Marketing Factories

In this episode of Marketing Factories, a podcast by Effie Europe and REBORRN, Dafni Prosalika (Partner at REBORRN) welcomes Grainne Wafer, Global Category Director, Guinness & Beer at Diageo, recorded at the Gravity Bar in the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin. Grainne has spent over 25 years at the company and leads Guinness end to end, from the billion-dollar brewery investment in Ireland to the marketing that keeps a 267-year-old brand growing at double digits.Her starting point is disarming: in 2014 a Mintel report told the business that Guinness "simply no longer is cool." What followed was a root-and-branch reset. Guinness broke its own rules, moved to a social-first community model, opened the brand to a younger and more female audience, and turned rituals into recruitment. Grainne walks through how the turnaround actually got built, from the Welcome Back moment born out of lockdown to Nitrosurge, the at-home device Diageo created after watching super-fans try to get more surge into their pints at home, adapting its earlier ultrasonic technology into a product now in one in four Irish homes.The conversation ranges across which consumer trends to back and which to let run, why a declining category is never an excuse, the logic behind partnering with the Premier League, the Diageo Way of Brand Building, and how a global brand keeps a local heartbeat. As ever, the episode closes with the 58:hours challenge: the one problem Grainne would hand the world's best minds.Key Moments00:00 – Introduction: A quick taste of the conversation before it begins.01:24 – Welcome to the Home of Guinness: The Gravity Bar, St James's Gate, and Arthur Guinness's 9,000-year lease signed in 1759.03:04 – What a Global Category Director Actually Does: The billion-dollar brewery, 22% growth in GB, and running Guinness end to end.04:53 – "Guinness Simply No Longer Is Cool": The 2014 Mintel report that triggered a root-and-branch reset.08:12 – To H*ll With All the Rules: Killing the "perfect pint" myth, and how COVID and the Welcome Back campaign became a turning point.12:14 – An Electric Toothbrush Built a Product: The consumer hack behind Nitrosurge, now in one in four Irish homes.20:15 – Giving Other Brands Hope: Why a declining category is never an excuse, and marketing as the engine of growth.24:10 – Why Guinness Backed the Premier League: football's global audience and the activation opportunity.28:13 – Backing Clubs Without Alienating Fans: Building belonging, not divisiveness, across the Premier League.32:04 – The Guinness Way of Marketing: The Diageo Way of Brand Building, keeping it simple, and codifying a global model.35:58 – A Global Brand With a Local Heartbeat: The Lovely Days campaign, the summer barrier Guinness built itself, and cowgirl hats vs Africa beaches.41:13 – Why Physical Spaces Still Matter: The Storehouse, the Open Gate breweries, and one in five visitors tasting Guinness for the first time.44:45 – Where the Industry Is Heading: Drinking differently, and price-pressured consumers.46:31 – 267 Years, One Moment: Staying curious, and why "you are only passing through."47:44 – The 58:hours Challenge: The brief Grainne would hand the world's best minds.CONNECT WITH REBORRN:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/reborrnInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/reborrn.company/Substack: https://reborrn.substack.comTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@reborrn.companyCONNECT WITH EFFIE EUROPE:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/effie-awards-europe/Website: https://www.effie-europe.com/

In this episode of Marketing Factories, a podcast by Effie Europe and REBORRN, Dafni Prosalika (Partner at REBORRN) welcomes Ulrich "Uli" Klenke, Chief Brand Officer of Deutsche Telekom, recorded at its Bonn headquarters. Ulrich stewards the world's most valuable telecoms brand, worth $96.2 billion by Brand Finance, and he starts from a problem every marketer knows: when connectivity is a commodity and "everything is accessible, and it's all the same," how do you make anyone feel anything about the brand? His answer is brand affinity, measured by asking people whether they love the brand or hate it.That question is why the company is, in his words, "not Deutsche anymore, and not Telekom anymore." It has grown beyond old-school telco into AI data centres, satellite partnerships and the digitisation of society, with a 6G network he calls an intelligent supercomputer you can reach anywhere. And because connectivity itself no longer differentiates, Ulrich argues that affinity and creativity are the only real moats left. So he runs a deliberately decentralised model: one global media contract, but best-of-breed creative chosen market by market. It is "a group of lions hunting, not a group of sheep feeding grass," held together by shared "toolboxes" rather than orders from headquarters, and by the rule he broke the old ones to introduce: "touch the brand."The conversation ranges across the questions every marketer is wrestling with. Ulrich walks through going fully AI-first, the Einstein film built on a licensed ElevenLabs voice avatar, and why sound, not visuals, is what makes an AI campaign feel real. He makes the case that purpose campaigns are "not over, they're different now," from the "against hate on the web" work to a Habermas-inspired pivot towards restoring dialogue. And he is candid on why he wants to be famous for the use of AI, why his CEO's one mantra is "bring me awards," and what keeps him in a seat he has held for double the average CMO tenure. As ever, the episode closes with the 58-hour challenge: the problem Ulrich would hand the most brilliant minds in the world.Key Moments00:00 – Teaser: Refusing the Mainstream01:33 – The $96 Billion Asset: Chief Brand Officer vs. CMO03:53 – Love It or Hate It: Measuring Brand Image and Affinity05:38 – When Connectivity Becomes Water: Managing the "Pink Air from Bonn"06:46 – The Agency-Side Brand Chief: Client vs. Agency Perspective11:35 – Why Hybrid Doesn't Work: The Lost Art of Learning Through Osmosis14:13 – Montessori Lessons & Starting a Global Job in COVID20:18 – The Telco Dad and the Perplexity Road-Trip23:45 – Attitude as Differentiation: The Social Network Pillar26:35 – Purpose Isn't Over, It's Different: Shifting from Hate to Dialogue32:08 – "Not Deutsche, Not Telekom Anymore": 6G, Satellites, and AI35:36 – Never Be Mainstream: Innovations and Tapping the Youth37:38 – Going Fully AI-First: The 100% AI Network Campaign & Einstein Voice40:39 – When AI Can Damage the Brand: Real Talent vs. Synthesised Emotion45:11 – The Third Voice in Every Call: Launching "Mia Magenta AI"50:14 – "Bring Me Awards": A CEO Mantra for Leadership Excellence53:07 – How the Factory Runs: Decentralised Markets and Toolboxed Campaigns1:04:59 – "Touch the Brand": Empowering Fluid Creativity1:09:27 – The 58-Hour Challenge: Digital Democracy and Public Service InnovationMarketing Factories explores the world's most effective marketing teams. Hosted by Dafni Prosalika (Partner, REBORRN). Produced by REBORRN in collaboration with Effie Europe and the European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA).CONNECT WITH REBORRN:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/reborrnInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/reborrn.company/Substack: https://reborrn.substack.comTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@reborrn.companyCONNECT WITH EFFIE EUROPE:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/effie-awards-europe/Website: https://www.effie-europe.com/

In this episode of Marketing Factories, a podcast by Effie Europe and REBORRN, Dafni Prosalika (Partner at REBORRN) welcomes two of the most senior voices in the industry, from opposite sides of the table: Charley Stoney, Chief Executive Officer of EACA (the European Association of Communications Agencies) and President of VoxComm, and Stephan Loerke, Chief Executive Officer of the WFA (World Federation of Advertisers). Between them they speak for the agencies and the advertisers: around 130,000 agency professionals across 30 countries, and over 10,000 of the world's brands.The conversation centres on a model in flux. Both are candid that the way agencies are paid, time and materials, was never a great model, and that AI has turned it into an existential question. Stephan's view is blunt: clients no longer want to buy hours, they want to buy impact. Charley maps what is replacing the old model, from output and licensing fees to royalties and productised process, and why Europe's roughly €1 billion a year pitching habit is a waste the industry can no longer afford.But the bigger story is a return to fundamentals. In a "sea of sameness" driven by AI, both argue that creativity becomes the real advantage, backed by 30 years of Effie data showing that the insight, the storytelling and long-term brand and agency relationships are what move a business. They also get into the tension every CMO lives with, from the roughly 60% of budgets still going to performance to the transformation fatigue that 76% of marketers admit to, plus the regulatory battles, two new Effie categories, and the burning problems each would hand to the most brilliant minds in the room.00:00 – Meet the People Who Speak for the Whole Industry: Charley represents around 130,000 agency people; Stephan speaks for over 10,000 brands.02:47 – Agency Side vs Brand Side: how their backgrounds, and L'Oréal's "poète-paysan," still shape how they lead.05:24 – What These Two Bodies Actually Do: protecting the industry's "licence to operate."15:00 – The €1 Billion Pitch Problem: how much Europe wastes on pitching every year, and the guide built to fix it.19:45 – Why the Pay Model Broke: why "time and materials" was never great, and how AI turned it into a risk.21:52 – What Replaces It: the shift to output and licensing fees, royalties, and productised process.24:13 – Hours vs Impact: why clients no longer want to buy hours, they want to buy outcomes.28:51 – Why Creativity Wins: why agencies will not disappear, and why creativity cuts through the "sea of sameness."29:47 – The Performance Trap: why 60% still goes to performance, against the Binet and Field evidence.34:18 – What Keeps CMOs Up at Night: what marketers admit off-camera, and the 76% transformation fatigue stat.36:52 – Principles Over Processes: why top-down transformation calcifies, and the shift to empowering teams.41:38 – Creativity Is a Skill, Not a Department: why creative thinking cannot be boxed into the creative team.43:38 – 30 Years of Effie: why an insight is not a fact, and the "explain it to your grandmother" test.46:07 – The Relationship Effect: why five-year partnerships are twice as effective, and the influencer surge from 0% to 30%.48:42 – Two New Effie Categories: Effie for Sustained Success and Effie for Democracy, and why now.51:41 – Better Marketing, Full Stop: why effective, responsible and sustainable marketing are now inseparable.53:13 – Which Agencies Thrive: the archetype model, from "busy by design" to "distinctly scalable."55:25 – The 58:hour Challenge: the burning problems each would hand the industry's best minds.CONNECT WITH REBORRN:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/reborrn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reborrn.company/Substack: https://reborrn.substack.comTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@reborrn.companyCONNECT WITH EFFIE EUROPE: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/effie-awards-europe/Website: https://www.effie-europe.com/

In this episode of Marketing Factories, a podcast by Effie Europe and REBORRN, Dafni Prosalika (Partner at REBORRN) welcomes Roy Gardner, Vice President of Brand Activation, Europe at adidas. Roy is responsible for shaping, localising and allocating the brand's marketing investment across 19 European markets, leading a team of around 120 people across omnichannel, digital, media and publishing.We recorded two weeks after Sabastian Sawe broke the two-hour marathon barrier at the 2026 London Marathon in the sub-100g adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3, a moment adidas covered with hundreds of billboards across London within hours. Roy takes us inside the engine behind that "brilliance at speed." But the bigger story is the turnaround itself.In 2023, adidas was a loss-making brand. Roy walks through the playbook that rebuilt it, the decision to retire "Impossible Is Nothing" for "You Got This," and why, while most of the industry pours 60% of budgets into performance, adidas put a five-minute film at the heart of its World Cup campaign and bet on brand.He also unpacks the return to fundamentals, the relay-race model of a "global brand with a local mindset," why adidas refuses the single-agency model, how it partners with creators rather than using them, and his definition of effective marketing: being the number one sports brand in Europe.00:15 — What a "Horizontal" Role Actually Means: the matrix that lets adidas move across 19 markets and 120 people.03:19 — Why He Came Back: what pulled Roy back to adidas, and what he expected to be different.04:27 — Owning the Sub-2-Hour Marathon: Sabastian Sawe's sub-two run in adidas, and the billboards that hit London within hours.05:14 — Brilliance at Speed: the "pre-active and reactive" engine adidas has built since the 2014 World Cup.11:36 — "WhatsApp Has Never Been So Hot": the reaction inside the building the moment the record fell.12:53 — From Loss-Making to the Comeback: Bjørn Gulden's turnaround, distilled into three building blocks.17:55 — Why They Retired "Impossible Is Nothing": the pressure insight behind "You Got This," and the Backyard Legends film.24:17 — The Brand-Over-Performance Bet: why adidas centred its World Cup on a five-minute film (Byron Sharp, Binet & Field, System1).29:59 — The Silent Glue: how adidas built creative coherence without making everything look the same.32:03 — The Relay Race: global, market and country as a 400m relay, and the Tang Jacket story.38:43 — Why There's No Single Agency: where creative cohesion actually has to come from.42:13 — Partner With Creators, Not Use Them: what decides who adidas works with.47:14 — The Message House: the two lines on any brief that matter most to Roy.48:09 — If He Built It From Scratch: the one thing Roy would mandate across the function.52:36 — What Effective Marketing Actually Means: Roy's impromptu definition.53:21 — The 58-Hour Challenge: the problem Roy would put the most brilliant people in a room to crack.CONNECT WITH REBORRN:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/reborrn/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reborrn.company/Substack: https://reborrn.substack.com/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@reborrn.companyCONNECT WITH EFFIE EUROPE:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/effie-awards-europe/Website: https://www.effie-europe.com/

In this special episode of Marketing Factories, released to mark the opening of Effie Awards Europe 2026 entries, REBORRN partner Dafni Prosalika welcomes Staffan Ekstam, Nordic Marketing and Brand Strategy Director at Food Folk Sverige AB (McDonald's Sverige), and Petter Dixelius, Creative Director and Partner at NORD DDB STHLM.Back in December 2025, on the day following the Effie Awards Europe ceremony, we recorded in Brussels a special episode at EACA's offices (European Association of Communications Agencies), about one of the most talked about campaigns of the 2025 edition: McDonald's Nordics "Deal with the Trash".Staffan and Petter go inside one of the world's most recognised brands and the twenty-year agency partnership behind some of its most effective work. The conversation covers how global strategy actually lands in four Nordic markets, what it takes to turn a brand liability into an award-winning campaign, and why the best idea in the room sometimes has to wait five years before it's ready.- 01:44 – A Symbol That Needs No Words There are only a handful of them in the world. Dafni opens with one, and sets up exactly why this conversation matters.- 02:54 – The Idea That Had to Wait Petter on a creative idea that sat in the room for nearly five years because the world wasn't ready for it yet.- 04:12 – What Chicago Sets and What It Doesn't Staffan breaks down the real relationship between global strategy and Nordic creative freedom. There is more flexibility than most people assume with one non-negotiable exception.- 10:08 – When the Brand Becomes Part of the Solution How a well-documented problem with McDonald's in the Nordics became the foundation of a campaign that rewarded people for solving it.- 13:41 – The Difference Between an Insight and a Fan TruthDafni asks Staffan and Petter about what McDonald's global CMO Morgan Flatley calls "Fan Truths" and why a truth that only resonates with two people can still be exactly right.- 19:05 – Who Belongs in the Room From Day One The moment Staffan and Petter changed who was present at the brief. A small process shift with a significant creative consequence.- 43:43 – The Hardest Thing About Running Marketing at Scale Staffan names the capability he looks for most in his team. It sounds straightforward, but almost nobody does it well.- 45:11 – The Acronym That Stumped Him A story from Petter's first weeks working on McDonald's that captures everything about what it actually takes to understand a client's business.- 53:11 – Why McDonald's CMO Sits Closest to the CFOThe data says most CFOs don't believe marketing drives results. Staffan on why that gap looks different from inside McDonald's.- 59:53 – What Twenty Years Feels Like From the InsideStaffan and Petter on the thing that long partnerships build that no brief can ever replicate and why it shows up most when the work is hardest.CONNECT WITH REBORRN:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/reborrn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reborrn.company/Substack: https://reborrn.substack.comTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@reborrn.companyCONNECT WITH EFFIE EUROPE: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/effie-awards-europe/Website: https://www.effie-europe.com/