Building Brand Advocacy

In this week's episode of Building Brand Advocacy, Samantha Critchell, VP of Corporate Communications at e.l.f Beauty, explores how e.l.f built a zero-distance community by blurring the line between employee passion and consumer co-creation.  We also unpick how generosity, cultural alignment, and asking consumers what they actually want transforms advocates into brand co-creators, and why stra...

In this week's episode of Building Brand Advocacy, Lindsey Gamble, creator economy strategist at IZEA,  unpacks the latest creator economy shifts, from B2B vs B2C creator strategy to behavioural psychology, and the value of content creators in the modern industry. We also delve into which brands are winning at advocacy right now, how to turn consumers into advocates, and the impact of showing...

In this week's episode of Building Brand Advocacy, Camilla Craven, former Global Brand & Marketing Director at FaceGym and now Fractional CMO & Consultant to multiple beauty brands, unpacks why advocacy is becoming the backbone of modern marketing strategy, from the operational realities of building community to the rise of employee-generated content and AI's growing role. We also...

In this week's episode of Building Brand Advocacy, Verity sits down with Georgie Fox, Head of Brand at LOOKFANTASTIC, to dissect what it actually takes to rebuild a brand's foundation from the inside out, and how community became their sharpest growth lever. This episode covers the brand-partnership relationship, why consumer connection has to run deeper than product, and how brands can fill the g...

In this week's episode of Building Brand Advocacy, Beth & Michael, founders of Slice social media agency, break down their 5-Step Social Strategy: Discovery, Storytelling, Challenge, Problem-Tension-Goal, and Solution. Plus, why the "Fast & Slow" approach to social is the framework that separates brands that win from brands that just post. This is an episode designed to give you direction...

In this weeks episode of Building Brand Advocacy, we invite the CMO of Cannes Lions to join us ahead of the festival to unpack what's actually shifting in advocacy, creator marketing, and how the Lions are judged in 2026. plus hard strategies for measuring community, elevating marketing in the boardroom, and driving real ROI. In this episode, we cover: What to expect from Cannes Lions in 2026 ...

In this live episode of Building Brand Advocacy, Verity sits down with Manuel Albuquerque, founder & CEO of Prime Tag, to unpack the AI revolution reshaping the creator economy from the inside out.  From the real pressures facing time-poor marketing teams to the problems AI is actually solving (and the myths it's not), Manuel brings the entrepreneur's perspective that brand builders need right...

We’re back with another mastermind episode. This week, Grace Andrews takes us through her 5 step framework for building a high performance content engine, from identifying content signals (before selecting platforms) to measuring success metrics that are relevant to you and your brand. In this episode, we cover: 07:05 Step 1: Identifying Content Signals  11:47 Step 2: Approach To Content Formats 2...

In this episode of Building Brand Advocacy, I sit down with Alice Ratcliffe, Head of Brand at TRIP — the wellness drinks brand rewriting the rules of brand positioning in one of the most crowded categories on the market. Alice pulls back the curtain on how TRIP went from scrappy challenger to a brand that commands culture, loyalty, and shelf space — and what it's really taken to scale that story i...

In this mastermind episode of Building Brand Advocacy, we break down the Advocacy Maturity Model, a strategic framework for diagnosing exactly where your brand sits on the advocacy spectrum and the precise steps to move from passive mentions to a fully activated community-led growth engine. Think of it as your strategic advocacy playbook, the kind of session your brand team needs to align on advoc...

In this episode of Building Brand Advocacy, Verity sits down with Grace Andrews to unpack the real shifts happening in social right now  and what forward-thinking brands are doing to stay ahead in 2026 and beyond. Grace brings a sharp, strategic lens to one of the most underutilised growth levers in marketing today: employee advocacy. We go deep on why building brand growth from the inside out isn...

In this episode of Building Brand Advocacy, we're unpacking the seismic shift happening in marketing right now: is branded entertainment replacing paid ads? We dig into why the smartest brands are investing in long-form content, storytelling, and entertainment-led campaigns, and how this changes everything from team structure to ROI measurement. What we cover: Should brands have Global or local so...

Are communities replacing influencers? In this episode of Building Brand Advocacy, Paul sits down with Nicola Gunby, co-founder of CLIQ,  to talk about why the brands winning right now aren't chasing reach, they're building belonging. We go deep on the concept of the 'third space' and why it might be the most underutilised tool in your brand's growth strategy right now. In this episode we cover: T...

Is influencer marketing dead? Jordan Schwarzenberger, the man behind the Sidemen's evolution from creators to a multi-million pound enterprise, thinks brands have got content eco-systems wrong. In this episode of Building Brand Advocacy, we break down why the smartest brands are ditching traditional influencer marketing and becoming organic content engines instead. Jordan reveals the exact con...

AI for brands is already here. It’s making a shift and as marketing teams, we should be reactive. But the reality is that most brands are still figuring out where to start. In this episode of Building Brand Advocacy, we break down the real state of AI for brands right now. What's working, what's just noise and how to make AI work for YOU without losing the human touch that drives real bran...

In this mastermind episode, Sophie Miller (founder of Pretty Little Marketer) breaks down the exact tactical steps she’d take to build a high-engagement community from scratch in 2026. If you’re a brand, marketer or founder trying to turn followers into a real community engine, this episode is a step-by-step guide to catapult your community strategy. In this episode, you’ll learn: 00:00 Introducti...

Are you building a real community around your brand or just spending budget on meaningless partnerships and vanity metrics?  In this episode of Building Brand Advocacy, Verity sits down with marketing consultant Lauren Spearman who has worked with Global brands including Benefit Cosmetics, MADE.com, Trinny London to unpack what genuine advocacy looks like today vs. a decade ago and why most influe...

Glow For It didn’t just “do well” on TikTok Live, they drove 6-figures in revenue in a single live shopping stream. In this 5-minute masterclass, founder Daisy Kelly breaks down exactly how it happened and what every modern brand can steal from their TikTok strategy.  In this episode, we unpack: How Daisy turned community obsession into real-time purchase intent  The TikTok LIVE moment that tipped...

Influencer trips are dead and they’re killing your organic brand advocacy. This episode is your permission slip to stop burning budget on one-off influencer posts and replace them with an advocacy engine that compounds over time and generates serious EMV. In this advocacy masterclass, we break down a clear 3-step system to build organic brand advocates: the customers, creators, and community membe...

Most brands think they have a community, but they’re actively building an audience, not community engagement. In this week's episode, we dive into community building strategy with Sophie Miller, Founder of Pretty Little Marketer. Sophie reveals why relying on followers alone is a dangerous game for modern brands. “If you don't build your community, someone else will define it for you”. We...

In this episode of Building Brand Advocacy, we sit down with Emily Heath, Global Brand Director of Rexona | Sure, to unpack how one of the world’s biggest, everyday deodorant brands is building true brand awareness and community through sports partnerships. Emily shares her extensive experience working with Unilever over 17 years and provides insights into managing a global brand. Discover how spo...

In this episode, we break down how SoulCycle built a community-powered content engine that keeps fans sharing, and showing up. Our guest this week is McKinley Hart, Director of Social Media at SoulCycle who shares more around the brand’s social and community storytelling, how they turn riders, instructors, and studio culture into a constant flow of authentic content and brand advocacy. We dig into...

Most brands are still using a 20th‑century playbook for a social‑first world and it’s damaging their marketing. In this episode, we’re joined by Sean Cook, ex Global Senior Social Media Manager at Deliveroo, to unpack why the current “brand architecture” model is completely outdated for how social actually works today. Sean shares what he learned leading an in‑house social team at scale, where the...

Daisy Kelly made 6 figures in just 12 hours on TikTok shop without spending a penny on ads. In this episode, Daisy Kelly, the founder of Glow For It reveals why the era of traditional influencer marketing is dead and how to build a cult following that buys every product you launch. If you're trying to build a brand on TikTok in 2026, the old playbook doesn't work. We sit down with Daisy to discuss...

Is Influencer Marketing officially dead in 2026? The era of paying for posts and chasing reach is breaking down. Influence hasn’t disappeared, but it has shifted, out of platforms and into people. In this episode, we unpack why the traditional digital marketing playbook is no longer fit for purpose, and how leading brands are reorganising around Brand Advocacy activating customers, creators, and c...