The marketing world has been dominated by the recent Jaguar rebrand. It's split opinion in the industry with many criticising the bold new approach with Jaguar's move to electrification. Rory Sutherland may be best positioned to give his thoughts on the change, as a six-time Jaguar owner and behavioural science expert. Rory comes at the rebrand with a more positive spin, suggesting that Jaguar needed to make a bold change in the new wave of electrification to save it's dying brand, and many of the critics have never owned a Jaguar and likely never will. As always, chatting with Rory is a lot of fun with many uncensored opinions.

In the first of a two part special on one of my favourite challenger brands of all time, Tony’s Chocolonely, I speak with their Chief Chocolonely (CEO), Douglas Lamont. Douglas is an expert in Challenger Brands, having previously led Innocent Smoothie for 15 years, guiding them through their acquisition by Coca-Cola and subsequent scaling. In this episode, we'll explore the delicate balance between maintaining a strong mission and driving business growth. Douglas also shares insights into Tony's dedicated efforts to eradicate child labor, pay fair wages, and maintain transparency in their cocoa sourcing, all while making their chocolate appealing and fun for consumers. Tune in next week for an interview with Tony's Dean of Dopeness, Sadira E. Furlow (aka their Chief Brand Officer), to find out exactly what it takes to grow a brand like Tony's. Timestamps 00:00 - Start 01:38 - Douglas’ journey to CEO at Innocent Smoothies 06:36 - Lessons on how to scale up at Innocent 12:47 - Why Coke kept Innocent independent 15:03 - Innocent’s approach to launching new products 21:52 - Why Douglas moved to Tony’s Chocolonely 24:22 - Tony’s Chocolonely origin story 28:29 - Why is Tony’s chocolate so good 29:42 - The B2B side of Tony’s Chocolonely 32:56 - Is it more expensive to be a change brand? 34:03 - Balancing a serious mission with a fun brand 35:53 - Why Tony’s is so transparent 41:48 - Tony’s international expansion 44:38 - Challenges of being in the biggest retailer in the US 47:35 - Lessons as a CMO 51:33 - Creating the culture at Tony’s

In this episode, we dive into the fascinating world of digital retail and YouTube with our special guest, Sophie Neary, Retail MD at Google. We explore studies comparing rational and emotional advertising, uncover the power of YouTube in capturing audience attention, and discuss the vital role of creativity in ad success, even in the age of AI. Sophie shares insights from her extensive career, including her pivotal role in transforming Boots' digital presence and launching successful campaigns like Fenty beauty. We'll also cover trends shaping the future of retail, such as the impact of Cyber Monday falling in December for the first time in five years and retailers leveraging "Fake Friday" to boost profits. Additionally, we'll touch on the evolving dynamics of YouTube creators, the significance of emotional engagement in content, and innovative advertising strategies. Plus, we'll delve into the limitless curiosity driving the continuous evolution of Google Search and the role of AI in shaping marketing strategies. Timestamps 00:00 - Intro 00:46 - Sophie’s career history 04:12 - Sophie’s time at Jack Wills 06:14 - Sophie’s job at Boots 09:26 - Top 2 retail trends from Google Search 11:50 - How Google Search has evolved over the years 18:12 - How to take advantage of insights from search 23:10 - What Google Trends tells us about Black Friday 29:51 - How retailers can go up against Amazon 31:48 - Is YouTube going to replace TV? 37:01 - Trends in formats for YouTube, short vs long 41:35 - How YouTube empowers creators (Chicken Shop Date) 47:19 - How advertisers can make the most out of YouTube 52:36 - Advice on how to grow a podcast on YouTube 55:00 - The greatest gift AI can give to humanity

In this episode, we're going to be talking about Compound Creativity, a new report by System1 in partnership with the IPA showing how being consistent with your creative compounds over time. I'm speaking with the author of the report, Andrew Tindall, who explains the core facets of the report and shares some fascinating statistics on the impact of creative consistency. And in a double bill, I'm also joined also joined by Dom Dwight, from Yorkshire Tea, and Vickie Ridley, from their partner agency Lucky Generals. Yorkshire Tea have been putting the principles of compound creativity to practice over many years and have been hugely successful as a result. So not only are we talking about the data, we're also talking about the practice. Download the Compound Creativity report here. Part 1 with Andrew Tindall 00:00 - Intro 00:58 - Launching the Compound Creativity report 01:35 - Coming up with the right name for Compound Creativity 02:52 - The building blocks of consistency 05:13 - The value of being consistent 08:04 - How compounding helps wear in 09:25 - Power of fluent devices 12:14 - Collaborating with the IPA for the business effects data 15:00 - Don’t fire your agency 16:39 - The 5 most consistent brands Part 2 with Dom Dwight and Vickie Ridley of Yorkshire Tea 18:29 - Intro to Lucky Generals and Yorkshire Tea 19:25 - Dom Dwight’s history with Yorkshire Tea 22:28 - Where did the “doing things proper” idea originate 25:31 - Narrowing 17 ideas down to 3 26:19 - How to use celebrities well in advertising 29:57 - Yorkshire Tea Ad with Sean Bean 32:06 - Yorkshire Tea Ad with Kaiser Chiefs 38:03 - How does the campaign work across channels 42:24 - Key to a successful client agency relationship 48:37 - The results of Yorkshire Tea’s compounding creativity 52:56 - Advice to clients to get the most out of their agency

Mark Ritson is back on the podcast for a review of the most read stories this year. We debate if Liquid Death is more than just water in a can, why Nike’s focus on DTC was a mistake and what we can all learn from KitKat’s perfect positioning. Recorded in a pub in London, expect some uncensored opinions from everyone’s favourite marketing professor. 00:00 - Start 05:40 - Mark #5: Brand purpose doesn’t need a commercial excuse 14:13 - Jon #5: Liquid death article 21:15 - Mark #4: There's no such thing as performance branding 25:47 - Jon #4: Nike Winning isn’t for everybody 29:07 - Mark #3: KitKat's perfect positioning 34:33 - Jon #3: Compounding interest, relationships and creativity 39:55 - Mark #2: Why Liquid Death are running into trouble 45:42 - Jon #2: Outrage is the new s*x in marketing 48:32 - Ritson #1: Nike’s biggest mistake 52:44 - Jon #1: Airbnb’s focus on brand

Chris Baker is an award-winning advertising and social change strategist turned entrepreneur. He is the Founder & CEO of Serious Tissues, a toilet roll brand that fights climate change and deforestation by planting trees with every sale. Over 1.2m trees have been planted in just three years. He is also the Co-Founder of Change Please, a coffee brand that has helped hundreds of homeless people off the streets by training them as baristas, and is available in 23 countries. Change Please was named the World’s Leading Social Enterprise in 2018 and in Marketing Week’s 100 Most Disruptive Brands in the World. He has spent 20 years working on the world’s biggest brands including Unilever, Pepsico, Boots, Sky and Alpro whilst winning over 100 strategic and creative awards along the way. Find out more about Chris' book, Obsolete, here: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/obsolete-9781399416658/ 00:00 - Intro 02:09 - The premise of his book 04:27 - Why Chris called the book Obsolete 06:41 - Making positive change with small businesses 18:32 - Being inspired by change brands 21:53 - How to win against established brands 27:03 - The advantages of purpose 29:31 - How Chris started Change Please 32:48 - Measuring the impact of Change Please 36:28 - How change brands can be distinctive 40:14 - Why Tony’s Chocolonely are making an impact 42:06 - Putting change ahead of profits 47:06 - Applying a change mindset to other industries 49:37 - Making an impact commercially and with purpose 52:55 - How Serious Tissues started 55:53 - The power of partnerships 57:49 - Chris’ biggest takeaway from writing Obsolete

Elfried Samba is CEO of Butterfly 3ffect. Samba immigrated from D.R. Congo to the UK at age 14 before rising to prominence in the Social media space through his work at global fitness brand, Gymshark. Timestamps 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:52 - Why Elfried Samba wears a hat 00:03:49 - Elfried’s dissertation on social media 00:10:23 - The skills most in demand in 2024 00:12:36 - Elfried’s early work at Gymshark 00:21:11 - The challenges of scaling up 00:26:23 - Elfried’s approach to personal growth 00:36:01 - How Elfried approaches finding talented people 00:41:59 - Why Elfried left Gymshark 00:49:26 - Scaling through influencers and community 01:00:52 - Power of personal brands

Mark Ritson is back and has convinced me to record in a pub, talking about the top 10 beer ads of all time (while drinking beer) - what could go wrong? We break down some classic ads from Heineken & Stella, Super Bowl hits from Michelob & Sam Adams and round off drinking Britain's favourite pint. Timestamps 00:00 - Intro 00:27 - The idea for the beer podcast 04:16 - Ad 10: Budweiser 08:24 - Ad 9: Budweiser 10:43 - Ad 8: Heineken 13:56 - Ad 7: Stella Artois 18:30 - Ad 6: Corona 21:46 - Ad 5: Michelob Ultra 25:17 - Ad 4: Carlsberg 29:10 - Ad 3: Sam Adams 36:36 - Ad 2: Guinness 46:05 - Ad 1: Heineken Top 10 Ranking (with System1 Test Your Ad Report) HEINEKEN DANIEL CRAIG VS JAMES BOND (5.6) GUINNESS IN THIS TOGETHER (5.3) BOSTON BEER SAM ADAMS YOUR COUSIN FROM BOSTON (4.9) CARLSBERG THE SEAL (4.9) MICHELOB ULTRA MESSI SUPERBOWL AD (4.8) CORONA TINY UMBRELLAS (4.8) STELLA ARTOIS REASSURINGLY EXPENSIVE (4.6) HEINEKEN WATER IN MAJORCA (4.5) BUDWEISER WHASSUP (4.3) BUDWEISER OLD SCHOOL DELIVERY (4.2)

Kerris Bright is the Chief Customer Officer at the BBC. She was previously Chief Marketing Officer at Virgin Media. She is a highly experienced leader, bringing a customer-centred, data driven approach to setting marketing strategy and executing with creative flair. Before Virgin, she held senior marketing positions at British Airways, ICI Paints and Unilever. While at British Airways, she spearheaded the development of ‘To Fly: To Serve’, a new purpose for the organisation and a multi-platform campaign and at ICI Paints she transformed the company from a ‘multi-local’ to global brand building organisation. After gaining a PhD in molecular neuroscience from the University of Sussex, she began her career in marketing as a graduate trainee at Unilever. Timestamps 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:26 - Why Kerris has a PHD in molecular neuroscience 00:04:04 - Getting marketing training at Unilever 00:09:56 - From Unilever to joining Dulux in crisis 00:18:33 - How marketers can work closely with commercial teams 00:22:12 - Purpose led campaigns 00:31:36 - Lessons from Kerris’ time in Private Equity 00:42:06 - From British Airways to Virgin 00:48:42 - Kerris’ role at the BBC 00:58:32 - The power of the BBC’s editorial independence 01:01:05 - Marketing the BBC 01:05:20 - How the BBC makes engaging content 01:08:13 - Kerris’ advice to aspiring marketers

The NFL is one of the biggest sporting entities in the world and it's reaching the biggest audiences it ever has. So in this episode, I'm joined by their CMO Tim Ellis, and Glenn Cole, co-founder of 72andSunny, their agency partner. We talk about the secrets behind a successful 7 year agency-client relationship, how to consistently make groundbreaking, emotional work, and what it takes to create a leading Super Bowl campaign. Timestamps 00:00 - Intro 00:43 - Tim Ellis career journey 01:51 - How Tim met Glenn from 72andSunny 04:20 - Secret to a successful client agency relationship 08:21 - The compounding effect of a long term agency relationship 11:51 - Helmets off strategy 15:09 - You can’t make this stuff up campaign 17:40 - This is Football Country campaign 24:41 - Growing the audience for the NFL 27:22 - The Taylor Swift effect 34:32 - The growth of flag Football 39:30 - Growing the sport internationally 42:35 - How to make a great Super Bowl ad 49:07 - The power of emotion in advertising

In this episode, we're talking about one of my favourite subjects; innovation. And who better to talk about it with than Mauro Porcini, who's the Chief Design Officer at PepsiCo, who is also the author of “The Human Side of Innovation”. We talk about what it takes to make innovation that succeeds, and importantly, what characteristics of people can make innovation that works, (and he really knows, because if you've read the book, there are 24 characteristics that he talks about that are essential). Timestamps 00:00 - Intro 00:56 - The office of Pepsi’s Chief Design Officer 02:56 - How Mauro got into design 07:01 - Why you need to focus on people when innovating 16:29 - Why so many innovations fail 23:17 - Hiring the right people to foster innovation 25:42 - Key characteristics of successful innovators 33:50 - How to inspire kindness, optimism and curiosity 40:27 - Finding the balance in character traits 47:58 - The ideal recipe for innovation 51:26 - How to cultivate happiness at work 55:10 - Fighting the dictatorship of normal 57:00 - Pepsi Rebrand

Today I'm speaking with one of the most awarded creatives on the planet, David Droga, founder of iconic agency Droga5, and now CEO of Accenture Song, one of the largest creative groups in the world. Described by David himself as "therapy", this conversation spans topics from his start as life as a copywriter, how he created some of the most creative work on the planet and what it's like to transition from a creative to a CEO. 00:00 - Intro 01:58 - How David Droga got into advertising 07:36 - Working at Saatchi and Saatchi Singapore 12:19 - Pushing boundaries and making yourself uncomfortable 14:29 - Moving to Saatchi London 20:32 - Why David Droga started Droga5 25:55 - Droga5’s first campaign for Marc Ecko 31:23 - The first idea Droga5 presented: GE Olympics Campaign 38:30 - Droga’s Unicef campaign 43:25 - Droga’s Newcastle Brown Ale work 46:25 - Huggies Super Bowl Ad 48:44 - The Coinbase QR Code Super Bowl ad 52:22 - Characteristics of the best CMO’s Droga has worked with 56:23 - What it’s like being CEO of Accenture Song

In this episode, Antonia Wade, CMO of PwC, turns the tables and interviews our usual host, Jon Evans. From tax intern to marketing podcast host, we delve into Jon's journey through entrepreneurial endeavours at Britvic, through to being fired at Lucozade to finding a successful role in B2B at System1. We also discuss lessons Jon has learned from 150 podcast episodes with CMO's, agency creatives, founders and more. Timestamps 00:00 - Intro 00:43 - Jon’s journey from tax to marketing 10:18 - Deciding if you’re more suited to corporate or entrepreneurial life 12:35 - Why Jon got fired at Lucozade 17:15 - Traits of a confident CMO 18:35 - How do you go from tax to research? 25:21 - Why Jon chose Richard Shotton as his first guest 27:10 - Lesson’s we can take from COVID times 30:20 - What makes a great CMO 36:49 - Do emotional ads really work? 39:44 - Favourite campaign that didn’t perform well with System1 41:19 - Is winning a Cannes Lion worth it or not? 44:42 - How important is purpose in advertising? 48:37 - Is AI the saviour of creativity? 52:35 - What has Jon learned about leadership from Uncensored CMO guests? 56:25 - Who would Jon love to have on the podcast? 57:34 - Happy 50th Birthday Jon!

Welcome to the 150th edition of the Uncensored CMO podcast. To celebrate, I'm joined by Orlando Wood, my colleague at System1 and author of Lemon and Look Out, with the legend that is Sir John Hegarty, iconic founder of BBH. Today we're talking about why they believe a creative revolution is necessary for the industry and why they are collaborating on a new course "Advertising Principles Explained" as the antidote. Timestamps 00:00:00 - Intro 00:02:22 - Have Oasis created the most effective ad of all time? 00:16:13 - What can we learn from the history of advertising? 00:22:43 - The advertising landscape when John started BBH 00:28:04 - The next creative revolution - Advertising Principles Explained 00:32:32 - The scientific evidence for emotional advertising 00:38:38 - Who is doing the best, most effective advertising today? 00:41:58 - BBH work with Lynx / Axe 00:44:55 - Why we need more humour in advertising 00:49:32 - Advice to CMOs for selling in this approach 00:51:44 - When does Advertising Principles Explained launch? 00:54:42 - Campaigns that didn’t go well for Sir John Hegarty 00:57:11 - What role do planners have in the success of the creative 00:57:33 - How did they sell in flat Eric to Levi’s 00:58:34 - How to challenge clients to think differently 00:59:13 - What emerging trends will shape the future of advertising 01:00:05 - What skills will the CMO of the future need? 01:02:58 - What trend needs breaking today?

Regular listeners of the podcast will know how much I love challenger brands, and Gymbox are one of the best examples of a challenger brand really shaping up their industry. Rory McEntee is the Brand and Marketing Director for the challenger Gym brand, and is responsible for some of the most creative campaigns (which have often come along with a side helping of legal letters) that have really put Gymbox on the map. Timestamps 00:00 - Intro 00:45 - Rory’s marketing background 02:27 - Rory’s time at Paddy Power 08:18 - Why Rory joined Gymbox 10:11 - The Gymbox founding story 14:01 - Reframing how people see the gym 16:05 - Using your constraints to your advantage 25:15 - Using every touch point as media 35:11 - Being obsessed with execution 39:27 - Forgiveness not permission with your marketing 46:43 - Dealing with taking risks 48:56 - Why the Gymbox culture is so important 53:44 - How does the business of a challenger gym work

Rebecca Hirst is the Chief Marketing Officer of EY UK, a TEDx Speaker and a winner of Campaign's 40 over 40. Before joining EY and making the switch to B2B, Rebecca was Marketing Director at Samsung and working on brands including Coca-Cola, Schweppes, Kellogg’s, Kleenex, Microsoft, IBM, United Airlines, Lufthansa and Star Alliance. Timestamps 00:00 - Intro 00:54 - Winning Campaign’s 40 over 40 04:33 - Being a Ted Talk speaker 08:01 - Rebecca’s time at Samsung 13:08 - Why Jon loves being a challenger brand 17:08 - Working at Coca Cola vs Pepsi 23:00 - How Rebecca transitioned into a B2B role 25:46 - The power of compounding 32:03 - How is B2B marketing different to B2C? 37:36 - How to influence change at a large organisation 46:12 - How EY became UK’s strongest brand 52:14 - Rebecca’s advice to young marketers

Michelle Moscone is the VP of Brand and Content at GEICO, one of the most famous insurance brands in the US. Michele's career has spanned from project management at some of the biggest agencies in the world to leading creative at an organisation where creativity is at its core. In this episode we talk about why humour is so important for advertising and why we're so afraid to use it. Timestamps 00:00 - Intro 01:08 - Michelle Moscone background and career 08:18 - How Michelle landed at GEICO 11:20 - Why are there so many characters in insurance? 21:42 - When insurance goes wrong 32:34 - Why humour is so important 36:37 - Why are we afraid of humour? 41:16 - GEICO’s greatest hits 49:51 - How to get the best out of your agency 55:43 - Michelle’s favourite GEICO campaigns

Greg Hahn is the Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of Mischief. One of the hottest agencies in the world doing work for the likes of Tinder, Tubi and Coors Light. Previous to Mischief, Greg was the CCO of BBDO NY. During that time BBDO was recognized as the most awarded agency in the world by the Gunn Report. It was also named Agency of the Year at The One Show, ADC and The Webbys multiple times. Timestamps 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:10 - How did Greg Hahn get into the advertising industry? 00:02:42 - 14 years at BBDO 00:03:52 - Getting fired from BBDO 00:06:24 - From being fired to creating Mischief 00:11:08 - The extraordinary cost of being dull 00:14:11 - Why do so many companies play it safe? 00:16:36 - Winning a Grand Effie with Tubi 00:19:29 - The Mischief mindset 00:26:21 - The opposite of a good idea can also be a good idea 00:26:59 - How can you use you disadvantage as your advantage? 00:30:50 - How can you change the context and reframe things 00:34:10 - What would you do if you weren’t afraid 00:38:14 - How to make the best out of being fired 00:49:24 - What Mischief believes in 00:53:49 - How Mischief hires great people 00:55:29 - How does Mischief stay sharp as they grow? 00:56:29 - Choosing the right clients to work with 00:58:55 - What’s next for Mischief? 01:00:10 - Hardest part of growing and scaling Mischief 01:03:27 - Advice for starting an agency from scratch

Kofi Amoo-Gottfried is the CMO of DoorDash, the premier local commerce platform valued at over $40 billion and dominates over 65% of the market for restaurant delivery. In his role as CMO, he is responsible for driving growth and engagement across all three sides of the marketplace. Prior to DoorDash, Kofi was VP of Brand & Consumer Marketing at Facebook, having previously served as the company’s Head of Consumer Marketing for internet.org. Timestamps 00:00 - Intro 01:03 - What it’s like judging a Cannes lion 02:34 - DoorDash Valentines Day Campaign 04:54 - Kofi’s background 08:56 - Starting an agency in Africa for Publicis 13:41 - From agency to brand side 15:13 - Kofi’s role at Facebook/Meta 18:11 - From Facebook to DoorDash 20:23 - DoorDash backstory 28:10 - Navigating through COVID at DoorDash 33:24 - How DoorDash prepared to IPO 37:23 - How successful have DoorDash been post IPO? 39:12 - How DoorDash stay on top of innovation 44:41 - DoorDash’s Sesame Street Super Bowl ad 48:40 - DoorDash’s most recent Super Bowl campaign 54:00 - In house vs external agencies 55:51 - The culture at DoorDash

Greg Nugent was the CMO for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, one of the biggest events ever to take place. The entire world was watching as Greg’s work came to life. Before working on the Olympics, Greg oversaw the move of the Eurostar to St Pancras, which included creating the world’s longest champagne bar. Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:51 - How did Greg get into marketing 00:10:02 - Greg’s time at Eurostar 00:17:47 - The longest champage bar in the world 00:22:43 - Becoming the CMO of the London 2012 Olympics 00:29:49 - How the team was pivotal for putting on the Olympics 00:34:13 - The importance of the legacy of London 2012 00:37:53 - Why the Paralympics became so prevalent in 2012 00:45:38 - What happened after London 2012 00:50:37 - From Olympics to Rising Pheonix 01:01:05 - How to execute on big ideas - Magic and Logic 01:16:35 - The power of persistence 01:23:24 - Telling powerful stories about those with disability