Brain Hurt Scale - 2/10 - The first of a world-wide mini-series exposing true life stories behind the number 1 impediment to workplace success - politics. Mike Harris is an accomplished former executive and consultant with deep personal skills

Brett Friedman - Applied creative strategy in an AI world - S5 Ep5

Apr 7th, 2024 1h 3m

Brain Hurt Scale = 4/10. Why does ChatGPT provide me with terrible responses. Why does DALL-E give me an image that's terrible?Learning how to brief creatives is an art form. After all, their job is to create artwork so this probably shouldn't

John James - brand first principles - avoiding the brand scam & understanding branding basics - Repost from Cognism's The Loop podcast - S5 Ep4

Mar 31st, 2024 38m 7s

Brain Hurt Scale = 6/10. Republished with permission of an interview John James did with Cognism's Jamie Skeels on The Loop podcast. The Brandingmag articles caused quite a stir and Jamie was keen to dig a little deeper into some of the issues

John James - Live interview from SXSW Sydney 2023 - article series, modern state of the industry and more

Mar 4th, 2024 26m 13s

Brain Hurt Scale = 3/10. A live recording of that time I was invited by James Pember to speak at the inaugural SXSW Sydney 2023. Note: this is a repost with permission of an episode of the Own The Moment podcast by Komo Technologies. James int

Dale W. Harrison - Exposing the hidden incentives behind B2B purchases. Understanding procurement and buying committee dynamics - S5 Ep2

Feb 5th, 2024 1h 28m

Brain Hurt Scale = 5/10. No one in B2B buys based on value. Procurement and buying committees don't operate how you think they do. And why do 50%+ of B2B purchases end in a no-decision? If you want your career to be occupied with creating ads

Colin Lewis - How to be an effective marketer. Executive director-level thinking - S5 Ep1

Jan 30th, 2024 1h 8m

Brain Hurt Scale = 2/10. Racing car driver, Marketing Week columnist, retail media speaker and coach to marketing directors. Colin Lewis joins us for the first episode of 2024. While we were supposed to talk about retail media, this was one of

Uri, Paul, Baiba and John - Four strategists walk into a bar - Ep1 S5

Jan 9th, 2024 57m 31s

Brain Hurt = 3/10. What happens when 4 very experienced advertising and marketing strategists are secretly recorded on a group call? 4 insiders catch up each month to have a casual discussion and decided to record it. You'll get a raw expressi

Part 5.3 - Actually Thinking Different about Think Different - Apple's real growth factor revealed

Dec 20th, 2023 46m 5s

Brain Hurt Factor = 4/10. The conclusion and penultimate episode of a 6 part series which explores brand campaigns. Questioning whether Apple's famous Think Different brand campaign was as successful as everyone thinks it is.This episode start

Part 5.2 - Thinking Different about Think Different - What exactly did it do? - S4 E22

Dec 6th, 2023 42m 29s

Brand hurt scale = 6/10. This is a direct follow on from the previous episode 5.1 which continues the story behind Apple's famous Think Different campaign. Here we go much deeper, analyzing the campaign's impact on Apple financially, both shor

Part 5.1 - Thinking Different about Think Different - S4 Ep21

Nov 30th, 2023 35m 7s

Brand hurt scale = 2/10. The episode everyone has been waiting for is here. This is the story behind the famous Apple Think Different campaign. Touted as one of the best brand advertising campaigns in history. But is it? This is the first of t

Part 4 - What does a brand campaign do? 8 pros and 8 cons - S4 Ep20

Nov 14th, 2023 1h 5m

Brain hurt score = 3/10. If you've been listening to the series so far, you should know what a brand campaign is, where they came from and how advertising and branding works.So what does a brand campaign do? Or not do?In part 4 of the Brand C

Part 2 - Where did brand campaigns came from? The history of advertising agencies, marketing & growth - S4 Ep16

Oct 26th, 2023 47m 12s

Brain Hurt Scale = 2/10. Note - this is the audio version which is an extended yet similar and different version of the written article which includes diagrams and videos. If reading is your thing go here https://www.brandingmag.com/john-james/

Gregory Kennedy - Confessions of two fractional CMOs - Trials, tribulations & opportunities - S4 Ep19

Oct 25th, 2023 56m 23s

Brain Hurt Scale = 2/10. Learn all the hot topics, struggles and opportunities in the current environment from the perspective of two fractional CMO's. After shooting the breeze about coffee (Skip to 4mins in to miss the coffee talk intro) Gre

Part 3.2 - How does advertising & branding? (2 of 2) - S4 Ep18

Oct 21st, 2023 41m 43s

Brain hurt scale = 6/10. This is the second half of the former episode which will complete the audio version of Part 3's article. In the former episode we covered in detail the first determinant of effective advertising - reach.In this one, w

Part 3.1 - How does advertising & branding work? (1 of 2) - S4 Ep17

Oct 20th, 2023 35m 11s

Brain hurt scale = 7/10. Isn't it funny how we all think we know how advertising works, but very few of us know about the scientific side. Even fewer have married up science with the practical considerations of what it's like in an applied work

Part 1 - What is a brand campaign? (Audio Version) - S4 Ep15

Oct 4th, 2023 18m 25s

Brain Hurt Scale = 4/10. Here's a quick synopsis of the first part of six. An article series that tries to answer a very basic question. What is a brand campaign? Go to https://www.brandingmag.com/john-james/brand-campaigns-part-1-what-exactl

Raj Nathan - Pitching the power of music - Sonic branding, events and can't sleep content - S4 Ep14

Sep 26th, 2023 53m 56s

We'll spend thousands of dollars a month on ads yet routinely underinvest in the quality of the creative. Even the biggest agencies do it. They cheapen out on the quality of the audio track. But great music can make or break a movie or TV serie

Anthony Garone - Exposing the murky world of Ghostwriting - S4 Ep13

Sep 9th, 2023 56m 57s

You know all those famous authors and people on social media with posts that are wildly successful? You may be surprised to learn, it's probably not them. Most don't even manage their own accounts. But, who's work then are we really reading? Wh

Matt Watkinson - Mastering your potential in an uncertain world - S4 Ep12

Sep 5th, 2023 1h 4m

Brain Hurt = 6/10. Do you want your effort to translate into maximum reward without change getting in the way? If so, embracing inherent uncertainty in the world is arguably the best way to go about it. Matt Watkinson published his third book

John James & Meqa Smith - Culture, brand, internal marketing and core strategy - S4 Ep11

Sep 1st, 2023 36m 44s

Brain Hurt Level = 2/10. "Great interview...I've often thought someone needed to interview you, put all of that red-pill business and marketing chat into one cohesive conversation. Your definition of marketing should actually be a front-slide o

Shay Howe - Chasing growth in the AI era - Confessions of a tech CMO - S4 Ep10

Aug 27th, 2023 1h 10m

Brain Hurt level = 5/10. Note: this episode is best for those interested in marketing or growth within the SaaS tech sector. Especially if you work in marketing, growth or as a senior marketing leader or founder. And even more so if that's B2B

Baiba Matisone - Strategists in advertising - How agencies and clients can work better together - S4 Ep9

Aug 13th, 2023 1h 6m

Baiba’s career is varied to say the least. Starting with a bachelor of visual arts at university where she was dissuaded from pursuing a career in this field, to later attempts at breaking the small glass ceiling of male advertising strategists

Jon Evans - Marketing on a shoestring budget. Turning $440 into $940 000 - S4 Ep8

Jun 12th, 2023 18m 27s

A recent article, some skeptical Twitterati and a belated Champagne film scene prompted the two Johns to join forces once again. In this episode, we put some of the doubters at bay. So if Jon Evan's recent Marketing Week article took your fancy

Eden Bidani - Messaging Strategy - The forgotten jigsaw piece of product market fit, PLG and growth - S4 Ep7

Jun 10th, 2023 1h 1m

Have you ever found it difficult to brief and agency, a copywriter or a designer and get back the words you were expecting? This is really hard when you don't have a messaging strategy which sits at the top of your workflow. Working alongside y

Mike Rizzo - Marketing Operations Strategy - ignore at your entire function's own cost - S4 Ep6

May 11th, 2023 49m 49s

Brain Hurt Scale = 2/10 There's a famous quote by Kleiner Perkins' OG John Doer, "Ideas are easy. Execution is everything. It takes a team to win".If you've ever been responsible for bottom line results, you'll agree and nod because you know t