On a special bonus episode of On Scope, Alex Josephson, VP of BrandWorks at LinkedIn, went live on LinkedIn with host Mike Berberich for a deep dive on how marketing and business professionals can turn personal branding into a powerful growth driver. Along with questions from the audience, Mike and Alex discussed best practices for growing the personal brand of executives and frontline employees, how companies can systematize professional brand development, and what you can do to build your own personal brand without coming off as — well — cringe.

Dr. Marcus Collins, an author and clinical professor of marketing at the University of Michigan, is an expert on culture and how it influences human behavior. As both an academic and a practitioner, his strategies and creative contributions have led to hugely successful activations for clients like McDonald’s, Google, and even pop superstar Beyoncé.

On this episode of On Scope, Marcus joins host Mike Berberich to unpack why brands so often misinterpret culture and how marketers can move from chasing popularity to facilitating meaningful connection with consumers. Together, Mike and Marcus explore why understanding brand purpose — or brand conviction, as Marcus prefers to call it — is so crucial to successfully engaging in culture, why treating culture as a monolith flattens nuance and strips marketing of authenticity, the biggest lessons Marcus learned while spearheading Beyoncé’s digital strategy, and how employees lower down on the corporate ladder can positively affect their own company’s internal culture.

On “News You Might Have Missed,” Mike and show producer Ryan Dinger discuss a report from ADWEEK that Spotify is debuting carousel ads and branded playlist takeovers on its app. This news from Spotify, plus pricing trends on platforms like Netflix, has Mike and Ryan wondering if we’re witnessing the death of premium content, with consumers seemingly being nudged toward ad-supported experiences. The pair highlight some potential concerns for advertisers in this new reality — including how audiences entering ad tiers may be resentful, more sensitive to interruption, and less tolerant of lazy or repetitive creative — and offer some thoughts on how brands might engage these spaces without incurring consumer ire.

As you’ll learn during this episode, culture moves quickly, and the cost of getting it wrong is real. The best marketers build stronger cultural instincts by learning from people who are doing the work at the highest level. ANA National Industry Conferences put marketers in the room with CMOs and senior leaders shaping what’s next, with practical takeaways and connections that carry beyond the event. Check out the full lineup of upcoming conferences by visiting www.ana.net/conferences.

Have a topic idea or guest suggestion for On Scope? Let us know by emailing onscope@ana.net.

Bob Regular, CEO at Infolinks Media, has been in ad tech long enough to see every hype cycle come and go. With all that experience, Bob now maintains that the marketing industry is stuck chasing the wrong things, arguing that smarter media buy paths — rather than shorter ones — are the key to unlocking efficiency, performance, and trust in programmatic media.

On this episode of On Scope, Bob joins host Mike Berberich to break down why proprietary inventory and context signals are rewriting the rules for programmatic and why advertisers who optimize for outcomes instead of shortcuts will be the ones who win in the long run. Together, Bob and Mike explore where the industry has gone wrong in its quest for programmatic efficiency, the engagement signals that indicate high-performing ad placements that all marketers need to know, and Bob’s tips for how marketers can get beyond the jargon and begin to apply common sense to achieve optimized, transparent media buys.

In a special segment, Matthew Schwartz, editor of ANA magazine, provides an on-the-ground report of PepsiCo’s in-house content agency, the Content Studio, and an in-depth look at broader trends within the in-house agency space. Matthew sits down with Lou Arbetter, head of the Content Studio, Jayne Amrosini, head of strategy at the Content Studio, and representatives from BBDO and Vaynermedia to learn how in-house and external agencies are collaborating to power stronger business results and what the future of in-house agencies looks like.

If this episode has made you realize you need to rethink your entire approach to media, the ANA Media Practice has the tools and insights to help. From CTV and retail media to influencer and programmatic transparency, this is the hub for smarter media, cleaner supply chains, and billions in efficiency gains. Check out all the resources available by visiting www.ana.net/media.

The On Scope team would love to hear from you! If you have an idea for a topic or guest you’d like to see on a future episode, let them know by emailing onscope@ana.net.

Laura Ries is a globally recognized branding strategist and bestselling author of the book, The Strategic Enemy: How to Build and Position a Brand Worth Fighting For. Since 2022, Laura has continued her father’s legacy, serving as the chairwoman of RIES, a consultancy that aims to lead brands to clarity and focus by using proven positioning strategies that help them stand out in the minds of consumers.

On this episode of On Scope, Laura sits down with host Mike Berberich for a compelling conversation on visual hammers, brand anchors, and strategic enemies. Together the duo covers what most marketers get wrong about brand positioning, what a strategic enemy is and how it can actually be a force multiplier for branding, and the most common missteps brands take when with their positioning as they expand the business.

On “This Week in ANA Magazine,” Matthew Schwartz, editor of the magazine, joins the show to spotlight a new article on the great B2B marketing reset and how AI is upending search. Matthew outlines the ways in which B2B brands will have to adapt to this new reality, including a need to lean into more human activations like live events to build meaningful relationships with buyers.

Your brand strategy can only go as far as your execution allows. And right now, AI is changing what great execution looks like. The ANA Generative AI Essentials for Marketers Certificate Program gives you exactly what you need to keep up. In just ninety minutes, our six focused courses will provide real practitioner experience you can apply directly to your work. Get certified by visiting us at www.ana.net/AICert26.

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

Kellie Pean and Alyssa Convertini Lindquist are the co-founders of Brand New: A Collective, a bicoastal and award-winning marketing agency with disciplines across creative, strategy, experiential production, and talent partnerships. The agency is guided by a penchant for cultural mastery, using its team’s deep understanding of culture to craft stellar campaigns and activations that drive meaningful business results.

On this episode of On Scope, the women behind Brand New join host Mike Berberich to share their founders’ story and explain how company culture is the ultimate catalyst for producing great work. Together, the trio covers the realities of being a female entrepreneur in a patriarchal society, the silent killers Kellie and Alyssa believe pull down company culture, how smaller brands can participate in and own culture without needing a massive media budget, and how brands of all sizes can engage in culture without coming off as cringe.

On “News You Might Have Missed,” Mike and show producer Ryan Dinger discuss a story from ANA Magazine covering key takeaways from the ANA’s latest report, “The Continued Acceleration of Principal Media.” The report shows that marketers are leveraging principal media more, despite their growing concerns. Mike and Ryan discuss why this contradiction might be occurring, highlight how marketers are still dropping the ball when it comes to media governance, and point out how misguided, top-down organizational pressure might be forcing marketers to invest in media buys that they don’t have the utmost confidence in.

As you’ll learn during this episode, culture moves quickly, and the cost of getting it wrong is real. The best marketers build stronger cultural instincts by learning from people who are doing the work at the highest level. ANA National Industry Conferences put marketers in the room with CMOs and senior leaders shaping what’s next, with practical takeaways and connections that carry beyond the event. Check out the full lineup of upcoming conferences by visiting www.ana.net/conferences.

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

Rita Ramakrishnan is an executive coach with more than 15 years’ experience leading people strategy and helping neurodivergent executives turn their cognitive differences into competitive advantages. Through the years, she has developed a keen understanding of how team structures can be designed to maximize the strengths of all individuals, but especially those who are neurodivergent.

On this episode of On Scope, Rita, who is the founder and CEO at Iksana Consulting, joins host Mike Berberich to discuss what brands and business leaders can do to tap into the superpowers of their neurodivergent workforce, an increasingly critical business imperative, as more than half of gen Z now identify as neurodivergent. Together, Mike and Rita discuss the specific advantages of creating a work environment where neurodivergent employees can thrive, what steps companies can take to create this type of environment, and how those lower down on the corporate ladder can convince leadership that making accommodations for neurodivergent individuals is not about entitlement but rather about maximizing the potential of the entire team.

On “News You Might Have Missed,” Mike and show producer Ryan Dinger discuss an article from ADWEEK on the persistent gender wage gap in advertising, with a new study showing women working at ad agencies still earn 5 percent less than their male counterparts, despite ongoing efforts to achieve pay equity. Mike and Ryan acknowledge that this issue probably exists on the brand side, as well, before hypothesizing on why the industry continues to struggle to make progress, highlighting the culture they both experienced when working at agencies and speculating about the need to rethink leadership models in business.

If the conversation with Rita has you wondering how to get the most out of your own team, then you’ll want to check out the ANA’s Marketing Training and Development Center, which helps build capabilities through open workshops, both online and in-person, and certification programs. Learn more by visiting us at www.ana.net/mtdc.

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

Gravity Research’s Joanna Piacenza has a knack for driving enterprise growth through research-backed thought leadership and integrated marketing strategy. As VP of thought leadership and marketing, she excels at translating proprietary research into executive-ready narratives and strategic communications.

On this episode of On Scope, Joanna joins host Mike Berberich to share recent research from her organization indicating that 2026 looks to be a year of playing it safe for marketers and explain why that just may be the riskiest move a brand can make.

Together, Joanna and Mike cover the role AI has played in marketers opting to play it safer this year, what Joanna is hearing from Fortune 500 executives about their concerns for 2026 that hasn’t shown up in public discourse yet, and her advice for how marketers can take risks without upsetting brand stakeholders.

On “This Week in ANA Magazine,” Matthew Schwartz, editor of the publication, joins Mike to spotlight an article on the proliferation of creator partnerships in marketing. Together, the pair underscore some of the best practices needed to make these activations succeed and highlight some of the KPIs marketers should consider.

If your business wants real connection, then it’s time to partner with the ANA. Become an official ANA sponsor and you will connect with the brands shaping the future of our industry, from Google and Amazon to Meta and TikTok. You can learn more about the fantastic opportunities available to you by visiting www.ana.net/sponsorship.

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

Since 2021, when the Supreme Court rejected an NCAA appeal of its antitrust lawsuit, student athletes have been able to receive compensation for licensing their name, image, and likeness (NIL) in business partnerships. This watershed moment not only changed the college sports landscape, but also opened up the door to a new and exciting opportunity for brand advertisers increasingly under pressure to connect with consumers. Now, just five years after that landmark court decision, NIL partnerships are big business, with the total investment in these deals exceeding $2.5 billion in 2025 alone. However, the space is still nascent, with many marketers stumbling to figure out how to best maximize these new partnerships.

Ahead of March Madness, Solly Fulp and Grant Jones, both of Learfield — a media, data, and technology services company with an unparalleled footprint in college sports — join the On Scope team to break down everything marketers need to know about the current state and future of NIL partnerships.

With host Mike Berberich running point, Solly and Grant cover some of the less obvious characteristics brands should be looking for in student athlete partners, how brands might maintain stability with NIL partners during transfer portal chaos, and their one piece of advice on what every brand marketer needs to be doing to maximize the ROI of their NIL agreements.

On “News You Might Have Missed,” Mike and show producer Ryan Dinger discuss a Zappi report that found that an alarming number of women think brands aren’t investing in ads that genuinely reflect them, with many calling the efforts “performative.” The pair speculates about where brands are going wrong on this front and offers some insight into how they might get back on track.

NIL changed college sports marketing fast. The brands that will win now are the ones who understand the landscape, set smart standards, and move early. That’s the point of ANA Practices. Members come together to raise the bar in AI, Brand, Media, Measurement, B2B, and more, so teams can lead change instead of chasing it. Check out the resources from the ANA Practices and get involved by visiting www.ana.net/leadership.

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