#596: The impact of AI on marketing and consumer expectations with Melissa Waters, CMO at Upwork

The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlstrom

The Agile Brand

Business, Marketing

5 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 1 November 2024

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today, we’re going to talk about the evolution of consumer technology and the impact of AI on marketing with Melissa Waters, Chief Marketing Officer at Upwork. Melissa has been instrumental in some of the most significant industry shifts, from digital music at Pandora to ridesharing at Lyft and more. Today, she'll share her insights on the intersection of AI, consumer expectations, and branding. Melissa has been the driving force behind some of the most significant consumer technology behavioral shifts, from the rise of digital music at Pandora, to ridesharing at Lyft, to telehealth at hims & hers and social media at Meta. With Melissa being at the forefront of these industry shifts, she can share her expertise on how AI is reshaping consumer expectations and how the marketing and branding industry is pivoting in response. RESOURCES Upwork website: https://www.upwork.com Wix Studio is the ultimate web platform for creative, fast-paced teams at agencies and enterprises—with smart design tools, flexible dev capabilities, full-stack business solutions, multi-site management, advanced AI and fully managed infrastructure. https://www.wix.com/studio Attend the Mid-Atlantic MarCom Summit, the region's largest marketing communications conference. Register with the code "Agile" and get 15% off. Register now for HumanX 2025. This AI-focused event which brings some of the most forward-thinking minds in technology together. Register now with the code "HX25p_tab" for $250 off the regular price. Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstrom Don't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://www.theagilebrand.show Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnow The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company

Transcript

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0:00.0	The Agile brand
0:02.0	Welcome to Season 6 of the Agile brand, where we discuss marketing technology and customer experience trends, insights and ideas with enterprise and technology platform leaders.
0:18.0	We focus on the people, processes, data, and platforms that
0:21.9	make brands successful, scalable, customer-focused, and sustainable. This is what makes an
0:26.9	agile brand. I'm your host, Greg Kilstrom, advising Fortune 1000 brands on Martec, marketing
0:32.7	operations, and CX, best-selling author and speaker. The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by Tech Systems,
0:39.4	an industry leader in full-stack technology services, talent services, and real-world application.
0:44.9	For more information, go to teksystems.com. Now let's get on to the show.
0:52.8	Today we're going to talk about the evolution of consumer technology and the impact of AI on marketing with Melissa Waters, Chief Marketing Officer at Upwork.
1:02.0	Melissa has been instrumental in some of the most significant industry shifts, from digital music at Pandora to ride sharing at Lyft and more.
1:10.7	Today she's going to be sharing her insights
1:12.5	on the intersection of AI, consumer expectations, and branding. Melissa, welcome to the show.
1:18.3	Thanks so much for having me, Greg. I'm so happy to be here. Yeah, really looking forward to
1:22.8	talking about all this with you. Before we dive in, could you give a little bit of background and maybe share
1:30.0	a little bit of your journey through, you know, I mentioned a few names that I'm sure everyone is
1:34.7	familiar with and, you know, just kind of your journey through some of these tech giants and,
1:39.6	you know, how these experiences have shaped your approach to marketing and Upwork.
1:44.7	Oh, yeah.
1:46.1	No, I appreciate that question.
1:47.7	I have definitely had a journey.
1:52.5	I started my post-business school career in consumer package goods. And then once I found the tech sector, I quote unquote, found my people.
1:57.1	So I have really loved and thrived in the entrepreneurial environment of the tech industry in Silicon Valley and the boom that we've had over the last couple of decades.
	...

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