Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast BEYOND THE BRAND
| Titre | Date | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing without the fluff: what actually drives brand growth | Lottie Unwin (Founder and CEO of Up Collective) | 31 Mar 2025 | 00:46:17 | |
In this episode of Beyond the Brand, Adam Wright and Matt Huntly speak with Lottie Unwin, founder and CEO of Up Collective, which includes Upworld, Up Talent, and Brand Hackers. Lottie is a marketer, community builder, and champion of entrepreneurial talent. She shares how she built a 1,000+ marketing community, what she's learned leading a remote-first team, and why communication strategy, not channels, is the real secret to brand growth. From lessons in leadership to the power of building in public, this episode is packed with honest insights and practical advice for anyone in marketing today. Key takeaways ▶ Community building doesn't have to scale fast to be impactful—start small and focus on meaningful connection▶ Being visible as a leader (e.g. posting on LinkedIn daily) can open doors and attract aligned talent▶ Clarity on your unfair advantage is key—identify it and double down▶ Leadership isn't about knowing everything▶ Flexible working requires maturity and high trust on both sides to work well Why listen▶ Learn how Lottie built a career by following energy, not a rigid plan▶ Hear real-life challenges and wins from growing a remote team past 20 employees▶ Get practical advice for becoming a more strategic marketer▶ Understand why leadership, not technical skills, is what moves your career forward Links & resources▶ Lottie Unwin on LinkedIn▶ Upworld▶ Up Talent▶ Brand Hackers▶ The Marketing Hustle podcast Follow Beyond the Brand for more candid conversations with marketing leaders. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a quick review; it really helps others find the show. | |||
| From agency life to AI and academia: the marketing lessons Gio Pupo wants you to know | Gio Pupo (Founder, Educator and Host of A Glass of Marketing) | 17 Mar 2025 | 00:46:16 | |
In this episode of Beyond the Brand, Adam Wright speaks with Giovanni Pupo, a seasoned digital marketing leader with experience across both agencies and client-side. Gio led e-commerce for Lipton across Europe for a number of years before leaving to dedicate full time to teaching, keynote speaking, and content creation. He shares insights on navigating a marketing career, the evolving role of AI, the importance of media skills, and why marketers need to balance creativity with data-driven decision-making. Key takeaways ▶ Marketing is shifting from ‘mad men’ to ‘math men’ – Creativity still matters, but data and analytics now drive decision-making. Why listen ▶ Gain insider knowledge from someone who’s worked at top agencies, led global e-commerce strategies, and now teaches the next generation of marketers. Links & resources ▶ Gio Pupo’s website – https://giopupo.com/ | |||
| What leading media at P&G taught Gerry D’Angelo about trust, data and AI | Gerry D’Angelo (Former VP of Global Media at Procter & Gamble) | 03 Mar 2025 | 01:00:47 | |
In this episode of Beyond the Brand, hosts Adam Wright and Matt Huntly sit down with Gerry D’Angelo, former VP of Global Media at Procter & Gamble. With over 30 years in the media industry, including leadership roles at Samsung, Mondelez, and Sky, Gerry shares his insights on how media buying, agency relationships, and brand building have evolved. From his early career in agencies to overseeing one of the largest media budgets in the world, Gerry reflects on key career moments, the role of serendipity, and the challenges brands face in an AI-driven marketing landscape. Key takeaways: ▶ The evolution of media buying: how brands have shifted their approach over the last two decades Why listen: ▶ Gain a behind-the-scenes look at how one of the world’s biggest advertisers managed its media strategy Links & resources: ▶ Connect with Gerry D’Angelo on LinkedIn Enjoyed the episode? Follow Beyond the Brand for more conversations with top marketing leaders, and if you found this insightful, leave a quick review to help others discover the show. | |||
| How Reckitt turned digital marketing into a business driver, not just a media cost | Sameer Amin (Global Director of Data-Driven Marketing and Media at Reckitt) | 20 Feb 2025 | 00:57:26 | |
In this episode of Beyond the Brand, Adam Wright and Matt Huntly sit down with Sameer Amin, Vice President of Data-Driven Marketing and Media at Reckitt. Sameer shares how he helped Reckitt transition from a TV-first media strategy to a data-driven, digital-first approach. He explains the importance of moving beyond reach to focus on relevance, improving digital ROI, and implementing a responsible first-party data strategy. The conversation also dives into the role of AI in marketing, showing how automation is reshaping campaign execution and decision-making. Key takeaways: ▶ Reckitt’s shift from TV-first to digital-first – Why relying on traditional media wasn’t enough and how data-driven marketing transformed performance. Why listen: ▶ Discover how a global FMCG leader transformed its media buying strategy to maximise digital ROI. Links & resources: ▶ Connect with Sameer Amin on LinkedIn: here Enjoyed this episode? Follow Beyond the Brand for more conversations with marketing leaders, and don’t forget to leave us a review! | |||
| How Superdrug built a retail media business from scratch inside a high street giant | Paul Stafford (Head of Retail Media at AS Watson) | 03 Feb 2025 | 00:45:59 | |
In this debut episode of Beyond the Brand, Adam Wright and Matt Huntly are joined by Paul Stafford, Head of Retail Media at A.S. Watson, to explore the fast-growing world of retail media. Paul and his team have launched Optimo, Superdrug’s new retail media network—a huge feat in an increasingly competitive space. They discuss the opportunities and challenges of building a media platform inside a major retailer, how brands can tap into first-party data for performance marketing, and why retail media is here to stay. If you're in brand marketing, e-commerce, or digital media, this episode is packed with insights to help you stay ahead. ----- Brought to you by Sampl (Sampltech.com). We run precision product sampling that puts your product in the hands of real buyers. Trusted by over 250 of the world's biggest brands. ----- Key takeaways ▶ Retail media is a dual opportunity – it generates revenue for retailers while helping brands grow ------ Why listen ▶ First-hand insights from an industry leader building retail media from the ground up ------- Links & resources ▶ Connect with Paul Stafford on LinkedIn Enjoyed the episode? Follow Beyond the Brand and leave a quick review to help others find the show. | |||
| Retail media without the hype: what really works | Matt Higgins (Managing Partner at Dentsu) and Ash White (Managing Partner at Dentsu) | 26 May 2025 | 00:49:56 | |
In this episode of Beyond the Brand, hosts Adam Wright and Matt Huntly sit down with Matt Higgins and Ash White, managing partners at Dentsu’s Addressable Media and Total Commerce units. Together, they explore the fast-evolving world of retail media, from its roots in Amazon to its expansion across major UK retailers. With years of experience guiding brands through media transformation, Matt and Ash unpack the changing role of creative, measurement, and collaboration in retail media today. Key takeaways Why listen Links & resources Follow Beyond the Brand for honest conversations with marketing leaders, and if you enjoyed this episode, please leave a quick review to help others find the show. | |||
| Why brands fail at innovation (and how to fix it) | Bella Noakes, Innovation Director at Publicis Media | 12 May 2025 | 00:36:59 | |
In this episode of Beyond the Brand, Adam Wright and Matt Huntly speak with Bella Noakes, innovation director at Next Tech Now, the specialist innovation arm of Publicis Media. Bella shares how she helps bridge the gap between big brands and startup tech, delivering practical innovation that solves real brand problems. We talk audio, AI, dynamic creative, and what makes experimentation work. Key takeaways ▶ Audio is becoming more personal and interactive ▶ Dynamic creative helps brands reach the right people ▶ Face-to-face time builds better partnerships ▶ Test-and-learn can beat big campaigns when it’s done right Why listen ▶ Hear how to scale innovation across large teams ▶ Learn which media trends are getting real traction ▶ Get advice on working with agencies and tech partners ▶ Understand how to run experiments with impact Links & resources Follow Beyond the Brand and leave a review to support the show. | |||
| Turning around a 250-year-old brand in decline | Sophie Rock (Head of Brand at Wilkinson Sword) | 28 Apr 2025 | 00:53:31 | |
In this episode of Beyond the Brand, Adam Wright is joined by Sophie Rock, head of brand at Wilkinson Sword. Together, they unpack the bold repositioning of a 250-year-old brand, the thinking behind the Blade Masters campaign, and the real work involved in shifting a business out of long-term sales decline. Sophie shares her career journey, lessons from major brand projects, and how she stays focused when leading high-pressure transformations. Key takeaways Why listen Links & resources | |||
| The retail media tipping point: what’s changed, what’s next, and who’s winning | Tom Priestman (Director of Client Services at Nectar360) | 14 Apr 2025 | 00:39:40 | |
In this episode of Beyond the Brand, hosts Adam Wright and Matt Huntly sit down with Tom Priestman, Director of Client Services at Nectar360. With experience across Colgate, Meta, and now Nectar360, Tom shares what he’s learned from working on the brand, platform, and retailer sides of the marketing world. The conversation explores retail media’s rapid rise, why it works differently from other channels, and how brands of all sizes can make the most of it. ------------- Key takeaways ------------- Why listen ------------- Links & resources | |||
| How to scale retail media without losing control or clarity | Katrina Smart (V{of Digital Commerce, Europe at Mars United Commerce) | 30 Jun 2025 | 00:37:49 | |
In this episode of Beyond the Brand, Adam Wright sits down with Katrina Smart, Head of Digital Commerce at Mars United Commerce. They explore how retail media is evolving into a more sophisticated, full-funnel discipline. Katrina shares her perspective on global frameworks, the rise of in-store digitalisation, new measurement approaches, and how brands can prepare for the future of retail media. Key takeaways Why listen Links & resources▶ Katrina Smart on LinkedIn▶ Mars United Commerce website▶ Women in Retail Media | |||
| How smart CMOs are changing how they measure success | Azlan Raj (EMEA CMO at dentsu) | 17 Jun 2025 | 00:41:20 | |
In this episode of Beyond the Brand, Adam Wright and Matt Huntly sit down with Azlan Raj, CMO for Merkle and Dentsu across EMEA. Named one of the UK’s most influential marketers, Azlan shares how he helps global brands turn complexity into progress. The conversation covers the changing role of the CMO, how to measure meaningful progress, the shift back toward brand-building, and how to apply AI in a practical, human way. Key takeaways Why listen Links and resources | |||
| How Zoe is challenging the food industry and reshaping health culture | Sara Gordon (General Manager at Zoe) | 14 Jul 2025 | 00:49:16 | |
In this episode of Beyond the Brand, Adam Wright and Matt Huntly sit down with Sara Gordon, general manager at Zoe and a specialist in brand positioning and growth. From helping scale Bloom & Wild to advising global health tech teams, Sara shares how customer insight, clear positioning, and emotional relevance drive long-term success. This one’s full of smart, practical thinking about what really makes brands grow. Key takeaways Why listen Links & resources If you enjoyed this episode, follow Beyond the Brand and leave us a review to help more marketers find the show. | |||
| How to build brands that last | Rossana Doldi | Marketing and Strategy Director | Church & Dwight | 28 Jul 2025 | 00:38:54 | |
In this episode of Beyond the Brand, Adam Wright and Matt Huntly chat with Rossana Doldi, Marketing and Strategy Director at Church & Dwight. Rossana has shaped global brands across P&G, Reckitt, and now Church & Dwight, where she oversees everything from beauty icons like Batiste dry shampoo to trusted healthcare brands like Anusol, as well as intimate skincare products such as Femfresh. She shares how her luxury roots inform mass-market creativity, how to drive attention in crowded categories, and how to reframe stories in even the most awkward spaces. Key takeaways Why listen One final thing.... If you enjoyed this episode, follow Beyond the Brand and leave us a review to help more marketers find the show. | |||
| How to build brands people actually care about | Louise Troen | CMO @ Clue | ex. Headspace, Bumble | 15 Dec 2025 | 00:42:55 | |
Marketers talk about being consumer first. Louise Troen, CMO at Clue actually operates that way. Lou shares how she built mission-led brands at Bumble, Headspace and now Clue by putting emotional truth and creative clarity above noise and performance theatre. She breaks down the discipline of starting with the human problem, the courage required to throw away weak ideas, and the practical ways to measure brand work without pretending it’s magic. If you want an honest, sharp and deeply practical conversation about building brands that matter at scale, this is the episode. Learn more about Clue here: https://helloclue.com/ Connect with Lou here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louise-troen-1895a235/ | |||
| How to build a brand for the future | Tessa Tysome | Global Brand and Growth Strategist | 01 Dec 2025 | 00:45:55 | |
Tessa Tysome has one of the most unconventional and instructive careers in modern marketing. A Global Brand and Growth Strategist, Fractional CMO, eCommerce and Digital leader, and Soho House Creative Network mentor, she has shaped brands at Meta, Nike, L’Oréal, Diageo and PepsiCo before launching her own consultancy. Tessa brings sharp perspective on creating coherence across the funnel, understanding culture at a local level, building teams that move fast, and knowing when to break from the rulebook entirely.
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| How to take on the giants and win | Bridget Hirst | DASH Water | 17 Nov 2025 | 00:45:39 | |
Bridget Hirst, Head of Brand at DASH Water, joins us to explore how a young soft drinks company is preparing to take on the giants. She explains the mix of discipline and creative instinct behind DASH’s rise, shaped by her years on Lucozade and Ribena at Suntory and sharpened through her work at Proper Snacks. Bridget talks through why DASH has stayed focused on its core range while other brands chase trends, how the team models shifting consumer behaviour as people move away from both sugar and artificial sweeteners, and why taste remains the real battleground in soft drinks. She also shares the story behind DASH’s first TV campaign, a creative risk that could have gone either way and instead became a defining moment for the brand. This episode looks at the practical side of challenger growth. How to prioritise. How to avoid dilution. How to build a brand people are proud to be seen with. For anyone interested in the thinking behind bold creative leaps or in the mindset required to scale a challenger, Bridget’s approach offers rare clarity. 🎧 Beyond the Brand is brought to you by Sampl, the smarter way for brands to turn product trial into measurable growth. | |||
| When work becomes your identity | Olivia Mae Hanlon | Passata & Girls in Marketing | 03 Nov 2025 | 00:48:57 | |
Olivia Mae Hanlon turned a one woman side project into Girls in Marketing, a global community of more than half a million marketers. Now as co-founder of Passata, an AI productivity tool built to make work more personal and effective, she is redefining what balance looks like for modern founders and marketers. In this episode, Olivia joins Adam Wright to talk about the realities of building a business around your passion, how to create a community that grows with its members, how to recognise the signs of burnout before it takes over, and how to find purpose again when your work becomes your identity. This is an honest conversation about growth, leadership and the pursuit of balance in a world that celebrates busyness. Connect with Olivia Mae Hanlon LinkedIn | Instagram | Girls in Marketing | Passata 🎧 Beyond the Brand is brought to you by Sampl, the smarter way for brands to turn product trial into measurable growth. | |||
| The line between smart adaptation & costly brand drift with Peter Markey (Ex. Boots, TSB, Aviva, Post Office) | 03 Mar 2026 | 00:41:51 | |
In this episode, Peter Markey talks about the judgement call that sits at the centre of your job as a CMO. You are expected to adapt. Markets shift, categories mature, competitors move and stakeholders push for change. At the same time, your brand only grows if it stands for something clear and consistent. Peter draws on his time leading marketing at Boots, TSB, Aviva and the Post Office to explain how that tension plays out inside large organisations. He walks through what happens when performance pressure builds, when quarterly targets dominate the room and when the instinct is to tweak the strategy (again). Over time, those small shifts add up. Clarity softens. Focus fragments, and growth becomes harder to sustain. He shares how strong marketing leaders make the call. They simplify the proposition instead of layering complexity on top. They align stakeholders around fewer priorities. They make deliberate choices about what stays constant and what genuinely needs to evolve. Because it's that discipline protects margin, sharpens decision making and builds equity that compounds over time. If you are accountable for growth, this episode gives you a clear lens. It helps you separate healthy adaptation from slow brand drift and make decisions you can defend, not just this quarter, but over the long term. | |||
| 84% of marketers feel like imposters. Prof. Laura Chamberlain explains why. (Warwick Business School) | 16 Feb 2026 | 00:49:01 | |
84% of marketers report experiencing imposter syndrome. That statistic isn’t about fragility. It reflects the reality of working in a discipline built on ambiguity. In this conversation, Professor Laura Chamberlain explains why marketing operates in shades of grey, while teams are still expected to deliver clear ROI narratives and confident answers. When your work depends on context, judgement and human behaviour, doubt isn’t a defect. It’s a signal that the problem is complex. In this conversation, Laura and Adam explore: → why more knowledge doesn’t automatically resolve self doubt→ why resilience is built through everyday practices, not crisis moments→ why marketing still works on human beings, not algorithms→ how frameworks help you think more clearly when certainty isn’t available If you’ve ever had to defend a budget, justify a decision, or speak with confidence when the data tells an incomplete story, this episode will feel familiar. It offers a steadier way to think under pressure and a more realistic understanding of what professional confidence requires. | |||
| How leaders unlock value in legacy brands | Jordan Schlipf | Cowshed | 02 Feb 2026 | 00:43:02 | |
Many senior brand managers believe that only new ventures can deliver big wins. This conversation shows why unlocking value in established brands can create sustainable growth. Jordan Schlipf left the excitement of building tech startups to lead Cowshed, a heritage bath and body beauty brand. He explains how modernising an existing brand, building a trusted team and using measured risk can unlock dormant potential. Jordan has built and invested in numerous technology companies, co‑founded the Startup Bootcamp accelerator and now serves as the hired CEO of Cowshed, part of the Soho House group. His blend of entrepreneurial grit and operational discipline gives him a rare perspective on growth and risk. Listeners will discover:
This episode is a must‑listen for leaders responsible for growing established consumer brands or rethinking their growth strategy. Jordan’s reflections will help you see how mature businesses can become growth engines when you align vision, talent and strategy. Guest links: | |||
| Why growth is experimentation, not marketing | Hannah Parvaz | Aperture | Ex. Dice | 19 Jan 2026 | 00:47:37 | |
Growth is not a checklist of marketing tactics. It is a series of small experiments that help you learn what truly matters to your customers. In this episode Adam Wright sits down with Hannah Parvaz, founder of Aperture, a UK‑based growth consultancy. She explains why treating growth like science, not advertising, leads to deeper insights and better results. Why this conversation matters now Many brands are cutting budgets and looking for quick wins. Hannah argues that short‑term tricks create noise but not loyalty. Instead she shows how curiosity, user research and iterative testing unlock lasting growth, even in a tough market. Her approach is especially relevant for senior brand managers who want to build resilient brands. About our guest Hannah Parvaz is a growth leader who has helped hundreds of mission‑led apps scale sustainably. She began her career in the music industry, moved into tech and now leads Aperture, where she combines customer psychology with creative experimentation to drive results. Her teams have cut advertising costs by 93% and delivered repeatable growth for subscription products. Outcomes you will learn
As you listen you will hear simple stories that make growth feel human. By the end you will see how adopting an experimentation mindset helps you decide where to focus, build better products and create marketing that matters. Links
This episode is sponsored by Sampl. Sampl is a digital sampling platform for FMCG and beauty brands that turns product trial into measurable, accountable growth by connecting sampling to real consumer data and purchase behaviour. Learn more at https://www.sampltech.com | |||