My documentary on the life and legacy of Wroe Alderson
"A History of Marketing" is an interview show. This makes it easy to produce, allowing me to meet lots of guests and publish on about a weekly basis. I can interview a guest at 7:30AM on a Friday, edit it on a Sunday evening, and publish it on a Thursday. All without disrupting a full-time work schedule.
But many of my favorite podcasts to listen to are more highly produced documentary-style shows or shows that feel like a longform essay. Serial, This American Life, and Freakonomics, Cautionary Tales, Revisionist History. My all-time favorite podcast, Acquired, is like a full audio book.
I wanted to experiment with a new format, but I was looking for the right story and the right time.
When I came across Wroe Alderson, I knew I found my story.
Ben Wooliscroft wrote an excellent 30-page biography of Alderson. But it is hidden insight a relatively obscure volume called "A Twenty-First Century Guide to Aldersonian Marketing Thought" that was published ~20 years ago.
Wroe's life story is amazing. Born into poverty in rural Missouri in 1898. Lived as a hobo working odd jobs as a tanner, a lumberjack, and a prizefighter. Joined the army during WWI. Lost his father and two siblings during the Spanish flu. Joined the Department of Commerce during the Great Depression. Became a Quaker. Joined the Office of Price Administration during WWII. Started one of the US's top marketing consulting firms. Became the President of the American Marketing Association. Traveled to the Soviet Union at the height of McCarthyism and landed on an FBI watch list. Became a Wharton professor and helped found the Marketing Science Institute. Was among the first to write about marketing and the computer. Died in 1965 at age 66.
I began an email exchange with Wooliscroft back in January, then interviewed him in February. It was a great interview that lasted more than 90 minutes. But I asked Ben about both Wroe's life story as well as his theories, but I was worried that listeners would get lost in all the details.
I also interviewed Stan Shapiro, who worked for Wroe Alderson. And I had an amazing interview with Evan Alderson, Wroe's only son and the youngest of his children. It also has brief appearances from Mark Tadajewski and Jagdish Sheth, along with some fun archival clips from the US government.
Editing these together would be more time consuming than the usual interview show. I waited until I was on paternity leave, away from work. It was one of a handful of ambitious projects I wanted to undertake in between diaper changes.
I was a filmmaker in my 20's and primarily made documentary-style videos. So this was my first time editing like this in more than 5 years. I had a lot of fun, and I think it comes through in the final product.
One of the benefits of "A History of Marketing" is that it presents an opportunity experiment with AI workflows in contexts outside of my usual job. With this episode, I knew I'd rely on music to indicate chapters in the narrative. So I used Suno's AI music tool to create the soundtrack. This was a fun experiment and I love how the music turned out.
First, there's a newly remixed version of the podcast theme song and a reprise that's used towards the end. This was a subtle way of signaling that this would be a different episode.
Next, I used music from different eras and places to indicate when and where we are in the story. I blended music from the era with Lo-Fi hip hop themes throughout to help make them feel part of a cohesive soundtrack. Here are my favorites: Appalachia Lo-fi, Frontier Lo-fi, Jazz Age Lo-fi, Early Computer Lo-Fi
One Easter Egg was using the Russian folk song "Dorogoi dlinnoyu", better known as "Those Were the Days" sung Mary Hopkin and produced by Paul McCartney. It alludes to the historical theme ("those were the days..") and Soviet Russia (it's used as the backing track for Alderson's Soviet Union trip. Since the original Russian folk song and melody is public domain, I could remix it and include it in this episode without infringing on copyrights. Listen to it here: https://suno.com/s/nFuRM9yP9le0YYhV
I don't pick favorites when it comes to my interview episodes, but I feel comfortable saying this is my favorite episode because of the story, the theory, and that I feel like I actually contributed something to the historical record with this one.
Here's the blog, audio, and transcript: https://marketinghistory.org/p/wroe-alderson-forgotten-father-of-marketing