Communication is challenging. Management books abound to help professionals, who have advanced degrees and understand the complex context that surrounds their words, communicate more effectively.

Can a machine wade into this space and convincingly communicate with a person?

Today we’re speaking with Praveen Kopallé whose research uses natural language processing, deep learning and machine generated content to explore this question.

Topics include:

• If machines can write human-like reviews.
• If machines can synthesize user-generated reviews into useful summaries.
• The practical implications and ethical challenges associated with automatic content generation.

In today’s podcast Alyssa Gelbard shares the skinny on some of the biggest career and job search mistakes that people make – and how you can avoid them.

Topics include:

• The three worst networking mistakes you can make.
• The things you should never, ever, put on your LinkedIn profile (looking at you, you magic-working ninjas).
• Why dressing for success – and staying hungry – is important, if you want to make a good impression.

In today’s podcast Gabriella Mirabelli interviews Alyssa Gelbard about the power (and mechanics) of effective networking.

 Topics include:

• How to think about networking when you’re not actively looking for a job opportunity.
• How to effectively network on LinkedIn and one approach that you should never, ever, use.
• The etiquette around making introductions (for both the seeker and the giver).

In this podcast Gabriella Mirabelli interviews MaryLeigh Bliss, Chief Content Officer at YPulse, about how young consumers’ culture is feeding into food and changing what it means to be a foodie.

Topics include:

• The ways Gen Z’s relationship to food culture is different from Millennials.
• What Gen Z is eating, where they’re eating and how they feel about food content.
• What the evolution of foodie culture might be signaling about other cultural passions strongly linked with the Millennial generation.

In today’s podcast Carolyn Stern discusses her new book, the Emotionally Strong Leader, and outlines how understanding and embracing emotions can help leaders to better manage their people and organizations. 

 Topics include:

• The difference between having emotions and being emotional.
• How understanding your own emotions can help you to manage other people more effectively.
• How to be an empathetic leader without getting enmeshed in your team members’ challenges.
• Why being an emotionally strong leader is especially important when managing GenZ team members.

Marketers know that consumers use attribute information to help them make their purchasing decision, but a lot of advertising doesn’t include this information. Are these marketers making a mistake or are they winning market share … by sharing less?

Today we’re speaking with Professor David Soberman about how the model he and his colleague, Professor Yi Xiang can help marketers to better understand how to make decisions about whether or not to include product attribute information in their advertising.

Topics include:

• Why a less differentiated market sometimes leads to an increase in content rich advertising.
• How uninformative advertising can be used to create ‘artificial’ differentiation.
• Why the insights from this research might be even more relevant for high involvement products.

Click here for the Research Article  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167811621000483

The script breakdown process is used to figure out the shooting requirements of every scene within a script.

The process generates budget, schedule and prep work. It is done to help filmmakers assess their creative, technical and, most importantly, budgetary needs.

In today’s podcast Ruslan Khamidullin, the CTO at Filmustage, discusses how his company has used a neural network and natural language processing to revolutionize this process.

Topics include:

• How they trained their AI to break down scripts.
• What Filmustage subscribers can expect when they use the product.
• The Filmustage product roadmap.

In this podcast MaryLeigh Bliss, Chief Content Officer at YPulse, discuss how young consumers are thinking about ‘wellness’ and what it means for the brands who want to engage with them on this topic.

Topics include:

• The evolving definition of 'wellness''.
• Why we might be seeing a gender difference between how men and women feel about their own well-being.
• How brands can participate in the 'wellness' conversation.

In today’s podcast Tim Tortora discusses how film and TV writers, directors, actors, producers & crew can get connected to the real producers in Hollywood, build their careers and network effectively. The ideas Tim shares are rooted in the entertainment industry, but apply across verticals and can be put to use by anyone who wants to stop working a job and start strategically building a career.

Topics include:

• The five mindset shifts you need to put into action to achieve your career goals.
• The one (and only) question you should ask during an informational interview.
• The same trick everyone can use to completely differentiate themselves when networking.
• How to separate the real opportunities from those that will not move things forward.

Online behavior is tracked and used by marketers to tailor advertisements and offers. As consumers start to use voice assistants to help them purchase the things they want, do their voices give away more about them than their keystrokes do?

Today we’re speaking with Martin Klarmann about research he and Ingo Halbauer conducted into the potential for voice retailers to predict consumer mood and how knowledge of a consumer’s mood could be used by those same retailers. 

Topics include:

• The critical ways in which the retail experience through a voice assistant is different from traditional online shopping.
• The aspects of our speech that signal our moods.
• Why a retailer’s ability to know a consumer’s mood creates an ethical conundrum.

Gamification taps into our innate impulse to play. Practically speaking, it is the application of the game elements such as competition, ranking or scoring into what are traditionally non-gaming contexts. It is also one of the most promising trends in marketing.

In today’s podcast Margee Hocking, head of enterprise accounts for the engagement and gamification platform CataBoom, discusses gamification and how it is being used to level up the effectiveness of today’s marketing campaigns.

Topics include:

• The three elements that every gamification effort should consider.
• How gamification can be integrated into different parts of the marketing funnel.
• Why gamification works across demographics and industry verticals.

In this podcast MaryLeigh Bliss, Chief Content Officer at YPulse, maps out the landscape that surrounds the intersection of fashion, social media and young consumers. She shares where trends originate, how they are amplified and why “dress for success,” might just start to involve sweats.

Topics include:

• The social platforms influencing Gen Z and Millennial style discovery.
• Why TikTok’s unique algorithm further democratizes fashion and elevates the importance of hashtags.
• How IRL choices and social feed outfits diverge (and why this expands the opportunities available for brands).

In today’s podcast Alyssa Gelbard discusses personal branding, older job hunters and how to approach the third act of your career.

Topics include:

• The truth about ageism – and what you can do about it.
• How senior level job hunters should their approach their job search.
• The importance of LinkedIn and how to leverage it to your advantage
• The words you need to remove from your resume and emails.

Alyssa Gelbard is the Founder and CEO of Point Road Group, a unique branding firm that helps companies make better brand impressions through their people. Point Road Group, a woman-owned and woman-led company, also strengthens personal brands of executives to support a job or board search.

Leading a talented team that advises diverse companies, executives and board directors,

Alyssa is passionate about strategically improving brand impressions to drive business and

career success. She is an expert and frequent speaker on personal branding, LinkedIn, communications and marketing yourself for a board seat.

People compare themselves with other people. It’s human nature.

Today we’re speaking with Professor Jing Xu about how these comparisons with others impact people’s subsequent purchasing decisions. 

Our conversation explores the different feelings elicited by upward and downward comparisons, the mechanisms that drive these feelings, the subsequent impact of these comparisons and the factors that modify these outcomes.

Topics include:

• The difference between competence and warmth-oriented products.
• The two fundamental needs that are activated when people compare themselves to others.
• How a brand might operationalize this insight into human behavior.

In today’s podcast Sadie Cheng discusses how brands should be teaming with young creators.

 Topics include:

• The value of diversity and why working with young creative voices can help brands authentically connect to audiences.
• The power of empathy – in both creative and traditional management.
• The importance of understanding the cultural zeitgeist when assessing new social platforms.

Sandie Cheng is a producer, actor, writer, podcaster — all around storyteller. After graduating from Cornell University with a degree in psychology with a focus on moral psychology and creative writing, she made her way to New York City to pursue a creative career in writing and way too much improv in dive bar basements. She trained in the Meisner acting technique at the rigorous conservatory, Maggie Flanigan Studio, and improv with a focus on the Harold at Upright Citizens’ Brigade. Her work strives to champion marginalized voices and women of color, and she strongly believes art is meant to challenge the status quo.

Sandie is the Head of Social at CONVICTS, a purpose-driven brand and creative agency that aims to make the world a better place through original storytelling. She is also currently producing a TV pilot called Imposters, a heartfelt comedy about a group of hapless students of color as they navigate college scandals, DEI committees, and imposter syndrome, all while staying ahead of the curve. Sandie’s writing has appeared in Cosmonauts Avenue, Bustle, PopSugar, Hyphen Magazine, and more.

In today’s podcast Tiffany Guarnaccia, Founder and CEO of Kite Hill PR, discusses how public relations should be built into every marketer’s communications and marketing strategy and how to make the most of your PR efforts.

Topics include:

• How PR is evolving and how you should be using it.
• How you (or your PR partners) should be crafting pitches.
• What you should think about when interviewing potential PR partners.
• How in-house communication and external PR teams should work together.

Considered a “visionary with a finger on the pulse of the industry” by PRWeek, Tiffany Guarnaccia is the Founder and CEO of Kite Hill PR and the Founder of Communications Week. Tiffany is a mother to her daughter, Lily, and resides in New York City.

Since founding Kite Hill PR, Tiffany has been recognized as one of PR News' Women to Watch, a DMN Hall of Femme and PRWeek 40 Under 40 award winner. Under her leadership, Kite Hill PR has been recognized as one of the "Top Tech Specialist PR Agencies in NYC”, “Most Powerful PR Firms” and “The Best 50 PR Firms in America” by the Observer, a Best Place to Work by PR News and one of "America's Best PR Agencies" by Forbes.

Before starting Kite Hill PR, Tiffany headed communications for The Huffington Post. Earlier in her career, she was at the center of the music industry’s most disruptive years as a PR director at LimeWire and eMusic.

Young consumers research brands.

Young consumers care about experiences.

Young consumers have leaned into authenticity.

And … young consumers have also grown up with big box stores as their go-to shopping location. This habit has fundamentally influenced their view of shopping and even redefined the meaning of luxury.

In this podcast MaryLeigh Bliss, Chief Content Officer at YPulse, unpacks young consumers’ love of big box stores, explaining how it squares with the other things we know about young consumers and outlining what it means for brands.

Topics include:

• How young consumers define luxury.
• What young consumers’ love for big box stores means for specialty retail brands.
• How young consumers’ main character energy relates to their mass merchandise purchases.

YPulse is the leading authority on Millennials and Gen Z: tweens, teens, college students and young adults. They provide strategic insight to companies and organizations via their subscription-based syndicated research content as well as their custom research and consulting services. Staffed with a cross-functional team of researchers, marketers, writers, and technologists, they give their clients a 360-degree view of what it’s like to be a Millennial or Gen Z in America today.

Click here to sign up for Ypulse 

”It all comes together in the truism, “Trust takes years to make, a second to break, and forever to repair.” It’s a saying that’s not just true for people, but also for businesses. It’s trust that allows a person to voluntarily hand over payment, expecting the company will live up to its promises.”  

– Ed Chambliss, A One-Legged Stool

In today’s podcast Ed Chambliss discusses his new book, A One-Legged Stool, how catering to shareholders has broken business and what can be done about it.

Topics include:

• How we ended up in a place where stockholders are the only stakeholders that seem to matter.
• How governmental regulation can be used to inform consumers and unlock the market’s ability to be a positive force for change.
• Why it is business itself that is best positioned to change things.

Click here to purchase the book   

Consumers live on social media. It’s where they find their news. It’s where they search for information. It’s where they discover content. It’s also where they scroll, scroll and scroll right past your brand’s posts – unless you grab their attention.

But what kind of posts not only stop the scroll, but also generate a like? Despite being a very visual medium, there is very little research into the characteristics that make visuals work well on social media. Bill Rand and Gijs Overgoor have changed that. 

Our conversation with them explores their recent research into the relationship between visual complexity and consumer likes.

Topics include:

• The impact of visual complexity on the success of your Instagram post.
• The Instagram filter that gets the most likes. Seriously. They found the best one.
• Why you don’t want to have an asymmetrical image in your Instagram posts.

Click here for the Research Article  

”Companies are social systems, not machines.”  

– Richard Hawkes, Navigate the Swirl

In today’s podcast Richard Hawkes discusses his new book, Navigate the Swirl, and some of the practical steps that leaders can take to accelerate transformation in their organization.

Topics include:

• Metaphors Matter: How you frame problems and opportunities is incredibly powerful.
• Why while mechanistic tools and structures are powerful, it is  important to recognize that they are also limited.
• The two different ways in which you need to think about the concept of time in order to be able to make progress.

Click here to purchase the book   

Gabriella Mirabelli interviews Ypulse's Chief Content Officer about everything you need to know about the "Main Character Energy" trend that is so popular with GenZ and Millennial consumers.

A discussion with Will Scott, the author of The Culture Fix, about how to have some of the difficult conversations we need to have with employees at work.

Gabriella Mirabelli interviews Dr. Neil Morgan about marketing performance assessment.

Gabriella Mirabelli interviews Adam Bandelli, the author of Relational Intelligence, about how people can build better relationships with coworkers and clients.

Gabriella Mirabelli interviews Ypulse's Chief Content Officer about everything you need to know about NFTs and cryptocurrency.