Mark Schaefer

Tennessee

Podcast Host at The Marketing Companion Podcast

TED keynote speaker, marketing strategist, university educator, author of 10 books including "KNOWN" "Marketing Rebellion" and "Belonging to the Brand."

Articles

The curse of authenticity

3 weeks ago | businessesgrow.com | Mark Schaefer

Other than AI, is there any word about marketing more prevalent than “authenticity?” And yet, it might be one of the most misunderstood and abused words out there. When it comes to establishing a brand, there is a both a benefit and a curse of authenticity. In this deeply personal episode of The Marketing Companion podcast, Amanda Russell and I discuss how authenticity can help you, how it can destroy you, and how it might be more of a strategy than a default setting for a personal brand.
The unexpected moment when AI became a friend

3 weeks ago | businessesgrow.com | Mark Schaefer

Too short for a blog post, too fun to ignore, here are some random thoughts from the world of marketing and beyond. AI became a friendHere is the moment I felt genuine fondness for ChatGPT. I was preparing for a trip to France and asked ChatGPT to help me brush up on my French. It quizzed me on common terms to help me order in a restaurant and navigate the metro, but then it surprised me with: Je suis allergique au gluten — I am allergic to gluten. Which, I am.
The sure sign that I am failing in the AI world

1 month ago | businessesgrow.com | Mark Schaefer

The other day, I caught myself saying something that is a sure sign I am failing as a business leader. I was conversing with friends about yet another breathtaking tech advance when I suddenly felt overwhelmed by AI exhaustion. “I don’t want to try any more apps,” I said. “I just want somebody to do this for me.”As I thought about this statement later, I realized I had put myself on a path of irrelevance.
New research points to the emerging "AI Frontier Firm"

1 month ago | businessesgrow.com | Mark Schaefer

Microsoft published a new report on the characteristics of what it describes as a “frontier firm” leading the way into AI integration. More interesting, the company has been collecting detailed data on its customers, which is both fascinating and creepy, like …Most employees are interrupted by a text, email, meeting, or chat 275 times a day — about once every two minutes. Edits to PowerPoint slides increase by 122% within 10 minutes of a presentation.
A Human Renaissance in the Age of AI

1 month ago | businessesgrow.com | Mark Schaefer

I have a confession to make. I just hosted the 2025 edition of The Uprising, my annual marketing retreat. During this event, I became so intensely focused on the content and the conversations that I forgot to take notes. Happens every year. So, it’s quite a struggle writing a blog post without notes!This is a great opportunity to ask for an AI assist, and the combination of resources that went into this write-up is impressive.
Please. Let's stop the B.S. about personal brands

1 month ago | businessesgrow.com | Mark Schaefer

Adam Grant is a spectacularly successful man who escaped the boundaries of traditional academic life to become a global celebrity. An author. A highly-paid speaker. A sought-after podcast guest and mainstream media superstar. As he enjoys the success fueled by his own personal brand, he continues to lambast the idea of a personal brand. In his latest podcast episode, “The case against personal branding,” he concludes that a personal brand is a “performance” that is inauthentic and unsustainable.
300 Experts agree: AI will change your customers

1 month ago | businessesgrow.com | Mark Schaefer

A few months ago, I was asked to participate in a university-sponsored study on how AI will impact humanity by 2035. The resulting research paper is extraordinary, as 300 futurists weighed in on the subject — Being Human in 2035. This is a roadmap of how AI will change your customers in the next 10 years and a vital perspective for marketers. Sure, there is a lot of discussion about how AI will impact our content, our businesses, our careers, and our personal productivity.
How to be an AI Forward company

1 month ago | businessesgrow.com | Mark Schaefer

On the new episode of The Marketing Companion, AI guru Paul Roetzer and I explore some fantastic new ideas about AI and humanity. I really loved this “AI Forward” quote from Paul:“Everybody has leaned into this AI First term, and I made an intentional choice not to use it a couple years ago. I generally look at it as AI Forward. And the reason I made that distinction is that AI First implies AI over humans — that we are leaving humans behind.
The LinkedIn growth secrets nobody talks about

1 month ago | businessesgrow.com | Mark Schaefer

This headline isn’t clickbait. And I’m not selling you any LinkedIn consulting services! But I just had something really weird happen to me and it points to a few important LinkedIn growth secrets nobody talks about. The crazy thing that prompted this article was, last week I had a LinkedIn post receive 100,000 impressions (104,833 and counting). On the surface, it looks like I’m killing it. Obviously, there was some luck involved. Nobody can plan viral.
Finding Your Edge in a World of Automated Content

2 months ago | businessesgrow.com | Mark Schaefer

I recently participated in a Q&A on the future of AI and content hosted by my friend Mark Masters. I thought the quality of questions was so good that everyone might benefit from this content. Here are the questions and my answers covering automated content, strategy, humanity, and more:There’s a quote going around about people who aren’t using AI being replaced by people who are using AI. What’s your take on this and the broader impact of AI? I detest that quote. This framing misses the mark.