Today Trish, Holly, and I are talking about brands and what we know about them! It is interesting to see where how certain things intersect with us sometimes, regardless of age or gender!

The Marketing Gateway is a weekly podcast hosted by Sean in St. Louis (Sean J. Jordan, President of https://www.researchplan.com/) and featuring guests from the St. Louis area and beyond.

Every week, Sean shares insights about the world of marketing and speaks to people who are working in various marketing roles – creative agencies, brand managers, MarCom professionals, PR pros, business owners, academics, entrepreneurs, researchers and more!

The goal of The Marketing Gateway is simple – we want to build a connection between all of our marketing mentors in the Midwest and learn from one another! And the best way to learn is to listen.

And the next best way is to share!

For more episodes: http://themarketinggateway.com/

Copyright 2025, The Research & Planning Group, Inc.

If you didn't already know, and couldn't tell by todays background, I am A HUGE Lego fan! So why not make episode 50 all about Lego?

Today we are talking about the evolution of Lego, and how they almost fumbled the bag... er... the box!

The Marketing Gateway is a weekly podcast hosted by Sean in St. Louis (Sean J. Jordan, President of https://www.researchplan.com/) and featuring guests from the St. Louis area and beyond.

Every week, Sean shares insights about the world of marketing and speaks to people who are working in various marketing roles – creative agencies, brand managers, MarCom professionals, PR pros, business owners, academics, entrepreneurs, researchers and more!

The goal of The Marketing Gateway is simple – we want to build a connection between all of our marketing mentors in the Midwest and learn from one another! And the best way to learn is to listen.

And the next best way is to share!

For more episodes: http://themarketinggateway.com/

Copyright 2025, The Research & Planning Group, Inc.

Here is part 2 of my interview with Brandon! This was a really fun interview for me, so I am excited to share it with everyone!

Brandon's bio:

"Better questions reveal better truth."

Founder and CEO of Words Have Impact, a content agency that creates thought leadership that humans love, and that AI remembers.

Also founder of Human Driven Understanding, a market research company that reveals how and why a company's best clients buy so that they can replicate the journey and increase revenue.

Contact Brandon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandontowl/

Brandon's plugs:

Brandon's company:

https://hdunderstanding.com/

Support local! The coffee shops mentioned:

https://www.livingroomstl.com/

https://www.telvastl.com/

https://kaldiscoffee.com/

https://www.antagonistcafe.com/

https://e61cafe.com/

https://www.northwestcoffee.com/

The Marketing Gateway is a weekly podcast hosted by Sean in St. Louis (Sean J. Jordan, President of https://www.researchplan.com/) and featuring guests from the St. Louis area and beyond.

Every week, Sean shares insights about the world of marketing and speaks to people who are working in various marketing roles – creative agencies, brand managers, MarCom professionals, PR pros, business owners, academics, entrepreneurs, researchers and more!

The goal of The Marketing Gateway is simple – we want to build a connection between all of our marketing mentors in the Midwest and learn from one another! And the best way to learn is to listen.

And the next best way is to share!

For more episodes: http://themarketinggateway.com/

Copyright 2025, The Research & Planning Group, Inc.

From neuroscience facts to marketing know how, Brandon truly has it all!

Today is part 1 of our interview, and I really enjoyed getting to speak with him. Tune in tomorrow for part 2!

Brandon's bio:

"Better questions reveal better truth."

Founder and CEO of Words Have Impact, a content agency that creates thought leadership that humans love, and that AI remembers.

Also founder of Human Driven Understanding, a market research company that reveals how and why a company's best clients buy so that they can replicate the journey and increase revenue.

Contact Brandon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandontowl/

The Marketing Gateway is a weekly podcast hosted by Sean in St. Louis (Sean J. Jordan, President of https://www.researchplan.com/) and featuring guests from the St. Louis area and beyond.

Every week, Sean shares insights about the world of marketing and speaks to people who are working in various marketing roles – creative agencies, brand managers, MarCom professionals, PR pros, business owners, academics, entrepreneurs, researchers and more!

The goal of The Marketing Gateway is simple – we want to build a connection between all of our marketing mentors in the Midwest and learn from one another! And the best way to learn is to listen.

And the next best way is to share!

For more episodes: http://themarketinggateway.com/

Copyright 2025, The Research & Planning Group, Inc.

Unfortunately, our planned episode for today didn't work out, but thankfully, Microsoft gave me something to talk about instead!

As we have discussed recently, AI is becoming more and more integrated into the things we do daily, and the most recent example is Microsoft's latest move.

What are your opinions on their most recent change? Let us know in the comments below!

SOURCES:

https://electroiq.com/stats/microsoft-365-statistics/

https://expertinsights.com/email-security/microsoft-365-usage-and-security-statistics-for-2024

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2024/10/17/microsoft-365-copilot-drove-up-to-353-roi-for-small-and-medium-businesses-new-study/

https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2025/10/16/making-every-windows-11-pc-an-ai-pc/

The Marketing Gateway is a weekly podcast hosted by Sean in St. Louis (Sean J. Jordan, President of https://www.researchplan.com/) and featuring guests from the St. Louis area and beyond.

Every week, Sean shares insights about the world of marketing and speaks to people who are working in various marketing roles – creative agencies, brand managers, MarCom professionals, PR pros, business owners, academics, entrepreneurs, researchers and more!

The goal of The Marketing Gateway is simple – we want to build a connection between all of our marketing mentors in the Midwest and learn from one another! And the best way to learn is to listen.

And the next best way is to share!

For more episodes: http://themarketinggateway.com/

Copyright 2025, The Research & Planning Group, Inc.

Does customer service really help with marketing? As a matter of fact, yes!

Word of mouth is extremely important to consumers when looking into a brand, so a bad experience for one person could completely put another off your brand without any input from you!

And while taking care of your customer is important, taking care of your employees is important too. They are often considered the face of the brand after all!

Sources:

https://www.reddit.com/r/rant/comments/1pyvbre/is_this_just_how_customer_service_works_now/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Birkenstocks/comments/1pijhzn/birkenstocks_busted_just_like_their_customer/

https://www.reddit.com/r/verizon/comments/1pr4wzb/verizon_has_been_an_absolute_nightmare_worst/

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/technology/verizon-s-mass-layoffs-were-inevitable-ceo-says-what-the-telecom-wants-to-do-in-2026/ar-AA1RO4tA

https://nypost.com/2025/11/14/business/ousted-verizon-boss-could-still-pocket-most-of-20m-salary-as-company-cuts-15000-jobs-report/

https://nextsprints.com/guide/procter-gamble-tide-product-teardown-analysis)

The Marketing Gateway is a weekly podcast hosted by Sean in St. Louis (Sean J. Jordan, President of https://www.researchplan.com/) and featuring guests from the St. Louis area and beyond.

Every week, Sean shares insights about the world of marketing and speaks to people who are working in various marketing roles – creative agencies, brand managers, MarCom professionals, PR pros, business owners, academics, entrepreneurs, researchers and more!

The goal of The Marketing Gateway is simple – we want to build a connection between all of our marketing mentors in the Midwest and learn from one another! And the best way to learn is to listen.

And the next best way is to share!

For more episodes: http://themarketinggateway.com/

Copyright 2025, The Research & Planning Group, Inc.

While AI can be a helpful tool, it can also be pretty unreliable. Not only to you have proof from other people, but it even admits it itself!

If that's the case, why use it for marketing?

In today's episode, I'll give some examples of how to effectively use AI for marketing.

Love it or hate it, AI is becoming a bigger part of the world around us, so maybe we can use it for good!

SOURCES:

https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2025/ai-redefining-marketing-today-tomorrow/

The Marketing Gateway is a weekly podcast hosted by Sean in St. Louis (Sean J. Jordan, President of https://www.researchplan.com/) and featuring guests from the St. Louis area and beyond.

Every week, Sean shares insights about the world of marketing and speaks to people who are working in various marketing roles – creative agencies, brand managers, MarCom professionals, PR pros, business owners, academics, entrepreneurs, researchers and more!

The goal of The Marketing Gateway is simple – we want to build a connection between all of our marketing mentors in the Midwest and learn from one another! And the best way to learn is to listen.

And the next best way is to share!

For more episodes: http://themarketinggateway.com/

Copyright 2025, The Research & Planning Group, Inc.

Last time you went shopping, do you remember seeing an ad for a particular brand?

RMNs, you've definitely seen them, but maybe you didn't know it had a name. Now you do!

In today's episode, we talk all about them, their advantages, and those pesky disadvantages!

SOURCES:

https://www.marketingdive.com/news/the-future-retail-media-networks-heres-what-the-numbers-say/742455/

https://www.sellerapp.com/blog/retail-media-networks/

https://martech.org/why-we-care-about-retail-media-networks/

https://www.emarketer.com/learningcenter/guides/definition-retail-media-networks/

https://www.aidigital.com/blog/retail-media-networks

The Marketing Gateway is a weekly podcast hosted by Sean in St. Louis (Sean J. Jordan, President of https://www.researchplan.com/) and featuring guests from the St. Louis area and beyond.

Every week, Sean shares insights about the world of marketing and speaks to people who are working in various marketing roles – creative agencies, brand managers, MarCom professionals, PR pros, business owners, academics, entrepreneurs, researchers and more!

The goal of The Marketing Gateway is simple – we want to build a connection between all of our marketing mentors in the Midwest and learn from one another! And the best way to learn is to listen.

And the next best way is to share!

For more episodes: http://themarketinggateway.com/

Copyright 2025, The Research & Planning Group, Inc.

Drop the beat, literally!

The future of advertising is here, with no sound required!

Do you think your ads can speak without a sound? No sound ads aren’t just silence; they're a strategy to engage viewers in a busy digital world. Grabbing the attention of the viewer is the important part!

SOURCES:

https://www.moreaboutadvertising.com/2025/09/silent-creative-how-no-sound-ads-win-attention/

https://www.wtaeadvertising.com/post/a-quiet-approach-loud-results-why-silent-ads-are-winning-in-2025

https://www.nextdropdesign.com/resources/sound-off-video-ads

https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesagencycouncil/2019/05/10/the-silent-video-generation-10-ways-to-make-great-videos-without-sound/

https://www.reddit.com/r/advertising/comments/r8w3ty/has_anyone_else_noticed_the_trend_in_silent_ads/

https://www.appletoncreative.com/why-are-ads-losing-sound/

https://chatterblast.com/blog/sound-on-or-off-recent-trends-in-video-advertising/

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/videos-without-sound

The Marketing Gateway is a weekly podcast hosted by Sean in St. Louis (Sean J. Jordan, President of https://www.researchplan.com/) and featuring guests from the St. Louis area and beyond.

Every week, Sean shares insights about the world of marketing and speaks to people who are working in various marketing roles – creative agencies, brand managers, MarCom professionals, PR pros, business owners, academics, entrepreneurs, researchers and more!

The goal of The Marketing Gateway is simple – we want to build a connection between all of our marketing mentors in the Midwest and learn from one another! And the best way to learn is to listen.

And the next best way is to share!

For more episodes: http://themarketinggateway.com/

Copyright 2025, The Research & Planning Group, Inc.

What is treatonomics and how is it useful for marketing? Find out in today's episode!

Remember to make it easy and stress free for your consumer. That's what it is all about!

SOURCES:

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/09/from-lipsticks-to-concerts-the-treatonomics-trend-is-booming.html

https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/the-treatonomics-trend-explained-6494332/

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/personalfinance/treatonomics-how-small-luxuries-became-america-s-big-coping-mechanism/ar-AA1KobCN

The Marketing Gateway is a weekly podcast hosted by Sean in St. Louis (Sean J. Jordan, President of https://www.researchplan.com/) and featuring guests from the St. Louis area and beyond.

Every week, Sean shares insights about the world of marketing and speaks to people who are working in various marketing roles – creative agencies, brand managers, MarCom professionals, PR pros, business owners, academics, entrepreneurs, researchers and more!

The goal of The Marketing Gateway is simple – we want to build a connection between all of our marketing mentors in the Midwest and learn from one another! And the best way to learn is to listen.

And the next best way is to share!

For more episodes: http://themarketinggateway.com/

Copyright 2025, The Research & Planning Group, Inc.