Future Proof

How much would you tell a chatbot? Tara Prabhakar interviews David Wright and Karlien Kriegler, innovation specialists at Kantar, about the work they’ve been doing around conversational AI and the fascinating results of some client projects in this space. Describing the (fast) evolution of chatbots, David and Karlien explain how new approaches to research – featuring chat, AI, natural language pro...

How do you create content that people really need, and want to read? The smartest route is to start with search data, and use the insights to write engaging evergreen articles. This is what Sergey Lesnikov, Senior Global Digital Marketing & Ecommerce Manager at Philips, did with his team and partners Mavens of London in order to create the Male Grooming Experience Center , a digital hub for useful...

Host Professor Andrew Stephen chats to Jane Ostler, Daren Poole and Andy Brown, media and creative experts from Kantar, to find out what the coronavirus means for media and advertising. What happens if brands stop advertising? How are our consumption habits changing? And what makes a good piece of creative at this time?  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do you measure the conversation around your brand, and what can you do with that information? Walker Smith talks to Ed Keller, CEO of Engagement Labs and Kevin Moeller, Head of Media Insights & Analytics, PepsiCo North America, about the role of word-of-mouth marketing, the importance of measuring both online and offline conversation (and how you can do that) and the applications of these insi...

As the pandemic changes how people deal with businesses (and each other), Walker Smith and Barbara Cador discuss the possible responses when it comes to customer experience, particularly in the banking sector, as people worry more about their financial situation. Will this speed up digital transformation in financial services, or reinforce the importance of a human touch? What differences and simi...

Data from years of Kantar and BrandZ research indicates clearly that the best way to survive an economic downturn (and to bounce back more quickly when it's over) is to have a strong brand. But what does that mean? How can you achieve it? Does purpose play a part? And what can brands do right now to ensure that they remain salient and meaningfully different? Chief Global Analyst Nigel Hollis and H...

The spread of coronavirus is disrupting brands from every industry, across the world. But we’ve been through disruption before, says Walker Smith, Chief Knowledge Officer at Kantar, and can learn some lessons from the past. We can also learn from China, where research shows the promise for certain categories, channels and marketing strategies, in the face of this global pandemic. Oceanne Zhang, Di...

As the pandemic changes lives across the world, how are healthcare systems responding? Where are consumers going for information and advice, and what does that mean for the future of delivering health and aftercare services globally? We ask Jade Cusick, Oliver Bone and Julia Liu to share their insights from the US, Europe and of course China, to see where the challenges and opportunities are emerg...

What has happened to sales in supermarkets? Are patterns emerging in different countries across the world? And what should we expect to see next, when it comes to retail and consumption habits? Fraser McKevitt speaks to Jason Yu and Ray Gaul to get perspectives from China, Europe, and the UK, and to discuss what trends Kantar has spotted in sales, usage and retail approaches. Hosted on Acast. See...

People are desperate for more sustainable transport choices – and are keen to change how they get around cities, as long as they feel safe and have some flexibility. That’s where Cyclo Technology’s new innovation could be helpful: a 'packable' helmet for the urban rider, made from reclaimed plastic that will make hiring a bike or commuting on your own a lot more appealing. How have they tackled cu...

Things change in marketing all the time, and marketers get more excited with each new technological ‘innovation’. But we could be getting ahead of ourselves, says strategy consultant and Web Curios writer Matt Muir. If we are really honest with ourselves, what will NOT happen in 2020? What does he think we should strike from our list of predictions? What is missing from the list? And which words d...

As Kantar releases its annual Media Predictions report, forecasting the likely changes for media in 2020 and beyond, Professor Andrew Stephen asks experts Jane Ostler and Margo Swadley to comment on some of the trends they are seeing. Touching on the business models of streaming services, the untapped potential of audio, why influencer marketing needs to grow up, and the rise and rise of esports,...

Recently returned from CES in Vegas, Marco Rimini (Chief Development Officer at Mindshare) feels he has glimpsed the future – as well as a few things that probably won’t come to be. So what’s likely to change in the media world, and particularly the media agency, in the next year… or even decade? Marco tells Jane and Andrew about the rise of shoppable content and how it affects the traditional med...

You don't get much more traditional than Oxford University Press: over 500 years old, its roots dating back to 1478 when the first book was published in Oxford and home to the renowned Oxford English Dictionary.  Today the Press has 6000 employees, operates in 190 countries and 40 languages, and offers a huge range of products and services, from pre-school educational materials to scholarly works....

Too many marketers still believe that sustainability in marketing comes at the expense of cost-effectiveness – when, increasingly, adopting sustainable marketing can improve commercial performance. So says David Radford, former CMO of Allianz in the UK and Associate Fellow of Said Business School. David's contention is that marketing needs to get its house in order when it comes to sustainability....

There are more and more times when we find ourselves talking to what might seem like a person, but it’s actually a bot, often powered by AI. But what does the research say about the best way to use them? What can businesses do differently to improve their reputation, and get deeper customer insights? Professor Andrew Stephen, L’Oréal Professor of Marketing at Saïd Business School, takes us through...

Michael Fanuele has written about the Six Skills of Inspiration in his new book, Stop Making Sense. In this episode, we speak to Michael in New York about why inspiration matters, what it can achieve, and how an individual – particularly a leader – can become more inspiring. As it turns out, it might mean turning our backs on rationality… We also touch on the role of planners, the role of agencies...

Daianna Karaian has always worked at the intersection of sustainability and business, helping brands make money while also making a difference in the world. Now she has set up Thought Starter & Thoughtful Works, to help businesses and individuals actually walk the talk. We speak to Daianna about the Thought Starter kit and its basis in Martin Luther King’s 'six steps of non-violent social change',...

What’s involved in producing news? And what’s new about news in a more digital-focussed world? Inga Thordar, Executive Editor of International, CNN Digital Worldwide, tells Jane Ostler and Felipe Thomaz what an ‘average’ day looks like, how to find the right news stories for the right audiences, and how you can make news go viral… while still remaining trusted, non-partisan and distinctive. Hosted...

What makes a bank successful? How do you attract and retain customers in the Indian banking market? And what role does technology play? S. Ramakrishnan, Head of Retail Banking & Wealth Management for HSBC in India, speaks to Andrew Stephen and Amy Cashman about creating a winning customer experience, the benefits of being a multinational business, the future growth opportunities and how they are p...

The Racing Post was set up in 1986 to provide expert insights to fans of racing. But how does it approach marketing today? What does the future look like for the publisher? And how is this digital transformation linked to the internal culture of the business? Louise Agran, CMO at the Racing Post, gives Andrew Stephen and Amy Cashman the lowdown on the business model at this heritage brand, the pro...

Can we use machine learning algorithms to better understand consumers? How they truly feel, simply by looking at their face or reading their Tweets? If not, why not? Dr Natalia Efremova of the University of Oxford talks about the current research, the potential of AI and machine learning, and the power it might have not only in marketing but in achieving social goods. She also touches on why it’s...

How can we measure creativity? It's a big question, and a big challenge - but one that WPP's Perry Nightingale is keen to answer (with a little help from Oxford University and the Future of Marketing Initiative). In the second part of Andrew and Jane's conversation with Perry, we hear about Perry's creativity school, infusing creativity into an organisation, what has changed in the last 10 years (...

Kirk McDonald, CMO of advertising and analytics company Xandr, talks to Jane Ostler in Cannes about his views on the digital landscape – how digital advertising is analogous to the food supply chain, why Xandr’s mission is to ‘make advertising matter’, and how a great user experience can go hand in hand with effectiveness for marketers and efficiency for publishers. Kirk believes we can use techno...

There is a lot of disruption in the world of ‘mobility’ – but what does that actually mean? What does it take to launch a ‘mobility’ product? How will marketing teams encourage consumers to adopt new platforms and travel methods, including autonomous vehicles? And what do these innovations mean for traditional car and transport brands, other types of businesses, and society at large? Mat Heinl, CE...