During his acceptance speech as ANA’s 2024 B2B Marketer of the Year, Cigna Group CMO Lou Aversano issued a call-to-action for the marketing community: It’s time for marketers to respect consumers’ ability to use facts, evidence, and reason to come to their own conclusions. He joined the On Scope podcast to discuss this idea further, outlining some of the issues that seem to plague marketers and prevent them from getting out of their own way. Along with host Mike Berberich, Lou covered the ways in which marketers have lost the plot on branding, why marketers seem to be chasing their own tail looking for the next innovation, and what is the best path forward for the industry.

On Marketing News You Might Have Missed, Mike and show producer Ryan Dinger discussed a Forbes editorial that outlined the reasons why a chief of staff might be the most important hire marketing teams can make right now.

Looking to get a hands-on walkthrough of Agile sprint execution, with real exercises and expert guidance to help your team move smarter and faster? Then you’ll want to sign for the ANA’s Agile 101 Virtual 90-Minute Workshop by visiting www.ana.net/agileburst.

The On Scope team would love to hear from you! If you have a topic or guest idea for the show, you can email us at onscope@ana.net.

Andrew Lipsman is an expert on retail media and other key technological trends in the media, advertising, and commerce ecosystem. He is also a self-described “AI skeptic” who joined the show to share a cautionary tale around the increasingly popular technology. He and host Mike Berberich made the case for why the marketing and business world might be overhyping AI, covering what laypeople typically misunderstand about it, why marketers and executives are so eager to embrace AI despite transparency issues, and Andrew’s concerns about agentic AI, which is powered by black box algorithms. The conversation wrapped with some of the AI functions Andrew believes have real, tangible value right now.

On “Marketing News You Might Have Missed,” Mike and show producer Ryan Dinger discussed a concerning report that shows marketing and advertising jobs shrunk again in April, marking the fifth straight month for this trend. The pair covered how this ongoing story might create an environment in which brand-side marketers and agency pros are reticent to take creative risks, an unfortunate development when brave decision making is key to standing out from the competition.

Did your brand develop a campaign that built authentic relationships with diverse audiences and drove real business growth last year? Submit it for consideration in the ANA’s Multicultural and Inclusive Marketing Excellence Awards by visiting www.anamulticulturalawards.org.

The On Scope team would love to hear from you! If you have a topic or guest idea for the show, you can email us at onscope@ana.net.

Starting a new brand from scratch might sound like a dream to some marketers and a nightmare to others. But it is exactly what Sherry Graziano was tasked with when she signed on as head of digital, client experiences, and marketing at Truist Bank back in 2019, right as the company was formed from a merger between BB&T and SunTrust Banks. She joined On Scope host Mike Berberich to discuss how she tackled the challenge head on, capitalizing on the opportunity to shape a new brand in her vision. The pair discussed the advantages of disadvantages of launching a brand from zero, how Sherry approached imbuing the new Truist brand through every customer touchpoint, how her team was able to pivot when the pandemic happened just before launch, and Sherry’s tips for managing the emotions and discomfort that came from the massive change of merging two already existing organizations.

On “This Week in ANA Magazine,” editor Matthew Schwartz joined the show to spotlight a new story on the new media landscape, which is being driven by the rise of news influencers and is changing how people — and particularly young people — engage with content in general. This new reality is forcing brands to lean into more weird content and a trend called “unhinged marketing.” In light of this new trend, Mike and show producer Ryan Dinger discussed some of their favorite examples of unhinged marketing.

Learn more about the ANA’s on-demand, self-paced Brand-Building Certificate Program and sign up by visiting www.ana.net/brandcertificate.

The On Scope team would love to hear from you! If you have a topic or guest idea for the show, you can email us at onscope@ana.net.