In this episode of The Backstory on Marketing and AI, we talk with a senior leader at Freepik, an AI-powered creative platform used by millions of professionals. Discover how the evolution of generative tools is reshaping the design and marketing world.

From the rise of video AI in 2025 to the ethical questions around copyright and content quality, this episode covers:

· How Freepik transitioned from a stock content platform to a full AI suite

· What SlidesGo is doing with presentations and generative media

· The biggest AI trends marketers need to prepare for

· Ethical concerns, legal gray areas, and quality assurance

· Practical advice for new marketers and creatives entering the AI age

We also discuss the role of AI in driving personalization, creativity at scale, and how marketers can position themselves as strategic leaders using these tools.

Resources mentioned:

· Freepik: https://freepik.com

· Connect with Jose: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseflorido/

· Visit MarketingMachine.Prorelevant.com for more on the upcoming book The AI Marketing Machine

Click here to view the video: https://youtu.be/YsaobR4_iYY

In this episode of The Backstory on Marketing and AI, we uncover how Marla Schilling at Zayo is using AI to dramatically enhance marketing performance. Learn how her team increased blog traffic by 160% and improved social media engagement by 90% by integrating AI into their content and social workflows.

Discover how AI-enabled Market Research powers better decision-making, the best ways to overcome internal resistance to AI adoption, and why human oversight remains crucial to maintaining brand quality.

Whether you're curious about AI's potential in marketing or already implementing AI-driven strategies, this interview is packed with actionable insights!

🔗 Connect with Marla on LinkedIn

To learn more about Zayo, visit: https://zayo.com/

🎥 Click here to view the video: https://youtu.be/7OvvTv2EUIQ

#AIandMarketing #AIenabledMarketResearch #ContentStrategy #SocialMediaMarketing #MarketingInnovation

In this episode of The Backstory on Marketing and AI, we spotlight an AI-native advertising platform that’s reshaping how marketers approach media buying and personalization. Learn how NextRoll powers over 150 billion buyer predictions daily and helps marketers optimize spend across web, social, CTV, and more. Discover how AI-enabled market research and predictive analytics are giving brands full-funnel visibility and campaign autonomy. Hear how they're preparing for a cookieless future through privacy-forward data strategies and how they’re applying natural language processing in contextual targeting.

This conversation dives deep into:

• The shift from assistive to autonomous marketing decision-making
• Multi-channel campaign optimization and cross-channel attribution
• Contextual targeting through NLP in the post-cookie era
• Lessons from real-world clients seeing AI impact bottom lines

🔗 Visit https://www.linkedin.com/in/vibhor/

🔗 Visit https://nextroll.com

Click here to view the video: https://youtu.be/_xMXG9X-TNU

#AIandMarketing #MarketingAI #AdTech #PersonalizationAtScale #AIenabledMarketResearch

In this episode of The Backstory on Marketing and AI, we explore how artificial intelligence is transforming the publishing industry. Our guest is the CEO of Ulysses Press, who reveals how his company uses AI to forecast demand, optimize marketing, and stay competitive in a changing digital landscape.

You’ll learn:

• How TikTok and influencer-driven algorithms are replacing traditional media in book discovery
• How AI tools like ChatGPT and Photoshop are streamlining press releases and marketing assets
• Why Amazon's AI chatbot “Rufus” may mark the end of SEO as we know it
• How synthetic narration could disrupt the audiobook market
• Why AI is not replacing jobs, but enhancing productivity—especially in marketing and editorial teams

This episode is a must-listen for marketers, publishers, and authors navigating the AI transformation.

Click here to view the video: https://youtu.be/JiVOaAhJpEQ

In this powerful episode of The Backstory on Marketing and AI, we explore how Tipton-Franklin is transforming modern marketing with the help of cutting-edge AI tools. Angela Tipton and Travis Franklin share their unique journey from biotech and agriculture to strategy and tech-driven marketing.

They break down the role of platforms like Gemini, ChatGPT, Hype AI, and Blow Potato in enhancing content creation, segmentation, personalization, and operational workflows. The conversation touches on agent-based AI systems, the strategic use of AI for segment-based personalization, and the importance of maintaining human oversight to ensure accuracy and compliance—especially in regulated industries.

Angela and Travis also offer practical tips for young marketers to own their careers, drive AI adoption within their teams, and use tools like prompt libraries to scale their work. This episode is packed with insight, humor, and hands-on advice for marketers looking to stay ahead of the curve in the age of automation.

🎥 Click here to view the video: https://youtu.be/2SidPicW_Xo

In this episode of The Backstory on Marketing and AI, we explore how AI is transforming the way marketers develop strategy, conduct research, and bring campaigns to life. We uncover how a purpose-built AI marketing OS can empower teams to generate insights, test creative, track cultural shifts, and optimize campaigns—all through agentic AI and LLMs trained on brand-specific logic.

This conversation covers:

· How marketers can build trust in AI outputs

· Why AI should be seen as an input synthesizer, not a magic bullet

· The role of "explainability" in selling AI-derived ideas internally

· How Opus Intelligence uses role-specific agents to cut research time by 75%

· Why cultural relevance must be trained into your AI stack

· How to scale content without sacrificing strategic insight

· Why marketers need to move beyond “AI as a buzzword”

This episode is a crash course in strategic, brand-aligned AI use that respects both the art and science of marketing.

Click here to view the video.

In this episode of The Backstory on Marketing and AI, host Guy Powell interviews Nick Kraus, CEO of Kraus Marketing. Nick is an accomplished entrepreneur and author of The Shark Bite Method, a top-selling book that guides CMOs and marketing directors on how to build powerful digital strategies.

Nick opens up about how his agency dove headfirst into AI to stay ahead—using tools like Jasper for content, ChatGPT for admin, and Perplexity for real-time research. He discusses the internal frameworks they’ve built to govern and train their 50-person team in AI use, ensuring all outputs stay on-brand.

You’ll learn:

• Why Nick believes AI is as transformative as the calculator
• How AI is impacting agency workflow and client deliverables
• The biggest hurdles large corporations face in adopting AI
• Why smaller companies often understand digital strategy better than enterprise CMOs
• How to ensure your AI-generated content aligns with brand tone and guidelines
• Career advice for young marketers in an AI-driven landscape

This episode is packed with insights for CMOs, entrepreneurs, and up-and-coming marketers. If you're navigating the shift to AI-enabled market research and marketing strategy, this is a must-listen.

Click here to view the video: https://youtu.be/f8ZXbb1Sej0

In this episode of The Backstory on Marketing and AI, host Guy Powell chats with Kyle Hamilton, founder of The Birr Agency, about his unique path from hotelier and international photographer to digital marketing expert and AI advocate.

Kyle shares how necessity pushed him to explore AI during a staffing crunch—and how tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini helped him scale his agency's content output. But Kyle’s real message is about balance. AI can be an incredible asset in marketing, but it’s not a replacement for human creativity, intuition, and connection.

He walks us through how he uses AI for brainstorming, research, and content structuring while still relying on human judgment to ensure relevance and authenticity. You’ll hear practical examples, funny stories (like a scuba diving suggestion for a mountain town hotel), and valuable advice for emerging marketers.

Kyle also explores the broader implications of AI—from job disruption to creative opportunity—and offers a forward-looking perspective that blends optimism with realism.

This episode is a must-listen for marketers, content creators, agency owners, and anyone interested in the intersection of technology and creativity. Whether you’re new to AI or already using it, Kyle’s insights will help you work smarter, stay human, and build better marketing.

🎧 Subscribe for more episodes at @BackstoryOnMarketingandAI

📘 Learn more about Guy Powell’s upcoming book The AI Marketing Machine: MarketingMachine.Prorelevant.com

💼 Connect with Kyle: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamkylehamilton/

🌐 Learn more about The Birr Agency: https://wearebirr.com/