The fast and the fearless - Nils Leonard, Uncommon

In partnership with NBCUniversal, we sit down with Grainne Wafer, Global Category Director (Beer, Vodka, Liqueurs) at Diageo, to explore how one of the world’s biggest drinks companies drives growth and builds iconic brands. Grainne shares the trends shaping the beverage industry, the transformation of Baileys, and how Diageo manages a portfolio of global powerhouses like Guinness. We also discuss the value of sports sponsorships, the rise of Guinness 0%, and why marketing effectiveness is always on tap.00:00 - Intro01:19 - What are the trends in the beverage industry?03:25 - What are the up and coming portfolio brands for Diageo?05:01 - How does Diageo manage brands internally?06:30 - Is Diageo going to sell Guinness?08:42 - What’s behind Diageo’s 17% YoY growth?12:03 - Guinness sport activation with Rugby and Football12:36 - How Guinness 0% is so close to the original14:23 - Guinness’ sponsorship of Football and Rugby16:26 - How to do measure the value of a sponsorship of the Premier League17:39 - When the UK ran out of Guinness18:08 - Sponsoring the Women’s Six Nations21:44 - How Diageo broadly measures the impact of marketing23:57 - Baileys celebrates 50 years25:22 - How Baileys was transformed27:23 - The Diageo way of brand building31:38 - Grainne’s advice to CMOs

16 Juli 35min

To celebrate 200 episodes, Tom Goodwin is back on Uncensored CMO. He's got a pretty strong opinion on the state of advertising. It's broken, and we need to fix it. Tom lays out where he thinks it's all gone wrong for the industry and what we can do about it. As uncensored as ever, Tom brings an entertaining and fresh perspective on marketing. Strap in.Timestamps00:00 - Intro00:50 - The state of advertising in 202502:40 - Why is the advertising industry not moving forward?06:13 - Brand vs performance marketing09:20 - What’s broken with marketing in 202511:54 - How to actually be customer centric17:23 - Winning internal battles to allow long term work to thrive21:18 - Is performance marketing fraud?26:23 - How to make advertising better33:02 - Are we valuing creativity enough

14 Juli 38min

In partnership with NBCUniversal, we sit down with Kory Marchisotto, CMO of e.l.f. Beauty, to unpack a 25 quarters of consecutive growth. From their bold “So Many Dicks” campaign to the $1B Rhode deal with Hailey Bieber, Kory shares how e.l.f. built a culture that fuels growth. We also dive into the power of creators and celebrities in beauty, partnerships with sporting icons like Billie Jean King and racing driver Katherine Legge, and the realities of leading as a high-growth, publicly listed CMO.Timestamps00:00 - Intro00:40 - The last decade of Elf01:35 - The Titanium and Glass Cannes Lions entry03:01 - Elf’s “So Many Dicks” campaign10:01 - The secret to 25 quarters of consecutive growth13:36 - Building a culture that allows growth17:03 - $1b Rhode deal24:26 - How important are creators and celebrities in building beauty brands26:37 - Collaborating with Billie Jean King30:49 - Partnering with Katherine Legge, racing driver34:16 - The realities of being a high growth, publicly listed CMO

9 Juli 39min

Simon Morris is Adobe’s VP of International Marketing, joins us to share how Adobe is empowering creativity at scale. We discuss the impact of AI on marketing, why creativity will always need human skills, and how Adobe partners with brands like Real Madrid to build iconic campaigns. Simon also shares what makes a great marketing leader today, how to launch products successfully, and what’s next for AI and creators.Timestamps:00:00 - Intro00:43 - The size of the Cannes activation for Adobe01:38 - Simon’s marketing career04:21 - Adobe’s CEO named creative champion of the year05:46 - Where has AI had the biggest impact in marketing?08:14 - Will AI replace creativity?09:35 - Where will human skills be most required in the age of AI?14:21 - How Adobe are their own customer15:10 - What campaigns have been made with Adobe’s own software?16:19 - How brands can work with creators?17:59 - Freedom for creators vs sticking to guidelines19:16 - How to successfully launch a new product20:59 - Partnering with sports teams to build their brand (Real Madrid)23:25 - Maintaining trust in Adobe AI products, with potential IP worries26:16 - Whats the next thing in AI we need to pay attention to?28:37 - Building a brand for long term when the world is increasingly short term29:56 - What makes a great marketing leader today?

7 Juli 31min

In collaboration with TikTok, System1 have launched a new research paper called "The Long and the Short Form of It", explaining how brands can navigate and excel in this of this new world of short form content. In this episode I catch up with TikTok's Head of Business Marketing and Partnerships to discuss the research and help brands succeed on the platform.Timestamps00:00 - Intro02:05 - Sofia’s marketing career04:04 - Why B2B marketing needs to be more human05:36 - TikTok’s marketing journey over the past 5 years06:48 - How brands can use TikTok10:47 - How brands can work with creators on TikTok14:20 - How to make a TikTok that captures attention18:18 - The TikTok economy21:18 - Why authenticity pays off on TikTok22:57 - How people can get started creating on TikTok25:30 - Is TikTok just for teenagers?26:51 - TikTok as an entertainment platform, not as a social media platform27:54 - Romancing the creative vs proving the value32:00 - Sofia’s leadership lessons

2 Juli 33min

After 20 unhappy years as a headhunter, it took a near death experience for Sherilyn Shackell to launch The Marketing Academy, a non-profit organisation developing leadership talent in marketing. Launched in 2010, The Marketing Academy now helps marketers become CMOs and CMOs become CEOs. This episode, we focus on exactly how CMOs can get a seat at the table in the boardroom and all the traits they need to do this successfully.Timestamps00:00 - Intro00:53 - How a near death experience led to the creation of The Marketing Academy08:29 - Does trauma help founders?11:27 - What is The Marketing Academy?15:05 - How The Marketing Academy Fellowship helps CMOs become CEOs20:08 - Why there needs to be CMOs on boards27:03 - What CMOs can do to get on boards35:36 - Why CMOs need to build their own profiles39:23 - Why CMOs need to invest in relationships44:16 - Why having a personal brand is a talent magnet45:48 - The biggest fears and anxieties of CMOs54:34 - What marketers can learn from the best CMOs in the world?

25 Juni 59min

In a bonus live episode from Cannes, Professor Scott Galloway joins renowned CMO Kory Marchisotto (e.l.f. Beauty) and advertising legend Rory Sutherland to discuss three big topics: Is brand dead? Are we too risk-averse? And what is the future of the CMO?Timestamps00:00 - Start00:26 - Is the era of brand dead?13:54 - Do we need to make better advertising?20:11 - How CMOs can approach risk31:09 - The demise of the CMO

23 Juni 39min

Ben Branson is the founder of Seedlip, a non-alcoholic spirit brand he started in 2015, and sold 3 years later to Diageo. Jon speaks to Ben about the origins of the brand, how the grew so fast, what makes Ben such an impressive marketer (despite him not liking marketing) and how a brand goes from 0 to exit in such a short space of time. We also talk about Ben's new brands and his Hidden 20% charity.Timestamps00:00:00 - SIntro00:01:01 - Where did the idea for Seedlip come from?00:14:14 - Charging a high price00:18:47 - How to push through the hard times00:21:10 - What led to such large growth in the early days of Seedlip00:24:29 - Planning for success vs making it up as you go00:27:44 - The power of intelligent naivety00:29:30 - Creativity within budget constraints00:31:05 - From innovator to scale up00:38:05 - Why did Ben Branson and Seedlip sell to Diageo?00:40:26 - What Ben doesn’t like about marketing00:41:25 - Why Ben is a masterful marketer00:48:51 - The Hidden 20%: Ben’s autism story and charity01:00:35 - Why Ben wants to close his charity, The Hidden 20%?

18 Juni 1h 2min