Future Commerce

Brian dials in from B2B Chicago, Phillip gets existential, and Alicia Esposito returns to the show and makes her debut as the newest member of the Future Commerce team. This week, we unpack music festivals escalating cost of participation, Coachella as a retail laboratory, and how looming global trade challenges overconsumption. PLUS: The auto industry experiences a rare analog awakening.

It Was Big Hibiscus All Along

Key takeaways:

• 70% of B2B purchasers are Gen Z or Millennials.
• Tariffs are a real threat Brands are bracing for supply chain disruption, with some using tariff warnings as marketing FOMO triggers.
• Future Commerce analyzes the overpriced festival craze on Insiders #190 and Insiders #191.
• The draw to Coachella? Its not music, or $30 Daves Hot Chicken sandwiches. Its vibes.
• The Slate Truck represents a broader cultural trend toward digital detox and reverse skeuomorphism, bringing real-world, tactile experiences back into the digital age.
• [00:04:07] Digitalization came for B2C and we didnt say anything. And now its here for B2B. Brian Lange
• [00:15:17] The reckoning has been coming for a long time. Overconsumption isnt just a consumer issueits a systemic one. If the climate crisis didnt spark change, what will? Phillip Jackson
• [00:16:57] At what point will the cost of participation outweigh the value of participation to the point where it's like, well, what am I even doing this for? Alicia Esposito

In-Show Mentions:

• Insiders #191: City of Coachella: Population: In Debt
• Insiders #190: Is Coachella Buzz Brands Supply Chain Friend or Foe?
• Politico: How Gen Z Became the Most Gullible Generation

Associated Links:

• Check out Future Commerce on YouTube
• Check out Future Commerce+ for exclusive content and save on merch and print
• Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce world
• Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce

Have 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!

Phillip and Brian dig into the cultural implications of AI’s new role—not just as a tool, but as a confidant, a co-pilot, and even a therapist. They also get into the Kraft Heinz x A1 viral moment, trade war disinformation on TikTok, and how AI-fueled consumer aesthetics are transforming luxury. Plus: A new HBR report shows “therapy and companionship” is now the top use case for GenAI. What does this mean for society and us as individuals?

The Secret’s in the Sauce

Key takeaways:

• Kraft Heinz's real-time A1 ad proves responsive marketing now competes on cultural speed.
• “Therapy and companionship” is the top AI use case of 2025—raising serious questions about trust and emotional outsourcing.
• TikTok disinformation and fake Birkin bags signal a new era of aesthetic manipulation and consumer mimicry.
• Agentic AI use cases like coding and life management are accelerating due to new protocols like MCP.
• The interplay of commerce, identity, and AI isn’t theoretical—it’s already reshaping real-world buying behavior.

In-Show Mentions:

• Order LORE by Future Commerce
• Harvard Business Review’s 2025 GenAI Use Case Study
• Kraft Heinz x Mischief “For Educational Purposes Only” ad
• All-In Podcast tariff debate featuring David Sacks and Ezra Klein
• TikTok’s disinformation around luxury goods

Associated Links:

• Check out Future Commerce on YouTube
• Check out Future Commerce+ for exclusive content and save on merch and print
• Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce world
• Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce

Have 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!

Andrew McLuhan—author, speaker, and steward of The McLuhan Institute—shares rich, mind-bending perspectives on the current state of culture, media, connection, and commerce. Drawing from a generations-deep intellectual legacy forged by media theorist and philosopher Marshall McLuhan, Andrew explores what it means to live in a world electrified by complete digital immersion.

A New Medium Is A New Culture

Key takeaways:

• “I quickly discovered that it’s easy to overwhelm people with too much information. It’s almost the worst thing you can do, because you lose them, and it can be hard to get them back.” – Andrew McLuhan
• “It’s much easier to teach people one thing at a time than it is to teach them ten things at once.” – Andrew McLuhan
• “‘A poem can’t mean something that it doesn’t mean to you.’ Which is kind of deep, but it’s not the cop out that you think it is.” – Andrew McLuhan, quoting T.S. Eliot
• “Marshall McLuhan saw that through human history we’ve been influenced and steered by the structure and nature of our innovations more than by what we’ve done with them. A new medium is a new culture.” – Andrew McLuhan
• “We don’t like finding out how we’re being used.” – Andrew McLuhan
• “Commerce is a form of media. It is manipulating people in some way and people are being shaped by it.” – Phillip

In-Show Mentions:

• How People Are Really Using Gen AI in 2025 – Harvard Business Review
• Other Harvard Business Review pieces:
  • Personalization Done Right
  • The Consumer Psychology of Adopting AI
• Eric McLuhan’s Taking Up McLuhan’s Cause – re-released
• The McLuhan Institute

Associated Links:

• Check out Future Commerce on YouTube
• Check out Future Commerce+ for exclusive content and to save on merch and print
• Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce world
• Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce

Have 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!

Live from Optimove Connect, Brian sits down with Optimove CEO Pini Yakuel and Nikolas Badminton, Chief Futurist at Futurist.com, to unpack the philosophical and practical implications of 'positionless marketing'—a radical rethink of organizational roles in the AI era.

Mind Over Mechanism

Key takeaways:

• Positionless is Power: The most innovative organizations won't be flatter—they'll be fluid. Roles dissolve; talent flows where it’s needed.
• AI Is the New Intern: It drafts, it preps, it gets you started—but the genius still has to come from you.
• Old Process ≠ New Potential: Layering AI on legacy workflows just speeds up your inefficiency.
• Control is a Creativity Killer: Let go of silos, turf wars, and micromanagement. The next gen of leaders will trust, not gatekeep.
• The Kids Are Alright—and in Charge: Within 10 years, new mindsets will lead. Curious, collaborative, and chaos-embracing.
• [00:04:48]: “Startups get stuff done because you're positionless. One day you're marketing, next day you're writing code. That’s how you beat the big guys—speed and fluidity.” – Pini Yakuel
• [00:08:03]: “We create the tools, and the tools create us.” – Nick Badminton
• [00:14:44]: “New tech + old process = expensive old process.” – Nick Badminton
• [00:11:50]: “Friction is what makes life life.” – Brian Lange

Associated Links:

• Check out Future Commerce on YouTube
• Check out Future Commerce+ for exclusive content and save on merch and print
• Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce world
• Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce

Have 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!

Brian goes live from Optimove Connect in London to explore how the idea of “positionless marketing” is revolutionizing the way we think about team structure, agility, and creativity in marketing. He chats with endurance swimmer and environmental activist Lewis Pugh, as well as DAZN’s Ria Chin-You and Optimove’s Paul O’Shea, about marketing’s future and how AI is shaping it.

Strive for Epic

Key takeaways:

• [12:25] Lewis Pugh shares how emotional drive and preparation fuel extraordinary feats—like swimming across the North Pole—and what brands can learn from that level of purpose.
• [20:29] “Epic” vs. “great”: Pugh discusses how to distinguish good work from game-changing campaigns.
• [33:42] Environmental justice, consumer justice, and the universal value of doing what's right—and what this really means for global brands today.
• [46:05] DAZN’s Ria Chin-You discusses managing CRM across 200+ markets with a team of nine—and the challenges of scaling personalization with limited resources.
• [50:48] Integrating GenAI into real-world workflows is still a challenge, especially for resource-strapped teams—but the potential is there.
• [58:24] Paul O’Shea explains Optimove’s vision for creating “super workers” through native AI integration and simplifying marketers’ jobs.
• [1:01:08] Cultural nuance is key—global messaging isn’t just about translation, it’s about resonance.
• [1:07:49] In fast-moving industries like sports, being agile isn’t optional. AI could be the key to real-time, reactive marketing at scale.
• “Practice until you can’t get it wrong, not until you get it right.” — Lewis Pugh
• “We need tools that help us scale personalization without sacrificing cultural authenticity.” — Ria Chin-You
• “AI isn’t replacing you, it’s your new teammate.” — Brian

In-Show Mentions:

• Learn more about Optimove’s positionless marketing platform at Optimove.com/futurecommerce
• Discover Lewis Pugh’s environmental work at lewispughfoundation.org
• Find Ria Chin-You’s work via DAZN and LinkedIn

Associated Links:

• Check out Future Commerce on YouTube
• Check out Future Commerce+ for exclusive content and save on merch and print
• Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce world
• Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce

Have 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!