Oct. 13, 2025

Strategic Partnerships, AI-in-Action, and the Regional vs. National Agency Debate: an Interview with Brian McHale

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Guest: Brian McHale, CEO & Owner, Brandience (Cincinnati, OH)

Host: Jonathan Gaby

Runtime: ~70 minutes

 

Episode Snapshot:

Agency veteran Brian McHale breaks down what real strategic partnership looks like between brands and agencies, why misaligned expectations tank relationships, and how his team at Brandience uses human-centered generative AI to shave hours off workflows without replacing people. We also dig into life after third-party cookies, how to think about AEO (AI Experience/Answer Engine Optimization) alongside SEO, and when a regional agency can beat a big national firm (and when it can’t).

 

Top Takeaways

  • Alignment > everything: Most client–agency blowups start with fuzzy goals. Define business objectives, success metrics, and who’s doing strategy vs. execution up front.

  • Be what you are (and say what you aren’t): Credibility comes from owning your strengths—and partnering out what you don’t do.

  • Human-centered AI wins: Use AI to remove drudgery and speed research, but keep humans for nuance, judgment, and brand voice.

  • Privacy-first measurement: With cookies fading, double down on first-party data, store visits/footfall attribution, and relationship-led marketing.

  • SEO isn’t dead; AEO is additive: Structure content for answer engines—author bios, credentials, fresh stats, citations, and strong FAQs.

  • Regional agencies = nimble + local savvy: Faster turns, sleeves-rolled local work (especially for franchises). Nationals still make sense for global brand work.

     

    Chapters & Timestamps

  • 00:11 – Cold open: what Marketing Distilled is about

  • 02:13 – Brian’s background & Brandience overview

  • 05:55 – When agency–client relationships go sideways (expectations!)

  • 08:17 – What a strategic partnership actually looks like

  • 10:11 – Building trust & credibility (values, being honest about gaps)

  • 15:21 – Brandience core competencies (digital, traditional, creative, brand)

  • 17:09 – Life after cookies: attribution, first-party data, privacy stance

  • 24:32 – Sponsor: Asana Partners (via JonathanGaby.com/Asana)

  • 26:17 – AI in action: internal roll-out, process mapping, responsible use

  • 29:09 – Case: 11 AI agents cut prospect research from 45 → 10 minutes

  • 33:32 – Why humans still matter: editing, nuance, tone

  • 37:23 – From SEO to AEO: winning answer engines (bios, stats, FAQs)

  • 48:24 – Sponsor: WP Engine (via JonathanGaby.com/WPEngine)

  • 50:02 – Regional vs. national agencies: speed, flexibility, and fit

  • 54:24 – Franchise/local marketing done right (Tropical Smoothie openings)

  • 62:30 – Lightning Round

  • 67:12 – Final advice: become a better writer to become a better AI prompter/editor

  • 68:36 – Where to find Brian (LinkedIn)

  • 69:57 – Outro & how to connect with the show

About the Guest, Brian McHale

Brian McHale is the CEO/Owner of Brandience, an award-winning, retail-minded advertising agency. Former President/Partner at Empower Media Marketing; recognized by Ad Age (Media Maven) and Cincinnati Business Courier 40 Under 40. He serves on multiple nonprofit and business boards and is a graduate of Miami University (OH). Mantra: Measure what matters, communicate wisely, embrace imperfection, sprint when needed, prepare for what’s next.

 

About Brandience

A retail-minded agency blending bold creativity + data insights. Early adopters of human-centered generative AI with a formal policy and ongoing training. Core sectors: restaurants, franchise, healthcare, retail. Services span brand strategy, creative, digital and traditional media, and social.

 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices


Brian McHale Profile Photo

Brian McHale

Owner & Chief Executive Officer, Brandience

A passionate, hands-on leader, as the CEO and Owner of Brandience, Brian strongly believes that any true partnership is built on shared values, open dialogue, and a strong desire to push for new, innovative solutions. This philosophy drives his work with clients to reach branding and advertising objectives. With experience spanning a variety of industries, geographies, and demographics, Brian leads his team in executing creative campaigns.

Over the course of Brian’s career, he has partnered with many brands, using his eagerness to understand their goals and objectives to learn, explore, and test ways to achieve the best marketing solutions. As someone who always has his eye on the next possible opportunity to grow, Brian has honed his skills in helping regional brands grow to become super-regional or national brands. This growth can be attributed to Brian’s intuition and ability to know when brands should expand into new markets, advertising locations, and launch new products.

Brian has built an award-winning agency over two decades focused on long-term client relationships and strategic creative. Prior to Brandience, he was President and Partner at Empower Media Marketing, Cincinnati’s largest media agency. His mantra of five rules to stay nimble drives him: only measure what’s meaningful, communicate openly but judiciously, don’t let perfect be the enemy of good, be able to sprint when necessary, and be ready for what’s next.

He’s leveraged his expertise as a juror for the Houston American Marketing Association’s (AMA) Crystal Awards, the large… Read More