The Snarketing Podcast

Matt Wurst, Valerie Vespa
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Marketing
  • Updated Weekly

The marketing and advertising ecosystem is ripe for disruption. But co-hosts Valerie Vespa and Matt Wurst aren't going to do that. Instead, these longtime industry veterans will highlight some of the fun, interesting, weird, and ridiculous things happening in the space. Presented by PointSymmetry, the podcast welcomes special guests -- a veritable "who's who" of celebrated executives, creatives, leaders & friends -- whose combination of snark and smarts makes every episode a must-listen. Or at least a should-listen.

  1. Ep 70: Micky Ogando - Founder/CCO at Bakery

    1d ago

    Ep 70: Micky Ogando - Founder/CCO at Bakery

    Micky Ogando, Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Austin agency Bakery, joins Matt Wurst and Valerie Vespa on the Snarketing Podcast to talk craft, AI, weird hiring, holding-company chaos, and why he will never cut his rate. Bakery is a three-time AdAge Small Agency of the Year with work for Nike, Diageo, Shiner, and Tree Hut, and Micky is one of the most candid creative leaders in the business. We billed this one as the SXSW make-good we never pulled off in person, and it delivers. Micky gets into why Austin indies root for each other instead of fighting over the pie, how the agency tripped into its name, and why Bakery builds work for an audience that hates advertising. From there it covers the singing bathtubs that landed in a Super Bowl spot for Tree Hut, the unhinged ways he hires for weird, and what a creative director actually does now that anyone can generate a bad ad in four minutes. Micky makes the case that AI is a net positive for any shop built on craft, reframes the Omnicom and IPG merger as opportunity rather than threat, and brings it home to fundamentals, effectiveness, and the dull tax. Stick around for a lightning round on the most overrated word in a creative brief. A sharp, funny listen for anyone in marketing, advertising, creative, agency life, or brand building in 2026. Keywords: marketing podcast, advertising, creative agency, independent agency, AI in advertising, agency culture, brand building, Austin advertising, Bakery, Micky Ogando, Matt Wurst, Valerie Vespa, Snarketing.

    48 min
  2. Ep 69: Cannes Lions 2026 Preview Episode

    Jun 17

    Ep 69: Cannes Lions 2026 Preview Episode

    Cannes Lions week is here, and this one's a little different. No guest, no agenda, just Matt and Val running their own half-length 2026 Cannes preview before everyone scatters to the South of France. They get into the real stuff: packing strategies that border on neurosis, the color-coded calendar system Matt runs to survive five days on the Croisette, and the small essentials that actually save your week. Then they turn to what the festival will be talking about: sports and athlete-brand deals, AI and the rise of "agentic" as the buzzword everyone says and almost nobody has shipped, retail and commerce moving past the ad and into the experience, and the return of brand as the real moat after a decade of performance worship. The heart of it is a promise. There was a time the creatives were the celebrities at Cannes. This year, Matt and Val want to find the people holding the hardware, congratulate them, ask about the work, and make celebrating creatives a thing again. Plus IRL reunions, yacht plans, a 4 AM World Cup birthday, and the return of Mensch on a Bench. This is the Snarketing Podcast: for marketers, by marketers, talking to marketers, with just a touch of snark. Hosted by Matt Wurst and Valerie Vespa. Find us on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you listen. Subscribe to our Substack for more, and reach out if you'll be in Cannes. Come find Matt on the bench in front of the Mondrian. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 Welcome and happy Cannes week01:00 Packing strategies and the outfit barter idea04:00 Cannes survival kit and travel essentials07:00 Fewer, bigger, better: the color-coded calendar11:00 Celebrities, athletes, and seeing them in our element15:00 Make the creatives the celebrities again18:00 Predictions: sports, agentic AI, and IRL24:00 Brand as moat and the end of performance worship28:00 Sports, the World Cup, and a 4 AM birthday31:00 IRL for Good, yacht plans, and Mensch on a Bench

    26 min
  3. Ep 68: Amit Sharan - SVP, Marketing at Tatari

    Jun 10

    Ep 68: Amit Sharan - SVP, Marketing at Tatari

    Connected TV took over the living room. Amit Sharan, SVP Marketing at Tatari, joins Matt Wurst and Valerie Vespa to break down how brands plan, buy, and measure TV across linear and streaming, and where AI actually helps versus where it's still hype. Amit built marketing at LiveRail, took it through the Facebook acquisition, ran product marketing inside Meta for four-plus years, and has spent nearly eight years at Tatari. He gets into convergent TV, why programmatic is an access point and not a strategy, performance TV versus brand building, competing against The Trade Desk and MNTN and Simulmedia, the SEO bet he skipped early, and the advice every first marketing hire needs: it's your job to teach the founder what marketing is for. Plus a lightning round, a sub-$40 wine worth writing down, and a wine-party game worth stealing. Topics: Why the line between linear and streaming is fake (your YouTube TV sports feed is technically linear)Selling LiveRail to Facebook, and the "winter's coming" logic that drove the dealWhat marketing actually looks like at Meta scaleWhere AI helps in TV today (media planning) versus where it's still theater (creative)"Programmatic is an access point, not a strategy," and why 90% of CTV impressions go to 10 publishersPerformance TV versus brand building, and the ceiling every in-market strategy hitsAdvice for the first marketing hire: your real job is educating the founder on what marketing is forThe one bet Amit skipped early (SEO) and why AEO changes the math now

    48 min
  4. Ep 67: Brooks Miller- EVP, Creators at Edelman

    May 18

    Ep 67: Brooks Miller- EVP, Creators at Edelman

    Brooks Miller helped invent creator marketing at Twitter, then landed at Edelman after Elon's takeover. Now she runs three jobs at once across Edelman and UEG, shaping global creator strategy for one of the most trusted communications firms in the world. Matt Wurst and Valerie Vespa sit down with Brooks for a wide-ranging conversation on trust, humanity, AI, NIL, and what creator marketing actually looks like in 2026. In this episode: The Creator Trust Score: Edelman's proprietary vetting protocolWhy creators and influencers are not the same thingAI in advertising — the unsexy wins and the generative dreadInventing creator marketing at Twitter post-Niche acquisitionGetting laid off by the richest man in the world (three weeks postpartum)Running three jobs at once across Edelman and UEGNIL, Arch Manning, and localized creator marketing through sportsWhy only 7% of a creator's followers actually see their posts"They're not billboards, they're people" — creator burnout and agency responsibilityBrooks's origin story: Texas, child actor, pageants, 72andSunnyWhy she started posting on TikTok like she means itLightning round: the most overused word in a creator brief, the best brands on TikTok right now, and which pageant skills translate to the C-suite Chapters: The snarkiest thing in Brooks's life right nowAI in advertising: the unsexy wins Creators vs. influencers and the trust hierarchyOrigin story: Texas, child actor, 72andSunnyBuilding creator marketing at TwitterGetting laid off by ElonThree jobs at Edelman and UEGNIL, Arch Manning, and sports marketingCreators aren't billboards: the 7% reach problemThe Creator Trust ScoreCreator burnout & agency responsibilityBrooks as creator: practicing what she preachesLightning roundHosted by Matt Wurst and Valerie Vespa. Featuring Brooks Miller, EVP of Creators at Edelman and UEG. 🔔 Subscribe for more conversations with the marketers shaping the industry. 🎧 Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

    47 min
  5. Ep 66: Megan Lindstrand - VP, Global Marketing at Combe

    May 5

    Ep 66: Megan Lindstrand - VP, Global Marketing at Combe

    Megan Lindstrand, VP of Global Marketing at Combe, joins Matt Wurst and Valerie Vespa on the Snarketing Podcast to unpack her "Mad Men + Data" approach to modern brand building. Megan leads marketing for storied legacy brands including Vagisil, Astroglide, and Just For Men, and brings two decades of experience spanning top creative agencies (BBH, Strawberry Frog, 360i) and a transformative ten-year run at Cole Haan, where she built strategic partnerships, scaled global e-commerce, and stewarded the brand through its IPO prep. In this episode, Megan breaks down what agency-side marketers misunderstand about the brand side, why creative presentation is a skill at risk of being lost in the Zoom era, and how she decides when data enhances a creative idea versus when it dilutes one. She also shares her philosophy on hiring in 2026 — arguing that hunger and curiosity now matter more than category experience — and gets candid about the real work of destigmatizing personal care categories for Gen Z and younger millennial consumers. The conversation covers AI's current limits in creative work, why influence is the underrated skill of senior marketing leadership, what it takes to position a company for IPO from a marketing perspective, and Megan's admiration for LEGO as a masterclass in brand extension. Plus a lightning round featuring creative director vs. data analyst, the one product category Megan couldn't market, and Valerie's mysterious "butt blaster." Hosted by Matt Wurst and Valerie Vespa.

    46 min
  6. Ep 65: Dan Buttling - General Manager, Feast

    Apr 14

    Ep 65: Dan Buttling - General Manager, Feast

    Dan Buttling started his career counting inventory. 30+ years later, he's built brands for some of the biggest spirits companies on the planet — and now runs an agency from scratch. Dan Buttling, General Manager of Feast Agency, joins Matt Wurst for a wide-ranging conversation that spans three decades of brand building, a pandemic-era pivot, and a brutally honest look at where the alcohol industry is headed. Dan traces his arc from accounting to Schieffelin & Somerset to Diageo executive to Stoli North America CEO — and explains why COVID was the catalyst that finally pushed him to scratch the entrepreneurial itch he'd been carrying for years. He and Matt dig into what "brand experience" actually means beyond the buzzword, why the social mandate to drink alcohol is structurally gone (not cyclical), how the rise of RTDs, sober-curious consumers, and cannabis are reshaping the BevAlc landscape, and what brands — big and small — need to do to stay relevant. Along the way: war stories from Captain Morgan, Smirnoff Ice, and Cîroc; a masterclass on building a Scotch renaissance in the '80s; and Dan's honest take on AI, agency partnerships, and what it means to build something you're proud of. Hosted by Matt Wurst, watch the full episode for more on: — The death of the social mandate to drink — Brand experience vs. experience with a brand — How to brief an agency like a real partner — What Feast Agency is building — and why

    47 min
  7. Ep 64: Dustin Callif - President, Tool of North America

    Mar 30

    Ep 64: Dustin Callif - President, Tool of North America

    What does it actually look like to build AI into creative production — not as a buzzword, but as a decade-long practice? Dustin Callif has been doing exactly that. Recorded live at SxSW 2026 in Austin, host Matt Wurst sits down with Dustin Callif, President of Tool North America, a 31-year-old creative studio behind branded content and experiential work for Amazon, P&G, AWS, Miro, and more. Tool also runs one of the most forward-leaning AI studios in commercial advertising — and Dustin has the receipts. In this episode: why most brands are still in AI pilot mode and haven't built a real strategy, why Dustin refuses to call AI a "tool" (and what he calls it instead), how Tool built a fully AI-generated brand campaign for Miro — synthetic actors included — that would have otherwise been shelved, what skills up-and-coming creatives actually need to thrive right now, the real reason experiential marketing is pulling back from events like SxSW, and when the right move with a difficult client is simply to drop the mic. If you work in marketing, creative production, or brand strategy — and you're trying to figure out where AI fits into your actual work — this one's worth your time. This epiosde of the Snarketing Podcast was hosted and produced by Matt Wurst. New episodes drop regularly wherever you listen.

    27 min
  8. Ep 63: Isobell Roberts - BrandComms.AI: Co‑Founder & Chief AI Officer

    Mar 24

    Ep 63: Isobell Roberts - BrandComms.AI: Co‑Founder & Chief AI Officer

    Is Brand Dead? BrandComms.ai's Isobel Roberts on AI, Speed, and the Future of Advertising Recorded live at SXSW 2026 from La Condesa in Austin, Matt Wurst sits down with Isobell Roberts — co-founder and Chief AI Officer at BrandComms.ai — to dig into one of the most provocative questions in marketing right now: Is brand actually dead? Isobel brings a grounded, science-backed perspective to the AI hype cycle. BrandComms.ai is built on 30 years of marketing science research from Forethought, and their agentic AI platform helps brands create effective advertising 75% faster and 80% cheaper — with a pre-market effectiveness guarantee. No joke. They get into: what agentic AI actually means in practice, why brand codes and category codes are the real moat in an AI-saturated world, how synthetic consumer screening works before a dollar hits media, and why bad AI-generated creative isn't a new problem — it's just bad creative with a new face. Plus: the SNL framework for content, Terry Black's BBQ, and a shoutout to Romania.

    26 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

The marketing and advertising ecosystem is ripe for disruption. But co-hosts Valerie Vespa and Matt Wurst aren't going to do that. Instead, these longtime industry veterans will highlight some of the fun, interesting, weird, and ridiculous things happening in the space. Presented by PointSymmetry, the podcast welcomes special guests -- a veritable "who's who" of celebrated executives, creatives, leaders & friends -- whose combination of snark and smarts makes every episode a must-listen. Or at least a should-listen.

Information

  • Creator
    Matt Wurst, Valerie Vespa
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    70
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Matt Wurst, Valerie Vespa
  • Show Website
    The Snarketing Podcast