In Clear Focus

IN CLEAR FOCUS: Our guest, Miya Knights, author of "The Future of Shopping: Using Digital, Data and AI to Win with Customers," explores the evolving retail landscape. As AI assistants begin making shortlists, Miya explains why product data must be clean and machine-readable for brands to remain selectable. Learn how to optimize retail media networks, when to intentionally add friction to the customer journey, and why consumers trade personal data for recognition rather than surveillance.  

IN CLEAR FOCUS: Podcast guest David Magrini, CEO of Volute Group, explores the critical role of AI readiness before investing in new marketing technology. While brands rush to buy AI tools, David explains why a fragmented data infrastructure creates accumulating "experience debt" for everyday consumers. Discover why AI alone is not the answer, how to ensure your strategies remain human-led, and what marketing leaders must evaluate in their MarTech stack before their next software purchase.

IN CLEAR FOCUS: Marking our 350th episode and 25th season, Piers Fawkes of PSFK explores the future of strategic AI research. As generic LLMs homogenize insights into a "race to the middle," Piers explains how tracking weak signals provides a vital competitive edge for modern brand marketers. Discover how his new venture, Fodda, acts as an advanced context layer, using curated knowledge graphs and digital twins of human experts to deliver traceable AI outputs that preserve human judgment.

IN CLEAR FOCUS: Our guest is Betsy Davis of Sandy Alexander, who explores the lasting power of phygital media and physical brand experiences. Discover how combining targeted direct mail with digital channels significantly boosts consumer response rates. Betsy also shares how to leverage spending data for personalization without crossing into the "creep factor". Learn how embedding conversational AI agents into printed mail via QR codes offers deep insights and accelerates marketing workflows.

IN CLEAR FOCUS: This week's guest, Steven Van Belleghem, explores how to build a customer culture competitors can't copy. Discussing this month's Bigeye Book Club selection, "Customer Passion: 101 Ways to Meet Customer Expectations and Stand Out," Steven explains the 95-5 rule and why AI makes human empathy vital for complex interactions. Discover how to ignite deep loyalty using friction hunting, the 10-star mindset stretch, and empowering frontline employees to surprise and delight buyers.