Shiny New Object

Talking to Oatly’s Creative Director, Michael Lee, is an exercise in thinking differently about marketing and the organisation of a marketing department. His Shiny New Object is very particular: inmates running the asylum, i.e. a marketing team that has full creative control and follows its own instincts.

When Pandora was faced with closing stores nationwide during the lockdowns related to Covid-19, it looked like a large number of customers who normally shop in-store would be lost during Q4 of 2020. However, resorting to augmented reality has helped them overcome this obstacle and actually convert more customers than before.   Our guest on the podcast this week is Jim Cruickshank, VP of Global Digital Development & Retail Technology at Pandora. His Shiny New Object is augmented reality in the retail space and we talk about his recent successful case study.   Jim also shares his advice for budding product managers and his top tips from his long experience in developing and managing successful innovations.    Check out Jim live at http://www.futr.today

In her role as Head of ManulifeMOVE, a behavioural insurance product that keeps customers active as part of their life insurance policy, Sushmita Munshi is always learning from testing and listening to the customer. Her Shiny New Object is behavioural insurance itself, a new way to engage with customers and understand their motivations and how to leverage them for better life habits.

Ashish Porwal, Head of Insights & Analytics at GSK South East Asia & Taiwan looks at data as onions that need to be peeled to get the right answer. This is why his Shiny New Object is to see through the glare of shiny new objects!

Tugce Aksoy is the Senior Global Brand Manager for Magnum Icecream at Unilever. She says she wasn’t “born a marketeer” but she combines her engineering degree with a passion for writing to harness practical and creative sides in her role. Her Shiny New Object is breaking bias with tech and marketing, specifically looking at how our ingrained stereotypes have driven marketing and product development and what we can do to change that.

As the VP of Marketing & Product at Hyundai Motor Europe, Andreas Hofmann has to “catch the taste of the European customer” and compete to find the best car for his mainstream customer segment. During the pandemic as well as in the face of increased digitalisation, his Shiny New Object has become the balance between physical and digital in the customer journey. As cars remain an emotional purchase, this is more difficult to find than it might first seem.

Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman of Ogilvy UK and all-around marketing legend, is our latest guest on the podcast. Talking about his early adoption of the internet and new technologies led us to explore the way in which his Shiny New Object can change the future of marketing: social norming of video calling can make a huge impact for businesses and change the way we approach clients, beyond just our meetings.

As the Senior Director and Category Head of P&G ISC Feminine Care, Chetna Soni oversees a team focused on marketing for feminine care products across the Indian subcontinent. Her work is closely interwoven with a campaign to keep girls in school in India, which links to her Shiny New Object: purpose-led brand building. Combining a vocation for being a force for good with a brand’s marketing work is key to driving societal changes, according to Chetna.

When picking up a product based on its advertising, have you ever considered what stereotypes it may perpetuate?   For Costa Coffee’s Global Head of Coffee Innovation Sandra Ferreira, the role that marketing plays in driving the inclusion agenda is crucial and forms her Shiny New Object.    From the language advertisers use, to the packaging or design of products, marketing can either play to societal assumptions and reinforce stereotypes, or serve to debunk those and drive a more inclusive mindset in society. In the longer term, if brands stick together in promoting inclusivity, this could alter the general societal attitudes to many current preconceptions.    To find out more about how brands can embrace inclusivity and follow our debate on marketing and diversity, listen to the podcast, or read the write-up on MAD//Fest.

Mondelez’ Emanuel Gävert ended up in marketing after being a youth activist, bringing with him a strong desire to make a difference through the work done by the brands he looks after. His Shiny New Object is using business as a force for good, starting with the small steps that make a difference today, and ultimately overhauling business models to create more sustainable consumption patterns.

David Pugh likes to say he’s not a marketer at all. He started his career in engineering, then switched to business and eventually started working in the automotive industry – today, he is the Marketing Director at MG Motor UK Ltd. Despite his love of analytics and numbers, David’s Shiny New Object is something unexpected: the TV remote.

Have you ever considered how paternity leave could make men better marketers? Becoming a new dad has transformed Riley Dunn, Brand Manager for Dove Men+Care at Unilever, showing him the importance of being grounded in human nature and spending time at home during his paternity leave. Taking a step back and thinking of the long game are all benefits of being able to enjoy this time, as well as triggers to do marketing differently.

At WW (formerly Weight Watchers), Wesley Boas is the Head of Consumer Products - Strategy, Innovation & Marketing and works to elevate the brand and its products to help members throughout their health journey. With a lengthy career in consumer packaged goods (CPG) started at Unilever, Wesley’s Shiny New Object is the shift to online shopping, especially the significant uptake seen in recent months during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Anirban Basu is the Innovation Director at Danone, focusing on the cutting edge of marketing developments and how to harness these in specialised nutrition. With an illustrious background in marketing in the food and drinks industry, Anirban believes that the next big thing, his Shiny New Object, will be the combination of UGC and AI – two acronyms that we delved into on the podcast.

Speaking to Jon Hall about the evolution of marketing, we learn about his rich experience from a military career to communication, to becoming Brand and Product Marketing Director at Whirlpool. Through this journey, John has focused on archetypes drawn from psychology to design brand strategy and uses that as a starting point for his Shiny New Object: mapping marketing activities across the shopper journey.

Timo Elliott’s job title is one of the most interesting you’ll come across: a VP, Global Innovation Evangelist for SAP (one of the largest cloud technology companies in the world). He spends his time at the “leading edge of innovation” looking for learnings that he then shares with customers to drive innovation in their organisation. His Shiny New Object is the “return on interesting” and what brands stand to gain from focusing on how to be interesting to their clients.

Euan Brown is the Head of Digital and Content at Virgin Red, where his mission is to bring the Virgin companies closer together through a new rewards programme that is built on learning from customer feedback. His Shiny New Object is operating with a start-up mindset, whether a small or big company, adapting to data to improve your offering.

Adam Nickson is Head of Marketing Communications at Groupe Renault in the UK and calls himself an “accidental marketer” and an “accidental car guy” due to the series of events that have helped build his career. During our conversation, Adam outlined his Shiny New Object as a series of concepts – a 5-step marketing detox plan for 2021.

Pete Markey is the Chief Marketing Officer at TSB Bank, looking after all the marketing activities that take place at TSB. He talks about a past work screw up, the best marketing tip he received, and the importance of staying grounded and true to your purpose, even in unsettling times. His Shiny New Object is a company called InfoSum, who provide a secure way to use data to give businesses confidence in a post-GDPR world.

Iris Meijer is the Global Chief Marketing Officer at Vodafone Business. In this episode, Iris talks about her origins in Finland, how getting fired changed her career and how her team is her best investment. Her Shiny New Object is CMOs having a seat in the boardroom.