How I created the most successful agency of the 90’s - Rupert Howell, HHCL & Partners

I think one of the biggest problems facing us today is the amount of distraction in our lives. Social media feeds, unnecessary meetings, huge inboxes full of emails you didn't really need. All these things are grabbing our attention and taking us away from doing what we're supposed to be doing.In this episode I'm talking to Nir Eyal, who's the author of a brilliant book called Indistractable, which is all about how we can reclaim our attention to focus our energy around the things that really matter. Now, as marketers, we can have a massive impact on our brands and our business, if only we can focus our time and effort on the right things. So Nir is uncovering all the tips and tricks for how to do that and how to make sure you're more productive and less distracted.Timestamps:00:00 Intro05:12 What is the source of distraction07:06 How to deal with the internal triggers12:50 Turning your values into time 18:14 Multi channel multitasking20:06 Why we need to change meeting culture26:20 Building a culture of indistraction in an organization32:20 Imposter syndrome34:53 Our perception of our quality of sleep38:03 Luck is a belief set42:12 Marketers are bad judges of marketing44:06 Why successful people get more successful

17 Feb 202547min

The Super Bowl is the biggest advertising event of the year, with the biggest brands in the world flexing their advertising muscles (and budgets). A new entrant to the Super Bowl in 2024 was Pfizer, and they're back again this year with an ad that has blown the socks off the Pharma category. Their big game ad "Knock Out", scored 4.4 stars in System1 testing, also making it one of the best ads overall. I speak with Pfizer CMO, Susan Rienow about what it takes to create such a successful ad in the most competitive environment.Timestamps00:00 - Intro01:20 - Susan’s successful career so far03:19 - What Pfizer does and their mission04:21 - The Covid vaccine rollout06:29 - The role of insights for making business decisions07:36 - Dealing with the complexities of different audiences10:12 - Managing the impact of fair balance in advertising14:51 - The role of Pfizer’s advertising17:04 - Why have Pfizer gone all in with a Super Bowl ad20:12 - The Pfizer Super Bowl ad in 202525:20 - What role does testing play for creating an effective ad33:31 - The role of testing giving confidence to the board37:39 - How tiny changes can make such a big difference39:15 - How to evaluate the impact of a Super Bowl ad41:22 - What makes a great CMO46:40 - Advice Susan would give to young marketers

10 Feb 202551min

Today Jon sits down with Benjamin Braun, CMO at Samsung Europe, for a fascinating conversation that spans from innovative tech demos to Olympic marketing strategies. Benjamin shares insights on Samsung's role as a 40-year Olympic sponsor, demonstrates the latest AI capabilities in Samsung devices, and discusses how the company balances long-term brand building with short-term sales goals. The conversation takes a personal turn as Benjamin opens up about his experience with dyslexia and how neurodiversity can be a strength in business leadership. From product innovation to marketing effectiveness in the boardroom, this episode offers a glimpse into the mind of one of Europe's leading CMOs and the future of consumer technology.Timestamps00:00:00 - Intro00:00:50 - Why podcasts are now video00:03:54 - Samsung’s approach to AI products00:12:21 - Showing Samsung’s AI photo editing features00:15:20 - The Samsung Galaxy Ring and the health benefits of tech00:20:35 - The history of Samsung00:22:47 - How Samsung have innovated in TV’s00:27:37 - Having products across all price points00:29:11 - What can marketers learn from being a Police Officer?00:36:17 - The mini max approach to marketing00:42:13 - Samsung sponsoring the Olympics00:49:18 - The best Samsung ads00:55:56 - How to be an effective CMO in a large organisation01:00:37 - Put your CFO and CEO in the shoes of the customer01:07:22 - How Benjamin manages his dyslexia as a CMO

5 Feb 20251h 12min

Dr Karen Nelson Field is a multiple returning guest to the podcast, talking about her book "The Attention Economy: A Category Blueprint" which takes an in-depth look into the dynamic world of marketing and advertising, unveiling the pivotal role that human attention measurement plays in the present and future landscape.  In this episode we discuss the history of attention, how the platforms are manipulating our attention, why not all reach is equal, and, ultimately, what we can do about it.00:00 - Intro00:49 - Karen’s new book01:42 - The history of attention03:20 - The case for attention04:17 - The difference between active and passive attention09:37 - Linking attention to memory11:30 - Linking attention to advertising outcomes14:12 - The concept of attention elasticity15:17 - How platforms are manipulating our attention17:51 - How to measure attention20:10 - Seen vs served25:22 - How is the industry progressing?27:21 - Is there a new metric we can use in place of CPM?29:10 - How to buy media based on attention31:25 - Karen’s new course32:31 - How is Amplified Intelligence going

29 Jan 202534min

In this episode I'm joined by Allison Ellsworth, founder of the fastest growing beverage brand in the US, Poppi.Poppi was started as Mother Beverage in 2018 (a nod to the raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar used in the drink) but was rebranded after featuring on Shark Tank in the same year. Now, it's one of the biggest soda brands in the US, outselling Coke and Pepsi on Amazon. I speak to Allison about the journey of creating the brand, how influential TikTok was for their growth, their merch strategy and how they ended up buying a Super Bowl ad. This is a fascinating account of how a challenger brand can disrupt an industry in such a small period of time.Timestamps00:00 - Intro02:08 - Allison’s experience on Shark Tank05:56 - Funding and rebrand of Poppi10:36 - Launching the brand during COVID11:06 - Outselling Coke and Pepsi on Amazon12:33 - How big is the impact of Shark Tank13:45 - Growing the brand on social media17:02 - The influencer and social first marketing strategy19:45 - How Poppi’s marketing popup worked22:05 - Why Poppi invested in merch and launching in Target24:36 - Choosing which flavours to launch with Poppi28:04 - Approach to retail and growth29:27 - Breaking into a competitive market30:29 - Poppi’s Super Bowl campaign35:30 - The journey from 2 to 200 employees40:18 - How Allison hires at Poppi42:05 - The hardest part of the journey at Poppi44:07 - How Allison would start a new startup today

22 Jan 202546min

Mr Bates vs The Post Office is a the most watched drama on ITV of all time. It's the extraordinary story of the greatest miscarriage of justice in British legal history, where hundreds of innocent sub-postmasters and postmistresses were wrongly accused of theft, fraud and false accounting due to a defective IT system. I speak to the producer of the show, Patrick Spence, to get a behind the scenes look at the drama, how it was discovered, how it was made and why the country rallied around Mr Bates.Timestamps00:00 - Intro01:09 - The story of Mr Bates05:33 - Having the film commissioned by ITV08:59 - How true was the drama12:04 - How big was the cover up at the Post Office14:12 - How did this scandal happen17:21 - Why some people pleaded guilty19:36 - How has the show impacted real people22:08 - Why no one has received compensation yet24:46 - What awards has the show won26:24 - The reaction from Fujitsu and the Post Office31:53 - How has the drama translated globally?

20 Jan 202534min

Mark Abraham leads Boston Consulting Group’s Marketing, Sales & Pricing practice in North America. He also launched and leads the firm’s personalization capability. He has built some of the firm’s largest ventures and AI platforms, including Fabriq Personalization AI by BCG X, a personalization platform that accelerates personalization.Mark coauthored the book Personalized: Customer Strategy in the Age of AI, which helps executives learn how to put personalization at the center of their strategy, accelerate growth, and capture their share of the $2 trillion personalization prize.Timestamps00:00 - Intro00:49 - Why 2025 is the year of personalisation at scale01:38 - When personalisation goes wrong06:04 - Consumer data on our openness to personalisation07:48 - The $2 trillion opportunity10:08 - Who is doing personalisation well14:27 - The competitive advantage of speed and scale15:50 - How AI is driving personalisation forward24:15 - The 5 areas to build the framework for personalisation26:49 - How do you get information about your customer31:53 - What is the most useful intelligence to gather37:43 - How to make mass campaigns more targeted42:36 - Some of the barriers to personalisation50:19 - Why companies need to embrace AI53:25 - Parting advice to people on implementing personalisation

15 Jan 202557min

It's our annual tradition to bring Sarah Carter and Les Binet, authors of How Not To Plan, onto the podcast to discuss the hot topics of the year and what marketers need to know in 2025. We've broken this episode into 8 key discussion points, including why consistent advertising is so effective, why the era of purpose is over and another year of the advertising industry needing to remember they are not the customer.00:00:00 - Intro00:00:55 - Reflecting on the agency’s year00:05:25 - Point 1: You are not the customer00:19:51 - Point 2: Ignore Price at your peril00:26:13 - Point 3: Consistency but not a lack of creativity00:42:08 - Point 4: Never forget the eyeballs00:50:48 - Point 5: Emotions aren’t just about making people cry00:55:08 - Point 6: Is the era of purpose over?01:00:38 - Point 7: Don’t just be in culture, stay in culture01:03:48 - Point 8: Don’t forget the power of Out of Home

8 Jan 20251h 8min