Dan Salkey | Small World | Merging Marketing & Entertainment - Is It Right For Your Business?

CMO Confidential

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A CMO Confidential Interview with Dan Salkey, Co-Founder & Strategy Partner at Small World, an agency designed to create "entertainment first" brands. Dan discusses the concept of "Entertain or Die," the difference between "owning" and "renting" eyeballs, and why his focus is on "saves, likes, and shares." Key topics include: the fact that attention is earned; the difference between entertaining and selling; why many tech brands forget to entertain; and how to measure "attentive cost" versus cost per impression. Tune in to hear case studies on Liquid Death and Duolingo and why Net Scout produced a Werner Herzog film.

In this episode of CMO Confidential, Mike Linton sits down with Dan Salkey, Co-Founder and Strategy Partner at Small World, an agency on a mission to create entertainment-first brands. Dan unpacks his provocative framework: “Entertain or Die.” From building brand characters to measuring success in saves and shares—not impressions—this conversation is packed with insights for CMOs navigating the new attention economy.

🧠 Learn why the best brands own their eyeballs instead of renting them, what marketers can learn from creators like MrBeast, and why @netscoutinc made a Werner Herzog documentary to stand out.

🔍 Featuring case studies from Liquid Death, Duolingo, and other unexpected brand entertainers, this episode offers a blueprint for building marketing that actually gets watched—and shared.

🎯 Topics Covered:

• The rise of entertainment-first branding

• “Saves, likes, and shares” as new core KPIs

• Measuring attentive cost vs. cost per impression

• The hidden power of brand characters and mascots

• Why marketers need a writer’s room mindset

• How boring B2B brands can still break through

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Dan Salkey, Entertainment First Marketing, CMO Confidential, Mike Linton, Small World Agency, Liquid Death Marketing, Duolingo Brand Strategy, Branded Content, Entertain or Die, Brand Characters, Marketing Strategy 2025, Attention Economy, NetScout Werner Herzog, MrBeast Brand Playbook, Content Marketing, Virality Metrics, Branded Entertainment, Marketing Innovation, Social Media Marketing, Save and Share Strategy, B2B Brand Breakthrough, Branded Documentary, Marketing Podcast

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