The Persuaders Marketing Radio Show & Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

With just over a week to go to the Irish Life Dublin Marathon on Sunday 27th October, my guest presenter David O'Sullivan was joined by the heads of Irish charities whose funding will hopefully benefit from the sponsorship and donations from those involved.

Grainne O'Leary Chief Executive Arthritis Ireland ★Jimmy Fearon Chief Executive, DEBRA Ireland

Among the main themes explored were...
1. What is the historical context of Irish charitable giving?
2. How has the Irish charity sector evolved in terms of governance and professionalism?
3. What are the key challenges faced by Arthritis Ireland and Debra Ireland?
4. What are the main misconceptions about arthritis?
5. What is Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), and why is it referred to as “butterfly skin”?
6. How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted Irish charities?
7. How has Colin Farrell supported Debra Ireland?
Colin Farrell, the renowned Irish actor, has been a long-standing supporter of Debra Ireland, forming a close friendship with Emma Fogarty, a prominent ambassador for the charity.

One new event to mark on your calendars for next year is The Reinvention Summit which takes place in Dublin on April 29th and 30th. It's the brainchild of Aidan McCullen and Dr. Nadya Zhexembayeva. Dr Zhexembayeva, who has published multiple books on the topic of business reinvention, was in Dublin this week for a series of meetings and promotion events in advance of the Summit. According to a Harvard/Reinvention Academy study some 68% of leaders struggle with company reinvention; a real problem in an era of exceptional business disruption. I got a chance to interview her about some of the themes that will be explored in the Summit, to define the nature of reinvention, and to share some best-practice examples. 

In this podcast I interview Mal Stevenson who was Creative Director at Irish International when the Guinness Christmas advert was first aired in 2003. In a wide-ranging interview we discuss the creative brief behind the advert, the creative idea and execution elements of what has become one of Ireland's most-loved adverts. Thanks also to Dave O'Sullivan from Ignition for helping to set up the interview. #advertising #Christmasads #Guinnessadvertising

Interview with Mathijs Gajentaan, Chief Commercial Officer at twnkls -Dutch Augmented Reality specialists based in Rotterdam. In our interview we define Augmented Reality and discuss how it is seen as an increasingly attractive technology for marketers to engage audiences. We discuss a number of case studies where AR has been developed.

In-studio I am joined by two of the Interactive Direct Marketing Association council members Colin Stoddard and Dave Furney who will be discussing a survey that the IDMA are currently running. They also discuss developments in Ireland's direct marketing sector.

In this podcast I am joined by panelists Gerard Tannam, Managing Director,  Islandbridge Brand Direction  and by Paul O'Grady, Group Commercial Director, Mercantile Group. We discuss the challenges for companies to truly put themselves in the customer shoes. The particular challenges of using social media to engage customers are discussed. Paul gives some very good examples of how they differentiate their messaging across many of their brands such as Whelans, The Village and Mercantile Bar, and their restaurant brands. Gerard discusses how companies need to avoid the temptation to have a blanket approach to social media marketing. Companies need to be very sensitive to the audience contexts.

In this podcast I'm joined in-studio by Paul Bridgeman from Vocal.ie and by telephone by David Glynn from the McWilliam Park Hotel, Mayo. We discuss a wide range of social media marketing issues. Snapchat as a channel for marketing is among the topics investigated, and Paul discusses some findings from the Vocal Digital Trends Survey

In this podcast I am joined in studio by Maeve O'Gorman Digital and Social Strategy Director -  Mindshare Ireland , and Conor Lynch CEO of connector360. We are also joined on the phone line by Steven Roberts, Head of Marketing - Griffith College, Ireland. 

In this podcast Maurice Collins, founder of HRBR, Hair Restoration Blackrock, Dublin, discusses the marketing aproach his company use to building a market for their services. We discuss the role of testimonials in building customer confidence, the legislative context and how new media is playing an increasingly important role.

Also on the show an interview with Simon Healy from TotalHealth.ie a new chain of independent pharmacies.

Finally in the show, Paul Ebbs, discusses the launch plans for DIT's Construction Innovation Lab.

In this interview MD of Pembroke Communications, Mick O'Keefe joins me for a wide ranging discussion on the relationship between Sports and Sponsorships. Pembroke Communications recently conducted survey research around sponsorship at Electric Picnic, and Mick shares some of the main findings. Among the brands discussed are #Bacardi #Heineken #Vodafone #ElectricIre Also joining us for the discussion is Philip Peake Sales, Operations & Commercial Manager at Irish Greyhound Board Harold's Cross racecourse.

We also discuss the PR dimensions around the Arthur's Day controversy 

In this podcast a special interview with Mark Cullen, specialist consultant in customer engagement. In the interview discusses how companies use internal customer data  for insight as well as commissioned survey research. We discuss the key metrics that companies are using to assess customer satisfaction, from the concept of Net Promoter Score ( which has merits in loyalty measurement ) to Customer Effort Score ( which assesses how easy customer find it to interact with companies).

Also interviewed is Dr. Catherine Logan, Nutrition Manager with the National Dairy Council, who discusses their sponsorship of the Milk Advertising Awards, as well as the marketing activities of the Council.