team to talk about the extraordinary circumstances that led to the pausing of all major global sports, their companies amazing community responses and how sports and their collective partnerships will likely bring unity back to starving fan bases. All this and more on the next episode of The A Game.

Marketing in the trades has been traditional for a looooooong time. How are companies specializing in the trades modernizing their approach? We discuss it.

So ... just what was up with all those heart-warming Super Bowl ads, and will that approach continue? Plus: With a cookie-less future ahead, will old-school metrics make a triumphant return?

Over the last decade web development has been on a roller coaster ride. First, it was highly technical and only for developers. Then it was plug and play - so easy a cave man could do it. The truth is that you can spin up a nice looking site quickly, but for brands the answer is much more complex. Join Sara Myers and Tom Keathley as they discuss trends in web development and strategy. All that and more on this week's episode of The A Game.

Google's removing third-party cookies from Chrome in two years. What's it mean? Plus: Music in advertising -- a history from our music expert.

How fast can you get great content to market? If it's 3 days, you're in the catbird's seat. If it's two weeks, you might be too late. The A Game Podcast crew debates that in the wake of Aviation Gin's latest A+ ad -- a crack at Peloton.

What a year in the world of marketing: Jim, Jeff and Joel gather to discuss the top trends, like fragmentation in the streaming world, influencers, the future of social and much more. Tune in!

If you come at The King, you best not miss. A wise man -- Omar Little -- once said that. But is Netflix even The King anymore? Apple, NBC and others are trying to prove it's not. We discuss on The A Game after Apple's streaming service launched.

Media planning is a mixture of art and science. Audiences are constantly shifting and the analysis of those audiences comes from many angles, none of which has a monopoly on the truth. This becomes even more complex in an election year. Most brands are deep in the heart of planning season and the complexity of media tactics and an election cycle are on full display. The team discusses this and more on Episode 53 of The A Game.

The A Game crew enlists a couple special guests -- Sarah Shamsi from Adcom's data and analytics team, and Charlie Schafer from our Audience Planning team -- to discuss how the data game has changed and how we're using data in everything we do.

California was the first -- but not the last -- to pass legislation allowing college athletes to earn money based on their likeness. How does this issue impact marketers? Kevin Griffin, Jeff Culliton and Joel Hammond explore on The A Game.

Some big names and big funders are getting behind Quibi, which is looking to change the streaming game. How? In 10-minute episodes -- and only on mobile devices. Jeff, Jim and Joel discuss whether this idea will catch on. What do you think?

Jim and Jeff are joined by Charlie Schafer, Adcom's Senior Director of Account Planning, to talk effective marketing. How do you deliver it? Is boldness a must-have?

One of our Marketing Automation experts, Lauren Casarona, joins the show today to talk through trends and best practices in email -- specifically personalization. How much is too much? What's the right balance? Listen in to get the crew's take.

Jim, Jeff and Joel dive in to a new Facebook app -- Threads, the goal of which appears to be to drive users to constantly share their location and more details. (Battery life?!) Take a listen and give us your thoughts!

Adcom SVP and former NFL exec Kevin Griffin joined the crew this week to provide his unique perspective on NFL ratings and the health of the league -- always a hot topic this time of year -- and the hilarious, engaging, dramatic, wild battle between Popeye's and Chick-Fil-A over chicken sandwich supremacy.

The boys are back in town!!! At least for this week when they dig into two interesting topics. First, the rise of zero click Google searches is an indicator of changing user behavior that brands need to be ready for. Then, the team digs into the amazing content strategy that Slam Magazine uses to generate massive amounts of content from single point events that fuel months worth of social posts. All this and more on episode 45 of The A Game.

In Morgan Rooks' farewell A Game episode we discuss some of our favorite podcast moments as well as the ever growing data demands of being a digital marketer. Morgan's feelings - get your data in line, or your marketing will suffer. All this and much more on episode 44 of The A Game.

Is augmented reality finally primed for its day in the sun? Device/Camera sophistication on our phones will allow us to do almost anything, but is the cost to execute at scale too much? Google thinks we are ready for a new normal in augmented reality advertising, but is it right? The gang discusses on this week's episode of The A Game.

FaceApp gripped the country this week by praying on everyone's vanity. Although already a widely used app, they rocketed into cultural relevance by showing us all what we are going to look like when we are old. While this is fun (depending on what you looked like)it does bring some privacy concerns to light. The original 4 discuss this and much more on this week's episode of The A Game.

Need to get back in the swing of things after a long weekend? Good news, The A Game team is here to help. Attention is fragmented across platforms and all brands are shifting budgets to compensate. Hershey's has made this a core marketing focus and the dollars they are spending reinforces it in a big way. All this and more on your post 4th of July episode of The A Game.

Outlets like Twitch and Fortnite are bringing people together in real-time in a way that other social networks don't. This begs the question - are the new wave of platforms more social than the OG's? Could Facebook/Instagram, Twitter, etc learn from the new kids on the block who are adding active users hand-over-fist? Marketing dollars will flow to where the attention is and gaming/streaming platforms are getting a lot of attention. All this and more on the BIG 40 of The A Game.

We are seeing an uptick of acquisitions centered around ad serving and data visualization as of late. Some with very steep price tags. What does it all mean for the end users and for the market in general. The team will discuss this and more from our brand new Adcom A Game Studio on the corner of W.6th and St.Clair.

Algorithms have become the engine of modern advertising. They are so pervasive that sometime we don't stop to think whether or not they are truly good or bad for the channels we use. In this episode of The A Game, the team discusses how stopping and taking a deeper look at our programmatic world is probably in everyone's best interest.

GOOGLE LIVE STREAM!!!! It was a big deal to us and all digital marketers this week. Our crack team of digital marketing mavericks discuss the ins and outs of what we heard and the effect it will have. If your current agency doesn't talk to you like this.......we're listening. Kidding, but not really.

The trackability of ads is under attack. Even if we haven't seen a real shift in what marketers can see yet, there may be enough smoke to assume that eventually it will turn into a fire? Is Google's recent algorithm update the match that starts the blaze?

Burger King launched a campaign for Mental Health Awareness Month that targeted McDonald's Happy Meal. Is this too cheek for such a serious topic? Are they within their brand or is it a cheap stunt to take a shot at their biggest competitor. The team gets flame broiled on this one, on this week's episode of The A Game.

Amazon and Kohls are partnering to help consumers return their Amazon purchases more easily. Is this just about convenience or is a bigger strategy at play. All this and the original four are back together for the first time in what feels like an eternity on The A Game

Google is finally putting a more concerted effort towards monetizing Google Maps. If done properly this is a great channel to reach consumers using location services. Our team thinks this might be a nod to the future consumer when autonomously driving vehicles allow for a less distracted commuter.

Miller Coors attempts to test a pseudo direct to consumer strategy. Is this a sign of the times for companies that sell through distributors? The Amazon effect has made traditional business models a little shaky and some of the oldest brands are fighting for reinvention. All this plus a cameo from one of our faves, Hope Ho, on this week's episode of The A Game.

Apple's new service announcement last week was a good indication of the future strategy of the company and their stronger stance on privacy. With $245 billion dollars of cash on hand, Apple can be whatever it wants to be and it looks like they want to be a bank. All this and more on this week's episode of The A Game.

In a move that has been long anticipated, Instagram has begun rolling out e-commerce functionality to select brands. This move could create huge convenience for consumers and HUGE upside for brands, helping to monetize one of their favorite channels more directly. All this and Apple doubling down on their subscription model, on this episode of The A Game.

SXSW has exploded into an epicenter of emerging tech, startup launches and now political conversation. This wasn't always the case, but nonetheless, it now drives as much attention as any other festival in the country around Innovation. This level of attention will continue to grow the events scale and scope and continue to drive the most innovative voices to attend and share.

In this episode of The A Game we look at Kidfluencers, the ever growing sect of child Youtube stars who are raking in huge audiences and even bigger checks, but is it ethical. This and a detailed, if only semi-rational discussion about Kylie Jenner's new status as the world's youngest "Self-Made" Billionaire. All this and more on The A Game.

In this week's episode our quartet performs as a trio with a new face, but the same hot takes. Youtube, like all scaled social media platforms, is combating bad actors and trying to assure their advertisers that their content is being displayed next to reputable and verified videos. This isn't a race with a finish, the teams will always be fighting this uphill battle. That and a look at what agencies need to know about 5Gs effects on marketing on this week's episode of The A Game.

The A Game has reached its 25th episode!!! Wow, that was fast and to celebrate we are enjoying a little George Michael......and talking marketing. Amazon continues to make headlines. We discuss a new Moments loyalty program they've introduced, not the cancellation of the proposed New York City headquarters. Or anything else.........

One of the joys of open Social Media Platforms is the chance to find great content in completely unexpected places. In our second installment of B Sides Joel talks with John Gonzalez, the creative lead behind the surprisingly fun and well followed social media accounts from the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District. NEORSD proves that even small groups can have a big social presence when they are timely, funny and aligned with their leadership.