The Rockstar CMO F'in' Marketing Podcast

Hosted by Rockstar CMO

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Episodes

391

Latest episode

Aug 2026

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EN-US

About the show

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.

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60 recent

September 12, 202655 min

The State of Content Operations and an Expensive Way to Be Stupid Episode

This week, Ian and Cathy McKnight, Chief Problem Solver at Seventh Bear, discuss some research that she’s just published covering the State of Content Operations in 2026. But first, they discuss Optimizely's recent retirement of the Digital Experience Platform (DXP) label, a prominent vendor in this category, but is the switch to an agent platform any better? They then dig into Cathy’s research and discuss five key points: Speed went up. ROI did not  AI wins here. Falls flat there Three bottlenecks. None of them AI It was never the AI.  Five reasons. None of them intelligence.  Then Ian moves to our virtual bar, The Rose and Rockstar, and joins Robert Rose, Chief Trouble Maker at Seventh Bear, to ask about something he heard Dr. Margaret Heffernan on the Uncensored CMO say: “AI is a very expensive way to be stupid.” This leads them to explore the nuances of AI's impact on decision-making, industry knowledge, and marketing strategies. They discuss how AI can both enhance and hinder critical thinking, the importance of industry expertise, and the risks of over-reliance on technology. Enjoy! — The Links The people: Ian Truscott on LinkedIn  Cathy McKnight on LinkedIn Robert Rose on LinkedIn Mentioned this week: Brice Dunwoodie’s LinkedIn Post about retiring DXP Optimizely Retires DXP Label, Bets Everything on Agent Platform State of Content Operations in 2026 Valuable Friction - Robert Rose Uncensored CMO - Dr Margaret Heffernan Robert’s article: Why AI Demands That Marketers Have Industry Expertise 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

September 5, 202658 min

The Newish Rules of B2B Marketing and Newsjacking Dolly Episode

This week, former Forrester Research Director Jeff Clark is back in the studio and joins our host Ian Truscott to discuss a research project from the B2B CMO Project called The New Rules of B2B Marketing in 2026 - How the Best B2B CMOs Are Rewriting the Role. The B2B CMO Project, is a research and community initiative founded by Jon Miller (best known as the co-founder of Marketo) and Sydney Sloan (former CMO of Salesloft and G2) and the report is based on interviews with more than 50 B2B CMOs at companies including Zoom, Salesforce, Nutanix, Snowflake, PagerDuty, and Sprout Social. Jeff and Ian give it their 5 f’in’ things treatment, pulling their favorite points from the research, including: The credibility gap for marketing leaders AI as a new capability beyond GEO Prove marketing’s value in the language of the board Invest in brand as a strategic asset  Building a marketing team for the next decade. Then, Ian moves to our virtual bar, The Rose and Rockstar, and joins Robert Rose, Chief Trouble Maker at Seventh Bear. They share their horror at an AdAge article that newsjacked Dolly Parton's passing with a very poor piece about what we marketers can learn from her.  So Ian asks: if this is bad newsjacking, what is good newsjacking, and is it still an effective tool for content creators and marketers? Enjoy! — The Links The people: Ian Truscott on LinkedIn  Jeff Clark on LinkedIn Robert Rose on LinkedIn Mentioned this week: The B2B CMO Imperative: 2026 Marketing Leadership Report The Beat Newsletter: Times Like These What Dolly Parton’s career can teach marketers about staying relevant (requires subscription) Robert’s latest Lens newsletter: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road Robert discussing the Dolly Parton article on This Old Marketing 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 - Times Like These (Official HD Video) 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

August 29, 202650 min

The 5 Tips to Get AI Working and What Else is There Episode

This week, former Forrester Research Director Jeff Clark is back in the studio after his summer break with our host Ian Truscott to discuss an article in The New York Times called “I Helped Run Lululemon. Companies Need to Stop Kidding Themselves About A.I.” written by Julie Averill, the former chief information officer of Lululemon, and some interesting research from McKinsey that supports her experience.  The article discusses A.I. wishing and A.I. washing, and Jeff and Ian discuss how to get A.I. working and share 5 tips:  Create an effective business case Map processes Clean up your data Incorporate your culture Create a change management plan Then, Ian moves to our virtual bar, The Rose and Rockstar, and joins Robert Rose, Chief Trouble Maker at Seventh Bear, to discuss what else we marketers should be talking about, if not AI, and Robert suggests three classic marketing moves that can cut through, while everyone else focuses on digital and A.I. Enjoy! — The Links The people: Ian Truscott on LinkedIn  Jeff Clark on LinkedIn Robert Rose on LinkedIn Mentioned this week: I Helped Run Lululemon. Companies Need to Stop Kidding Themselves About A.I. Helping AI succeed in retail: Turn pilots into measurable impact | NRF The State of AI: Global Survey 2026 | McKinsey  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 Dolly Parton - The Seeker (Official Audio) 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

August 23, 202634 min

The 4 P’s of Being a CMO and Love in Your Content Episode

This week, our host Ian Truscott goes solo to share some work from Jon Evans, host of Uncensored CMO and experienced B2C CMO, and digs into what he calls the 4 P’s of the CMO - what marketing leaders need to pay attention to beyond Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. Jon suggests it’s Politics, People, Planning, and Persuasion, and Ian digs into these 4. Thirsty after all that talking, Ian then joins Robert Rose in the virtual bar, The Rose & Rockstar, and over a refreshing cocktail, they discuss an idea that Joe Pulizzi shared in their podcast (This Old Marketing) that perfect content may come down to two questions: Does creating it take care of you, and does it take care of someone else? Enjoy! — The Links The people: Ian Truscott on LinkedIn  Robert Rose on LinkedIn Mentioned this week: Jon Evans: 5 Lessons From 250+ Marketing Leaders Mark Ritson: Attempts to update the four Ps are embarrassing  Jon Evans: Uncensored CMO Rockstar CMO Presents: The 5 F'in' Marketing Fundamentals The MPN Awards This Old Marketing: Anthropic and The AI Scarlet Letter (545) Joe Pulizzi: The Two Questions Behind Perfect Content 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

August 15, 202633 min

The Sh*t Does Not Get Done in Your Org Chart Episode

This 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: Your Marketing Org Chart Is Fiction.  They discuss:  The VP everyone quietly routes around How do we make the most of the AI opportunity? If everyone kinda knows how to get shit done, why does this matter? What should marketing leaders be doing instead? What should marketing leaders be trying this week? On the topic of getting shit done, Robert Rose had to go do that and was not able to join Ian in the bar, but he should be back next week. .  Enjoy! — The Links The people: Ian Truscott on LinkedIn  Cathy McKnight on LinkedIn Mentioned this week: Bear Essentials: Your Marketing Org Chart Is Fiction 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

August 8, 202659 min

The Ken on Win/Loss and Robert on AI Search Episode

This week, our host Ian Truscott is joined by Ken Schwartz from Peer Survey Professionals, an expert on win/loss analysis. They have a fascinating discussion about the value of having a good win/loss program, speaking directly with customers, avoiding the blame game, and the surprising insights Ken has found doing this over the years.  Then, Ian moves to our virtual bar, The Rose and Rockstar, and joins Robert Rose, Chief Trouble Maker at Seventh Bear, to discuss GEO and SEO, drawing on data and experience from the Content Marketing Institute website, and how being top of the search results does not equate to being recommended by an LLM. Enjoy! — The Links The people: Ian Truscott on LinkedIn   Ken Schwartz on LinkedIn Robert Rose on LinkedIn Mentioned this week: PSP Enterprises AI Search Optimization: Why Keyword Ranking Isn’t Enough Anymore Robert’s podcast: This Old Marketing  Robert’s newsletter: Lens, his websites, robertrose.net and seventhbear.com Rockstar CMO: The weekly Beat Newsletter 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

August 1, 202653 min

The GTM Theatre and Formative Debt Episode

This week, former Forrester Research Director Jeff Clark is in the studio with our host Ian Truscott to discuss an article from Matt Heinz on his Substack - Most GTM Alignment Is Theater - What two decades of alignment frameworks miss, and what the GTM teams actually winning are doing instead. The discuss 5 things that inspired them from the article: It’s not the process, it’s the discipline What AI is changing/not changing The ICP conversation The Win/Loss conversation The importance of trust Then, Ian moves to our virtual bar, The Rose and Rockstar, and joins Robert Rose, Chief Trouble Maker at Seventh Bear, to discuss the impact of AI on early marketing careers. Specifically, they discuss the tension between being encouraged to use AI tools (and the trope that you’ll be replaced by someone who is using them if you don’t) and the increasing “detect AI in the writing” functionality that is being inserted into tools and LinkedIn’s “AI Slop” button, and how using AI is seen as poorer quality.   Enjoy! — The Links The people: Ian Truscott on LinkedIn  Jeff Clark on LinkedIn Robert Rose on LinkedIn Mentioned this week: Most GTM Alignment Is Theater - Matt Heinz We didn't start the fire... - Robert Rose - Lens This Old Marketing: Doing the Job Is no Longer Enough 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 Trust by Prince 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

July 25, 20261 hr 0 min

The Simon Brings the Research, and Robert is Overthinking Episode

This 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

July 19, 202652 min

The Whispered Brand Voice and Boundary Spanners Episode

This 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

July 11, 202632 min

The Thomas Peham Entrepreneur's Journey Episode

This 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