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Welcome to Volume 262 👋
Happy Thursday!
In this week’s newsletter, we cover:
- 👟 Gen Z Is Coming for B2B, And They Expect More Than Ads
- 🎧 How Top Brands Turn Every Podcast Into a Growth Engine
- 👀 The Latest in B2B SaaS This Week
- 🧠 This Week’s Brain Food
- ➕ The Best Content Across the Web
Let’s get into it.
👟 Gen Z Is Coming for B2B, And They Expect More Than Ads
Every few years, a new generation quietly rewrites the rules of marketing.
Right now, that’s Gen Z.
They’re entering the workforce, managing budgets, and shaping how companies buy. The brands that earn their attention early will have an edge for years to come.
At Advertising Week, CMOs from Hilton, Bose, and H&R Block took aim at the usual myths. Gen Z isn’t disloyal. They don’t hate advertising. They just ignore anything that feels generic (or worse, ‘cringe,’ as the kids say).
The brands breaking through feel alive: human, funny, and culturally fluent.
H&R Block pulled it off with Responsibility Island, a parody reality show where young people were “trapped” until they learned to do their own taxes. It ran on YouTube and Roku and became a hit. Not because it sold software or shouted offers, but because it entertained.
It showed up in their world and gave them something worth sharing.
That’s the lesson for B2B.
Gen Z buyers grew up inside communities, not audiences. They expect brands to contribute to the culture they care about, not just broadcast into it.
Storytelling beats selling. Conversation beats campaigns.
Think serialized video, creator-driven partnerships, and authentic participation in niched spaces.
Many CMOs say they now spend most of their budgets on content, not ads. And paid media still matters, but it supports the story instead of leading it.
When millennials took the wheel, authenticity became the new marketing currency. With Gen Z, it’s participation.
The brands that learn how to invite people in (not target them) will be the ones this next generation of decision-makers actually remembers.
🎧 How Top Brands Turn Every Podcast Into a Growth Engine
Podcasts aren’t just for thought leadership anymore. They’ve become one of the most effective growth channels in B2B marketing.
According to a report by Adobe, companies that launched podcasts saw a 38% increase in revenue, with 78% reporting that their show met or exceeded ROI expectations.
The difference between brands that see those results and those that don’t comes down to what happens after recording. The best teams don’t stop at publishing an episode. They use a consistent system to turn every conversation into weeks of content across blogs, social, email, and video.
Each episode becomes a distribution engine that fuels reach, builds authority, and compounds ROI over time.
Want to see how companies like 6sense and HubSpot structure their podcast workflows to scale content output and maximize visibility?
Read the full podcast repurposing breakdown → https://foundationinc.co/lab/podcast-repurposing
🚨 New Podcast Alert: RSS 22: How to Harness AI Without Losing Your Creative Voice
A new episode of The Ross Simmonds Show just dropped, and if you’ve been wondering how to use AI without losing your creative edge, this one’s for you.
In this episode, Ross explores how to use AI as a copilot rather than a replacement in your content process. He tackles one of the biggest fears among creators: that AI-generated content lacks originality and authenticity. His take is simple: when used strategically, AI doesn’t replace the human voice, it amplifies it.
Here’s what you’ll learn:
- The 5-Part AI Content Framework
- Research: Use AI to uncover audience insights and analyze data at scale.
- Drafting: Overcome writer’s block with structured, high-quality first drafts.
- Repurposing: Turn a single piece of content into posts, podcasts, newsletters, and videos.
- Optimization: Identify keyword gaps, refine headlines, and improve on-page SEO.
- Personalization: Communicate at scale while keeping your tone authentic.
- How to turn content into a living, ROI-generating asset that compounds value over time.
- Real-world examples and tools to help you apply the framework immediately.
🎧 Catch the full episode on The Ross Simmonds Show via Apple or Spotify to make AI your creative advantage.
👀 What’s the Latest in B2B SaaS This Week? 👀
- Salesforce to invest $15 billion in San Francisco as AI race heats up | Reuters
- Google launches Gemini subscriptions to help corporate workers build AI agents | CNBC
- AI brands are using pop-ups and events to build awareness and trust | Axios
- California becomes first state to regulate AI companion chatbots
📚 Reddit Is Winning the Battle for Transactional Keywords
Did you know that Reddit now captures more traffic for high-intent software queries than G2, Capterra, or Gartner? Ross just guest-wrote an edition of Eli Schwartz’s “The Future of SEO” newsletter to show how Reddit’s organic credibility is reshaping bottom-of-funnel marketing.
He breaks down why Google (and LLMs) now cite Reddit comments, not polished listicles, when users search “best CRM” or “tool reviews.” He also maps out how brands can insert themselves authentically into Reddit threads, no paid listings required. Want to influence where your prospects are already debating?
Check it out here.
🧠 This Week’s Brain Food
AI can measure what we click, what we buy, and even how long we stare at a screen.
But it can’t measure why we care.
It doesn’t understand the hesitation before a hard decision or the quiet conviction that makes someone choose one brand over another.
Meaning doesn’t live in data. It lives in what people risk, what they hope for, what they decide not to do. When we try to optimize everything according to a single process and set of standards, we flatten the space where that meaning grows. The best ideas rarely begin as efficient ones. They start as questions, as experiments, as small acts of curiosity that refuse to fit into a model.
That is the work that no system can replace.
Want to sponsor our next issue? Reply to this email, and we’ll share how you can reach more SaaS founders and marketers today.
🏅 Reddit Post of the Week
The mistake that made my client $20,000 in one email in r/marketing
🎖️ LinkedIn Post of the Week
I think the content engineer debate is missing the actual unlock by Justin Dunham
🤳🏽 Nice Finds You Should Binge
- It’s not too late for Apple to get AI right | TechCrunch
- How Marketers Are Actually Using AI in 2025: New Research | Social Media Examiner
- Forget the Great Decoupling – SEO’s Great Normalization has begun | SearchEngineLand
💻 Job Postings Worth Checking Out
Looking for a new opportunity? Here’s a round-up of some exciting job openings in the B2B SaaS space.
- Foundation Marketing | Account Executive (Growth)
- Foundation Marketing | Senior Account Manager
- Foundation Marketing | Director of Strategy
- Foundation Marketing | Senior Account Coordinator
- Foundation Marketing | Data & Insights Analyst
- Foundation Marketing | Fractional Recruiter
- Foundation Marketing | Executive Assistant
- Foundation Marketing | Reddit Specialist
- Foundation Marketing | Content Creator
Want us to include your job postings in our next issue? Reply to this email, and we’ll share how you can reach more SaaS professionals today.
🎧 What We’re Wired Into This Week
Mexican Institute of Sound Live at KEXP
This marvelous marketing medley is brought to you by Chris Meabe!
If you have any feedback, suggestions, or ideas you want to see in this newsletter, feel free to email Chris at chris.meabe@foundationinc.co. We’re always looking for ways to improve and provide the best B2B SaaS marketing resources.
Have a great weekend!
