My Favorite Things

Welcome to The Beat by Rockstar CMO. I’m Ian Truscott, not a rock star, but a CMO and trusted advisor, and in this newsletter, I’d like to share a mix of marketing street knowledge that I hope will help unlock the rockstar marketer in you.

Hello, yes you, rock star.

Something a bit different this week.

Wearing my Velocity B hat, we are supporting the Marketing Podcast Network’s Podcast Awards 2026 by providing project management, marketing/social copy, a landing page, hosting, and the tech needed for the voting process.

The Marketing Podcast Network (or MPN) is a splendid community that was founded by Jason Falls. It’s not a commercial organization; there is a small core group of volunteers who help Jason support the community, secure sponsorships, run the tech, and the revenue is split evenly across the 80+ shows on the network. It is with this ethos in mind that the awards are free to enter.

Aside from having a podcast (and one that is on MPN), I am a huge fan of marketing podcasts. I try to walk an hour or so a day, and it’s generally marketing podcasts that keep me company, so I am delighted to be supporting an initiative that will share the good news and hopefully bring new audiences to those who get nominated.

The awards are open to any marketing podcast, not just those on MPN, so I thought I would do something different with this week’s newsletter and, rather than toot the horn of my content, share with you a few of my favorite marketing podcasts and maybe encourage you to share yours with MPN.

You can nominate as many shows as you like, and, of course, you can nominate your own show. There are 12 different categories, one overall winner, and a People’s Choice Award for the one that gets the most nominations, all judged by the great and good of MPN (not me!) and some external judges from the podcast industry.

There’s no glitzy $200/head awards ceremony, there will be a live podcast, hosted by MPN, probably a badge for the winner, but mostly a huge bag of kudos for being recognised by their peers.

You can nominate at https://mpn-awards.com.

Please let me know if you notice any glitches with the site or the form, as this is the first promotion for the awards.

So, below are a few of my favorite things to inspire you to share with MPN some of yours.

Oh, and the “My Favorite Things” that gives this newsletter issue its title, it’s got to be some chilled John Coltrane, not Julie Andrews.

Have a splendid week,

Ian

As is the editorial policy on my own podcast, I am sticking to 5 F’in’ Things, but I listen to a lot of podcasts, so apologies if yours, or your favorite isn’t here. Maybe I’ll post some more in coming weeks..

Fill the gap with what I missed.

Ease into the week chilled, in this crazy world, with a nice drop of John Coltrane.