Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast A Life In Marketing

This month we chat with Alec Samways, Founder and CEO of Splendid Communications and leader of The Splendid Collective. Alec has spent more than two decades helping brands build cultural relevance as well as deliver commercial results. But is what he does PR?!

We chat with Alec about building brands that earn attention and become part of people’s lives, rather than simply appearing in marketing channels. Drawing on his work with brands including Smirnoff, Spotify, Marmite, Greggs and Tesco, Alec explains why cultural credibility leads to a genuine understanding of people.

Alec also discusses the importance of having a curious mind....

You can connect with Alec on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alecsamways/

As always, you can also reach us at Tom.Bowden-Green@uwe.ac.uk and Hanne.Knight@plymouth.ac.uk.

This month we chat with Niall Ratcliffe, CEO of Noticed. Noticed has grown rapidly in the last few years to become one of the UK's largest B2B agencies. 

We chat with Niall about the creation and growth of his agency after his time at university in America. He explains where the business idea came from, how he applies 'first principles' thinking, and why LinkedIn is so important for B2B brands.

Niall is ambitious and enthusiastic, and he names several high profile contacts as influences!

You can connect with Niall on LinkedIn here: Niall Ratcliffe | LinkedIn

As always, you can also reach us at Tom.Bowden-Green@uwe.ac.uk and Hanne.Knight@plymouth.ac.uk.

This episode is a bit different. Usually, Tom sits alongside Hanne as they interview people from the marketing world. This time Hanne interviews Tom!

Tom is joined by Luan Wise as they chat about their new book 'Marketing and Psychology: Understanding Customer Behaviour With The ABC Approach' (published by Routledge).

Luan Wise is a seasoned industry practitioner with 25 years of agency, client-side, and consultancy experience. She is a Chartered Marketer, fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (FCIM), and is currently pursuing a PhD by portfolio at the University of Lancashire, UK. She has also written several other books, including 'Planning For Success' and 'Smart Social Media'.

You can connect with Luan on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luanwise

As always, you can also reach us at Tom.Bowden-Green@uwe.ac.uk and Hanne.Knight@plymouth.ac.uk.

Joe Johnston is a very smart marketer. As Head of Experimentation at Launch, Joe's role is to recommend and test ways to improve the effectiveness of his clients' marketing activity. He applies behavioural science principles and research-based insights to make marketing campaigns more effective. 

Listen in to hear Joe chatting through his approach to experimentation and his approach to solving a wide range of marketing challenges. 

He also explains his career so far, from starting in public relations, to roles in digital marketing, conversion optimisation, and now more general experimentation. It's a fascinating journey, driven by a passion for knowledge and an inquisitive mind. 

Away from the day job, Joe is also the Lead Organiser of The Marketing Meetup in Bristol.

You can connect with Joe on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-johnston-838bb428/

As always, you can also reach us at Tom.Bowden-Green@uwe.ac.uk and Hanne.Knight@plymouth.ac.uk.

Megan Fellows is not just an experienced digital marketer, but also a perennial student! She studied a degree, then a Masters degree, and now a PhD. All of this whilst handling digital marketing roles in retail, education, and financial services sectors.

We discuss Meg’s career path to date, leading to her current role handling CRM for Screwfix.

She explains what a CRM role involves, how previous roles led her to this point, and what she aims to discover through her PhD.
 
 You can connect with Megan on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meg-fellows-643573140/

As always, you can also reach us at Tom.Bowden-Green@uwe.ac.uk and Hanne.Knight@plymouth.ac.uk.

Phil Treagus-Evans is man of many talents. Having harboured entrepreneurial dreams from an early age, he started his social media agency, Giraffe Social, after graduating from university.

Running an agency wasn't enough for Phil though! As a voracious reader, he also had an ambition to write a book. So, in 2025 he published Human First Marketing, a book encapsulating his thoughts about social media marketing, supported by references to academic theory and tactical implementation.

Phil talks us through his journey, from student, to agency boss, to author. He explains lessons learned along the way, and advice for marketers on how to take a 'human first' approach.

You can connect with Phil on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-treagus-evans/

Giraffe Social: https://www.giraffesocialmedia.co.uk/

You can buy the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Human-First-Marketing-Trusted-Remembered/dp/1068454202/

As always, you can also reach us at Tom.Bowden-Green@uwe.ac.uk and Hanne.Knight@plymouth.ac.uk.

Suso (Susan) O'Brien has held marketing roles at some of the world's most famous brands, including several years as Brand Director at Sky, and her most recent role as Global CMO at Just Eat.

From telephone calls in New York taxis, to hiring Snoop Dogg and Katy Perry to front the Just Eat adverts, Suso talks us through her career - and it's not all glamourous! She explains how she climbed the first rungs on the career ladder, as well as the need to be resilient and focus on long-term brand outcomes.

Suso has held both consultancy and in-house roles and she also explains the pros and cons of each. Whether you are an experienced marketer or have aspirations for a long career in marketing, you'll enjoy listening to Suso's brand insights and career experiences.

You can connect with Mel on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susoltd/

As always, you can also reach us at Tom.Bowden-Green@uwe.ac.uk and Hanne.Knight@plymouth.ac.uk.

Melanie Nicholas has held roles that many marketers dream of, including Managing Director at Universal Pictures, Marketing Director at Polygram, and Head of Brand at Odeon Cinemas. 

Mel is at least part of the reason you know about movies such as Fast and Furious, Despicable Me, and the Jason Bourne series. Mel has worked with, and for, some huge brands and very famous celebrities.  She talks us through the challenges and pressures of her various roles, and parellels with wider marketing positions.

Mel's career has since evolved to become a maketing 'fixer', working as a consultant, and interim or fractional CMO. We chat with Mel about the highlights of her career, the pros and cons of working in the entertainment industry, and more recent work with hospitality brands.

You can connect with Mel on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanienicholas/ 

As always, you can also reach us at Tom.Bowden-Green@uwe.ac.uk and Hanne.Knight@plymouth.ac.uk.

Gareth Helm has had a stellar career in marketing, including roles at some of the world's biggest brands. Most recently he was Chief Marketing Officer for McDonalds, and then Chief Marketing Officer at Homeserve. His career though has included roles with Innocent Drinks, Zoopla, Nestle and Unilever among others. Wow!

Gareth is now a non-executive director and provides career development and strategic advice through a project called Sideminds. He has also found time to write an award-winning book - The Marketing Leader's Code.

We chat with Gareth about his career path, navigating huge changes in the digital landscape, and his advice for listeners on how to climb the career ladder.

You can connect with Gareth on LinkedIn here:https://www.linkedin.com/in/thehelm/

As always, you can also reach us at Tom.Bowden-Green@uwe.ac.uk and Hanne.Knight@plymouth.ac.uk.

Louis Havriliuc has created an amazing digital marketing simulation tool called Simbound.  If you want to find out how to undertake an effective digital marketing campaign, Simbound is a great way to learn.  The online platform allows learners to create a range of digital marketing tools and experiment with different techniques to understand their effectiveness.  

We discuss the aims and purpose of Simbound with Louis, and his plans to keep developing the tool to consider aspects such as ESG and the role of AI.

You can connect with Louis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louisdoruhavriliuc/ 

You can also find out more about Simbound on the website: https://www.simbound.com

Jenny Novitzky makes social media content for some of the UK's top TV shows. Her work as a senior digital producer has included content for The Great British Bake Off, The Great British Sewing Bee, The Great Pottery Throw Down and The Piano.  In fact, Jenny has appeared on more series of Bake Off than Mary Berry, Mel and Sue!  The chances are, many of you have seen and engaged with Jenny's content.

We chat to Jenny about the importance of adjusting content to different platforms, second screen viewing, and the chaos internet among other topics!

You can connect with Jenny on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenny-novitzky-b4952b2b/

You can also find out more about her work on her website: https://www.jennynovitzky.co.uk/

We chat with Jon Payne, an entrepreneur in the world of digital marketing.  Jon wears various hats, including being the founder of the successful Bristol agency Noisy Little Monkey, a RevOps freelance consultant, the former host of the popular Digital Gaggle events, and now one of the driving forces behind Building Brands.  Jon shares some of the lessons he's learned over the years, as well as discussing the origin and growth of Building Brands.  He also tells us what RevOps is!

You can connect with Jon here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrjonpayne/

And visit Building Brands here: https://www.building-brands.co.uk/  

You can contact Hanne at Hanne.Knight@plymouth.ac.uk and Tom at Tom.Bowden-Green@uwe.ac.uk 

We chat with Stephen Hobbs, an expert in digital storytelling.  Stephen is a respected and experienced marketer who has worked with many household brands including Google, Volvo and O2.  We discuss the importance of content and storytelling in the age of AI.  Stephen tells us that his initial career as a journalist gives him a slightly different perspective on the world of marketing.

You can connect with Stephen here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shobbsy/

We discuss a couple of related pieces of academic research:

Sung, E., Han, D. I. D., Choi, Y. K., Gillespie, B., Couperus, A., & Koppert, M. (2023). Augmented digital human vs. human agents in storytelling marketing: Exploratory electroencephalography and experimental studies. Psychology & Marketing, 40(11), 2428-2446.

Aicha, A. B., & Bouzaabia, R. (2023). The effects of video storytelling advertising on consumers’ online reactions on Facebook: a cross cultural study. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 26(3), 247-268.

You can contact Hanne at Hanne.Knight@plymouth.ac.uk and Tom at Tom.Bowden-Green@uwe.ac.uk 

We chat with Google Analytics expert Jill Quick about the importance of collecting and analysing the right data.  Jill tells us why it marketers should take a strategic approach to measurement, and why she called her business The Coloring In Department.

You can connect with Jill here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillquick01/

You will also find plenty of further resources on Jill's website: https://www.thecoloringindepartment.com/

Jill also refers to a free online GA4 course on Wix Studio Academy: https://www.wix.com/studio/academy/courses/google-analytics-4

She also refers to a good book on analytics: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lean-Analytics-Better-Startup-Faster/dp/1098168186/

We discuss a couple of related pieces of academic research:

Many people don't use Google Analytics to its full extent: https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3578503.3583601

Need to map analytics to the consumer journey: https://doi.org/10.1057%2Fs41270-020-00098-0

You can contact Hanne at Hanne.Knight@plymouth.ac.uk and Tom at Tom.Bowden-Green@uwe.ac.uk 

In this episode, recorded in the Bristol Business School studio, we speak to five of the presenters from the Building Brands Conference in Bristol.

Each guest gave a quick summary of the main points from their presentations, as well as telling us a little bit about what their work in digital marketing involves. Our guests are (in order of appearance):
1. Heather Murray, AI for Non-Techies: Why AI doesn't need to be daunting
2. Harry Cobbold, Unfold: The importance of user-experience
3. Maret Reutelingsperger, Mobe Digital: The link between email and search results
4. Joe Wright, Ambitious PR: Protecting your online reputation
5. Harriet Barter and Owen Prior, Launch: AI and PPC advertising

To find out more about Building Brands, including the next event in Exeter on 7th November, go to https://www.building-brands.co.uk/ 

If you enjoy the podcast, please subscribe!

This is a great discussion with Vasia Apostolaki, an expert in social media advertising. Vasia is an account director at dentsu international in London, with particular experience working with luxury brands.

We discuss why social media advertising is so effective, ethical issues, and areas for future development.

As usual we also discuss some interesting academic research in this area.

You can connect with Vasia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/apostolaki/

Please also share and subscribe to the podcast, and let us know your feedback at tom.bowden-green@uwe.ac.uk and hanne.knight@plymouth.ac.uk 

We sit down with digital marketing consultant, James Vincent, to discuss his expertise in artificial intelligence (AI).  James is also a digital marketing lecturer and a PhD student studying the use of artificial intelligence in marketing.

James refers to some AI tools that he is currently working with, as well as reflecting on some of the points from his recent TedX Talk about ethics and AI.

As always, Hanne and I also discuss some of the latest research relating to this week's topic - AI and marketing.

You can reach James via LinkedIn and find out more about his consultancy, Hot Source Creative, here: https://www.hotsourcecreative.com/. 

Please also share and subscribe to the podcast, and let us know your feedback at tom.bowden-green@uwe.ac.uk and hanne.knight@plymouth.ac.uk 

As always, Hanne and I discuss relevant academic research that caught our attention – this time research looking at how different demographic groups use search engines.  

 
We then chat to Luke Whitaker, Senior SEO Consultant at Organic, about search engine optimisation (SEO).  Luke tells us about his passion for educating people about SEO.  We also discuss recent changes to the Google algorithm, his advice for smaller businesses trying to attract traffic on search engines, and tools for understanding user behaviour.

We also discuss the role of generative AI in SEO, and whether TikTok is a search engine…

To contact Luke, you can email him (lukewhitaker4@gmail.com) or find him on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luke-whitaker-886948b4/ 

You can also subscribe to Luke's podcast Making Everyone A Little Bit SEO here: https://open.spotify.com/show/1b5mAiXiTIZhIIKghR9hbh 

In this episode we chat to a conversion optimisation expert, Ryan Webb, about his work in making websites more commercially effective.  With more than 20 years of experience, Ryan is a recognised expert in this field and has worked with a wide range of clients.

Ryan shares his 4-point plan for reviewing and improving websites, as well as explaining his decision to become a B Corp and to generally consider the impact of his work from an ethical perspective.

As always, Hanne and I also discuss some of the latest research in this area of digital behaviour.

You can reach Ryan via his website https://ryan-webb.co.uk/.

Please also share and subscribe to the podcast, and let us know your feedback at tom.bowden-green@uwe.ac.uk and hanne.knight@plymouth.ac.uk 

We chat to Ross Middleham, Creative Lead at the Met Office.  How does he encourage the Met Office to engage a wide range of audiences creatively?  How can he be creative when communicating online around serious issues such as the weather and climate change?  How does he deal with negativity around these issues?  Does he have any tips for marketers and communicators when trying to think creatively?

So many questions, and around 30 minutes to answer them! 
 
As always, we begin this episode with a quick summary of some interesting academic research, relating to digital behaviour. 

We hope you enjoy this discussion and the podcast in general.  Please share and subscribe if you do!

Feel free to contact either of us (Hanne or Tom) directly if you want to discuss any of the points covered: Hanne.Knight@plymouth.ac.uk, or Tom.Bowden-Green@uwe.ac.uk 

In this first full episode we chat to social media expert Luan Wise about her new book.  Among our topics of conversation, we discuss the fundamental principles of using any social media platform for marketing, the difference between 'digital immigrants' and 'digital natives', and Luan's own route to becoming a social media consultant.

We begin this episode with a quick summary of some interesting academic research that caught our attention, relating to digital behaviour.

Luan's book is called 'Planning for Success: A practical guide to setting and achieving your social media marketing goals'.  You can buy it in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook formats here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Planning-Success-practical-achieving-marketing-ebook/dp/B0CL5MD63S?

We hope you enjoy this discussion and the podcast in general.  Feel free to contact either of us (Hanne or Tom) directly if you want to discuss any of the points covered: Hanne.Knight@plymouth.ac.uk, or Tom.Bowden-Green@uwe.ac.uk