Cadillac’s re-launch of an iconic car brand for a new era
Cadillac is an iconic American brand who are navigating the shift to electrification in the automotive industry and have partnered up with 72andSunny to launch their brand new campaign “Let’s Take the Cadillac. So today, Melissa Grady Dias, CMO of Cadillac, and Marianne Malina, President of 72andSunny join Jon to talk about working with a new agency and launching their first campaign together.Timestamps00:00 - Intro03:53 - Marianne’s background06:49 - How to manage a brand like Cadillac08:34 - How EV’s are changing the industry13:53 - How do you change your marketing for EVs15:08 - Insights and inception of “Let’s Take the Cadillac”17:56 - Developing the “Let’s Take the Cadillac” campaign21:41 - How to launch a new car23:39 - Building the campaign for different formats25:42 - 72andSunny and Cadillac’s first campaign together28:11 - Challenging the conformity in car advertising30:48 - Why brand is so important for car purchasing32:31 - Leading the marketing agenda inside a big org like General Motors34:24 - In car Cadillac Car-aoke35:22 - Melissa’s song36:13 - Coolest feature about Escalade IQ38:37 - Creating a luxury experience39:27 - Choosing your car as CMO of Cadillac40:57 - Creating a premium vehicle42:53 - Thoughts on the Escalade IQ
12 Mar 45min
Rob Mayhew on the untapped creator opportunity in B2B, London vs New York and using social media as a brand
Rob Mayhew joins Jon for bonus episode, talking about his big move to New York City, becoming a full-time content creator and how brands can work with creators like him effectively.Timestamps00:00 - Intro01:39 - Why Rob moved to NYC04:20 - Rob’s new YouTube show05:47 - London vs New York for marketers08:00 - Rob’s approach to content in 202511:00 - Rob’s view on the future of the social platforms14:17 - How System1’s ad testing works17:27 - Rob’s funniest posts on LinkedIn18:46 - Rob’s process for making content20:16 - Any trends that are different in the US than UK21:43 - Thoughts on the creator economy23:09 - The Poppi vending machine backlash24:22 - How does Rob plan his content?25:18 - Different audiences for TikTok and LinkedIn25:38 - Rory Sutherland’s TikTok26:48 - Power of B2B content creation
10 Mar 32min
Rare Beauty: the story behind the success of Selena Gomez’s make up brand - Katie Welch
Rare Beauty is a brand built on the inclusive approach to beauty set by their celebrity founder, Selena Gomez. They've taken the US market by storm and so I'm speaking to their CMO, Katie Welch, about how they've done it. From strong positioning and making a difference in mental health across their customer base to growing a strong presence on social media (with a little help from their founder with over 400m Instagram followers), Rare Beauty is a wonderful success story of a challenger brand.Timestamps00:00 - Intro00:50 - Katie’s career background07:46 - How Katie joined Rare Beauty11:09 - The challenges of launching a startup beauty brand14:19 - The positioning of Rare Beauty16:21 - New guest host interruption16:58 - Being true to the brand positioning19:48 - Being a purpose led brand22:47 - Addressing the pressures of social media26:27 - Building the Rare Beauty brand on social media28:22 - How involved does Selena Gomez get in the Rare Beauty brand29:57 - The secret to a successful product launch for Rare Beauty33:00 - Dealing with the growth challenges of a scale up40:36 - Evolving the Rare Beauty community42:24 - What’s next for the Rare Beauty brand?42:47 - Being an entreprenuer in a startup45:09 - Katie growing her own social accounts
5 Mar 51min
Yum! CMO on cultural relevance, being innovative & creative risk taking (Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut) - Ken Muench
This episode is a QSR masterclass. Ken Muench is the CMO of Yum! brands, who own Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut. I speak to Ken about how he started the agency that got acquired by Yum! (The Collider Lab) and his journey to being the CMO of such a large group of brands. We also talk about how all CMOs within Yum! are encouraged to swing big to make impactful campaigns and drive innovation within their brands. Ken is also the co-author of "R.E.D Marketing: The Three Ingredients of Leading Brands" which breaks down why Relevance, Ease and Distinctiveness are essential for QSR brands.Timestamps:00:00 - Intro01:07 - Ken’s career background03:44 - In-house vs agency creative06:39 - Taking bigger swings07:46 - The secret to the success of The Collider Lab12:06 - Food is fuel vs experience14:42 - Why Ken wrote the book: R.E.D Marketing17:29 - The R.E.D framework20:51 - How brands grow23:58 - Why “ease” is an untapped opportunity for marketers28:26 - The power of distinctive assets30:31 - Changing the Taco Bell strapline to Live Mas!32:52 - How Yum! brands approach innovation37:14 - How Yum! brands innovation scored41:29 - What happens when innovation goes wrong44:10 - Saucy by KFC47:47 - The innovators dilemma49:44 - Taking chances: KFC FCK campaign51:48 - Ken’s favourite moments as Yum! CMO53:01 - How to be a successful CMO at such a large brand55:44 - What makes a great CMO
26 Feb 1h 5min
Creativity & Consistency: driving growth for the worlds largest beer brands - Marcel Marcondes
Marcel Marcondes is the CMO of AB InBev, who run the largest portfolio of beer brands in the world. Stella Artois, Corona, Michelob Ultra and Budweiser are all under the marketing leadership of Marcel. Through creativity and consistency, AB InBev have produced some of the most effective campaigns of the past few years, often topping out the System1 charts. This has led to Marcel and his team to win some incredible awards, including WFA marketer of the year (Marcel) and most effective marketer of the year by the Effies (AB InBev).Timestamps00:00 - Intro00:48 - Marcel’s journey to running the biggest portfolio in the world03:51 - The global beer brands Marcel oversees04:27 - How to manage such a large portfolio of brands07:04 - Being the most effective marketing team for the past 3 years09:39 - The Olympics partnership13:08 - How important is creativity to deliver effectiveness16:35 - How to demonstrate the power of marketing internally18:10 - Why campaign consistency is so important for AB InBev21:25 - The most effective ad by AB InBev22:39 - Having 4 brands with Super Bowl ads24:53 - Stella Artois 2025 Super Bowl ad with David Beckham30:20 - Michelob Ultra at Super Bowl33:29 - Executing a campaign across platforms36:18 - The relationship with creative agencies40:07 - Marcel’s advice to CMOs
19 Feb 42min
A masterclass on business productivity with Nir Eyal
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 47min
How Pfizer made the highest scoring Pharma ad of all time - Susan Rienow
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 51min
Samsung CMO on Tech Innovation, Flying Ostriches & Doing More with Less - Benjamin Braun
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 1h 12min
