In this conversation, Strategy Director Lachlan Williams shares his extensive journey in the marketing industry, discussing his experiences and insights on brand strategy, the importance of employer brand and employee experience, and the balance between technology and brand. He addresses the need to take a people-centric approach to business strategy and the role of creativity in driving transformation. Lachlan also explores the future of the industry, highlighting the impact of technology and the rise of independent agencies.

Insights Everywhere
Insights Everywhere is an interview series, where trailblazers from Studio Everywhere’s network of strategic and creative collaborators share their advice, fresh ideas and unique experiences across the realms of brand, design, marketing, and business transformation.

Studio Everywhere
Studio Everywhere is the world’s creative consultancy. We help ambitious businesses build unstoppable brands. Get in touch with us at [hello@studioeverywhere.com](mailto:hello@studioeverywhere.com)

Takeaways
- A strong brand strategy is essential for business success.
- Employee experience is critical for delivering great customer experiences.
- Technology must enhance, not detract from, brand experience.
- Transformation requires empathy and understanding of employee needs.
- Process can create the right conditions for creativity.
- Strong employer brands are built from the inside out.
- Critical thinking is essential to protect when using new tools like AI.
- Independent businesses are likely to thrive in the current market.
- Reading widely and forming a strong point of view are key for aspiring young strategists.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Lachlan
07:27 The Evolution of Brand Strategy
14:51 Balancing Technology and Brand Experience
21:26 The Importance of Employee Experience
23:52 The Duality of Brand Experience
25:32 Defining Transformation in Branding
29:43 Navigating Mergers and Cultural Integration
33:53 The Role of Process in Creativity
38:49 The Future of the Industry and AI's Impact
43:26 Advice for the Next Generation of Creatives

View more episodes and subscribe to our series [here](https://www.youtube.com/@studio_everywhere).

Get in touch at hello@studioeverywhere.com to explore how your business can build an unstoppable brand...

How to best use AI to identify unique insights and trends for your business

In this insightful conversation, Piers Fawkes, founder of PSFK, shares his journey from a writer to a trend analyst and discusses the evolution of gathering marketing insights and trends over the past 20 years. He emphasizes the role of AI in supporting trend analysis, but the importance of human input in generating actionable insights. The discussion covers how best to leverage these emerging automation tools (with some specifics mentioned) to enhance and speed up the process of trend analysis and insight generation. The discussion also touches on the changing landscape of marketing agencies and the impact of AI on consulting, culminating in a look ahead to the hopes and fears for 2025.


Key Takeaways

- Previously, trend reporting was quite manual (gathering of ideas, identifying patterns, sourcing data to back it up).
- The issue with future trend reporting is, there isn’t a lot of data to back it up as it’s an emerging concept to take hold at a future point. Therefore it requires intuition and leaps of faith which is very different to traditional market research.
- These days, AI can speed up the trend analysis processes significantly.
- However, AI is probably giving everyone the same, generic answers, yet with trend reporting, a lot of the value comes with providing thought-provoking, unique ideas.
- Therefore, Piers still believes in humans guiding a lot of the inputs and finessing a lot of the outputs of AI.
- You can train AI by feeding back your human-filtered results so it knows what to look for over time.
- AI helps to write good first drafts, but the output currently needs to be edited.
- In the future, humans could be seen as the orchestrators, and the AI the agents to execute.
- Insights must be actionable and unique to be valuable.
- The role of the CEO is increasingly intertwined with marketing, therefore it would benefit agencies to be in touch with the CEO (versus just the CMO).
- The future of work will see a shift in middle management due to AI.

Chapters

02:31 The Evolution of Trend Reporting
04:42 The Role of AI in Trend Analysis
07:16 Human Versus Machine-Generated Insights
09:24 Balancing Work Done Between Human and AI and Optimising AI Overtime
14:07 The Impact of AI on Consulting and Agencies
16:40 The Future of Work and AI's Role
19:06 Tools and Technologies in Trend Analysis
21:25 The Changing Landscape of Marketing Agencies
23:42 Looking Ahead: Hopes and Fears for 2025

Get in touch at hello@studioeverywhere.com to explore how your business can build an unstoppable brand...

How to supercharge your commerce engine with the power of user-generated content

In this conversation, Zarina Stanford, CMO of social commerce platform Bazaarvoice, discusses her career in marketing roles at some incredible technology companies, including IBM, SAP, Syniti, and Rackspace Technology - which has given her a ringside seat to witness what she describes as the evolution of marketing in the digital age. She emphasizes how conversations are no longer one-way and brand-directed, but that consumers are engaging in one-to-one style public conversations with the world. These conversations online are what dominate the market and strongly dictate what people are saying and thinking about brands and products at large. She discusses the importance of brands utilising these consumer voices to shape their brand narratives and to even help guide product development. She mentions how Bazaarvoice helps brands harness this power. The dialogue also touches on the implications of these changes for governance and society at large, highlighting the need for brands to adapt to the rapid pace of digital transformation.

Key Takeaways

- The evolution of marketing has shifted from a brand-to-consumer (B2C) to a consumer-driven approach (C2B).
- Zarina emphasizes the importance of brands paying attention to public consumer voices. Bazaarvoice helps brands harness consumer-generated content.
- The beauty industry excels in leveraging consumer-generated content.
- Social media and digital communities drive brand messaging and product development and help brands market at the speed of culture.
- Co-creation with consumers enhances brand authenticity and energy. Authenticity in brand narratives is paramount.
- The digital landscape demands rapid response from brands. Content must be relevant, timely, and personalized.
- The lines between B2B and B2C are increasingly blurred. B2B buyers are also people and therefore overlap with B2C buyers in how they think and feel.
- Continuous learning is vital for growth in the marketing industry.

Chapters

00:00 Zarina's Journey and Role at Bazaarvoice
04:16 The Evolution of Marketing in the Digital Age
08:57 The Power of Consumer Voices
13:53 Bazaarvoice's Role in the Marketplace
18:48 Brands Embracing Consumer Influence
23:35 Consumer Engagement and Rapid Feedback Loops
29:23 The Shift from B2B to C2B Dynamics
35:00 The Future of Consumerism and Governance

Get in touch at hello@studioeverywhere.com to explore how your business can build an unstoppable brand...