Episode 190: Mike Zeman from Life360 on Selling to CMOs and Buying as a CMO

Life360 CMO Mike Zeman joins Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi to unpack what CMOs really want from advertising partners, why relationships and business outcomes matter more than buzzwords, and how Life360 balances brand building, performance marketing, and incrementality. Then, Ari and Eric break down the latest ad tech news, including The Trade Desk’s layoffs, Amazon and OpenAI’s ChatGPT ads partnership, emerging privacy concerns, AI personal assistants, and advertising auction lawsuits. Takeaways: Sell business outcomes, not buzzwords: CMOs want solutions tied to revenue, profitability, and company value. Start small and prove value: Mike recommends pilots that demonstrate measurable results before scaling. Incrementality matters: Life360 uses marketing mix modeling and long-term customer value to evaluate marketing effectiveness. Creative needs to break through: Life360 embraces bold advertising designed to make audiences laugh or cry rather than blend in. Ad tech keeps shifting: Ari and Eric discuss The Trade Desk, ChatGPT ads, privacy risks, AI assistants, and auction practices. Chapters: 01:24 Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi Open the Show 03:39 Meet Mike Zeman, CMO of Life360 04:06 Lessons From Both Sides of Marketing 04:57 Why Relationships Still Matter 06:06 What CMOs Really Want From Vendors 07:13 How Ad Tech Vendors Can Differentiate 07:53 Start With a Pilot, Then Scale 08:11 Inside Life360’s Marketing Strategy 09:21 CTV as a Performance Channel 09:41 Measuring Long-Term Customer Value 10:15 Why Incrementality Matters 10:52 Building Life360’s Advertising Business 11:09 Life360’s Location Data Advantage 11:30 The Nativo Acquisition 12:07 Proving Footfall and Winning New Business 14:46 Building Life360 as an Advertising Brand 16:40 Why Life360 Embraces Bold Creative 19:19 The Refresh: Ad Tech News 19:31 The Trade Desk Layoffs 24:17 The Trade Desk and the S&P 500 27:09 Amazon, OpenAI and ChatGPT Ads 30:08 The Future of ChatGPT Advertising 31:20 LG and Smart TV Privacy Concerns 33:53 U.S. Military Disables Mobile Ad Trackers 35:20 AI Personal Assistants and Privacy 37:07 AI Bots Meet Restaurant Reservations 38:39 Meta and Second-Price Auction Lawsuit 40:25 Closing Thoughts Guests: Ari Paparo, Eric Franchi, Mike Zeman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices