Best Brands on Earth, from the Clios

What does it take to keep a brand authentic when your fans expect the game to match the real world within 48 hours? Hosts Hayley Clover and Matt Kerbel sit down with Andrea Hopelain, Global Marketing & Commercial Executive for EA & EA SPORTS, to talk about building brands at the intersection of sports, entertainment, and gaming.

Andrea has led marketing and strategy at Disney, ESPN, Sony Pictures, and Hasbro, and now oversees marketing across EA’s sports portfolio, including EA SPORTS FC, Madden NFL, College Football, F1, UFC, and NHL. In this conversation she covers:

Why “If it’s in the game, it’s in the game” still drives everything, and the Coach Madden 11-on-11 story behind it
How EA SPORTS keeps pace with real-world sports through live services
Turning ads in games from interruption into participation, with the State Farm “Jake” NIL deal as an example
The four levers behind EA’s growth: social, frictionless, personal, and participatory
The FIFA-to-EA SPORTS FC rebrand and why fan loyalty was never about the name
Why a loud fanbase is a good sign, and how Madden player ratings get decided
Why EA sees itself as leading the growth of women’s sports, and the new skeleton technology built to get the women’s game right
How coaches use Madden as a teaching tool, and what Project Assist could mean for broadcasters and creators

CHAPTERS
0:00 National Coffee Day and Starbucks talk
2:21 Two Minutes With Haley Clover
5:30 Introducing Andrea Hopelain and EA SPORTS
7:39 Andrea’s career path and the “learn-it-all” mindset
11:23 “It’s in the game”: authenticity and the Coach Madden story
15:01 Living at the speed of sport: real-time updates and live services
18:23 Advertising inside the game: context, participation, and scale
24:58 Ecosystem design: play modes, tailgates, and going beyond the screen
30:16 Sponsor break
32:16 Four levers for growth and the Ted Lasso crossover
35:25 From FIFA to EA SPORTS FC: the rebrand
42:28 Passionate fans: why silence is worse than backlash
45:46 Behind the scenes of Madden player ratings
47:31 Women’s sports and building a flywheel of discovery
52:35 Getting the women’s game right: new skeleton technology
55:01 Crumbs of Wisdom (Open Fortune)
57:49 Fast Money: brands that inspire Andrea (Disney and Google)
1:00:20 EA’s biggest opportunity: Madden as a visualization engine and Project Assist
1:04:39 Gen Z, creators, and how fans discover sports today
1:06:55 Why EA SPORTS is one of the best brands on Earth
1:09:12 Haley and Matt’s post-interview reactions
1:12:53 Wrap-up and where to find the show

Find us at BestBrandsOnEarth.com

Best Brands on Earth is hosted by Hayley Clover and Matt Kerbel and produced by Third Wall Creative.

#BestBrandsOnEarth #EASPORTS #Madden #EASPORTSFC #BrandStrategy #SportsMarketing #GamingMarketing #Marketing #WomensSports #Podcast

What do you get when you put a room of Atlanta marketing leaders together during Brand Week? An unfiltered conversation about what's working, what's cringe, and what the industry isn't talking about enough.
On this roundtable episode of Best Brands on Earth, brand and marketing leaders from companies including Zoom, Delta, PrizePicks, and a canned wine startup get candid about the state of brand today. They cover why boards are suddenly asking for "iconic," why Zoom is leaning into culture to escape its category, and why metrics like "talk time" are replacing the old funnel. They also ask whether "unhinged" social media is just lazy marketing, why consistency is the most underrated brand strategy, and how a marketing team can speak the language of sales and finance.
The group debates the Sydney Sweeney sports-betting campaign, prediction-market advertising, and why every AI company sounds the same. They also pick the ads they love, including Google Pixel's "put your phone down" spot and the DTC ads that keep following them around, and dig into the US Open's sponsorship wins and its influencer backlash. The episode closes with Crumbs of Wisdom: explaining marketing to your kids, trusting a creative gut you can't defend, and why direct mail still works.

Featuring

Conley Downing
Chief Marketing Officer, Archer Roose Wines

Dylan Feinstein
Head of Partnership Sales & Client Services at OpenFortune

Hayley Clover
Co-Founder & Host, Best Brands on Earth

Jason Pirock
Vice President, Global Brand Marketing, OUTRIGGER Hospitality Group

Matt Kerbel
Co-Founder & Host, Best Brands on Earth

Nathan Smith
General Manager, Delta Studio and Media Experiences, Delta Airlines

Shawn Rinkenba
Executive Creative Director, PrizePicks

Whitney Magnuson
Head of Brand & Media, Zoom

Chapters
0:00 Welcome and kickoff
1:29 What conversations are leaders having now that they couldn't a year ago?
2:49 Zoom's board says "be iconic"
4:44 Beyond CPM: "talk time" and new ways to measure brand
6:18 In-person vs. virtual: why people want real experiences
8:10 Is marketing a cost center or a revenue driver?
10:12 Canned wine and owning a consumer's "first taste"
12:01 What's underhyped? Targeting
13:31 Designing for the audience you are (PrizePicks)
15:50 Nobody's teaching people how to write a brief
17:00 Human insight beats demographics
17:26 Breaking down channel silos
19:59 The "sea of sameness" and real differentiation
20:49 Is the unhinged brand voice just lazy marketing?
22:03 Duolingo, Liquid Death, and cultural permission
24:26 Back to basics: McDonald's, Heinz, Guinness, and brand equity
25:37 When is edgy worth the risk?
27:25 Consistency is the most underrated strategy
29:41 Why brand is underfunded and why conferences miss the point
30:46 Marketing's language barrier with sales and finance
32:49 The CMO title, and "sales wins the shelf, marketing drives the second purchase"
34:07 Hits and misses: setting up the debate
34:42 The Sydney Sweeney x NoVig controversy
39:23 Kalshi, Polymarket, and the media spend of prediction markets
41:16 Will your marketing get your whole industry regulated? AI ads and billboard sameness
44:06 Guilty-pleasure ads and DTC wellness marketing
46:21 Google Pixel's "put your phone down" and humanizing a product feature
50:41 Edutainment and the US Open sponsorship masterclass (IBM, AmEx, Rolex, Grey Goose)
52:01 US Open backlash: influencers vs. tradition
56:06 Gen Z, Gen Alpha, and celebrity-driven sports fandom
59:05 Crumbs of Wisdom with Open Fortune
1:00:13 What you can't explain about your job (Delta and the kids)
1:03:04 The creative instinct you trust but can't defend
1:04:29 The opinion you keep defending that fewer people share
1:05:28 Why direct mail still works

#BestBrandsOnEarth #Marketing #Branding #BrandStrategy #MarketingPodcast #BrandWeek #AtlantaMarketing #Advertising #CMO #BrandMarketing #MarketingStrategy #Podcast

After 30 years on the agency side — including the Subaru turnaround and a long run at Carmichael Lynch — Marcus Fischer took his first client-side job as Chief Brand Officer of Harley-Davidson. He'd never ridden a motorcycle in his life.Nine months in, he joins Matt and Hayley to talk about what he found on the inside of a 125-year-old American icon: a dealer network that customers visit just to hang out on a Saturday, riders who tattoo the logo on their bodies, and five years of marketing imagery so dark and brooding it had stopped inviting anyone in. His first creative brief at Daytona Bike Week was three words: "I want to see teeth."We get into the "Ride" platform and why it launched globally without translation, bringing back the full bar and shield, why the outlaw image is dated (and the core riders agree), the museum tank wall as a lesson in individuality inside a tribe, and the feedback loop between factory and rider that he says is faster than any brand he's worked on. Plus: the t-shirt test, main character energy, and why you can't logic anyone into riding a motorcycle.00:00:00 - Intro: Welcome Marcus Fischer, Chief Brand Officer00:02:24 - Mystery Shopping at Harley Dealerships00:06:18 - The Shift from Agency to Brand Owner00:10:36 - What Surprised Marcus Most About Harley-Davidson00:13:23 - Learning to Ride & The Motorcycle Community00:16:06 - "I Want to See Teeth": Bringing Joy & Swagger Back00:24:37 - "Back to the Bricks": Innovating a 125-Year-Old Heritage00:30:40 - The Global "Ride" Platform & Immediate Feedback00:37:00 - Can Harley-Davidson Expand Beyond Motorcycles?00:43:04 - Audacious Goals & Reclaiming "Main Character Energy"00:48:47 - Crumbs of Wisdom: The Fortune Cookie Segment00:54:56 - The Brands That Inspire Harley-Davidson's Team00:59:46 - Why Harley-Davidson is the Best Brand on Earth01:01:34 - Outro: Hosts Debrief & Final Thoughts #HarleyDavidson #BrandStrategy #Marketing #BestBrandsOnEarth #ChiefBrandOfficer #BrandBuilding #MarketingPodcast #Branding #Advertising #MarcusFischer #MotorcycleCulture #AmericanBrands #CreativeStrategy #BrandMarketing #Podcast

How does a 54-year-old brand with 40,000 global locations rediscover its soul? In this episode of Best Brands on Earth, hosts Hayley and Matt are joined by Tressie Lieberman, the first-ever Chief Global Brand Officer at Starbucks.
Tressie breaks down her strategy for bringing the magic back to the coffeehouse experience by balancing ultra-convenience with human connection. We dive into her non-traditional career path through Taco Bell, Chipotle, and Yahoo, how her team navigates viral TikTok trends like the Barista Glass and Unicorn Frappuccino, the intense pressure behind the iconic Holiday Cup, and why MrBeast is one of her biggest brand inspirations. Chapters:
00:00 - Intro & The Two-Minute Drill
04:20 - Introducing Starbucks Chief Global Brand Officer, Tressie Lieberman
05:34 - The New Starbucks Studio & Store Uplifts
07:05 - How Tressie Starts Her Day (Coffee Tastings)
08:49 - Designing the First Global Brand Officer Role
14:17 - Obsessing Over the Details & The Merchant Mindset
16:38 - Building Trust with Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol
18:45 - Rediscovering the Soul of Starbucks (Convenience vs. Connection)
24:53 - Leveraging Culture, TikTok, & The Barista Glass Trend
30:04 - Managing Ideas in a High-Frequency Brand
33:28 - Sponsor Break (Open Fortune & Tracksuit)
35:14 - Investor Day: Declaring "Starbucks is Back"
37:17 - The Pressure of the Holiday Cup & Online Feedback
41:48 - Channeling Founder Howard Schultz's Vision
43:52 - The Future of Starbucks: Tech & Ultra-Personalization
46:31 - Tressie's Favorite Global Roasteries & Locations
48:34 - Elevating the Digital App & Rewards Experience
50:05 - Tressie's Digital-First Career Journey to the C-Suite
54:37 - Crumbs of Wisdom: Courage & The Unicorn Frappuccino
58:32 - Why MrBeast Inspires Starbucks
01:01:01 - Tressie's Go-To Starbucks Order
01:03:28 - Why Starbucks is the Best Brand on Earth
01:04:58 - Episode Wrap-Up & Key Takeaways

After 30 years on the agency side — including the Subaru turnaround and a long run at Carmichael Lynch — Marcus Fischer took his first client-side job as Chief Brand Officer of Harley-Davidson. He'd never ridden a motorcycle in his life.
Nine months in, he joins Matt and Hayley to talk about what he found on the inside of a 125-year-old American icon: a dealer network that customers visit just to hang out on a Saturday, riders who tattoo the logo on their bodies, and five years of marketing imagery so dark and brooding it had stopped inviting anyone in. His first creative brief at Daytona Bike Week was three words: "I want to see teeth."
We get into the "Ride" platform and why it launched globally without translation, bringing back the full bar and shield, why the outlaw image is dated (and the core riders agree), the museum tank wall as a lesson in individuality inside a tribe, and the feedback loop between factory and rider that he says is faster than any brand he's worked on. Plus: the t-shirt test, main character energy, and why you can't logic anyone into riding a motorcycle.

#HarleyDavidson #BrandStrategy #Marketing #BestBrandsOnEarth #ChiefBrandOfficer #BrandBuilding #MarketingPodcast #Branding #Advertising #MarcusFischer #MotorcycleCulture #AmericanBrands #CreativeStrategy #BrandMarketing #Podcast