Shiny New Object

In his rich career, Sir Martin Sorrell has been at the helm of some leading advertising agencies, from being CFO at Saatchi's to CEO of WPP for 33 years. He founded S4 Capital 3 years ago to focus on what he calls the new growth area of marketing: the digital universe. Sir Martin's Shiny New Object is the two worlds of advertising, specifically the split between analog and digital. He finds that the difference isn't being made clear enough, with analog having very little or no growth whereas digital has huge growth potential. Listen to Sir Martin talk about the future of digital, how marketers should adapt their model, and his top tips for those just starting out in the industry today.

Kieran Foley heads up the Partnerships and Licensing department at Danone, headquartered in New York and looking after all major programmes the company runs with NBC Universal, Disney, the NFL, but also charities and more. His career covers exciting sports sponsorship programmes as well as the creation of a cricket league called the CPL T20 which is now second in the world. Kieran's Shiny New Object is the growth potential of women's sport, which has shot up after the pandemic and reflects the change in attitudes and interests across both genders in society. Brands have a huge opportunity to be part of a relevant and exciting movement, with stronger touchpoints and interactivity with consumers. Listen to Kieran talk about cricket leagues, learning from local cultures and more in our latest podcast episode.

Having worked at Kellogg's for seven years, Joe Harper looks after the e-commerce function of the company across all of Europe. He previously held roles across social content creation and many more in sport betting, moving from sports to cereal and from digital to e-commerce. Joe's Shiny New Object may not be "shiny" or "new" to some but it's certainly relevant in his business space: user generated content (UGC). Joe believes that big companies still haven't unpacked the full potential of using UGC especially on social channels. The relatability of user content and its relevance for social media audiences helps it have a bigger impact than any glossy campaign created by a brand or their agency. Listen to Joe talk about harnessing the power of UGC, as well as his top marketing tips and advice for students, in this latest episode of the podcast.

In his agency and brand marketing roles, Rory McEntee has continuously built a career around challenger brands, disruptive and unique campaigns.  Now in charge of brand & marketing at Gymbox, Rory continues to put out daring and intriguing ads while searching for the next big thing in the future of marketing. His Shiny New Object is visual search, where users will be able to upload images to search for items to purchase online. Listen to Rory talk about his views on visual search, his favourite marketing books and his advice for making it in marketing, in our newest podcast episode.

In his role as Director of Strategy & Operations at Google UK & Ireland, Craig Fenton designs and manages how the company operates in these two countries. But he also has a number of "side hustles" that include social purpose driven initiatives like a record company and a film production house that put forward talented individuals from less privileged backgrounds.  This work has taught him the importance of feeling what it's like to be a customer. Craig's Shiny New Object, however, is more abstract: quantum AI and how it can be used to crunch the data in marketing. Listen to Craig talk about using quantum physics principles in data analysis, the benefits for studying human behaviour, and his tips about mindfulness, in this new episode of the Shiny New Object podcast.

The Head of Marketing at Aunt Bessie's, Sam Dolan has an illustrious career in the food industry, having worked with brands like Lurpak and Cravendale previously. Her Shiny New Object is direct mail and the way it can be used to target consumers and combine with other channels to create new and interesting campaigns with a different level of engagement.  Listen to Sam talk about her plans for using direct response advertising as well as her top marketing tips for new marketers, her best purchases for work, and her favourite books as well. 

Jerry Daykin is the Senior Media Director for EMEA and LatAm at GSK, where he looks after brands that help consumers live slightly better and healthier lives. After a roller coaster year during he COVID pandemic, Jerry has discovered more than ever the importance of staying active deliberately. One of his new behaviours is hopping on his Peloton bike every morning. His Shiny New Object is the 6 Ps of digital transformation, a new take on the 4 Ps of marketing looking at the importance of people and passion, measuring performance and running pilots. Listen to Jerry talk about all this and more on this latest Shiny New Object podcast episode.

David Byrne is the Brand Marketing Lead at Aviva, where he is responsible for above the line campaigns. In his career, he's worked for the likes of Diageo, BT, the BBC, start-ups and his own photography studio. David's Shiny New Object is Non Fungible Tokens aka NFTs, for their ability to keep you learning and refreshing the brain, and thus marketers' way of thinking. We talk about favourite marketing books, dealing with overwhelm, and staying curious to keep progressing in this brand new episode.

Bringing together all Havas creative agencies under one umbrella, Paul Ward works to make great ideas happen creatively, efficiently and effectively.  His Shiny New Object is leveraging the village: identifying and using each individual's specific skills across all the various Havas brands, to get the best results for clients. In a data-driven world, he's investigating how this can apply to data experts specifically. Listen to Paul talk about his career mistakes, marketing advice, and the future of leveraging the village, in this latest episode. 

Seb talks about balancing curiosity in new marketing tech whilst honing the skill of being a marketer. He tells us how we should stay focussed on the big picture and how Unilever employs a 80/15/5 model when it comes to Shiny New Objects. The discussion looks in detail at the world of D2C and how brands can win or get started in this space.

In our latest podcast episode, we meet Reckitt's Cicero Hennemann. As the company's Marketing Technology Lead for Western Europe, Cicero focuses on the benefits of technology and how it can drive effective marketing and results. However, he warns about not doing tech for tech's sake! Cicero's Shiny New Object is mobile - maybe not so new, but definitely ever changing. He's interested in how the rise of mobile apps and mobile marketing have had the potential for facilitating our lives and for enabling closer interaction between consumers and brands. Listen to Cicero's thoughts on the future of marketing and his best marketing tips in the full episode.

In our latest podcast episode, we interview Adam Palmer, the Director of Creative Production Ops at GoDaddy. Having worked at Viacom for MTV and VH1, Adam has a lot of experience being creative and working to challenge the status quo. He believes in always changing and evolving the way things are done. This is why his Shiny New Object is Loom - the visual platform where users can record themselves sharing their screens with audio and video messages.  Saving people time and boosting productivity is what using Loom is all about for Adam. Listen to him talk about his top marketing tips and favourite books, as well as the future of marketing, in the full episode.

Experian Marketing Services North America's VP for Strategy & Partnerships, Aimee Irwin works with brands to help them leverage technology to better enable their marketing efforts. In our latest episode, she talks about her Shiny New Object: the future state of identity in the marketing landscape. How can brands leverage multiple consumer identities to build a 360-degree view of customers and deliver them the best experience? Listen to the episode to find out Aimee's views.

On the latest episode of the Shiny New Object podcast, we speak to Shruti Samant, who is Digital Marketing Specialist at Procter & Gamble Health. Shruti's career has come together as a result of following her passion and combining her love of art with technology and engineering. She finds this to have prepared her the best for creating content, which is at the heart of digital marketing. Her top marketing tip is to follow the latest, be different and stay relevant. And Shruti's Shiny New Object is all about sonic branding and creating memorable audio content with the customer in mind. Listen to her tips and advice in the full episode. 

This week on the podcast, we cover Benni Lickfett's career from day 1 at a start-up to Global Head of Digital Innovation at Diageo. Benni's top marketing tips include focusing on the essentials, taking a look at the big picture and having empathy in advertising. His Shiny New Object is the unfulfilled promise of crowd wisdom and crowdsourcing. Listen to the full episode to find out why that's the case and what brands can do to tap into the hive mind resource.

When it comes to branding, perception is reality according to our latest guest, Falak Jalil. We're also talking about the future of marketing and how brands can stay locally relevant to boost their customer engagement.  Listen to Falak's top marketing tips, her favourite books and her advice for brands to get closer to customers in this latest episode.

Audio content is seeing a renaissance, from using smart speakers and sound sanctuaries to help us sleep better or keep noise out, to creating unique and engaging podcast content that influences consumers’ attitudes towards brands on a regular basis. This is fuelling a change from interruptive advertising to immersive experiences, and it’s the subject of our latest podcast episode, too.   Our latest guest is Jim Mollica, the CMO of Bose Corporation and a self-confessed music geek. His Shiny New Object is the renaissance of audio and he shares with us how Bose are capitalising on it, and how he sees it influencing the future of marketing. Listen to Jim’s marketing tips, his advice for immersive content creation and some of his best career stories, in the latest episode.

How much of our daily activity and current goals are dictated by assumptions we’ve simply inherited or bought into? Do we need to all go to uni, get office jobs, be promoted, have a family etc.? Or can we challenge some - or several - of these societal and professional assumptions? Our guest on this week’s SNO, Tom Goodwin, Co-founder of ALL WE HAVE IS NOW and seasoned marketer has picked the art of challenging assumptions as his Shiny New Object. Listen to his views on how this will influence the future of marketing, as well as his best advice for new starters and his top marketing tips, in the latest episode.

We’ve heard about augmented reality and virtual reality, but what’s the next step in marketing communications? Jordan McDowell, Lead Communications Planning & Media Optimisation Manager for the Co-op, talks to us about extended reality in the latest episode of the Shiny New Object podcast. The “X” in “XR” stands for what we don’t know yet, as technology continually evolves and offers marketeers more exciting opportunities to communicate with customers and create a more useful and convenient way to access their favourite brands online. Should this be prioritised in favour of “the basics” and how does it all work together? Jordan explains his experience of XR at the Co-op and shares his best marketing tips, too.

As more ex-agency marketers work in-house and brands become more assertive in how they approach their marketing plans, what’s the future of marketing agencies? Should they niche down into highly-specialised offerings or should they approach a consultative selling strategy? Quinn O’Brien, Vice President, Global Marketing at Lenovo, discusses the changing role of agencies as his Shiny New Object in this episode. We analyse the future of marketing from an agency and in-house perspective, as well as go through Quinn’s best advice for marketing students and his views on what makes “wow” marketing.