Joe Pulizzi’s Post

A special condensed episode of This Old Marketing. We cover the latest supreme court decision on social media. Good decision or more of the same? And do the brand new rules of marketing and advertising include content marketing? If content marketing becomes marketing, what happens to the discipline? Rants and raves include mxmtoon and research from Meta and Kantar.

In breaking news, the Supreme Court is allowing the White House to press social media companies to remove disinformation. Did this really need to go to court in the first place? Time strikes a deal with OpenAI, while the recording industry files suit against Suno AI and Uncharted Labs citing copyright infringement. And...have we learned anything from moving text to video online? Hits and misses include the Verizon logo and the Toys R Us commercial produced with OpenAI. Rants and raves include the Olympics and AI forgetting to read the room.

A very special newsletter this week talking about the Gene Wilder documentary, Alzheimer's disease and my father.

While Wells Fargo is into employee surveillance, the US Surgeon General pushes for a warning on social media much like those on cigarette packages. Forbes threatens Perplexity with legal action, while TikTok debuts humanlike AI-generated avatars for advertising. Hits and misses include Oscar Mayer and American Express. Rants and raves include indie print and the Cannes Lions award winners.

I did a little exercise this morning. I asked myself if there is anything I've done in publishing or marketing in the past 25 years that a computer can't do now or in the next few years. I have no idea where AI is going to take us, but I do know this...every task or strategy I've completed, from strategic development, marketing planning, proposal creation, marketing education, business analysis, coaching, writing, editing and more can now be completed by software. Things that are difficult for software to duplicate at this time? Anything involving interpersonal skills. This would include my public speaking, high-level sales discussions (although this is changing), and friendships that result in business opportunities. [I could make a case that all these will be replaced as well.] I have friends and family who are teachers, lawyers, accountants, consultants...outside of the "personal" touch, these roles can and will be replaced. There isn't a senior executive in any industry that isn't working hard to replace human beings at scale. I grew up as a disciple of Peter Drucker and his teachings on the "knowledge worker." What happens when the knowledge worker is no longer needed to solve the problems of the business? If you decide to do this exercise for yourself, I hope you see the possibilities of choosing an exciting path to make a positive difference in the world. Even if we may not be sure what that is yet. My goal is to dive even deeper into these tools so I can understand where the opportunities lie.

Are you concerned about whether AI engines will recommend you or your business? Well, here's three strategies that I think will help. Also, I'm including my top 10 travel locations. Let me know what your favorite spot is.

Twitter/X leans into NSFW content and vertical video. Is this the sign of a turnaround or more desperate measures to stay alive? Robert and Joe take opposite sides and fight, fight, fight. Spotify's CEO makes comments about the cost of content being almost nothing. Should we care or should we boycott? Hits include Four Seasons and 10 Cent Beer night. Rants and raves include signals from Marcus Sheridan and Suits.

So may of my friends couldn't make it to our best ever Content Entrepreneur Expo this year. Well, we have a partial solution. You can get all the amazing content at your desktop or phone starting now. I especially loved Justin Welsh's presentation on his secrets to becoming a content entrepreneur. And Jay Clouse's on why long-form content could be your secret weapon to building audience. Or Lianna Patch on the importance of infusing humor in your content. Or Rafat Ali on the 20 keys to building a mini-media company. You can get it all for about $9 per presentation. When you do, let me know which one was your favorite/most impactful.

Big news this week as leaked Google search API documents are released into the world. The TLDR? Google has been lying about how it formulates search results. What do we know? Google manipulates content like an editor of a media company would. But does it even matter? AI scams are hitting a tipping point as we get closer to the US elections. OpenAI inks two more content deals and Elon raises money for xAI. Hits and misses include a home appliance store and Cheez-Its. Rants and raves include marketing agencies and GaryVee's commencement speech.