Midseason Break: We'll Be Right Back!

For the brands that dominate, partnerships aren't just a creator strategy; they're a full-blown operating system. But how do you actually build that out?In this episode, Dave Yovanno is joined by industry veteran Steve Messa, Head of YouTube Creator and Influencer Program at BetterHelp, to unpack one of the most effective creator programs of the last decade. Scaling to over 5,000 active creator partnerships, Steve's team has made a notable shift, tossing out old playbooks that hinged on subscriber count in favor of ones built for the interest- and algorithm-driven economy. Together, Dave and Steve dig into why video podcasting is the most underappreciated play in creator marketing today, how the right compensation model really depends on the brand's goals and risk tolerance, and how the budget freed up by a program like this is what funds the upper-funnel brand moments most programs never get to.If you're ready to unlock the world of YouTube creators and build them into a funnel that inspires action, this episode is your place to start.This podcast episode was produced by Quill.

Search is changing. Data is disappearing. Attribution is harder than ever. So what's a marketer actually supposed to control?In this episode, Dave Yovanno sits down with Nick Wedewer, VP of Growth Marketing at Hims & Hers. Nick shares how he's learned to focus on what's controllable amid constant disruption in partnership marketing, from becoming an expert in one channel early in his career, to building measurement models that triangulate across data sources instead of chasing certainty that no longer exists. He and Dave dig into how growth partnerships create trust when first-party data disappears, why authenticity with creators is non-negotiable, and how generative AI is upending discovery itself. Nick closes with his take on where the marketing job is headed and why doubling down on creative judgment and real human trust may be the most durable strategy when the ground moves beneath you. This podcast episode was produced by Quill.

A People.com feature drives $10,000+ in 24 hours on a $6 product… A moment that sparked a career pivot, a new discipline, and a fresh way of thinking about how brands earn attention and revenue simultaneously.In this episode, Todd Crawford sits down with Kaila O'Connor, Founder of KMO HAUS, to unpack the rise of Growth PR, a hybrid of public relations and affiliate marketing, reshaping how brands get discovered. Drawing on a decade in B2B PR before crossing into affiliate, Kaila shares how to pitch commerce editors like investors, why articles can become compounding revenue assets, and how flexible commission structures unlock premium brand placements and impressive growth. From how AI is reshaping search to why the best people in this industry never stop being students, Kaila and Todd reflect on why the future may still rely on the tools of the past. This podcast episode was produced by Quill.

Authentic. Lo-fi. And at scale. Today's algorithms demand it all from your ad creatives—so, how do you keep up without burning your team out?In this episode, Todd Crawford sits down with Mal Chia, Managing Director & Co-Founder at Ecom Nation, to unpack a creative strategy most brands are sleeping on: hiring UGC creators purely as content producers. With Meta's shift away from manual audience targeting, creative is now doing the heavy lifting — leaving brands with a need for good content, and lots of it.Ready to take advantage of this shift, Mal shares exactly how to work with creators to build a valuable content engine. From budgets and briefings to splicing and testing content, Mal walks through how this function should actually work inside your organization.If you're still relying on a handful of big creators to carry your ad creatives, this episode offers a new strategy… and the playbook to execute it.This podcast episode was produced by Quill.

We're halfway through Season 7 and taking a quick summer break, but more partnership conversations, creator stories, and publisher insights will be back before you know it! We have some amazing content taking shape behind the scenes, and we can't wait to share it with you. Hit follow, turn on your notifications, and drop a comment with what you want to hear next! 

The lines between creators, affiliates, influencers, and advocates are blurring fast. But for modern brands, that’s not a challenge — it’s an opportunity to build a smarter growth engine.In this episode, Todd Crawford sits down with Jordan Carter of SharkNinja to explore how one of today’s most recognizable consumer product companies is rethinking creator commerce, affiliate marketing, and social-first partnerships. Jordan shares how SharkNinja’s affiliate program has grown across North America, why creators are now central to the brand’s product launches, and how platforms like TikTok Shop, YouTube Shopping, LTK, and ShopMy are changing the way brands evaluate performance. Together, Todd and Jordan unpack why micro-creators can drive more authentic engagement than massive influencers, and how brands can build stronger bridges between paid social, retail affiliate, and influencer marketing teams.This podcast episode was produced by Quill.

A new frontier is opening in the workplace. It makes the difference between simply using AI as a tool and becoming an AI-native leader who actually builds value. In this episode, Todd Crawford sits down with Keith Posehn, CEO at Zorz, to unpack what this means for the partnership economy and what organizations should be doing now to maximize the value of AI. Together, Todd and Keith explore how AI is driving a bottom-up revolution, empowering individual affiliate managers to build tools and products that once required entire dev teams. They’re building their own career ladder and creating tools that solve the exact problems they face every day. They also dive into how the barrier to entry for innovative partnership models is disappearing, paving the way for a new wave of ‘product-first’ publishers.This podcast episode was produced by Quill.

Search is evolving, AI is reshaping discovery, and consumers are relying on creators more than ever to guide their decisions. So how do the BEST brands make the most of this shift? In this episode, Dave Yovanno sits down with Seth Hagerty, Senior Director of Performance Marketing at Best Buy, to explore how one of retail’s most iconic brands is adapting to a new era of customer discovery. Seth shares how Best Buy is approaching creators, affiliates, AI, attribution, retail media, and more — and why partnerships are no longer just a lower-funnel tactic, but a foundational part of the modern marketing mix. Seth explains why today’s most effective brands are shifting from control to influence, learning to let trusted partners help tell their story in more authentic ways. He also breaks down how Best Buy thinks about measurement, incrementality, and customer acquisition in a world where the path to purchase is more fragmented than ever.Discover why leading brands stay ahead by evolving with their customers and redefining when and where discovery happens.This podcast episode was produced by Quill.

AI just used your best content to make a recommendation. Then, took all the credit. Now what? That’s exactly what inspired Hunter Capobianco, Director of Business Development & Partnerships, Commerce at CNN. In this episode, he sits down with Todd Crawford to share how his team is tackling the attribution challenges facing modern digital marketers. Hunter breaks down the product they built to keep shoppers on-platform, and why traditional affiliate optimization still matters if you want to drive meaningful revenue. He also reveals an opportunity hiding in plain sight, creating an opening for publishers to win brand budgets by packaging their commerce inventory like retail media. Together, Hunter and Todd hypothesize about the future of monetization and why, at the end of the day, it still comes back to content, content, content!This podcast episode was produced by Quill.

Generative AI is quietly reshaping how people shop — 39% of consumers have already used it, from chatbots to visual search, and 53% more plan to join them this year. As product discovery moves from search bars to AI conversations, marketing teams have one urgent question to answer: How do we get AI to pick us?In this Season 7 premiere, Dave Yovanno sits down with Brian Stempeck, CEO and Co-Founder of Evertune, a company focused on helping brands understand how they appear in AI-powered discovery. Together, Dave and Brian explore the realities brands must confront—from a growing loss of narrative control to the rise of personalized, context-aware AI search that is reshaping how consumers discover products. They unpack what determines brand mentions inside LLMs and why creator-, community-, and affiliate-driven content now play an outsized role in AI visibility.So, if you’re wondering how your commerce brand will compete as AI becomes the new front door to the internet, this episode is your starting point.This podcast episode was produced by Quill.