This week, Travis and Stewart discuss the latest in VR experiences including a VR vacation simulator -- or VRacation simulator, if you like Travis' made-up words. They also discuss VR's marketing problem, and European standards for watching ads in VR. Yep, it's a VR-fest this week. And speaking of emerging technologies, the duo then interview Nirmal Mehta, who schools them in everything new and exciting just in time for us to take a short holiday break and head into the exciting technologies that lay ahead in 2018.

VB Engage - Mobile, Marketing, & Technology Podcast from VentureBeat

Nirmal Mehta, emerging tech, and VR vacations for everyone

This week, Travis and Stewart interview Mike Wikan on the future of emerging technologies and what they're going to mean for both our daily lives and how organizations, businesses, and governments will be affected. In the news, we talk about A.I. that learns from all other A.I.s, Sophia the robot citizen, a new Messenger bot of note, and the world's most secure smartphone -- apparently the only one ready to hold cryptocurrency without fear of being hacked.

Mike Wikan, the singularity, and the first blockchain smartphone

This week, Travis and Stewart discuss the latest in A.I.-powered apps and show that you don't have to be a massive organization to use artificial intelligence across your product or service. They also work their way through a list of 100 cryptocurrencies and explain what these blockchain-powered tokens mean for the future of payments. Then, we interview the amazing Peggy Anne Salz, who knows more about mobile marketing and the future of smartphones than almost anyone. The future looks bright, and not just because we turned up the screen brightness to cornea-burning levels.

Peggy Anne Salz, mobile futures, and the crazy world of cryptocurrencies

This week, Travis and Stewart interview the awesome Steve Rayson of Buzzsumo, which has analyzed over 100 million headlines to learn what works, what doesn't, and what converts. In the news, we discuss a new solution for creating Alexa skills, the questions businesses must answer before creating a bot, and give a shout out to those of our friends that made this year's "30 under 30" list.

Steve Rayson, hacking Alexa, and how A.I. writes better headlines than you

This week, Travis and Stewart talk about A.I. and the Internet of Things (still the worst tech term in existence), A.I. and customer service, and two opposing Facebook stories that are united by one common thread - how the social media levitation makes its money. We then interview Robert Rose, a content marketing genius who gives us the lowdown on what works, what doesn't, and how you can win.

Robert Rose, epic content, and Facebook's myriad of money making methods

This week, Travis and Stewart interview the incredible Erich Joachimsthaler, celebrated branding expert and author. This is one of the most impactful interviews of the year - Erich gives takeaway after takeaway. In the news, we discuss A.I.'s role in bringing TV advertising up to date and how computer vision is changing the world: not just in marketing through solutions like Google Lens, but in applications that will save lives. We also talk about Amazon's new delivery option that lets delivery drivers into your house and The Onion's fun/macabre take on it. Well, it is Halloween, after all.

Erich Joachimsthaler, Amazon Slay, and how computer vision changes everything

This week, Travis and Stewart interview the amazing Shaul Olmert, who has grown Playbuzz from scratch to an audience of over 80 million. He tells us what it takes to not only make that possible, but maintain the community he helped build. In the news, we talk about Samsung's developer conference and the new products that were announced at the event, plus a new study that shows marketers are getting it wrong when it comes to holiday season campaigns.

Shaul Olmert, Samsung's new toys, and how to grow a community of over 80 million

This week, Travis and Stewart discuss the perils of unlocking phones with your face. Let's just say that Stewart isn't a fan. They then talk about Snapchat's newfound usefulness, location-based marketing, and a big raise for a geographical data company. They then interview Amit Walia about A.I., where it is making a real difference now, and what is going to happen next. Don't miss one of the smartest interviews of the year.

Amit Walia, A.I. smarts, and Snapchat becomes useful again.

In this week's news, Travis and Stewart talk about A.I. domination at the Martech conference in Boston, where -- seemingly -- it was the topic on the lips of marketers, speakers, and vendors everywhere. We also highlight an A.I.-powered advertising technology that is making waves: More than $250 million in waves, in fact. Finally, we bring everyone back down to earth with the less-than-stellar findings held within the pages of Brian Solis' latest State of Digital Transformation study. Then, we interview Valentin Preobrazhenskiy of LAToken, who gives us a complete rundown of how to build a blockchain business, what it takes to gain and maintain a community of 11,000 people, and why ICOs are more about marketing than finance.

Valentin Preobrazhenskiy, ICO fever, and how A.I. took over martech

In this week's episode, Travis and Stewart talk about virtual reality advertising, Intercom's new lead-generation solution, and Amazon's smart goggles, which sound like they might be a terrible idea. Or they might be good. Stewart thinks, either way, that they'll be cheap because Amazon doesn't do premium products. In our guest interview, Sean Ellis - the man that invented the term "growth hacking" - gives us all his secrets. Well, not all of them, but a really good amount of them. This is one interview you won't want to miss if you're interested in landing more customers and building big communities.

Sean Ellis, hacking growth, and why Amazon's goggles might suck

In the news this week, Travis and Stewart reveal a new round of funding for an A.I. customer service solution, why retail needs VR to survive, and how blockchain technology is coming to marketing. They then interview as fraud expert James Peng of Match, the company that runs some of the most recognizable dating apps in the world. This is one episode you'll want to go home in the same taxi with at the end of the night.

James Peng, blockchain marketing, and swiping left on ad fraud

This week, Travis and Stewart interview Jason Miller of LinkedIn, who not only drops a succession of marketing knowledge bombs in our collective laps but who also blows our minds with stories of his amazing live music photography. In the news, we tackle ad viewability, a new customer research solution, and another marketing-focused A.I. startup - this one claiming to automatically recognise and label video content.

Jason Miller, combating online ad fraud, and rock star marketing tactics

In this week's episode, Travis and Stewart interview Stan Bokov, who managed to promote his "social network of fintech" to millions of users for free. He explains how this was possible, and what lessons were learned along the way. In the news, Alexa and Cortana are getting married. The dynamic duo muse on what that means for marketers and conversational UI in general. And we cap off this week's episode with some new research into push notifications and how they are still generating incredible results. How incredible? Almost 10X. Now how do you like them apples?

Stan Bokov, social finance, and the wedding of Alexa and Cortana

This week, Travis and Stewart discuss the bizarre, weird, wonderful world of KFC's VR "chicken mastery program" and Google's attempts to catch up with Amazon in conversational UI (bolstered by a partnership with Walmart). And in an interview recorded at Unbounce's excellent CTAConf event in Vancouver, they interview the brilliant, yet very sweary, Wil Reynolds, one of the leading digital marketing strategy experts. As well as dropping a few F-bombs, Wil reveals the secrets of how to win in today's marketing environments.

Wil Reynolds, VR chicken, and our most R-rated episode ever

In this week's episode - recorded at the excellent Unbounce CTAConf in Vancouver - Travis and Stewart interview Scott Stratten, the man behind "unmarketing." Scott reveals some of his greatest engagement tips and tells us how A.I. will affect the marketer's life. Speaking of A.I., in the news this week, we debate whether artificial intelligence is no longer an option for retail as proposed in an article by Japjit Julsi of eBay. We also take a look at the Gartner Hype Cycle for emerging technologies and some cool VR startups that are changing how we buy things online. Oh, and Travis makes up more words that don't exist in any language.

Scott Stratten, unmarketing, and how A.I. is not optional for retail

A brutally honest look at marketing and mobile engagement, plus interviews with some of the brightest minds around technology, social media, marketing technology, MarTech, and customer experience. Hosted by VentureBeat's Stewart Rogers and Travis Wright.

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VB Engage - Mobile, Marketing, & Technology Podcast from Ven...

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