Episode #150. We’re celebrating our milestone 150th episode with a technical skill that, if it hasn’t already, will impact and shape the way we work and live our lives, and the lives of our consumers.

We’re discussing AI and how to utilise the tools available today, to help you to grow the brands and businesses of tomorrow.

Returning guest and friend of the podcast joining Abby is Jeremy Connell-Waite. As IBM’s Global Communications Designer, Jeremy is a seasoned storyteller, strategist and communications leader, bringing a wealth of experience from his work at the intersection of technology, purpose and human connection.

In this episode, Jeremy shares how he uses AI to become his IA – intelligent assistant – conversing with his AI personas to collaborate; not only to provide answers but get to the root causes to help him ask the right questions too.

Jeremy also reveals why you should use voice prompt when training your AI, plus he gives many great examples of how it can be used day-to-day, with different AI platforms and resources to help you get started.

00:00:00 Welcome and Introduction to Brand Purpose

00:02:16 Jeremy’s Background & Approach to AI

00:03:33 Defining AI: Intelligent Assistant, Not Artificial Intelligence

00:05:20 How Marketers Are Using AI

00:08:49 Building Rapport with AI & Humanizing the Experience

00:15:11 How to Build Your Own AI Assistant

00:22:29 Building Custom GPTs

00:25:38 Experimenting with Different Platforms

00:27:30 The Future of AI: Adoption Not Anxiety

00:31:51 Top Five Actions for Marketers

00:38:03 AI as a Time-Saving Tool to Free You Up For What You Enjoy 

00:39:25 Final Advice For Marketers

Host: Abigail Dixon FCIM/ICF | LinkedIn

Guest: Jeremy Connell-Waite | LinkedIn

The Whole Marketer podcast is here to support and empower the people behind brands and businesses with the latest technical tools, soft and leadership skills and personal understanding for a fulfilling marketing career and life as a whole. For more info go to www.thewholemarketer.com

Welcome to “In my humble opinion”, a podcast collaboration between The Marketing Society and Publicis Groupe UK that creates a space for marketing leaders to discuss their opinions on topics affecting our industry which they think about but may not always say out loud.

You will hear industry leaders and experts talk about their views and opinions on deliberately provocative subjects such as the impact of technology on brands and consumers, the future of our industry, the generational divides, diversity and inclusion and more.

You’re joining us for episode 6 'In My Humble Opinion... Fragmented creativity is exciting’.

Featuring Ben Mooge, Chief Creative Officer, Publicis Groupe and Kelly Engstrom, Brand & Demand Generation Communications Director. BT, EE and Plusnet at BT.

Ben and Kelly explore a provocative idea that challenges traditional integrated campaign thinking. They discuss how media fragmentation has fundamentally shifted creative execution, moving away from the "matching luggage" approach to embrace channel-specific creativity that maintains brand authenticity.

Whether you're a marketer, creative, or brand strategist, this conversation offers valuable insights on embracing creative fragmentation as an opportunity rather than a threat.

Connect with our guests:

• Ben Mooge, Chief Creative Officer, Publicis Groupe - LinkedIn Profile
• Kelly Engstrom, Brand & Demand Generation Communications Director. BT, EE and Plusnet at BT - LinkedIn Profile

Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review our podcast!

Our industry is filled with many brilliant minds with thought provoking views, we can’t wait to bring them to you, our next episode of “In my humble opinion” will be coming soon and find our series of content of the same name over at The Marketing Society website here.

Episode #149. Today’s topic is an area of personal understanding, enabling you to take the reins of your career so that it’s happening for you, not to you. We’re discussing purpose driven careers, packed with advice for how to make choices that enable you to be successful and fulfilled in your career and life as a whole.

Joining Abby is her guest and experienced marketing leader, Megan Harrison. Having worked on many iconic brands such as Huggies, Durex, Warburtons and Carex, Megan’s is now CMO at Grocery Aid, a charity with a long history of helping grocery workers through tough times, providing financial, emotional and practical support.

In this episode, Megan shares her definition of a purpose driven career, the choices she’s made in her personal career journey and why, and the questions to ask yourself when choosing your next role.

Plus, her career highs and lows and advice for marketers of tomorrow.

00:00:00 Welcome and Introduction to Brand Purpose

00:03:41 Definition of Purpose

00:04:40 Megan’s Personal Journey to Identify Purpose

00:05:54 Career Choices and Purpose Alignment

00:09:13 Career Transitions

00:12:25 Advice for Early Career Professionals

00:15:40 Looking For Your Next Role

00:20:13 Red Flags

00:23:07 Connection to Brand Challenges

00:25:05 Cultural Values in Organisations

00:27:14 Career Highs and Lows

00:30:57 Advice for Future Marketers

Host: Abigail Dixon FCIM/ICF | LinkedIn

Guest: Megan Harrison FCIM | LinkedIn

The Whole Marketer podcast is here to support and empower the people behind brands and businesses with the latest technical tools, soft and leadership skills and personal understanding for a fulfilling marketing career and life as a whole. For more info go to www.thewholemarketer.com

Welcome to “In my humble opinion”, a podcast collaboration between The Marketing Society and Publicis Groupe UK that creates a space for marketing leaders to discuss their opinions on topics affecting our industry which they think about but may not always say out loud.

You will hear industry leaders and experts talk about their views and opinions on deliberately provocative subjects such as the impact of technology on brands and consumers, the future of our industry, the generational divides, diversity and inclusion and more.

You’re joining us for episode 5 '‘In My Humble Opinion... Getting to great work is hard work’.

Featuring Karen Martin, CEO at BBH in conversation with Michelle Spillane, Managing Director Marketing at Paddy Power.

They explore the challenging journey from good to great advertising, discussing how truly exceptional creative work doesn't just inform but transforms. Michelle shares insights on building a culture of creative bravery, leaving space for unexpected magic in the production process, and why investing in great work delivers the best ROI possible.

Whether you're a marketer, creative, or brand leader, this conversation offers valuable insights on building creative partnerships built on trust rather than control.

Connect with our guests:

• Karen Martin, CEO at BBH LinkedIn Profile
• Michelle Spillane, Managing Director Marketing at Paddy Power LinkedIn Profile

Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review our podcast!

Our industry is filled with many brilliant minds with thought provoking views, we can’t wait to bring them to you, our next episode of “In my humble opinion” will be coming soon and find our series of content of the same name over at The Marketing Society website here.

Episode #148. The technical skill in this episode is brand purpose, providing marketers with the clarity on why their brand exists internally and externally, motivation for the whole organisation to get behind and creating a north star to focus on - whether that's strategic or tactical choices or how to bring this to life.

Joining Abby is her guest Helen Jeremiah, Global Vice President for Croda, a company that makes specialised ingredients for beauty, personal care, and home care products. Having previously worked at Boots and Walgreen’s Alliance Group, Helen is an experienced marketing leader who has worked across multiple disciplines including marketing, customer strategy, global marketing, global brand marketing, product development, insight and inclusivity.

In this episode, Helen shares her definition of brand purpose and its significance beyond profit, authenticity, the importance of internal engagement, and agency partnerships to bring to life.

Plus, her career highs and lows and advice for marketers of tomorrow.

00:00:00 Welcome and Introduction to Brand Purpose

00:03:03 Importance of Internal Engagement

00:04:48 Advice for Redefining Brand Purpose

00:07:08 Aligning Brand Purpose with Values

00:09:22 Multifaceted Nature of Brand Purpose

00:10:21 Stakeholder Engagement for Alignment

00:13:49 Measuring Brand Purpose Impact

00:16:43 Internal Perception of Brand Purpose

00:18:28 Helen’s Personal Drive for Purpose

00:23:43 Agency Collaboration for Fresh Perspectives

00:25:49 Career Highs and Lows

00:31:51 Advice for Future Marketers

Host: Abigail Dixon FCIM/ICF | LinkedIn

Guest: Helen Jeremiah | LinkedIn

The Whole Marketer podcast is here to support and empower the people behind brands and businesses with the latest technical tools, soft and leadership skills and personal understanding for a fulfilling marketing career and life as a whole. For more info go to www.thewholemarketer.com

Following the presentation of Future Leader of the Year 2024 at The Marketing Society Annual Dinner in November 2024, Lauren Groves, Head of Marketing Conversion & Partner at ITV is in conversation with James Townsend, EMEA CEO at Stagwell.

Lauren discusses her career growth and future goals as well as covering topics such as leadership beyond marketing and teamwork, creating safe spaces and learning from failure and of course touches on innovation and the impact of AI in her work.

Find out more about The Marketing Society Awards here https://www.marketingsociety.com/Global-40th-Awards

Episode #147. Social proof is the technical topic featured in this episode as we delve into the benefits of collaborating, trialling and testing with consumers and influencers in real-time and how to get started with social proof to help build communication ideas, propositions, campaigns and products. And the all-important internal buy-in and confidence for concepts and much more…

Abby’s guest in this episode is Michael Goldstein, founder of Fragment, a comms strategy led agency that drives growth through helping brands capitalise on the chaos of modern marketing. Previously he was global head of communications strategy at DDB, and before that held leadership roles at Mccann, R/GA and The &Partnership.

In this episode, Michael shares his definition of Social Proof, why marketers should build ideas out in the world and how to get started with testing. Plus examples of integrating social proof to shape creative campaigns and working with influencers.

Plus his career highs and lows and advice for marketers of tomorrow.

00:00:00 Welcome and Introduction to Social Proof

00:02:58 Defining Social Proof

00:04:03 Traditional vs Collaborative Process

00:06:32 The Rapid Nature of Cultural Changes

00:08:07 Testing and Iteration in Marketing

00:09:40 Challenger Brands and Flexibility

00:10:26 Consumer Product Brands and Creators

00:12:18 Building a Feedback Loop

00:17:30 Using Social Proof in Agency Work

00:19:11 Case study: Repositioning a Brand

00:21:35 Cultural and Emotional Impact

00:24:16 Community-Built Brands

00:25:43 Embracing Chaos in Marketing

00:27:11 Career Highs and Lows

00:31:21 Advice for Future Marketers 

Host: Abigail (Abby) Dixon FCIM/ICF | LinkedIn

Guest: Michael Goldstein | LinkedIn

The Whole Marketer podcast is here to support and empower the people behind brands and businesses with the latest technical tools, soft and leadership skills and personal understanding for a fulfilling marketing career and life as a whole. For more info go to www.thewholemarketer.com

In this episode, the second of our greenwashing mini-series we chat to Guy Parker, Chief Executive of the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), about green claims and the role of responsible advertising in sustainability.

Guy explains that the ASA’s mission is to, “make sure that ads are legal, decent, honest and truthful. We care about ads not misleading people, not harming them, not offending them and being socially responsible.” Guy highlights that with rising concerns about climate change, the ASA is focused on environmental claims balancing the need for businesses to communicate sustainability efforts without misleading consumers.

We discuss the line between greenwashing (exaggerated or false claims) and greenhushing (staying silent due to fear of backlash), and how Marketers can absolutely tread the middle ground between the two. Guy emphasises how businesses should communicate sustainability progress— modestly and precisely, “being a bit more modest in the claims and being a bit more kind of real world in terms of what this means for your customers and your prospective customers, can actually go a very long way.” Focus should be on tangible, near-term actions rather than distant net-zero targets.

Most greenwashing isn’t intentional - it stems from lack of education and understanding. Guy points out that Marketers must know the rules and follow the guidance, (ASA’s codes, CMA’s Green Claims Code), collaborate cross-functionally with sustainability teams to ensure accuracy and make use of the breadth of ASA resources (rulings, guidance, and free training), to avoid pitfalls.

There is information and knowledge out there for everyone and it’s all very accessible. Guy’s message is clear, businesses must keep talking about sustainability, but do so, responsibly.

Tune in as we talk to Guy about:

• The green claims and advertising landscape.
• The need for organisations to be transparent and share their sustainability journeys.
• Why less is more when it comes to green claims - specific, evidence-backed claims are safer.
• Keep communicating, silence helps no one - we need to talk about it to drive change.
• Where greenwashing complaints can come from and, how to make a complaint.
• Why strategies and processes are needed.
• What resources and guidance are available to support Marketers and organisations considering making green claims.
• For resources check out the ASA’s CAP Advertising Guidance, their training and their recent rulings - all of which can be found here.
• And, if you’re looking to upskill your team with the green claims landscape - be sure to check out our 3 hour Greenwashing 101 short training course via our Sustainable Marketing Training Hub.
• More in this mini-series to follow with conversations still to come with ClientEarth and Fanclub PR. Stay tuned.
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