The career arc of a marketing executive often resembles a kind of institutional pinball — bouncing from brand to agency to holding company to consultancy, with occasional detours into media properties that may or may not exist by the time you read this sentence.
Seth Matlins, who has held senior positions at Live Nation, Forbes, and Rock the Vote over the years, is now adding podcast host to his curriculum vitae. His new show, "Create or Destroy: Reimagining Marketing," is being produced in partnership with Vox Media's podcast network, which will provide what Mr. Matlins described as dozens of staffers for production, marketing, and promotion — a support system that would be difficult to replicate for what is, at its core, a one-man operation with a thesis.
That thesis, in brief: marketing has been unfairly relegated to the tactical margins of corporate life when it ought to be understood as central to enterprise value. "Every decision they make is inescapably tied to value creation or destruction — there is no neutral," Mr. Matlins said. (This is the kind of statement that sounds profound in a podcast description and slightly less so when you remember that it could apply equally to accounting, or lunch.)
The guest list will include Gary Vaynerchuk, LVMH brand adviser Mathilde Delhoume, and David Axelrod, among others — a roster that suggests the show is aiming for the intersection of marketing, politics, and what might generously be called thought leadership.
Mr. Matlins said his decision to partner with Vox Media was influenced by his relationships with the company's chief executive, Jim Bankoff, and Ray Chao, who oversees podcasts there. The arrangement extends beyond audio: a global event series called Create or Destroy Sessions will begin with a CMO summit in London in September, followed by a retreat in Napa in October. Canva has signed on as a launch partner.
Revenue will come from the usual sources — advertising, sponsorship, and ticketing. The episodes will arrive weekly, without seasons, across audio platforms and YouTube.
Mr. Matlins, for his part, frames the venture in expansive terms. "This is a business show about marketing — it's not just for the marketing community," he said.
Whether the marketing community agrees remains, as always, a separate question.
Original story published in adweek.com: "Marking Veteran Seth Matlins Launches Podcast With Vox Media"