Future Commerce

Phillip Jackson, Brian Lange
  • 4.9 (83)
  • MARKETING
  • UPDATED DAILY
Future Commerce

Future Commerce is the culture magazine for Commerce. Hosts Phillip Jackson and Brian Lange help brand and digital marketing leaders see around the next corner by exploring the intersection of Culture and Commerce. Trusted by the world's most recognizable brands to deliver the most insightful, entertaining, and informative weekly podcasts, Future Commerce is the leading new media brand for eCommerce merchants and retail operators. Each week, we explore the cultural implications of what it means to sell or buy products and how commerce and media impact the culture and the world around us, through unique insights and engaging interviews with a dash of futurism. Weekly essays, full transcripts, and quarterly market research reports are available at https://www.futurecommerce.com/plus

  1. Rewind: Don’t Say Metaverse

    3D AGO

    Rewind: Don’t Say Metaverse

    Welcome to Future Commerce Rewind, where we compare stories in commerce today to episodes from the archives. This week, we’re playing back VISIONS speaker Justin Breton’s 2024 episode on Walmart Realm. When Walmart entered immersive digital experiences, it wasn’t chasing hype—it was rethinking how the brand shows up in everyday digital life. In this rewind from August 2024, Justin Breton, Director of Brand Experiences, shares how Walmart Realm launched as a gamified marketplace blending culture, commerce, and creativity. Since then, Walmart has scaled its virtual ambitions with “Walmart Discovered” on Roblox, real-world commerce in gaming, and the debut of “Walmart Unlimited.” What began as an experiment is now central to Walmart’s immersive commerce strategy. CTRL+ALT+CARTKey takeaways:Walmart Realm was never about conversions; it was about discovery. Today, Walmart's investments in platforms like Roblox and Spatial have validated that focus, with real-world commerce now integrated directly into those ecosystems.Justin avoided the term "metaverse," even when it was a buzzword. Instead, his team focused on familiarity and ritual, and that framing holds up. The strategy now connects digital shoppers with creators, brands, and immersive experiences they already love.Walmart has scaled its creator-driven experiences, including collaborations with Drew Barrymore and Netflix, helping drive co-created virtual spaces that reflect real-world partnerships.The early embrace of immersive storytelling now informs Walmart’s content commerce and livestreaming efforts, with shoppable moments and branded narrative arcs that feel more like cultural touchpoints than retail plays.With new initiatives like Walmart Unlimited and its expanded Spatial footprint, Walmart is setting the stage for a generation of consumers who see shopping as play, story, and community.Justin joined the lineup of speakers at VISIONS Summit: NYC this summer. Subscribe to our newsletters and check out our recap on Insiders to catch highlights from the event.Associated Links:Explore Walmart RealmCheck out Future Commerce on YouTubeCheck out Future Commerce+ for exclusive content and save on merch and printSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce worldListen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

    54 min
  2. [DECODED] The Power of AI-Enabled Ambition

    5D AGO · BONUS

    [DECODED] The Power of AI-Enabled Ambition

    Positionless marketing isn’t just a framework—it’s a return to how work once was: flexible, intuitive, and deeply human. In this episode, Phillip, Pini, and Optimove’s VP of Product, Shai Frank, unpack how cultural mindset, military experience, and generative AI converge to create teams that move with speed and creativity. Listen to decode how technology and ambition together can strip away organizational friction, empower self-sufficient marketers, and dramatically improve customer experience. It’s not about removing roles—it’s about removing blockers. Key TakeawaysPositionless marketing is more cultural than structural. It’s not about tearing down departments—it’s about cultivating people who take initiative without waiting for permission. That mindset, modeled after Israeli military culture, is what truly drives speed and creativity."Big-headedness" is a feature, not a flaw. Shai introduces the idea of “big-headed” employees—those who embrace ambition without being told—as essential to modern teams. In fast-paced orgs, initiative is a strategic asset.Creative execution is no longer gated. With tools like Optimove's Canvas and embedded brand controls, marketers can produce polished, on-brand campaigns without relying entirely on designers or developers.CRM is shifting from broadcast to orchestration. Instead of blasting segments, marketers can now trigger context-aware journeys that consider history, behavior, and optimal timing—raising the bar for customer experience.AI isn’t about acceleration alone—it’s about ambition. When friction is removed from creative and technical processes, teams don’t just move faster—they aim higher.Key Quotes“Being small-headed means you’re just an order-taker. A big-headed person says, ‘You asked for A and B, but I saw it also needed C and D, so I did that—and prepped for E.’ That’s what we look for.” – Pini Yakuel“Who said the first message should be the one you send? We don’t want to serve the first—we want to serve the best.” – Shai Frank“If it used to take eight weeks to get a campaign out, now it might take two days. That frees up time to actually be creative.” – Shai Frank“If you don’t create good customer experiences, people will leave. This isn’t a moral imperative—it’s survival.” – Shai FrankAssociated Links:Learn more about Optimove’s platformsLearn more about Positionless MarketingCheck out Future Commerce on YouTubeCheck out Future Commerce+ for exclusive content and save on merch and printSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce worldListen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

    55 min
  3. Everyone Is Lying to You: The Trad Wife Industrial Complex

    JUN 13

    Everyone Is Lying to You: The Trad Wife Industrial Complex

    Bestselling author and journalist Jo Piazza is best known as the host of the Under the Influence podcast, which boasts over 25 million downloads. Piazza is the author of the upcoming thriller Everyone is Lying to You, which dissects the rise of ‘trad wife’ influencers and the multi-billion-dollar industry built on selling idealized domesticity. Drawing on her background in investigative journalism, which has covered everyone from Donald Trump to mommy bloggers, Piazza reveals how traditional values have become the latest form of performance marketing. Nostalgia As a Business ModelKey takeaways:"Everyone is lying to you. They're creating a magazine; they're creating a TV show. Most of this is not their real life. When you look at it like it's actually media and not a glimpse into someone's window, I think then you can let go of some of the guilt and the shame, but you're still going to buy the shit." - Jo Piazza [10:40]"The funniest thing about trad wives is they're encouraging all of these women to quit their jobs and rely on a man. I'm like, where are all these rich men that just want to make enough money to support a family? The average male income is something around $60,000 and the average American household spends $70,000. So the math does not add up in this equation." - Jo Piazza [19:12]"You can now rent entire houses for your influencer content. You can rent out a house with the beautiful kitchen and the pristine countertops. You can even rent a bathroom that's beautiful for your get-ready-with-me routine. And then [you can] shoot all of your content in it for one day. It's not your actual freaking house, but no one knows that." - Jo Piazza [13:31]"We're all brands. We're all trying to create something online. I'm very honest about this. I want people to buy my damn books. And so that means I have to post on social media." - Jo Piazza [26:35]Associated Links:Order Everyone Is Lying to You by Jo PiazzaCheck out Future Commerce on YouTubeCheck out Future Commerce+ for exclusive content and save on merch and printSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce worldListen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

    48 min
  4. [DECODED] Unblocking the Exploration–Exploitation Dilemma

    JUN 11 · BONUS

    [DECODED] Unblocking the Exploration–Exploitation Dilemma

    Organizations love to optimize—but often forget what, or who, they’re optimizing for. When teams are built around internal structures rather than customer outcomes, even the best strategies become slow to adapt. Author and data analyst Neil Hoyne and Pini Yakuel explore how behavioral rigidity, not technical limitations, holds most companies back. Drawing from principles in Neil Hoyne’s book, Converted, they argue for a shift toward systems that favor adaptability, exploration, and proximity to the customer. Because in a world shaped by AI, the real competitive edge is not just speed—it’s staying meaningfully connected to the people you serve. Key TakeawaysWhen roles become identities, organizations lose flexibility. Over-specialization makes it harder for teams to respond to evolving customer needs.Behavioral defaults—not tech—often slow teams down. Loyalty to familiar workflows or team structures can block innovation, even when tools are available.AI works best when aligned with real customer strategy. It’s not a shortcut or a strategy in itself—it’s a multiplier for what actually matters.Customer-centricity requires outcome-driven teams. Structuring around internal functions, rather than external impact, leads to misaligned incentives.Small shifts in ownership create big changes in experience. Empowering teams to work across silos—even partially—brings them closer to the customer, and closer to results.Key Quotes[00:13:50] “Marketing teams don’t just bake bread—they are bread. It’s not just what they do; it’s who they’ve become. So when the shift happens—when the customer wants cupcakes instead—they miss it entirely. Because they weren’t watching the customer. They were defending the bread.” – Neil Hoyne[00:21:13] “If your strategy is ‘use AI better than the competition,’ you don’t have a strategy.” – Neil Hoyne[00:25:46] “Accelerate what already works. Tactics are multipliers, not miracles.” – Pini[00:46:47] “Positionless isn’t binary. Can you let a team own 10% of something, start to finish?” – Pini Yakuel[00:51:39] “We’ve gone too far into specialization. It’s time to bring back the craftsman.” – Neil HoyneAssociated Links:Learn more about Optimove’s platformsLearn more about Positionless MarketingRead Converted by Neil HoyneCheck out Future Commerce on YouTubeCheck out Future Commerce+ for exclusive content and save on merch and printSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce worldListen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

    1 hr
  5. True Classic Wants to Be a 200+ Year Old Brand

    JUN 6

    True Classic Wants to Be a 200+ Year Old Brand

    Join us for a live session from The Whalies in LA with Bryan Cano, Head of Marketing at True Classic, on a recent meteoric rise to an $850M valuation. Bryan reveals how True Classic is democratizing AI adoption across their organization by turning every employee into a technology architect and maintaining human empathy that drives authentic brand connection. We explore how tactical innovation serves a grander vision: transforming from a men's apparel company into a cultural force that builds confidence and community for decades. Maybe AI Can Make Us More Human Key takeaways: AI democratization beats top-down mandates: True Classic's most successful AI implementations emerged organically from employees identifying their own repetitive tasks, then building weekend solutions that eliminated Monday-morning drudgeryThe three-pillar AI framework: An approach that includes Generative (content creation), Operational (workflow automation), and Insights (proactive business intelligence) provides a comprehensive structure for organizational AI adoptionCentury-scale vision transcends tactics: Brands seeking longevity must graduate from channel arbitrage to culture creation. By moving beyond riding existing cultural waves to generating entirely new categories, they can win and keep customers for yearsEmpathy becomes a competitive advantage: As AI handles data analysis, human intuition and emotional intelligence become the irreplaceable differentiators in brand strategy and customer connection[00:17:20] “AI isn’t going to eliminate our jobs. It’s going to push our brains to the absolute limits. We’ll have to use our imagination more than we ever have.” – Brian Lange[00:17:49] “It’s going to make us more empathetic… As marketers, we’ve obsessed over the data. AI lets us return to thinking about the customer—their life stage, their needs, their emotions.” – Bryan Cano[00:27:09] “Just how Apple made technology accessible, we want to do the same for style and confidence. We want it to be effortless.” – Bryan CanoAssociated Links: Learn more about True ClassicLearn more about Triple WhaleCheck out Future Commerce on YouTubeCheck out Future Commerce+ for exclusive content and save on merch and printSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce worldListen to our other episodes of Future CommerceHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

    40 min
  6. [DECODED] Your Positionless Future is Limitless

    JUN 4 · BONUS

    [DECODED] Your Positionless Future is Limitless

    Phillip and Pini decode the implications of operating in a world where generative AI acts as both creative partner and analytical assistant. The walls between departments are dissolving. Roles are becoming more flexible. Tools are learning faster than their users. And the new creative process starts with a prompt.  Key TakeawaysAI is now the default creative and analytical partner—prompting, planning, and predicting across workflows.The boundary between job functions is vanishing. Designers analyze data, data scientists shape stories. You no longer need to be a specialist to do specialized tasks.Context collapse is real. But AI is rapidly learning how to avoid it.Generalists who can flex across roles (with help from AI) are the new MVPs.Curiosity beats credentials. The only requirement is a mindset that’s open, iterative, and unbothered by a little ambiguity.Key Quotes“It gives you back hours and hours and hours of time... and it’s $100 a month. That’s ridiculous.” – Pini Yakuel“I used to look for excuses to use AI. Now it’s part of my all-day, every-day routine.” – Phillip“You can’t be creative if you can’t lie. And now the computer can lie.” – Pini Yakuel“Instead of having positions, we’ll have roles. You might be 80% designer—but you’ll need to do data too.” – Pini Yakuel“Hire for attitude, not skill. New skills can always be acquired if you have the right mindset.” – Pini YakuelAssociated Links:Learn more about Optimove’s platformsLearn more about Positionless MarketingCheck out Future Commerce on YouTubeCheck out Future Commerce+ for exclusive content and save on merch and printSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce worldListen to our other episodes of Future Commerce

    31 min
  7. *TEASER* AGI and Brain Hemisphere Surgery

    JUN 3 · BONUS

    *TEASER* AGI and Brain Hemisphere Surgery

    Get ad-free episodes and bonus content, including the full recording of this podcast, by joining Future Commerce+ at futurecommerce.com/plus Access to our new Word of Mouth Index with Fairing, a brand new member benefitSave 15% on Future Commerce print journals and merchExclusive invites to physical events, dinners, and priority invites to industry events (SXSW, Art Basel, VISIONS)Ad-free episodes and bonus content!

    7 min
  8. Brands After Vibes: Branding in the Days of Slop

    MAY 30 · BONUS

    Brands After Vibes: Branding in the Days of Slop

    What happens when everyone becomes a brand for fifteen seconds? And what happens after brands become nothing more than ambient frequencies in our endless scroll? Today, we’re running back the highest-rated talk from VISIONS: LA. Emily Segal (K-HOLE, Nemesis) presents groundbreaking research on the post-peak vibe era, exploring what comes next when brands can no longer hide behind mood boards and atmospheric storytelling. From “strawberry girl summer” to “rodent boyfriend energy,” we've reached the absurdist endpoint of vibe-driven commerce…but what emerges from the wreckage of algorithmic sentiment monitoring? The Death of Vibes and What Comes NextKey takeaways:Post-Peak Vibe Reality: We've moved beyond brands as storytellers to brands as frequency emitters, where TikTok and Spotify algorithms understand our emotional states better than therapists, creating a landscape of "slop"—low-grade AI material that looks the part but doesn't feel authentic.The Algorithmic Gaze: Vibes aren't just cultural phenomena—they're how we see the world through machine learning's eyes. When we catch a vibe, we're processing information like an auto-encoding algorithm, making certain perceptual elements more obvious while obscuring others.Heritage as Just Another Vibe: Even attempts to escape contemporary vibe culture through "authentic" heritage branding ultimately become vibes themselves. There's no outside to the constant vibe machine, and stealth wealth still leaves traces of exposure.Three Paths Beyond Vibes: The future belongs to brands that are either impossibly dense with human labor (too substantial to reduce to vibes), exceptionally simple (pure speculative energy), or deliberately incoherent (escaping algorithmic detection entirely, like dazzle camouflage for brands).Join the visionaries forming tomorrow’s culture through commerce at VISIONS Summit: NYC. Step into the future for 50% OFF with discount code AFTERVIBES. Associated Links:Check out Future Commerce on YouTubeCheck out Future Commerce+ for exclusive content and save on merch and printSubscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce worldListen to our other episodes of Future CommerceEmily Siegel's Substack: nemesisglobal.substack.comRegister for Vision Summit NYC with code "aftervibes" for 50% off at FutureCommerce.com/visionsHave any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

    16 min
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4.9
out of 5
83 Ratings

About

Future Commerce is the culture magazine for Commerce. Hosts Phillip Jackson and Brian Lange help brand and digital marketing leaders see around the next corner by exploring the intersection of Culture and Commerce. Trusted by the world's most recognizable brands to deliver the most insightful, entertaining, and informative weekly podcasts, Future Commerce is the leading new media brand for eCommerce merchants and retail operators. Each week, we explore the cultural implications of what it means to sell or buy products and how commerce and media impact the culture and the world around us, through unique insights and engaging interviews with a dash of futurism. Weekly essays, full transcripts, and quarterly market research reports are available at https://www.futurecommerce.com/plus

Information

  • Creator
    Phillip Jackson, Brian Lange
  • Years Active
    2016 - 2025
  • Episodes
    572
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    ©2024 Future Commerce
  • Show Website
    Future Commerce

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