Regular listeners of the podcast will know how much I love challenger brands, and Gymbox are one of the best examples of a challenger brand really shaping up their industry. Rory McEntee is the Brand and Marketing Director for the challenger Gym brand, and is responsible for some of the most creative campaigns (which have often come along with a side helping of legal letters) that have really put Gymbox on the map.

Timestamps

00:00 - Intro
00:45 - Rory’s marketing background
02:27 - Rory’s time at Paddy Power
08:18 - Why Rory joined Gymbox
10:11 - The Gymbox founding story
14:01 - Reframing how people see the gym
16:05 - Using your constraints to your advantage
25:15 - Using every touch point as media
35:11 - Being obsessed with execution
39:27 - Forgiveness not permission with your marketing
46:43 - Dealing with taking risks
48:56 - Why the Gymbox culture is so important
53:44 - How does the business of a challenger gym work

Rebecca Hirst is the Chief Marketing Officer of EY UK, a TEDx Speaker and a winner of Campaign's 40 over 40. Before joining EY and making the switch to B2B, Rebecca was Marketing Director at Samsung and working on brands including Coca-Cola, Schweppes, Kellogg’s, Kleenex, Microsoft, IBM, United Airlines, Lufthansa and Star Alliance.

Timestamps

00:00 - Intro
00:54 - Winning Campaign’s 40 over 40
04:33 - Being a Ted Talk speaker
08:01 - Rebecca’s time at Samsung
13:08 - Why Jon loves being a challenger brand
17:08 - Working at Coca Cola vs Pepsi
23:00 - How Rebecca transitioned into a B2B role
25:46 - The power of compounding
32:03 - How is B2B marketing different to B2C?
37:36 - How to influence change at a large organisation
46:12 - How EY became UK’s strongest brand
52:14 - Rebecca’s advice to young marketers

Michelle Moscone is the VP of Brand and Content at GEICO, one of the most famous insurance brands in the US. Michele's career has spanned from project management at some of the biggest agencies in the world to leading creative at an organisation where creativity is at its core. In this episode we talk about why humour is so important for advertising and why we're so afraid to use it.

Timestamps

00:00 - Intro
01:08 - Michelle Moscone background and career
08:18 - How Michelle landed at GEICO
11:20 - Why are there so many characters in insurance?
21:42 - When insurance goes wrong
32:34 - Why humour is so important
36:37 - Why are we afraid of humour?
41:16 - GEICO’s greatest hits
49:51 - How to get the best out of your agency
55:43 - Michelle’s favourite GEICO campaigns

Greg Hahn is the Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of Mischief. One of the hottest agencies in the world doing work for the likes of Tinder, Tubi and Coors Light. Previous to Mischief, Greg was the CCO of BBDO NY. During that time BBDO was recognized as the most awarded agency in the world by the Gunn Report. It was also named Agency of the Year at The One Show, ADC and The Webbys multiple times.

Timestamps

• 00:00:00 - Intro
• 00:01:10 - How did Greg Hahn get into the advertising industry?
• 00:02:42 - 14 years at BBDO
• 00:03:52 - Getting fired from BBDO
• 00:06:24 - From being fired to creating Mischief
• 00:11:08 - The extraordinary cost of being dull
• 00:14:11 - Why do so many companies play it safe?
• 00:16:36 - Winning a Grand Effie with Tubi
• 00:19:29 - The Mischief mindset
• 00:26:21 - The opposite of a good idea can also be a good idea
• 00:26:59 - How can you use you disadvantage as your advantage?
• 00:30:50 - How can you change the context and reframe things
• 00:34:10 - What would you do if you weren’t afraid
• 00:38:14 - How to make the best out of being fired
• 00:49:24 - What Mischief believes in
• 00:53:49 - How Mischief hires great people
• 00:55:29 - How does Mischief stay sharp as they grow?
• 00:56:29 - Choosing the right clients to work with
• 00:58:55 - What’s next for Mischief?
• 01:00:10 - Hardest part of growing and scaling Mischief
• 01:03:27 - Advice for starting an agency from scratch

Kofi Amoo-Gottfried is the CMO of DoorDash, the premier local commerce platform valued at over $40 billion and dominates over 65% of the market for restaurant delivery. In his role as CMO, he is responsible for driving growth and engagement across all three sides of the marketplace. Prior to DoorDash, Kofi was VP of Brand & Consumer Marketing at Facebook, having previously served as the company’s Head of Consumer Marketing for internet.org.

Timestamps

00:00 - Intro
01:03 - What it’s like judging a Cannes lion
02:34 - DoorDash Valentines Day Campaign
04:54 - Kofi’s background
08:56 - Starting an agency in Africa for Publicis
13:41 - From agency to brand side
15:13 - Kofi’s role at Facebook/Meta
18:11 - From Facebook to DoorDash
20:23 - DoorDash backstory
28:10 - Navigating through COVID at DoorDash
33:24 - How DoorDash prepared to IPO
37:23 - How successful have DoorDash been post IPO?
39:12 - How DoorDash stay on top of innovation
44:41 - DoorDash’s Sesame Street Super Bowl ad
48:40 - DoorDash’s most recent Super Bowl campaign
54:00 - In house vs external agencies
55:51 - The culture at DoorDash

Greg Nugent was the CMO for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, one of the biggest events ever to take place. The entire world was watching as Greg’s work came to life. Before working on the Olympics, Greg oversaw the move of the Eurostar to St Pancras, which included creating the world’s longest champagne bar.

Timestamps:

00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:51 - How did Greg get into marketing
00:10:02 - Greg’s time at Eurostar
00:17:47 - The longest champage bar in the world
00:22:43 - Becoming the CMO of the London 2012 Olympics
00:29:49 - How the team was pivotal for putting on the Olympics
00:34:13 - The importance of the legacy of London 2012
00:37:53 - Why the Paralympics became so prevalent in 2012
00:45:38 - What happened after London 2012
00:50:37 - From Olympics to Rising Pheonix
01:01:05 - How to execute on big ideas - Magic and Logic
01:16:35 - The power of persistence
01:23:24 - Telling powerful stories about those with disability

I often get asked why are there not more marketers on boards of companies? It turns out that only around 2.6% of board positions are filled by marketers, so I'm joined in this episode by somebody who really knows what it's like to be a marketer on a board, Chris Burggraeve. Previously he was the Global CMO of AB InBev, he's since been on many boards and has even written a book explaining the playbook for being a successful CMO on board.

Timestamps

00:00 - Intro
01:00 - Chris’ marketing background
01:43 - What makes a great CMO
05:08 - Making the case for marketing in the boardroom
09:48 - How many CMO's have a seat at the table
14:36 - Why every board should have a marketer
24:06 - Is there a language problem for marketers in the boardroom?
30:03 - Stakeholder outreach
37:00 - What makes a successful board member
40:00 - Skills that CMO’s need to retain a board seat
46:26 - How to find board seats to get on
49:44 - Chris transistion from large to small companies

Ellie Norman has been at the top end of some of the biggest organisations in the world, having held senior marketing roles at Formula 1 and Virgin Media. Most recently, Ellie has been the Chief Communications Officer of Manchester United, one of the most high-pressure jobs in the world. In this episode I talk to Ellie about what it takes to drive success at the very top of your game.

Timestamps

• 00:00 - Intro
• 00:48 - Celebrating Southampton FC
• 03:12 - Ellie’s marketing background
• 07:29 - Virgin Media campaign with Usain Bolt
• 12:09 - Why Ellie moved to Formula 1
• 15:12 - How Formula 1 owns the brand
• 17:51 - The Drive to Survive partnership with Netflix
• 25:59 - Moving to work for Manchester United
• 29:51 - Goals for the CMO of Manchester United
• 31:23 - When do people choose the club they support
• 32:59 - What role does social media play for Manchester United
• 35:01 - Dealing with scrutiny as a huge brand
• 37:10 - How Manchester United work with huge sponsor deals
• 41:39 - How do you do a great brand partnership
• 47:59 - Ellie’s one peice of advice for marketers