That Instagram ad you saw this morning? It's using persuasion tactics from 1895. The ad before your YouTube video? That emotional storytelling structure was perfected in the 1930s. In this inaugural episode of Brand Strategy & Advertising, cultural historian and author Bob Batchelor, PhD reveals why advertising doesn't really change—only the medium does—and why understanding 125 years of advertising history gives you a strategic superpower most people lack.

Discover the three major forces that made advertising the heart of consumer capitalism between 1930-1975: how consumption became identity, how every new technology gets weaponized for selling, and how advertising became art. Learn about Mary Wells Lawrence's revolutionary Braniff Airlines "Air Strip" campaign, Eisenhower's Cold War propaganda using American consumerism as a weapon, and why Coca-Cola's 1971 "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke" wasn't just a commercial—it was cultural storytelling at its finest.

Batchelor introduces a practical three-question framework for analyzing any advertisement:

• What's the underlying strategy?
• What's the historical precedent?
• How has it adapted to current culture?

You'll learn why influencer marketing is just 1920s celebrity endorsements repackaged, why "storytelling in advertising" isn't new (hello, 1930s soap operas), and why pattern recognition separates strategists from people who just react to trends.

This episode explores uncomfortable truths about manipulation and desire-creation while building the critical thinking skills that make you valuable in an AI-saturated world. Technical skills become commoditized, but human judgment—the ability to recognize patterns across time and predict what works based on cultural context—remains irreplaceable.

ABOUT YOUR HOST: BOB BATCHELOR

Bob Batchelor is a cultural historian and Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication, Media, & Culture at Coastal Carolina University. He's the author of 16 books exploring American culture, celebrity, and branding, including acclaimed biographies of Stan Lee, John Updike, Bob Dylan, and bootleg kind of Prohibition George Remus. He recently wrote Roadhouse Blues: Morrison, the Doors, and the Death Days of the Sixties, which won the 2023 Independent Book Award for Music.

With Keith Booker, Bob wrote Mad Men: A Cultural History, a critically-acclaimed history of the television show using the ad industry as a lens for understanding American Culture. Bob is also the co-editor of the three-volume anthology We Are What We Sell: How Advertising Shapes American Life...And Always Has (Praeger, 2014), which serves as the foundation for this podcast. His work has been translated into twelve languages and featured in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, BBC, NPR, PBS NewsHour, and the National Geographic Channel. Bob has been quoted in thousands of publications reaching billions of readers worldwide. He holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of South Florida.

Through this podcast, Bob makes rigorous academic analysis accessible to anyone interested in understanding how advertising actually works—connecting historical patterns to contemporary practice in every episode. Whether you're a student, marketing professional, or simply curious about how brands shape culture, you'll gain frameworks for critical thinking that AI can't replicate.

Subscribe to Brand Strategy & Advertising for weekly episodes exploring 125 years of advertising history and its profound implications for how we understand brands, culture, and ourselves today.

Welcome to Brand Strategy & Advertising! This introductory episode walks you through everything you need to know about how the podcast—and the course it supports—will help you understand how brands really work.

Here's the core concept: We're studying 125 years of advertising history to decode contemporary brand strategy. Each episode connects historical case studies—drawn from the three-volume anthology We Are What We Sell: How Advertising Shapes American Life—to current brand practice.

The course introduces a unique "living case study" approach: students select one contemporary brand and track it all semester, applying weekly historical insights to real-time observations. By studying one brand deeply over 15 weeks, you build unique expertise.

Key topics include early advertising and consumer desire, iconic brand symbols, crisis-era messaging, the golden age of radio and product placement, post-war consumer culture, generational marketing, social consciousness in advertising, feminist messaging controversies, counterculture commodification, David Ogilvy's timeless principles, Nike's brand evolution, Starbucks' use of language and power to build community, and digital/viral marketing transformation.

Whether you're enrolled in PRSC 326 at Coastal Carolina University or interested in understanding how brands shape culture and influence behavior, this podcast gives you frameworks for analyzing any brand you encounter.

You'll learn to think like a brand strategist: recognizing patterns across time, understanding what works and why, and developing judgment that transfers to any career.

Subscribe now and never look at advertising the same way again.

Dr. Bob Batchelor is a cultural historian, biographer, and Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication, Media, & Culture at Coastal Carolina University. He specializes in American cultural history, brand strategy, advertising, and celebrity culture.

Bob is the author of 16 books, including acclaimed biographies of Stan Lee, John Updike, and Bob Dylan, as well as The Bourbon King: The Life and Crimes of George Remus, Prohibition's Evil Genius and Roadhouse Blues: Morrison, the Doors, and the Death Days of the Sixties. His work has been translated into twelve languages.

Bob is the editor of the three-volume anthology We Are What We Sell: How Advertising Shapes American Life...And Always Has (Praeger, 2014), which serves as the historical foundation for this podcast (more than 1 million words on ad history in American culture).

Bob's media commentary has appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, BBC, NPR, PBS NewsHour, and the National Geographic Channel. He has been quoted in thousands of national and international publications, reaching audiences in the billions.

Bob holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of South Florida and degrees in History from Kent State University and History, Philosophy, and Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh.

Through this podcast, Bob makes rigorous academic analysis accessible to anyone interested in understanding how advertising and brand strategy actually work—connecting historical patterns to contemporary practice in every episode.

Follow Bob at bobbatchelor.com or connect on social media for insights on brands, culture, and communication strategy, including LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobpbatchelor