Podcast
The Rockstar CMO F'in' Marketing Podcast
Hosted by Rockstar CMO · EN
Does the world need another f'in' marketing podcast? Our host and 4xCMO Ian Truscott asked this in 2020, and the world said "no", but he did it anyway - and each week with his guests and chums, he shares B2B marketing street knowledge - the authentic, practical marketing strategy advice that will bring out the rock star marketer in you. Learn more, follow, and get the show notes at https://rockstarcmo.com.
36episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
The Simon Brings the Research, and Robert is Overthinking Episode
5d ago01:00:36Tap to summarizeThis week, Simon Daniels, Principal Consultant at Accenture Song, a marketing and revenue operations expert and former Forrester analyst, is back in the studio, and he arrives clutching the results of the “Accenture Song Client Buying Index 2026”- which was shared at a recent “Rethink’ event, and in keeping with the editorial policy of the show, he shares his 5 f’in’ favorites. Ian then joins Robert Rose, Chief Trouble Maker at SeventhBear, in our virtual bar, to discuss the tension of quality, price, or convenience when it comes to having AI create our content, as we assume everyone wants quality, but maybe they want it quicker, cheaper, and more convenient. Enjoy! — The Links The people: Ian Truscott on LinkedIn Simon Daniels on LinkedIn Robert Rose on LinkedIn Mentioned this week: Accenture Song: Growth Through Relevance What's Broken in GTM and How to Fix It - Podcast Robert’s podcast: This Old Marketing Robert’s newsletter: Lens, his websites, robertrose.net and seventhbear.com Rockstar CMO: The Beat Newsletter Rockstar CMO on the web, Twitter, and LinkedIn Previous episodes and all the show notes: Rockstar CMO FM. Track List: Stienski & Mass Media - We'll be right back Piano Music is by Johnny Easton, shared under a Creative Commons license You can listen to this on all good podcast platforms, like Apple, Amazon, and Spotify. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The Whispered Brand Voice and Boundary Spanners Episode
2w ago00:52:31Tap to summarizeThis week, Ian and Cathy McKnight, Chief Problem Solver at Seventh Bear discuss a recent post from her Bear Essentials series on their blog - Your Voice and Tone Aren’t Guidelines, They’re Discipline They discuss: A brand voice guide is only useful if it becomes a habit AI makes brand discipline more important, not less Voice and tone belong to everyone, not just the brand team Make guidance practical and measurable Test whether your brand actually sounds like itself Ian then joins Robert Rose in the virtual bar, The Rose & Rockstar, to pick his brain on a marketing topic over a classic cocktail. This week, Ian and Robert discuss not busting the silos, drawing on his article for the Content Marketing Institute, How To Fix Marketing Silos Without Breaking Them Down, and Robert introduces us to the term "boundary spanners." . Enjoy! — The Links The people: Ian Truscott on LinkedIn Cathy McKnight on LinkedIn Robert Rose on LinkedIn Mentioned this week: Your Voice and Tone Aren’t Guidelines, They’re Discipline How To Fix Marketing Silos Without Breaking Them Down Robert’s podcast: This Old Marketing Robert’s newsletter: Lens, his websites, robertrose.net and seventhbear.com Rockstar CMO: The Beat Newsletter that we send every Monday Rockstar CMO on the web and LinkedIn Previous episodes and all the show notes: Rockstar CMO FM. Track List: We’ll be right back by Stienski & Mass Media on YouTube Piano Music is by Johnny Easton, shared under a Creative Commons license You can listen to this on all good podcast platforms, like Apple, Amazon, and Spotify. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The Thomas Peham Entrepreneur's Journey Episode
3w ago00:32:17Tap to summarizeThis week, Thomas Peham, former CMO at StoryBlok and co-founder of Otterly.ai joins our host Ian Truscott to share his journey of leaving corporate leadership and becoming an entrepreneur. They cover: The leap of faith from corporate to startup Building a remote team The transition from CMO to founder Education as a marketing strategy Navigating competition and market dynamics What’s next for Otterly and GEO? Enjoy! — Sadly, no fun in our virtual bar this week as Robert Rose was called away for a client emergency, but he’ll be back next week. — The Links The people: Ian Truscott on LinkedIn Thomas Peham on LinkedIn Mentioned this week: Otterly.ai Previous episode - 260: The Rockstar CMO Studio: Thomas Peham, GEO and Otterly Rockstar CMO: The Beat Newsletter that we send every Monday Rockstar CMO on the web and LinkedIn Previous episodes and all the show notes: Rockstar CMO FM. Track List: We’ll be right back by Stienski & Mass Media on YouTube Piano Music is by Johnny Easton, shared under a Creative Commons license You can listen to this on all major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, and Spotify. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The Head of AI and Insight Episode
4w ago00:50:47Tap to summarizeThis week, former Forrester Research Director Jeff Clark is in the studio with our host Ian Truscott to return to their One Hit Wonder or Wonderwall treatment, when they decide if something in marketing will fade away or stand the test of time. Getting this scrutiny this week is the role Head of AI role that is being talked about. The idea that we need someone in the leadership teams responsible for all things AI. Will this endure, like the CIO role, or be transient like the Head of Digital Transformation? Once they decide, Ian moves to our virtual bar, The Rose and Rockstar, and joins Robert Rose, Chief Trouble Maker at Seventh Bear, to discuss whether AI can produce insight and whether it matters. Enjoy! — The Links The people: Ian Truscott on LinkedIn Jeff Clark on LinkedIn Robert Rose on LinkedIn Mentioned this week: Ian’s LinkedIn Newsletter edition: Does Insight Need You To Be First? Rockstar CMO: The Beat Newsletter that we send every Monday Rockstar CMO on the web and LinkedIn Previous episodes and all the show notes: Rockstar CMO FM. Track List: We’ll be right back by Stienski & Mass Media on YouTube Piano Music is by Johnny Easton, shared under a Creative Commons license Truth Hurts ft. Rakim - Addictive (Music Video) on YouTube You can listen to this on all major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, and Spotify. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The AI for Scale, Volume, and Cannes Episode
Jun 2700:54:44Tap to summarizeThis week, Ian and Cathy McKnight, Chief Problem Solver at Seventh Bear discuss a recent post from her Bear Essentials series on the Seventh Bear blog - You're Not Scaling Content. You're Scaling Chaos. They discuss: Difference between scale and volume in content creation Impact metrics vs. production metrics Organizational governance and foundational systems The risks of scaling content without measuring impact and ROI Content quality and originality in AI-generated content Content bottlenecks and downstream effects Ian then joins Robert Rose in the virtual bar, The Rose & Rockstar, to pick his brains on a marketing topic over a classic cocktail This week, Ian and Robert discuss how AI has crept into the Cannes Lions awards criteria, and some thoughts he shared in his Rose Colored Glasses series on the Content Marketing Institute blog - The Cannes Lions Lesson Every Creative AI Initiative Needs, and celebrate his birthday, an absolute classic of a cocktail. Enjoy! — The Links The people: Ian Truscott on LinkedIn Cathy McKnight on LinkedIn Robert Rose on LinkedIn Mentioned this week: You're Not Scaling Content. You're Scaling Chaos. The Cannes Lions Lesson Every Creative AI Initiative Needs Robert’s podcast: This Old Marketing Robert’s newsletter: Lens, his websites, robertrose.net and seventhbear.com Rockstar CMO: The Beat Newsletter that we send every Monday Rockstar CMO on the web and LinkedIn Previous episodes and all the show notes: Rockstar CMO FM. Track List: We’ll be right back by Stienski & Mass Media on YouTube Piano Music is by Johnny Easton, shared under a Creative Commons license You can listen to this on all good podcast platforms, like Apple, Amazon, and Spotify. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The Heinz Mid-Year Review and Marketing Jobs for Humans Marketing Episode
Jun 2000:59:30Tap to summarizeThis week, former Forrester Research Director Jeff Clark is in the studio with our host Ian Truscott, to discuss a mid-year review from Matt Heinz called The State of the B2B CMO (almost) Halfway Through 2026. They share 5 f’in’ things they take from his research are: Financial literacy is a required skill The role of the CMO is changing Where the buyer is versus where we pretend they are The organizational impact of AI Tensions defining 2026 Ian then joins Robert Rose in our virtual bar, The Rose and Rockstar, for one of his fabulous cocktails and a chat about a marketing topic. This week, Ian and Robert discuss a recent issue of his Lens Newsletter. In his newsletter, he said: For two years, we’ve been trapped in the dumbest debate in the business: will AI replace marketers, or augment them into X-Men? Panel after panel. Carousel after carousel. The whole industry is squinting at a coin flip. And it was the wrong question the entire time - wrong enough that answering it cost us two years and a fortune in tokens. The right question is one marketing has been dodging for 26 years: what work actually deserves a human’s time? So, over a birthday cocktail, Ian asks - what work deserves human time? Enjoy! — The Links The people: Ian Truscott on LinkedIn Jeff Clark on LinkedIn Robert Rose on LinkedIn Mentioned this week: State of the B2B CMO (almost) Halfway Through 2026 Robert’s Lens newsletter issue: You Had To Be a Big Shot Didn't You! Rockstar CMO: The Beat Newsletter that we send every Monday Rockstar CMO on the web and LinkedIn Previous episodes and all the show notes: Rockstar CMO FM. Track List: We’ll be right back by Stienski & Mass Media on YouTube Piano Music is by Johnny Easton, shared under a Creative Commons license Duran Duran - Ordinary World (Official Music Video) on YouTube You can listen to this on all major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, and Spotify. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The Folklore and Mid-Year AI Reality Check Episode
Jun 1300:56:29Tap to summarizeThis week, former Forrester Research Director Jeff Clark is back in the studio with our host Ian Truscott, and they discuss the impact of folklore within a business, which can be positive or it can hold your business back. Their conversation is inspired by some work by Kerry Cunningham at 6Sense: Folklore Debt: The Stories That Build B2B Companies — and the Ones That Hold Them Back | 6sense They share 5 f’in’ takeaways from Kerry’s work: Companies thrive on their origin story Being defined by features Technical debt constrains future growth Narrative eras and stories Focus on why you will win in the future Ian then joins Robert Rose in our virtual bar, The Rose and Rockstar, for one of his fabulous cocktails and a chat about a marketing topic. This week, Ian and Robert discuss an article from Robert’s column for The Content Marketing Institute The Mid-Year AI Reality Check Marketing Teams Need, which dives into the results of his analysis of 500 agentic AI use cases. Enjoy! — The Links The people: Ian Truscott on LinkedIn Jeff Clark on LinkedIn Robert Rose on LinkedIn Mentioned this week: Folklore Debt: The Stories That Build B2B Companies — and the Ones That Hold Them Back | 6sense The Mid-Year AI Reality Check Marketing Teams Need Rockstar CMO: The Beat Newsletter that we send every Monday Rockstar CMO on the web and LinkedIn Previous episodes and all the show notes: Rockstar CMO FM. Track List: We’ll be right back by Stienski & Mass Media on YouTube Piano Music is by Johnny Easton, shared under a Creative Commons license Eminem - My Name Is (Official Music Video) on YouTube You can listen to this on all major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, and Spotify. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The LLMs as Analysts and Content Factory to Media Powerhouse Episode
Jun 600:56:56Tap to summarizeThis week, former Forrester Research Director Jeff Clark is back in the studio with our host Ian Truscott, and they discuss the impact of LLMs on the big analyst firms and the general advisory around B2B buying decisions. They share 5 f’in’ tips for buyers, analysts, and vendors in this new buying environment LLMs only work on publicly available information Vendors need to broaden the scope of AR/IR/PR Where do I go for unbiased, original research? Beating FOMU or FOFU How can we connect buyers to successful peers? Ian then joins Robert Rose in our virtual bar, The Rose and Rockstar, for one of his fabulous cocktails and a chat about a marketing topic. This week, Ian and Robert discuss an article from Robert’s column for The Content Marketing Institute From Content Factory to Media Operation: A Maturity Model for 2026 and Robert steps through four maturity steps: Stage one: Campaign-led marketing. Stage two: Content factory. Stage three: Content orchestration. Stage four: Integrated media operation Enjoy! — The Links The people: Ian Truscott on LinkedIn Jeff Clark on LinkedIn Robert Rose on LinkedIn Mentioned this week: Ian's Tuesday 2¢ blog Robert’s article: From Content Factory to Media Operation: A Maturity Model for 2026 Robert’s newsletter: Lens, his websites, robertrose.net and seventhbear.com Rockstar CMO: The Beat Newsletter that we send every Monday Rockstar CMO on the web and LinkedIn Previous episodes and all the show notes: Rockstar CMO FM. Track List: We’ll be right back by Stienski & Mass Media on YouTube Piano Music is by Johnny Easton, shared under a Creative Commons license Foo Fighters - My Hero (Official HD Video) on YouTube You can listen to this on all major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, and Spotify. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The Your Content is Your AI Problem and the Kayfabe Illusion Episode
May 3000:51:15Tap to summarizeThis week, Ian and Cathy McKnight, Chief Problem Solver at Seventh Bear discuss a recent post from her Bear Essentials series on the Seventh Bear blog - AI Isn't Your Content Problem. Your Content Is Your Content Problem. They discuss: The value of Content Operations and AI The challenge of context in unstructured content for the LLMs Governance and ownership with AI Recommendations for effective content operations Ian then joins Robert Rose in the virtual bar, The Rose & Rockstar, to pick his brains on a marketing topic over a classic cocktail This week, Ian and Robert discuss some points from the latest edition of his Lens newsletter - Won't get Fooled Again, and specifically a phrase he heard on a recent retreat, “AI can never not know”, and how he sees that the kayfabe of AI might be fading. Enjoy! — The Links The people: Ian Truscott on LinkedIn Cathy McKnight on LinkedIn Robert Rose on LinkedIn Mentioned this week: Bear Essentials: AI Isn't Your Content Problem. Your Content Is Your Content Problem Simu Liu reacts to pre-fame stock photos he appeared in as model | Independent Seventh Bear Lens: Won't be Fooled Again US students on why they booed their pro-AI graduation speakers: ‘They’re not reading the room’ | Technology | The Guardian Robert’s podcast: This Old Marketing Robert’s newsletter: Lens, his websites, robertrose.net and seventhbear.com Rockstar CMO: The Beat Newsletter that we send every Monday Rockstar CMO on the web and LinkedIn Previous episodes and all the show notes: Rockstar CMO FM. Track List: We’ll be right back by Stienski & Mass Media on YouTube Piano Music is by Johnny Easton, shared under a Creative Commons license You can listen to this on all good podcast platforms, like Apple, Amazon, and Spotify. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The 5 Tips to Get LLM Attention and Revisiting the Mullet Episode
May 2500:51:55Tap to summarizeThis week, former Forrester Research Director Jeff Clark, is back in the studio with our host Ian Truscott to discuss 5 tips for getting your content into the LLMs, pulling at a thread that has come up a couple of times in previous episodes. They discuss: Leading with a clear, structured need definition. Publishing useful things for the audience and the robots Maintain consistent naming and terminology Brand is still important Distribute content across high-authority contexts Due to a scheduling challenge caused by family commitments over the long weekend, Ian’s visit to our virtual bar, The Rose & Rockstar, comes from the archive, replaying a conversation from last year that is relevant to the topic of educating LLMs. In this bar conversation, over one of his classic cocktails, Robert Rose shares his thoughts on what we should be sharing with the LLMs and suggests an approach he calls “The Mullet” content strategy. Enjoy! — The Links The people: Ian Truscott on LinkedIn Jeff Clark on LinkedIn Robert Rose on LinkedIn Mentioned this week: OpenAI Launches Self-Serve Ads Manager for ChatGPT Robert discussing The Mullet Content Strategy on the This Old Marketing podcast Robert’s newsletter: Lens, his websites, robertrose.net and seventhbear.com Rockstar CMO: The Beat Newsletter that we send every Monday Rockstar CMO on the web and LinkedIn Previous episodes and all the show notes: Rockstar CMO FM. Track List: We’ll be right back by Stienski & Mass Media on YouTube Piano Music is by Johnny Easton, shared under a Creative Commons license You Speak My Language by Morphine on YouTube You can listen to this on all major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, and Spotify. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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