Prose + Comms Engagement Unplugged
A marketing, branding, and customer experience podcast sponsored by BrightSign.
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Return to Office, Revisited: What Do We Lose When We Don’t Work Together?
The return-to-office debate often gets framed around productivity. But what if productivity isn’t the real issue? This episode takes on the harder questions about what remote work can cost companies when it comes to culture, learning, and loyalty.
Brian and Laura revisit their case for flexible work with Steve Connelly, founder and president of Connelly Partners, who brings a different perspective to the conversation. They debate whether employees can develop as effectively from behind a screen and how in-person connection can influence professional growth and business performance. Along the way, they find some common ground on hybrid work, early-career employees, and the responsibility both leaders and employees have for building a successful organization.
If you’d like to hear more from Steve Connelly, you can find him on LinkedIn.
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Are Brainstorms Broken? Rethinking Creativity and Collaboration
Brainstorming has a branding problem. Put the word on a calendar invite and you can almost hear the collective groan. Too often, the way teams approach brainstorming gets in the way of the ideas they are trying to generate.
On this episode, Laura and Brian unpack what makes traditional brainstorming fall flat and what can make collaborative problem-solving more productive. They explore the role of strong facilitation, preparation, and team dynamics, along with different ways to structure creative thinking so more people can contribute. From navigating dominant voices and different working styles to deciding where AI belongs in the creative process, the conversation makes the case for evolving brainstorming rather than abandoning it.
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Your Customers Are Not Your Content Strategy
Brands want loyal customers who trust them enough to advocate on their behalf. But when the relationship only seems to matter at renewal time or when the brand needs something, customers notice.
In this episode, Brian and Laura talk with customer experience strategist and fractional Chief Customer Officer Christina Garnett about what it takes to build trust over time. They explore why customer advocacy should feel like a partnership, why NPS can miss the customers most at risk, and how shared ownership can improve the customer experience. Christina also gets into “mid” marketing, the role AI should play in customer communications, and why brands that show genuine care have an opportunity to stand out.
If you’d like to hear more from Christina Garnett, you can find her on LinkedIn. Check out her book, Transforming Customer-Brand Relationships, and keep an eye out for her next one coming soon.
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Gen Z in the Workplace: Managing the Next Generation of Marketers
Every generation brings a different set of expectations to the workplace, and Gen Z is no exception. The real challenge for leaders is separating stereotypes from meaningful shifts in how people think about ambition and career growth.
On this episode, Laura and Brian examine where Gen Z’s workplace priorities differ from those of previous generations, and where the gaps may be more about management style than motivation. They discuss feedback, work-life balance, job mobility, and company culture, along with Gen Z’s growing fluency with AI. They also look at the marketing fundamentals that still matter across generations, including curiosity and a willingness to keep learning.
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The Creative Model Is Broken. What Comes Next?
Creative teams face constant pressure to move faster while working with tighter budgets. As the demand for content grows, brands need a creative process that gives strong ideas room to emerge and develop.
In this episode, Laura and Brian talk with Will Burns, founder and CEO of Ideasicle X, about how that process is evolving. They discuss why in-house teams can become trapped in familiar thinking and how outside perspectives can open new creative possibilities. Will also shares how virtual collaboration changes the way ideas take shape, where AI can strengthen production, and why the future of brand creativity may depend on choosing work that people will actually remember.
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The Competitor Obsession Trap
Watching competitors is smart. Letting every campaign, product launch, or viral post derail your marketing strategy is not.
In this episode, Brian and Laura unpack the difference between competitive awareness and competitive obsession. They explore why leadership pressure can push marketing teams into reactive decisions and how constant monitoring can create more noise than insight. Most importantly, they make the case for listening to customers and staying focused on the value only your brand can deliver.
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Personal Attention in an Automated World: Why Human Connection Still Wins Marketing
Customers are drowning in messages, and most brands are responding by sending more. But breaking through is not always about being louder, faster, or more personalized. Sometimes it is about making people feel like the interaction was meant for them.
In this episode, Laura Smith and Brian Rowley talk with David Wachs, founder and CEO of Handwrytten, about why customer experience still depends on making people feel seen. David shares how handwritten notes can cut through marketing noise and bring personal attention back into brand communication. The conversation explores where automation helps and why a simple thank you can matter more than another “personalized” message no one asked for.
If you’d like to hear more from David Wachs, you can find him on LinkedIn.
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Back to Office, Remote, Hybrid: What Does It Mean for Marketing Culture?
Return to office is back in the spotlight, but for marketing teams, the real question is bigger than where people sit. It’s about trust, creativity, collaboration, and whether great work actually depends on being in the same room.
In this episode of Prose + Comms: Engagement, Unplugged, Brian Rowley and Laura Smith unpack this tension through the lens of modern marketing leadership. They explore why “collaboration” is often used as a blanket argument for return-to-office mandates, when in-person time can truly accelerate creative work, and how remote teams can build stronger communication without sacrificing flexibility.
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The Customer Experience Gap: What Brands Promise vs. What Customers Remember
Every brand says it cares about customer experience, but customers remember what actually happens, not what the campaign promised. This episode of Prose + Comms: Engagement, Unplugged explores why customer centricity is harder to achieve than most companies think.
Brian Rowley and Laura Smith are joined by Katie Stabler, a certified CX leader known for helping organizations drive growth through better customer experiences. Katie breaks down the psychology behind CX, from the everyday interactions that create emotion to the memories that shape long-term brand perception. The conversation explores why CX must be embedded across culture, operations, technology, and measurement, rather than treated as a single metric or customer service function. They also discuss the promise-delivery gap in B2B, the limitations of NPS, the role of customer effort and conversational analytics, and how companies can use AI to improve experiences without losing the human element.
If you’d like to hear more from Katie Stabler, you can find her on LinkedIn.
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The Marketing Jargon Hall of Shame
Marketing loves a good buzzword. But somewhere between “omnichannel,” “synergy,” and “authentic storytelling,” the words we use to sound strategic can start to lose all meaning.
In this episode of Prose + Comms: Engagement, Unplugged, Brian and Laura share their Marketing Jargon Hall of Shame nominees, calling out the phrases marketers love, hate, and maybe secretly still use. From overused industry terms to the words that make colleagues and customers tune out, they unpack why jargon happens and how marketers can communicate with more clarity, personality, and purpose.
About The Podcast
This is your go-to podcast for all things marketing, branding, and customer experience. We’re bringing you honest and fun conversations with bite-sized insights.
Hosted by BrightSign’s CMO Brian Rowley and Head of Integrated Marketing Laura Smith, you’ll hear from industry pros, creatives, and innovators about what’s actually working in today’s evolving, digital-first world. No fluff — just real insights on how brands are connecting with audiences and driving growth.
Tune in for fresh ideas, big thinking, and all the tips you need to take your marketing game to the next level.
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