Marketing Against The Grain

By Hubspot

Kipp Bodnar (HubSpot’s CMO) and Kieran Flanagan (Hubspot's SVP of Marketing), lead you down the rabbit hole of marketing trends, growth tactics and innovation. On the way you’ll pick up undiscovered strategies to give you that slight edge for success. These are not your typical twitter thread regurgitated marketing tactics that everyone is doing. These are new methods, with unfiltered examination of successful fresh ideas.

19 episodes

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Mastering Super Agents Requires Iterative Skill Refinement

Mastering Super Agents Requires Iterative Skill Refinement

Mar 05, 2026

Master AI super agents by deeply refining one core workflow, not by adopting many tools. This iterative skill-building unlocks significant competitive advantage through automation.

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Claude Code Enables Marketers to Build Custom Campaign Systems

Claude Code Enables Marketers to Build Custom Campaign Systems

Mar 03, 2026

Build bespoke marketing tools and workflows with AI, transforming from user to builder. Gain unprecedented speed, customization, and a durable competitive advantage by creating unique, adaptive systems.

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Human-AI Collaboration Amplifies Advertising Strategy Beyond Volume

Human-AI Collaboration Amplifies Advertising Strategy Beyond Volume

Feb 26, 2026

AI agents revolutionize advertising not just through volume, but by creating "superhuman coworkers." Master human-AI collaboration and strategic prompting to gain a significant competitive edge.

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Inbox AI Agents Enhance Workflows Through User Experience

Inbox AI Agents Enhance Workflows Through User Experience

Feb 24, 2026

Unlock AI productivity by embedding specialized agents directly into your email inbox. Delegate complex tasks like competitive analysis and content ideation through familiar workflows, bypassing new interfaces for immediate gains.

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Accessible Autonomous Agents Redefine Productivity Through Skills

Accessible Autonomous Agents Redefine Productivity Through Skills

Feb 19, 2026

AI's true power for marketers lies in seamless integration and transferable skills, not just technical prowess. This democratizes automation, offering a competitive edge to early adopters.

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Autonomous Agents Usher In Agentic Web Era

Autonomous Agents Usher In Agentic Web Era

Feb 17, 2026

AI agents now perform complex tasks and build ecosystems, shifting from human-centric to agent-first internet. Understand this paradigm to gain a market advantage.

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AI Scales Marketing Expertise Beyond Simple Automation

AI Scales Marketing Expertise Beyond Simple Automation

Feb 12, 2026

Scale specialized marketing expertise with AI to automate trend spotting and creative briefs, accelerating output and improving ad performance through rapid, data-informed iteration.

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AI Agent Teams: From Task Delegation to Outcome Orchestration

AI Agent Teams: From Task Delegation to Outcome Orchestration

Feb 10, 2026

AI transforms knowledge work from task delegation to outcome orchestration, enabling teams to manage AI agents for unprecedented scale and efficiency.

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AI Transforms Presentations Into Dynamic Visual Storytelling Tools

AI Transforms Presentations Into Dynamic Visual Storytelling Tools

Feb 05, 2026

AI transforms presentations from static slides into dynamic visual stories, enabling personalized, data-rich content at unprecedented scale and fundamentally altering visual communication economics.

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Building Creative Systems for Scale and Competitive Advantage

Building Creative Systems for Scale and Competitive Advantage

Feb 03, 2026

Unlock competitive advantage by building durable AI systems, not just generating assets. Discover how to shift from pixels to scalable, reusable creative workflows for lasting impact.

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ChatGPT Ads: New Arbitrage, Vibe-Coded Apps, and Citation Economy

ChatGPT Ads: New Arbitrage, Vibe-Coded Apps, and Citation Economy

Jan 29, 2026

AI advertising transforms marketing by shifting from keywords to inferred intent, creating arbitrage opportunities and a new "citation economy" for niche authority.

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AI Agents and Data Platforms Unlock McKinsey-Level Marketing Research

AI Agents and Data Platforms Unlock McKinsey-Level Marketing Research

Jan 27, 2026

Unlock McKinsey-level market research for pennies. AI agents combined with specialized data platforms reveal hidden competitive advantages and accelerate strategic planning.

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AI Automation Risks Eroding Internet Value and Authentic Marketing

AI Automation Risks Eroding Internet Value and Authentic Marketing

Jan 22, 2026

Automating online engagement with AI agents risks creating a "dead internet," devaluing marketing by replacing genuine human connection with bot-generated spam.

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AI Video Production Democratizes Viral Ads Through Structured Workflows

AI Video Production Democratizes Viral Ads Through Structured Workflows

Jan 20, 2026

AI transforms video production, enabling viral reach and hyper-niche content with unprecedented speed and cost efficiency, democratizing high-quality storytelling for all.

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Claude Co-Work: Democratizing AI for Business Productivity and Rapid Content Creation

Claude Co-Work: Democratizing AI for Business Productivity and Rapid Content Creation

Jan 15, 2026

Claude Co-Work democratizes AI for non-technical users, enabling complex task automation and accelerating productivity by integrating local file analysis and desktop functionality.

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Authenticity and Craft: The Human-First Marketing Opportunity in the AI Era

Authenticity and Craft: The Human-First Marketing Opportunity in the AI Era

Jan 13, 2026

A backlash against generic AI content creates a marketing opportunity for brands prioritizing authenticity and human creativity. Double down on craft, not just AI speed.

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AI Video Generation Leverages Reference Images for Professional Quality

AI Video Generation Leverages Reference Images for Professional Quality

Jan 08, 2026

Unlock professional AI video creation in hours, not days, by using reference images to ensure scene consistency and transform limitations into polished, high-quality output.

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Mastering Five AI Skills to Redefine Marketing Scale and Impact

Mastering Five AI Skills to Redefine Marketing Scale and Impact

Jan 06, 2026

Master agentic workflows and AI tools to scale your output exponentially, enabling a single marketer to achieve the impact of a team.

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Domain Expertise Drives Impactful AI Workflow Creation

Domain Expertise Drives Impactful AI Workflow Creation

Dec 30, 2025

Deep domain expertise, not just technical skill, is the critical differentiator for building impactful AI workflows, empowering specialists to create solutions beyond generic applications.

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