The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
What Is America’s Brand? How AI Is Changing Work, and How Scott Records from Anywhere
Wed, 02 Apr 2025
Scott shares his thoughts on how America is perceived around the world and whether the U.S. is still seen as a reliable global partner. He also weighs in on the future of the market research industry—and whether AI will make analysts obsolete. Then, in our Reddit Hotline segment, Scott opens up about the people who influence him, what he’s curious to learn more about, and the gear he uses to podcast on the go. Want to be featured in a future episode? Send a voice recording to [email protected], or drop your question in the r/ScottGalloway subreddit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: What are the benefits of online therapy?
Support for PropG comes from BetterHelp. Starting therapy can be intimidating and, to be honest, expensive. People may be hesitant to even start, though they know they benefit from it. But your mental health is worth it. Traditional in-person therapy can cost anywhere from $100 to $250 per session, which can add up fast.
But with BetterHelp Online Therapy, you can save an average of up to 50% per session. Your well-being is worth it, and now it's within reach. Visit BetterHelp.com slash PropG to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash PropG. Support for PropG comes from Viore. Oh, my God. True story. I am wearing, totally coincidentally, guess what? Viore shorts.
Viore's high-quality gym clothes are made to be versatile and stand the test of time. They sent me some to try out, and here I am. For our listeners, Viore is offering 20% off... your first purchase. Plus, get free shipping on any U.S. orders over $75 and free returns. Get yourself some of the most comfortable and versatile clothing on the planet. Viori.com slash PropG.
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Chapter 2: What are the latest trends in media and technology?
Hey, this is Peter Kafka. I'm the host of Channels, a podcast about technology and media and how they're both changing all the time. And this week, I'm trying to figure out how Donald Trump is changing the media in Washington, in the courtroom, and in the boardroom. On to help me figure it all out is Sarah Fisher, the excellent Washington-based media reporter for Axios.
That's this week on Channels, wherever you get your favorite podcasts.
Welcome to Office Hours with Prof G. This is the part of the show where we answer your questions about business, big tech, entrepreneurship, and whatever else is on your mind. Today, we have two great listener questions lined up. And then after the break, we're continuing our new segment, the Reddit Hotline, where we pull questions straight from Reddit.
If you'd like to submit a question for next time, you can send a voice recording to officehoursaprofgmedia.com. Again, that's officehours.com. at propertymedia.com. Or if you prefer to ask on Reddit, post your question on the Scott Galloway subreddit. Jesus Christ, that's something I never thought I would say, Scott Galloway subreddit. And we just might feature it in our next episode.
Chapter 3: How is America perceived globally?
What a thrill! Let's bust right into it. First question, I have not heard or seen these questions.
Hi, Scott. Patrick here in South Africa. I am a pro-capitalist, pro-democracy, pro-Western kind of guy. And I wondered if you had any thoughts on Brand USA, given what has happened between Trump and Vladimir Zelensky in the Oval Office.
As someone who has looked to the West with admiration, I am concerned about whether or not the USA is indeed a fair weather friend and what damage is being done to brand USA. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Scott, for all the great work you do.
Thanks for the question. And I'm an enormous fan of South Africa. I've been to Cape Town a few times. Obviously, safari is sort of a singular experience. I actually enjoy spending more time in the cities than I do safari. It's like two or three days of look at that lion, look at that zebra. It's great. A couple of days, that's fine.
And then I start doing the afternoon drive and everyone gets angry at me because I'm not going on both drives for this magical experience. But anyways, I absolutely adore Cape Town. If I was a younger man, there's a lot of shit I would do if I were a younger man. But one thing I might consider doing is if I could figure out a way to make sort of a Western salary and live in Cape Town.
I just thought in terms of quality of life, it seemed just like a fantastic place to live. So just a little bit of data. According to NBC, the part of Trump's presidency that Americans disapprove of most is his handling of the war in Ukraine. Also, more than half of Americans believe that Trump is too closely aligned with Russia, including more than a quarter of Republicans.
Since the beginning of Trump's term, foreign opinions of the U.S. have plummeted. Get this, just 27% of Canadians now see the U.S. as an enemy country. A majority of Americans still see Canada as as an ally, this is, anyways, across the EU, the most common answer to who is the US to the EU is a necessary partner over an ally, a rival, and an adversary in every European country.
They're seen as sort of basically become more from an ally to a necessary evil. Look, First off, let's back up. What is a brand? A brand is a promise more than it is the actual performance. And that is before you buy a car, before you attend a university, I'm about to do a college tour with my son. And he listed the universities he is interested in seeing.
And it came down to things like, it looks like fun, or I like the logo or the website of school. Basically, he has no idea. And he's facing, he's basically going to make a decision, which might be kind of a quarter of a million dollar decision when you look at how much it's going to cost his parents to send him to four years to one of these universities.
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Chapter 4: How is AI changing the market research industry?
I mean, Hilga will do maybe a one or a two hour tour of the university, but it's basically essentially the promise, the branding, the messaging, the reputation of the university that will dictate these enormous purchases. Now, Bring that back to a country.
There are millions of decisions made every day around trade partners, who you're going to do business with, where your kids want to go if they're incredibly talented and they can go anywhere. Where do they want to go to apply their exceptional human capital? What treaties do we enter? Will we let a military base be constructed on our own territory? Do we like their media?
Will we not cooperate with bad actors that want to hurt them? Will we not launder money for terrorist organizations? There are millions of decisions every day, either pro or against, certain countries. And here's the brand impression of the United States. We're enormous. We're enormously wealthy and successful. We make a lot of mistakes, but our heart is in the right place.
We're always seen, loosely speaking, as the good guys for the majority of powerful nations and economic powers around the world. And we have reaped enormous benefit. People want to buy our cars. People want to consume our superhero movies. People want to send their best and brightest to our universities. People want to cooperate with us.
The brand America is one of the most beneficial, invisible, powerful aircraft carrier squadrons ever manifested by an organization anywhere. The US brand is staggeringly powerful and has produced all sorts of margin and ancillary benefits for 200 years for the United States. And that brand has fallen further, faster than any brand in history over the last two months.
We are now seeing, what is the U.S. brand right now? Surrender to Putin with a mix of measles? I mean, what is our brand right now? You can't trust us? We're not consistent? Tariffs on, tariffs off. I think the U.S. brand has fallen further faster than any brand of this size and this depth in history. Thanks for the question. Question number two.
Hi, Scott. I hope you're doing well. I've been following you and the podcast for a few years now. Thanks for all that you do, especially with regard to helping out young men. Anyway, my question today is about the value of market research in the era of AI.
Given that you sold your company to Gartner, one of the largest tech research firms in the world, I'm curious about your perspective on this industry. I'm a 34-year-old principal analyst at a large market research firm. And I'm concerned that the influence of these firms is actually declining as companies are increasingly using generative AI to get insights into potential markets.
What's your take on the value of market research? Will it have a place in the future? And if you see it declining, where would you advise someone with market research experience explore as a next career step? Thank you.
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Chapter 5: What is Scott's experience with selling his company?
I was literally a tuna on the deck of a fishing boat, flapping around, trying to figure out how the fuck did I end up here? How do I get off of this boat? and back into the water. I was such a cultural misfit. And again, I don't think it's them. I don't think it's me. I just think it is.
This is a firm that basically figured out a way to kind of industrialize and institutionalize what I would call good, not great research, and then sell it to the North Oklahoma State Bank, whereas we were doing kind of more bespoke I would argue, insightful research for brands like P&G and Nike. But look, they're companies worth several billion dollars and L2 was sold for 160 million.
So clearly they're doing something right and I'm doing something wrong. Now your question around AI, I do think companies like Gartner and research companies are going to be able to do a lot more with a lot less. And this is what I think the honest all hands would be. And that is I've got great news. Our revenues and our EBITDA are going to go up. I've got even better news.
I'm going to need a third of you to do this in the next five years or a third fewer of you or maybe two thirds fewer of you. But you don't say that. at the all hands. I think AI is effectively to corporations what Ozempic is to the obese, and that is it shuts off the signal that you need to eat more.
And AI in boardrooms, and I know this firsthand, is shutting off the signal that if we're growing our revenues, we have to hire more. That's just the automatic signal. Oh, we're growing, we need to hire more. Well, actually, ever since the meta earnings call three quarters ago that said, hey, we grew revenues 20% and we did it with 22% fewer people, which took earnings up 70%. Let me get this.
I can have the great taste of increased revenues without the calories of increased costs. Well, hold on here. I like the cut of that jib. Oh my God. That's out as right as rain. That's disco. And I'm talking like 70s disco, real disco. And so a lot of companies are trying to figure out, especially information-driven companies, how they use AI to
to create 80, 90% of the value of an analyst for 10% of the cost. Now, what does that mean? If you're an analyst in a market research firm, quite frankly, you want to be a samurai and AI is your weapon boss. Otherwise, someone's going to come along with more skilled and more dangerous and put you out of business. I've said this a lot. AI is not going to take your job.
Somebody who understands AI is going to take your job. So I actually think that Gartner will likely, what do I think of shareholder value there? What will happen? I don't know. That's an interesting one. Will AI help or hurt them? I would argue for a firm like that, it may help them in the short run. They're going to be able to cut costs.
I do not think you want to be an analyst in a market research firm right now, or let me put it this way, a mediocre one. And by virtue of just probability, the bulk of them are mediocre. An exceptional analyst who really understands AI... and knows how to become incredibly productive and put out interesting data. What do you do? You figure this shit out.
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Chapter 6: What advice does Scott have for market analysts?
It's been a rough week for your retirement account, your friend who imports products from China for the TikTok shop, and also Hooters. Hooters has now filed for bankruptcy, but they say they are not going anywhere.
Last year, Hooters closed dozens of restaurants because of rising food and labor costs. Hooters is shifting away from its iconic skimpy waitress outfits and bikini days, instead opting for a family-friendly vibe. They're vowing to improve the food and ingredients, and staff is now being urged to greet women first when groups arrive.
Maybe in April of 2025, you're thinking, good riddance. Does the world still really need this chain of restaurants? But then we were surprised to learn of who exactly was mourning the potential loss of Hooters. Straight guys who like chicken, sure. But also a bunch of gay guys who like chicken. Check out Today Explained to find out why exactly that is, won't you? Yeah.
So we want to introduce you to another show from our network and your next favorite money podcast, for ours, of course, Net Worth and Chill. Host Vivian Tu is a former Wall Street trader turned finance expert and entrepreneur. She shares common financial struggles and gives actionable tips and advice on how to make the most of your money.
Past guests include Nicole Yoder, a leading fertility doctor who breaks down the complex world of reproductive medicine and the financial costs of those treatments, and divorce attorney Jackie Combs, who talks about love and divorce and why everyone should have a prenup. Episodes of Net Worth and Chill are released every Wednesday.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts or watch full episodes on YouTube. By the way, I absolutely love Vivintu. I think she does a great job. Our first question comes from DebtItAll777, and they ask, Hi, Scott. What are the two things you've changed your mind about in the last few years, and who are the people who most influence you? So I would say they're kind of two profound changes in my life.
I feel as if I found a little bit more of my purpose. I think I used to say my purpose was to create economic security for others. So I'm looking at things or look through things through a professional lens and thought, okay, I've always been very focused on economic security and I thought, okay, now I want to provide economic security for other people. That's changed.
I think what I find my purpose now is I'm trying to raise two good men. And by the way, sometimes I'm not very good at it. I'm still struggling with it. I find parenting – I find almost anything I've ever focused on I can usually get pretty good at. I don't know if I'm any good at this parenting thing. I know I'm not bad at it.
But I don't know if I'm good at it, but I've decided my purpose is to raise loving, patriotic men. And I don't know if I would have said that a few years ago, that that is my purpose, if you will. The second thing is, and again, everything for me is kind of, it's very crass, but I'm very economically driven.
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