Marketing Moves

Hosted by VividFront, LLC

Business Marketing

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127

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Oct 2026

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About the show

The world of digital marketing moves at a dizzying speed. How can we even begin to distinguish the signal from the noise? The good moves from the bad? Take it from the agency team that’s tripped as much as we’ve triumphed. We’re putting our best moves in the spotlight and proving step-by-step instructions to digitally scale your business.

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October 30, 202655 min

The Craft Beer Contraction: How Great Lakes Brewing Co is Pivoting to Win

With overall craft beer volume flatlining and younger consumers dividing their spending between ready-to-drink canned cocktails, sports betting, and mindful moderation, legacy breweries face a defining crossroad. Surviving industry contraction requires more than brewing great beer; it requires transforming from a traditional craft brewery into a modern beverage brand. Here is how Great Lakes Brewing Co. is navigating market headwinds, launching innovative mid-strength and RTD lines, and leveraging massive seasonal demand to dominate retail shelves. In this episode of Marketing Moves, host Ashtyn Morris sits down with Christopher Brown, CEO of Great Lakes Brewing Co., to discuss how Ohio's original craft brewery is adapting to seismic shifts in consumer behavior and beverage retail. Chris breaks down why breweries must operate like full-portfolio beverage companies, how they are innovating with products like aSPLASH crafted long drinks and Dort Lite, the marketing engine behind their iconic Christmas Ale, and what it really takes to win distributor attention in a heavily regulated three-tier system. In this episode, you'll learn: → Why craft breweries must pivot from pure beer makers to full-spectrum beverage companies to survive industry contraction → How younger drinking habits and alternative spending priorities have flattened craft beer volume across the country → What led Great Lakes to partner with Watershed Distillery to create aSPLASH, an elevated craft take on the Scandinavian long drink → How partnering with Case Western startup CLEANR connects canned cocktail sales to removing microplastics from college campus laundromats → Why Great Lakes developed 2.9% ABV Dort Lite as an accessible "lightly damp" alternative for mindful moderation and Dry January → How Great Lakes became the number three seasonal brand nationally by creating curated quarterly "Party Packs" → Why Christmas Ale transcends craft beer demographics and sells more volume in 10 weeks than the rest of the portfolio sells in an entire year → How to navigate complex, state-by-state liquor laws and why floor displays drive 30% to 40% retail sales spikes → Why winning the three-tier system means marketing to distributor sales teams just as aggressively as end consumers → How transforming historic brewpub spaces into thematic pop-up bars attracts non-beer drinkers and drives experiential trial Whether you're a founder, marketer, or operator managing a legacy product portfolio, this conversation delivers an honest, practical blueprint for keeping a heritage brand nimble, relevant, and dominant on retail shelves.

October 22, 202640 min

Why Treating IT as a Back-Office Utility Is Killing Your Growth

For decades, organizations treated technology as a back-office utility, fixing hardware only when it broke. Today, that playbook is obsolete: technology strategy and data infrastructure have become the foundation of enterprise value. In this episode of Marketing Moves, host Ashtyn Morris sits down with Fred Franks, Chief Strategy Officer at FIT Technologies, to discuss the massive operational shifts happening across enterprise IT, cybersecurity, and workplace culture. Drawing on more than two decades scaling FIT Technologies into a 130-person, 100% employee-owned powerhouse, Fred breaks down why private equity buyouts compromise client trust, how mid-market organizations can navigate the AI revolution, and why true technology leadership is always rooted in human connection. In this episode, you'll learn: → Why treating technology as a back-office utility leaves mid-market organizations exposed and reactive → How FIT Technologies scaled from 20 to over 130 people by delivering flat-rate, full-stack IT → Why an ESOP model protects company culture and team retention far better than private equity rollups → What business leaders get wrong about cybersecurity defense and why status quo thinking creates fatal blind spots → How to view AI as modern electricity, where proprietary company data is the fuel that must be secured → Why 90% of technology infrastructure is identical across industries, and how to properly support vertical-specific tools → How automating mundane workflows enables companies to scale faster and pay team members more without layoffs → What leaders can learn from StrengthsFinder to align contrasting personality profiles and eliminate team friction → How civic involvement and thought leadership build authentic, long-term B2B partnerships that traditional sales cannot match Whether you're a founder, marketer, or executive navigating digital transformation, this conversation delivers a clear, practical blueprint for turning your technology stack from an overhead expense into a long-term growth accelerator.

October 8, 202647 min

Why 20 Million Followers Won't Sell Your Product

Just because a creator has millions of subscribers does not mean their audience will buy a single product. In a world where digital reach is commoditized and brand deals fail from superficial alignment, the real winners build shared equity, authentic community buy-in, and reliable physical supply chains. In this episode of Marketing Moves, host Ashtyn Morris sits down with Alec Shankman, Founder and CEO of HeartRock Partners, to discuss what 20 years in Hollywood talent representation taught him about bridging the gap between digital celebrity culture and physical consumer products. Alec breaks down why transactional sponsorships burn out fast, how creators operate as genuine entrepreneurs rather than traditional actors, and why pairing top-tier talent with Midwest manufacturing solves the biggest bottleneck facing creator brands today. In this episode, you'll learn: → Why 20 million subscribers won't guarantee sales: The difference between broad entertainment audiences and buyers who genuinely trust a creator's recommendation. → How transactional brand deals burn cash: Why quick-check commissions collapse while shared equity and genuine alignment build lasting enterprise value. → What separates digital creators from Hollywood actors: Why self-starting creators command direct consumer trust that traditional on-screen celebrities struggle to replicate. → How Midwest manufacturing solves the creator supply chain bottleneck: Why pairing digital hype with Northeast Ohio's production and retail relationships prevents out-of-stock disasters. → What brands get wrong when pitching creators: Why securing access to talent is meaningless if the product does not naturally fit the creator's everyday lifestyle and values. → How the Sadie Robertson Huff x Forgiven energy drink partnership came together: The behind-the-scenes strategy of spending months on custom flavor profiles and authentic mission alignment before launching. → Why long-form YouTube remains the most undervalued brand storytelling channel: How in-depth video creates durable search intent and conversion while short-form platforms deliver fleeting impressions. → How retail partnerships turn online followings into retail sellouts: The blueprint behind launching Korie Robertson's Kinkeeping line into Hobby Lobby stores nationwide. → Why AI-generated creative falls flat without human soul: Why using AI for research and structure works, but cutting out human perspective leaves audiences disconnected. Whether you're a founder, marketer, or brand operator looking to navigate creator partnerships or launch a product line from scratch, this conversation delivers an unvarnished look at what it truly takes to turn digital attention into sustainable business growth.

October 2, 202644 min

The Death of the B2B Phone Quote: Building the World's Fastest-Growing Alloy Giant

Heavy manufacturing is dominated by century-old giants stuck in the 1990s, forcing buyers through endless phone calls and manual quote requests. Bowen and Finn Alexy threw out that playbook, launched their industry's first e-commerce platform, and scaled Alexy Metals into an eight-figure powerhouse. In this episode of Marketing Moves, host Ashtyn Morris sits down with Bowen and Finn Alexy, Co-Chief Operating Officers of Alexy Metals and Co-Founders of Bowfin Capital, to discuss modernizing a legacy B2B sector. They break down their closed-loop manufacturing model, why digital self-service outpaces billion-dollar competitors, and how building in public wins business that faceless corporations lose. In this episode, you'll learn: → Why modern B2B buyers demand digital self-service and why legacy competitors resist it → How corporate bureaucracy leaves traditional industrial players vulnerable to disruption → Why same-day turnaround on custom R&D orders beats 15-week industry lead times → How viral video pours and organic LinkedIn content drive inbound sales and hiring → Why mass email blasts fail in niche B2B and how personal sales outreach secures high-margin upsells → How acquiring AMP Rings transformed a bottleneck into one of their largest divisions → What it takes to run a 52,000 square foot facility while launching an early-stage venture arm → Why authentic storytelling beats faceless corporate branding every time Whether you're a founder, marketer, or operator looking to shake up a traditional industry, this episode delivers practical lessons on breaking legacy habits and scaling with speed.

September 17, 202652 min

Is Your Marketing Making You Money?

Could you tell your CFO right now why marketing deserves next year's budget? Most people in the room couldn't. That gap, between marketing that looks good and marketing that provably makes money, is exactly what this episode is about. This is a special episode of Marketing Moves. Instead of our usual studio conversation, we're bringing you audio from our recent live event, "Is Your Marketing Making You Money?" Host Ashtyn Morris opens the night, and VividFront's President Madison Riddell moderates a conversation between Mike Linton, one of the most respected CMOs in the country with stops at Best Buy, eBay, Ancestry, and Progressive, and host of the CMO Confidential podcast, and Gerald Hetrick, a nearly 30 year veteran of the Cleveland startup scene and founder of CentSight, an AI financial analyst platform built for founders. In this episode, you'll learn: → Why Mike Linton built a "marketing CFO" role into every organization he led, and what that person is actually responsible for → How Gerald splits growth budgets into "investment" and "experiment" buckets so marketing spend survives the first sign of pressure → Why Mike never called it "marketing money" in the boardroom, and the language shift that changed how investors saw the function → Why AI produces average content by definition, and what that means for any brand trying to stand out right now → How to structure compensation so marketing teams and agencies get paid on sales and retention, not traffic or awareness → Why early stage startups should chase acquisition before brand, and the moment that priority should flip → The real story behind a costly global rebrand that outran the business it was meant to support → Two career defining failures from Mike Linton, including a campaign killed in the room before it ever ran → Why misalignment between sales and marketing is the single biggest predictor of a stalled B2B business → What it actually takes to walk into a board meeting and get approved for more budget next time Whether you're a founder without a CFO or CMO in house, a marketing leader trying to defend your budget, or an agency partner sitting across the table from finance, this conversation gives you a real framework for talking about marketing in the language finance already trusts.

September 3, 20268 min

Gift Guides Are Making a Comeback: How to Optimize for AI Search This Holiday Season

Over 64% of holiday shoppers — and 84% of consumers aged 18 to 24 — now rely on AI tools to research purchases, turning standard ecommerce gift guides into prime real estate for generative search. In this episode, Jocelyn shares key takeaways from a VividFront War Room session on structuring product roundups so engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews cite and recommend your brand first. Discover the exact copywriting tweaks, schema fixes, and catalog positioning needed to maximize your holiday 2026 revenue. What You'll Learn: • The AI Search Shift: Why LLMs prioritize modular, "bucketed" gift guide structures over standard category pages • Conversion-First Copywriting: How to write self-contained product blurbs with immediate, recommendation-led first sentences • Query-Targeted Architecture: Why replacing generic categories with question-based headers increases search engine citation rates • Data & Inventory Signals: How to maintain real-time structured data (pricing, availability, reviews) and why volatile inventory hurts rankings • Small Catalog Solutions: Practical ways to reposition existing bundles under holiday persona themes without adding new SKUs • The #1 Audit Finding: Why missing review and rating data remains the most common gap in ecommerce gift guides — and how to fix it fast

August 27, 202644 min

Why Keeping Kids Off Social Media Isn't Enough Anymore

The internet kids are growing up with looks completely different from the one their parents knew. Social media, online gaming, private messaging, VPNs, cyberbullying, sextortion, and rapidly evolving technology have created a digital landscape that's increasingly difficult for parents and schools to navigate. In this episode of Marketing Moves, host Ashtyn Morris sits down with Neal Alexander, Founder and CEO of CyberSafely AI, and Torino Fitzgerald, Fractional Executive Director of the CyberSafely Foundation and Interim Operations Lead for CyberSafely AI, to discuss how a conversation between a father and son turned into a mission to help protect children online. What began as a tool focused on monitoring social media has evolved into an AI-powered platform designed to identify potentially concerning online behavior and give parents an opportunity to step in and start a conversation before a situation escalates. In this episode, you'll learn: → How a conversation with Neal's son inspired the creation of CyberSafely → Why protecting kids online now goes far beyond monitoring social media → How AI can help identify concerning digital behavior and alert parents → Why CyberSafely doesn't want parental monitoring to become a "gotcha" moment → How schools, counselors, parents, corporations, and nonprofits can all play a role in online safety → Why preparing kids to use technology responsibly is also becoming a workforce readiness issue → How CyberSafely is working through schools to reach families at scale → Why marketing a mission-driven technology company requires different messages for parents, schools, corporations, and sponsors → How AI helped the team navigate a major operational transition in a matter of weeks → What Neal and Torino believe needs to change about the way the next generation uses social media The goal isn't to keep kids away from technology. It's to help them learn how to navigate it safely, productively, and with adults who are equipped to support them. Whether you're a parent, educator, marketer, business leader, or simply someone thinking about the impact technology is having on the next generation, this conversation offers an important look at the challenges kids face online and what we can do about them.

August 20, 202621 min

CGI + AI: The New Playbook for Brand Creative

AI has made it easier than ever to create content. But when everyone can create more, simply producing more isn't enough. In this Mini Moves episode, host Ashtyn Morris sits down with VividFront Lead Motion Designer Connor Wells to break down how CGI, motion design, and AI-assisted production are changing the way brands create content at scale without sacrificing quality or brand identity. From building accurate 3D product models to using AI to generate entirely new environments, Connor explains how brands can combine traditional creative expertise with emerging technology to produce more high-quality variations, move faster, and stand out in an increasingly crowded digital landscape. In this episode, you'll learn: → Why today's algorithms demand both creative diversity and quality → How CGI and AI work together to create scalable content without sacrificing product accuracy → The difference between CGI, 3D animation, and motion design → Why great animation starts with narrative, not movement → How brands can transform existing photography and creative into entirely new assets → How VividFront uses CGI and AI to test different environments and audiences without relying on expensive photoshoots → Why AI versus CGI is the wrong conversation and how the two can work together → How motion can become an extension of a brand's identity, just like its colors, typography, and voice → Why having a consistent creative vision matters even more as content production gets faster Whether you're a marketer trying to keep up with the demand for new creative, a brand leader looking for smarter ways to scale content, or simply curious about where AI fits into the creative process, this episode offers a look at how technology can expand what's possible without replacing the strategy and storytelling behind great creative.

August 11, 202647 min

From Zero Revenue to the Inc. 5000: Inside Chagrinovations' Growth

Building a successful consumer brand takes more than a great product. Behind every item that makes it onto a retail shelf is an operation balancing product development, manufacturing, inventory, marketing, retail relationships, e-commerce, cash flow, and countless decisions consumers never see. In this episode of Marketing Moves, VividFront's President Madison Riddell sits down with Derek Naim, Chief Operating Officer of Chagrinovations, to pull back the curtain on what it really takes to build and scale consumer brands. Derek joined Chagrinovations in February 2020, leaving an established career to join a company with virtually no revenue just before a global pandemic. What started as a small operation focused on bringing innovative products to market has grown into a portfolio of consumer brands spanning household goods, pet products, sporting goods, supplements, and more. In this episode, you'll learn: → How Chagrinovations identifies gaps in the market and turns them into new consumer brands → Why solving problems for retailers became the foundation of the company's growth strategy → How retail and e-commerce work together to validate products and accelerate growth → What it takes to manage resources, priorities, and P&Ls across seven different brands → How TRGT went from an idea to a fully launched consumer brand in a matter of months → Why speed matters when the window of opportunity for a new category is small → How Chagrinovations and VividFront structured a revenue-share partnership to launch TRGT → What a viral moment taught both teams about inventory, agility, and moving quickly → Why marketing and operations have to work in lockstep to successfully scale a brand → How Derek approaches leadership, hiring great people, and giving his team room to make mistakes and grow Plus, Derek and Madison reveal a major milestone: Chagrinovations has officially been named to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies for the second consecutive year. Whether you're building a consumer brand, working to break into retail, scaling an e-commerce business, or leading a growing team, this episode is a behind-the-scenes look at the people, partnerships, and operational decisions that turn great ideas into scalable businesses.

July 31, 202639 min

Inside the Launch of an AI Startup Built for Founders

Starting a company is exciting. It's also lonely, stressful, and filled with financial decisions that most founders were never trained to make. In this episode of Marketing Moves, host Ashtyn Morris welcomes back Gerald Hetrick, Founder & CEO of CentSight, for his second appearance on the show. After leading multiple startups over the past three decades, Gerald shares why he stepped back into the founder seat, how he's building an AI-native company from the ground up, and why he believes financial clarity is one of the biggest competitive advantages any growing business can have. In this episode, you'll learn: → Why Gerald chose to leave an established startup and build CentSight from scratch → How AI can help founders make faster, more confident financial decisions → Why financial fluency is one of the biggest challenges facing growing businesses → How CentSight combines AI with trusted financial data to eliminate guesswork → What it's really like launching an AI startup in today's rapidly evolving market → Gerald's go-to-market strategy, from founder-led sales to AI-powered marketing → Why authenticity and vulnerability have become his biggest growth levers on LinkedIn → The lessons 30 years of startup wins and failures have taught him about building companies that last Whether you're launching your first startup, leading a growing business, or exploring how AI is changing the way companies operate, this conversation offers an honest look at what it takes to build in today's market and why better financial decisions lead to better businesses.