Uncensored CMO

Rupert Howell is one of the founders of the advertising agency HHCL & Partners famous for campaigns for Tango, The AA, Ronseal, First Direct and Go amongst to name just a few. They were awarded ‘Agency of the Decade’ by Campaign in the 1990’s and experienced phenomenal growth for over a decade before being sold to Chime.We covered so much ground in this bumper 2 hour episode, so here's the list of what we touched upon:How Rupert made HHCL the best agency of the 90’sRuperts New Business Mantra – Honesty. Respect. Trust.Why saying ‘I don’t know’ and ‘we got it wrong’ is so importantHow the agency’s sole focus is Advertising but the Clients sole focus is the businessWhy new business should always be separate to the day to day account managementHow Rupert became ‘the finest new business director of all time’How to win a pitch even after you have lost itWhy the pitch process begins with the phone call and only ends when its announced in CampaignThe sole purpose of the pitch is to win and not to solve the clients business problemWhy HHCL had a strike rate of 65% for new businessWhat the company annual report can tell you for the pitch processWhy you should try and get your customer promotedHow Carling Black Label inspired the most successful Tango Advertising of all timeHow Tango destroyed Fanta and forced Coke to withdraw it from the marketHow a call from a Surgeon led to the Tango Slap commercial being withdraw from marketWhy the ‘4th Emergency Service’ transformed The AA and how the bold idea was sold inHow spending time with an AA team out on a call led to the ideaThe importance of winning your internal teams and why they matter as much as your customersInterrogating the product until ‘it confesses its strength’ Why the harder you practice the luckier you get is just as true for an agencyThe real hard yards of the start-up phase that meant not taking a day off in 3 yearsHow tabloids create controversy and how to respond to itWhy relationships are the secret to really succeeding in businessTurning down offers to sell the agency including a £1million bribeWhy HHCL accepted an offer from Chime with the support from Sir Martin SorrellWhy so few agencies ever succeed after being acquired by a networkWhy HHCL was never the same after Rupert left and why he would never go backThe importance of timing for Founders handing over to the next generationDealing with bullies, bribary and negotiating an exit from McCann with a boat & DB9 as consolationWhich celebrities are still speaking to Rupert after he left ITVWhy social media is driven by click bait and negative headlinesWhy you should give up the news, except perhaps local newsThe Pros and Cons of a British free pressHow to get a non-exec roleFollow meTwitter | @uncensoredCMOLinkedInContact meWebsite | www.uncensoredcmo.comEmail – [email protected]

“the buying of time or space is not the taking out of a hunting license on someone’s private preserve, but it is the renting of a stage on which we may perform” - Howard Gossage This is just one of the tremendous quotes contained in Paul Feldwick’s intriguingly titled new book ‘Why Does the Pedlar Sing?’ about what creatives really means in Advertising.Here's what we covered in this episode:How a Shakespear play inspired the title of the bookA short history of Advertising and the different models usedThe importance of Daniel Kahnemans availability and affect heuristicThe Adland myth that entertainment doesn’t sellShowmanship and why we should all be more like PT BarnumWhy bad research forces you to do one thing whilst actually doing anotherBarclaycard and the most honest case history of making an Ad ever writtenHow Rowan Atchison inspired one of the greatest Ads ever madeWhy any process of discovery will involve a lot of trial and error How PT Barnum created Fame for his Jenny Lind TourWhy celebrity fame and brand building are far more similar than people care to admitWhy we should be talking about Fame rather than Mental AvailabilityWhat we can learn from Strictly Come Dancing“I had more energy & ingenuity” The importance of energy in creating & sustaining successThe 4 different facets of Fame that are critical for successPaul’s manifesto for reclaiming Creativity

Damian Symons is the CEO of Clear M&C Saatchi and author of 'From Choas to Clarity', which we reference a bunch in this conversation. He shares some of the excellent insight gained from this study of over 700 CEO’s and CMO’s into the changing role of the CMO over the past year and more.What we covered in this episodeHow aligned is the CEO and CMO when it comes to business priorities?Why is the CMO a lot more influential now than a year ago?How a crisis makes you a lot more connected to your customers and colleaguesHow business strategy and the actions required to deliver it get easily disconnectedWhy Marketing needs to be much more than just ‘colouring in’Why CMO’s need to be more accountable for both short and long term investmentsHow CEO’s become more focussed on the long terms whilst demanding short term action from their CMOThe importance of a clear narrative, clear evidence and a clear short, medium and long term goalsWhy successful CMO’s aren’t always the best marketersHow you can make this crisis the best thing that ever happened to youThe failure of CMO’s to nurture talent and why no-one wants the jobThe 4 point plan to create clarity from chaos

Confession time. As a Saints fan, this is certainly a case of mixing business with pleasure. But bear with me for a moment. A year ago Saints suffered the worst defeat in premier league history going down 9-0 at home to Leicester. For most clubs this would have meant firing the manager and sparking an inevitable tumble into relegation and financial uncertainty. But not Southampton. They stuck by their man and a year later are challenging at the top of the Premier League briefly going top on the same day as this interview was recorded (obviously my motivational skills were critical ….). So what does this have to do with Marketing? Well, it turns out quite a lot! Most of us will have faced a giant setback at some point (if you haven’t then maybe you not trying hard enough!) and how you respond is one of the most important things you’ll ever do in your career. Understanding the importance of your belief and values, the role consistency plays, communicating much more than usual, learning to play as a team etc. In this episode, I meet David Thomas, Commercial Director to find out what has transformed Southampton as a Football Club and what you can learn from it.Here's what we discussed:How the greatest defeat in Premier League history led to Saints challenging the bestWhat Premier League managers and CMO’s have in common and the importance of consistencyThe secret to why playing behind closed doors might be playing into Saints handsThe Southampton Way – the role of walking the talk in the transformation of the clubHow a good strategy means you can handle a few knocks without losing your wayWhy Saints chefs made over 1000 meals a week during lockdown How the sport sponsorship model had to be turned on its head and why it shouldn’t be called sponsorshipThe need for accountability and ROI for any partnership to succeedWhy Saints have the ‘John Lewis’ of kit launches and the most engaged social media of any clubHow values and belief are at the heart of any great Challenger brandWhy the club going into Administration led the foundations of success todayTurning potential into excellence and the importance of not punishing failureWhy one of the most capped England women chose to coach the Saints women in the 6th tier!How Saints are tackling racism in football.A top 6 finish versus an FA Cup appearance

Here's what we covered in this episode:Who is Orlando and what is Lemon all about?Have the insights in Lemon changed on the back of the Coronavirus crisis?How emotion plays out in online videoWhy emotion is imperative online when you only have 6 seconds to capture people's attentionWhy you don't just need to be rational because your ads are targetedBrands should be using online advertising not only for activation, but also for brand buildingExamples of brands and ads doing this wellHow advertising is similar to writing a novel and artWhy we've lost some humility in our advertisingWhat the vital ingredients are to make online advertising work effectivelyFollow me:Twitter | @uncensoredCMOLinkedIn

Here's what we covered in this episode:Find out what inspired Mark to switch the actual classroom for the virtual oneHow he ended up being the old, rich guy with a wine collection he used to laugh atWhat he thinks of the 50% of Marketers that have no professional trainingWhy it's now time we all just all ditch the ‘D’ word and get back to MarketingFind out what every normal person knows about Advertising that Marketers pay good money to figure outDiscover the most important factors in marketing effectiveness and why its time to think about the s**t we put through the pipeWhy a recession is exactly the time you want to be increasing your spendWhy you should never confuse a change in consumer context for a change in consumer behaviour“Tell me what hasn’t changed and I will build a business around that” & other great quotes to counter the constant stream of ‘everything's changed. Buy this book’ hypeDiscover why Mark believes the smartest people are not the ones sat around the boardroom tableFind out why most CMO’s are more C than M and are not always the best marketers in their teamThe secret to CMO success is 80-90% politics over marketingThe dangers of Canadian morning TV after a big night outWe round off the episode finding out why Jon got fired after a 6-month ‘walk of shame’Follow me:Twitter | @uncensoredCMOLinkedInContact me:Website | www.uncensoredcmo.comEmail – [email protected] Ritson:TwitterLinkedIn

Mark Borkowski is PR written large. He represents international celebrities and corporate heavyweights and is a sought-after commentator on the world of celebrity, the Media and spin.I recorded another episode with Mark not too long ago but it didn't feel right releasing it amidst the pandemic, so I caught up with him again.In this episode we covered:Why business is booming for BorkowskiHow they've handled the shift to fully remoteThe role of celebrities during the crisisWhy Boris' message and tone was poorWhat key advice would Mark give everyone

What we covered in this episode:Why some brands have accelerated their growth with 3 years of market progression in 3 months, while others hit hardHow those brands that have gone dark and said nothing will be worst affectedWhy Brewgooder’s work during the crisis has been impressiveHow brands can do things without looking like they’re just jumping on the COVID bandwagonAre there any signs of things getting better for clients?How has Manifest changed in the past 3 months and what is going to stay permanentWhy they love the officeAdvice - write your brief. There is an opportunity for you to recast your brand in the ‘new normal’. We won’t ever get a chance to hit the reset button again!

In this episode we discuss:Brewdog's hand sanitiserITV's Clap From Our Carers campaignWhy Uncommon are making candlesHow Boris could have handled his messaging betterWhat advice Lucy would give people in advertisingWhy this recession presents an opportunityFollow me:Twitter | @uncensoredCMOLinkedInContact me:Website | www.uncensoredcmo.comEmail – [email protected]

Kate joined ITV in 2019 in the newly created role of Director of Client Strategy and Planning, with a remit to help ITV Commercial build broader and deeper relationships with advertisers. A creative strategist by background and a highly respected and well known strategic leader with twenty years’ experience across a range of communications disciplines from advertising, to PR to digital, Kate has worked across sectors as diverse as automotive, retail, government and public sector, FMCG and financial services. Kate has written / contributed to award winning IPA Effectiveness entries for Co-op Food Retail, Public Health England Tobacco Control and Stoptober.In this episode we covered:What is the impact on the team with remote working?How has TV and ITV in particular changed (programs/advertising/production etc)I see viewing figures up so isn’t this a good thing?Clap for Carers – well done! What was the idea behind thatPeople’s Ad break – tell me more …Are you seeing Advertising changing?Any sign of Advertisers coming back?What advice would you give brands now?

Ian Millner is global CEO and co-founder of Iris - one of the most successful independent agencies in the UK. He set the agency up 20 years ago as a partnership with his co-founders and it now boasts some of the world’s most famous brands such as Samsung and Adidas. A genuine multi-disciplinary agency with offices around the World iris have successfully moved with the times.In this episode we coverIntroduction – how Ian is doing!Impact – how the virus affected businessChallenges – what have been the biggest challenges this crisis has created for the agency, given the budget cutsOpportunities – have there been any opportunities arise from the pandemic?Team – what has been the impact on the team? How should you lead others remotely?Future – how do we look to the future and stay positive?Follow me:Twitter | @uncensoredCMOLinkedInContact me:Website | www.uncensoredcmo.comEmail – [email protected]

Orlando Wood is the chief innovation officer at System1, and author of the IPA's best-selling book, Lemon. He also happens to be my colleague.What we cover:What is Lemon all about?How right-brained attributes in advertising can help long term brand buildingWhat impact will the Coronavirus have on the left-right brained way we think of the world?Should you continue doing the 'Covid-Ads' or should you stick to what you know?Can old Ads really be effective? Should brands go into the archives?Follow me:Twitter | @uncensoredCMOLinkedInContact me:Website | www.uncensoredcmo.comEmail – [email protected]

About the guests:Simon DentSimon Dent is a former sports lawyer and founder of Dark Horses, a sports marketing agency. Simon had experience of mental health problems in his 20s and after launching a couple of failed businesses he finally got it right with Dark Horses. Dark Horses, the sports creative agency, is the fifth fastest-growing creative agency in the world.Ben BidwellBen, otherwise known as The Naked Professor, is a mindset coach, writer & public speaker who is pioneering a revolution to change the stigma about mental health. He invites his audience to connect more with their emotions whilst empowering the men in the room to retain their authentic masculinity.What we discussedIntroduction – who are our guests and how did they get to where they areImpact – how has COVID impacted on a fast-growing agency?Challenges – what have been the biggest challenges this crisis has created for the agency?Opportunities – have there been any opportunities arise from the pandemic?Team – what has been the impact on the team? How should you lead others remotely?Future – how do we look to the future and stay positive?Follow me:Twitter | @uncensoredCMOLinkedInContact me:Website | www.uncensoredcmo.comEmail – [email protected]

Mark Evans is the Managing Director, Marketing & Digital at Direct Line and has been at the company for over 8 years. He's seen some ups and downs but has never seen a challenge such as the Coronavirus. How has the company been impacted, what challenges have they faced and what opportunities can come from this?What do we cover in this episode?Introduction – who is Mark Evans and how did he end up in this positionImpact – how has COVID impacted on DLG? It happened on the tail end of a major relaunch of the Direct Line brandChallenges – what have been the biggest challenges this crisis has created for Direct Line? How are they responding to these?Opportunities – what opportunities have emerged through this? Are people taking insurance more seriously?Media – will Direct Line continue to Advertise? Wil the message change?Team – what has been the impact on the team? How should you lead others remotely?Future – what's the outlook for the economy and their sector? Short v Long termFollow me:Twitter | @uncensoredCMOLinkedInContact me:Website | www.uncensoredcmo.comEmail – [email protected]

Welcome back everybody to the Uncensored CMO in rather different circumstances this time. So we were nicely underway with recording season 2 and we had interviews with Rory Sutherland, we had Mark Borkowski on there, Nils Leonard from Uncommon.But you know what? It just didn't seem right to go out there with season 2 as planned when we're all in the middle of a crisis and our minds quite frankly or are elsewhere.So what I thought I'd do instead was bring you some Covid-related catch-ups with industry leaders from different sectors. PR experts, CMOs running businesses with big P+Ls and thought leaders in the industry people like Orlando Wood, author of Lemon. I really want to hear their perspective on how should we be responding to this crisis?What advice can they give us about how they are managing through what is unprecedented times with high level of uncertainty about what the future is going to hold? So rather than give you the whole hour as I did in season 1 these are going to be tight 20-30 minute interviews with people that can offer their perspective advice.Another thing you'll probably notice is a slightly different sound because we're recording from home, so bear with us this season. It might not be quite the rich experience that you're used to if you listened to season 1, but we'll be doing our very best and producer James will be working his considerable magic from his home office. And on the other side will bring you season 2.

Jessica Butcher MBE is a tech entrepreneur, angel investor, speaker and mentor. She is perhaps most famous as one of the co-founders of Blippar, a pioneer in Augmented Reality which was once valued at over $1billion and described as one of the 20 most disruptive brands in the world. She is the recipient of numerous awards including BBC’s Top 100 women.In this episode:How falling in love led to her big break as an entrepreneurHow Blippar created Augmented Reality and what it was like on board a rocket ship that went from 4 to 350 employees and a valuation of $1billion.Why someone with a degree in history wanted to be a tech entrepreneurWhich client inspired them to create Blippar enabled business cardsHaving 3 children in 4 years and how that changed her prioritiesThe challenge of scaling a business and knowing your limitsHow social media is promoting polarisation, narcissism and infinite scroll time-wasting and how tech needs to become more humaneWe need to identify between healthy and junk technology and treat it as suchPreparing the child for the road not the road for the childThe inspiration behind Tick.Done and how it will help people learn how to do things without getting sucked into infinite scrollThis is part 1 of the interview with Jess and we’ll be returning in Season2 to discuss what it's like being a woman in tech.Follow me:Twitter | @uncensoredCMOLinkedInContact me:Website | www.uncensoredcmo.comEmail – [email protected] Butcher:TwitterTick DoneBlipparThe Coddling of the American Mind

Alex Myers is founder of Manifest who were recently awarded Agency of the Decade for their work making BrewDog famous. Having worked on BrewDog for most of the past 10 years they helped establish the brand as the UK’s most valuable Beer brand (source BrandZ top 75 UK brands) with virtually no paid for media. Manifest have a clear purpose of creating brands that change the world and put their money where their mouth is. In this episode:How Alex started a PR agency with no experience at allNever mind the bollocks here’s Brewdog was Alex’s opening pitch to work for themIts not what you stand for its what you stand up for that countsThere is no such thing as a boring brief only boring creativeFinding inspiration from roof tiles and why Alex believes his job is to find out why people get up in the morningHello my name is Vladimir. Creating a protest beer to promote what BrewDog believe in.How to make brave the new safeHow Twitter went from a platform for collaboration to a platform for outrageHaving a public spat with James Watt over Punk AF and not getting creditWhy pitching doesn’t work for brands and why CMO’s need to do their researchStrategy should come from your belief and not a rationaleManifests vision to create brands that change the worldWhy Awards are easy to game but do provide a Sat Nav for CMO’s on who is doing good workFind out who Alex has a professional crush onWhy doing good and having a positive impact should be synonymous with successWhy the best work comes from making every channel amplify the otherWhat Alex has never told anyoneFollow me:Twitter | @uncensoredCMOLinkedInContact me:Website | www.uncensoredcmo.comEmail – [email protected] Alex:Alex on TwitterManifest TwitterManifest

Ian Millner is global CEO and co-founder of iris one of the most successful independent agencies in the UK. He set the agency up 20 years ago as a partnership with his co-founders and it now boasts some of the world’s most famous brands such as Samsung and Adidas. A genuine multi-disciplinary agency with offices around the World iris have successfully moved with the times.In this episodeWhy agencies get the clients they deserveThe importance of genuine diversity and how it contributes to innovationWhy a good pitcher does not always make a good partnerFinding sources of unfair advantageWhen clients make things they wouldn’t buy from an agencyWhy Ian can’t stand Ad industry awardsWhen it makes sense to in-house your agency and out-source your agencyWhy Campaign should apologise for backing down on the Nigel Farage front coverThe importance of creating cultural assets in today's social media driven ageIan reveals his plans to write a book about unspoken social behaviourFollow me:Twitter | @uncensoredCMOLinkedInContact me:Website | www.uncensoredcmo.comEmail – [email protected] MillnerIan's TwitterIris' TwitterIris Worldwide

Arron is co-founder of The Goat Agency which is the fastest-growing agency in Europe and one of the most successful influencer agencies in the World. He and his co-founders set up the agency 4 years ago with their own money and now employ 130 people around the world and manage around 90 social media campaigns at any one time. Arron has a wonderful personal story and a very compelling pitch for his agency.In this episodeArron’s entrepreneurial roots and creating something out of nothingThe fear of not trying is much greater than the fear of failureWhy more people should realise how hard being an entrepreneur isHow they generated 2,000 responses from a £10 investment in their first influencer What you do when 80% of influencer campaigns don’t workWhy Arron loves the procurement department and he proves the return on investment of an influencer campaignThe benefit of having no experience in your sectorThe importance of recruiting talent without experienceHow an influencer campaign can make your TV campaign more impactfulHow Content & Collaboration are the key to any campaign including B2BArron’s vision to build the world’s largest creative agencyArron reveals his secret new dietFollow me:Twitter | @uncensoredCMOLinkedInContact me:Website | www.uncensoredcmo.comEmail – [email protected] ShepherdArron's TwitterThe Goat Agency TwitterThe Goat Agency

Adam is the founder of the eatbigfish consultancy and author of Eating The Big Fish which reached the Top100 books in the Amazon charts inspiring a whole generation of challenger brands in the process. Adam is a popular speaker and consults with brands all over the world on how to be a challenger. He has also written The Pirate Inside about building a challenger culture within your organisation and A Beautiful Constraint how to turn your limitations into advantages.In this episode:Why being No.2 is betterHow he turned the anger of his project being shelved into a career-defining opportunityBeing turned down by Phil Knight and where the idea of a Challenger brand came fromThe importance of over-commitment and being obsessed with executionHow Tony’s Chocolonely have become a truly challenger brandHow to be a pirate in the navy without getting firedWhat you can learn from a catwalk show and how constraints can turn into your greatest advantageThe curse of data and how it leads us to a decline in creativityThe furtile zero and what to do with no budgetAdam shares his worst career momentWhy the meeting is never really the meeting and why the Japanese fall asleep in meetingsThe one thing Adam has never told anyone beforeFollow me:Twitter | @uncensoredCMOLinkedInContact me:Website | www.uncensoredcmo.comEmail – [email protected] Morgan:Twitter | @eatbigfishwww.eatbigfish.comEating The Big FishThe Pirate InsideA Beautiful Constraint

Richard is author of the No.1 Marketing Book The Choice Factory which was the winner of BBH’s World Cup of Advertising books in 2018 beating some industry heavy-weights. Richard has 20 years of experience in Advertising planning, market research and behavioural science and last year made the big leap to set up a consultancy following the success of his book.In this episodeHow he ended up writing the best-selling marketing book of 2019Why behavioural science should matter to every marketerWhy rhyming phrases are not just more memorably but also more believable tooHow the decline in CMO & agency tenure is impacting on long term effectivenessHow our own experience impacts on our perceptions (the false consensus effect)The impact of social proof on sales and how to use itWhy you’ll spend less on a night out when paying cashHow making something easy is a huge competitive advantageWhy branded glasses make beer taste better and worth moreWhy a 4.5* review beats a 5* review (the pratfall effect)How many of the best ideas happened by accident but were Follow me:Twitter | @uncensoredCMOLinkedInGet in touch:Website | www.uncensoredcmo.comEmail | [email protected] Richard:Twitter | @rshottonThe Choice Factory

When I say CMO what do you think of? I know, for me, I think boardroom politics. I think carefully managed messages. I think slick presentations. But what I don't get is, I don't get an honest answer. I don't get to know what they really think. I don't get to know how have they got where they are today, and what has shaped and influenced their career. And that got me thinking, wouldn't it be great if we had a podcast that asked some of the tough questions that get to the heart of what's going on. One that takes you behind the scenes to see how it really works. That's where the idea of Uncensored CMO came from.I want to connect you to the best marketers on the planet. The people that have founded and run ad agencies, the people that do the most amazing research and the people that influence people through PR. I want to get to those people and find out how it actually works. Tell me the things that have gone well. Tell me the things that have failed. Let me give you a little flavour to season one. I'm gonna be meeting people like Adam Morgan who founded the whole idea of challenger brands. I asked him, "How do you make a great challenger brand?"The whole world of influencers, to me, was quite mysterious, but I went and met Arron Shepherd, he co-founded The Goat Agency, and I asked him about what a successful influencer campaign looks like.Or, someone like Ian Millner, global CEO and founder of Iris. What's it like running a big ad agency? How do you get great work and how do you measure great advertising? What does a modern brand today have to do to stand out and be successful?These are just some of the conversations I've been having, and there are loads more to come.So I really hope you'll listen and subscribe to The Uncensored CMO. I'm gonna be launching this podcast on 16th December so set a notification, remind yourself to subscribe.You can also follow me on Twitter, @UncensoredCMO. I look forward to having a great conversation with you.