31. Why Brand Communities Matter

What happens when you stop racing through a script and start really listening?   In this episode, I'm joined by Miranda Birch. Miranda spent nearly 25 years at the BBC as a producer, presenter and interviewer. Now she runs a consultancy called The Richer Conversations, helping founders and marketers have short, focused conversations that uncover real stories and genuinely useful content.   This one's for you if you ever need to interview clients or customers, draw out stories from colleagues or partners, or help people think more clearly simply by the way you listen.   We talk about the practical stuff. How to move past safe, surface answers. How to ask about "firsts" so people share the moments that actually mattered. How to drill down from vague words like respect into concrete scenes you can picture.   One line that stayed with me comes from Nancy Kline, via Miranda: The quality of your attention shapes the quality of other people's thinking.   You can feel that in the way Miranda works. Not as a technique, but as a form of respect.   So switch off your phone. Ask one good question. Then stay with the answer long enough for something new to surface.   If you're tired of thin insights and shallow case studies, this conversation should both encourage and stretch you. You'll leave with questions you can use this week.

Storytelling gets treated like decoration. A flourish. Something you add once the "real work" is done. But the truth is sharper. Story is the spark that brings everything else to life.     In this episode, I'm joined by Jon Burkhart. Texas-born. West London based. A career that runs from sports marketing to real-time social to helping brands pitch with more conviction. He runs TBC Global and brings the kind of restless, inventive energy that makes rooms sit up.   What stayed with me was Jon's definition of a good story. Not something new. Something true. A messy human insight told in a fresh way that shakes a memory loose. The line that makes someone think: I've always felt that, but no one's ever said it quite like that.     If you care about making your work land, this conversation will help. We talk about:   • Bringing emotion and humour into industries that default to logic  • Using story to build trust rather than just grab attention  • Deciding who the real hero is in your marketing  • Keeping the human heartbeat strong in an age of AI     It's equal parts useful and uncomfortable, in the best way. The kind of conversation that makes you want to scrap a few slides and tell one sharper, truer story instead.  

Marketers are under pressure to prove their worth. Budgets shrink. Targets grow. So we chase clicks, conversions and short-term wins, and forget the thing that makes them possible: brand.   Brand tracking shows what people really think and feel about your business. The truth outside your own echo chamber. That's why Matt Herbert co-founded Tracksuit, to put brand back where it belongs in the boardroom. Because when you measure what matters, creativity gets braver, instincts get sharper and growth gets real.   If you've ever had to defend the value of brand, this episode will give you fresh firepower.

According to research run by Garnter, over 70% of consumers say they buy more often when they're part of a community. The role of communities has never been stronger. James is cofounder of the CMO Circle and Called to Work, and he explains why communities aren't just audiences you broadcast to, but networks that grow brand loyalty. James talks about the difference between an audience and a community; on finding your first 100 members; and how the most valuable communities give more back than they take. So if you're a marketing manager thinking about whether a brand community could add to your marketing, this conversation is for you.

What if the key to long-term success isn't growth or efficiency, but balance?   Not the Zen poster kind. The kind that helps leaders stay grounded in who they are while staying agile enough to respond to whatever the world throws at them.   In this episode, I'm joined by Martin Clarkson, co-founder of Create Balance and a former senior leader at Marks & Spencer, a company that's seen both glory days and had to fight to stay relevant.   We explore why balance isn't a soft skill but a strategic one, and how clarity about who you are, what you do and why you do it builds the confidence to act in moments of pressure or change. From boardrooms to broken charities, Martin shows that balance isn't static. It's how you keep moving.

The backbone of good marketing is the quality of the research. The best insight comes from hearing real audiences talk about their real experiences.Traditional research can cost thousands and still miss the people who don't get a seat at the table. Quantitative data tells you what's common. Social listening reveals what's missing.   In this episode, Michael talks with Jamie Doggett, Associate Director at Lumanity, about why social listening is a standout tool for marketers who want to go deeper than the data and closer to the truth. They explore how social listening works, what it uncovers that surveys don't, and why unprompted insight and digital body language are changing how we understand behaviour, especially in healthcare.   If you believe good marketing starts with empathy, not assumptions, this one's for you.

Every minute, over 500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube, 350,000 tweets are sent, and 5 million posts go live on Facebook. Try to keep up and you'll be scrolling forever. In this episode, I'm joined by Dan Preston from Neighbourhood to explore why likes, shares and comments — what we used to call engagement — don't matter anymore. We unpack social media's three big shifts: the death of the feed, the fall of the follower, and now, the fading relevance of engagement itself. Dan argues we've entered the era of entertainment, where creativity isn't a nice to have, it's the whole game. If your organic reach is shrinking and you're wondering what to do about it, this is for you.

  In this episode, I'm joined by writer Thomas Sharp.   His creative life is a blend of commercial commissions and self-initiated projects, each shaped by his deep fascination with language.   You might have seen his words without realising it. Love is Running Towards — his piece for the London Fire Brigade. Or the vast banners welcoming visitors to the British Library. Other clients range from the spectacle makers Cubitts and The Henry Moore Institute to Politico UK and St Martin-in-the-Fields Trust.   But beyond his commissions, Thomas has spent much of his life thinking about the wonder and power of writing, what it can do, and how it moves us. He's distilled that exploration into four words: Language, Consciousness, Magick, and Romance, a phrase that defines his life's work and the title of his latest collection of poems.   So, in this episode, we explore why Language, Consciousness, Magick, and Romance matter.   Links https://www.thepoetryofitall.com/thomassharp https://www.instagram.com/thomassharp/

Poetry has lessons for every brand. The power of brevity. The art of wordplay. Thoughtful connections that spark emotion, linger in memory, and sometimes bring a smile–or a tear. Who better to explore why poetry matters than John Simmons, writer, poet and pioneer of verbal branding.

According to the FT Advisor, enthusiasm for sustainable investing has dropped sharply this year, with interest in ESG funds reportedly down by 83%. Many investors are pulling back, citing underwhelming returns and ongoing issues with greenwashing.    Meanwhile, the Financial Conduct Authority has introduced four new labels as part of its Sustainability Disclosure Requirements, or SDRs, to bring transparency to the often murky world of green investing.   For some, sustainable investing still represents the sector's future, with potential for positive change. For others, however, the path forward is much less certain.   In this episode, I speak with Philip Spyropoulos, a legal expert and partner at Eversheds Sutherland who specialises in sustainable and responsible investing. We dive into the SDR framework and its aim to set realistic expectations for ESG and impact investing.