Why the Most Relevant Brands in 2025 Are Weird, Fun, and Everywhere You’re Not, with Michael Miraflor

What do Duolingo, Roblox, and Ray-Ban Meta glasses have in common?

They’re all proof that brands are being built in places most marketers aren’t even looking.

In this episode, Max sits down with Michael Miraflor — independent brand strategist, former CMO, and trusted advisor to VC firms, startups, and Fortune 500s — for an unfiltered conversation on where modern marketing is headed.

They cover:

• Why gaming is no longer just “media”, it’s culture.
• The death (and rebirth) of brand building in a performance-obsessed world
• Chaos packaging, ad-tech fatigue, and the real threat of AI-generated creative
• Why CMOs are afraid of risk — and how to earn their trust anyway
• What most early-stage companies misunderstand about branding in 2025

If you care about marketing, brand, or reaching the next generation of consumers, this is a masterclass.

🎧 Listen now and subscribe to Game Jam for weekly interviews on gaming, attention, and the future of interactive media.

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