After 20 unhappy years as a headhunter, it took a near death experience for Sherilyn Shackell to launch The Marketing Academy, a non-profit organisation developing leadership talent in marketing. Launched in 2010, The Marketing Academy now helps marketers become CMOs and CMOs become CEOs. This episode, we focus on exactly how CMOs can get a seat at the table in the boardroom and all the traits they need to do this successfully. Timestamps 00:00 - Intro 00:53 - How a near death experience led to ...
Jun 25, 2025•1 hr•Ep. 196
In a bonus live episode from Cannes, Professor Scott Galloway joins renowned CMO Kory Marchisotto (e.l.f. Beauty) and advertising legend Rory Sutherland to discuss three big topics: Is brand dead? Are we too risk-averse? And what is the future of the CMO? Timestamps 00:00 - Start 00:26 - Is the era of brand dead? 13:54 - Do we need to make better advertising? 20:11 - How CMOs can approach risk 31:09 - The demise of the CMO
Jun 23, 2025•40 min
Ben Branson is the founder of Seedlip, a non-alcoholic spirit brand he started in 2015, and sold 3 years later to Diageo. Jon speaks to Ben about the origins of the brand, how the grew so fast, what makes Ben such an impressive marketer (despite him not liking marketing) and how a brand goes from 0 to exit in such a short space of time. We also talk about Ben's new brands and his Hidden 20% charity. Timestamps 00:00:00 - SIntro 00:01:01 - Where did the idea for Seedlip come from? 00:14:14 - Char...
Jun 18, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 195
The B2B boys Jon Lombardo and Peter Weinberg return to the podcast for a third time, this time wearing their new distinctive assets. They go hard on Professor Scott Galloway, disagreeing with his "brand is dead" statement, suggesting that not only is brand not dead, it's alive, thriving and you need it for your brand to survive. They also give us an update on their synthetic research company, Evidenza , and what the future of brands look like in the age of AI. Timestamps 00:00 - Intro 02:07 - Ho...
Jun 11, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 194
I speak to Airbnb's CMO, Hiroki Asai, fresh off their 2025 Summer Release, where they announced their brand new "Services" and "Experiences" addition to the platform. This now positions Airbnb as the perfect alternative to a hotel when travelling. Hiroki touches on how they have launched this massive new innovation, why they do all their creative work in-house and rounds off with some poignant advice to marketers. Timestamps 00:00 - Intro 01:42 - Joining Airbnb at the start of COVID 02:44 - Why ...
Jun 04, 2025•37 min•Ep. 193
Since Elon Musk acquired X (formerly Twitter) in 2022, the platform has undergone dramatic changes; slashing headcount, losing major advertisers, and redefining its identity. Now, under CEO Linda Yaccarino and marketing lead Angela Zepeda (formerly of Hyundai), X is staging a comeback. Angela joins Jon to discuss her leap from automotive to tech, rebuilding advertiser trust, and the bold vision of turning X into “the everything app.” They cover the platform's role in breaking news, championing f...
May 28, 2025•51 min•Ep. 192
Rankin Carroll is the Chief Brand Officer at Mars, having joined the company in 2002. Mars is responsible for some of the most well-known advertising in the world, for brands including M&M’s, Twix, Snickers, Skittles, and more. Jon speaks to Rankin about long-term brand building vs. performance marketing, how to get the most out of agencies, and what it takes to build a portfolio of incredible brands. Timestamps 00:00 - Intro 00:52 - Rankin’s career journey 05:49 - How the Chief Brand Office...
May 21, 2025•53 min•Ep. 191
Nicole Parlapiano is the CMO of Tubi, an ad-supported streaming platform taking on the subscription giants. Nicole has previously had her own dating startup acquired by Match Group, before working in private equity, famously being Head of Marketing at WeWork during their crash and most recently VP Marketing for Tinder. Nicole is one of the most entrepreneurial CMOs on the planet, bringing a unique lens to brand building, embracing chaos and driving the business forward with marketing. Timestamps...
May 14, 2025•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 190
Colin Fleming is a returning guest, and the CMO of ServiceNow, a B2B company ripping up the B2B marketing playbook. It’s not the first time Colin has done this, having previously spent 13 years at Salesforce turning them into a brand to be reckoned with. In this episode I talk to Colin about their new brand campaign with Idris Elba, what the future of marketing with AI looks like and the biggest lessons a CMO can take from a former F1 racing driver. 00:00 - Intro 01:36 - What is ServiceNow? 03:0...
May 07, 2025•41 min•Ep. 189
In a world first, Scott Galloway and Rory Sutherland go head to head to talk about some of the biggest topics in marketing. They lock horns on Scott's controversial statement "the era of brand is dead" and why most successful companies don't advertise. You'll also hear the two disagreeing on the Jaguar rebrand, at which point Scott may or may not have called Rory sexy... Timestamps 00:00 - Intro 02:15 - Be in an industry you get better at as you get older 05:41 - Does wealth redistribution need ...
Apr 30, 2025•44 min•Ep. 188
Today, I’m joined by James Kuczynski, Creative Director at Duolingo, and Dan Salkey, Founding Partner at Small World, for a conversation on how to build truly entertaining brands. Fresh off their SXSW panel titled "Entertain or Die" , named after a report by Small World, we explore how Duolingo has built such a standout brand, particularly through the rise (and death...) of their iconic mascot, Duo. In the first half of the episode, I chat with James about Duolingo’s brand success, why they deci...
Apr 23, 2025•53 min•Ep. 187
In this episode, we deep dive into the irrational world of customer behaviour with legendary behavioural economist Dan Ariely. Dan reveals why we’re all predictably wrong, how tiny invisible cues can radically change price perception, and why effort makes things feel more valuable. We also unpack the real reason people fall for misinformation, how to rebuild trust in broken industries like insurance, and why letting customers choose their own price might just be your smartest move. If you want t...
Apr 16, 2025•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 186
Rory Sutherland returns to the Uncensored CMO podcast, tackling the economic crisis with his signature wit and wisdom. As ever, he offers a refreshingly unconventional perspective on the world’s biggest problems — and marketing’s role in solving them. In this episode, Rory explores why marketing is more like a casino than a science, how to capitalise on your competitors’ blind spots, and what his unexpected TikTok fame has taught him. Expect laughs, left-field insights, and the kind of brilliant...
Apr 09, 2025•51 min•Ep. 185
Scott Galloway (Prof G) has returned to the Uncensored CMO podcast for a second time, in a special live episode. Galloway is Professor of Marketing at NYU Stern School of Business and host of the Prof G and Pivot podcasts. He joins Jon in a special live episode in London and lives up to his billing as the most uncensored guest of all time. Scott takes big swings at the advertising industry throughout the episode - despite the audience of CMOs - claiming that the days of the CMO are numbered. He ...
Apr 02, 2025•57 min•Ep. 184
Live from Adobe Summit in Las Vegas, in this bonus triple header, Jon speaks with Colin Fleming (ServiceNow), Stacy Martinet (Adobe) and Billy Seabrook (IBM) about the hot topic in marketing today, AI, and what a new wave of agentic AI technology means for marketers. Timestamps 00:00 - Intro 00:51 - Part 1: Colin Fleming 01:51 - The things people don’t understand about B2B marketing 03:32 - How AI is having an impact on marketing 05:29 - ServiceNow’s relationship with Adobe 06:21 - Advice to mar...
Mar 31, 2025•36 min•Ep. 183
Seth Matlins is the Managing Director of the Forbes Forbes CMO Network, where he oversees the annual Forbes World's Most Influential CMOs List, the Forbes Entrepreneurial CMO 50 List, the Forbes CMO Summit, the Forbes European CMO Summit, and an expanding marketing content portfolio. Seth is an award-winning marketer, who has spent a career in and advising the C-suite of dozens of the 100 most valuable brands globally. Timestamps 00:00 - Intro 00:45 - Seth’s new podcast 02:58 - Why are there not...
Mar 26, 2025•50 min•Ep. 182
Today Jon talks with Eugenia Zalis, CMO for one of the most iconic sweet brands in the world, Oreo. We talk about their "stay playful" positioning, incredible brand collaborations (with the likes of Coca-Cola and Post Malone) and some of the interesting innovations the brand has worked on. Timestamps 00:00 - Intro 00:46 - Eugenia’s marketing journey 01:33 - What can we learn from the Unilever approach to marketing? 02:27 - How Dove turned into the brand it is today 05:42 - How Eugenia started wi...
Mar 19, 2025•47 min•Ep. 181
Cadillac is an iconic American brand who are navigating the shift to electrification in the automotive industry and have partnered up with 72andSunny to launch their brand new campaign “Let’s Take the Cadillac. So today, Melissa Grady Dias, CMO of Cadillac, and Marianne Malina, President of 72andSunny join Jon to talk about working with a new agency and launching their first campaign together. Timestamps 00:00 - Intro 03:53 - Marianne’s background 06:49 - How to manage a brand like Cadillac 08:3...
Mar 12, 2025•45 min•Ep. 180
Rob Mayhew joins Jon for bonus episode, talking about his big move to New York City, becoming a full-time content creator and how brands can work with creators like him effectively. Timestamps 00:00 - Intro 01:39 - Why Rob moved to NYC 04:20 - Rob’s new YouTube show 05:47 - London vs New York for marketers 08:00 - Rob’s approach to content in 2025 11:00 - Rob’s view on the future of the social platforms 14:17 - How System1’s ad testing works 17:27 - Rob’s funniest posts on LinkedIn 18:46 - Rob’s...
Mar 10, 2025•32 min•Ep. 179
Rare Beauty is a brand built on the inclusive approach to beauty set by their celebrity founder, Selena Gomez. They've taken the US market by storm and so I'm speaking to their CMO, Katie Welch, about how they've done it. From strong positioning and making a difference in mental health across their customer base to growing a strong presence on social media (with a little help from their founder with over 400m Instagram followers), Rare Beauty is a wonderful success story of a challenger brand. T...
Mar 05, 2025•52 min•Ep. 178
This episode is a QSR masterclass. Ken Muench is the CMO of Yum! brands, who own Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut. I speak to Ken about how he started the agency that got acquired by Yum! (The Collider Lab) and his journey to being the CMO of such a large group of brands. We also talk about how all CMOs within Yum! are encouraged to swing big to make impactful campaigns and drive innovation within their brands. Ken is also the co-author of " R.E.D Marketing: The Three Ingredients of Leading Brands "...
Feb 26, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 177
Marcel Marcondes is the CMO of AB InBev, who run the largest portfolio of beer brands in the world. Stella Artois, Corona, Michelob Ultra and Budweiser are all under the marketing leadership of Marcel. Through creativity and consistency, AB InBev have produced some of the most effective campaigns of the past few years, often topping out the System1 charts. This has led to Marcel and his team to win some incredible awards, including WFA marketer of the year (Marcel) and most effective marketer of...
Feb 19, 2025•43 min•Ep. 176
I think one of the biggest problems facing us today is the amount of distraction in our lives. Social media feeds, unnecessary meetings, huge inboxes full of emails you didn't really need. All these things are grabbing our attention and taking us away from doing what we're supposed to be doing. In this episode I'm talking to Nir Eyal, who's the author of a brilliant book called Indistractable, which is all about how we can reclaim our attention to focus our energy around the things that really m...
Feb 17, 2025•47 min•Ep. 175
The Super Bowl is the biggest advertising event of the year, with the biggest brands in the world flexing their advertising muscles (and budgets). A new entrant to the Super Bowl in 2024 was Pfizer, and they're back again this year with an ad that has blown the socks off the Pharma category. Their big game ad " Knock Out ", scored 4.4 stars in System1 testing, also making it one of the best ads overall. I speak with Pfizer CMO, Susan Rienow about what it takes to create such a successful ad in t...
Feb 10, 2025•52 min•Ep. 175
Today Jon sits down with Benjamin Braun, CMO at Samsung Europe, for a fascinating conversation that spans from innovative tech demos to Olympic marketing strategies. Benjamin shares insights on Samsung's role as a 40-year Olympic sponsor, demonstrates the latest AI capabilities in Samsung devices, and discusses how the company balances long-term brand building with short-term sales goals. The conversation takes a personal turn as Benjamin opens up about his experience with dyslexia and how neuro...
Feb 05, 2025•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 174
Dr Karen Nelson Field is a multiple returning guest to the podcast, talking about her book "The Attention Economy: A Category Blueprint" which takes an in-depth look into the dynamic world of marketing and advertising, unveiling the pivotal role that human attention measurement plays in the present and future landscape. In this episode we discuss the history of attention, how the platforms are manipulating our attention, why not all reach is equal, and, ultimately, what we can do about it. 00:00...
Jan 29, 2025•34 min•Ep. 173
In this episode I'm joined by Allison Ellsworth, founder of the fastest growing beverage brand in the US, Poppi. Poppi was started as Mother Beverage in 2018 (a nod to the raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar used in the drink) but was rebranded after featuring on Shark Tank in the same year. Now, it's one of the biggest soda brands in the US, outselling Coke and Pepsi on Amazon. I speak to Allison about the journey of creating the brand, how influential TikTok was for their growth, their merch s...
Jan 22, 2025•47 min•Ep. 172
Mr Bates vs The Post Office is a the most watched drama on ITV of all time. It's the extraordinary story of the greatest miscarriage of justice in British legal history, where hundreds of innocent sub-postmasters and postmistresses were wrongly accused of theft, fraud and false accounting due to a defective IT system. I speak to the producer of the show, Patrick Spence, to get a behind the scenes look at the drama, how it was discovered, how it was made and why the country rallied around Mr Bate...
Jan 20, 2025•35 min•Ep. 171
Mark Abraham leads Boston Consulting Group’s Marketing, Sales & Pricing practice in North America. He also launched and leads the firm’s personalization capability. He has built some of the firm’s largest ventures and AI platforms, including Fabriq Personalization AI by BCG X, a personalization platform that accelerates personalization. Mark coauthored the book Personalized: Customer Strategy in the Age of AI , which helps executives learn how to put personalization at the center of their st...
Jan 15, 2025•58 min•Ep. 170
It's our annual tradition to bring Sarah Carter and Les Binet, authors of How Not To Plan, onto the podcast to discuss the hot topics of the year and what marketers need to know in 2025. We've broken this episode into 8 key discussion points, including why consistent advertising is so effective, why the era of purpose is over and another year of the advertising industry needing to remember they are not the customer. 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:55 - Reflecting on the agency’s year 00:05:25 - Point 1: ...
Jan 08, 2025•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 169
