Uncensored CMO

Latest Episodes:

The extraordinary cost of being dull - Peter Field and Adam Morgan Sep 06, 2023

Show notes

Marketing waste is one of the biggest issues facing our industry. So when marketing legends Peter Field and Adam Morgan reached out to me to talk about their new work on the impact of dull advertising on brands, I immediately got them on the podcast.

In this fascinating episode we discuss why you really can’t afford to bore your audience with your ads anymore. What have Adam and Peter learnt over 40 years about the actual cost of dull marketing to businesses, to brands and even to your career?

And for those marketers really hellbent on safety, we discuss the role of danger and a new upcoming mastersclass in how to make the dullest ad ever.

Links

Timestamps

00:00 - Intro
01:13 - Who is Adam Morgan?
02:38 - The best challenger brands
03:08 - Has being a challenger changed?
06:25 - The legacy of the long and short of it
11:01 - Who had the higher ranked Uncensored CMO podcast?
11:45 - How Adam and Peter met
12:26 - The inspiration for the extraordinary cost of dull
15:24 - How are there effective, yet dull campaigns (big budgets is the answer)
19:13 - The System1 Data on the cost of dull
22:41 - Why is advertising so dull?
26:21 - Why are the best marketing organisations trending towards more dull?
27:29 - Making demonstratably unskippable ads
30:55 - The role of danger and constraints in getting to great work
33:05 - The % of B2B ads that are dull and the work The LinkedIn Institute is going to reverse this
35:06 - How dull is approached in different categories
39:01 - Orlando Wood’s current research
41:48 - How will AI affect dullness
45:27 - Which categories are doing a good job of being interesting?
53:57 - Why we need a masterclass for dull

How Lucky Saint created the non-alcoholic beer category - Luke Boase, Founder Aug 30, 2023

Show notes

How do you create a brand in a sub-category where only a handful of major brands operate a product line, from scratch, having never worked in the industry before? Well, Luke Boase did exactly that when he founded Lucky Saint, the worlds first alcohol free only brand. From finding a brewing partner to create an enjoyable alcohol free beer, raising money from investors to almost losing the business during COVID, this episode has it all.

Timestamps:

00:00 - Intro
01:23 - Life before Lucky Saint for Luke
06:02 - Coming up with the Lucky Saint idea
08:28 - Creating a new category
09:59 - Why do non-alcoholic only?
11:36 - Convincing breweries to get on board
13:56 - Finding the perfect brewing partner
17:07 - The ones who rejected Lucky Saint
18:33 - The advantages of being a category newcomer
20:27 - When did Luke go all in on Lucky Saint
20:55 - Raising money
24:35 - Starting over with the brand
29:18 - Creating a non alcoholic beer that actually tastes good
31:08 - Being a single beer brand
33:15 - Some of Lucky Saint’s investors
35:29 - Ad execs on the investor team
37:07 - Working with Rankin
40:06 - Naming the brand Lucky Saint
41:35 - How Covid almost wiped them out
47:25 - Creating their own pub “The Lucky Saint”
50:06 - Alcoholic vs non-alcoholic beverages
51:46 - Convincing people to try alcohol free beer
57:21 - The secrets to Lucky Saint’s success

Orlando Wood on Advertising Aug 24, 2023

Show notes

Long time returning guest Orlando Wood is back in the hot seat, talking all things advertising. We look back on his two IPA bestselling books, Lemon and Look Out, to discuss how the two sides of the brain attend to the world differently and how this impacts advertising both on TV and digital. We also discuss some of Orlando's favourite recent adverts and why he likes them.

Timestamps:

00:00 - Intro
01:32 - Who is Orlando Wood
02:50 - Orlando’s latest work
03:54 - Is Orlando only talking about digital?
05:18 - How to build brands through digital
07:55 - How can advertisers achieve an effective message
10:26 - "moto e azione"
13:35 - Why Ian McGilchrist’s work was so profound for Orlando
14:25 - Right-brain vs left-brain in advertising
21:00 - Trends with left and right brained advertising
22:24 - Is the change in advertising due to social media?
24:13 - The impact of creativity on attention
26:29 - How the choice of media can impact ESOV
27:22 - Is humour making a comeback?
31:32 - Fluent devices
35:13 - Orlando’s favourite ads
39:31 - Jon’s favourite recent ad
43:31 - Orlando’s new course

"Who Gives a Crap" on DTC vs retail, small budgets and their first TV campaign - Emily Kraftman, Managing Director UK Aug 09, 2023

Show notes

Emily Kraftman is the Managing Director for UK & Europe for a brand who are disrupting a category no one else thought to, toilet paper. That brand is, of course, Who Gives A Crap. Their quirky nature, fun packaging and strong stance on sustainability are helping them make a dent in a big-brand dominated category. Emily has had quite the career, starting out working on Stella Artois, before leaving the corporate life to join a young Deliveroo to head up their "Rider Marketing" division. She's since made the switch from Marketing Director to Managing Director, learning to deal with all the challenges that come with the broader remit.

Watch Who Gives A Crap new TV campaign "Uncrap the World'

Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
01:07 - Dealing with the challenges of a unique brand name
03:26 - How Emily got into marketing
05:27 - Emily’s time working on Stella Artois
08:26 - How successful was Stella Artois’ innovation in cider?
10:37 - From corporate brand to joining Deliveroo
12:24 - Not fitting in after a career switch
14:37 - Challenges of going from a safe work environment to a crazy one
17:39 - The challenges of such fast growth
19:40 - Brand positioning in a fast growing market
21:35 - From Deliveroo to Who Gives a Crap
24:13 - Who Gives a Crap Backstory
27:17 - Why go into the toilet paper market
30:24 - Power of purpose in marketing
32:54 - From DTC to retail
35:13 - Growing with small budgets
37:20 - Why B2B can help when you have small budgets
39:01 - Launching their first TV campaign
42:22 - Transitioning from Marketing Director to Managing Director

What the marketing industry is truly terrified of - Tom Goodwin Aug 02, 2023

Show notes

The return of Uncensored CMO podcast legend Tom Goodwin. In this final flourishing episode recorded from Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, in what has become our annual chinwag, we riff on everything from how advertising thinking can build big businesses to why marketeers invest in celebrities, despite the data not backing the value equation. What would our ideal Cannes festival look like? What would we do differently next year…. and where? And why we want to bring back the Tango Campaign!

If you want more Tom, we'll be holding a LIVE Uncensored CMO at The Curzon Soho (not Scunthorpe) with the man himself, on 6th September 2023, discussing the 10 Biggest Myths in the Marketing Industry. Grab your tickets here -> https://system1group.com/uncensored-cmo-live

Timestamps:

00:00 - Intro
00:46 - What’s Tom been up to in the past year?
04:30 - The state of Cannes
06:10 - AI has it’s place
07:22 - The power of re-using good creative
15:26 - How AI can solve customer exeperience
17:43 - Catergories that should be in Cannes
19:43 - The Zero Budget Category
21:11 - Cannes in Margate in February
22:23 - Most fascinating relevations from the pod
24:35 - The marketing bottom
28:54 - The best work in Cannes
31:10 - Working with budget constraints
33:03 - When to invest in innovation
34:16 - What Orlando Wood tells us about how art history can inform great communication strategy
36:09 - Why are great adverts only made for the SuperBowl and Christmas…. And then not run for long enough?
37:48 - Should you use characters or celebrities in your advertising?
40:06 - Most impressive thing in Cannes
45:06 - The Giant Cheeto at Cannes
48:22 - Why we’ve stopped having fun in advertising
54:00 - What will we be talking about at Cannes next year?

Links:

Selling Uncommon, the death of advertising and a British original - Nils Leonard Jul 27, 2023

Show notes

Nils Leonard is returning to the Uncensored CMO podcast after selling his agency, Uncommon to Havas. We discuss what's next, why he feels it's an investment not an acquisition, what AI means for creativity, culture and more.

Timestamps
00:00:00 - Intro
00:01:11 - Selling Uncommon to Havas
00:02:10 - What does partnering with Havas allow them to do?
00:08:22 - How did the team react?
00:09:50 - Expanding to the US
00:12:22 - What’s changing?
00:14:42 - Part 2: What’s new with Uncommon?
00:16:33 - Keeping creativity alive
00:19:20 - Is advertising dead?
00:21:21 - Getting Chat GPT to write a new British Airways Strapline
00:22:49 - Chat GPT writes an ad for British Airways
00:24:46 - What car brand Nils would most like to work on
00:27:01 - The work Uncommon actually did for British Airways
00:28:52 - The importance of advertising internally
00:29:59 - Making 512 different productions for BA
00:32:13 - The power of simplicity
00:34:26 - Making out of home powerful
00:35:22 - What does AI mean for creativity?
00:38:09 - Do CMOs understand the value of creativity?
00:43:58 - Biggest problems we as an industry need to solve
00:47:27 - Demonstrating the value of creativity
00:50:57 - Creating culture in a growing agency
00:55:11 - Power of generosity
00:56:26 - Uncommon’s “faff tax”
00:58:45 - The world’s #1 podcast by Jon Evans
00:59:59 - 2 Uncommon stories
01:02:51 - What what Nils do if he wasn’t running Uncommon?

Sir Martin Sorrell on the 5 biggest ways AI will change marketing Jul 20, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, I am talking to one of the titans of our industry, someone who I think has had a bigger impact on our industry than perhaps anybody else. He is Sir Martin Sorrell founder of WPP, the biggest holding company in the world.

He has since gone on to set up S4 capital, so now finds himself in the challenger position rather than the dominant player. I wanted to talk to Sir Martin about what he sees as the biggest challenges facing our industry today and what are the disruptions coming down the line that are going to shape our industry in the future?

What's his advice to CMOs? What does CMOs need to care about and what should they be doing? What skills they need to deal with the challenges coming at them in the world today. And because this is a special edition recorded live at the Cannes Lions Festival, I wanted to ask him about AI.

Timestamps

00:00 - Intro
01:11 - Background
07:18 - How do you assess the state of creativity now?
12:02 - what should CMO’s be concerned about?
16:08 - How real a game changer is AI?
18:34 - Do we lose creativity with AI?
26:19 - What skills do marketing teams need to make the most of AI?
29:01 - What will be the biggest disruption to our industry in the next 10 years?
32:08 - What advice would Sir Martin give his younger self?
39:35 - Ethical considerations about how advertising uses our personal data
41:26 - Biggest decision Sir Martin regrets making
43:01 - What was the secret to the growth of WPP?
45:33 - Why start again after exiting WPP?
46:21 - How close is Succession to the Murdochs?
47:34 - Tell me something you’ve never told anyone
48:50 - What would Sir Martin’s fantasy agency look like?

MAD//Fest LIVE - how to ride the storm with Britain’s leading retail CMO’s Jul 14, 2023

Show notes

In a special live from MAD//Fest edition of Uncensored CMO, I'm joined by some of the country's top CMO's on a panel about riding the storm in retail. Very’s Jessica Myers, Alex Rogerson from Morrisons, Adam Zavalis (formerly Aldi) and Pete Markey from Boots join me on the panel.

But, ladies and gentlemen, there is more! This is a double header of Uncensored CMO, as I also caught up with some people live on the floor at MAD//Fest, including Heineken CMO Michael Gillane and revealing some new research from System1, JCDecaux and Specsavers.

Enjoy this bonus, bumper edition of Uncensored CMO.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro
01:06 MAD//Fest Live
22:46 Break
23:06 Michael Gillane
30:33 System1, Specsavers & JCDecaux
39:55 Outro

From selling Tea to the British to Latin America's largest e-commerce business - Sean Summers, Mercado Libre Jul 12, 2023

Show notes

In a career that's spanned selling Tea to the British as Marketing Director at Twinings, to now CMO at the largest e-commerce business in Latin America, Sean Summers knows a thing or two about marketing (at all levels). I catch up with him at Cannes to discuss his career, what it's like scaling a business from $300m to $10b in revenue and what he thinks of the latest trends like AI.

Timestamps

00:00 - Intro
01:04 - Why is Sean in Cannes?
02:25 - What creates an award winning campaign?
03:21 - How to make the most out of your agency
06:41 - What is being a CMO actually like?
10:01 - Marketing language / business jargon
11:35 - The awful 360 campaign
14:10 - Sean’s biggest failure
20:16 - A tough time: running marketing teams in the UK
23:25 - What is Mercardo Libre?
26:08 - From $300m to $10b
28:49 - Marketing for Mercado Libre
31:36 - Working with very constrained budgets
34:46 - Managing a multi-faceted company
39:57 - Becoming a media owner
42:08 - Learnings from running a media business
44:19 - The importance of building an online brand offline
46:16 - How the pandemic helped them
48:06 - Sean’s thoughts on AI

Marketing Britain’s largest supermarket in a cost of living crisis - Alessandra Bellini, Tesco Jul 05, 2023

Show notes

Allessandra Bellini is the Chief Customer Officer at Tesco, the largest supermarket in the UK. Previously she's held roles at agencies, before 21 years at Unilever rising up through the ranks to some very senior positions. Tesco are a huge household brand to represent in the UK, and Allessandra and her team have created some exceptional work over the years, including the well received "Food Love Stories" campaign. We talk all about those campaigns, how they scored on the System1 database and what it takes to run such a large brand.

Links

Timestamps:

00:00 - Intro
01:13 - Starting out in advertising
03:18 - From creative agency to joining corporate Unilever
05:24 - What do you learn in 21 years at Unilever?
06:32 - Most challenging and most proud moment at Unilever
08:16 - The secret behind uncomfortable conversations
10:06 - What is Allessandra most proud of from her time at Unilever?
11:26 - From Unilever to Tesco
13:28 - How to get close to the customer in such a large organisation
15:51 - What are the changed
18:15 - Downtrading and uptrading
20:44 - The power of Clubcard Data
24:57 - Cost of living crisis: every little helps, right?
27:47 - How to communicate price
30:35 - How much to spend on brand vs activation
32:14 - Doing both long and short term advertising
33:41 - Food love stories
41:11 - Ad 1: Food Love Stories: Eid Mubarak
45:31 - Ad 2: Sue’s Crispy Pork Noodles
49:43 - Ad 3: Helen’s Homecoming Lamb
51:45 - Ad 4: Barbecue
54:40 - Being president of the Ad Association

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