The Marketing Society podcast

Brought to you by global marketing and brand experience agency CSM Sport & Entertainment, the Extraordinary Tales podcast sees high-profile figures from across the sport and business industry share their untold stories with CSM’s Non-Executive Chairman, Seb Coe. The third guest in our latest series was none other than World Cup winner, world-record holder and all-round rugby legend, Bryan Habana. Across a fascinating hour, Bryan opens up on his experience of growing up during apartheid, the profound impact the 2019 World Cup win had throughout South Africa, and rugby’s transcendent power in uniting the rainbow nation. He also shares his thoughts on the upcoming Lions tour, the rule changes he would bring into the game to aid attacking rugby and the critical role Sevens is having in bringing the sport to new markets.

Episode 8 In the latest episode of the Leading Conversations podcast, Barry talks to David Cotter from Edrington and Sarah Baillie from StudioLR about the differences and similarities between Intrapreneurs and Entrepreneurs. They discuss examples of Intrapreneurial thinking, whether being an Intrapreneur is nature vs. nurture and how new ideas can help businesses grow from within.In this first short series, The Lane Agency speaks to a number of senior leaders within the Marketing industry in Scotland, discussing a wide range of topics - from the trials and tribulations of starting and building a successful marketing agency to marketing innovation within the drinks industry, the hot topic of sustainability and marketing in a pre and post-Covid world. This podcast series highlights the creativity, passion, resilience, and success of some of our talented industry colleagues.This podcast series is bought to us by The Lane Agency.

“We are totally dependent on biodiversity to survive – this is not a ‘greeny’ concern, this is an everyone concern.”Given nature and biodiversity is SO important to the future of humanity, we wanted to dive deeper into this important area. Following our recent episodes with the brilliant Alexandra Pimor, who works with organisations to give nature a voice and a seat at the boardroom table, we jumped at the chance to chat with Dr Sam Sinclair, a conservationist and expert on biodiversity.Sam starts with explaining what biodiversity is, and just how totally dependent we are on biodiversity to survive.There are more people and cattle than on earth today than there are wild animals – which is terrifying. We’ve reached a critical point where nature can no longer be a nice thing to look after. And we discuss how biodiversity loss poses a real threat to humankind. “The biodiversity field has absolutely exploded in the last year and companies all over the place are now questioning and thinking about this in really serious terms, asking what is my businesses impact on biodiversity and what can I do to reverse it?”As you’ll hear we talk about developing a biodiversity strategy, and importantly how organisations can take action and make different choices. A key point Sam raises is that, “biodiversity is different to carbon as there is no single metric of measure…it’s very context specific.” He goes on to explain, “what a good biodiversity strategy should do is take all the frustrating complexity and make it not frustrating…here’s how it all comes together and this is where we are and this is what good looks like.”Sam talks about the shift he is seeing from organisations moving away from individual projects, towards holistic programs and it’s at this point we talk about how for marketing this presents an incredible opportunity. Why? Because, people actually care about biodiversity. “Everybody has a story, everybody has a personal connection to biodiversity. This gives marketers those opportunities to craft narratives and people want to do the right thing, which is share by organisational culture.” Who doesn’t want to tell engaging stories which resonate and capture people’s attention, inspiring them to want to be part of the solution?”|We ask Sam about tree planting and the context and effectiveness around this well-known initiative. He explains that it is an important element, but it is a small piece of the solution. “Tree planting has great PR so people can get it, it is one unit of nature and they can see it. People don’t look at grasslands and soils in the same way, understandably. Tree planting captures the imagination.”Sam shares so much wisdom and insight in this episode, it really is one for everyone so we’d encourage you to listen, and share no matter what sector, industry or role you are in.Enjoy…For more information about Sam and Biodiversify - see here.________________________________________________________________________________You’ll find the Podcast on all the usual pod platforms - and also on The Global Player and via The Marketing Society. If you love it, do share it and spread the word. Talking about climate change and the role we play is one of the most important things we can do. So join the conversation. We’re all in this together.Our podcasts are recorded purely via online conferencing platforms, we apologise for any minor sound quality issues.

Episode 7In this episode, Barry talks to Gill Wylie from Frame and Vic Milne from Leith about Planning & Strategy. They discuss some of the planning & strategy myths, delve into the mystique and debate whether there is an optimum balance of instinct & intuition vs. theory and try and ultimately try and simplify what it actually is - and therefore also isn’t.In this first short series, The Lane Agency speaks to a number of senior leaders within the Marketing industry in Scotland, discussing a wide range of topics - from the trials and tribulations of starting and building a successful marketing agency to marketing innovation within the drinks industry, the hot topic of sustainability and marketing in a pre and post-Covid world. This podcast series highlights the creativity, passion, resilience, and success of some of our talented industry colleagues.This podcast series is bought to us by The Lane Agency.

In the quest to secure immediate profits, the risk of overlooking sustained growth opportunities and jeopardising the long-term success of a business is ever-present. David Khoshpasand, Amazon Performance Marketing Manager at Hasbro, advocates for the transformative insights found in the book "The Alchemy of Growth" by Mehrdad Baghai, Steve Coley, and David White. In this podcast episode, we explore how a book becomes a shiny new object. Discover the valuable lessons it imparts to data-driven marketers, the impact of the three horizons framework, and how David integrates this approach into his media decision-making.The Shiny New Object podcast is a production of Automated Creative, a creative effectiveness platform that turns brands' media impressions into marketing intelligence. Find out more at www.automatedcreative.net

Are you using your career to fight for the future? In this episode we talk with Claire Osborne who has a fascinating job as a sustainability career coach. Claire works with people who are increasingly looking at where and how they work, questioning the role they can play as climate change, climate action and sustainability continue to rise up the world’s agenda.  Claire talks about the challenges both business and people are facing and the research from David Graeber’s work around ‘bullshit’ jobs. Claire tell us that research reveals that, “37% of all roles are done by people who themselves rate them as having no positive impact in society”. She goes on to explain, there are box tickers, duct tapers, flunkies and many more categories, all of which open up many questions about the roles we spend most of our time doing.Claire shares the trends she is seeing such as people defining their own roles and setting their own purpose in work, as well as asking, how one applies the role to drive meaningful impact.Claire works with people who are trying to change the status quo, and shares with us some of the challenges that come with doing that and what you can do to feel supported, capable and less isolated in the sustainability space.We also talk about how to influence and build the business case for change and Claire shares some key principles around this and things people can be doing such as, “1. Seed-bombing, 2. Doing your research and listening for certain things within the audiences you are talking – what are their aspirations, ambivalences do they have, and what anxieties do they have? And 3. Listening in the moment, to find the 10% that the other person is right and explore that.”We dive into effective communication skills and the need to listen more, to share and have conversations, as opposed to purley broadcasting and talking ‘at’ our audiences. Claire shares her view on marketing and the skills Marketers have that can be put to great use in the sustainability space, explaining… “there is a ballsy-ness and incisiveness, which we could all do with applying.”Claire believes, “Marketers can use their knowledge, the insights and research they have access to, to create clear, rather than clever messaging to help with understanding, and to bring in a rigour that doesn’t overwhelm, but sells the next action, the next thing to do.”There’s a lot of advice Claire shares, and she busts open some of the most prominent myths in the sustainability space, giving a wealth of practical things for listeners to take away from this episode.Enjoy and any questions… simply get in touch.From Claire’s website:Working in sustainability is tough - the scale and urgency of the climate crisis can make it tough to keep moving forward with energy & focus. Frustration, exhaustion, uncertainty & overwhelm drain energy and make it harder to bring your best thinking to the challenge. One thing is for sure though; we need experienced Sustainability Leaders on the pitch. Your expertise is essential to steer the debate and drive action. Use the latest in neuroscience and behavioural psychology to set you up to be a force for change on climate.If you feel like you want to speak to Claire, you can find more on her website here: https://www.claireosborne.co.uk/

Episode 6In this episode, Barry talks to Iain Valentine and Ian Duncan about all things Web 3.0 - they cover everything from the Metaverse to NFTs, delving into discussion as to where physical and virtual realities collide.In this first short series, The Lane Agency speaks to a number of senior leaders within the Marketing industry in Scotland, discussing a wide range of topics - from the trials and tribulations of starting and building a successful marketing agency to marketing innovation within the drinks industry, the hot topic of sustainability and marketing in a pre and post-Covid world. This podcast series highlights the creativity, passion, resilience, and success of some of our talented industry colleagues.This podcast series is bought to us by The Lane Agency.

This month, THINK EQUAL Project Director, Leanne Foy met Christina Ioannidis award winning communications consultant, motivational speaker, MC, author, trainer and health coach. In this special episode, Leanne and Christina deep dive into women's health and how female physiology impacts their career progression. From menstruation to menopause, the changes that women go through are directly affecting their performance and therefore, their journey to leadership. The impact is irrespective of whether women have children as so many females suffer with symptoms or conditions connected to their endocrine health. If your health is impacting your career or the progression of someone in your family, or team, Christina has actionable takeaways that could help. Christina highlights that when businesses talk about diversity, inclusion and gender equity, women's health must be part of the conversation. There is a direct link between corporate performance and female health, linked to productivity. If businesses fail to acknowledge this, the bottom line will take a hit. Highlights include: How female health and career progression are inextricably linked The importance of businesses supporting women through their different phases Why women need to advocate for their own bodies A note from THINK EQUAL We are stronger together, than we are alone. And that’s why we want the marcomms industry to come together to make a difference. Every single person who makes up our brilliant industry can make an impact. Want to get involved? We’d love to hear from you. Whether that’s through donating your time on our working committee, or putting your hand up to run an event or training session, you may have some suggestions of speakers to add to our speaker library, or have a venue you want to provide for free. Contact us at thinkequal@marketingsociety.comTHINK EQUAL is the new Equality, Diversity and Inclusion initiative led by The Marketing Society. THINK EQUAL aims to drive diversity and inclusion across the marcomms industry in the MENA region. Through training, events, mentoring, policy changes, content and more. We aim to provide tangible activity that will make an impact and a difference now.Our regular THINK EQUAL podcast shines a light on inspiring leaders who are dedicated to levelling the marcomms playing field.

Paul Robinson, Director Marketing, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Central & Latin America at Jabra, talks about the multiple benefits of direct-to-consumer marketing and sales in the first episode of the Shiny New Object podcast in 2024.Find out how DTC can help personalise your offers, draw consumer insights, and ensure a large portion of commercial success.The Shiny New Object podcast is a production of Automated Creative, a creative effectiveness platform that turns brands' media impressions into marketing intelligence. Find out more at www.automatedcreative.net

Part 2 - “We have to find the courage to do something different…”Following on from Episode 1, we delve further into the role of law in sustainability. 2023 saw a marked rise in legal cases being brought against businesses and governments, as well as the tightening of regulations and guidelines around not only what businesses can do, but what they can say.The reality Alexandra explains is “the law takes time; for case law we need the means, will and resources to bring cases forward and for legislation we need governments to listen.” Earth Law Centre supports the law, “very rarely will the law be the real generator of change, for example, the EU Green Deal – the law won’t drive change at the core, the law is what will influence change, it will force it. The law is a tool, and it can be a carrot and it can be a stick.”This raises a big question for business, ‘are you going to be a pacesetter or are you going to wait to be regulated?’ We definitely need more pacesetters.Alexandra talks about “Four circles of service” looking at nature on the board, in professional practice, across project development and within cultural evolution, and a need to drive the real change towards an eco-centric approach and way of thinking. She explains that, “nature governance, is about responsibility, accountability and wisdom – we have all the knowledge that we can ever want, we have access to data, expertise and technology and we know what we have to do and stop doing – the question is, do we do that?”We naturally progress into the role of leadership and the need for honesty to make the right decisions to do something good. And, also the role Marketers play, and the need to be more responsible when it comes to the stories they tell and how we need to break away from some of the conditioned thinking so that we get creative and use our imaginations again. Marketing’s role in Nature governance is still very much a concept, but we need to be open to it and start to think differently. The need for a shift in consciousness is now. We discuss how ‘you’ can be the change and the need to have the right conversations to grow our understanding to get to the experience you want to create. Alexandra poses another big question, which we’ll leave you with, “what needs to change today in order to achieve the vision for tomorrow?” - We’d love to hear your thoughts!For more information about Nature Governance and the great work Alexandra and her team champion see here:And for more about Faith in Nature and putting nature on the board, see here: Enjoy…

Episode 5 In this episode, Barry delves into the hot topic of Employer Brands with guests John Botia and Steph Halliday. The trio discuss what an Employer Brand really means and the increasing importance of having an authentic employer brand.In this first short series, The Lane Agency speaks to a number of senior leaders within the Marketing industry in Scotland, discussing a wide range of topics - from the trials and tribulations of starting and building a successful marketing agency to marketing innovation within the drinks industry, the hot topic of sustainability and marketing in a pre and post-Covid world. This podcast series highlights the creativity, passion, resilience, and success of some of our talented industry colleagues.This podcast series is bought to us by The Lane Agency.

In digital marketing, capturing consumers' attention has become a primary challenge. How do you stop someone from scrolling past your ad? According to Rishi Mulgund, Performance Marketing Director at Haleon, it's all about using sound to make a connection and convey authenticity. Find out why audio is crucial to creative effectiveness on the latest episode of the Shiny New Object podcast.The Shiny New Object podcast is a production of Automated Creative, a creative effectiveness platform that turns brands' media impressions into marketing intelligence. Find out more at www.automatedcreative.net

“What does business have to do with nature? The next two episodes of Can Marketing Save the Planet go DEEP! We suggest you wrap up warm, pop in your headphones, and go for a wintry walk as we catch up with Alexandra Pimor, Director of Nature Governance at the Earth Law Centre. Despite preconceptions, we (humans) are part of nature, we are not above it and we need it – it is indeed our greatest ally. We talk to Alexandra about how reimagining and reengineering our systems from a nature conscious perspective and delve into her work, looking at how we offer nature a voice, a place and a stake in our systems – for nature to be both heard and represented. Alexandra talks about a responsibility based framework - “where there is a right, there is a responsibility.” We discuss how humans and business can no longer ignore the damage we are doing and how we need to take action to address the situation collectively. As Alexandra says, “if we give nature rights, we are responsible for making sure those rights are not only upheld but understood.” Climate change may be the big headline, but climate change is a result of the loss of nature and biodiversity.Alexandra told us about her amazing work putting nature on the board, when it comes to, “tackling the temperature of the planet and addressing the core”. She believes, “there are enough of us out there to do it, but we need more cooperation and collaboration with each other and it is not a linear approach we need to address or take, it’s a systemic one.”  We discuss how humans treat every earth community on the planet as a commodity, how the current systems would not exist if humans had not thought them up, and why we need to look at human behaviour and motivation to understand why we behave as we do. There is a fundamental need to let the natural systems do their thing and, there is a huge opportunity to rebuild these systems and get back to basics, being responsible human beings.Alexandra talks about the practicalities of how business can become more conscious, and makes the point that business is 100% reliant on nature. She talks about the work she did with the brand Faith in Nature, giving nature a voice, and the process they went through to make that happen. Alexandra shared the 3 critical questions which had to be answered: Legally - Can this be done within the legal framework of the UK – and what kind / type of director can nature be? The articles of association for the organisation (structural framework) – what needs to change? What do they (Faith in Nature), need to do? What are their obligations? Culture - What does the governance and practice on the ground actually look like?  Answering each of those questions and finding a way led Faith in Nature to be the first organisation to legally put nature on the board, giving nature a voice and a vote, ensuring better and more informed decisions are made.This was a truly inspiring discussion and one which couldn’t stop at just one episode! Tune in and go for that walk and who knows… maybe you’ll be considering putting nature on your board too.For more information about Nature Governance and the great work Alexandra and her team champion see here:And for more about Faith in Nature and putting nature on the board, see here: Enjoy… Part 2 to follow on 24th December ;)

Episode 4In this episode, Lane Agency are joined by Christian Arno and Olly Davies as they discuss the broad, but piping hot topic of sustainability – from Christian's determined focus on climate change following his Dads arrest, sustainable tourism in the Cairngorms, to how bad bananas are and greenwashing vs. bona fide impact investing...... And lots more in thier candid conversation on what climate change and sustainability means to marketers, business owners and leaders in all types of industries.In this first short series, The Lane Agency speaks to a number of senior leaders within the Marketing industry in Scotland, discussing a wide range of topics - from the trials and tribulations of starting and building a successful marketing agency to marketing innovation within the drinks industry, the hot topic of sustainability and marketing in a pre and post-Covid world. This podcast series highlights the creativity, passion, resilience, and success of some of our talented industry colleagues.This podcast series is bought to us by The Lane Agency.

This month, THINK EQUAL Project Director, Leanne Foy meets Lisa King, Co-Founder of Tales and Heads. Tales and Heads was founded by Lisa and Margaret Flannagan, who both sought to build an agency that offered strategic consultancy and creative storytelling. Lisa openly shares the approach she took when deciding to start her own business and offers inspiration to others thinking about doing the same. Highlights include: How risk taking and leadership go hand in handThe importance of networking and nurturing your networkWhy having the right mindset is fundamental to success It’s an inspiring listen, we hope you enjoy! A note from THINK EQUAL We are stronger together, than we are alone. And that’s why we want the marcomms industry to come together to make a difference. Every single person who makes up our brilliant industry can make an impact. Want to get involved? We’d love to hear from you. Whether that’s through donating your time on our working committee, or putting your hand up to run an event or training session, you may have some suggestions of speakers to add to our speaker library, or have a venue you want to provide for free. Contact us at thinkequal@marketingsociety.comTHINK EQUAL is the new Equality, Diversity and Inclusion initiative led by The Marketing Society. THINK EQUAL aims to drive diversity and inclusion across the marcomms industry in the MENA region. Through training, events, mentoring, policy changes, content and more. We aim to provide tangible activity that will make an impact and a difference now.Our regular THINK EQUAL podcast shines a light on inspiring leaders who are dedicated to levelling the marcomms playing field.

“Marketing is the management science of empathy - we need deep empathy if we want to take humanity and our economy through this massive change that we are facing.”Marketing will not save the world, but we will not save the world without marketing.In this episode we talk with Nicolas Lambert, author of, “Can Marketing Save the World”, (we know… a title very close to our hearts) and no surprises that it’s a book all about marketing and sustainability, An experienced and passionate marketer, he was CEO of Fairtrade Belgium, marketing executive at Unilever, AB InBev, Heineken and BBDO - and more recently, author and lecturer. We loved delving into the practicalities of sustainable marketing with Nicolas.“Sustainability and marketing, two things that don’t work together, but they should and now have to.” Nicolas places marketing as the engine of an organisation and explains the opportunity for Marketers is to “broaden the scope of interaction”. Expanding their view to include the broader stakeholder chain so they don’t leave themselves with a large blind spot in their strategies.When it comes to people, planet and profit or as Nicolas calls it, “the ménage à trios” he believes this needs to be at the core of what Marketers do, but acknowledges the challenges and underlying tensions that exist in the relationship between organisations and their stakeholders as we look for solutions and balance.We covered so much in this episode with Nicolas as he shared his insights, experience and knowledge on the role of regulation, the need for Marketers to support their organisations’ sustainable agendas and, that all important missing sense of urgency. Of course, we couldn’t talk sustainable marketing without discussing greenwashing which Nicolas believes, “most of the time it’s not because of cynicism of companies, it’s not because they want to be seen as greener than they are and manipulative, I think people are just being clumsy. They have a lack of knowledge and are applying traditional marketing tactics to sustainability, and that doesn’t work, and then they are surprised – because they just don’t get it.” Once again the need for Marketers to be more aware and educate themselves couldn’t be clearer.So, tune in and check out resources such as Nicolas’s framework, the “fourteen levers to make marketing more sustainable.” he mentions which can be found here. (And don’t be fooled by the title of the slide - the document is in English ;)). ________________________________________________________________________________You’ll find the Podcast on all the usual pod platforms - and also on The Global Player and via The Marketing Society. If you love it, do share it and spread the word. Talking about climate change and the role we play is one of the most important things we can do. So join the conversation. We’re all in this together.Our podcasts are recorded purely via online conferencing platforms, we apologise for any minor sound quality issues. 

Episode 3In this episode, Barry leads the conversation with Ian Greenhill from Studio Something and Paul Mason from Go Forth about their unconventional paths into the advertising industry. Barry, Ian and Paul chat about their early experiences, inspirations and some of the people who helped them shape their early careers - as well as some of their favourite campaigns from recent years.In this first short series, The Lane Agency speaks to a number of senior leaders within the Marketing industry in Scotland, discussing a wide range of topics - from the trials and tribulations of starting and building a successful marketing agency to marketing innovation within the drinks industry, the hot topic of sustainability and marketing in a pre and post-Covid world. This podcast series highlights the creativity, passion, resilience, and success of some of our talented industry colleagues.This podcast series is bought to us by The Lane Agency.

Episode 2In this episode, Barry talks to Janice Hutchinson from ICAS and Mick Doran from Noggin the Brain People about Mental & Brain Health. Tune in for some first hand insights to their conversation around some of their own learnings and experiences from the last couple of years.In this first short series, The Lane Agency speaks to a number of senior leaders within the Marketing industry in Scotland, discussing a wide range of topics - from the trials and tribulations of starting and building a successful marketing agency to marketing innovation within the drinks industry, the hot topic of sustainability and marketing in a pre and post-Covid world. This podcast series highlights the creativity, passion, resilience, and success of some of our talented industry colleagues.This podcast series is bought to us by The Lane Agency.

Hosted out of the UAE, the sustainability squad was created to bring together a group of members to help drive change around ESG and help curate high-quality content in the UAE’s Year of Sustainability. The squad seeks to put The Marketing Society at the heart of the Sustainability conversation in the build-up to COP28 and lead the conversation for the industry.Episode 5In episode 5 of the Marketing Society’s Sustainability Squad podcast series the hear from Abdul Rahim Osman (15 years of experience in business and marketing in the financial services industry) and Vikram Krishna (co founder of Sacred Groves -a community interest company that protects natural habitats around the world). In this episode they explore all things about developing a purpose led organisation from inception, combining 30 years of marketing experience in financial services to making an impact on ESG, keeping creativity and how CMOs can navigate ESG.The purpose of the podcast is to educate and inspire the marcomms community to drive change around sustainability and ESG, build case studies of great work marketeers have done in the region around ESG and demonstrate real life problem solving and creativity to influence stakeholder groups around better ESG principles.The aim of the series is to empower the wider marcomms community to drive change in their organisations.The series produced by Podcast Now, will cover topics such as: Sustainability and ESG Literacy, Creativity and Storytelling, Behavioural Science and case studies from leading marketeers in the region.

Qaiser Bachani, Consumer Experience Lead, Europe & Global Brands at Mondelēz International, talks about the resurgence of the Big Ideas in marketing. As we can let automation and AI take care of logistics and day-to-day marketing activities, we will have more time to look for unique, innovative advertising and brand ideas. In turn, when all work is aligned to one big idea, the day-to-day becomes quicker and clearer, too.The Shiny New Object podcast is a production of Automated Creative, a creative effectiveness platform that turns brands' media impressions into marketing intelligence. Find out more at www.automatedcreative.net