Brand New World

Fast Company
Fast Company
  • 4.7 (12)
  • Marketing
  • Updated Weekly

The first season of Brand New World was a very specific look at how AI is changing how brands and marketers work. Now the pod is here to talk about brand culture more broadly. Of course that will involve AI from time to time, but I’ll also be digging into sports, entertainment, music, comedy, and everywhere else brands squeeze their way into pop culture.  People love to say they hate advertising, but everyone loves at least one brand. Brand New World is here to talk about why. That means I’ll be popping up in your feed once every month as part of the Fast Company Podcast Network.

  1. Aug 19

    How Chime Built a Social-First Banking Brand

    When you think of banking, chances are your mind doesn’t immediately scream "amazing brands!" Of course, there are major banks with strong brands, but certainly not in the same way we think about those in categories like fashion, beauty, or sports.    And, look, there’s a very good reason for that. Banks mean money, and money is a very serious issue for many, many people. Which means treating a banking brand like Doritos or Budweiser maaaay not be the best vibe to convey.    That said, let’s talk about Chime. The fintech digital bank has invested heavily in culture to build its brand—through partnerships with athletes like Cooper Flagg, Deion Sanders, and Jaxson Dart, episodic social content series like “Mama I Made It” and “Ballin’ on a Budget,” a jersey partnership with the Portland Fire, a league-wide Major League Soccer deal, and more. Last September, it even launched its own in-house branded entertainment arm called In The Green Studios.    CMO Vineet Mehra has said that Chime aims to be in the same cultural zeitgeist as brands like Sephora or Liquid Death. On this episode of Brand New World, I spoke to Mehra about the brand’s cultural ambitions, the impact this strategy has had on its business, and more.  This episode also features an interview with Accenture Song chairman and former CEO David Droga, as part of Fast Company’s “Creativity at Work” series in collaboration with Accenture Song.

  2. Aug 5

    Why Pinterest Wants You to Close the App

    This episode of Brand New World features an interview with Accenture Song creative chair Nick Law as part of Fast Company’s “Creativity at Work” series in collaboration with Accenture Song.   What if the healthiest social platform is the one encouraging you to log off? Pinterest has built its brand around a simple but surprising idea: The best thing you can find online is a reason to go offline.   Host Jeff Beer sits down with Pinterest's chief marketing officer, Claudine Cheever, at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity to discuss the company's latest brand campaign, how Pinterest is differentiating itself in an AI-driven social media landscape, and why inspiration—not endless scrolling—is at the heart of its strategy. Cheever also shares how Pinterest approaches AI, creator partnerships, in-house creativity, and cultural moments ranging from the WNBA to The Devil Wears Prada 2.   The episode also features Accenture Song creative chair Nick Law, who breaks down the company's new research on "applied creativity" and argues that great ideas alone aren't enough. From creative leadership to organizational design, Law explains why the companies that consistently turn creativity into business growth are the ones building systems that allow ideas to survive—and thrive.

  3. Jul 22

    Why Rocket is ditching the traditional marketing funnel

    This episode of Brand New World also features an interview with Accenture Song CEO Ndidi Oteh, as part of Fast Company’s “Creativity at Work” series in collaboration with Accenture Song. One in six American mortgages is now serviced by Rocket. That massive market share encompasses almost 10 million borrowers and $2.1 trillion in principal balance. But it wasn’t that long ago that Rocket was lagging in brand awareness.    CMO Jonathan Mildenhall has had a storied, award-winning career across brands of all stripes, from Coca-Cola to Airbnb. Now with Rocket, he’s aiming to build the company’s services into the world’s first "AI-fueled home ownership platform.”

  4. Jul 15

    How an Aussie insurance brand won advertising’s biggest trophy

    The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity recently went down in the south of France. It's basically the biggest annual gathering of advertising, marketing, technology, entertainment, and brands on the planet. It’s also what many consider the Oscars of advertising.    Just as the ultimate Oscar is for Best Picture, the Cannes Lions equivalent is the Titanium Grand Prix. This award honors the industry's best ideas—those combining innovation, ingenuity, and results to serve as the pointy tip of the spear for where creative brand thinking should be headed.    When you think of the world’s most successful brands, you hear Apple, Google, Nike, Adidas, Coke, LVMH, and AB InBev. But this year’s Titanium winner was the Australian insurance brand Suncorp, for the work it did with the agency Leo Burnett Australia on a campaign called "Haven."   On this episode of Brand New World, hosts Jeff Beer and Grace Snelling are digging into how a company many of us have never heard of before just won the ad industry’s biggest prize, as well as highlighting some of our other favorite overall brand work right now.

  5. Jun 10

    The Old Man & The Z: Nike rips the script for its World Cup epic

    The World Cup is just about to kick off and, of course, Nike was going to go big. Last week, the brand rolled out a chaotic and fun six-minute meta whirlwind through a Hollywood set of … a World Cup commercial shoot. The collection of global soccer stars, celebrities, and other cultural icons is pretty insane, but not unprecedented for the Swoosh company.   In this episode, hosts Jeff Beer and Grace Snelling are digging into this Nike spot, as well as some of our other favorite overall brand work right now, from WhatsApp to J.Crew and beyond.

    The Old Man & The Z: Nike rips the script for its World Cup epic

  6. May 27

    The New Rules of Fandom: How Jomboy Media Is Playing Its Own Game

    What started as lipreading breakdowns of baseball’s most chaotic moments became a new kind of sports media business—one built on passion, personality, and pure fun. Jomboy Media has transformed viral content into profits and rapid growth, with a Major League Baseball partnership that gives the company access to the league’s IP and sponsorship opportunities (while preserving editorial independence). Join this conversation with CEO Courtney Hirsch as she unpacks how Jomboy Media has followed its own script and shown that creators don’t have to sell out to scale.

    The New Rules of Fandom: How Jomboy Media Is Playing Its Own Game

  7. May 13

    Why Adidas is winning the World Cup so far

    When Oscar-nominated actor Timothée Chalamet recently dropped Adidas’s new blockbuster World Cup spot, a five-minute epic story, on his Instagram, it sent shockwaves through the soccer world.    Not only because it stars Team USA's Trinity Rodman, Jude Bellingham of Real Madrid and Team England, and Spanish teen sensation Lamine Yamal of FC Barcelona. And not only because it's another big-budget blockbuster World Cup ad from a footwear giant featuring star players, celebrities, and a storyline that revolves around a big game in an unexpected place or with unexpected characters.   The magic trick it pulls off is how it manages to take a less-than-unique story device (famous players, unexpected game, etc.) and give it a new spin in a way that lives up to both the hype and the occasion of the world’s biggest sporting event. It might just be the best World Cup ad from the Three Stripes brand in 20 years. Grace Snelling is back for our monthly Old Man & the Z episode, and she and host Jeff Beer will be digging into the Chalamet ad, as well as where it fits into Adidas’s 21st-century World Cup pantheon. But first! Beer and Snelling break down their favorite overall recent brand work—which runs the gamut from Adidas super shoes to a very swooshy new ad from Yeti.

  8. May 1

    How Ford is reengineering its iconic brand without letting go of its heritage

    Late last year, Ford launched its first new global brand strategy in over a decade. "Ready. Set. Ford." hit the U.S. last September and is gradually rolling out in Europe, Canada, and South America throughout this year.    Leading the charge is Ford’s Global chief marketing officer Lisa Materazzo, who joined the company in 2023, after 20 years at Toyota, where she led marketing for the Lexus and Scion brands.    In this episode, Jeff Beer talks to Materazzo about how and why "Ready. Set. Ford." goes far beyond just a marketing strategy, how our relationship with car brands has evolved most in recent years, and more.    Get your keys and start your engines.

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Ratings & Reviews

4.7
out of 5
12 Ratings

About

The first season of Brand New World was a very specific look at how AI is changing how brands and marketers work. Now the pod is here to talk about brand culture more broadly. Of course that will involve AI from time to time, but I’ll also be digging into sports, entertainment, music, comedy, and everywhere else brands squeeze their way into pop culture.  People love to say they hate advertising, but everyone loves at least one brand. Brand New World is here to talk about why. That means I’ll be popping up in your feed once every month as part of the Fast Company Podcast Network.

Information

  • Channel
    Fast Company
  • Creator
    Fast Company
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    28
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Fast Company | Most Innovative Companies
  • Show Website
    Brand New World

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