For a special Christmas edition of the Uncensored CMO, we've recorded a bonus episode of the Never Mind the Adverts podcast, featuring our good friend Orlando Wood. We talk about some breaking news, have some festive drinks and review some of the best Christmas Ads this year (yes, including that Coke ad). Enjoy.

Timestamps

00:00 - Intro
01:10 - The news
03:53 - Orlando’s Christmas Stocking Fillers
09:06 - Drinks trolley
12:38 - Review of the 2024 Christmas Ads
16:45 - A break from the ads
21:03 - Name that ad

Jess Myers CCO of The Very Group, returns to the podcast sharing the success of her role over the past year. We'll explore how Jess and her team navigates the crucial "Golden Quarter" leading up to Christmas, the importance of creative consistency, and the successes they've achieved by sticking with what works. Plus, we'll hear about the innovative launch of the Very Media Group and how their flamingo-themed campaigns resonate with customers.

Jess also sheds light on balancing commercial objectives with customer experience, fostering collaborative relationships, and the unique challenges of her executive role. Whether it's optimizing holiday ads or championing a vibrant company culture, Jess’s insights are sure to inspire.

Timestamps

00:00 - Start
01:07 - Jess’ custom merch for the podcast
02:07 - Jess’ review of the year at Very
04:28 - From Chief Marketing Officer to Chief Customer Officer - what’s changed
06:17 - How marketers can thrive in the boardroom
08:53 - Embracing “hun culture”
12:35 - How important the golden quarter is for retailers
15:46 - Why Very chose the run the same campaign at Christmas
21:05 - Why short term is important in the Golden Quarter
28:40 - Launching the Very Media Group
31:03 - Launching House of Flamingo
34:18 - Jess’ learnings from the last year at Very
35:45 - Making the most out of your agencies
39:29 - Closing thoughts

In this episode, we're diving into a fascinating conversation with Sadira Furlow, known as the "Dean of Dopeness" at Tony's Chocolonely. We unpack Sadira's career journey from launching viral campaigns at PepsiCo to driving industry change at Tony's Chocolonely.

We'll explore her admiration for Tony's authentic mission, their innovative approach to storytelling, and how they're reshaping the chocolate industry. Sadira also opens up about her bold career moves, the lessons learned from transitioning between major brands and startups, and her commitment to making a meaningful impact.

Timestamps
00:00 - Intro
01:37 - How Sadira discovered Tony’s
02:01 - Why Sadira is known as the Dean of Dopeness
03:19 - Sadira’s role at Pepsi; Puppy Monkey Baby and Mountain Dew
13:06 - From PepsiCo to a fintech (Happy Money)
16:03 - Making an impact in a product-led organisation
18:24 - Writing your own redundancy case
21:09 - Why Sadira took a 9 month Sabbatical
23:51 - How Sadira got the role at Tony’s
28:11 - The commitment to being a change brand
29:55 - Working with constrained budgets
34:26 - The lawsuit for Tony’s look alike bars
38:27 - The Tony’s advent calendar that caused a stir
39:53 - Using fun and humour to tell a serious story
42:21 - In house vs agencies at Tony’s
43:17 - Tony’s collaboration with The Washington Post
44:25 - Custom branded Tony’s Chocolonely bars
45:46 - The most successful campaigns for Tony’s
47:45 - Where does the brand go from here?
49:55 - What has surprised Sadira most about the brand

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