Are you ready to level up your sales game? Welcome to OnBD with ALF, the podcast that brings you the best advice and success stories from industry leaders in media and advertising.
Each episode, we tackle the challenges of new business to help you elevate your own sales strategy. If you're in business development and looking to sharpen your sales techniques, discover actionable insights, and stay ahead of the competition, you're in the right place.
Host and General Manager of ALF Insight, Amanda Rosevear is joined by Steve Cording, Head of Culture, Sport and TelCo at The Standard, the long-established regional newspaper for London. Steve shares his journey from sports journalism to media sales, the evolution of The Standard, the importance of storytelling, and the need for adaptability in the changing media landscape. Amanda and Steve also chat about navigating redundancy, the impact of AI on media, the future of ...
In this first episode of the new series, 'OnBD with ALF', host and General Manager of ALF Insight, Amanda Rosevear, delves into the intricacies of successful business development with guests, Rich McHardy, founder of The McHardy Collective, and Jody Osman, Chief Growth Officer at Propeller Group. The pair are also known for being the founders of The BD100. The episode explores what differentiates a good business developer from a great one, through the lens of The BD...
Welcome to ALF Insight’s brand-new series focusing on everything you wanted to know about business development. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jonathan Wolf (ZOE), and Sharlene Lopez (Medifesto) discuss nutritional science, the microbiome, and personalized nutrition. They explore ZOE's research transforming health through food and the evolving role of branding and marketing in the health technology sector. Discussions include behavioral change, the impact of ultra-processed foods, and the future of health tech.
Exploring Travel and Advertising with TUI's Toby Horry and Rory Sutherland. In this episode of On Brand with ALF and Rory Sutherland we hear from Toby Horry, Global Brand and Content Director at TUI. Discover Toby's career journey from a production manager at an indie film company to his current role at TUI. Learn about TUI's dynamic history, the impact of COVID-19 on the travel industry, and the evolving trends in holiday booking. The discussion also explores the influence of digital transforma...
In this episode, Rory interviews Ruth Snowdon-Gough, CMO of Hain Celestial, a company known for its ‘dawn to dusk’ portfolio of brands including Sun Pat, Covent Garden Soup, Linda McCartney Foods and Ella's Kitchen. The discussion covers Hain's multi-year strategy for global growth, the meat-reduction trends influencing food consumption, and the evolution of vegetarian food toward flavour-rich offerings without taste compromise. They explore insights into educating children on cooki...
In this episode of 'On Brand with ALF and Rory Sutherland,' host Rory Sutherland, Vice-Chairman of Ogilvy UK, sits down with Benjamin Braun, the Chief Marketing Officer at Samsung Europe. The discussion covers a range of topics including Samsung's creative use of their Olympic sponsorship, marketing tactics and digital transformation. Braun highlights the success of gifting special edition gold phones to Olympians, which led to a 23% increase in demand for Flip 6 phones. They also explore Samsun...
Rory says Jordan Brompton is the best advert for not going to university. He reckons she's had a free MBA! Jordan started working life on a market stall and has worked in restaurants and bars but when she had a chat with plumber turned electrician, Lee Sutton, they decided to go for it and set up myenergi. Lee is the technical side of the business but it's quite clear that Jordan is the marketing and sales powerhouse although, as she points out to Rory, she has been known to get to work with the...
In this episode of 'On Brand', Rory Sutherland welcomes Margaret Jobling, Chief Marketing Officer at NatWest. They discuss the challenges and successes in marketing across various sectors, with a focus on NatWest's transformation in its marketing approach. Margaret delves into the importance of understanding customer needs, leveraging data effectively, and experimenting to build knowledge. The conversation also covers the impact of fintech, the role of technology in banking, and NatWest's strate...
John Roberts started Appliances Online for a £1 bet in the pub on Christmas Eve 1999 with his mate. Today it's known as AO.com and it's a huge success in the provision of white goods and now tv and entertainment, smart tech, computing and more. John tells Rory how the company has focused on superb customer service to differentiate itself from its competitors and he outlines the thinking behind their sponsorships and marketing. Interestingly, having started by mailing brochures and then moving to...
Rachel Eyre is Chief Customer and Marketing Officer at Morrisons, a heritage business in the UK, celebrating 125 years in 2024. Rachel explains how the Market Street proposition in Morrisons with its fresh, British sourced produce, appeals to traditional older Morrisons customers, but is now resonating with younger shoppers. Although big trolley shops are still popular, Rachel outlines how smaller, more frequent basket shops are becoming the norm. Rachel and Rory discuss Morrisons' vertically in...
Christian Thrane is the Managing Director of Marketing at EE and BT's Consumer Division. The merger of the two companies in 2016 has opened many opportunities. Christian, who joined just before lock-down, has been charged with setting out the new offerings for both existing and new customers. Service to the consumer is at the top of his agenda and on his watch this has improved on every level since the merger. Rory quizzes Christian about the focus of EE’s service with four areas addressed, Home...
Having read Economics at Cambridge, ex-Procter & Gamble marketer, Greg Jackson, explains the success behind Octopus, recently certified as a Which? Recommended energy provider for the 7th year in a row. Innovative technology, great marketing and superb customer service are integral to the Octopus success story. Among the many amazing revelations in the chat with Rory, Greg points out that 65% of UK households have a car, an increasing number of which are EVs, and the battery in an EV ca...
Simon Peel has worked for, among others, MediaCom, Mindshare, 20th Century Fox and Adidas. Now he's Vice President of Global Marketing for the healthcare brand Haleon born out of GSK, Novartis and Pfizer. In our Top Two Challenges, Simon describes the challenges facing both Haleon and the sector as a whole as being similar; through advertising, the need to create an emotional connection between the consumer and the brand in order to differentiate from retailers' own brand. As Rory says, price is...
Lena Jüngst explored product development at University in Germany and turned a bachelor thesis into a product - air up® - non-flavoured water that tastes flavoured. Lena explains how it works to convert Rory and reveals that around 80% of what we perceive as flavour is actually derived from what we’re smelling. With this relatively new drink product, while you drink plain water, you experience taste. No sugar. Just science! The brand, initially launched direct to consumers in Germany, is becomin...
Yusuf Chuku is Executive Vice President, Strategic Planning & Commercial Impact at NBCUniversal . The guys explore how clients can best tap into the content-audience relationship and discuss partnerships, storytelling, branded content and the constant pressure to innovate and stay relevant to audiences. Fandemoniums? How does NBC Universal grow and access fandoms? Yusuf also responds to our regular Top Two Challenges - what is the biggest advertising challenge for global television &a...
Charlotte Lock has had an illustrious career embracing the BBC, Tesco, Co-op, Asda, McCann and now the John Lewis Partnership where her experience in behavioural economics and partnerships is helping to develop the group’s offering. In this episode she joins Rory to discuss data driven customer insight and brand experience, along with segmentation in a variety of areas. Plus, Charlotte talks us through this year's John Lewis Christmas ad, their first created by Saatchi & Saatchi....
In this episode, Rory meets Jasper Martens, the Chief Marketing Officer at Pension Bee. Pension Bee launched in 2015 after CEO and Co-Founder, Romi Savova, who had previously worked at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, had difficulties transferring her own pension. Jasper reveals that many of their over 1 million new customers didn’t realise the tax benefits and contributions that come from having the right pension arrangements and why Pension Bee is now on a mission to make the process easier t...
Rory is joined by Milka Privodanova, VP Head of EMEA of Pinterest to talk about the online platform which they describe as 'personal media' rather than social. Milka outlines how the user experience of Pinterest is a positive and natural environment for advertisers and how almost everything you see on Pinterest is available to buy. Food, beauty, fashion and home décor are all hugely popular but the company is also experiencing success in the areas of travel, financial services and entertain...
As we head towards one million electric cars on Britain’s roads, Marketing Director Nic Thomas discusses Nissan’s drive towards a totally electric range in 2030. Nic addresses the ‘charging’ challenge faced by the whole EV industry and why he’s calling for destination charging to be legislated. Nic also discusses some of the exciting engineering and design benefits of Nissan EVs - imagine your office on wheels! - but also why timing is proving to be the main marketing challenge for Nissan....
Rory chats to Emilie Vanpoperinghe, CEO and Co-Founder of Oddbox, the subscription box company that saves imperfect and surplus fruit and vegetables from going to waste. Emilie explains how the idea for the business came about, why pricing 'wonky' vegetables can be challenging and the company's plans for the future. In the Top Two Challenges, Emilie shares her thoughts on what is the biggest challenge for Oddbox and the most pressing challenge for the grocery industry as a whole. Code ALF will g...
Nicola Hamilton , Senior Director of Branding & Communications at GoCardless, outlines how businesses can get paid more easily and conveniently by using their service. She outlines that the challenge for GoCardless is the inertia of companies not realising how much money and time they can save by moving away from outdated, manual methods to automated, online payments. As someone who's worked in the industry for over 15 years Nicola counsels that fintech companies now need to f...
In 2018, Finn Lagun went on Dragon's Den but failed to convince Peter Jones & Co to invest in his home delivery pasta business. Now the business has a multi-million pound turnover and is majority owned by the pasta giant Barilla. Rory quizzes Finn about moving from 'pasta through your letter box' to a business which has now expanded into retails outlets and offers fully prepared takeaway delivery. Plus in our 'Top Two Challenges' feature, Finn shares his thoughts on the biggest challenges fa...
Rory Sutherland is joined by Khartoon Weiss, Global Head of Agency & Accounts at TikTok. Since launching in 2016, TikTok has seen a meteoric rise to success, currently boasting 1.2 billion monthly users across the globe. Rory and Khartoon discuss the unique elements of the platform that make it so appealing and examine how brands can harness the existing creativity and community to engage users and achieve the ultimate goal of marketing - changing behaviour. Plus in our 'Top Two ...
Rory meets Tim Keaveney, Co-Founder of Homethings, a challenger brand offering sustainable household cleaning products delivered direct to your door. As a winner of Sky’s Zero Footprint Fund, Tim reveals their plans for their first TV campaign and discusses how perceptions are changing about the efficacy of ‘green’ products. Plus, in the Top Two challenges, Tim shares the biggest issues facing both Homethings and the home care sector in general. If you want to do business w...
Lars Silberbauer has been named as one of the most innovative and influential marketers in Europe. Before joining HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, as Chief Marketing Officer in September 2022, he held positions with the International Olympic Committee, MTV, Viacom and Lego. Rory talks to Lars about 'Circular', the new subscription service for Nokia phones which is looking to revolutionise the relationship we have with our handsets and provide a sustainable solution to e-waste. Plus in...
With a distinguished career in textiles and fashion retail, Lynne Walker is Director of Primark Cares. Lynne talks to Rory about the phenomenal high street success of Primark and how the brand approaches marketing, the environment and sustainability. If you want to do business with the UK’s leading brands, request an ALF Insight demo. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Marcia Kilgore is a serial entrepreneur, having successful launched companies such as Bliss Spa, Soap & Glory and FitFlop. Her most recent company is Beauty Pie, which she describes as her 'best idea yet'. In this episode Rory Sutherland chats to her about the idea behind the brand, the benefits of operating a membership model, how they reach new customers and the biggest challenges facing Beauty Pie and the beauty retail industry at large. If you want to do business with the UK’s leading br...
Rory meets Nikki Garg, Co-Founder of the Good Pea Co, a disruptor brand producing plant-based milk made from pea protein. Nikki shares the background story to the product, discusses the challenges of being a start-up during lockdown, explains why sustainability and health is at the heart of everything they do and reveals why peas might just save the planet. On Brand is brought to you by https://www.alfinsight.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Kian Golzari is one of the world's leading product development and sourcing experts. He's personally sourced over 2,500 products for the likes of Bed, Bath and Beyond, Procter & Gamble, Visa, Panasonic and even Google. Rory quizzes him on all aspects of his work including working in China. If you're thinking of developing a new product Kian is your go-to guy. You can find out more at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcnsghoDG2AObm8l-lGzxCQ?sub_confirmation=1 and remember On Brand is brought ...
