This week, we are joined by Joe Cox to talk about pop culture and marketing, marketing in gaming and esports, and the opportunities for brands in the metaverse. 

Joe is the Founder and Creator of The Pop-Marketer, host of the Pop-Marketing Podcast, and a lifelong marketer passionate about helping brands incorporate pop culture and use it to connect deeply with their communities. 

Throughout our conversation, we delve into Joe’s career, his first steps in marketing, and Pop-Marketer’s approach to advertising campaigns and activations. We talk about the intersection between pop culture and marketing, the importance of understanding a community’s identity, the mashup between physical and digital identities, and the opportunities brands aren’t seeing there. 

Joe also shared his view on the metaverse and depicted some of the many opportunities it offers for gaming, content creation, and music industries. 

Resources:

Visit The Pop-Marketer website:https://www.pop-marketer.com/.

Listen to The Pop-Marketing Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-pop-marketing-podcast/id1518917910.

Connect with Joe on social media:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jocox/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joecox/?hl=es

Twitter: https://twitter.com/joenormal

This episode is sponsored by Ice Shaker! Grab your own custom DLC Drop Ice Shaker at: https://www.IceShaker.com/DLCDrop And make sure you use the code DLCDrop to save 20% off ALL Ice Shaker Products.

Full Episode Breakdown:

2:28 – Joe talks about how he got interested in marketing, especially untraditional marketing styles.

3.21 – Joe talks about how The Pop-Marketer started.

7:42 – Joe talks about the old advertising model and how hard it is to sell it to the newer generations.

14.32 – Joe talks about how his experiences in gaming and advertising influenced him throughout his life.

17:25 – Joe explains the advantages of looking at marketing through the pop culture lens.

21:01 – John and Joe discuss why brands must understand communities’ identities.

24:03 – Joe talks about the touching points between digital and physical identity and how brands could exploit that. 

28:57 – John and Joe talk about some of the advantages of producing content for the metaverse.

31:53 – Joe talks about the opportunities in the metaverse and shares an example of how the music industry could delve into that space. 

34:31 – Joe explains how people could augment their experiences in the physical world using their access to the digital world.

38:24 – John and Joe discuss the importance of validation and how brands can approach that human need.

43:21 – Joe describes the best activations he has ever witnessed.

48:25 – Joe talks about the two ways of convincing a brand to invest its money into advertising. 

53:12 – Joe talks about the proper way of creating sponsorship partnerships.

57:10 – John and Joe discuss the importance of setting clear expectations before any campaign. 

1:02:03 – Joe remembers the thing that hit the unlock button in his career.