158: Paul Dervan on a marketing future that embraces mistakes and machines

Update: 2025-02-28

Description

This week we released AI from the punishment cupboard in which we’ve been keeping it in order to win the approval of author, marketing super-brain and AI believer Paul Dervan.

As the Head of Brand Marketing at Miro, Paul has been busy bolstering his reputation as one of the industry’s smartiest pant-wearers when it comes to marketing effectiveness. Miro is just the latest stop in a marketing career you could only possibly describe as both distinguished and glittering (glittinguished?) and has seen Paul tackle the marketing challenges on behalf of everyone from O2 to Telefonica to the National Lottery in Ireland (scooping, along the way, the title of Ireland’s Marketer of the Year in 2022.) He’s also the author of Run With The Foxes, a superb book about marketing, mistakes and making much better decisions.

This episode is very proudly dedicated to Peter Field. Peter has had a huge influence on Paul’s career both as a mentor and advisor.

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Follow Paul on LinkedIn.

Timestamps:

03:45 - First Job and Proper Job

05:10 - Early Career in Marketing

07:34 - Career Path and Focus

09:30 - Paul's Sweet Spot in Marketing

11:00 - Writing the Book: Run with Foxes

13:27 - Learning from Mistakes

15:51 - Mistakes and AI in Marketing

18:08 - Decision-Making Process

20:40 - Classical vs. Modern Marketing

22:22 - AI's Impact on Marketing

25:06 - Practical Applications of AI

30:05 - Advanced Uses of AI

33:08 - Synthetic Research

34:28 - Skepticism vs. Cynicism

36:42 - Curiosity and Experimentation

39:27 - Admitting Mistakes

43:27 - Listener Questions: Embedding Chapter One

Paul's Book Recommendations are:

Ogilvy on Advertising – David Ogilvy

The Anatomy of Humbug – Paul Feldwick

Decoded: The Science Behind Why We Buy – Phil Barden

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