In this episode of Building Brand Advocacy, we're unpacking the seismic shift happening in marketing right now: is branded entertainment replacing paid ads?

We dig into why the smartest brands are investing in long-form content, storytelling, and entertainment-led campaigns, and how this changes everything from team structure to ROI measurement.

What we cover:

• Should brands have Global or local social media accounts

• The perfect niche to scale strategy

• Branded entertainment vs paid ads

• The Redbull playbook

Whether you're a founder, a marketing lead, or a brand builder trying to do more with less — this is the episode that reframes where your budget should actually be going.

🔔 New episodes every Wednesday — subscribe so you never miss an episode.

CONNECT WITH PAUL & VERITY

Paul: www.linkedin.com/in/paulkarcher/

Verity: www.linkedin.com/in/verityhurd/

FOLLOW US

Paul: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulkarcher/

Subscribe: www.youtube.com/@buildingbrandadvocacy

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Are communities replacing influencers? In this episode of Building Brand Advocacy, Paul sits down with Nicola Gunby, co-founder of CLIQ, to talk about why the brands winning right now aren't chasing reach, they're building belonging.

We go deep on the concept of the 'third space' and why it might be the most underutilised tool in your brand's growth strategy right now.

In this episode we cover:

• The journey behind CLIQ and why Nicola built it

• What 'third space' communities are and why they matter for brands

• What it actually takes to build real, lasting community (it's not what you think)

• How brands can use CLIQ as a community-building tool

• Frameworks for measuring community impact — beyond vanity metrics

• Online vs IRL: which builds deeper brand loyalty?

This one is essential listening if you're a CMO or marketing lead questioning where influencer budgets should actually go in 2025.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction

04:29 Community as the Third Place

08:19 Where Brands Go Wrong with Community

13:59 Cliq Brand Case Studies

19:21 Measuring Community ROI

26:17 Measuring Community Event Demand

28:30 Tap Into Existing Communities

29:40 Samsung Community Case Study

35:17 Online vs In Person Community

37:34 Sub Communities Strategy

41:40 Geo Local Community

44:18 Cringe Or Community

🔔 New episodes every Wednesday — subscribe so you never miss an episode.

CONNECT WITH NICOLA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicolargunby/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicola-gunby/
CLIQ: https://www.instagram.com/findyourcliq/

Is influencer marketing dead? Jordan Schwarzenberger, the man behind the Sidemen's evolution from creators to a multi-million pound enterprise, thinks brands have got content eco-systems wrong. In this episode of Building Brand Advocacy, we break down why the smartest brands are ditching traditional influencer marketing and becoming organic content engines instead.

Jordan reveals the exact content strategy that scaled the Sidemen from a YouTube group into a business empire and how any brand can steal from the creator economy strategy. We go deep on building a content hemisphere, why entertainment-first marketing beats ads, and how to turn community into customers through brand advocacy.

In this episode we cover:

• Sidemen evolution from creators to an enterprise business.

• The opportunity for brands to become content engines.

• Why influencer marketing is dead.

• Why brands and 10 years behind in content and how to create a solution to get ahead.

Whether you're a CMO, marketer or brand founder, this episode is your blueprint for building a content marketing strategy that actually compounds.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction

02:38 Building the LADBible Agency

07:16 Scaling The Sidemen Businesses

11:16 Defining A Content Infrastructure

12:27 Side Plus Membership Model

17:27 How Brands Should Be Working With Creators

20:23 End Of The Transactional Influencer Model

23:04 Discovery IS Replacing Followers

26:07 The Influencer Economy Collapse

28:33 Traditional Campaigns Are Dead

30:04 Monoculture To Micro Communities

38:24 The CMO Playbook

41:40 Contribution Marketing To Serve Then Sell

🔔 New episodes every Wednesday — subscribe so you never miss an episode.

CONNECT WITH JORDAN

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanschwarzenberger/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordanschwarz/

TiKTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jordanschwarzenberger

FOLLOW US

Verity: www.linkedin.com/in/verityhurd/

Subscribe: www.youtube.com/@buildingbrandadvocacy

Instagram: www.instagram.com/building_brand_advocacy
TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@building.brand.advocacy

AI for brands is already here. It’s making a shift and as marketing teams, we should be reactive. But the reality is that most brands are still figuring out where to start.

In this episode of Building Brand Advocacy, we break down the real state of AI for brands right now. What's working, what's just noise and how to make AI work for YOU without losing the human touch that drives real brand advocacy.

In this episode, we cover:

The current state of AI for brands

How to make AI work for you and your team today

How AI will reshape marketing resources and team structures

Practical ways to use AI in your day-to-day work life

Using AI to create real efficiencies across your content and marketing ops

How to build, scale, and manage an AI team from scratch

CHAPTERS

00:00 Build Your AI Native Dream Team

02:32 Manager of Infinite Minds

03:54 Onboarding and Feedback Loop

09:49 Future Proof Marketing Roles Form AI

15:14 Building AI Agents into Your Workflow

22:30 Repurposing Content With Agents

25:54 Scaling To 11 Agents

31:58 AI Native Mindset Shift

34:45 Create A Preference Sheet for AI

38:34 Training Cadence And Growth

Whether you're a brand team trying to do more with less, or a marketing leader figuring out how to upskill your team, this episode is your AI starter kit.

🔔 Subscribe to watch our new episodes every Tuesday.

CONNECT WITH PAUL & VERITY

Paul: www.linkedin.com/in/paulkarcher/

Verity: www.linkedin.com/in/verityhurd/

FOLLOW US

Subscribe: www.youtube.com/@buildingbrandadvocacy

Instagram: www.instagram.com/building_brand_advocacy

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@building.brand.advocacy

In this mastermind episode, Sophie Miller (founder of Pretty Little Marketer) breaks down the exact tactical steps she’d take to build a high-engagement community from scratch in 2026.

If you’re a brand, marketer or founder trying to turn followers into a real community engine, this episode is a step-by-step guide to catapult your community strategy.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

00:00 Introduction to community building

00:56 The Platform Strategy

05:06 Step 1: Connection Point

08:19 Step 2: Mission Sentence

11:09 Step 3: Connection To You, Connection To Each Other

16:24 Step 4: Thin Content

🔔 New episodes every Wednesday — subscribe so you never miss an episode.

CONNECT WITH SOPHIE

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiealicemiller/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sophiemillerrrr/

Pretty Little Marketer: https://www.linkedin.com/company/prettylittlemarketer/

FOLLOW US

Subscribe: ⁠www.youtube.com/@buildingbrandadvocacy⁠

Instagram: ⁠www.instagram.com/building_brand_advocacy⁠

TikTok: ⁠www.tiktok.com/@building.brand.advocacy⁠

Verity: www.linkedin.com/in/verityhurd/

Are you building a real community around your brand or just spending budget on meaningless partnerships and vanity metrics?

In this episode of Building Brand Advocacy, Verity sits down with marketing consultant Lauren Spearman who has worked with Global brands including Benefit Cosmetics, MADE.com, Trinny London to unpack what genuine advocacy looks like today vs. a decade ago and why most influencer strategies are still stuck in 2014.

We go deep on how to move from fabricated, performance-led “community” to truly invested brand advocates who buy, refer, and defend your brand online.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Evolution of brand advocacy over the last 10 years

• How Benefit Cosmetics build a ‘warm’ brand through effective influencer strategies

• How to find organic advocacy in your existing community

• How to build real relationships with your influencer partners

• What went into creative authentic advocacy at MADE.com

• The work behind Trinny London Tribe

CMOs, brand and social leads, and anyone tired of pouring budget into influencer campaigns that don’t convert into real advocacy, retention, or revenue, this episode is for you.

CHAPTERS

02:37 Netmums and Real Community

06:24 Inside Benefit Cosmetics

12:20 Employee Advocacy in Action

19:33 Benefit Mascara Maldives Launch

21:37 Reframing advocacy at MADE.com

24:52 Building the Advocacy at MADE.com

30:28 Brand Advocacy vs Performance

34:26 Treating Creators as True Partners

37:26 Behind the Trinny Tribe Community

40:36 Quick fire and Wrap Up

🔔 New episodes every Wednesday — subscribe so you never miss an episode.

CONNECT WITH LAUREN

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenspearman/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurenspearman/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@spearmanlauren

FOLLOW US

Verity: www.linkedin.com/in/verityhurd/

Subscribe: www.youtube.com/@buildingbrandadvocacy

Instagram: www.instagram.com/building_brand_advocacy
TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@building.brand.advocacy

Glow For It didn’t just “do well” on TikTok Live, they drove 6-figures in revenue in a single live shopping stream. In this 5-minute masterclass, founder Daisy Kelly breaks down exactly how it happened and what every modern brand can steal from their TikTok strategy.

In this episode, we unpack:

• How Daisy turned community obsession into real-time purchase intent

• The TikTok LIVE moment that tipped Glow For It into 6-figure territory

• The structure of a high-converting TikTok Live Shopping session

• Why TikTok Shop is replacing traditional “influencer trips” for smart brands

• The mindset shift founders need to win in live commerce

If you’re a founder, marketer, or growth lead wondering how to turn views into live sales, this is your shortcut. Think of it as a behind-the-scenes launch debrief: no fluff, just what actually moved the needle.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Inside a Six-Figure TikTok Live

01:24 The First 60 Seconds: Hooking Viewers with a Giveaway + Hero Offers

02:24 The Offer That Made It Pop

03:40 Behind-the-Scenes Chaos

04:45 The Six-Figure Moment

🔔 Follow us to watch our new episodes every Wednesday.

CONNECT WITH GLOW FOR IT

Glow For It TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@glowforitshop?lang=en-GB

Glow For It Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glowforitshop/

FOLLOW US

Verity: www.linkedin.com/in/verityhurd/

Subscribe: www.youtube.com/@buildingbrandadvocacy

Instagram: www.instagram.com/building_brand_advocacy

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@building.brand.advocacy

Influencer trips are dead and they’re killing your organic brand advocacy.

This episode is your permission slip to stop burning budget on one-off influencer posts and replace them with an advocacy engine that compounds over time and generates serious EMV.

In this advocacy masterclass, we break down a clear 3-step system to build organic brand advocates: the customers, creators, and community members who talk about you relentlessly without a pay cheque in sight. If you’re deep in your influencer strategy and unsure how to switch that to building real brand advocacy, this episode is for you.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why the traditional influencer marketing model is broken in 2026

• The 3 steps to building a customer-powered advocacy engine

• How to turn brand customers into high-impact brand ambassadors

• The difference between one-off “influencer trips” and scalable advocacy systems

• How to calculate EMV so you can prove ROI to your CMO, CFO, or board

If you want to build a brand that customers proudly talk about, this 3-step strategy is your new advocacy playbook.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Why influencer marketing is broken

04:29 The problem with influencer trips & brand dinners

06:10 Building an organic advocacy engine: map your brand network

07:41 Activating advocates: channels, CRM, and ROI of marketing to fans

11:14 The 3-part framework: Who → Activities → Rewards (airline loyalty lessons)

14:13 Advocacy is a feeling: experiences, founder hustle, and early community building

16:43 From influencer pyramid to advocate segments (pro vs amateur vs semi-pro)

19:23 Measuring real brand advocacy: real EMV, revenue, and content value

24:05 The most untapped opportunity: employees & retail teams as advocates

26:36 90-second tactical recap + wrap-up

🔔 Subscribe to watch our new episodes every Wednesday.

CONNECT WITH PAUL & VERITY

Paul: www.linkedin.com/in/paulkarcher/

Verity: www.linkedin.com/in/verityhurd/

FOLLOW US

Subscribe: www.youtube.com/@buildingbrandadvocacy

Instagram: www.instagram.com/building_brand_advocacy

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@building.brand.advocacy