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Explore every episode of the podcast That's What I Call Marketing

Dive into the complete episode list for That's What I Call Marketing. Each episode is cataloged with detailed descriptions, making it easy to find and explore specific topics. Keep track of all episodes from your favorite podcast and never miss a moment of insightful content.

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TitlePub. DateDuration
TWICM 220: Make Your Mark Ep 2 with Stephanie Bell of Mercedes Ireland14 oct. 202600:36:05

Make Your Mark: Stephanie Bell, Head of Marketing for Mercedes-Benz in Ireland joins That’s What I Call Marketing to discuss building commercial credibility, making a global brand relevant locally and earning support for ambitious marketing.


You’ll hear what “speaking the language of the business” actually looks like, how Stephanie secured backing for The Traitors Ireland partnership and why building relationships with future buyers matters alongside delivering sales today.


When sales fall, pausing marketing can seem like the obvious response. Stephanie shares how she challenged that thinking by starting with the revenue target, working back to the number of customers needed and explaining how marketing would help deliver them.


That commercial grounding runs through a career spanning Diageo, Heineken, FMCG, not-for-profit and automotive. It also shaped her approach to The Traitors Ireland: a partnership the business initially turned down, which went on to deliver almost 30 minutes of on-screen car exposure. Stephanie discusses the 40% year-on-year growth in GLC sales that followed, the lessons from the first series and the creation of four locally produced Irish TV ads for the second.

In this episode, we cover:

– What commercial and trade marketing roles taught Stephanie about customers, margins and making a case for investment.

– Working on Orchard Thieves and adapting lessons from Diageo and Heineken to businesses where marketing has to earn its influence.

– Securing local and global approval for The Traitors Ireland, with conviction rather than certainty.

– Why Irish creative and cultural relevance matter, even when you have a globally recognised luxury brand.

– Balancing immediate sales with future demand across Mercedes-Benz and BYD, while responding to electrification and changing buyer behaviour.

– Making professional development part of the working day and helping a team build its skills and confidence.

A useful listen for marketers interested in brand strategy, sponsorship effectiveness, commercial impact, global and local marketing, marketing leadership and career development.


That’s What I Call Marketing is the podcast for marketers who care about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Follow the show for more conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, professors, authors, thinkers and practitioners.

Find more episodes at: https://www.thatswhaticallmarketing.com


MAKE YOUR MARK | IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE MARKETING INSTITUTE OF IRELAND

This is episode two of our three-part Make Your Mark series, created in partnership with the Marketing Institute of Ireland. The series explores different routes through a marketing career and how marketers make their mark through expertise, confidence, continued learning and the impact of their work.

The Marketing Institute of Ireland supports marketers through its competency framework, professional assessment and certification, CPD and training.

Find out more: https://mii.ie


TIMESTAMPS


02:55 Stephanie’s path from commercial roles into marketing

04:47 Learning brand marketing at Diageo and Heineken

06:15 Orchard Thieves and challenging the cider category

07:56 Bringing big-company experience into smaller businesses

10:02 “Sales are down”: making the commercial case for marketing

12:26 Building credibility with commercial stakeholders

13:40 From FMCG and not-for-profit into automotive

15:33 Managing Mercedes-Benz in Ireland: global brand, local market

18:50 The Traitors Ireland: taking the risk and securing support

22:23 Creating Irish TV ads for the second series

23:48 Conviction rather than certainty

25:08 Balancing current sales and future buyers

27:52 Electrification and the better-informed car buyer

28:38 Developing your own skills and supporting your team

32:27 Challenging “we’ve always done it that way”

34:27 Winning Best Entertainment Sponsorship

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TWICM 219: Make Your Mark Ep 1 with John Kelly of Musgraves07 oct. 202600:31:59

Make Your Mark is a three-part series exploring how marketers build their careers and make a difference to their businesses, their customers and the people around them, in partnership with the Marketing Institute of Ireland.


In this opening conversation, John Kelly, Retail Marketing Manager at Musgrave, joins That’s What I Call Marketing to discuss his 20-year career working predominantly with SuperValu, and what it takes to turn customer understanding into commercial results. John’s experience shows how much you can learn by taking on different challenges within one organisation. From checking promotional prices as a marketing assistant to delivering campaigns across a network of independent retailers, he explains how attention to detail, curiosity and doing what you said you would do build the credibility to take your next step.


We also get into the work behind SuperValu’s “Yes You Scan” campaign. Getting TV, radio, social and in-store communications working together is one challenge; getting the entire business, right down to the checkout, moving towards the same outcome is another.


In this episode, we cover:

– How John deliberately built experience across value, local marketing, loyalty, sponsorship and retail marketing.

– The commercial thinking and business-wide coordination behind Real Rewards prices and “Yes You Scan”.

– What independent retailers know about their communities, and how that knowledge complements customer research and sales data.

– Keeping SuperValu distinctive while competing on value and delivering short-term sales.

– What John learned from micromanaging, and how he now uses trust, accountability and regular feedback to develop his team.

– Why the time AI saves should help marketers get closer to customers, alongside the continuing need for creativity and storytelling.

A useful listen for marketers interested in career development, retail marketing, brand building, customer insight, marketing effectiveness and leadership.


TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Consumer understanding and storytelling

00:23 Introducing the Make Your Mark series

03:08 John Kelly’s route into marketing

04:00 Musgrave and SuperValu’s retailer model

05:00 Different roles, new challenges and career development

06:23 Commercial outcomes and attention to detail

08:19 Why John’s team hears “never assume”

10:21 Building credibility by following through

11:00 Real Rewards prices and “Yes You Scan”

12:12 Getting the whole business behind a campaign

13:11 Competition, pace and brand differentiation

15:34 Customer insight and the say-do gap

16:47 Short-term sales and long-term brand building

18:21 Learning to lead without micromanaging

20:10 Mentoring and finding answers as a leader

22:19 The attitude and skills John looks for when hiring

25:37 Using AI to get closer to customers

27:00 Demonstrating marketing’s business impact

28:12 Recognising marketing talent through awards

30:24 Make Your Mark and continuous learning


That’s What I Call Marketing is the podcast for marketers who care about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Follow the show for more conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, professors, authors, thinkers and practitioners.

Find more episodes at: https://www.thatswhaticallmarketing.com


OUR SERIES PARTNER

Thank you to the Marketing Institute of Ireland for partnering with us on this series as part of their Make Your Mark campaign. The campaign recognises that making your mark happens throughout your career: as you develop your skills, grow in confidence, take responsibility and help others progress. Across three conversations with marketers working in different organisations and at different career stages, we explore what that means in practice. The Marketing Institute of Ireland helps marketers build their expertise and professional credibility through its competency framework, professional assessment, certification and ongoing CPD.

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TWICM 218: The Singles: Grindr IRL with Madonna, ON taking On Nike, Walkers Little Moments of Joy05 oct. 202600:28:06

Bella Harrison and Ed Parkin from Tracksuit join That’s What I Call Marketing to discuss Grindr’s push into real-world experiences, On’s entry into football and Walkers’ growing brand preference, exploring what each story tells marketers about building brands and measuring progress.

Three brands, three different challenges: giving people more reasons to use an app, taking a specialist sports brand to a wider audience, and keeping an established favourite relevant. Conor Byrne, Bella and Ed examine the strategies alongside Tracksuit’s brand health data, discussing what is moving, what remains uncertain and which measures matter.

In this episode, we cover:

– Grindr’s “Global Gayborhood” ambition: how a surprise Madonna performance, events and broader services support its move beyond a hook-up app, and why its younger audience deserves closer attention.

– On’s move into football with Kylian Mbappé and Thierry Henry: building on its running and tennis credentials, competing with Nike and adidas, and the questions facing a premium brand entering the boot market.

– The difference between recognising a brand and thinking of it first, and how expanding into another sport could give On more opportunities to come to mind.

– Walkers’ brand refresh, new flavours and football partnerships with Lionel Messi, David Beckham and Thierry Henry, alongside a rise in preference from 29% to 36%.

– Why flat awareness or usage figures do not tell the whole story, and how audience differences, category context and preference can help marketers make a stronger case for their work.

– “What the Actual?”: the discussion around Sydney Sweeney’s Novig campaign, PNC Bank using the Titanic in its advertising, and why the Laughing Cow has stopped laughing.

A useful listen for marketers interested in brand strategy, customer insight, experiential marketing, sports marketing, brand building, marketing effectiveness and commercial impact.

That’s What I Call Marketing is the podcast for marketers who care about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Follow the show for more conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, professors, authors, thinkers and practitioners.

Find more episodes at: https://www.thatswhaticallmarketing.com

THE SINGLES — IN PARTNERSHIP WITH TRACKSUIT

The Singles is our monthly look at the marketing stories getting people talking, using Tracksuit’s brand tracking data to bring evidence and context to the conversation.

A huge thanks to Tracksuit for supporting the series, and to Bella Harrison and Ed Parkin for helping us understand the brand performance behind the headlines.

Explore Tracksuit’s always-on, affordable brand tracking platform: https://www.gotracksuit.com


TIMESTAMPS


01:50 Grindr: real-world events and the “Global Gayborhood”

02:58 Madonna, community and experiences people share

04:08 What the brand data shows for Grindr

05:33 Reaching younger audiences in a changing dating category

06:41 Putting audience and category data into context

07:37 Giving people reasons to use Grindr beyond dating

09:14 On enters football with Kylian Mbappé

10:08 Building on running and tennis

10:53 Premium positioning and the realities of buying football boots

13:06 On’s brand growth and the opportunity to come to mind more often

14:36 Thierry Henry joins On as Director of Football

15:16 Thierry Henry and Ireland’s long football memory

16:10 Walkers: refreshing an iconic brand

17:45 Why Walkers’ seven-point preference gain matters

19:46 Competing across the wider snacking category

21:25 Familiarity, trust and choosing a brand

22:05 Using brand metrics in budget conversations

23:27 What the Actual? Sydney Sweeney and Novig

25:10 PNC Bank’s Titanic advertising

26:08 The Laughing Cow stops laughing: one to watch

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TWICM 217: Rich Silverstein Co-Founder of Goodby Silverstein & Partners on 40 Years in Advertising29 sept. 202600:52:45

On the day he retires from Goodby Silverstein & Partners, co-founder Rich Silverstein joins That’s What I Call Marketing to reflect on 40 years in advertising, the making of ‘Got Milk?’ and what makes an idea last. Rich takes us back to the early days of the agency, when a project for Electronic Arts helped turn a group of creatives who wanted to do things their own way into a business. We get into the thinking behind ‘Got Milk?’, the E*TRADE monkey ad and the lizards, and ask whether work made for a different media era could be even more powerful today. Rich is candid about the role of craft, humour and client confidence, as well as his concern that AI could make it easier to settle for work that is merely good enough.


In this episode, we cover:

– How Rich, Jeff Goodby and Andy Berlin started the agency, and what they took from their time with Hal Riney

– The simple truth behind ‘Got Milk?’ and how its words and distinctive look came together

– Why the best campaigns build a brand over time, rather than end with one commercial

– What it takes to sell an unusual idea when more people want a say in the work

– Rich’s mixed feelings about AI, and how he is using it to develop a musical

– Why he tells young creatives to study the world and the people in it

A useful listen for marketers interested in brand building, creative effectiveness, advertising craft, agency relationships and AI in marketing.

That’s What I Call Marketing is the podcast for marketers who care about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Follow the show for more conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, professors, authors, thinkers and practitioners.

Find more episodes at: https://www.thatswhaticallmarketing.com


Timestamps

00:00 – Rich Silverstein and 40 years in advertising

10:01 – Hal Riney, Electronic Arts and starting Goodby Silverstein & Partners

14:28 – Bringing design, journalism and craft together

15:25 – Why Rich skips most advertising

16:31 – AI and the danger of “good enough”

21:46 – What editorial design and Rolling Stone taught him

24:05 – Why great work should still hold up years later

24:26 – The story behind ‘Got Milk?’

26:00 – The E*TRADE monkey ad

28:37 – Creative constraints and the need for confident clients

30:36 – The lizards and building a brand over time

33:15 – Using humour to make an idea last

36:32 – Selling ambitious work and working with clients

37:39 – Research, planning and creative collaboration

40:37 – The ideas Rich loved but could not sell

41:59 – 13 Days, his musical project, and using AI to make it

46:47 – Advice for creatives starting an agency today

49:19 – Why the ideas come faster, but selling them remains hard

51:51 – The advertising Rich still admires

52:46 – Mentors, observation and studying the world


Thanks to Tracksuit for partnering with That’s What I Call Marketing. Find out more about its always-on brand tracking platform at https://www.gotracksuit.com.

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TWICM 216: Scribd CMO Gemma Craven on the Path to becoming CMO, Building Range, Reputation & Impact21 sept. 202600:44:16

Gemma Craven, Chief Marketing Officer at Scribd, Inc., joins That’s What I Call Marketing to discuss her path to becoming a CMO, the value of building experience across different areas of marketing and what it takes to reshape brands, teams and reputations.


This episode explores how a varied career across PR, social media, technology, agencies, consultancy and in-house leadership gave Gemma the range required to lead marketing across Scribd, Everand, Fable and SlideShare. It is an honest conversation about career choices that did not always make immediate sense to other people.


In this episode, we cover:

– How moving between countries, disciplines and organisations shaped Gemma’s approach to marketing leadership

– Building Social@Ogilvy New York when many people still believed social media would not last

– Why Gemma deliberately moved beyond being known solely as a social media specialist

– How working with CMOs at McCann helped her see CMO leadership as a possible destination

– Why becoming a fractional CMO was initially viewed as a failure by some people

– Restructuring Scribd’s marketing organisation around its products, audiences and areas of expertise

– Managing a portfolio that includes Scribd, Everand, Fable and SlideShare

– Why brands must actively manage their reputations rather than leave customers, reviews and online communities to define them

– Connecting brand strategy more closely with product, engineering, design and customer experience

– The thinking behind Scribd’s “Connect the Docs” campaign and the enduring human satisfaction of figuring something out for yourself


Gemma Craven has more than 25 years of experience building and positioning global brands. Before joining Scribd, Inc., she led marketing at Melissa & Doug, advised senior leaders at companies including Spotify, Nike, Fiverr and Ford, and led digital brand strategy at McCann New York, where she helped make Fearless Girl a global phenomenon. She also built Social@Ogilvy New York into an award-winning, multi-practice division. A useful listen for marketers interested in marketing leadership, career development, brand strategy, organisational design, reputation management, customer experience and the path to becoming a CMO.


That’s What I Call Marketing is the podcast for marketers who care about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.Follow the show for more conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, professors, authors, thinkers and practitioners.

Find more episodes at: https://www.thatswhaticallmarketing.com


This episode is brought to you in partnership with Tracksuit, the always-on brand-tracking platform that helps marketers monitor brand health and bring a clear, shared view of brand performance into the boardroom. Tracksuit tracks brands across more than 25 markets, making ongoing brand measurement more accessible, visible and useful for marketing teams and senior leaders. Find out more at: https://www.gotracksuit.com


The Big Marketing MeetUp Belfast, takes place at ICC Belfast on 5 November 2026, book tickets at: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/bmmubelfast/1935249


Chapters


04:15 – A career shaped by curiosity and working across cultures

06:30 – Moving from London to New York and experiencing culture shock

09:41 – Building Social@Ogilvy New York

16:42 – Why Gemma moved from agency life into technology

19:24 – When becoming a CMO started to feel possible

20:49 – Why varied experience creates better marketing leaders

23:13 – Too ambitious to work for Mick Jagger

24:01 – Choosing the fractional CMO path

28:11 – Restructuring marketing around products and audiences

29:17 – What happens when a brand leaves its story untold

29:48 – Leading teams through organisational change

32:16 – Refreshing the Scribd and SlideShare brands

32:24 – The strategy behind “Connect the Dots”

36:26 – Resisting the pressure to launch a campaign too quickly

38:06 – How brand discovery and reputation are changing


That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TWICM 215: The Singles: Monzo’s Get Busy Living, Heinz x Heineken & is Meta X Ray‑Ban creepy?14 sept. 202600:30:56

Conor Byrne hosts another “Singles” episode with Bella and Ed from Tracksuit, using brand tracking data to unpack the biggest marketing stories of the moment—what’s genuinely driving brand growth, what’s just noise, and where brands are taking real risks. From Monzo’s bold “Get Busy Living” brand campaign in a fiercely competitive banking market, to the clever Heinz x Heineken collaboration built for summer BBQ culture, they explore how creativity and brand equity show up in the metrics. They also break down quick-fire eclipse “culture-jacking” wins from brands like Starbucks, Netflix and Mastercard, before debating the backlash and brand danger around Meta-powered Ray-Ban smart glasses. Finally, they launch “What the Actual?”—spotlighting recent brand missteps from Target and a Callaway/Good Good promo—and invite listeners to submit their own.


02:05 Monzo Brand Campaign

13:02 Heinz Heineken Collab

18:37 Solar Eclipse Marketing

22:55 Meta Ray Ban Glasses

27:28 What The Actual Fails


Check out tracksuit https://www.gotracksuit.com/


That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.


Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.


Listen, follow and find more episodes at: https://www.thatswhaticallmarketing.com

Connect with Conor on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/conorbyrneirl/

If you enjoy the show, please follow, subscribe and leave a review. It helps more marketers find the conversations.

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TWICM 214: James Hurman Future Demand, Making the Commercial Case for Brand Investment07 sept. 202600:46:49

James Hurman, author of Future Demand and co-founder of Tracksuit, joins That’s What I Call Marketing to explain how brand building creates future demand, how performance marketing converts current demand and why marketers need both to drive sustainable growth. This episode offers a practical way to understand how advertising really works, how to build the internal case for brand investment and how marketers can move an organisation beyond a performance-only mindset without betting everything on one dramatic change.

In this episode, we cover:

– Why James Hurman rewrote Future Demand specifically for marketers

– The relationship between brand building, future demand and performance marketing

– Why advertising rarely causes an immediate sale but can help a brand win a greater share of future sales

– How Instacart CMO Laura Jones “marched up the funnel” from measurable performance activity to the Olympics and the Super Bowl

– How Telstra tested a 50:50 brand and performance split in Adelaide and recorded a 14% improvement against the rest of Australia

– How marketers can use experiments, geographic holdouts and better measurement to demonstrate incrementality

– Why CEOs, CFOs and marketers often want the same commercial outcome but describe marketing investment in very different language

– What AI, agentic shopping, AEO and GEO could change — and why the fundamentals of markets, brands and human decision-making still matter

James challenges the traditional idea that advertising works by persuading somebody to buy immediately. Instead, he describes a two-stage process: brand advertising creates familiarity and positive bias among people who are not yet in the market, while performance activity helps convert that existing bias when they are ready to buy.

He also shares practical examples of how marketers can earn confidence gradually, measure brand investment more rigorously and communicate its commercial value to non-marketing stakeholders.


That’s What I Call Marketing is the podcast for marketers who care about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Follow the show for more conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, professors, authors, thinkers and practitioners.

Find more episodes at: https://www.thatswhaticallmarketing.com

CHAPTERS

03:47 Exploring what a marketing book can be

05:40 Why James rewrote Future Demand

07:39 Creating future demand and converting current demand

08:29 Laura Jones and Instacart’s four-year brand journey

11:03 How Instacart “marched up the funnel”

12:00 Telstra’s geographic holdout test in Adelaide

14:16 Making marketing science easier to understand

16:11 The wrong mental model for advertising

17:44 How advertising creates and converts demand

19:06 Is advertising really a weak force?

20:07 Why the evidence has not changed every organisation

21:43 Winning support from non-marketing stakeholders

23:38 Creating a shared language with CFOs

25:18 Why James remains invested in solving this problem

26:56 How marketing cultures differ across markets

29:53 Better marketing measurement and experimentation

31:27 Using AI to learn and improve marketing capability

34:14 How AI is affecting businesses and marketing

37:21 Will agentic shopping change consumer behaviour?

39:58 Familiarity, emotion and why people choose brands

40:58 What McDonald’s “brand love” metric predicts

42:19 Tracksuit University and the language of the boardroom

44:25 Where to find Future Demand

ABOUT JAMES HURMAN

James Hurman is the author of Future Demand and The Case for Creativity. He is a co-founder of Tracksuit and founding partner of innovation studio Previously Unavailable. His work focuses on marketing effectiveness, creativity, brand building and helping businesses understand how marketing contributes to long-term commercial growth.

Explore Future Demand: https://future-demand.com

Learn more about Tracksuit: https://www.gotracksuit.com

Visit Tracksuit University: https://university.gotracksuit.com

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TWICM 213: Mark Kingsley on Brands in the Age of AI31 août 202600:36:39

Mark Kingsley, brand strategist, designer, author and founder of Malcontent, joins That’s What I Call Marketing to discuss his book "Brands in the Age of AI" and why marketers need to think much more deeply about artificial intelligence than prompts, productivity and tools.


Mark’s central argument is that AI is not simply a tool, it is a condition, an environment that is already changing how we work, create, build brands and relate to one another. This conversation explores what that means for brand strategy, creativity, marketing careers and the relationship between companies and customers.


Rather than offering another AI how-to guide that could be outdated within months, Mark draws on history, philosophy, psychology, design and technology to understand where AI fits into a much longer story of technological change.


In this episode, we cover:

– What the Jacquard loom, Charles Babbage, Ada Lovelace, Alan Turing and even *Frankenstein* can teach us about today’s AI debate

– AI-driven job losses, automation and the continued commoditisation of creative and knowledge work

– Why removing junior-level “donkey work” could create a serious skills and judgement problem for agencies, marketers and professional services

– Brian Eno’s idea of “scenius” and why creativity is rarely the product of a lone genius

– Agentic AI, B2A2C commerce and what happens when AI agents begin making purchasing decisions

– Why brands could use AI to move beyond transactions towards deeper relationships with people

– Why human discernment could become more valuable as AI becomes more capable

– The danger of treating AI primarily as another system for extracting efficiency and profit

– How AI might instead be used to support human flourishing


One of the most important questions running through the conversation is what happens to expertise when AI starts doing the work through which people traditionally learned their craft.


We also explore what AI means for brands themselves. If brands genuinely want relationships rather than simply transactions, Mark argues AI could help companies recognise people as individuals and members of communities rather than merely customers to extract value from.


A useful listen for marketers interested in AI in marketing, brand strategy, creativity, marketing leadership, agentic AI, synthetic research, the future of work, customer experience and the changing role of human judgement.


02:32 Why this is not another AI how-to book

04:36 “AI is not a tool, it’s a condition”

05:43 Technology, Heidegger and what technology reveals

07:38 Is AI already changing society at scale?

08:01 Alan Turing and the history of machine intelligence

09:02 Jacquard looms, the Luddites and automation

11:04 AI layoffs and the economics of replacing people

13:36 AI infrastructure and removing barriers

19:13 Photography, creativity and resistance to new technology

20:18 Why great photographers and creatives still matter

21:24 Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies

25:18 Agentic AI and B2A2C commerce

26:00 AI personas and purchasing agents

27:02 Tokenisation and the “semiotic gap” between humans and agents

30:48 Why Mark is disappointed by the adversarial AI debate

34:13 What *Brands in the Age of AI* ultimately asks brands to reconsider



This episode is brought to you by Tracksuit the always-on brand tracking platform for clients and agencies.


Find out more: https://www.gotracksuit.com


More from That’s What I Call Marketing


That’s What I Call Marketing is the podcast for marketers who care about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.


Follow the show for more conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, professors, authors, thinkers and practitioners.


Find more episodes at: https://www.thatswhaticallmarketing.com

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TWICM 212: Canva B2B CMO on B2B Marketing, Enterprise Growth and Building Demand24 août 202600:34:49

Meghan Gendelman, CMO, B2B at Canva, joins That’s What I Call Marketing to discuss B2B marketing, enterprise growth, building demand and how Canva is taking a hugely successful product-led business further into the enterprise. This conversation gets into what building a B2B growth engine actually requires: understanding customers, combining product-led and sales-led growth, building brand before buyers enter the market, using data properly and working out where AI genuinely adds value.


In this episode, we cover:

– Why Meghan believes B2B marketing is anything but boring, particularly when you are dealing with complex buying committees, long consideration periods and multiple decision-makers

– Why customer insight still matters more than tools, including Meghan’s experience of using AI to scale content for GEO and discovering that faster content without anything new or useful simply didn’t work

– How brand, customer entry points and buying signals help marketers influence customers long before they reach a website or speak to sales

– Why Meghan believes every good marketer needs to become comfortable with data, pipeline and the commercial numbers behind the business

– How Canva is thinking about AI, LLMs, design, brand governance and integrations with platforms including ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini

– What Meghan learned from more than a decade at Salesforce, her time at DocuSign and the process that led her to become Canva’s first B2B CMO

– How she leads global marketing teams through clear values, trust, vulnerability and knowing the difference between “smoke” and “fire”


We also discuss the changing B2B buying journey, why much of the decision can happen before a buyer identifies themselves, the role of brand in demand generation and why B2B and B2C marketing are becoming less distinct than marketers sometimes assume.

A useful listen for marketers interested in B2B marketing, enterprise marketing, product-led growth, demand generation, brand building, AI in marketing, customer insight, sales and marketing, marketing leadership and commercial growth.



02:12 Meghan’s career across Salesforce, DocuSign and Canva

03:03 Why everything starts with the customer

05:44 The AI and GEO content experiment that failed

07:18 Why B2B marketing is not boring

10:30 Leading global marketing teams through values and trust

11:41 Smoke, fire and knowing when leaders need to get involved

12:47 Why Meghan joined Canva

14:46 Canva’s 30–40 hour B2B marketing interview challenge

16:15 Taking Canva from product-led growth into enterprise

17:04 Product-led growth versus sales-led growth

19:47 How B2B buying decisions are changing

22:08 Why every marketer needs to understand data

23:13 Meghan’s Monday morning pipeline ritual

24:21 Learning from other marketing leaders

25:00 Remote work, offices and building global teams

27:39 Why EMEA is not one market

28:40 Keeping Canva simple as the platform expands

29:11 Canva as an AI-powered design platform

30:27 Canva, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and the LLM ecosystem

31:47 Building Canva’s B2B and enterprise brand


About Meghan Gendelman

B2B at Canva, leading its B2B marketing strategy as Canva continues to grow its enterprise business. Before Canva, Meghan held senior marketing roles at DocuSign and spent more than 12 years at Salesforce across areas including customer success, product marketing, growth marketing, field marketing, demand generation and regional marketing leadership.



This episode was recorded as part of the That’s What I Call Marketing Cannes Sessions and produced in partnership with The Digital Voice.

The Digital Voice: https://www.thedigitalvoice.co.uk/

That’s What I Call Marketing is the podcast for marketers who care about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Follow the show for more conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, professors, authors, thinkers and practitioners.

Find more episodes at:

https://www.thatswhaticallmarketing.com

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TWICM 211: Jellyfish's Natasha Wallace On How Marketers Win with Humans & AI Without Flattening Their Brands17 août 202600:35:07

Natasha Wallace, Chief Solutions Officer for Strategy, Planning and AI at Jellyfish, joins That’s What I Call Marketing to discuss how brands can become more visible and understandable to AI without sacrificing creativity, emotion or distinctiveness.


This episode explains how marketers should approach the growing challenge of serving two audiences at once: humans, who respond to stories, feelings and ideas, and AI models, which rely on clear signals, context, trust and specificity.


In this episode, we cover:

– Why Jellyfish’s research found almost no correlation between how humans and AI models judge creative work

– What “brand flattening” means and why marketers should resist making everything rational and functional

– How to make a brand legible to large language models without weakening its creativity

– Why brand trust, distinctive assets and consumer consensus still influence AI recommendations

– The role of YouTube, Reddit, creators, ecommerce and digital PR in shaping model perception

– Why paid, owned and earned media need to work together in an AI-led discovery environment


Natasha also explains Jellyfish’s concept of the “brand echo”: the conversation, reaction and community created around a brand, even when the original activity is not directly visible to an AI model.


The practical message is not that marketers need to abandon the fundamentals. It is that audience strategy, brand positioning, content, media and measurement need to work together more closely. The brands most likely to succeed will be clear enough for machines to understand and interesting enough for people to care about.


A useful listen for marketers interested in AI in marketing, GEO, brand strategy, creativity, content strategy, advertising effectiveness and the future of search and discovery.


That’s What I Call Marketing is the podcast for marketers who care about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.


Follow the show for more conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, professors, authors, thinkers and practitioners.


Find more episodes at: https://www.thatswhaticallmarketing.com


**Timestamps**


00:00 Why marketers must not flatten their brands for AI

00:39 Introducing Natasha Wallace of Jellyfish

02:04 Natasha’s career across digital, media and emerging technology

03:35 Why AI feels different from previous industry shifts

05:23 Working globally with Heineken and major sports properties

07:05 Why Natasha joined Jellyfish

09:00 Bringing media, content, creative and AI strategy together

12:32 What humans and AI models see in award-winning advertising

15:31 The danger of brand flattening

16:36 How the “brand echo” influences AI models

17:35 Why brand trust and distinctive assets still matter

20:21 Why YouTube is frequently cited by large language models

22:28 How marketers should prioritise their AI and GEO activity

24:46 Leading and lagging indicators for AI visibility

26:01 The platforms and voices that shape model perception

27:27 Borrowed credibility, belonging and long-term brand associations

30:05 Testing creative work without making it formulaic

32:25 Why AI should strengthen human thinking, not replace it


That’s What I Call Marketing is the podcast for marketers who care about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Follow the show for more conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, professors, authors, thinkers and practitioners.

Find more episodes at: https://www.thatswhaticallmarketing.com

This Cannes Sessions episode is produced in partnership with The Digital Voice.

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TWICM 210: The Human Cost: How Fear-Based Wellness Advertising Makes People Feel11 août 202600:41:50

Sarah Booth, Chief Brand and Creative Officer at Ancient + Brave, and Leanne Tomasevic, Partnerships and Strategy Director at Electric Twin, examine fear-based wellness advertising, synthetic audience research and the human consequences of marketing built around insecurity. Using the Electric Twin platform live during the conversation, we test real wellness advertisements with synthetic audiences and explore how people respond to messages about ageing, attractiveness, sleep, cellulite and female confidence. The results raise an important question for marketers: are we measuring the commercial value of a sale while ignoring what the advertising costs the person on the other side?

In this episode, we cover:

– How wellness brands use fear of ageing, shame and insecurity to attract attention

– What women and men really think about fear-based wellness advertising

– How synthetic audiences allow marketers to test advertising reactions in seconds

– Why scientific language can make weak or misleading claims feel more credible

– How performance algorithms can reward increasingly negative advertising

– The tension between short-term conversion and long-term brand integrity

– Why marketers should consider the cultural and emotional impact of their work


Advertising that sells through fear can leave vulnerable consumers feeling worse, even when it produces a conversion. Leanne demonstrates how Electric Twin creates digital replicas of real audiences, allowing marketers to run surveys, discussions and message testing with a reported average accuracy of 92%. As brands produce hundreds or even thousands of digital assets, marketers can become focused on feeding the algorithm rather than considering how each message affects the person seeing it. A critical listen for marketers interested in brand strategy, wellness marketing, synthetic research, AI in marketing, advertising ethics, consumer insight, marketing effectiveness, performance marketing and responsible brand building.

Timestamps


00:43 Modern wellness advertising and real consumer reactions

03:17 How Electric Twin’s synthetic audience platform works

04:58 Sarah Booth on Ancient + Brave and female confidence

06:25 Leanne Vic explains synthetic audiences

08:17 Why wellness advertising increasingly sells through fear

09:45 Testing a “fear of getting old” advertisement

13:14 How fear-based advertising makes women feel

14:49 Testing the “science of beauty sleep”

18:19 Would consumers actually click on the advertisement?

19:31 The regulatory challenge of digital wellness advertising

21:17 How algorithms create an advertising arms race

22:36 What marketers need to understand about cultural influence

24:00 Why designers think differently about human impact

25:00 Which brands represent female bravery?

27:12 What would make women feel braver?

29:00 Testing cellulite advertising with men

32:00 Can better evidence rescue a damaging advertisement?

34:22 What men think about the way women are marketed to

35:00 Testing a long-form menopause supplement advertisement

36:10 “Dangling hope in front of someone in pain”

36:37 Can platforms make their algorithms more positive?

37:00 Competing without using fear or shame

39:17 The responsibility marketers have for their work


This episode is in partnership with Electric Twin. Electric Twin is a synthetic audience platform that helps brands, marketers, product teams and insight professionals understand audiences, test ideas and explore consumer reactions in seconds.

Find out more at: https://www.electrictwin.com


That’s What I Call Marketing is the podcast for marketers who care about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Follow the show for more conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, professors, authors, thinkers and practitioners.

Find more episodes at: https://www.thatswhaticallmarketing.com

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TWICM 209: The Singles: If Carlsberg Did Podcasts, Did Sydney Sweeney work, Norway winning the World Cup and the AI Brand Wars03 août 202600:33:13


In this episode of The Singles on That’s What I Call Marketing, Conor Byrne is joined by Bella and Ed from Tracksuit to unpack the biggest marketing stories right now using brand tracking data. They dive into the AI brand wars between ChatGPT/OpenAI and Claude/Anthropic, including how Super Bowl advertising impacted awareness and consideration, and discuss how people use each tool for work vs personal life. The team shares Tracksuit’s acquisition of Hall, a Sydney startup that measures how brands show up in AI answers, helping marketers understand AI discoverability and sentiment. They also revisit American Eagle’s Sydney Sweeney campaign one year on (awareness gains vs declines in consideration and investigation), break down Norwegian Air’s playful British Airways newsjacking around Norway’s World Cup momentum, and explore Carlsberg’s revival of the “If Carlsberg Did…” platform and what it could mean for brand funnel performance.


01:05 Today’s Marketing Hot Topics

02:11 AI Brand Wars Data

05:27 Who Uses Claude vs ChatGPT

07:52 AI Use Cases and Model Fatigue

12:54 Tracking AI Visibility

17:31 American Eagle One Year Later

21:44 BA vs Norwegian Newsjacking

26:44 Carlsberg Revives Classic Platform


Check out tracksuit

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TWICM 208: System 1's Andrew Tindall & Vanessa Chin: Feels Vs Deals - the real battle for Q427 juil. 202601:00:52

What should marketers take from Cannes Lions once the presentations are over and the real work of planning for Q4 begins?


In this special crossover episode of That’s What I Call Marketing and The Sleeping Barber Podcast, System1’s Andrew Tindall and Vanessa Chin join Conor Byrne, Marc Binkley and V to explore what the latest marketing thinking means in practice for brands, agencies and creative teams.


The conversation begins with Mark Ritson and Byron Sharp’s Cannes debate, looking at where they agree, where important differences remain and why marketers need to go beyond familiar headlines on penetration, distinctiveness, consistency and brand purpose. Andrew and Vanessa discuss whether distinctiveness alone can drive growth, why differentiation still matters and how the search for “new news” can lead brands to abandon creative assets before they have built recognition.


The episode also examines how AI is changing advertising. Rather than removing people from the process, AI is becoming part of production, helping brands adapt and localise ideas more efficiently. The group considers Coca-Cola’s AI Christmas advertising, PepsiCo adapting Lay’s creative for Walkers in the UK, and why human judgement still matters. There are practical lessons on creator marketing, brand characters, fluent devices and staying consistent. Andrew explains why creators should be treated as creative partners who understand their platforms, not as interchangeable media assets.


The discussion then turns to audio and radio advertising. System1 research suggests campaigns using audio can produce stronger business effects, support profit and penetration, and reduce price sensitivity. The group explores sonic branding, jingles and why radio should not be treated only as a short-term performance channel.

Attention matters, but it is not the end goal. Andrew explains why marketers need to move from impressions, to attention, and ultimately to the brand memories advertising creates.


The episode closes with a practical Q4 playbook for Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas. “Salesmanship” may deliver immediate conversion, but emotional “showmanship” builds memories, demand and pricing power. The lesson: focus on the feels, not only the deals.


CHAPTERS


03:24 Ritson and Sharp at Cannes

04:45 Distinctiveness versus differentiation

06:00 Is brand purpose outdated?

08:00 Why marketers struggle with consistency

11:05 Turning theory into growth

13:09 AI, creativity and human judgement

16:10 How PepsiCo uses AI in advertising

19:05 Why AI was quieter at Cannes

19:55 AI avatars and brand characters

22:01 Why marketers need to stay the course

22:54 When did a campaign become a media flight?

24:45 Turning Cannes insights into a Q4 plan

25:22 The “Double Double” audio research

28:04 Why audio matters

30:13 What makes an effective radio ad?

32:29 Why radio is more than a performance channel

34:00 Storytelling and creating an audio world

36:50 Should creators work across every channel?

38:00 What System1’s creator research found

40:54 Is Q4 the right time for a fluent device?

42:06 Moving from attention to brand memory

46:36 Can brands be built through Meta and TikTok?

48:49 Why brands need to appear early

50:02 The Q4 marketing playbook

50:43 Make people feel something

51:52 Black Friday: deals versus feels

52:23 Salesmanship, showmanship and short-term optimisation

54:48 What marketers can learn from Amazon

56:26 Feels, not deals

57:01 Why brands should re-air effective Christmas ads

58:00 Consumers do not get bored of good advertising



This episode was created in partnership with System1. Find out more at system1group.com.

Subscribe to That’s What I Call Marketing for more conversations on brand growth, marketing effectiveness and creative strategy.

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TWICM 207: Samsung Ads’ Matt Butts on Marketing Science and the Rigour Behind Better Decisions20 juil. 202600:25:26

Matt Butts, Head of Marketing Science at Samsung Ads Europe, joins That’s What I Call Marketing to discuss marketing science, incrementality, connected TV measurement and why rigorous testing matters more than a positive result. This episode explains how marketers can move beyond convenient metrics, design better experiments and connect advertising activity to meaningful business outcomes. Matt also explores how changing television behaviours are reshaping media planning, audience measurement and the role of connected TV.

In this episode, we cover:

– Why marketers often measure metrics without questioning whether they matter

– The difference between basic A/B testing and genuine incrementality testing

– Why the quality of the test matters more than whether the result is positive

– How marketing scientists translate complex analysis into commercial decisions

– How Samsung Ads measures viewing across linear television, streaming and gaming

– Why reported reach can hide significant audience duplication

– How incremental reach can reduce media waste and identify missed audiences

– The role of connected TV data in advertising planning and measurement

– Why marketers need to communicate measurement differently to CMOs, CFOs and media teams

– How rigorous measurement helped one advertiser move from zero investment to a seven-figure commitment


Matt argues that marketing science should not simply validate decisions that have already been made. Its role is to challenge assumptions, identify what would have happened without the advertising and give marketers evidence they can confidently use to make better investment decisions.

A useful listen for marketers interested in marketing science, advertising effectiveness, connected TV, incrementality, media measurement, experimentation and commercial impact.

Timestamps

01:16 How Matt found his way into marketing science

02:19 How advertising measurement has changed

03:27 Are marketers measuring things without knowing why?

04:27 Why measurement assumptions must be tested continually

05:02 Do marketers know how to test properly?

06:00 The limitations of basic A/B testing

06:17 Why incrementality is the missing part of marketing testing

07:18 The importance of statisticians, data scientists and translation

08:13 Matt’s journey to Samsung Ads

08:18 What Samsung Ads does

09:00 How television viewing behaviour has changed

10:18 Balancing audience precision, relevance and scale

11:02 Relevance without intrusive personalisation

12:19 Samsung Ads’ Total View measurement capability

12:36 Audience duplication, incremental reach and missed audiences

13:40 Why platform reach figures can be misleading

14:06 What a Head of Marketing Science actually does

14:40 Building advertiser-specific measurement playbooks

15:16 Using measurement to improve future advertising investment

15:23 How to explain incrementality to senior business leaders

15:41 Why marketers need to understand marketing science

17:00 How measurement feeds into marketing mix models

17:33 A real example of fixing incomplete advertising data

19:00 How a geo test led to a seven-figure investment

19:43 Why negative test results should not frighten marketers

20:40 Combining scientific rigour with commercial thinking

21:51 What comes next for connected TV measurement

22:00 Connecting television and mobile data

23:30 Why marketing measurement must keep pace with human behaviour


That’s What I Call Marketing is the podcast for marketers who care about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Follow the show for more conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, professors, authors, thinkers and practitioners.

Find more episodes at: https://www.thatswhaticallmarketing.com

Thanks to the Digital Voice for their partnership https://www.thedigitalvoice.co.uk/

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TWICM 206: Nectar360’s Amir Rasekh on Customer Insight, Retail Media and Agentic Commerce17 juil. 202600:28:06

Amir Rasekh, Managing Director of Nectar360, joins That’s What I Call Marketing to discuss customer insight, retail media, AI-powered measurement and how agentic commerce could change the way people shop.

This episode explains how retail media has evolved from loyalty data, targeted coupons and direct mail into a sophisticated, measurable channel spanning in-store, onsite and offsite media.

In this episode, we cover:

– Why customer insight remains the foundation of effective retail media

– How Nectar360 connects loyalty, insight and retail media in one customer-focused system

– Why brands hold retail media to a higher measurement standard than traditional channels

– How Nectar360 measures incrementality and multi-touch attribution across omnichannel campaigns

– How its AI-powered Pollen platform makes campaign planning, creative production and measurement faster

– What agentic commerce could mean for retailers, marketers and customer decision-making

– Why AI should support better human relationships rather than remove the people involved


Amir also shares early results from Pollen, including 2.5 times more incremental sales from omnichannel campaigns and evidence that retail media can influence the middle and upper parts of the marketing funnel, rather than acting only as a conversion channel.

The conversation also explores an important tension for marketers: technology can make retail media simpler, faster and more measurable, but clients still expect strong relationships, expertise and human judgement. A useful listen for marketers interested in customer insight, retail media, marketing measurement, AI in marketing, incrementality, omnichannel strategy and the future of commerce.

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction

01:27 Amir Rasekh’s career in retail and Sainsbury’s

04:34 Building an insight-led culture

05:00 What Nectar360 does today

06:06 Why retail media suddenly became so prominent

07:18 The fundamentals of retail media

08:52 Why measurement expectations are increasing

10:28 Introducing Nectar360’s Pollen platform

12:15 Are marketers rigorous enough when testing campaigns?

13:33 How AI accelerated retail media technology

14:21 AI audience building, creative scoring and production

14:38 Cutting creative production from weeks to 90 seconds

14:59 Early results from omnichannel retail media

16:10 Retail media as a brand-building channel

17:05 How customer shopping behaviour is changing

18:00 What agentic commerce means for retail

20:03 Will consumers shop through ChatGPT and AI agents?

22:16 Why physical stores still matter

24:00 How Nectar360’s teams are using AI

25:16 Building AI literacy across an organisation

25:47 Why clients do not want technology to replace people

26:04 Closing thoughts

That’s What I Call Marketing is the podcast for marketers who care about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Follow the show for more conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, professors, authors, thinkers and practitioners.

Find more episodes at: https://www.thatswhaticallmarketing.com

This Cannes Sessions episode is produced in partnership with The Digital Voice.

Find out more at: https://www.thedigitalvoice.co.uk

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TWICM 205: GumGum’s Pete Wallace on Why Attention Matters More Than Ad Clicks14 juil. 202600:22:36

What does attention actually tell us about whether advertising is working?


Pete Wallace, Managing Director EMEA at GumGum, explains why clicks remain a poor measure of advertising effectiveness and how attention can help marketers connect media exposure with real brand outcomes.


Pete shares how GumGum combines contextual signals, attention data, time, device and creative performance to predict the mindset of an audience. He brings this to life through GumGum’s work with the BBC and Havas on *Celebrity Traitors*, where targeting and creative changed as tension and excitement around the programme developed.


We also discuss why there is no universal number of seconds that guarantees attention, how creative testing can reveal when branding should appear, and why advertising needs to respect the environment in which it appears.


The conversation then moves into privacy, the value exchange between advertising and free content, the problem with ad tech companies using the same language, and why marketers need to ask more difficult questions about the technology behind their media plans.


Pete also reflects on moving from agency life into ad tech and leading teams across Europe, Japan and Australia, where different cultures require different approaches to pitching, testing and decision-making.


## In this episode, you will learn:


* Why attention can be more useful than clicks as a measure of advertising effectiveness

* How contextual advertising can predict consumer mindset without relying on personal identity

* How GumGum adapted targeting and creative during the BBC’s *Celebrity Traitors*

* Why every brand may require a different attention benchmark

* How creative attention data can improve branding and message placement

* Why advertising works best when it respects the surrounding content

* How marketers can test ad technology rather than accepting similar-sounding sales pitches

* What Pete has learned from leading teams across different international markets


## Timestamps


01:38 Pete’s journey from media agencies into ad tech

03:23 The difference between agency life and working in sales

05:33 What GumGum does and how the business has developed

06:00 Using data signals to predict consumer mindset

06:55 How GumGum worked on the BBC’s *Celebrity Traitors*

08:46 Why attention has always influenced media planning

09:25 Connecting attention to business and brand outcomes

10:21 How GumGum measures attention

11:15 Why there is no universal attention benchmark

11:23 Using attention data to improve creative execution

12:45 Matching advertising to the environment around it

13:34 Why brands are asking more questions about ad technology

14:33 Where GumGum fits within the modern media plan

14:40 Why marketers need greater digital and technical knowledge

15:12 Are marketers rigorous enough when testing media?

16:00 The problem with every ad tech company sounding the same

17:00 Why campaign learning needs to feed into future activity

17:42 Leading teams across Europe, Japan and Australia

18:23 How culture changes client expectations and ways of working

20:01 Balancing global consistency with local flexibility

21:23 What international markets can learn from one another


*The Cannes Sessions are brought to you in partnership with The Digital Voice.*

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TWICM 204: Why Simplicity Wins in Ad Tech with Limelight Founder James MacDonald10 juil. 202600:29:07

James MacDonald, Founder of Limelight, joins That’s What I Call Marketing to discuss programmatic advertising, building a global ad tech business, AI and why simplicity still matters for marketers today.


This episode explores the journey from Fleet Street advertising sales to modern programmatic technology, through a practical conversation about risk, reinvention, customer focus, remote culture and building technology that solves real problems.


In this episode, we cover:

– What Fleet Street taught James about sales, resilience and asking for the business

– Why helping people buy is more powerful than pushing people to buy

– How James identified the gap that led to Limelight

– Why programmatic advertising still needs simplicity, support and better execution

– How Limelight thinks about AI, interoperability and the importance of human judgement

– What it takes to build and maintain a strong remote culture across a global team


A useful listen for marketers interested in ad tech, programmatic advertising, AI in marketing, founder stories, sales, customer success, remote teams and building through change.


That’s What I Call Marketing is the podcast for marketers who care about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.


Follow the show for more conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, professors, authors, thinkers and practitioners.


Find more episodes at: https://www.thatswhaticallmarketing.com


This Cannes Sessions episode is brought to you in partnership with The Digital Voice.


Find out more at: https://www.thedigitalvoice.co.uk


01:38 Starting out on Fleet Street

03:19 What early sales teaches you

04:35 From eggs to advertising

06:27 Helping people buy, not pushing a sale

07:04 Mentors, mistakes and learning through failure

07:11 Starting again and founding Limelight

09:31 Finding the right business partner

10:59 Identifying the gap in programmatic

12:00 Building the Limelight platform

14:00 Taking risks as a founder

15:59 Building culture as the company grows

16:42 Running a fully remote global business

18:17 What Limelight does

20:49 How people discover Limelight

22:16 Listening to customers and building the product

23:33 AI, human judgement and interoperability

26:05 Why simplicity matters in technology

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TWICM 203: Julia Linehan on PR, AI Search and Why Amplification Matters06 juil. 202600:21:23

Julia Linehan, Founder and CEO of The Digital Voice, joins That’s What I Call Marketing to discuss Cannes Lions, the changing role of PR, AI search, trusted sources and why amplification matters for marketers today.


This episode explores how brands, agencies and marketing leaders need to think about discoverability in a world where search, AI, content and credibility are all changing at pace.


In this episode, we cover:

– Why The Digital Voice describes itself as an amplification partner, not a traditional PR agency

– How AI search and LLMs are changing the value of trusted, published content

– Why consistency, repetition and clear messaging matter more than ever

– What it takes to plan properly for Cannes Lions and create real value from the week

– How Julia has built a fully remote team with strong culture, energy and trust

– Why Cannes needs to stay accessible for students, publishers, creators and smaller businesses


A useful listen for marketers interested in PR, brand visibility, AI in marketing, thought leadership, Cannes Lions, agency leadership and the future of discoverability.


That’s What I Call Marketing is the podcast for marketers who care about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.


Follow the show for more conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, professors, authors, thinkers and practitioners.


Find more episodes at: https://www.thatswhaticallmarketing.com

Visit the Digital voice at https://www.thedigitalvoice.co.uk/

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Singles: The hot hits of June with The World Cup, Spotify, Brew Dog & The Lotto 29 juin 202600:30:06

In the latest episode of The Singles, Conor is joined by Ed Parkin and Bella Harrison from Tracksuit to dig into four marketing stories where the headlines only tell part of the story.


The episode starts with the FIFA World Cup and what it could mean for soccer in the US. Major League Soccer still has a long way to go versus the NFL, NBA and MLB on awareness, but Tracksuit data shows consideration is already moving in the right direction. The conversation gets into younger audiences, affluent consumer skews, regional growth and why feeling “for people like me” matters so much in sports marketing.


Then it’s onto World Cup sponsorship. Coca-Cola, Adidas and McDonald’s show what decades of investment can do when brand associations compound over time, while Mengniu shows how sponsorship can still create warmth for a lesser-known brand.


The team also discuss Spotify’s temporary 20th anniversary logo, the backlash it received, and whether marketers sometimes overreact when a strong brand plays with its distinctive assets. With 88% awareness and very strong consideration, Spotify has more room to experiment than most.


BrewDog is next. Once valued at £2bn and now sold for £33m, it is a reminder that awareness can remain even when consideration, usage and preference are falling. The discussion also looks at James Watt’s new brand, Second Best, and whether founder-led challenger energy can travel from one brand to another.


Finally, the episode turns to the Irish National Lottery ad controversy, after its new work closely followed a New Zealand Lottery ad scene for scene. The question is not whether the insight worked. It did. The question is what happens when inspiration becomes imitation.


Tracksuit University is also featured in the episode, including how it helps marketers make the case for brand in a more finance-friendly way.

Get 20% off Tracksuit University with the discount code: That’s What I Call Marketing

Visit: university.gotracksuit.com

In this episode:

00:00 Introduction

01:24 Tracksuit University and making brand finance-friendly

02:48 The FIFA World Cup and soccer in the US

03:47 MLS awareness, consideration and growth potential

05:25 Younger audiences, affluent consumers and regional skews

06:49 Why relevance matters in sports marketing

09:02 World Cup sponsorship and long-term brand investment

13:00 Spotify’s 20th anniversary logo backlash

16:31 Why Spotify has earned the right to play with its assets

18:21 BrewDog’s sale and brand decline

20:01 Trust, relevance and the erosion of BrewDog’s core audience

21:01 Second Best and the future of founder-led brands

23:33 The Irish National Lottery ad controversy

26:45 Distinctiveness, copying and creative shortcuts

29:07 Tracksuit University discount details

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Cannes Sessions - TWICM X The Uncensored CMO27 juin 202600:06:08

Jon Evans (Uncensored CMO) on Going Solo: Sponsorship, Podcasting as Networking & Cashflow Reality


Conor Byrne chats with Jon Evans (Uncensored CMO) about leaving the CMO track to run his podcast full time, using sponsorship to fund the work and turning “being good at talking” into a career. Jon explains why podcasting is a powerful networking tool—CMOs often decline coffee but say yes to being a guest—and how it accelerates learning by speaking to experts weekly. He also shares the less glamorous surprises of working for yourself: contracts, running a business properly, cashflow, and the difficulty of getting paid on time while supporting a team. Jon stresses that success is a long grind—“seven years to have an overnight success”—and that consistency and compounding effort are what make creator-led media businesses work in marketing.



That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Cannes Sessions Day 4 - Daily Round Up 25/06/202625 juin 202600:28:38

In this episode of the Cannes Sessions, Conor Byrne takes us through another packed day on the Croisette, starting with the CMOs in the Spotlight session featuring Jill Kramer of Mastercard, Michelle Klein of Westpac, Manuel “Manolo” Arroyo of The Coca-Cola Company, and Suhayl Limbada CMO of KFC India. There were big themes running through the day: how legacy brands stay useful, why marketers need to understand the P&L, what happens when creativity meets commercial pressure, and why the best brands do not throw away their distinctive assets just because the world has changed. There is also a brilliant conversation with Maddy Cooper, Founder and CEO of Flourish, on how AI can help marketers in regulated sectors get work to market faster without creating a compliance nightmare. That matters because the future of marketing is not just more content, more formats and more channels. It is whether brands can still make sharp, responsible, commercially useful work at the speed the market now demands. The Digital Voice team were also out on the Croisette speaking to marketers including Langton McCombe from Particular Audience, Rory McDonald from Market Media at The Warehouse Group, and Alex Springer from OpenAttribution.org about retail media, incrementality, AI, ROAS, creativity, and what Cannes is really for and James Taylor CEO of Particular Audience.


And, of course, there was a big moment for Ireland, with Heineken’s The Pub That Refused To Die winning a Grand Prix, plus a look ahead to the Cannes Young Lions results where Darragh Spain and Fardosa Flanagan from 123.ie represented Ireland in the Young Marketers category along with lots of amazing talent representing Ireland.


01:18 – CMOs in the Spotlight: Mastercard, KFC India, Westpac and Coca-Cola

02:01 – Why Mastercard is re-examining the Priceless platform

03:14 – KFC, Gen Z, universal truths and the role of the Colonel

04:19 – Westpac, jingles, legacy brands and speaking the language of the CFO

05:14 – Coca-Cola, creativity, behaviour and why great teams matter more than big budgets

11:28 – Spending time with Jonnie Cahill and the value of generous senior marketers

15:03 – Maddy Cooper on Flourish, AI, compliance and regulated marketing

18:29 – Inside the Cannes Lions work exhibition

21:00 – Ireland’s Grand Prix moment for Heineken

23:58 – Langton McCombe on retail media, commerce media and incrementality

26:32 – Rory McDonald on creativity, ROAS and business outcomes

29:54 – Alex Springer on attribution, AI, influence and the future of content

34:26 – Final reflections from Cannes Sessions 2026


Thanks to The Digital Voice for partnering on the Cannes Sessions.

Find out more:

The Digital Voice: thedigitalvoice.co.uk

Flourish: flourishingworld.com

That’s What I Call Marketing: follow the podcast for more conversations with the people shaping modern marketing.

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Cannes Sessions Day 3 - Daily Round Up 24/06/202624 juin 202600:21:00

Cannes Lions Day 3: Moloco CMO Paul Darcy on AI Disruption, Brand vs Performance + Festival Voices & Award Highlights


On day three of the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, host Conor Byrne records The Cannes Sessions in partnership with The Digital Voice and interviews Paul Darcy, CMO of Moloco, fresh off an Adweek panel on how AI and LLM-driven consumer behavior are disrupting digital brands and acquisition channels. Darcy discusses the growing importance of brand as a signal to LLMs, the rising opportunity cost and measurement challenges of brand media versus increasingly optimized performance marketing (including CTV and in-app video), and Moloco’s focus on expanding modern performance surfaces. He also summarizes Moloco and BCG’s report on AI disruption by industry, highlighting discovery and customer-relationship durability, and notes AI overviews reducing clicks. The episode also features Cannes attendee perspectives (Amir Rasekh of Nectar 360, Beatrice Bordel Grant, Pauline Yoo from Samsung Ads, and Max from Adnormally) and Conor’s press-room roundup of select Cannes Lions winners.

00:00 Welcome to Cannes

01:15 Meet Paul Darcy

01:39 AI Disrupts Brands

02:43 Brand vs Performance

04:29 Performance as Brand

05:19 Fixing Ad Inefficiency

06:44 Moloco Growth Mission

07:19 BCG Disruption Report

10:33 Digital Voice Street Chats

10:56 Nectar 360 Goals

11:50 Amazon Port Surprise

14:24 Samsung Ads Highlights

16:12 Networking at Cannes

17:34 Press Room Winners

20:07 Wrap and Tomorrow

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Cannes Sessions Day 2- Daily Round Up 23/06/202623 juin 202600:24:27

Cannes Lions 2026 Day 2: Google’s Paul Limbey on AI Transformation, LinkedIn Creators & Heineken’s Bronze Lion


On day two at Cannes Lions 2026 (Tuesday, 23 June), host Conor Byrne recaps a busy schedule at Brand Tech Beach, including an interview with Natasha Wallace to be released later in the summer with The Digital Voice. He doorstops Google’s Paul Limbey, who warns against the “double shift” of giving top performers both day jobs and transformation work, highlights the rise of forward-deployed roles backed by major programs from Google Cloud, Anthropic and OpenAI, and explains his upcoming leadership fable The Frog in a Sock (out early July) about organizational constraints like workflows, approvals and pilot obsession; he also argues for product-minded scaling, better performance metrics for transformation, and repeated communication. At the System1 party, Conor discusses talks from Andrew Tindall, Mark Ritson and Jon Evans, chats with creator Henry about high-effort LinkedIn video, and interviews Jon Evans on going full-time with Uncensored CMO. Fiona shares Heineken Ireland’s Bronze Lion wins for The Pub That Refused To Die, while Digital Voice street interviews cover AI, retail media, and creators seeking long-term brand partnerships.

00:00 Day Two Kickoff

01:02 Paul Limbey from google

01:28 Ending The Double Shift

05:00 Frog In A Sock

05:50 Scaling Beyond Pilots

06:45 Performance And People

08:07 Repeat To Lead Change

09:31 System1 Party Recap

10:35 Henry Hayes On LinkedIn Comedy

14:45 Jon Evans Goes Solo

20:54 Heinekens Bronze Lion with Fiona Curtin

23:19 Croisette Street Interviews

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Cannes Sessions - Daily Round Up 22/06/202622 juin 202600:22:03

Cannes Lions 2026 Day 1: Young Lions Kickoff, AI Takes Over the Croisette & Early Winners


On day one of Cannes Lions 2026, host Conor Byrne covers the Young Lions competition as teams prepare for a 24-hour brief, and shares highlights from meetings and sessions across the festival. He recaps a coffee catch-up with Karen Nelson-Field and plans to feature her on the podcast, then reports recurring Cannes themes around AI, including agentic AI in ad tech and the importance of transparency and human-in-the-loop control discussed by Limelight leaders. From Adweek House, he notes talks on moving at “the speed of now,” AI enabling human connection (including Grindr and TD Bank), and sponsorship as a marketing lever. He also shares early Lions winners across Creative B2B and health categories, and summarizes research from WARC, Jellyfish, and Inseed on how creativity performs differently for humans versus LLMs.


00:39 Young Lions Kickoff

01:24 Coffee With Karen Nelson-Field

02:19 Limelight on AI Transparency

04:48 Adweek House Highlights

06:31 Early Lions Winners Roundup

07:59 Creativity in an LLM World

12:21 Oshri on Limelight US Growth

14:46 Ritson vs Sharp Debrief with Marc & V from the Sleeping Barber Podcast


That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TWICM 195: LinkedIn's Ty Heath on why she will defend brand to the death15 juin 202600:49:34

“I will defend brand to the death.” Ty Heath, Global Director of Thought Leadership at LinkedIn and Jury President for the B2B Creative category at Cannes Lions 2026, joins Conor Byrne on That’s What I Call Marketing for a conversation about B2B marketing, brand building, AI search, thought leadership, creativity and the future of buying decisions.


Ty has helped shape some of the most influential thinking in modern B2B marketing through The B2B Institute at LinkedIn, including work on the 95/5 rule, brand and demand, buying committees, B2B creativity and the emotional nature of business decision-making.


In this episode, Ty shares her journey from high-performance athletics to Google, Nestlé, IBM and LinkedIn, and explains why the lessons of elite sport still shape how she thinks about leadership, resilience and long-term practice. The conversation then moves into some of the biggest questions facing marketers today. What changes when buyers use AI tools and LLMs to build their shortlists? How should brands think about visibility, authority and credibility in an AI-assisted search world? Does gated content still make sense? Why does brand still matter when algorithms and AI tools are influencing discovery? And what will Ty be looking for as Jury President of the B2B Creative Lions at Cannes Lions 2026?


This episode is part of the Cannes Sessions, sponsored by The Digital Voice, the amplification agency working with leading ad tech and martech companies globally. The Digital Voice helps brands show up across the full mix, from global press and thought leadership to content, social, events and creative, including major moments like Cannes Lions.


What you will learn:

  • Why Ty Heath says she will “defend brand to the death”
  • How B2B marketing moved beyond rational messaging into emotional decision-making
  • Why The B2B Institute focused on what does not change, not just what is changing
  • How the 95/5 rule helped reframe long-term B2B growth
  • Why buying committees need to feel safe before they say yes
  • What AI search and LLMs mean for B2B discoverability
  • Why authority, credibility and reputation now matter more
  • How brands can be visible to buyers and surfaced by AI tools
  • Why gated content can create a trade-off between lead capture and reach
  • How employee and executive voices can build trust at scale
  • What Ty will be looking for in B2B creative work at Cannes Lions 2026
  • Why B2B creativity is finally getting the attention it deserves


Timestamps:

03:03 – From elite athletics to marketing leadership

10:51 – Google, Nestlé, IBM and finding a path into marketing

15:20 – Why words, language and communication carry responsibility

17:52 – The emotional reality of B2B decision-making

18:57 – Building The B2B Institute and changing B2B marketing

21:55 – Brand and demand, the 95/5 rule and long-term growth

23:18 – AI, LLMs and the changing future of discoverability

27:42 – Buying committees, buyability and making decisions feel safer

30:36 – The gated content debate

35:14 – Why brand still matters in an AI-assisted world

38:58 – Employee voices, executive presence and B2B credibility

43:23 – Cannes Lions 2026 and the rise of B2B creativity



Listen to more episodes of That’s What I Call Marketing for conversations with leading marketers, CMOs, founders, strategists and creative thinkers on brand, effectiveness, creativity, marketing leadership and the future of the industry.

#B2BMarketing #BrandBuilding #TyHeath #LinkedIn #TheB2BInstitute #CannesLions #B2BCreativity #MarketingEffectiveness #ThoughtLeadership #AIsearch #LLMSEO #GEO #BrandAndDemand #MarketingLeadership #ThatsWhatICallMarketing

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TWICM 194: Former Dove CMO Alessandro Manfredi on Why Marketing Is Losing It's Professionalism08 juin 202600:49:21

Former Dove CMO Alessandro Manfredi joins That’s What I Call Marketing to discuss Dove Real Beauty, brand fundamentals, AI, creative effectiveness and why marketing may be losing some of its professionalism. Alessandro spent 28 years at Unilever and played a major role in the growth of Dove, one of the most famous examples of long-term brand building in modern marketing. In this conversation, he explains why Dove’s success was not built on purpose alone, but on product quality, emotional connection, research, innovation, communication architecture and strategic rigour. Thanks to the Marketing Society of Ireland for organising this event. Tracksuit cares deeply about marketing professionalism and have introduced Tracksuit University to close the gap between Marketing and the C Suite and you can get 20% Off with an exclusive TWICM Discout - use the code thatswhaticallmarketing at https://university.gotracksuit.com/


This episode is for marketers, CMOs, brand leaders, strategists and agency teams who want to understand what it really takes to build brands that last.

What you will learn:

  • Why marketing is losing some of its professionalism and training
  • How Dove Real Beauty moved the brand from product love to emotional connection
  • Why “people don’t buy beautiful ideas” without strong products behind them
  • What Alessandro means by brand fundamentals
  • Why AI is powerful for execution, but not a replacement for strategy
  • How CMOs can reclaim strategic influence without making it a power grab
  • Why brands need to shape culture rather than chase trends
  • How purpose can work when it is grounded in a real human tension
  • What smaller marketing teams can learn from Dove’s approach to creativity, insight and rigour


Chapters:

03:35 From academia to Unilever and Dove

06:22 The origins of Dove Real Beauty

09:37 Why marketing is losing strategic discipline

12:03 How Dove grew over 20 years

14:23 Research, insight and emotional connection

19:30 Why people do not buy beautiful ideas alone

20:41 Brand fundamentals and communication architecture

22:54 Why AI is not strategy

24:32 Working with agencies and strategic planners

25:48 The three elements of bulletproof brand fundamentals

29:34 Purpose, North Star and shaping culture

33:09 Creative effectiveness: culture, talent and rigour

36:50 What smaller marketing teams can learn from Dove

37:26 Handling criticism of Real Beauty

39:04 Social media, mental health and marketers’ responsibility

41:23 Life after Dove and Unilever

44:37 Where to find Alessandro Manfredi



Guest: Alessandro Manfredi

Host: Conor Byrne

Podcast: That’s What I Call Marketing

Find out more about Alessandro Manfredi: aleikigai.com

Learn more about Tracksuit: gotracksuit.com



Subscribe for more conversations with leading marketers, CMOs, brand builders, strategists and creative leaders. https://www.thatswhaticallmarketing.com/

#Marketing #BrandBuilding #Dove #RealBeauty #CMO #BrandStrategy #CreativeEffectiveness #AIInMarketing #Unilever #MarketingLeadership #PurposeMarketing #BrandFundamentals #ThatsWhatICallMarketing

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TWICM 193: How Tourism Australia Became One of the World’s Strongest Brands01 juin 202600:49:11

Tourism marketing often gets reduced to beautiful beaches, drone shots and generic aspiration. Susan Coghill has spent years proving that isn’t enough.


In this episode of That’s What I Call Marketing, Conor sits down with the CMO of Tourism Australia to explore how one of the world’s most recognisable destination brands thinks about salience, creativity, distinctive assets and long-term brand building in an increasingly competitive global market.


Susan shares the story behind Tourism Australia’s hugely successful “Come and Say G’Day” platform, why Ruby the Kangaroo became such a powerful brand asset, and how the organisation balances consistency with freshness across markets including the US, UK and China.


The conversation also explores Susan’s fascinating career journey from working at Apple during the “Think Different” era, including delivering creative work directly to Steve Jobs in Hawaii, through to leading one of the most admired tourism brands in the world.


Along the way, they discuss:

  • Why Australian marketers consistently punch above their weight globally
  • The role of salience and mental availability in destination marketing
  • Why tourism brands often fall into category sameness
  • The importance of distinctive assets like Ruby the Kangaroo
  • How Tourism Australia approaches talent partnerships with figures like Nigella Lawson and Robert Irwin
  • What modern tourism marketing can learn from entertainment and social media
  • How AI discoverability is changing brand strategy and search behaviour
  • Why consistency compounds in marketing

This is a conversation about much more than tourism. It is really about how brands stay memorable in a crowded world.



07:40 – Working during Apple’s “Think Different” era & meeting Steve Jobs

14:05 – Moving from agency life to brand side

16:20 – Why Tourism Australia is “the best job in the world”

18:00 – Why Australian marketers punch above their weight

20:15 – Escaping tourism marketing clichés

22:10 – Building the “Come and Say G’Day” platform

24:45 – Talent strategy, Robert Irwin and Nigella Lawson

29:30 – How Tourism Australia thinks about salience and consideration

32:10 – Competing without the biggest budget

35:00 – Social media, TikTok and destination storytelling

38:20 – The creation of Ruby the Kangaroo

42:40 – AI discoverability and the future of search

45:20 – Why tourism marketing matters economically and culturally


A huge thank you to our partners at Tracksuit for supporting the podcast.


You can listen to more episodes of That’s What I Call Marketing here:

That’s What I Call Marketing

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TWICM 192: LinkedIn’s CMO on why Marketers Need a GM Mindset with Jessica Jensen25 mai 202600:41:17

Jessica Jensen is the CMO of LinkedIn, but this conversation goes far beyond platform strategy or social media trends.


In this episode of That’s What I Call Marketing, Jessica joins Conor Byrne for a deep conversation about what modern marketing leadership actually looks like inside one of the world’s biggest technology companies.


From studying Japanese and living in Tokyo, to starting a business during the 2008 financial crisis, to leading global marketing teams across Silicon Valley, Jessica shares the experiences that shaped her approach to marketing, creativity, leadership and growth.


They explore why marketers need a GM mindset, how LinkedIn thinks about trust and brand building, why AI is changing career development, and what separates marketers who stay relevant from those who get left behind.


Jessica also explains:

– Why most marketing messaging is forgettable

– Why marketers should learn finance, product and sales

– How LinkedIn manages global marketing across multiple business units

– Why human networks matter even more in the AI era

– The real tension between global scale and local market needs

– What CMOs actually measure internally

– Why humour and humanity matter in B2B marketing


If you’re a CMO, marketing leader, brand strategist, or someone trying to build a long-term marketing career in the age of AI, this episode is packed with practical insight.


Timestamps


00:00 Intro

02:25 How Jessica accidentally inspired the podcast

03:40 Learning Japanese & living in Tokyo

05:45 Startup failure & “Mama had to go get a job”

07:00 Discovering marketing at Facebook

08:40 Bringing humour into LinkedIn marketing

10:55 The difference between LinkedIn & Indeed

12:30 Why personal brands matter more in AI

13:40 Is organic reach on LinkedIn getting harder?

15:05 Managing complexity as LinkedIn’s CMO

18:00 Running global marketing across 20+ markets

22:05 Breaking down silos inside large organisations

26:20 What Jessica actually measures as a CMO

28:15 Why marketers need a GM mindset

30:20 Why marketers should “wear lots of sweaters”

32:00 Jessica’s warning for marketers ignoring AI

35:20 The skills marketers need in 2026

37:45 What prepared Jessica to become LinkedIn’s CMO

39:00 Final reflections on leadership & humanity


Subscribe for more conversations with the world’s leading CMOs, founders, strategists and creative leaders.


Listen to the podcast:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7MXhujDpTzbSRRbyQFgdWp

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/thats-what-i-call-marketing


Follow Conor Byrne on LinkedIn for more marketing analysis and commentary.


Brought to you by Tracksuit


Tracksuit is the always-on brand tracking platform helping marketers understand brand health, measure impact, and make better decisions over time.


👉 https://gotracksuit.com

#Marketing #CMO #LinkedIn #ArtificialIntelligence #BrandStrategy #B2BMarketing #MarketingLeadership #PersonalBrand #FutureOfWork #DigitalMarketing

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TWICM 191: How a bank CMO builds trust with Laura Lynch18 mai 202600:41:28

Banking is one of the hardest categories in marketing.


Trust is fragile. Customer expectations are shaped by every app on their phone, not just other banks. And every interaction has the potential to redefine the relationship.

In this episode of That’s What I Call Marketing, Conor Byrne sits down with Laura Lynch, CMO of Bank of Ireland, to explore what it actually means to build a modern banking brand in 2026.

Laura takes us inside Bank of Ireland’s recent brand transformation, including the thinking behind the new “Right With You” platform, the role of customer experience in shaping strategy, and why the bank deliberately avoided category clichés in its latest advertising work.

The conversation also explores:

  • Why Laura stepped out of traditional marketing roles before becoming CMO
  • How customer trust is rebuilt after the banking crisis
  • The balance between AI, personalisation and human connection
  • Why marketers can become too focused on attribution and performance metrics
  • The challenge of creating distinctive advertising in regulated categories
  • How Bank of Ireland uses customer insight, segmentation and CX to shape growth
  • The role of leadership, resilience and timing in building a marketing career

Laura also shares the inside story behind Bank of Ireland’s latest campaigns, including the strategic use of humour, movie references, and why every line, casting decision and creative choice was intentionally designed to create distinction.

For marketers working in financial services, regulated industries, or legacy brands navigating change, this is a fascinating look at how modern brand building actually works inside one of Ireland’s most important organisations.

Timestamps:

00:00 – Why trust in banking has to be earned every day

02:00 – Laura Lynch’s path to becoming CMO of Bank of Ireland

06:30 – Leaving traditional marketing to build customer experience capability

10:00 – Going “all in” to land the CMO role

13:00 – Leadership, intensity and avoiding groupthink

16:30 – The reality of leading marketing inside a major bank

18:00 – Rebuilding customer trust after the banking crisis

20:00 – Why banking competition has fundamentally changed

21:30 – Inside Bank of Ireland’s new brand strategy

24:00 – Building “Right With You” with customers and colleagues

27:00 – Why the strategy had to stretch the organisation

29:00 – The making of the new Bank of Ireland advertising

32:00 – Using humour to talk about fraud and financial confidence

35:00 – Creating distinctive work in a regulated category

37:00 – AI, personalisation and the future of marketing teams

39:00 – Why performance marketing alone is not enough


Brought to you by Tracksuit

Tracksuit is the always-on brand tracking platform helping marketers understand brand health, measure impact, and make better decisions over time.

👉 https://gotracksuit.com

Listen / Follow That’s What I Call Marketing:

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7MXhujDpTzbSRRbyQFgdWp

📩 Email: thatwhatswhatIcallmarketing@gmail.com

Subscribe for weekly conversations with leading marketers.

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Singles: The hot hits of May with Lucky Saint, Lego & Entertain or Die.11 mai 202600:33:43

The Singles is back with Tracksuit, taking some of the biggest marketing stories in culture right now and putting them under a bit more pressure using real brand data.

Because the interesting part is rarely just the campaign itself. It is what the campaign reveals about the category, the audience, and the way brands are trying to grow.

In this episode, Conor Byrne is joined by Ed Parkin and Bella Harrison from Tracksuit to explore three very different examples of brands using culture, entertainment, and timing to build relevance.


Lucky Saint shows how alcohol-free beer has moved far beyond Dry January, using Lime Bikes, London culture, run clubs, and moderation trends to position itself as a year-round brand for active urban consumers.


Lego demonstrates why it remains one of the most culturally flexible brands in the world, turning the FIFA World Cup into entertainment before a ball has even been kicked, while continuing to stretch beyond the toy category into fandom, collectibles, and adult audiences.


The conversation then turns to the latest Entertain or Die Report, looking at why entertainment is increasingly becoming a commercial growth strategy rather than just a creative ambition.


The episode also explores:

  • Why brands are now competing against Netflix, TikTok, creators, and sport for attention
  • The shift from “salesmanship” to “showmanship” in advertising
  • Why entertaining brands are outperforming commercially
  • What brands like Currys, Compare the Market, Guinness Zero, and Lego are getting right
  • How mental availability is built long before purchase moments happen

If you want a deeper understanding of how entertainment, culture, and brand growth connect together, this episode is packed with practical examples and real-world data.


Listen to Paul Feldwick on That's What I Call Marketing here:

Paul Feldwick on That's What I Call Marketing


Read the full Entertain or Die report:

Entertain or Die Report


Find out more about Tracksuit:

Tracksuit

Listen to more episodes of That's What I Call Marketing:

That's What I Call Marketing


Timestamps:


02:06 – Lucky Saint and the rise of moderation culture

03:24 – Why Lucky Saint is so culturally aware

05:05 – Lime Bikes, London culture, and timing

07:08 – The functional drinks category shift

08:45 – Alcohol-free beer becoming mainstream

10:00 – Guinness Zero vs Lucky Saint

11:18 – Winning locally before scaling nationally

13:22 – Brand perception and category positioning

15:00 – Lego and the FIFA World Cup campaign

16:01 – Why Lego works across every demographic

18:22 – Lego’s cultural timing advantage

20:00 – Lego, fandom, and entertainment

21:40 – World Cup advertising and brand competition

22:15 – Entertain or Die explained

24:00 – Why entertainment drives commercial growth

25:35 – Future demand and entertainment

26:17 – Gap hires a Chief Entertainment Officer

27:09 – What makes brands entertaining

29:00 – Brands that entertain us today

31:00 – Why culture matters inside companies

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S5Ep14:  Personalisation is just good prediction with CEO James Taylor05 mai 202600:38:33

We talk about personalisation as if it’s about the person. It isn’t. It’s about prediction.”

That line sits at the centre of this conversation with James Taylor, CEO & Founder of A Particular Audience and once you hear it properly, it’s difficult to go back to how most marketing teams currently think about relevance. Because for years, personalisation has been framed as something close to one-to-one messaging. The idea that if we just had enough data, we could tailor every experience to the individual. It sounds right. It feels intuitive. And yet, in practice, it has largely disappointed.


What James lays out here is a different way of understanding the problem.

  • Not who the customer is — but what they are doing.
  • Not static segments — but real-time signals.
  • Not demographics — but behaviour.


Drawing on his experience building AI-driven recommendation systems used by global retailers, he explains how the most effective ecommerce experiences are not built around people, but around patterns. Around the relationships between products, actions, and intent. Around what millions of other customers have done before you, and what that makes likely next. This fundamentally changes how you think about websites, search, media, and even creativity.


Along the way, the conversation explores why so many early personalisation efforts failed, how Amazon and Netflix approached the problem differently, and why most retailers are still playing catch-up despite having access to the same underlying data.

There’s also a more grounded thread running through it — the reality of AI in practice. Not the version you see in product demos or LinkedIn posts, but the version that still requires constraints, rules, and human oversight. The version that gets things wrong. The version that can be incredibly powerful, but only when properly understood.

For marketers, there’s a useful tension here, on one side, the promise of hyper-relevance and automation, on the other, the discipline required to make it actually work.


This episode sits right in that space.

⏱️ Key Moments:

00:00 – Why “you are not your demographic” changes everything

02:15 – From investment banking to building AI products

08:00 – The real meaning of personalisation (and why it’s been misunderstood)

12:30 – Behaviour vs demographics: what actually drives relevance

18:00 – Building a recommendation engine from scratch

26:00 – Why most retailers still lag behind Amazon

30:00 – How AI is changing marketing teams

34:00 – The limits of AI (and why rules still matter)

36:30 – “Personalisation is just good prediction”

What you’ll take from this episode:

  • Why most personalisation strategies fail to deliver
  • How recommendation systems actually work in ecommerce
  • The difference between explicit and implicit customer signals
  • Why demographics are often a poor proxy for behaviour
  • How AI should (and shouldn’t) be used in marketing today
  • What marketers need to rethink about relevance and experience design


Brought to you by Tracksuit

Tracksuit is the always-on brand tracking platform helping marketers understand brand health, measure impact, and make better decisions over time.

👉 https://gotracksuit.com

Listen / Follow That’s What I Call Marketing:

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7MXhujDpTzbSRRbyQFgdWp

📩 Email: thatwhatswhatIcallmarketing@gmail.com

Subscribe for weekly conversations with leading marketers.

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S5Ep13: Christmas in April with Pete Markey & Leanne Tomasevic powered by Electric Twin27 avr. 202600:37:54

How Brands Should Really Be Planning Christmas Campaigns

What happens when you start planning Christmas… in April?

In this episode of That’s What I Call Marketing, Conor Byrne is joined by Pete Markey (former CMO of Boots, Marketing Week Marketer of the Year) and Leanne Tomasevic (Insights Lead at Electric Twin) to explore how brands should approach Christmas advertising — using real-time synthetic audience insights.

Instead of guessing what consumers want, this episode puts Electric Twin’s platform to the test live, revealing how marketers can simulate audience reactions, test ideas, and sharpen creative briefs months before campaigns go live.

The result is a grounded, practical look at:

  • What people actually want from Christmas ads in 2026
  • Why emotional storytelling still matters (but needs reframing)
  • The role of celebrities, music, and consistency
  • How to balance commercial pressure with authenticity
  • And how AI-driven research can speed up better decisions

If you’re working on a Christmas campaign, brand strategy, or creative development, this is a genuinely useful watch.

⏱️ Timestamps

00:00 – The reality of planning Christmas in April

01:10 – What Electric Twin actually does (synthetic audiences explained)

03:00 – Why speed matters in modern marketing decision-making

05:30 – Live demo: Understanding the mood of the nation at Christmas

08:30 – What consumers really want this year (family, realism, restraint)

12:00 – Gifting trends: practicality vs meaningful connection

14:30 – The balance between storytelling and selling

16:00 – What people want from Christmas ads now

18:00 – Should brands use celebrities? (and when it works)

21:00 – The role of consistency (Kevin the Carrot, John Lewis, Coca-Cola)

24:00 – Realism vs escapism in Christmas creative

27:00 – How agencies can use this to build stronger briefs

29:00 – The most memorable Christmas ads and why they last

32:00 – Should brands reuse ads instead of making new ones?

33:00 – Why music is critical to Christmas advertising effectiveness

35:30 – Final thoughts: faster insight, better decisions

🎯 Key Takeaways
  • Christmas advertising isn’t about excess — it’s about connection under constraint
  • Consumers want authenticity, not performance
  • Creative effectiveness improves when insight is iterative, not static
  • Consistency often beats novelty in building long-term brand memory
  • AI isn’t replacing research — it’s changing how quickly you can think
🔗 Links & Resources🎙️ About the Podcast

That’s What I Call Marketing features conversations with leading marketers, CMOs, and industry thinkers — focused on how marketing actually works in practice.

If you’re working on Christmas 2026 right now, get in touch with Electric Twin







That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Singles: The hot hits of April with McDonald’s, KitKat & Bieber 21 avr. 202600:27:53

The Singles is back with a new line-up from Tracksuit, looking at the marketing stories everyone is talking about In this episode joined by Bella & Ed we take a look at the data behind three very different moments

  1. McDonald’s shifts the conversation away from product and towards Gen Z employees, at a time when confidence in job opportunities for young people is low. It could easily have drifted into familiar employer-brand territory, but early signals suggest it is doing something more meaningful, with trust moving among younger audiences in a category where that is not easy to shift.
  2. KitKat finds itself at the centre of a global story after 12 tonnes of product are stolen, and instead of containing it, turns it into something participatory. Consumers are actively engaging, brands are joining in, and even a “KitKat” crypto coin spikes by 2000%. Most reactive marketing creates attention. Very little of it changes behaviour. This one starts to.
  3. Justin Bieber’s Coachella set works in a different way, stripping everything back and building the performance around YouTube. Nearly 6 million people stream it, and it splits opinion in a way that keeps it moving. It takes something familiar and presents it in a way that forces people to reprocess it, which is often where attention sustains rather than fades.

Along the way, the conversation gets into why authenticity is showing up differently in production, how nostalgia actually works when brands get it right, and why participation is becoming more valuable than passive reach.


05:00 – McDonald’s: trust, Gen Z and employer brand

10:30 – KitKat: heist, participation and brand response

15:50 – Justin Bieber: YouTube, nostalgia and polarisation

20:30 – Nostalgia in advertising and brand memory

25:00 – Always-on tracking and what the data shows


Don't forget to check out the new Entertain or Die report at Tracksuit


COMING SOON - TWICM Training course will launch, stay tuned

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S5Ep12: Meet The Young Lions Headed to Cannes13 avr. 202600:31:52

The first Cannes Sessions episode of That’s What I Call Marketing is here and we kick off the series by interviewing three Irish IAPI Young Lions winner teams heading to Cannes: Darragh Spain and Fardosa Flanagan (Young Marketer, 123.ie/Intact Insurance), Ciara and Niamh (Film, Droga5), and Emily and Rhea (Digital, Omnicom Media). They discuss why they entered, how they tackled the 48-hour brief, research and insight methods, time management, prototyping and AI tools for film, adapting to an older target audience, presentation pressure, reactions to winning, and how they’re preparing for Cannes through past work review, equipment planning, bootcamps, and confidence. The Cannes Sessions are brought to you by The Digital Voice.


These interviews shine a spotlight on their exceptional talents and the creative potential that exists within the next generation of marketing leaders, lets support and celebrate these future leaders as they prepare to bring home some medals from one of the most prestigious events in the marketing world.


01:05 Young Lions Explained

01:40 Meet the Winning Teams

02:43 Darragh and Fardosa Intro

03:19 Cracking the Brief

04:33 Research and Insights

06:55 Teamwork Under Pressure

08:21 Shortlist to Presentation

10:11 Winning the Call

11:29 Preparing for Cannes

12:55 Niamh and Ciara Win

13:35 Film Category Workflow

15:45 Agency Advantage

16:21 Why Enter Young Lions

17:07 Choosing a Category

17:22 Learning Film Skills

18:06 Upskilling With AI

18:52 Planning For Cannes

19:35 Storytelling Edge

21:07 Why Enter Young Lions

22:24 Team Dynamic Under Pressure

24:03 Choosing The Digital Route

24:51 Cracking The Age Group

25:39 Winning Call Reaction

26:42 Cannes Prep And Mindset



Sponsored by The Digital Voice, the amplification agency working with global ad tech and martech brands across press, thought leadership, content, social, events, and creative.

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S5Ep11: Descript CEO on What Actually Grows A Product.31 mars 202600:40:01

Laura Burkhauser, CEO of Descript, explains the surprising truth about what actually grows a product.


Most marketing advice assumes growth comes from better targeting, smarter funnels, or stronger loyalty. Laura sees it differently.


In this episode, we get into what actually drives product growth — and why some of the most widely accepted ideas in marketing and SaaS don’t hold up when you look at real behaviour. From why freemium often fails, to why loyalty doesn’t grow your business (but still matters), to what AI will and won’t change — this is a grounded, operator-level view of how products actually scale.


If you work in marketing, product, or growth, this will likely challenge a few default assumptions.


In this episode, we cover:

  • Growth doesn’t come from loyalty — it comes from penetration
  • Most freemium models don’t work the way companies think they do
  • “Target audiences” often aren’t real, connected communities
  • AI will amplify creativity, not replace it
  • Customer care is one of the last real competitive advantages


02:00 – What Descript actually is and who it’s for

04:30 – Product vs product marketing: the career fork that shapes everything

07:30 – Why big tech can slow you down (and what startups get right)

10:00 – Moving from product leader to CEO — what actually changes

13:30 – The freemium myth: why it didn’t work the way they expected

15:00 – “Are we dating or not?” — a better model for product growth

16:30 – How products actually get discovered (SEO, content, and reality)

18:00 – Why most “target audiences” aren’t real communities

20:30 – The shift from founder-led to customer-led companies

22:00 – What customers are actually good at telling you (and what they’re not)

24:30 – Why customer care is a competitive advantage (and why most companies cut it)

25:00 – Loyalty isn’t growth — but it might be your moat

26:00 – How to actually achieve penetration in a crowded market

28:00 – The challenge of building a product for “everyone”

30:00 – AI, content, and the future of podcasting — what’s real vs hype

33:00 – Why most AI-generated content won’t work

34:30 – The “Finding Nemo” moment AI still hasn’t had

36:00 – Scaling a company without losing creativity

37:00 – Why “intrepid” might be the most important mindset for modern teams


About Laura Burkhauser

Laura Burkhauser is the CEO of Descript, one of the most widely used platforms for podcasting, video editing, and content creation. She has held senior product leadership roles at companies including Amazon and Twitter, and is known for her product-first approach to growth.


Listen / Watch more episodes:

https://www.thatswhaticallmarketing.com/


Thanks to our partner on this episode the always on brand tracking dashboard Tracksuit


If you enjoyed this, subscribe for more conversations with CMOs, founders, and marketing leaders on how growth actually happens.

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S5 Ep10: Inside Saatchi & Saatchi, with CEO Claire Hollands25 mars 202600:41:37

Inside Saatchi & Saatchi. Sit down with the CEO of one of the most iconic agencies in advertising, a name that carries both weight and expectation, to understand how CEO Claire Hollands leads for today.


This is a conversation about ambition. Not in the abstract, but in how it shows up in the work, in the culture, and in the relationship between agencies and clients.


We get into how Saatchi & Saatchi is positioning itself around growth, why creativity still holds commercial power (even if the industry occasionally forgets it), and how agencies are rethinking their value, from billable hours to business outcomes.


There’s also a clear view on where things are shifting: the role of AI, the reality of pitching, and why agencies need to be more deliberate about the clients they choose.


Running through all of it is leadership, how you make decisions without perfect information, how you build a culture of high challenge and high support, and how you balance legacy with the need to move forward.


What you’ll learn:

  • Why agencies need to reposition themselves around growth, not outputs
  • How creativity still drives commercial performance and where it gets undervalued
  • What actually builds trust between agencies and clients
  • Why most pitch processes are flawed and what better looks like
  • How to think about agency value, pricing, and remuneration
  • The difference between growth brands and transformation brands and why it matters
  • What “high challenge, high support” looks like in practice
  • How great leaders make decisions without having all the answers
  • What AI is changing in agencies and what it isn’t
  • Why hiring for attitude and curiosity matters more than experience


Timestamps

00:03:00 – Finding your people in the industry

00:06:00 – Why account management sits at the centre of the agency

00:07:00 – Building trust in client relationships

00:12:00 – How decisions are really made at senior level

00:15:00 – Culture, values, and collective ambition

00:19:00 – High challenge, high support: what it means in practice

00:23:00 – Managing pressure across career and family

00:25:30 – Where the agency world is heading

00:29:30 – The evolving agency model

00:32:00 – The role and reality of pitching

00:33:30 – What needs to change in pitch processes

00:37:30 – Hiring for attitude, not just skill

00:39:00 – What excites Claire about what’s next


About the podcast

That’s What I Call Marketing is a podcast for marketers who care about how brands grow, how advertising works, and how the industry is evolving through conversations with the people shaping it.

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S5 Ep9: Andrew Tindall: The Creative Dividend, How Creativity Drives Profit10 mars 202600:42:39

In this episode of That’s What I Call Marketing, Conor Byrne speaks with Andrew Tindall, Chief Growth Officer at System1, about his new publication/pdf The Creative Dividend. Built using global Effie case study data and creative testing from over 250,000 respondents, the research explores a simple but uncomfortable truth: most advertising fails to deliver profitable growth. Andrew explains why creativity has been undervalued in modern marketing, why many campaigns generate revenue but not profit, and why the industry’s biggest problem may actually be a lack of creative confidence. The conversation also explores the relationship between emotion, distinctiveness, media investment, pricing power and brand growth and what marketers should actually do differently. If you care about marketing effectiveness, advertising creativity, and long-term brand growth, this is a fascinating deep dive.


Topics Covered

• Why only 9% of advertising campaigns report profit growth

• The concept of creative confidence

• What the Creative Dividend actually means

• Why distinctiveness beats differentiation

• Why advertising cannot create loyalty

• The link between emotion and profit

• Why many campaigns are designed to fail

• The tension between creative quality and media investment



Timestamps

05:00 What The Creative Dividend is trying to solve

06:32 Why global Effie data matters for marketing effectiveness

07:17 Has creativity been undervalued in advertising?

08:59 The crisis of confidence in marketing creativity

10:16 Why many organisations see creativity as a risk

11:21 The role of the client in protecting great ideas

12:17 Why businesses avoid creative risk

13:00 The shocking statistic: only 9% of campaigns report profit growth

14:17 Are marketers measuring the wrong outcomes?

15:21 The importance of pricing power in marketing

16:45 How creativity enables brands to charge more

19:16 What the “Creative Dividend” actually means

21:00 The four drivers of creative effectiveness

22:00 Why 83% of campaigns are designed to fail

23:06 Why great creative fails without media support

24:16 The power of long-term creative platforms

26:00 Consistency vs freshness in advertising

28:46 What surprised Andrew most in the research

29:07 Why distinctiveness matters more than differentiation

29:48 Why advertising doesn’t create loyalty

30:00 Distinctiveness vs emotion: efficiency vs effectiveness

31:41 Why emotional advertising drives profit

32:44 Why revenue alone isn’t success in marketing

34:00 The debate about gated content in marketing research

39:00 AI, marketing knowledge and the future of learning



Links Mentioned

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S5 Ep8: Synthetic Research Explained03 mars 202600:33:02

Synthetic Research Explained, Understanding AI-Powered Audience Testing for Marketers

What is synthetic research and how accurate is it really?

In this episode of That’s What I Call Marketing, Conor Byrne sits down with Dr. Ben Warner, former Chief Data Adviser to the UK Prime Minister and co-founder of Electric Twin, to unpack one of the most talked-about developments in modern market research: synthetic audiences.


This is not ChatGPT pretending to be a consumer. Synthetic research uses real-world survey data, behavioural modelling and large language models to create AI-driven audience simulations that allow organisations to test messaging, product ideas and strategy at speed before committing real budgets. If you work in marketing, insight, product, strategy or leadership, this episode will challenge how you think about research, risk and decision-making.


⏱️ Timestamps

00:00 – Introduction to synthetic research

02:00 – From quantum physics to behavioural modelling

03:35 – Why human behaviour is harder to predict than we think

05:17 – The problem with traditional decision-making tools

09:02 – What Electric Twin actually does

10:00 – What a “synthetic audience” really means

13:59 – Testing creative, messaging and propositions in real time

15:06 – Accuracy vs traditional survey research

17:00 – Real-world use cases across marketing and product

19:02 – The danger of asking the “wrong” question

23:06 – Democratising customer insight inside organisations

25:00 – Where synthetic research fits (and where it doesn’t)

27:00 – Innovation vs risk-averse organisations

29:09 – The story behind the name “Electric Twin”


In this episode, we cover:
  • How synthetic audiences are built from real-world data
  • Why traditional surveys can be slow, expensive and restrictive
  • How AI allows teams to iterate research questions instantly
  • The difference between testing ideas safely and making bold decisions blindly
  • Why trust and validation matter in emerging AI tools
  • Where synthetic research complements (not replaces) conventional methods
Why this matters
  • Every organisation says it wants to be “customer-centric”.
  • But insight is often expensive, delayed, siloed or underused.
  • Synthetic research introduces a new tool into the decision-making toolkit — one that allows teams to explore, iterate and pressure-test ideas before they go live.
  • Whether you are a CMO defending budget, a product lead developing a proposition, or a strategy team modelling future scenarios, this conversation explores how AI-driven research could reshape how decisions are made.


If you found this useful, share it with a colleague and subscribe for more conversations with marketing leaders shaping the future of the industry.

🎧 Listen to more episodes of That’s What I Call Marketing

📌 Connect with Conor Byrne for more marketing insight

🔗 Learn more about Electric Twin and synthetic audiences


That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S5Ep7: What your CFO actually wants to hear from you 24 févr. 202600:35:28

What does your CFO actually want to hear from you?

In this episode of That’s What I Call Marketing, Conor Byrne sits down with Michael Kaminsky former analytics leader at Harry’s and Founder & CEO of Recast to unpack the real tension between marketing and finance. After Michael’s Harvard Business Review article on the CMO–CFO relationship circulated widely (and resonated strongly with CFOs and CMOs), this conversation goes deep on:

  • Why marketing forecasts keep missing
  • Why finance doesn’t trust marketing numbers
  • How to talk about ROI and risk credibly
  • The problem with last-click attribution
  • How to structure experiments properly
  • What “expected value” really means for marketers
  • Why brand investment must be framed as capital allocation

If you’re a CMO, Marketing Director, Head of Performance or brand leader trying to build a stronger relationship with your CFO — this episode is essential.

⏱️ Chapters

01:02 – Michael’s time at Harry’s: analytics, growth & experimentation

05:00 – The early days of podcast advertising & growth bets

06:15 – False precision in marketing measurement

07:23 – Brand tracking, survey data & real signal

08:42 – The Harvard Business Review article

09:07 – Why CMOs and CFOs feel tension

10:13 – Speaking the language of finance

14:21 – Discounted cash flow & thinking in timelines

15:00 – The credibility killer: marketing marketing

15:32 – Why being willing to be wrong builds trust

18:20 – Talking about risk & expected value

22:18 – Incrementality & structured experimentation

25:05 – Recast: forecasting & bridging marketing and finance

28:28 – The forecasting trap: last-touch attribution

30:19 – Compounding learning & agency transparency

32:00 – Final reflections: marketing as growth co-pilot


🔎 Topics Covered
  • CMO CFO relationship
  • Marketing finance alignment
  • Marketing ROI
  • Forecasting marketing investment
  • Incrementality in marketing
  • Last click attribution problems
  • Media mix modelling (MMM)
  • Brand investment vs short-term performance
  • Capital allocation in marketing
  • Building trust with finance


If you found this valuable:

✔️ Share it with a fellow marketer

✔️ Subscribe for more conversations with leading marketing thinkers

✔️ Leave a review — it helps the show reach more senior marketers


Check out Recast here https://getrecast.com/

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S5 Ep6: Marketing Masterclass with Marketing Leader Orla Mitchell17 févr. 202600:48:29

What does it really take to move from brand marketer to global growth leader?


In this episode Conor Byrne sits down with Orla Mitchell for a candid, commercially grounded conversation about leadership, long-term brand building and earning marketing’s seat at the growth table.


Orla’s career spans senior roles at Nestlé, Kerry Foods, and Mars, where she led global food and confectionery portfolios including the transformation of the gum category and the return of Extra to the #1 position in the US. She later returned to Ireland to join WaterWipes, ultimately becoming CEO and helping scale the brand internationally with sharper strategic focus and disciplined portfolio choices.


This episode goes far beyond career highlights. It’s about how marketing thinking matures from creative execution to enterprise-level value creation.


3:00 – Winning the Marketing Champion Award & what recognition really means

4:40 – From accountancy to marketing: finding the discipline that fit

6:00 – Cutting her teeth in FMCG at Nestlé

9:50 – Being headhunted to Mars & stepping into bigger challenges

13:00 – Dealing with disappointment & knowing when to leave

15:20 – Long vs short term thinking before it was fashionable

17:30 – Entering Mars: business model transformation over “just advertising”

19:15 – Business marketer vs creative marketer

21:00 – The Ehrenberg-Bass moment: science over opinion

24:30 – Creative effectiveness, star systems & why great ads last

27:00 – Test & learn done properly (with action standards)

31:30 – Global roles & navigating “we’re different” market objections

35:30 – Leading the gum category transformation

38:20 – Extra’s growth in the US & penetration focus

41:00 – Leaving Mars & the WaterWipes opportunity

43:00 – Scaling a challenger brand & making tough market choices

46:00 – Marketing as growth co-pilot, not support function


If you lead brands, sit at an executive table, or aspire to do either, this episode is a masterclass in commercially credible marketing leadership.


Thanks to Tracksuit for their support of this episode.

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

System, Sizzle & Sales Impact of Super Bowl 2026 with CMO Nataly Kelly12 févr. 202600:43:11

Zappi CMO Nataly Kelly joins to talk about the Sizzle, Systems & Sales Impact of The Super Bowl.


The Super Bowl is advertising’s biggest stage. $8 million for 30 seconds. Cultural noise at maximum volume. Celebrities everywhere. Music in almost every ad.

But once the spectacle fades, one question remains: which ads actually drove impact?


In this episode, we unpack the Zappi Super Bowl 2026 report (check it out here) built from testing every ad live with 20,000 American category buyers and benchmarking them against the top 100 performing TV ads in the US.


We explore:

– Why emotional response alone isn’t enough

– The role of purchase likelihood in predicting sales impact

– How celebrities can amplify an ad — or bury the brand

– Why distinctive brand assets (Budweiser’s Clydesdales, Nerds’ characters) still matter

– The Pepsi polar bear debate and what it says about brand memory

– How health brands like Wegovy, Hims & Hers and Ro cut through

– Why the best Super Bowl ads are part of a system, not a one-night stunt


This conversation goes beyond ranking ads. It looks at what actually moves the needle — and what marketers without Super Bowl budgets can learn from the world’s most expensive media moment. Zappi’s full report is available at zappi.io here.

Chapters

2:25 – What Zappi Measures

4:07 – How the Super Bowl Ads Were Tested Live

5:00 – Celebrity Usage: Amplifier or Distraction?

8:54 – Brand Recall vs Entertainment

10:15 – Super Bowl Ads as Part of a System

12:38 – Music, Multi-Screening & Attention

13:54 – Health Brands, Outrage & Cultural Relevance

16:12 – Why Budweiser Still Wins with Distinctive Assets

18:34 – Pepsi, Polar Bears & the Coke Asset Debate

20:41 – System Over Sizzle: Campaign vs One Night

23:40 – The Emotional Power of Lays

24:35 – Nerds, Product Demonstration & Penetration

27:00 – What Marketers Without Super Bowl Budgets Should Learn

31:56 – Are Super Bowl Trends Changing?

36:50 – Favourite Ad

38:00 – Why Sales Impact Still Matters Most

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S5 Ep4: The Eye-Watering Cost of Dull Media & Creative with Karen Nelson-Field & Adam Morgan03 févr. 202600:48:00

Most advertising doesn’t fail because it’s wrong. It fails because it’s dull and dull is expensive.


In this episode of That’s What I Call Marketing, Conor Byrne sits down with Adam Morgan and Karen Nelson-Field to unpack the real cost of dull creative and dull media using hard evidence from IPA effectiveness data, System1 testing, and large-scale attention measurement.


The conversation moves beyond taste or opinion and into economics: why rational, low-emotion advertising can still “work” but only by wasting millions; why some media environments structurally suppress attention; and why optimisation, procurement pressure, and performance thinking have quietly normalised mediocrity.


If you work in brand, media, B2B, finance-led marketing, or any category that tells itself it has to be boring, this episode is a wake-up call.


What you’ll learn


  • Why 50% of ads struggle to beat a cow chewing grass on attention and emotion
  • How dull creative drives up required spend by millions to achieve the same outcomes
  • Why CPM is often a cost per meaningless thousand
  • How attention volume predicts ROI, memory, and effectiveness
  • Why great creative fails when media doesn’t give it a stage
  • How risk, responsibility, and “sensible” decisions slowly drain impact from work
  • Where AI may actually help creativity rather than flatten it


This episode draws directly on the “Cost of Dull” research programme and explains what it means for marketers trying to balance effectiveness, efficiency, and real-world constraints.



02:27 – What do we actually mean by “dull” advertising?

03:55 – The cow-chewing-grass test and why half of ads lose

06:00 – Attention vs emotion: two ways to measure dullness

08:00 – The Cannes “Ennui” experiment and burning money as a signal

11:10 – What “dull media” really means (and why it’s misunderstood)

13:55 – When great creative is wasted by low-attention environments

16:20 – Is dull creative ever the better option?

17:24 – Trust, facts, and why rational messaging costs more

19:00 – Campaigns vs single ads: where attention is really lost

20:00 – Why mix matters more than hero-only thinking

21:00 – Global differences: creative vs media effects

23:00 – Why B2B marketing is structurally duller and the cost of that

26:00 – The “dull eclipse”: performance mindset, optimisation, benchmarks

28:20 – Procurement, pricing pressure, and creative erosion

31:00 – CPM, wastage, and the illusion of efficiency

34:20 – AI, challenger brands, and testing creativity at speed

37:55 – Risk vs responsibility: how sensible decisions kill ideas

41:00 – What marketers can actually do differently

43:45 – Final reflections and where the research goes next


About the guests


Adam Morgan is co-founder of Eatbigfish and a leading voice on challenger brands, effectiveness, and commercial creativity.

Karen Nelson-Field is Professor of Media Science and one of the world’s foremost researchers on attention, media value, and advertising effectiveness.


If you’re trying to explain to a CFO, procurement team, or board why “safe” work keeps underperforming, this episode gives you the language and the evidence to do it properly.


Content Mentioned in the Episode:

  1. Risk & Responsibility https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuJx2IJjaFw
  2. Cost of Dull Media Report https://21467338.fs1.hubspotusercontent-ap1.net/hubfs/21467338/COMPANY%20MATERIALS/Cost%20of%20Dull%20Final.pdf
  3. Cost of Dull Eat Big Fish https://www.eatbigfish.com/thinking/challengers-and-cost-of-dull

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S5 Ep3: The Tensions Every Brand CEO Has to Manage with CMO Francois Bazini27 janv. 202600:49:49

François Bazini, CMO of Suntory Beverage & Food Europe is one of the most thoughtful brand CMOs in global FMCG

François shares a rare, inside view of what it really means to be a brand steward in organisations like Danone, BCG, PepsiCo and Suntory. From resisting short-term zig-zagging, to building brands that can withstand private label pressure, this conversation goes deep on the realities of modern brand leadership. We explore why marketers must act as brand CEOs, how tension with CFOs can be productive rather than problematic, and why targeting older audiences is one of the most under-exploited growth opportunities in marketing today. François also unpacks the Ribena turnaround, Schweppes’ response to Fever-Tree, and why most advertising testing is misunderstood. This is a wide-ranging, honest discussion about judgment, evidence, culture, and the long game in brand building.


Topics include: Brand stewardship vs short-termism, marketing ROI, working with finance, global vs local marketing roles, age targeting myths, private label competition, creative testing, and why some brands endure while others drift.


03:25 – Career path: from Danone to consulting and global brand roles

04:55 – What BCG teaches marketers about being fact-based

07:00 – Brand stewardship and avoiding strategic zig-zagging

09:30 – Timeless vs timely brand decisions

11:00 – Marketing ROI beyond short-term sales

12:30 – Marketers as brand CEOs

13:45 – Working with CFOs and productive tension

16:00 – Global vs local marketing roles

20:00 – Ribena: brand decline and recovery

22:30 – Going back to a brand’s peak moment

26:00 – The myth of always targeting youth

29:00 – Schweppes, Fever-Tree and category disruption

31:45 – Targeting over-45s unapologetically

34:00 – Media thresholds and focus over fragmentation

35:45 – Moving beyond marketing mix modelling

38:15 – The limits of advertising testing

41:00 – When great ads fail tests but succeed commercially

42:20 – Competing with private label

43:00 – DAQV: desirability, affordability, quality, visibility

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S5 Ep2: Building a New Category Around a 2,000-Year-Old Drink20 janv. 202600:47:12

What happens when a radio comedian, a senior drinks marketer, and a 2,000-year-old Roman hydration recipe collide?


In this episode of That’s What I Call Marketing, Conor Byrne sits down with Merrick Watts and Ed Stening, co-founders of Posca Hydrate — a sugar-free, hypertonic hydration drink inspired by ancient Roman Posca.


Posca isn’t a nostalgia play. It’s a sugar-free, hypertonic drink inspired by a Roman solution to unsafe water — rebuilt for modern life, modern habits, and modern expectations. That means confronting everything from flavour and formulation to packaging, positioning, and retail resistance.


Along the way, Merrick and Ed unpack a set of ideas that matter far beyond drinks:


Why liquid still matters more than marketing.

Why category creation is harder than brand building.

Why refusing “me-too” formats can slow growth — but protect belief.

And why brands should aim for humour, not jokes.


Merrick explains why jokes age quickly, but a sense of humour travels across audiences, occasions, and time and how that thinking shapes Posca’s tone, creative decisions, and internal culture. It’s not about being funny. It’s about not taking yourself seriously while taking the product seriously.


They also discuss building brand in-house rather than outsourcing belief, measuring brand as a startup using Tracksuit, balancing mental and physical availability, and what it really takes to scale a challenger brand globally without losing the story that made it matter in the first place.


This is a conversation about founders, flavour, brand discipline, and the uncomfortable decisions that come with doing something genuinely different.


3:50 – From radio comedy to drinks founder

5:50 – Why the liquid comes first

7:50 – The Roman origin of Posca

10:50 – Turning history into a brand story

14:50 – Ancient wisdom meets modern science

16:20 – Building brand from the inside out

19:50 – Tone, humour, and taking the product seriously

23:50 – Building a category, not fitting one

29:50 – Brand vs physical availability

32:50 – Measuring

34:50 – Global expansion strategy

38:50 – The hypertonic breakthrough moment

44:50 – Risk and belief

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S5 Ep1: What KitKat Gets Right About Attention, Breaks & Consistency with Wael Jabi13 janv. 202600:45:50

Kit Kats Global Head of Marketing Shares what it really takes to build and protect an iconic global brand?


In this season opener for Season 5 of That’s What I Call Marketing, Conor Byrne is joined by Wael Jabi, KitKats Global Head of Marketing at Nestlé, for a deep conversation about brand judgement, consistency, partnerships, and the decisions that quietly shape long-term growth.


Wael’s career spans Leo Burnett, Procter & Gamble, and Nestlé, and the discussion moves well beyond surface-level case studies. Together, they explore what KitKat teaches us about resisting reinvention, diagnosing the right marketing problems under pressure, and how major cultural platforms like Formula 1 can be used to express brand meaning rather than dilute it.


This is a practical, reflective conversation for CMOs, brand leaders, and senior marketers who care about building brands that last not just chasing short-term performance.

Topics covered include:

  • Why most brands don’t need reinvention they need restraint
  • The marketing failure that taught Wael when price becomes the wrong answer
  • What KitKat gets right about consistency and memory structures
  • How to think about F1 and major sponsorships without losing brand meaning
  • Brand vs performance decisions under pressure
  • Why judgement matters more than tactics at senior levels


01:55 – Wael’s career path: agency to P&G

05:50 – Why advertising isn’t the most important thing

09:40 – A pricing decision that went wrong

14:20 – Diagnosing the wrong marketing problem

18:40 – KitKat and brand consistency

23:15 – “Breaks are broken” insight

26:50 – Making iconic work at global scale

30:20 – Formula 1 and partnerships

34:50 – Showing up in your world vs theirs

38:20 – Judgement under pressure

41:00 – What’s next for KitKat


Thanks to Tracksuit for their partnership with this episode, check out https://www.gotracksuit.com to find out more about the always on brand tracking platform

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Singles: Don't Look Back In Anger 202517 déc. 202500:34:11

Don't Look Back In Anger - the episode where we look back at the biggest stories we covered on The Singles and see how those brands have gotten on this year. So What happens after the marketing headlines fade? Let's we revisit some of the biggest brand stories of 2025 — and test them against what actually changed over time. Using always-on brand health data from Tracksuit, Conor Byrne is joined by Dan and Jasper to look back at Tesla, American Eagle, Rhode, and Deliveroo, six to nine months after the noise. Not opinions. Not predictions. Just evidence of where attention turned into demand — and where it didn’t.

Across very different categories, a consistent pattern emerges: “The campaign didn’t hurt sales — but the brand is weaker than it was.”

In this episode, we explore:

  • Why Tesla still dominates innovation perception but is leaking trust and preference in both the US and UK
  • How American Eagle’s controversial campaign held short-term revenue while brand fundamentals quietly eroded
  • What Rhode’s acquisition by e.l.f. gets right — and the brand risks that come with scaling distribution
  • Why Deliveroo, post-DoorDash acquisition, faces a preference problem in a category defined by low loyalty and easy switching

This is a conversation is about thinking about long-term demand, pricing power, and resilience not just quarterly performance. If you care about the gap between being noticed and being chosen, this episode is for you.


02:40 – Tesla: innovation without reassurance

11:40 – American Eagle: sales hold, brand weakens

17:45 – Rhode: scaling without dilution

23:05 – Deliveroo: preference in a default-driven category

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S4 Ep29: A Red Star Christmas 2025 - The Best Christmas Ads of 202509 déc. 202500:50:54

Which Christmas ads did Irish viewers love in 2025?

In this special Christmas edition of That’s What I Call Marketing, Conor Byrne is joined by Ciara Reilly from Red C Research, Linda Bradley (Head of Planning, Diageo Ireland), and Marc Smith (Global Director of Insights & Analytics, Mark Anthony Brands) to reveal the Top 20 Christmas Ads in Ireland, as ranked by real consumers on the Red Star testing platform.


We analyse the biggest festive campaigns of the season, including:

Tesco, SuperValu, Lidl, Spar, Sky Mobile, An Post, Vodafone, Boots, Dunnes Stores, Home Store + More, M&S, Woodie’s, Eason, Aldi, Amazon, and Coca-Cola.


Across the episode we explore:

• Why some Irish Christmas ads performed far better than expected

• The surprising gap between marketer opinion vs consumer reaction

• What emotional storytelling gets right and wrong at Christmas

• How branding, memory structures and fluent devices shaped the rankings

• Why consistency helped brands stand out

• The role of humour, reality, nostalgia and AI in this year’s festive campaigns


Whether you work in marketing, advertising, strategy, media, or creative, this deep dive into the best Christmas ads of the year reveals what truly resonates with audiences and what doesn’t.


🎄 Brands discussed: Tesco, SuperValu, Lidl, Spar, Sky Mobile, An Post, Vodafone, Boots, Dunnes Stores, Woodie’s, Home Store + More, M&S, Eason, Aldi, Amazon, Coca-Cola.


📍 CHAPTERS


03:03 The lowest ranked ads

05:18 John Lewis debate emotional truth vs emotional fit

07:41 Functional ads & the problem of “sameness”

13:28 Sea Swim: why it keeps winning hearts

15:27 Sky Mobile & the Roy Keane effect

17:23 National Lottery: a new less fun direction

21:25 An Post Tin: Man does the story need a new chapter?

23:33 M&S Food: when style overtakes substance

26:20 Home Store + More the surprise hit

27:56 Coca-Cola Holidays Are Coming (AI version)

30:56 Dunnes Stores Shine Bright: the craft that endures

32:50 Aldi & Kevin the Carrot: did they need a 3 parter?

36:00 Eason: an emotional standout

38:56 Amazon: a global festive story returns

41:54 Woodie’s crowned #1 in Ireland https://www.youtube.com/shorts/22prv5XcpSM

44:50 The panel’s all-time favourite Christmas ads


Check out the Red Star Testing Platform https://redcresearch.com/product/red-star/

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Singles Ep12: Netflix X Spotify, Monzo taking on Barclays, Rebel X Movember02 déc. 202500:33:23

The episode begins with the new Netflix × Spotify partnership, where Spotify's video podcasts will sit on Netflix from 2026. Conor, Dan and Jasper discuss what this means for streaming, how it challenges YouTube’s dominance in video podcasts, and why Netflix’s broad familiarity.


Next, the conversation moves to banking in the UK, where legacy brands like Barclays face pressure from digital challengers including Monzo, Revolut and Wise. Tracksuit data shows Barclays’ awareness remains high at 89%, but consideration and investigation are slipping — especially among 18–34s — as Monzo builds strength through simplicity, transparency and real-time product features. The team unpack why refer-a-friend programmes, user experience, and “is for people like me” perceptions are shifting the category.


The third story looks at Movember and Rebel Sport in Australia, exploring how both brands use emotional connection, identity and community to drive engagement. With Rebel’s awareness falling from 79% to 75% and usage also declining, the team discusses why emotional relevance matters, how Rebel’s “Town Without Sport” campaign reframes sport as cultural belonging, and how Movember has evolved into a global identity brand around men’s wellbeing and shared participation through the iconic moustache.


The episode closes with a debate about Coca-Cola’s AI-generated Christmas ad, the role of distinctive brand assets, and whether AI is truly “pushing the boundaries of creativity” or simply versioning existing ideas. Conor challenges Coke’s framing, while Dan and Jasper discuss industry reactions, production choices and early System1 results from this year’s work.


Whether you're a brand leader, strategist, or marketer working across multiple markets, this month’s Singles offers grounded data, clear examples, and practical discussions shaped by Tracksuit’s real-time brand metrics.

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Re-Release - Making the Guinness Christmas Ad25 nov. 202500:59:47

First Aired 23rd Dec 2023, this is the never before told story behind the making of the iconic Guinness Christmas Ad. Tom Kinsella, Damian Devaney, Mark Nutley and Pat Hamill who were part of the team client and agency side that made this ad join That's What I Call Marketing to talk about creating what has become one of the greatest Christmas Ads of all time. We discuss the development process, challenges encountered, and the enduring success of the ad after its release. The conversation highlights the power of creativity, the critical role of collaboration between agencies and clients, and the essential element of investing time and effort into crafting an impactful advertisement. Some key moments include

  • 04:21 The Creative Process and Challenges
  • 25:57 The Role of Music in the Ad
  • 32:22 The Risk of Leaving Out the Pint
  • 39:26 The Importance of Distinctive Assets
  • 48:01 The Impact of the Ad Over Time
  • 56:22 The Power of Creativity and Investment

But there is a tonne more, the power of music, the emergence of the line at the home of the black stuff, sweating the small stuff, investing in brilliance. So enjoy this episode about a story that has never been told. Special mention to the many others involved in the project:

  • Mal Stevenson-Creative Director
  • John Kelly-Voiceover
  • Noel Byrne - Head of production
  • Margo Tracey- Producer
  • Mark Grehan/ Brendan Coyle – Account Director
  • Grainne O’Driscoll-Account Manager
  • Paddy Gibbons-Sound Mix
  • April Redmond - Diageo
  • Ronan Byrne - Diageo
  • Niamh Cribbin - Diageo
  • Paul Kelly - Diageo
  • Mark Ody - Diageo
  • Michael Ioakimides - Diageo
  • Charles Coase - Diageo

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S4 Ep28: Brand Global, Adapt Local with Katherine Melchior Ray & Nataly Kelly18 nov. 202500:35:17

CMO's Katherine Melchior Ray & Nataly Kelly dive deep into the nuances of global marketing . Both are experienced global CMOs and authors of the book 'Brand Global, Adapt Local.' They share their insights on the complexities and rewards of building a brand that balances global consistency with local relevance. From discussing their extensive backgrounds in various industries to examining successful case studies like Kit Kat and Kerry Gold, Katherine and Natalie offer valuable frameworks and strategies for marketers aiming to expand globally. This episode is brought to you by Tracksuit, the affordable brand tracking dashboard covering over 25 countries. Tune in to learn about the challenges and rewards of global marketing, the importance of cultural intelligence, and the role AI might play in the future of marketing. Don't forget to leave a review and share this episode with your marketing community!


02:35 Katherine's Global Marketing Experience

04:32 Natalys Background and Contribution

05:18 The Power of Global Connections

08:31 Foundations of Marketing and Branding

09:40 Cultural Intelligence and AI Limitations

10:31 Localisation and Cultural Nuances

15:14 Organisational Attitude and Flexibility

16:35 Proximity Bias in Large Economies

17:49 Freedom Within a Frame Framework

19:04 Kit Kat's Global Strategy

20:46 Kerry Gold's Adaptation to US Market

22:05 Global Brand Consistency

26:33 The Impact of AI on Global Branding

28:23 Cultural Nuances in Marketing

29:36 Anecdotes and Lessons Learned


Buy the book https://www.amazon.ie/Brand-Global-Adapt-Local-Cultures/dp/1398619825

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

© My Podcast Data · Independent project · Data from Apple & Spotify