In this episode of Building Brand Advocacy, we're unpacking the seismic shift happening in marketing right now: is branded entertainment replacing paid ads?

We dig into why the smartest brands are investing in long-form content, storytelling, and entertainment-led campaigns, and how this changes everything from team structure to ROI measurement.

What we cover:

• Should brands have Global or local social media accounts

• The perfect niche to scale strategy

• Branded entertainment vs paid ads

• The Redbull playbook

Whether you're a founder, a marketing lead, or a brand builder trying to do more with less — this is the episode that reframes where your budget should actually be going.

🔔 New episodes every Wednesday — subscribe so you never miss an episode.

CONNECT WITH PAUL & VERITY

Paul: www.linkedin.com/in/paulkarcher/

Verity: www.linkedin.com/in/verityhurd/

FOLLOW US

Paul: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulkarcher/

Subscribe: www.youtube.com/@buildingbrandadvocacy

Instagram: www.instagram.com/building_brand_advocacy
TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@building.brand.advocacy

Are communities replacing influencers? In this episode of Building Brand Advocacy, Paul sits down with Nicola Gunby, co-founder of CLIQ, to talk about why the brands winning right now aren't chasing reach, they're building belonging.

We go deep on the concept of the 'third space' and why it might be the most underutilised tool in your brand's growth strategy right now.

In this episode we cover:

• The journey behind CLIQ and why Nicola built it

• What 'third space' communities are and why they matter for brands

• What it actually takes to build real, lasting community (it's not what you think)

• How brands can use CLIQ as a community-building tool

• Frameworks for measuring community impact — beyond vanity metrics

• Online vs IRL: which builds deeper brand loyalty?

This one is essential listening if you're a CMO or marketing lead questioning where influencer budgets should actually go in 2025.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction

04:29 Community as the Third Place

08:19 Where Brands Go Wrong with Community

13:59 Cliq Brand Case Studies

19:21 Measuring Community ROI

26:17 Measuring Community Event Demand

28:30 Tap Into Existing Communities

29:40 Samsung Community Case Study

35:17 Online vs In Person Community

37:34 Sub Communities Strategy

41:40 Geo Local Community

44:18 Cringe Or Community

🔔 New episodes every Wednesday — subscribe so you never miss an episode.

CONNECT WITH NICOLA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicolargunby/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicola-gunby/
CLIQ: https://www.instagram.com/findyourcliq/

Is influencer marketing dead? Jordan Schwarzenberger, the man behind the Sidemen's evolution from creators to a multi-million pound enterprise, thinks brands have got content eco-systems wrong. In this episode of Building Brand Advocacy, we break down why the smartest brands are ditching traditional influencer marketing and becoming organic content engines instead.

Jordan reveals the exact content strategy that scaled the Sidemen from a YouTube group into a business empire and how any brand can steal from the creator economy strategy. We go deep on building a content hemisphere, why entertainment-first marketing beats ads, and how to turn community into customers through brand advocacy.

In this episode we cover:

• Sidemen evolution from creators to an enterprise business.

• The opportunity for brands to become content engines.

• Why influencer marketing is dead.

• Why brands and 10 years behind in content and how to create a solution to get ahead.

Whether you're a CMO, marketer or brand founder, this episode is your blueprint for building a content marketing strategy that actually compounds.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction

02:38 Building the LADBible Agency

07:16 Scaling The Sidemen Businesses

11:16 Defining A Content Infrastructure

12:27 Side Plus Membership Model

17:27 How Brands Should Be Working With Creators

20:23 End Of The Transactional Influencer Model

23:04 Discovery IS Replacing Followers

26:07 The Influencer Economy Collapse

28:33 Traditional Campaigns Are Dead

30:04 Monoculture To Micro Communities

38:24 The CMO Playbook

41:40 Contribution Marketing To Serve Then Sell

🔔 New episodes every Wednesday — subscribe so you never miss an episode.

CONNECT WITH JORDAN

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

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordanschwarz/

TiKTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jordanschwarzenberger

FOLLOW US

Verity: www.linkedin.com/in/verityhurd/

Subscribe: www.youtube.com/@buildingbrandadvocacy

Instagram: www.instagram.com/building_brand_advocacy
TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@building.brand.advocacy