TopPodcast.com
Menu
  • Home
  • Top Charts
  • Top Networks
  • Top Apps
  • Top Independents
  • Top Podfluencers
  • Top Picks
    • Top Business Podcasts
    • Top True Crime Podcasts
    • Top Finance Podcasts
    • Top Comedy Podcasts
    • Top Music Podcasts
    • Top Womens Podcasts
    • Top Kids Podcasts
    • Top Sports Podcasts
    • Top News Podcasts
    • Top Tech Podcasts
    • Top Crypto Podcasts
    • Top Entrepreneurial Podcasts
    • Top Fantasy Sports Podcasts
    • Top Political Podcasts
    • Top Science Podcasts
    • Top Self Help Podcasts
    • Top Sports Betting Podcasts
    • Top Stocks Podcasts
  • Podcast News
  • About Us
  • Podcast Advertising
  • Contact
Not in our directory?
Add Show Here
Podcast Equipment
Center

toppodcastlogoOur TOPPODCAST Picks

  • Comedy
  • Crypto
  • Sports
  • News
  • Politics
  • True Crime
  • Business
  • Finance

Follow Us

toppodcastlogoStay Connected

    View Top 200 Chart
    Back to Rankings Page
    Marketing

    Embracing Marketing Mistakes

    Welcome to Embracing Marketing Mistakes, the world’s leading irreverent podcast for senior marketers who are tired of the polished corporate b*llshit. 

    Join Chris Norton and Will Ockenden, founders of the award-winning Prohibition PR, as they sit down with industry leaders to dissect the career-ending f*ck-ups they’d rather forget. The show moves past any pretty vanity metrics to uncover the brutal, honest truths behind marketing disasters, from £30,000 SEO black holes and completely failed companies, to social media crises that went globally viral for all the wrong reasons.

    We don’t just celebrate the f*ck-ups; we extract the tactical blueprints you need to avoid them yourself. If you are a business owner, or a CMO looking for a competitive advantage that only comes from real-world experience, this is your weekly masterclass in resilience and strategy.

    • Listen for: Raw stories from top brands, ex-McKinsey strategists, and industry disruptors.
    • Learn from: The errors that cost thousands and the recoveries that saved careers.
    • Get ahead by: Turning other people’s nasty disasters into your unfair market advantage.

    If you have a story to tell and would like to appear on the show, tell us your biggest marketing mistake and drop us a line.

    Advertise

    Copyright: © 2026 Embracing Marketing Mistakes

    • Apple Podcasts
    • Google Play
    • Spotify

    Latest Episodes:
    EP 128: Why CFOs Keep Killing Influencer Budgets Sep 15, 2026
    Show notes

    Influencer spend hit $32.55 billion in 2025, and most brands still can't prove it works. In this Prohibition PR webinar, Chris Norton and Will Ockenden break down why influencer marketing keeps losing boardroom arguments, the mistake that turned a Brit Awards influencer activation into a creator revolt, and the six-part framework that turns influencer spend into a revenue channel instead of an awareness line item.

    Chris covers the boardroom case for influencer marketing, the Mastercard Brit Awards story, and how HelloFresh beat its own paid acquisition costs on TikTok using creators like Mindy Kaling. Will then walks through a practical framework: choosing influencers for persuasion rather than reach, building long-term partnerships (including Burgess pet food's ongoing deal with Ronnie the Mini Lop), mapping creators to the full buyer journey, feeding top-performing organic content into paid media, using influencers to win AI and social search discovery, and measuring outcomes instead of vanity metrics.

    Send us Fan Mail

    Your competitors are being named by AI. Are you? One of our clients went from being named in 4 of 50 buyer prompts to 19 in 90 days. Book your free AI visibility check with Chris here. 👉 [Book free AI Visibility Check] 👈

    Subscribe to our newsletter
    The mistakes we see marketers make, every fortnight. 👉 [Subscribe here] 👈

    Follow Chris:
    X, TikTok, LinkedIn
    Follow Will:
    LinkedIn
    Follow The Show:
    TikTok, YouTube


    One Tweet About Sleeping Beauty Ended in Death Threats Sep 10, 2026
    Show notes

    Back in episode 99 with Sarah Waddington, we dive into the story of a well-intentioned tweet about a Biff and Chip book image, posted during the height of the Me-Too era. What was meant to be a harmless comment, shared in the midst of the chaos of parenting, quickly spiraled into misreporting by UK tabloids, global backlash, online abuse, and even death threats. As her career and personal life were thrust into the public eye, the turning point came when credible voices stepped in to offer support.

    Through it all, the lesson emerged: consistency, values, and resilience matter far more than any momentary outrage. We explore how professionals who have experienced public shame are uniquely positioned to guide others through similar challenges, reminding us that clarity of purpose and standing by your principles can help weather the storm.

    Tune in for an insightful conversation about the power of maintaining your values in a world quick to judge, and the strength that comes from embracing the lessons learned in adversity.
    Click here to listen to the full episode 99.

    Send us Fan Mail

    Your competitors are being named by AI. Are you? One of our clients went from being named in 4 of 50 buyer prompts to 19 in 90 days. Book your free AI visibility check with Chris here. 👉 [Book free AI Visibility Check] 👈

    Subscribe to our newsletter
    The mistakes we see marketers make, every fortnight. 👉 [Subscribe here] 👈

    Follow Chris:
    X, TikTok, LinkedIn
    Follow Will:
    LinkedIn
    Follow The Show:
    TikTok, YouTube


    EP 127: Professor Jim Macnamara Says Most Of The PR Industry Is Still Measuring The Wrong Thing Sep 08, 2026
    Show notes

    A professor who built his entire career on communication measurement almost couldn't answer the question that started it all. Professor Jim Macnamara joins Embracing Marketing Mistakes to explain why so much of PR and marketing still confuses outputs with outcomes, and what changed after a client rejected his activity report and demanded results instead.

    Jim walks through the framework behind AMEC and the Barcelona Principles, a real Volkswagen case study that shifted marketing budget from 5% to 15%, his global evaluation work for the World Health Organization during COVID-19 (including a video series that hit 400 million views), and his skeptical read on whether AI and large language models are handing PR a golden age or a new set of unproven metrics to hide behind.
    Listen to the full conversation now and learn what measurement stands out in the marketing world.

    Send us Fan Mail

    Your competitors are being named by AI. Are you? One of our clients went from being named in 4 of 50 buyer prompts to 19 in 90 days. Book your free AI visibility check with Chris here. 👉 [Book free AI Visibility Check] 👈

    Subscribe to our newsletter
    The mistakes we see marketers make, every fortnight. 👉 [Subscribe here] 👈

    Follow Chris:
    X, TikTok, LinkedIn
    Follow Will:
    LinkedIn
    Follow The Show:
    TikTok, YouTube


    He Asked for Honest Feedback. Then Never Spoke to Me Sep 03, 2026
    Show notes

    If you have ever watched a brilliant marketing strategy die in a sign‑off meeting, this episode is for you. We unpack the real reasons ideas fail in the boardroom and what senior marketers can do to read the room, create emotional buy in and keep stakeholders focused on what matters.

    Faris Aranki, founder of Shear Ghetto Consulting and former top‑tier strategy advisor, explains his IQ x EQ x FQ model for success back in episode 96. IQ is the quality of your idea, EQ is your emotional intelligence and stakeholder awareness, and FQ is your focus quotient, the ability to prioritise and resist shiny‑object distractions. Miss any one pillar and your strategy stays on the hard drive.
    Click here to listen to the full episode.

    Send us Fan Mail

    Your competitors are being named by AI. Are you? One of our clients went from being named in 4 of 50 buyer prompts to 19 in 90 days. Book your free AI visibility check with Chris here. 👉 [Book free AI Visibility Check] 👈

    Subscribe to our newsletter
    The mistakes we see marketers make, every fortnight. 👉 [Subscribe here] 👈

    Follow Chris:
    X, TikTok, LinkedIn
    Follow Will:
    LinkedIn
    Follow The Show:
    TikTok, YouTube


    EP 126: The Emotion Behind Every B2B Purchase Nobody Markets To - Talia Wolf Sep 01, 2026
    Show notes

    Most B2B brands are interchangeable, and Talia Wolf built a career proving it.

    In this episode, Talia Wolf, founder of GetUplift and creator of the emotional targeting framework, explains why most products test identical on every measurable feature, and the two emotional clusters, self-image and social image, that drive buying decisions. She tells the story of the book cover mistake she caught before print, when beta readers including Rand Fishkin and Wil Reynolds told her the professional, generic design was missing her own voice, and how the comic-book redesign became a number one Amazon bestseller in its category. She also explains why she won't let AI write client copy or synthesize research, and why conversion optimization now has to happen everywhere a buyer forms an opinion, not only on a company's own website.

    You will learn the real reason people buy from you, why hypothesis-free A-B testing wastes budget, and why authenticity beats polish once your market looks the same.

    Send us Fan Mail

    Your competitors are being named by AI. Are you? One of our clients went from being named in 4 of 50 buyer prompts to 19 in 90 days. Book your free AI visibility check with Chris here. 👉 [Book free AI Visibility Check] 👈

    Subscribe to our newsletter
    The mistakes we see marketers make, every fortnight. 👉 [Subscribe here] 👈

    Follow Chris:
    X, TikTok, LinkedIn
    Follow Will:
    LinkedIn
    Follow The Show:
    TikTok, YouTube


    EP 125: The PR Launch That Cleared The Building Aug 25, 2026
    Show notes

    A CIPR fellow with nearly six decades in PR says the industry still protects itself from its own scandals.

    In this episode, Robert Minton-Taylor, a CIPR fellow recognised at the institute's 70th anniversary and a 24-year PR lecturer at Leeds Beckett University, argues that no PR professional has ever been sanctioned for their industry's complicity in Grenfell, the Post Office Horizon scandal, the infected blood scandal, or the NHS maternity scandal. He tells the story of the former intern who says he failed her over the Hillsborough police statements, then shares four named mistakes from his own agency career: a grunge band that cleared a client event with a power drill, a hotel bar that served the wrong soft drink to a client, a spelling mistake that nearly cost him his job at one of the world's biggest PR agencies, and a pitch document typo he still gets asked about.

    You will learn why the PR industry still has an accountability problem, and the specific checks he says every account handler needs before anything goes out the door.

    Send us Fan Mail

    Your competitors are being named by AI. Are you? One of our clients went from being named in 4 of 50 buyer prompts to 19 in 90 days. Book your free AI visibility check with Chris here. 👉 [Book free AI Visibility Check] 👈

    Subscribe to our newsletter
    The mistakes we see marketers make, every fortnight. 👉 [Subscribe here] 👈

    Follow Chris:
    X, TikTok, LinkedIn
    Follow Will:
    LinkedIn
    Follow The Show:
    TikTok, YouTube


    EP 124: He Built His Own AI Company Then Shut It Down Aug 18, 2026
    Show notes

    A toxic hire nearly cost him his agency. Then he made a similar mistake again, this time trying to build his own AI instead of renting one.

    In this episode, Roger Hurni, founder and Chief Brand Strategist of Off Madison Ave, whose client roster includes Nike, Wells Fargo, PetSmart, and P.F. Chang's, breaks down the culture-first hiring lesson he learned the hard way, why his team abandoned an in-house AI build for an off-the-shelf tool, and the AI philosophy he wrote for his own staff: expand your options, never let AI replace your judgment. Trained in behavior design under Stanford's BJ Fogg and the author of Outthink, Outperform, he also explains why he believes 90% of LinkedIn is now AI-generated content, and the test he runs on every new hire to separate real thinkers from people who copy and paste AI output.

    You will learn why culture fit can matter more than raw talent, when renting beats building with a new technology, and how to use AI without letting it think for you.

    Send us Fan Mail

    Your competitors are being named by AI. Are you? One of our clients went from being named in 4 of 50 buyer prompts to 19 in 90 days. Book your free AI visibility check with Chris here. 👉 [Book free AI Visibility Check] 👈

    Subscribe to our newsletter
    The mistakes we see marketers make, every fortnight. 👉 [Subscribe here] 👈

    Follow Chris:
    X, TikTok, LinkedIn
    Follow Will:
    LinkedIn
    Follow The Show:
    TikTok, YouTube


    EP 123: Why I Recommended the Man Who Fired Me - John O'Keeffe Aug 11, 2026
    Show notes

    He ran creative for the world's biggest advertising group. Then his own recommendation to the board cost him the job, and he sold every share he owned the same week.

    In this episode, John O'Keeffe explains how he took WPP from a "creative desert" to seven straight years as Creative Holding Company of the Decade, why recommending Mark Read to succeed Martin Sorrell as CEO turned out to be his biggest mistake, and what happened when Read undercut him in front of the entire company. He also makes the case for why AI can execute a creative idea at any scale but cannot originate one, using Compare the Market's meerkat campaign as proof, and reflects on the campaigns he's most proud of, including Keep Walking for Johnnie Walker and an Audi ad voted best in the world.

    You will learn why creative leaders sometimes cost themselves their own jobs through the people they vouch for, what AI can and cannot do in marketing right now, and why standing for a specific idea beats chasing every trend.

    Send us Fan Mail

    Your competitors are being named by AI. Are you? One of our clients went from being named in 4 of 50 buyer prompts to 19 in 90 days. Book your free AI visibility check with Chris here. 👉 [Book free AI Visibility Check] 👈

    Subscribe to our newsletter
    The mistakes we see marketers make, every fortnight. 👉 [Subscribe here] 👈

    Follow Chris:
    X, TikTok, LinkedIn
    Follow Will:
    LinkedIn
    Follow The Show:
    TikTok, YouTube


    EP 122: The Sales Funnel Is a Hundred Years Old and Wrong Aug 04, 2026
    Show notes

    KFC and Weetabix both threw away the most famous slogans in their category, and had to fight their way back to them.

    In this episode, Tom Roach explains how "Finger Lickin' Good" and "Have You Had Your Weetabix" both got dropped while each brand chased fresher creative, and the research and internal persuasion it took to bring them back. He also breaks down why the standard marketing sales funnel misreads how people actually buy, why the von Restorff effect explains why distinctive brands get remembered, and how a hundred-year-old rule about creative quality (95% of everything has always been rubbish) applies directly to the AI content panic gripping the industry today.

    You will learn how to audit your own brand's forgotten assets, why B2B brands default to sameness and how to break out of it, and why "share of model" is becoming the new battleground for brand visibility in an AI-driven search world.

    Send us Fan Mail

    Your competitors are being named by AI. Are you? One of our clients went from being named in 4 of 50 buyer prompts to 19 in 90 days. Book your free AI visibility check with Chris here. 👉 [Book free AI Visibility Check] 👈

    Subscribe to our newsletter
    The mistakes we see marketers make, every fortnight. 👉 [Subscribe here] 👈

    Follow Chris:
    X, TikTok, LinkedIn
    Follow Will:
    LinkedIn
    Follow The Show:
    TikTok, YouTube


    EP 121: I Invented a Category, Sold to Diageo, and Almost Lost It All Jul 28, 2026
    Show notes

    Ben Branson invented an entirely new drinks category from his kitchen. Then a £1 million hole nearly took it all away.

    In this episode, Ben explains how Seedlip, the world's first non-alcoholic spirit, grew twice as fast as the industry standard, and how that growth hid a working capital gap that surfaced mid-flight to Australia. He breaks down how the team traded their way out of the crisis in six months through relationships rather than financial engineering, why he launched straight into Selfridges instead of starting small, and why he chose to publicly embrace a review that called his product "witch's piss."

    You will learn how to spot the hidden financial risk behind fast growth, why polarizing feedback beats indifference when you're creating a new category, and why genuine relationships with customers and suppliers are the real safety net in a crisis.

    Send us Fan Mail

    Your competitors are being named by AI. Are you? One of our clients went from being named in 4 of 50 buyer prompts to 19 in 90 days. Book your free AI visibility check with Chris here. 👉 [Book free AI Visibility Check] 👈

    Subscribe to our newsletter
    The mistakes we see marketers make, every fortnight. 👉 [Subscribe here] 👈

    Follow Chris:
    X, TikTok, LinkedIn
    Follow Will:
    LinkedIn
    Follow The Show:
    TikTok, YouTube


    Previous 1 2 3 4 21 Next

    Related Podcasts

    The GaryVee Audio Experience

    1

    The GaryVee Audio Experience Business
    The Goal Digger Podcast | Top Business and Marketing Podcast for Creatives, Entrepreneurs, and Women in Business

    2

    The Goal Digger Podcast | Top Business and Marketing Podcast for Creatives, Entrepreneurs, and Women in Business Business
    Social Media Marketing Podcast

    3

    Social Media Marketing Podcast Business
    The Amy Porterfield Show

    4

    The Amy Porterfield Show Business
    Marketing School – Digital Marketing and Online Marketing Tips

    5

    Marketing School – Digital Marketing and Online Marketing Tips Business
    Build Your Tribe | Grow Your Business with Social Media

    6

    Build Your Tribe | Grow Your Business with Social Media Business
    footer-logo

    Contact Us

    Toll Free: 844-670-7747

    Links

    • Home
    • Top Charts
    • Networks
    • Apps
    • Independents Podcasts
    • Podcast Advertising
    • Podcast News
    • Contact Us
    • About Us
    • Analytics & Insights

    Stay Connected

      Privacy, Terms of Use & Our Code of Ethics Protecting Content Creators Copyrights