This Old Marketing
AI Can Now Do Marketing. Now What? (523)
Why It Matters
Understanding AI's disruptive potential is crucial for marketers who must adapt skill sets and strategies before large portions of their roles become automated. The episode’s timely analysis of job risk data, platform shifts, and real‑world reactions equips listeners to navigate the evolving landscape and stay competitive.
Key Takeaways
- •Facial recognition expands beyond airports into theme parks.
- •Few professionals truly grasp generative AI's business impact.
- •Anthropic study says 65% of marketing jobs at risk.
- •Marketers must become fluent with AI to survive.
Pulse Analysis
The episode opens with a vivid example of how facial‑recognition technology is moving from airports into everyday leisure spaces, such as Universal’s Epic Universe. Listeners hear how biometric lockers replace traditional keypads, illustrating a broader trend: AI‑driven identification is becoming a default layer of convenience and surveillance. Yet the hosts note that most professionals remain unaware of generative AI’s practical implications, with only a small slice truly understanding how these tools reshape workflows and decision‑making.
A central focus is the Anthropic report that predicts roughly 65% of marketing tasks could be automated. The hosts break down why marketing is uniquely vulnerable: it is language‑heavy, sits at the crossroads of creativity and process, and historically suffers from under‑resourcing. Consequently, marketers who cling to legacy skill sets risk obsolescence. The conversation stresses a clear prescription—acquire AI fluency, experiment with large‑language models, and reposition oneself as a strategic AI‑augmented thinker rather than a purely tactical executor.
Education and industry response round out the discussion. At SXSW EDU, a surge of youthful energy highlighted both excitement and anxiety about AI’s rapid adoption, echoing concerns about deep‑fake proliferation and brand safety. The hosts argue that marketers must champion AI literacy within their organizations, integrate ethical guidelines for synthetic media, and leverage AI as a content‑creation engine. By embracing continuous learning and proactive governance, marketers can turn the perceived AI apocalypse into a competitive advantage.
Episode Description
This week, Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose dig into fascinating new research from Anthropic that reveals how large language models are already capable of executing many traditional marketing tasks. The conversation quickly turns into a deeper question. Is the real disruption AI itself, or the fact that many leaders in mid-size and enterprise organizations never truly valued marketing in the first place? If machines can now execute the tactics, what happens to marketing teams that were already fighting for credibility inside their organizations?
The discussion explores what the research means for the future of marketing roles, how AI will reshape tactical execution, and whether strategy, creativity, and trust-building become the true competitive advantages. As usual, Joe and Robert have plenty of opinions and a few laughs along the way.
In other news, Meta makes another big move by acquiring Moltbook. Is this a calculated, low-risk gamble from the tech giant, or does the move signal growing pressure in the AI platform race?
Meanwhile, LinkedIn content is increasingly appearing in responses from AI chatbots and generative search tools. Joe and Robert discuss what this shift means for marketers and content creators trying to remain visible as discovery moves away from traditional search engines.
Winners and Losers
Winner #1:
Tecovas: A clever follow-up short film connected to a Super Bowl ad campaign shows how brands can extend the life of expensive tentpole advertising.
Winner #2:
Coinbase launches its new "NPC Break-Free" campaign that will run during the Academy Awards, taking a bold creative swing at culture, conformity, and crypto skepticism.
Rants and Raves
Robert dives into BlackRock and the fallout surrounding its private credit strategy, raising questions about risk and transparency.
Joe closes the show with a rant about a stunning operational blunder by United States national baseball team during the World Baseball Classic.
Subscribe and Follow:
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This week's sponsor:
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Get all the show notes: https://www.thisoldmarketing.com/
Get Joe's new book, Burn the Playbook, at http://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
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