Episode 153 – Creative Excellence with guest Rich Atkinson-Toal: Tips from Amex’s Global Brand and Marketing VP on Cultivating a Culture of Creativity in Your Team

Episode #153. This topic is a technical and human skill that all marketers should strive to develop in order to solve problems and inspire new thinking, ideas, products and experiences for your consumers and your organisation… we’re talking about creating a culture of creative excellence – what it is and how to get started.  Abby’s guest expert is Rich Atkinson-Toal, VP of Global Brand and Marketing at Amex Global Business Travel. His marketing and communication leadership experience extends across B2C and B2B brands including Barclays and Barclaycard. Over the last 18 years, Rich has worked across all marketing and management disciplines, including media, creative, marketing, technology, production, communications, planning and activation. He is also deputy chair and non-executive director of the Data and Marketing Association and as a growth orientated, passionate and ambitious leader he believes culture and purpose are key components of brand and business success.  In this episode, Rich shares his definition of creative excellence, the process he puts in place as a leader to make time and space for creativity, reviewing and aligning creativity, starting your creative excellence culture and how to engage your team.  Plus his highs and lows and advice for marketers of tomorrow.    00:00:00 Welcome and Introduction Creative Excellence  00:04:15 Defining Creative Excellence   00:07:04 Clarity and Alignment in Creativity   00:08:06 Creativity as a Mindset Across the Organisation   00:10:01 Practical Steps to Shift Creative Culture   00:14:53 Creative Reviews and Consistency   00:19:13 Measuring External Creative Excellence   00:25:10 Skills and Behaviours for Creative Teams   00:30:35 Protecting the Creative Team Environment   00:34:12 Lessons Learned in Creative Transformation   00:38:08 Career Highs and Lows   00:42:27 Advice for Marketers of Tomorrow     Host: Abigail Dixon FCIM/ICF | LinkedIn Guest: Rich Atkinson-Toal | LinkedIn   The Whole Marketer podcast is here to support and empower the people behind brands and businesses with the latest technical tools, soft and leadership skills and personal understanding for a fulfilling marketing career and life as a whole. For more info go to www.thewholemarketer.com 

Episode #152. Today’s focus is a technical skill on advertising – specifically the significant implications of uninspired advertising and how to overcome dullness in your work.  Abby’s guest expert is Adam Morgan, legendary marketing strategist, speaker, podcast host and author of Eating The Big Fish (which first popularised the term challenger brands some 20 years ago). As founder and partner of Eat Big Fish, an international consultancy that specializes in bringing a challenger mindset to client problems in the area of strategy, culture and innovation, he is passionate about helping brands overcome mediocrity. His latest project, The Extraordinary Cost of Dull, a collaboration with Peter Field, Jon Evans and Dr Karen Nelson-Field, delves into just how costly it is for brand owners and marketers to be dull. In his podcast entitled ‘Let's make this more Interesting’ Adam speaks to fascinating people who excel at engaging their audience.  In this episode, Adam shares the background to his ‘cost of dull’ project and research showing that dull campaigns require higher media spend to achieve results. He discusses the reasons why dullness persists, five key questions to help marketers create more engaging, distinctive work, and embracing the mindset of a challenger.  Plus, his career highs and lows and advice for marketers of tomorrow.    00:00:00 Welcome and Introduction to Advertising and the ‘Cost of Dull’ project  00:03:19 Defining the Cost of Dull   00:04:39 Dullness as Exclusion & Societal Impact   00:06:33 Why Tackle Dullness  00:10:57 Prioritizing Where to Be Interesting Framework   00:13:30 Findings from the ‘Cost of Dull’ Research   00:18:24 Why Dullness Persists: The Five Drivers   00:25:52 How to Avoid Being Dull  00:26:20 The Five Questions to Ensure Engaging and Effective Communication.  00:38:31Challenger Brands Mindset   00:42:31 Career Highs and Lows  00:45:04 Advice for Marketers of Tomorrow     Links Lets Make This More Interesting — eatbigfish.    Host: Abigail Dixon FCIM/ICF | LinkedIn Guest: Adam Morgan | LinkedIn   The Whole Marketer podcast is here to support and empower the people behind brands and businesses with the latest technical tools, soft and leadership skills and personal understanding for a fulfilling marketing career and life as a whole. For more info go to www.thewholemarketer.com 

Episode #151. Today’s focus is a technical skill on how to step change growth of your brand or business. When we refer to step change, we don’t mean incremental movements in growth, but a bold, substantial shift; whether that’s a significant reversal of brand decline or stepping out into new categories and territories in pursuit of brand-new growth opportunities. It requires a real mindset shift – plus bravery and curiosity – to step change growth of your brand of business.  Joining Abby is her guest Jo McClintock, award-winning marketer and Trainline’s VP Brand and Marketing. Jo is known in the industry for her strategic thinking, combining brand purpose and commercial strategy for brands such as Moonpig, Skyscanner, Screwfix and today at Trainline. This has really shown up in big ideas such as the award-winning ‘I Came By Train’ sustainable train initiative to get more people out of cars and planes and onto the rails, as well as scaling Trainline into four new international markets.  In this episode, Jo shares her definition of a step changing growth, how to bring new ideas to your team, building a collaborative culture that supports bold ideas, helping others to visualise to bring to life and making space for curiosity.  Plus, her career highs and lows and advice for marketers of tomorrow.    00:00:00 Welcome and Introduction to Step Change Growth 00:02:42 Defining Step Change Growth (00:02:42)   00:04:15 Approach to Achieving Step Change   00:05:36 Culture of Curiosity and Psychological Safety   00:07:05 Critical Thinking and Accountability  00:09:31 Building and Evolving Ideas Collaboratively   00:12:33 Examples of Step Change at Trainline   00:17:21 The “Four Worlds” framework (customer, culture, business, category)  00:18:40 Permission to Think Big  00:20:00 Jo’s Strategic Thinking Process  00:25:03 Career Highs and Lows   00:27:31 Advice for Marketers of Tomorrow   Book Recommendation: Where Ideas Come From     Host: Abigail Dixon FCIM/ICF | LinkedIn Guest: Jo McClintock | LinkedIn   The Whole Marketer podcast is here to support and empower the people behind brands and businesses with the latest technical tools, soft and leadership skills and personal understanding for a fulfilling marketing career and life as a whole. For more info go to www.thewholemarketer.com 

Episode #150. We’re celebrating our milestone 150th episode with a technical skill that, if it hasn’t already, will impact and shape the way we work and live our lives, and the lives of our consumers.  We’re discussing AI and how to utilise the tools available today, to help you to grow the brands and businesses of tomorrow.  Returning guest and friend of the podcast joining Abby is Jeremy Connell-Waite. As IBM’s Global Communications Designer, Jeremy is a seasoned storyteller, strategist and communications leader, bringing a wealth of experience from his work at the intersection of technology, purpose and human connection.  In this episode, Jeremy shares how he uses AI to become his IA – intelligent assistant – conversing with his AI personas to collaborate; not only to provide answers but get to the root causes to help him ask the right questions too.   Jeremy also reveals why you should use voice prompt when training your AI, plus he gives many great examples of how it can be used day-to-day, with different AI platforms and resources to help you get started.    00:00:00 Welcome and Introduction to Brand Purpose  00:02:16 Jeremy’s Background & Approach to AI   00:03:33 Defining AI: Intelligent Assistant, Not Artificial Intelligence   00:05:20 How Marketers Are Using AI   00:08:49 Building Rapport with AI & Humanizing the Experience   00:15:11 How to Build Your Own AI Assistant   00:22:29 Building Custom GPTs   00:25:38 Experimenting with Different Platforms  00:27:30 The Future of AI: Adoption Not Anxiety   00:31:51 Top Five Actions for Marketers   00:38:03 AI as a Time-Saving Tool to Free You Up For What You Enjoy  00:39:25 Final Advice For Marketers     Host: Abigail Dixon FCIM/ICF | LinkedIn Guest: Jeremy Connell-Waite | LinkedIn   The Whole Marketer podcast is here to support and empower the people behind brands and businesses with the latest technical tools, soft and leadership skills and personal understanding for a fulfilling marketing career and life as a whole. For more info go to www.thewholemarketer.com 

Episode #149. Today’s topic is an area of personal understanding, enabling you to take the reins of your career so that it’s happening for you, not to you. We’re discussing purpose driven careers, packed with advice for how to make choices that enable you to be successful and fulfilled in your career and life as a whole.  Joining Abby is her guest and experienced marketing leader, Megan Harrison. Having worked on many iconic brands such as Huggies, Durex, Warburtons and Carex, Megan’s is now CMO at Grocery Aid, a charity with a long history of helping grocery workers through tough times, providing financial, emotional and practical support.  In this episode, Megan shares her definition of a purpose driven career, the choices she’s made in her personal career journey and why, and the questions to ask yourself when choosing your next role.  Plus, her career highs and lows and advice for marketers of tomorrow.    00:00:00 Welcome and Introduction to Brand Purpose  00:03:41 Definition of Purpose   00:04:40 Megan’s Personal Journey to Identify Purpose   00:05:54 Career Choices and Purpose Alignment   00:09:13 Career Transitions   00:12:25 Advice for Early Career Professionals   00:15:40 Looking For Your Next Role   00:20:13 Red Flags   00:23:07 Connection to Brand Challenges   00:25:05 Cultural Values in Organisations   00:27:14 Career Highs and Lows   00:30:57 Advice for Future Marketers   Host: Abigail Dixon FCIM/ICF | LinkedIn Guest: Megan Harrison FCIM | LinkedIn   The Whole Marketer podcast is here to support and empower the people behind brands and businesses with the latest technical tools, soft and leadership skills and personal understanding for a fulfilling marketing career and life as a whole. For more info go to www.thewholemarketer.com 

Episode #148. The technical skill in this episode is brand purpose, providing marketers with the clarity on why their brand exists internally and externally, motivation for the whole organisation to get behind and creating a north star to focus on - whether that's strategic or tactical choices or how to bring this to life.   Joining Abby is her guest Helen Jeremiah, Global Vice President for Croda, a company that makes specialised ingredients for beauty, personal care, and home care products. Having previously worked at Boots and Walgreen’s Alliance Group, Helen is an experienced marketing leader who has worked across multiple disciplines including marketing, customer strategy, global marketing, global brand marketing, product development, insight and inclusivity.  In this episode, Helen shares her definition of brand purpose and its significance beyond profit, authenticity, the importance of internal engagement, and agency partnerships to bring to life.  Plus, her career highs and lows and advice for marketers of tomorrow.    00:00:00 Welcome and Introduction to Brand Purpose  00:03:03 Importance of Internal Engagement   00:04:48 Advice for Redefining Brand Purpose   00:07:08 Aligning Brand Purpose with Values   00:09:22 Multifaceted Nature of Brand Purpose   00:10:21 Stakeholder Engagement for Alignment   00:13:49 Measuring Brand Purpose Impact   00:16:43 Internal Perception of Brand Purpose   00:18:28 Helen’s Personal Drive for Purpose   00:23:43 Agency Collaboration for Fresh Perspectives   00:25:49 Career Highs and Lows  00:31:51 Advice for Future Marketers    Host: Abigail Dixon FCIM/ICF | LinkedIn Guest: Helen Jeremiah | LinkedIn   The Whole Marketer podcast is here to support and empower the people behind brands and businesses with the latest technical tools, soft and leadership skills and personal understanding for a fulfilling marketing career and life as a whole. For more info go to www.thewholemarketer.com   

Episode #147. Social Proof is the technical topic featured in this episode as we delve into the benefits of collaborating, trialling and testing with consumers and influencers in real-time and how to get started with social proof to help build communication ideas, propositions, campaigns and products. And the all-important internal buy-in and confidence for concepts and much more…    Abby’s guest in this episode is Michael Goldstein, founder of Fragment, a comms strategy led agency that drives growth through helping brands capitalise on the chaos of modern marketing. Previously he was global head of communications strategy at DDB, and before that held leadership roles at Mccann, R/GA and The &Partnership.    In this episode, Michael shares his definition of Social Proof, why marketers should build ideas out in the world and how to get started with testing. Plus examples of integrating social proof to shape creative campaigns and working with influencers.    Plus his career highs and lows and advice for marketers of tomorrow.    00:00:00 Welcome and Introduction to Social Proof  00:02:58 Defining Social Proof  00:04:03 Traditional vs Collaborative Process  00:06:32 The Rapid Nature of Cultural Changes  00:08:07 Testing and Iteration in Marketing  00:09:40 Challenger Brands and Flexibility  00:10:26 Consumer Product Brands and Creators  00:12:18 Building a Feedback Loop  00:17:30 Using Social Proof in Agency Work  00:19:11 Case study: Repositioning a Brand  00:21:35 Cultural and Emotional Impact  00:24:16 Community-Built Brands  00:25:43 Embracing Chaos in Marketing  00:27:11 Career Highs and Lows  00:31:21 Advice for Future Marketers    Host: Abigail (Abby) Dixon FCIM/ICF | LinkedIn Guest: Michael Goldstein | LinkedIn   The Whole Marketer podcast is here to support and empower the people behind brands and businesses with the latest technical tools, soft and leadership skills and personal understanding for a fulfilling marketing career and life as a whole. For more info go to www.thewholemarketer.com 

Episode #146. Today’s episode discusses the necessity of DEI and how as marketers we have a responsibility to reflect and shape the world around us – particularly as research* shows younger generations trust brands more than governments for being ethical and competent.  Abby’s guest is Ali Hanan, founder and CEO of Creative Equals, an award winning organisation driving the new ROI - Return on Inclusion - for people, businesses and the planet. Ali set up Creative Equals after finding she was one of the few women in creative leadership through most of her 20 year career and the company works with clients such as PepsiCo, Reckitt, Abi InBev, H&M Group, McDonald's, Mars, Wrigley and more for inclusion-first marketing strategy and creative.  In this episode, Ali shares her definition of DEI, the business case for DEI (supported by stats & facts), 5Rs for positive impact of DEI, navigating backlash and confronting unconscious biases and stereotypes.  Plus her career highs and lows and advice for marketers of tomorrow.  *Edelman Trust Barometer surveyed over 32,000 respondents in 28 countries.    00:00:00 Welcome and Introduction Defining DEI  00:04:25 Marketing as a Force for Good  00:09:00 Representation in Advertising  00:11:44 Inclusive Insights   00:14:04 Navigating Backlash in Marketing   00:19:12 Co-creation with Communities  00:21:05 Understanding Personal Biases  00:24:36 Identifying Bias in Teams   00:27:23 Researching Campaign Ideas   00:28:49 Benefits of Inclusive Marketing  00:30:07 The Impact of Trust in Brands   00:33:37 Career Highs and Lows   00:35:15 Challenges Facing DEI Initiatives   00:39:26 Advice for Future Marketers     Host: Abigail (Abby) Dixon FCIM/ICF | LinkedIn Guest: Ali Hanan | LinkedIn   The Whole Marketer podcast is here to support and empower the people behind brands and businesses with the latest technical tools, soft and leadership skills and personal understanding for a fulfilling marketing career and life as a whole. For more info go to www.thewholemarketer.com 

Episode #145. Marketing Culture is the holistic topic discussed in this episode, the what, how and why your marketing function works day-to-day.   Defining your marketing culture is the key to unlocking not only the fulfilment and motivation of your team but its thinking and work, which often includes your company values, behaviours, beliefs, routines and rituals, philosophy and approach, processes and ways of working, org structure and how your people bring this to life through their skills, behaviours and mindset.  Joining Abby to discuss marketing culture is her guest Abi Willstead, Head of Brand and Marketing Excellence at Specsavers, where she focuses on helping strengthen the brand and empowering their global marketing team to thrive in their roles, supporting brilliant outcomes for customers and increasing the number of lives they can change through better sight and hearing.  In this episode, Abi shares her definition of marketing culture, the 5Cs of Specsavers culture, empowering teams, creating space for innovation, and involving the entire team in defining and evolving the marketing culture  Plus her career highs and lows and advice for marketers of tomorrow.    00:00:00 Welcome and Introduction to ‘Marketing Culture’  00:03:44 Key Ingredients of Marketing Culture   00:06:59 Five Cs of Specsavers’ Culture   00:08:03 Importance of Psychological Safety   00:10:05 Embedding Values in Daily Work   00:16:11 Continuous Improvement and Learning   00:19:55 Core Skills Driving Specsavers’ Marketing Approach   00:24:21 Empowerment in Marketing Culture   00:24:57 Evolving Marketing Practices   00:27:51 Involving Teams in Change   00:30:13 Career Highs and Lows   00:35:47 Advice for Future Marketers     Host: Abigail (Abby) Dixon FCIM/ICF | LinkedIn Guest: Abi Willstead | LinkedIn   The Whole Marketer podcast is here to support and empower the people behind brands and businesses with the latest technical tools, soft and leadership skills and personal understanding for a fulfilling marketing career and life as a whole. For more info go to www.thewholemarketer.com 

Episode #144. The personal understanding topic explored in this episode is Growth Mindset - a belief system that people adopt where they believe that their qualities, skills, abilities and situation can change and grow, and through hard work, it’s possible for these to develop and improve.  Discussing Growth Mindset with Abby is her guest Charlotte Langley, Chief Marketing Officer at Bloom & Wild. Having previously worked at L’Oreal, Charlotte joined Bloom & Wild at the start of 2020 to head up the evolution of Bloom & Wild's brand and communications, including the development of their ‘Care Wildly’ creative platform.  In this episode, Charlotte shares her definition of Growth Mindset, pushing through fear, creating a network for support, how growth mindset impacts her leadership style, energy for growth mode and her tip when worries and anxiety creeps in.  Plus her career highs and lows and advice for marketers of tomorrow.    00:00:00 Welcome and Introduction to ‘Growth Mindset’  00:03:10 Embracing Fear and Asking for Help  00:05:06 Leadership and Growth Mindset   00:07:47 Navigating Change in Marketing  00:09:42 Building a Knowledge Bank and Networking  00:13:32 Adapting to Changes  00:18:44 Growth Mode  00:22:41 Confidence and Imposter Syndrome  00:25:40 Learning from Others  00:27:03 Reflecting on Personal Growth  00:30:13 Acknowledging Anxiety and Organising Thoughts  00:36:13 Career Highs and Lows   00:39:06 Advice for Future Marketers   Host: Abigail (Abby) Dixon FCIM/ICF | LinkedIn Guest: Charlotte Langley | LinkedIn   The Whole Marketer podcast is here to support and empower the people behind brands and businesses with the latest technical tools, soft and leadership skills and personal understanding for a fulfilling marketing career and life as a whole. For more info go to www.thewholemarketer.com