Rant: Why Team USA Lost

A new piece from the Wall Street Journal introduces the idea of being "alternatively influential"…people who drive real impact without massive follower counts.

Joe and Robert break it down:

• Is this just a rebrand of "niche creator" or "thought leader"?

• Or is it actually the future of influence in an AI-saturated world?

• And most importantly…does audience size matter less than trust, proximity, and credibility?

The bigger question: Are we entering an era where being known by the right people beats being known by everyone?

AI Isn't Just Helping…It Might Be Hurting

A new Morning Brew piece highlights research showing that AI can actually decrease focus and increase mental fatigue when overused.

Key findings:

• Productivity rises with 1–3 AI tools…then drops off after that

• Workers report "mental overload" and decision fatigue

• Time saved gets filled with more work, not better work

Joe and Robert's take:

• This isn't really about AI

• It's about multitasking overload

• AI just accelerates a problem we already had

Bottom line: More tools ≠ better thinking Focus is still the competitive advantage

Substack Goes Full Stack (Again)

Substack continues expanding its platform, now rolling out a recording studio feature to support video and podcast creation.

The discussion:

• Substack is no longer "just newsletters"

• It's becoming a complete creator operating system

• Email platforms, podcast hosts, and even YouTube should be paying attention

The real question: Does Substack become the home base for creators…or just another tool in the stack?

Winners and Losers Marketing Winner: Calvin Klein

• Dakota Johnson's new campaign hits the mark

• Clean, simple, effective brand storytelling that cuts through the noise

Marketing Loser: The Oscars

• Still struggling to stay culturally relevant

• A branding problem, not just a ratings problem

Marketing Loser (Joe): World Baseball Classic Timing

• Great product…questionable timing

• Hard to build momentum when the schedule works against you

Rants and Raves Joe's Rant: Why Team USA Lost to Venezuela

Joe's hot take:

• It wasn't about effort

• It was about constraints

Team USA had:

• Contracts

• Pitch limits

• Usage concerns

• Calls from MLB teams

Meanwhile, Venezuela had:

• Fewer restrictions

• More freedom to just play

The lesson: The team with less to manage often performs better

Robert's Rave: Where AI Actually Gets Its Content

Robert highlights a new piece on AI sourcing:

• AI doesn't create from nothing

• It builds on existing human work

• The real leverage is still in original thinking and creation

Other links: Mel Robbins with Seth Godin

Subscribe and Follow: Follow Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose on LinkedIn for insights, hot takes, and weekly updates from the world of content and marketing.

-------

This week's sponsor: Did you know that most businesses only use 20% of their data? That's like reading a book with most of the pages torn out. Point is, you miss a lot. Unless you use HubSpot. Their customer platform gives you access to the data you need to grow your business. The insights trapped in emails, call logs, and transcripts. All that unstructured data that makes all the difference. Because when you know more, you grow more.

Visit https://www.hubspot.com/ to hear how HubSpot can help you grow better.

-------

Get all the show notes: https://www.thisoldmarketing.com/

Get Joe's new book, Burn the Playbook, at http://www.joepulizzi.com/books/burn-the-playbook/ Subscribe to Joe's Newsletter at https://www.joepulizzi.com/signup/.

Get Robert Rose's new book, Valuable Friction, at https://robertrose.net/valuable-friction/ Subscribe to Robert's Newsletter at https://seventhbearlens.substack.com/

-------

This Old Marketing is part of the HubSpot Podcast Network: https://www.hubspot.com/podcastnetwork