Dixons overcame its significant weaknesses by hijacking its competitors strengths. A brilliant APG Grand Prix award winner from 2011, its irreverent tone made it feel like the brand was on the side of the consumer, not just selling to them. Thanks to our friends at Jira (the project management platform) for sponsoring this episode. More at jira.com.

We're joined by Kim Baffi and Darren Brady-Harris to talk about the in-house Matthew McConaughey campaign designed to position Salesforce as the only trustworthy B2B Generative AI provider. Thanks to Tracksuit (the affordable brand tracking solution) for making this episode possible. More at gotracksuit.com

We kick-off our 2024 "Live from..." tour in Dublin. We discuss how a country with such incredible achievements in the arts is finding its confidence in marketing. Check out Irish agency work on this episode's page on our site. Grainne Wafer of Diageo, Karen Martin of BBH, Rory Hamilton of Boys & Girls, Michelle Spillane of Paddy Powers and Patrick Hickey formerly of Rothco, join me at The Guinness Storehouse in Dublin. Thanks to Analytic Partners, LinkedIn and Guinness for their support.

Coming out of lockdown, the convenience store brand, faced with a dramatic reduction in store visits, used products and subcultures as distinctive brand assets to expand its share among those whose idea of “convenience” had changed. 

The name change from Uncle Ben's Rice to Ben's Originals was a response to claims of racial stereotyping. The subsequent campaign is a masterclass in strategic thinking that grew household penetration 20%. Because doing what's right is also right for business.

Skinny Mobile, originally a youth brand, needed to explore a way into the general market to return to growth, but brand perception got in the way. ColensoBBDO and their client share the award winning strategy that flipped a negative, with "Skinny will do anything to keep prices low and customers happy."

After decades of “Choosy Moms Choose JiF,” how could a brand your mom served you as a kid now be the brand you choose for yourself? Publicis, New York shares the strategy story behind "That Jifing Good."

The New York Times was targeted as "fake news" by the previous administration. This was their award-winning response and what led to record breaking subscription levels.

With financial advisors resisting recommending the brand to clients, this is how an inventive idea reframed its value. A great B2B2C case.

How Sacha Baron Cohen's team and Leo Burnett made a National Rifle Association President undermine his own organization on a national stage in an effort to save lives. 

John Kenny (then head of planning at FCB Chicago) shared the story behind the distinctive "Social Athlete" label and campaign. Subsequent work from W+K has built on this campaign's original line "It's only worth it if you can enjoy it." 

From the 1960s’ “Think Small” to the 1990s’ “Drivers Wanted” to the current “Drive Bigger,” VW’s audience has always been those frustrated with the status quo.

The food spread dramatizing the tension between lovers and haters further pushed the product into popular culture and consideration with this latest installment "The Marmite Gene Project."

In Ep#3 of our 2024 Effectiveness Series, we talk with Jorge Ruiz, Global Head of Marketing Sciences at TikTok and Sorin Patilinet, Sr. Dir. Global Marketing Effectiveness at MARS. Thanks to GALE (the business agency) for sponsoring this series. Learn more at GALE.agency.

A chat about the streaming wars and the back-story on the amazing "Great Shows Stay with You" strategy with Tim Whirledge, while at Droga5 London.

Effectiveness data in B2C is robust, but not so in B2B. The Institute plans to change that. Jon Lombardo shares their latest work and some new  concepts that can help your CFO support your case for effective investment.

In a campaign from  Fred & Farid, Los Angeles, Ladder, an online life insurance company, is embracing brand marketing (not simply performance) with a totally unexpected campaign in an uptight category.  

In 2019, the brand went through TBWA’s Chiat Day’s “Disruption” planning process, which attempted to realign enterprise-wide activities around a refreshed expression of the brand’s platform. This is the strategy story. 

In his new book, Conflicted, Ian explains how we lose the benefits of diverse thinking because of our inability to disagree well. And how productive disagreement leads to better strategy.

In his new book, Look out, Orlando builds on the work of Jenni Romaniuk, Les Binet, Peter Field, Byron Sharp and others with his research on how we can better ensure we are producing work that works.

A must listen Masterclass that begs the question, does loyalty exist, or is it just a habit that can be broken? Facing two massive competitors, Yorkshire Tea went from 5th to 1st with a hilarious creative and strategic effort that reignited consumer interest in what was thought to be a deeply entrenched category.  

The story of 13 years of growth following a crisis for the McDonald's brand. A recovery built on a rethink of operations, tone and messaging. One that put humility and relatability at the center of everything.  A 2021 APG Award winner.

We talk about planning and cover a bunch of topics including why labels are used in strategy as proxies for genuine knowledge, how our industry’s fetish with “insight” has caused so many to lose sight of our deliverables. And whether we ever really know enough to really know.

A Gold WARC award for effectiveness winner, we hear how, after a series of hate crime attacks, McD’s used an update of their iconic Kiwiburger song to drive an important cultural conversation in New Zealand, resulting in the best sales period ever recorded. 

In its latest campaign from LOLA MullenLowe, AXE may have once again found its sweet spot with young men.  We talk about it with Caroline Gregory, Global Brand Director at Unilever and Federico Duberti, Global Business Leader at IPG. Thanks to Tracksuit (the affordable brand tracking solution for modern brands) and the Master of Advertising Effectiveness (MAE) Program for supporting our show.

The tagline is one of the most iconic in advertising history. It's embedded itself in popular culture in ways few campaigns have ever achieved.  I talk with R&R Partners about how it came about, and why, in 2022, it's about to change. 

This award winning case from TBWA Hong Kong shows how reallocating upper funnel media dollars across the customer journey helped Lexus successfully launch the UX in one of the toughest auto markets in the world.

How EOS and Mischief brilliantly capitalized on a TikTok moment with a genius response that went viral. CMO, Soyoung Kang and Mischief's ECD, Bianca Guimaraes share the back story of the brand and the moment.

By brilliantly crafting a perceived negative into a strength, Aldi went from a 2% share to a 7.9% share. Hear the Grand Prix award-winning strategy story from Jamie Peate and Laura McKinlay of McCann, Manchester.

Bumble's about women making the first move. In this latest work, the brand expands on their empowerment platform by encouraging women to fall in love with dating as a journey, not simply a means to an end. 

If drinking beer is typically something you do for yourself, could drinking a low carb beer be something you do for someone you love? It's "I'm drinking it for you" with James Tucker, Planning Director at Colenso BBDO in Auckland, NZ.

In a category fixated on clean, Unilever laundry detergent Persil flipped category conventions by telling the world that dirt was not the enemy, but the result of giving a child the freedom to explore and grow. This commitment to child development became the heart of the brand.  This is the story behind that platform and how it was evolved to reflect Unilever's new green purpose. 

A fast food brand attempting to win a Michelin Star? Seems crazy, but it's the attempt alone that worked. This is the strategy story behind the award-winning campaign from KFC and Ogilvy Australia.

TBWA Chiat Day Los Angeles has formed an elite team of creatives and strategists to build out a B2B marketing practice. I talk with Managing Director John Hickman about the back story and the case for B2B.

A WARC Grand Prix winner. The Middle Eastern-based home furnishing retailer used Father's Day to celebrate the achievements of single mothers. 

If your product has a level of seasonality or occasion, then this is an episode for you.  In the winter months, ice cream sales drop by up to 50% in the UK. But there are markets with harsh winters where sales don’t drop at all. So it’s not simply an issue of climate, but of behavior. We hear about what influences that behavior and the role of mental and physical availability. Thanks to Analytic Partners and to Tracksuit for supporting our show.

The story behind the heart-warming and award-winning campaign that reversed losses by expanding appeal, with Rachel Ellerm of Lion and Lucinda Sherborne of DDB, New Zealand. 

Huge fan of Doug Holt. We talk about purpose, challenger and cultural brands through the lens of Jack Daniels, Chipotle, Blue Buffalo, Dove, Starbucks, etc.

The industry columnist, advisor and professor of marketing shares his Top 10 moments of this past year.  And, as always, there are surprises for all.

La Dolce Velveeta presents the brand as an "unrestrained pleasure" by leveraging craveability and the attitudes of proud Velveeta lovers,  claiming you don't have to be rich to live golden.

Adam&Eve DDB's CSO Martin Beverley and Craig Spence, Chief Brand Officer for the IPC share the story behind the creation of Wethe15, with its focus on what we have in common, not what makes us different. Lessons in here for every marketer.

Cadbury’s belief that generosity is in everyone rebuilt its business. Sophie Kerbegian, former Head of Planning at VCCP and Benazir Barlay-Batada, Marketing Director at Mondelez  share the backstory of this Grand Prix award-winning campaign.

Pharma should treat patients like Nike treats athletes. So says John Kenny, Head of Strategic Planning at pharma agency, Intouch Group. He shares what he sees as opportunity for planners and strategists to reframe the category, worldwide.

This Gold EFFIE winning partnership with HULU drew attention to inequality by brilliantly twisting an age old adage " A woman's place is in the kitchen."

According to Ben, the essence of the Starbucks brand has always been seduction. Yet he worries it's moving away from its cultural capital codes. We talk about the brand and how its desire to connect post-lockdown led him and the team to the Funnel Cake Frappuccino.

The likelihood of getting eaten by your cat this Halloween is low, but it's not zero. Building on the success of last year's Halloween campaign, this year's "Tasty Human" takes the humor and insight to a new, hilarious level.  

In Ep#2 of our 2024 Effectiveness Series, we talk with Les Binet and Sarah Carter about what's next in effectiveness and about the landscape of pre-testing. Thanks to GALE (the business agency) for sponsoring this series. Learn more at GALE.agency.

In pre-covid convenience-obsessed culture, cooking at home was struggling. This led to  Lurpak's strategic pivot from celebrating "how" we cook to celebrating "why."  A 2021 APG Creative Strategy Award winner.

This independent shop with clients including Google (Chromebook, Assistant, Pixel, Photos, Pay, etc) ESPN, NBC and others, is a studio-style creative company that's delivering at speed, something that generally scares other agencies.

Three Ireland is a telecommunications brand. This B2B campaign centered around Arranmore, an isolated island off the coast of Donegal. The parallel between island life and business life was that companies, not unlike communities, need to be connected in order to effectively grow.