The WARC Podcast

New research from Les Binet and Dom Boyd reveals promotions are the largest single component of marketing spend, around twice the size of paid media advertising. Binet and Boyd join WARC's David Tiltman to discuss why 75% of marketers cannot estimate what proportion of their promotions are profitable, and how they can start breaking the promotion dependency spiral.Guests:Les Binet; Founder, Binet Consulting and Visiting Professor of Marketing and Business Strategy, Ravensbourne UniversityDom Boyd, Chief Strategy Officer - Global Clients, KantarDavid Tiltman, Chief Content Officer, WARCChapters:00:00 — Intro: Why marketers rely on price promotions02:32 — Why promotions matter now04:25 — Promotions in the brand playbook05:43 — The promotion addiction cycle07:08 — Les Binet: Promotional spending as marketing’s “dark matter”11:19 — Eight ways promotions can damage brands16:25 — The consumer-goods marketer research19:21 — Dom Boyd: The promotional blind spot23:15 — Marketers’ influence—and the need for evidence26:21 — Consumer expectations and the discounting cycle30:48 — Dom Boyd: Principles for promotional detox33:53 — Les Binet: When promotions can make sense For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

From the Insight to Impact event in Denver, WARC’s David Tiltman hears about Heineken’s formula for breakthrough creativity from Alison Payne, discovers the secrets of good strategy from Mischief’s Jeff McCrory, and learns how Marriott Bonvoy Traveller is making content that travels well with Talia Salem. This episode is sponsored by Profound. To learn more, go to tryprofound.comGuests:Alison Payne, Chief Marketing Officer - US, Heineken;Jeff McCrory, Partner and Chief Strategy Officer, Mischief;Talia Salem, Editorial Strategist; Marriott Bonvoy TravellerDavid Tiltman, Chief Content Officer, WARCChapters:00:00 — Intro: Insight to Impact in Denver02:04 — Heineken: Creativity as a Growth Driver06:56 — Heineken: Fandom, Sports, and the World Cup11:55 — Heineken: Measuring Sponsorship Impact16:06 — Heineken: AI, Creativity, and 2027 Priorities24:09 — Mischief: Coors Light’s “Case of the Mondays”28:43 — Mischief: Turning Brand Tension into an Idea32:43 — Mischief: A Collaborative Role for Strategy37:47 — Mischief: Upstream Strategy and AI’s Creative Future41:48 — Marriott Bonvoy Traveler: The Editorial Platform44:13 — Marriott Bonvoy Traveler: Why the Strategy Changed48:10 — Marriott Bonvoy Traveler: New Content Pillars50:25 — Marriott Bonvoy Traveler: Bringing Regional Teams In For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

Mercado Libre is Latin America’s largest fintech and e-retailer. CMO Sean Summers joins WARC's Ann Marie Kerwin to discuss the importance of business impact, how the brand's creative makeover won them multiple Cannes Lions, building a culture of innovation, and what effectiveness means in the e-commerce space.Guests:Sean Summers, Chief Marketing Officer / EVP - Mercado Ads, Mercado LibreAnn Marie Kerwin, Americas Editor, WARCSupporting Resources:Mercado Libre: Handshake Hunt https://www.warc.com/en/campaigns/mercado-libre-handshake-hunt-55893db2b5e54e0ab2a5dd9d11943261Mercado Libre: Franco Returns, We All Return https://www.warc.com/en/campaigns/mercado-libre-franco-returns-we-all-return-0a13c404c8414ce7ae146fd017e38c56Mercado Libre: Coupon Rain https://www.warc.com/en/campaigns/mercado-libre-coupon-rain-a86f034b027248fead5ac3c1b077b0e7Chapters:00:00 — Intro: Mercado Libre's Sean Summers joins the pod01:52 — Mercado Libre's Approach To Marketing Effectiveness, ROI, and Market Share03:26 — Balancing Short, Mid, and Long-Term Marketing04:45 — Driving App Downloads, Loyalty, and Customer Lifetime Value06:00 — Brand Investment and Long-Term Growth08:07 — Earning C-Suite Trust with Marketing Metrics11:45 — How Mercado Libre Win Cannes Lions14:26 — Rethinking Creative Bravery16:32 — How GUT Challenged Mercado Libre’s Brief20:57 — Turning the Delivery Promise into a Brand Moment24:48 — Marketing as a Core Growth Function27:08 — The Do, Think, Feel Framework for Ecommerce Marketing32:00 — How Every App Interaction Builds Brand Equity34:42 — Social Commerce, Affiliates, and Live Shopping37:44 — Gen AI in Performance Marketing, Creativity, and Operations For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

At the Insight to Impact event, WARC’s David Tiltman discovers how Mondelez’s insights team is using AI with Pam Forbus, examines the need for “marketing engineers” with Profound’s Matthew Huo, and goes deep on synthetic data research with Tracy Adams from the ARF and Keith Smith from the Marketing Science Institute.This episode is sponsored by Profound. To learn more, go to tryprofound.comGuests:Pamela Forbus, Global Chief of Insights & Analytics, MondelezMatthew Huo, Product Marketing, ProfoundTracy Adams, Senior Director of Research & Insights, The Advertising Research FoundationKeith Smith, Managing Director, The Marketing Science InstituteDavid Tiltman, Chief Content Officer, WARCChapters:(00:00) Intro: Welcome to Insights to Impact(02:29) Mondelez: Leading insights into AI’s future(06:21) Mondelez: Breaking silos with consumer insight(09:40) Mondelez: AI pilots, synthetic personas, and data foundations(13:52) Mondelez: Synthetic personas and real consumers(17:42) Profound: How brands appear in AI answers(21:46) Profound: Creating original, specific content(26:53) Profound: The rise of marketing engineers(34:01) Profound: AI’s impact on marketing jobs(37:24) The risks of synthetic research(42:15) Bias, variability, and validation(43:39) Why small prompt changes matter(49:06) Matching validation to decision stakes For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

We're digging into new effectiveness research, including new thinking on brand coherence, the resurgence of 'ad awareness' and how to get the most out of sports sponsorships, recorded live at the IPA Effectiveness conference in London. Hosted by WARC's Anna Hamill.Guests:Orlando Wood, Chief Creative Officer, System1Paul Simonet, The Whole Brained MarketerRory Natkiel, Founder of Box Count & Chair of the Sponsorship Effectiveness ForumClaire Humphris, Chief Marketing Officer, British CyclingCaitlin McRoy, Senior Sponsorship Manager at SageNic Pietersma, Group Director of Analytics, EbiquityAnthony Jones, Head of Research, ThinkboxJane Christian, EVP - Analytics, WPP Media UKAnna Hamill, Senior Editor, The WARC PodcastChapters:[00:00] Intro: Live at the IPA Effectiveness Conference[01:29] Creative coherence: putting brands back on top[04:57] How the LLM model evaluates brand characteristics[07:14] Coherent brand character: examples from Red Bull, Guinness, and Cadbury[11:38] Brand coherence in an AI-driven world[17:39] Why ad awareness deserves a closer look[19:41] Ad awareness versus brand awareness[23:27] Research findings: ad awareness, consideration, and causality[28:00] Category differences and planning media to drive awareness[34:45] The sponsorship effectiveness gap[38:10] Sage’s approach: connecting sponsorship to broader brand goals[40:18] Three practices for effective sponsorship measurement[44:04] Long-term partnerships, flexibility, and creative platforms[47:45] Lessons learned, and research resources For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

Live from the Insights to Impact event, Reddit’s Lore Oxford shares how to get the best insights from the platform, Kraft Heinz’s Doug Healy and Zappi’s Julio Franco share how to make marketers love research, and Newell Brands’ Delicia Cooney discusses the importance of human-centric insights in the AI era. Hosted by WARC's David Tiltman.This episode is sponsored by Profound. To learn more, go to tryprofound.comGuests:Lore Oxford, Head of Insights Product, RedditDouglas Healy, Head of North America Insights, The Kraft Heinz CompanyJulio Franco, Chief Customer Officer, ZappiDelicia Cooney, Senior Insights Director, Newell BrandsDavid Tiltman, Chief Content Officer, WARCChapters:00:00 — Intro: Live from Insights to Impact02:21 — Reddit: What “insight slop” means06:30 — Reddit: Curating data and building analysis frameworks10:29 — Reddit: Trust, human perspectives, and the platform’s growing influence12:43 — Reddit: How brands can listen and activate authentically19:26 — Introducing Kraft Heinz and Zappi’s research partnership20:26 — Kraft Heinz: Moving from overtesting to a learning philosophy25:54 — Why research shouldn’t feel like a creative report card29:51 — Kraft Heinz: Flexible testing, business impact, and lessons learned42:12 — Newell Brands: Rethinking the insights function47:10 — Newell Brands: Building a human-needs framework52:17 — Newell Brands: Reframing existing research and choosing clarity For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

The future of AI media still feels uncertain: a goldrush where no one knows where to dig. A new report from WARC Media examines whether fragmenting attention leads to a concentration of monetisation in the advertising market and consider what this might mean for the next era of AI media. WARC's Alex Brownsell discusses the impact with Debra Aho Williamson.Chapters:[00:00] — Intro: How AI Media Could Reshape the $1.3 Trillion Ad Market[01:58] — Why WARC Is Measuring AI’s Impact on Advertising Investment[03:30] — What Is AI Media? ChatGPT, Google, and Amazon as Ad Channels[05:00] — Fragmented Consumer Attention and Concentrated Digital Ad Spend[07:23] — Why Google, Meta, and Amazon Attract Advertiser Investment[11:42] — Three Scenarios for AI’s Impact on the Advertising Market[13:58] — Could OpenAI Become a New AI Advertising Leader?[16:19] — Will AI Expand Digital Advertising or Replace Existing Channels?[18:45] — Why Incumbent Platforms May Benefit Most From AI[21:53] — How Consumer Behavior Will Shape the Future of AI Media[22:45] — Why WARC Used Visual Storytelling for the Sightlines Report[26:05] — Where to Read Sightlines and Hear the Report Presented For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

Strategy legends Suzanne Powers and Tom Morton left agency-land to build their own independent strategy businesses, discovering brands need new solutions to strategy problems outside of the agency model. They join WARC's David Tiltman to discuss what they've learned so far, the opportunities for strategists in going indie, and how to build a successful independent strategy proposition.Guests:Suzanne Powers, Co-Founder, All&Tom Morton, Founder, Narratory CapitalDavid Tiltman, Chief Content Officer, WARCChapters:(00:00) — Intro: Why more senior strategists are going indie(02:07) — Why independent strategists are finding success(04:30) — How to build a independent strategy consultancy(05:27) — Reclaiming power and confidence(08:21) — Value propositions for strategy beyond ad briefs(10:56) — Is the independent strategy market becoming more competitive?(13:09) — New opportunities in brand strategy consulting(15:42) — Strategic planning for business pivots and growth(18:57) — Making brand strategy Board-ready(23:12) — How CMOs Can drive growth beyond advertising(24:38) — Finding hidden strengths(27:23) — Productized strategy vs. bespoke consulting(31:37) — Using AI to improve marketing workflows(35:44) — Why optimism matters for strategists For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

AI makes it easier to compete inside markets that already exist. That does not make strategy less important; it makes the search for new sources of demand more important. Erich Joachimsthaler, founder and CEO at VIVALDI, joins WARC's Lena Roland to discuss new 'demand spaces' for strategy.Guests:Erich Joachimsthaler, founder and CEO, VIVALDI; co-author of 'Brand Leadership: Building Assets in an Information Economy'Lena Roland, Content Director, WARCChapters:[00:00] Intro: Why strategists are moving upstream[03:23] AI and the changing source of competitive advantage[04:40] Finding growth beyond existing categories[06:47] Demand spaces vs. traditional market segmentation[09:23] Goodles: uncovering adult demand for mac and cheese[11:29] Rhode skincare: building a brand around a simpler routine[14:41] Demand-led portfolio strategy and product innovation[16:59] Tesla: meeting demand for luxury and sustainability[19:10] Where to compete vs. how to compete[20:20] Figma: redefining design software through collaboration[22:05] How to spot market shifts, workarounds, and new demand[23:49] Liquid Death: brand differentiation and copycat risk[27:32] How consumer needs, technology, and regulation create markets[30:11] Sizing demand spaces and making the investment case#business #marketing #innovation For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

How can strategy deliver measurable business value? Catherine Driscoll speaks with Martin Beverley (Ace of Hearts) and Baiba Matisone about value-based agency models, business-minded collaboration, timeless principles, and staying distinctive and evidence-led in an AI-shaped industry.Guests:Martin Beverley, Founder & Chief Strategy Officer, Ace of Hearts Baiba Matisone, Brand & Creative Strategy ConsultantCatherine Driscoll, Commissioning Editor - EMEA, WARCChapters:(00:00) — Intro: Strategy's Commercial Calue in 2026(01:54) — Why Time-Based Agency Fees Undervalue Creative Strategy(05:05) — Value-Based Pricing and Bespoke Agency Models(06:02) — Four Agency Pricing Models: Outputs, Outcomes, IP and Equity(09:40) — Systems Thinking for Client-Centered Strategy(11:13) — How to Demonstrate the Business Value of Strategy(13:16) — Helping CMOs Make the Case for Strategy to the Board(16:08) — Applying Creativity Beyond Advertising(20:23) — Timeless Marketing Principles vs. Industry Trends(26:15) — AI, Critical Thinking and the Future of Strategy Skills(28:40) — Why Brand Distinctiveness Matters More in the AI Era(30:18) — Is the Future of Strategy Worth Being Optimistic About? For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe