Uncensored CMO

Latest Episodes:

Indistractable: the marketer's secret weapon - Nir Eyal, Part 1 Jan 19, 2023

Show notes

Nir Eyal writes, consults, and teaches about the intersection of psychology, technology, and business. Nir previously taught as a Lecturer in Marketing at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford.

Nir co-founded and sold two tech companies since 2003 and was dubbed by The M.I.T. Technology Reviewas, “The Prophet of Habit-Forming Technology.” Bloomberg Businessweek wrote, “Nir Eyal is the habits guy. Want to understand how to get app users to come back again and again? Then Eyal is your man.”

He is the author of two bestselling books, Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products and Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life.

What we covered in this episode:

What motivated Nir to write Indistractable
The one topic that hadn’t been written about
Focusing on what works in practice and not just in theory
How the book helped work, life, family and health
Why we get in our own way
What it’s like to see your own book on the shelf
Who Nir really wrote the book
Why yellow is the best colour for a book and podcast
Understanding what causes distraction
The role of intent in separating traction and distraction
Why you shouldn’t write a to-do list
Focus on what is important rather than easy
How work tasks can also be distraction
The internal and external triggers of distraction
The shocking 90% of distractions that come from within us
How we have to master our internal triggers
The secret hack of planning our time rather than to-do’s
The myth of will power of a depleting resource and the one group for whom its true
Why you should avoid seeing yourself as a victim
Changing the narrative we tell about ourselves
Living to your own values rather than other peoples
Making time for traction by turning values into time
Being generous with your money and stingy with your time
The importance of planning time for fun and interacting with people
Dividing work into reflective vs reactive work
Using your calender rather than email to determine your day
The tyranny of the to-do list
How to a get to a higher level of team productivity
Using communication tools like a hot-tub
How to manage your boss
The role of culture in supporting its people to be Indistractable
How BCG changed their business culture
Work hard and go home – the lesson from Slack
Why focus is the superpower of the century
How to approach meetings
Why 80% of meetings have no agenda
The surprising number for the optimum number of people in a brainstorm
The only reason to have a meeting
The homework required before every meeting

Mark Ritson's uncensored review of the best ads of 2022 Jan 04, 2023

Show notes

Mark Ritson is back on the Uncensored CMO podcast, and he's more uncensored than ever. This episode brings his ever candid thoughts on the best ads of 2022, who f*cked up and who he's been most impressed by. Strap in for Ritson's Review of 2022.

Watch Uncensored CMO on YouTube here.

What we covered in this conversation:

Biggest marketing cock up of 2022
The 2022 new entry on Mark’s Marketing Bulls**t Top 10
The biggest surprise of 2022
Which brand impressed him the most in 2022
Who taught him the most in 2022
The short term pay off of long term brand building
The challenge of stagflation in 2023
Why pricing is a big opportunity for Marketers
The importance of framing and communicating price
Have we passed the peak Christmas Ad yet?
The strategy behind Aldi’s successful Christmas Ad
The power of Fluent devices to connect short & long
The under leveraged power of music to drive effectiveness
How Coke Holidays are coming owned Christmas
How doing less leads to more
The one time a client changed agency and kept the creative the same
Jon & Mark review the best ads of 2022 on the System1 database
How Cadbury hit 5 Star in only 10sec with hardly any production
The power of consistency for Cadbury
How the emotional response varies by category
How Kelloggs owned the breakfast category
What Mark learnt about branding whilst writing articles for the BA magazine
How Go turkey made the Top 5 but remained forgettable
How to value the impact of the music
Mark and Jon create the perfect advert
How agencies could guarantee a pitch win with System1
When Jon lost out on a Hollywood Director
Why marketing is so often seen as a cost not an opportunity
Jon reveals the No.1 Ad of 2022 (excluding Christmas Ads)
Jon reveals the Top 5 Advertisers of 2022
How Magnum reflected older people so well in their Advertising
Marks most famous MW column on Cannes and how it compares to System1 data
Jon reveals the No.1 Advertiser of 2022
Why simple beats clever every time
Brands are tiny and un-important in consumers lives

Making iconic high street retailer, Boots, relevant again - Pete Markey, Boots Dec 12, 2022

Show notes

What does it take to be the CMO of an iconic British high-street retailer, like Boots? Pete Markey shares his valuable wisdom and insights from a career at the very top.

What we covered in this episode:

The difficult second album making Boots Christmas Ad
Rediscovering the joy of Hall & Oates
Why Retailers are so good at making Christmas ads
Making people feel more festive
The importance of escaping reality at Christmas
How Boots landed on Joy as a proposition for Boots
The purpose of making gifting easier and more joyful
Being CMO of a high st retailer during covid & recession
How Boots is using pricing and Advantage card to help customers
Going from ‘good old Boots’ to ‘oh wow Boots’
How Boots is using advertising to reflect the full diversity of society
The importance of telling one persons story well
Wising up and showing older people in a better light
How ‘Summer be ready’ campaign reflected older people as part of the story
The role of purpose and whether it can also deliver profit
Never drink the kool aid on your own purpose
How to tell your brand story internally as well as externally
Making the finance team your best friend
Being shortlisted for Brand of the year in two awards
The power of Boots advantage card as a media channel
Meeting the challenge of Black Friday
Being on the Campaign and Marketing Week Top 100 lists
Impressing the kids with a Hollywood style photoshoot
The secret to being a Top 100 CMO
How the reality of being a CMO is different to the perception
Creating the framework for success and unleashing the talent
The hidden P’s of Politics and Persuasion
The importance of non-marketing skill set for a CMO
Pete’s advice to the aspiring CMO – be curious, get trained & build your network
How Jon got a job that was never advertised
The hidden power of your network
What you should do right now to build your network
How Jon accidentally ended up doing a speech at the wrong event
The 100 day plan to meet 100 people
Pete’s aim to terrify himself via improvised comedy

Lessons from Aldi's IPA Gold winning Kevin the Carrot - McCann Nov 30, 2022

Show notes

As Christmas ad season is in full swing, I speak to the planning and strategy team from McCann Manchester, the agency that created Aldi’s Kevin the Carrot.

What we cover in this episode:

Why Darren and Jamie bring a life size Kevin’s to meetings
The benefit of doing strategy as a pair
Convincing a sceptical customer to shop at Aldi for Christmas
Taking inspiration from John Lewis the reigning king of Christmas
How the humble carrot being the big idea
Selling the idea into Aldi
Why they didn’t want to recreate a brand new campaign every year
The challenge to beat Kevin every year
Inspiration from light entertainment and why’s its harder than it looks
Sticking to what works whilst always finding ways to keep it fresh
How to balance Christmas, a cost-of-living crisis & Christmas
The importance of entertainment even in tough times
Jamie & Darren rate this years crop of Christmas ads
Beating the benchmark Coke Truck Index
How Kevin successfully leverages the Long and Short of it
Using System1 testing to screen for early stage ideas
Why the simplicity of the System1 metrics are so important
The case for testing a 4 min long animatic
How media is like renting a stage upon which to put on a show
The astonishing business results delivered by the Kevin campaign
Proving that being cheaper doesn’t mean you can’t be better
The power of combining fame and consistency
Wear in vs wear out on the System1 Test Your Ad database
Why we are over familiar with our own work vs the audience
How little attention advertising actually gets
The power of jokes you know the punchline to
Being lovably pirates rather than the navy
The powerful purpose being Aldi’s mission to make good food affordable

Advertising creativity in times of crisis Nov 21, 2022

Show notes

The most returned guest in Uncensored CMO history, Orlando Wood, is back. He made a brief cameo last episode but I wanted to dive deeper into creative styles that work in difficult times and if you should re-use old creative.

What we covered in this episode:

How Hovis proved the power of wear-in with an almost 5 Star
Creative inspiration from an ad that is almost 50 years old
How the romantic era is reflected in the Hovis ad
The role of the right-brain in capturing attention
What covid taught us about creative wear-in vs wear-out
The accidental creative experiment that occurred during covid
Proof that ‘wear-out’ is a marketing myth
The difference in campaign length between the US and UK
How right-brained features perform better in recession
Why Christmas 2022 Advertising is the best yet
The role of nostalgia in difficult times
How Kevin the carrot delivers consistent 5 Star success
Great creative shouldn’t just be for Christmas
The power of fluent devices in advertising and re-using old work
Orlando’s top 3 tips for investing in a recession
How good advertising can support price increases in recession
How brand building helps you come out of recession better
Orlando’s top 3 tips for making creative work in a recession
Why focussing on character, incident and place make effective creative
The role of humour in difficult times

Ritson on Recession: what every marketer needs to know Nov 14, 2022

Show notes

Storm clouds continue to gather over the global economy. With the latest quarterly UK GDP figures released on November 11 and the US and other parts of the world also bracing for a recession, this special recording of System1’s webinar dives into how brands can navigate tough times.

However, tough times also bring opportunity. As the late great F1 driver Ayrton Senna once said, ‘You cannot overtake 15 cars in sunny weather… but you can when it’s raining.’

In possibly the most comprehensive study of recession, Nitin Nohria found that 9% of companies come out of a recession in better shape than they went in.

We're joined by Professor Mark Ritson, brand consultant and creator of the Mini MBA in Marketing, and Orlando Wood, author of IPA best-selling books Lemon and Look Out, to understand how brands should approach this challenging period.

WATCH: The ad Orlando referenced: Hovis - Boy on a Bike

What we covered in this episode:

Which brands won and lost during covid
Why the CEO expects the CMO to step up in a crisis
The 4 issues that hold businesses back in a crisis
Why marketers must do their market orientation and get their strategy in place first
The over-whelming evidence that supports investing in a recession
What happens when brands go dark and why small brands suffer most
How ESOV can be more achievable in recession and what it means for the long term
The very strong business case for investment
The role of operational efficiency and innovation to help come out strongly
How to get your pricing strategy and communication right
Whether you should be changing your communication
Inspiration from a campaign that is as good today as it was 50 years ago
How right brained creative features are connecting better in recession
Why wear out is a myth based on thousands of ads on the System1 database
What we can learn from the current Christmas Adverts
The role of character fluent devices to make your advert more memorable
Top 3 reasons to invest in creative right now
Top 3 ways to make creative emotionally engagement and effective
Mark and Orlando answer some tough questions
Why marketing professors don’t teach how marketing actually works

How entertainment, brand mascots and creative testing delivered a winner for Tourism Australia - Susan Coghill Nov 08, 2022

Show notes

Susan Coghill is the Marketing Director at Tourism Australia and they've got one of the best performing ads on the System1 database, with their new campaign "G'Day". But this wasn't without taking some risks, such as introducing a new brand mascot, getting high profile stars to feature and producing a 9 minute film.

Watch the ad here.

What we covered in this episode:

Why Susan has the best job in the World
How to set KPI’s for a tourism brand
Why Tourism Australia kept advertising through the pandemic
What System1 learnt about advertising during covid
Winning the only Effie for a travel company during lockdown
Planning ‘Come and say G’day’ a new global campaign to announce Australia is open again
Which distinctive assets are the most Australian
Creating Ruby Roo the new brand mascot
What we can learn from the Entertainment industry
Putting on a show rather than selling
Why it’s important to remember you are not the audience
Making a new version of Men At Work’s ‘Down Under’
The role of celebrities in making the ad more distinctive
Justifying spending $125m on the new campaign
How System1 testing gave confidence to make creative decisions
Getting a 4 Star in the animatic testing
How to reassure your stakeholder the creative will work
Inspiration from the best Christmas adverts
Adapting creative for different markets
The long term plan for Ruby
The decline of fluent devices and why you should use them
Whether Ruby will appear as a character in real life
Why we should all be more like Churchill the dog
Revealing the official countdown of the UK’s best advertisers

How the world’s best leaders lead with speed - Sophie Devonshire Nov 01, 2022

Show notes

Sophie is the CEO of The Marketing Society and the author of Superfast: Lead at Speed, in which she offers insight into energy management, purposeful leadership, and keeping pace with breakneck innovation. She is also a passionate advocate of flex work as the future of effective companies, and regularly speaks about innovative approaches to balance business and family life. Her career began at Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola Great Britain, Interbrand, and then Leo Burnett Dubai. She went on to become CEO of The Caffeine Partnership, an innovative consultancy helping leaders with purpose and pace. Most recently, in July 2020, Sophie became CEO of The Marketing Society, a global community of progressive senior marketers whose purpose is to empower brave leaders.

What we covered in this episode:

Why Sophie chose a career in marketing
The loneliness of the marketing leader
How the Marketing Society is creating a community
The importance of celebrating marketing's role in creating change
What inspired Superfast
The exhaustion that comes from the speed of information
How the best leaders manage to set the right pace
How to write a book and manage the day job
Which books inspired Sophie the most
The importance of managing your energy
The SHED technique to energy management
Understanding what energises your team
The times when you shouldn't go fast
The power of strategic laziness
How a clear business purpose can drive pace
How Lucozade Sport created a clear purpose around Made to Move
How the world's most successful business people make decisions
Why being too fast and too slow can be dangerous
Why being closer to your customer makes decision making easier
The importance of timing
How Jon failed to kill the QR code
Sophie's guide to whether the Metaverse will become a success or not
Why it's what you do with good luck of bad luck that really matters
What's next for the Marketing Society

Why reach-based media planning is broken and how to fix it - Karen Nelson-Field Oct 24, 2022

Show notes

Professor Karen Nelson-Field is Founder and CEO of Amplified Intelligence, and Professor of Media Innovation at The University of Adelaide. Karen is a globally acclaimed researcher in media science, is a regular speaker on the major circuits, including Cannes and SXSW, and has secured research funding from some of the world’s largest advertisers. Her first book, Viral Marketing: the science of sharing, set the record straight on hunting for ‘viral success’. Her most recent book The Attention Economy and How Media Works explains the stark reality of human attention processing in advertising. Karen’s commercial work combines tech and innovative methodological design to look closely at attention metrics in a disrupting digital economy.

Listen to my first episode with Karen from Cannes.

What we covered in this conversation:

Reaction to Cannes Lion Triple Jeopardy talk
Karen’s career journey to now
Making the jump from Academia to Business owner
Why not all reach is created equal
How few people actually pay attention to your advert
The variability of time in view vs actual attention based on platform
The technology that allows attention to be measured
How the ESOV and reach based model are broken
The 2.5second rule and how memory is created
How repetition of advertising helps in low attention platforms
How attention has an elasticity based on the platform
The role of creative in attention rich platforms
The importance of adapting your creative based on the attention of the platform
How to approach media planning with attention in mind
Will wearable technology help improve attention measurement
Karen’s response to Byron’s recent comments on attention
What level of push back the focus on attention is getting
What’s coming next for Amplified Intelligence

Why all car adverts are the same - Kirsten Stagg, Skoda Oct 12, 2022

Show notes

Now, a topic in this episode very close to my heart. Why are car ads all so bad? I spoke with Kirsten Stagg from Skoda, who's the UK Marketing Director and has made some pretty good ads herself. In fact, Skoda are responsible for the best ad on the System1 database. We also talk a lot about the move to electric vehicles, the biggest revolution since the combustion engine. How do we get more people into electric vehicles over from petrol? And what are the car industry doing to save the planet? So, no shortage of big questions in this episode.

What we covered in this episode:

Jon explains his failure to get a job in automotive marketing
How Kirsten got a job in the automotive industry despite not owning a car
How you actually pronounce Skoda and why they changed the use of it
Why VW changed their approach to brand building based on how people choose cars
Kirsten’s favourite VW advert of all time
Jon puts Kirsten on the spot about why all car ads look the same
Local insights vs global execution
The thinking behind ‘it’s a Skoda. Honest’
Why the Skoda cake advert is the best in the category
A ‘driver’s best friend’ and how Skoda inverted the relationship between car and dog
The biggest disruption in the automotive industry since the combustion engine was invented
Jon explains how he ended up meeting the director of HR at Daimler Benz who turned him down
How Mercedes have already made their last V8 engine
The role of concept cars in gauging potential customer interest
The barriers to EV adoption and how to overcome them
Kirsten gives the pitch for making the switch to an EV
How the EV is changing people’s brand perception and encouraging switching
Why very long-standing agency relationships have helped ensure strong creative work
Top tips for getting the best creative work from your agency
Why you should work with Directors who have low egos
The best ads Jon ever made were with up-and-coming Directors

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