Matt Frisbee went from Disney performer to marketing executive, and is one of the best storytellers around. In this conversation, Matt breaks down the art of storytelling in marketing, shares how he built breakthrough campaigns at Little Giant Ladder Systems, and explains why "feeling understood is the sexiest feeling in the universe."

This is a masterclass in taking calculated risks, doing the deep research work that most people skip, and why feeling understood by a brand is what drives real customer loyalty. 

What You’ll Learn:

Resources: 

"Story" by Robert McKee - Matt's go-to storytelling reference

"So God Made a Farmer" Super Bowl ad - Perfect example of honoring an underappreciated audience

FREE Content Consolidation Tools: https://97thfloor.com/articles/podcasts/how-to-consolidate-optimize-and-finally-see-seo-results/ 

Request a free AI Audit: https://97thfloor.com/ai-audit/ 

Connect with Matt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewfrisbie/ 

Connect with Paxton on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paxtongray/ 

Looking for an agency that'll be worth the investment? 97th Floor creates custom, audience-first campaigns that drive pipeline and conversions. Get started here: https://97thfloor.com/lets-talk/. 

About Matt Frisbie:
Matt Frisbie started his career as a classically trained illustrator at Disney, where he learned that a picture truly is worth a thousand words – but more importantly, he learned how to architect experiences that make people want to participate in a story. After a stint in Hollywood selling films, Matt found his way into marketing, where he discovered that brands tell stories just as powerful as any movie – stories about solving problems and transforming lives.

As CMO at companies including Blendtec and Little Giant Ladder Systems, Matt has overseen marketing strategies that don't just move products – they move people. He's currently leading marketing at Axomo, a go-to-market leader in swag management and employee engagement.

Timestamps:
02:35 - From Disney animator to marketing leader
06:51 - Creative skills in the boardroom
13:08 - "Rage clicks" and user frustration signals
23:44 - AI reality check vs. hype
31:47 - Reactive vs. proactive analytics
41:53 - Stay nimble for industry changes

“We spent months researching our customers before launching anything. Tiger Woods gets a thousand touches with the club before a tournament—in the game it looks like he's making everything, but you didn't see the thousands of misses that were very intentional. I remember an agency that had 'fail fast' above the door. I agree with that while you're paying attention—take smaller swings, see some responses, then iterate based on what you learn.” - Matt Frisbie

Most B2B marketers are missing a goldmine of audience insights hiding in plain sight. While everyone flocks to LinkedIn, 68% of Reddit users aren't even on the platform—meaning there's a massive chunk of your audience having authentic conversations about their real problems elsewhere.

Deep tech CMO Kiersten Gaffney has cracked the code on mining Reddit for content that actually converts. In this episode, she reveals her systematic approach to turning Reddit threads into pillar content that resonates with technical audiences.

What You'll Learn:

Resources: 

Attend a free 60-minute live demo with Kiersten on September 12, 2025 to see her whole in-depth process for transforming tiny insights into incredible content.

Register here: https://maven.com/p/a3bef8/turn-dev-complaints-into-content-gold-with-ai

Request a free AI Audit: https://97thfloor.com/ai-audit/ 

Connect with Kiersten on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kierstengaffney 

Connect with Paxton on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paxtongray/ 

Looking for an agency that'll be worth the investment? 97th Floor creates custom, audience-first campaigns that drive pipeline and conversions. Get started here: https://97thfloor.com/lets-talk/. 

About Kiersten Gaffney:
Kiersten Gaffney is a CMO advisor helping deep tech software companies build their marketing growth engines. She’s advised hundreds of founders from companies like Airbyte, DragonflyDB, and Codefresh to build systematic, measurable approaches to marketing.

Timestamps:
03:05 - Reddit's honest opinions vs. other platforms

07:23 - Keyword monitoring with Octalens tool

08:31 - AI analysis: Reddit threads to content ideas

20:55 - Director vs. directed: controlling AI tools

25:28 - Marketing to technical audiences without "smarketing"

32:05 - Upcoming Maven course on Reddit mining

"Reddit has a tendency to bring the honest opinion out from people and that is where the meat is when it comes to marketing." - Kiersten Gaffney

Most marketers think they know their audience — but they stop at surface-level demographics and wonder why their campaigns plateau. In this conversation, Rachel Bascom and Paxton Gray break down what it really means to be audience-first, why the “big research lift” mindset is holding you back, and how to turn existing knowledge into exponential results over time.

If you’ve ever felt stuck in the “research → big deck → nothing changes” loop, this episode will change how you think about audience understanding. You’ll walk away with a practical, ongoing approach to learning about your audience — and turning that knowledge into high-performing creative, content, and campaigns.

Resources: 

FREE Content Consolidation Tools: https://97thfloor.com/articles/podcasts/how-to-consolidate-optimize-and-finally-see-seo-results/ 

Learn about how to create high-quality content that is audience-focused: https://97thfloor.com/articles/high-quality-content-or-ai-slop/ 

Connect with Rachel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelbascom/ 

Connect with Paxton on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paxtongray/ 

Read the full article: https://97thfloor.com/articles/podcasts/audience-first-marketing-the-new-standard-for-growth 

Looking for an agency that'll be worth the investment? 97th Floor creates custom, audience-first campaigns that drive pipeline and conversions. Get started here: https://97thfloor.com/lets-talk/. 

About Rachel Bascom:
Rachel Bascom is the Head of Content Marketing at 97th Floor, boasting over a decade of expertise in the realm of digital marketing and a fervent dedication to crafting audience-centric content strategies. In her tenure, Rachel has been a trailblazer in the development of the content marketing department, playing an integral role in the transformative journey that positioned 97th Floor as a comprehensive, award-winning, holistic marketing agency. 

Timestamps: 

02:27 - What it means to truly know your audience

12:43 - The zodiac campaign breakthrough

18:22 - "It's cumulative, not cyclical"

24:17 - Start by auditing what you already have

27:35 - The difference between great and mediocre marketing

"To know your audience intimately... means knowing who they are, but more importantly, what they're doing, where they are, and what they need and what they want." - Rachel Bascom

CMOs are more optimistic about AI than ever—yet many organizations are still stuck at the starting line. In this episode, Aby Varma, founder of Spark Novus, joins us to share how marketing leaders can move from AI curiosity to meaningful adoption. Drawing on real-world examples from Fortune 500 companies, Aby reveals why asking “Can AI do this?” is the wrong place to start, how to build a strategy anchored in business value, and what cultural shifts are essential for lasting change.

If you’re a marketing leader looking to integrate AI into your team’s workflows without the chaos, this conversation will give you the mindset, frameworks, and practical steps you need.

What You’ll Learn:

Resources: 

FREE Content Consolidation Tools: https://97thfloor.com/articles/podcasts/how-to-consolidate-optimize-and-finally-see-seo-results/ 

Request a free AI Audit: https://97thfloor.com/ai-audit/ 

Join Spark Novus's Marketing AI Pulse Community: https://sparknovus.com/marketing-ai-pulse

Connect with Aby on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abyvarma/ 

Connect with Paxton on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paxtongray/ 

Looking for an agency that'll be worth the investment? 97th Floor creates custom, audience-first campaigns that drive pipeline and conversions. Get started here: https://97thfloor.com/lets-talk/. 

About Aby Varma:
Aby is the founder and principal at Spark Novus, transforming marketing through AI, digital, content, and brand strategies. He aligns marketing, sales, and product teams to drive brand positioning and demand activation. Known for his strategic vision and energy, Aby builds inclusive, high-performing teams.

He advances AI in marketing through the 'Marketing AI SparkCast' podcast and as the founder of the Marketing AI Pulse and Future Crafters communities. Aby is a member of the Forbes Communication Council.

Timestamps:
02:51 - Why "Can AI do this?" is the wrong question

06:22 - Enterprise case study: asset management vs. cold prospecting AI

10:19 - The overlooked change management problem in AI adoption

28:18 - The "human AI sandwich" concept introduced

33:22 - Complete four-pillar mindset framework

38:18 - Practical next steps for getting started

"The first is to shift from 'can AI do this?' to 'what can I do with AI?' The second is to shift from outputs to outcomes. The third is to shift towards reclaiming time to think, imagine, lead, and inspire. And the fourth is to shift towards embracing ideas that we would have never considered otherwise." - Aby Varma

In this conversation, Pax and Nick Cawthon explore the evolution of technology, particularly focusing on the impact of AI on workplaces and team dynamics. They discuss the importance of adapting to new technologies, the challenges of AI adoption, and the need for collaboration and skill augmentation within teams. Nick emphasizes the significance of understanding the hype cycle surrounding new technologies and the necessity of preparing teams for future transformations. The conversation also touches on the role of surveys in assessing AI readiness and the importance of fostering a culture that embraces change.

FREE Content Consolidation Tools: https://97thfloor.com/articles/podcasts/how-to-consolidate-optimize-and-finally-see-seo-results/ 

Request a free AI Audit: https://97thfloor.com/ai-audit/ 

Connect with Nick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickcawthon-ux-digital-agency-product-design-leadership/ 

Fill out Nick’s AI Maturity Assessment to receive a report with a readiness score benchmarking your team against similar organizations: https://retrain.gauge.io/ 

Connect with Paxton on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paxtongray/ 

Read the full article: https://97thfloor.com/articles/podcasts/how-to-lead-your-team-through-the-ai-shift/ 

Looking for an agency that'll be worth the investment? 97th Floor creates custom, audience-first campaigns that drive pipeline and conversions. Get started here: https://97thfloor.com/lets-talk/. 

Nick helps design teams stay ahead of the curve with their AI transformation. He has been curating self-assessments for UX & Design Teams at retrain.gauge.io, helping analyze industry trends and removing barriers to adoption. Nick founded Gauge in 2001 in the San Francisco Bay Area to help organizations with evidence-based strategy and product decisions. Clients have grown to include Electronic Arts, Genentech, Airbnb, Adobe and many others. Nick is a professor in Data Literacy and Visualization in the Design Strategy MBA program at his alma mater, California College of the Arts.

02:38 - Early tech career lessons from AltaVista to Google transition 

06:55 - Internet paradigm shifts and building for new vs. old thinking 

12:30 - AI workflow changes with prompting replacing search strategies 

16:28 - AI adoption barriers and the need for "amnesty" in teams 

28:05 - AI readiness assessment for measuring team transformation

"This notion of amnesty, of AI amnesty in whatever field or process that you're in is to allow it not to feel like you're cheating because you do these things. To be transparent, be a mentor, and be questioning of the process and say, we're trying to figure out this transformation together." - Nick Cawthon

In this conversation, Patrick Kajirian shares his extensive experience in enterprise SEO, particularly in large organizations like Walmart and Disney. He discusses the unique challenges and strategies involved in managing SEO at scale, including the importance of product management, indexation, and internal linking. The conversation also explores the impact of AI and new agentic browsers on the future of SEO and digital marketing, emphasizing the need for adaptability and a focus on fundamentals in an evolving landscape.

Resources: 

Request a free AI Audit: https://97thfloor.com/ai-audit/ 

Connect with Patrick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickkajirian/  

Connect with Paxton on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paxtongray/ 

Read the full article: https://97thfloor.com/articles/podcasts/seo-at-scale-how-enterprise-seo-works-and-where-ai-is-taking-it/ 

Looking for an agency that'll be worth the investment? 97th Floor creates custom, audience-first campaigns that drive pipeline and conversions. Get started here: https://97thfloor.com/lets-talk/. 

About Patrick Kajirian:
Patrick Kajirian honed his career in technology and media in a broad range of roles that involved managing a full-service web design agency, operating world-class e-commerce and media websites, and driving user acquisition initiatives for global brands and fortune 500 companies. Patrick facilitated over a million daily Google searches as a principal product manager for SEO at Realtor.com. He currently works as a senior product manager in SEO at Walmart in the San Francisco Bay area.

Timestamps:
02:26 - Enterprise SEO as a product function vs marketing function

06:24 - Google's indexation challenges and internal linking strategies at scale 

16:47 - AI agents and agentic browser automation discussion 

30:38 - Disney and ESPN migration war stories 

46:51 - Traffic quality vs quantity in the AI era

"This is a really great time to be thinking about SEO in general... We're thrown back into the Wild West days where you just had to study and test and experiment and see what works. The fundamentals are still the same." - Patrick Kajirian

Everyone wants to be “data-driven.” But what does that actually look like when you’re a marketer without a data warehouse, a team of analysts, or endless resources?

In this episode, we talk with Gallant Chen, a marketing strategist who helps companies make better decisions with imperfect data. From messy attribution models to marketing CRMs that don’t talk to your ad platforms, we get honest about the real-world barriers marketers face—and how to work around them. If you’ve ever wasted hours in a spreadsheet or fought with your team over who “gets credit,” this one’s for you.

We’ll talk systems, shortcuts, and how to build the simplest version of a marketing data engine that actually drives results.

What you’ll learn:

Resources: 

About Gallant Chen: 

Gallant is the Founding Partner of Gallant Growth and a seasoned Marketing Executive with a track record of scaling growth for B2B SaaS and marketplace businesses.

He has served as an Advisor and Consultant for companies including Docusign, Shopify, New Relic, Mixpanel, Nutanix, Upwork, and Thumbtack on marketing strategy, customer acquisition, retention, and monetization. He has deep expertise in demand gen and paid acquisition, but also supports areas including the hiring of internal/agency teams, lifecycle and email marketing, CRO, marketing analytics, and marketing operations.

Prior to founding Gallant Growth, he ran Digital Marketing at Zendesk and held marketing roles at SurveyMonkey and Apple. He started his career as a strategy consultant at Bain & Company and holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and a BS from Stanford University.

Timestamps: 

"If you don't have the right data and reporting to be effective in your job, you got to fix that. You have to figure out a way... if your success is tied to some of these analytics or data or reporting issues, to me, those things are far more important." - Gallant Chen

If your messaging isn’t clicking, your conversions won’t either.

In this episode, we’re joined by Chris Silvestri—conversion copywriter, SaaS strategist, and founder of Conversion Alchemy—to talk about how AI is changing the way top teams do message-market fit.

With a background in both engineering and UX, Chris has helped companies like Moz Crimes turn deep customer insight into high-performing SaaS copy. He shares how AI can accelerate—not replace—the research and writing process, and how to train it to think more like your customers than your competitors.

You’ll learn:

Whether you're rewriting a homepage, launching a new product, or rethinking your entire brand voice, this episode will show you how to turn AI into your most valuable copywriting assistant.

Resources: 

Get a free scorecard to assess your messaging fit on Chris’ website here: conversionalchemy.net 

Connect with Chris on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophersilvestri

Connect with Paxton on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paxtongray/ 

AI platforms Chris uses for audience research:

https://www.syntheticusers.com

https://askrally.com

Read the full article:https://97thfloor.com/articles/podcasts/how-to-turn-customer-insight-into-high-converting-copy-with-ai↗

Looking for an agency that'll be worth the investment? 97th Floor creates custom, audience-first campaigns that drive pipeline and conversions. Get started here: https://97thfloor.com/lets-talk/. 

About Chris Silvestri: 

Chris is the Conversion Alchemist. A SaaS message-market fit specialist and conversion copywriter, he worked 10 years as a software engineer in industrial automation. Then, took a sharp turn to enter the digital marketing world as UX lead at the usability testing startup Conversion Crimes (and previously at the conversion design agency Zeda Labs). Chris has been working as a messaging strategist and copywriter for B2B SaaS brands like Moz since 2016.

Timestamps: 

0:45 - Positioning vs messaging mistakes

4:12 - Avoiding "what we do" friction

14:29 - Research is 70% of the work

26:28 - AI synthetic research tools

33:34 - PATH framework explained

35:52 - AI won't replace strategic copywriters

"If you rely on formulas, templates, when you're writing copy, then probably AI can replace you. But the thing that it can't really replace you now... if you have a strategic vision, so if you know that the copy comes from the research work, then there's the strategy in between." - Chris Silvestri

Clicks aren’t enough. Today’s marketing funnels need to account for real user behavior, changing customer journeys, and how people find and interact with your brand in AI search engines.

In this episode, Adam Gunn, VP of Marketing at FullStory, joins 97th Floor CEO Paxton Gray to break down what a modern, optimized funnel really looks like. You’ll hear how to identify friction points, rethink old metrics, and build digital experiences that work for both humans and AI.

What You’ll Learn:

Adam Gunn is the VP of Marketing at FullStory, a behavioral analytics platform that’s changing the way teams understand and act on user behavior. He brings a unique perspective around data, storytelling, and how marketing teams can evolve alongside AI.

Resources: 

Request a free AI Audit: https://97thfloor.com/ai-audit/ 

Connect with Adam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamgunn

Connect with Paxton on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paxtongray/ 

Read the article: https://97thfloor.com/articles/podcasts/how-to-blend-brand-behavior-data-and-ai-to-win-in-modern-marketing/  

Looking for an agency that'll be worth the investment? 97th Floor creates custom, audience-first campaigns that drive pipeline and conversions. Get started here: https://97thfloor.com/lets-talk/.

"The future is customer-based agents surfing our website. Historically we've built all of our experiences for humans, but agents are often going to be now going out and doing business on our behalf... we'll have to build web experiences that serve the good traffic."

About Adam Gunn:
Adam Gunn is the VP of Marketing at FullStory, a behavioral analytics platform that’s changing the way teams understand and act on user behavior. He brings a unique perspective around data, storytelling, and how marketing teams can evolve alongside AI.

Timestamps:
02:35 - From Disney animator to marketing leader
06:51 - Creative skills in the boardroom
13:08 - "Rage clicks" and user frustration signals
23:44 - AI reality check vs. hype
31:47 - Reactive vs. proactive analytics
41:53 - Stay nimble for industry changes

In this episode Pax and Justin Loera discuss internal site search–a forgotten gold mine of data and audience insights to inform content strategy and sales enablement. Data from internal search can help improve conversion rates, reveal gaps in the content journey or optimization needs, and increase customer loyalty and trust as they find what they need right on your site.

Request a free AIO Audit: http://97thfloor.com/ai-audit 

Connect with Justin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-loera-a156969 

Connect with Paxton on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paxtongray/ 

Read the article: https://97thfloor.com/articles/podcasts/how-to-blend-brand-behavior-data-and-ai-to-win-in-modern-marketing/  

Read the article: https://97thfloor.com/articles/podcasts/internal-search-the-conversion-channel-youre-not-tracking↗

Looking for an agency that'll be worth the investment? 97th Floor creates custom, audience-first campaigns that drive pipeline and conversions. Get started here: https://97thfloor.com/lets-talk/.

02:43 - Which companies need internal search
05:44 - The data goldmine vs. Google Analytics
16:51 - Building the C-suite business case
23:53 - Teams that benefit from search data
25:15 - Breaking down team silos

"You could have the best search engine in the world, but if your content isn't good, it doesn't matter. And it's an inverse relationship too. You could have great content, poor search, and still have the same problem." - Justin Loera