Inside Insights

The biggest brands have the most data and act on it slowest. Patrick O'Toole, CMO of Unleashed Brands, has led billion-dollar brands at PepsiCo and Burger King. Now, he's rebuilding an entire marketing function from scratch with AI at the center, giving him a rare view from both worlds. Pat breaks down the 70-20-10 model for balancing proven tactics with true experimentation, shows how feeding NPS...

Most legacy brands fail when they're too scared to be brave. Boris Dolkhani, CMO at Robert Bosch GmbH, transformed a 139-year-old engineering company into a modern storytelling powerhouse with campaigns like "Like a Bosch" and their first-ever Super Bowl appearance. He reveals the "gut feeling" framework that guides creative decisions beyond data, the cultural conversation strategy that generated...

Marketing and insights teams speak different languages when building cultural relevance. Radhika Duggal, CMO of Major League Soccer, and Bettina Garibaldi, Chief Marketing Officer for FIFA World Cup 26™ New York New Jersey, reveal how soccer earned its place in American culture through three decades of patient community building. They share the "attention and spectacle" framework that transformed...

Marketing and insights teams waste millions speaking different languages. Nataly Kelly and Steven Phillips, Zappi's CMO and Chief Innovation Officer, reveal the five breakthrough patterns that emerged from interviewing leaders at NFL, PepsiCo, Unilever, and Visa. They share Unilever's "100-hour consumer passport" rule, the CMO-CFO partnership framework that drives real business growth, and why AI'...

Most brands treat AI like a data processor, but Christian Niederauer uses it to ask deeper human questions. As Vice President of Global Insights at Colgate-Palmolive, Christian leads consumer research across 200+ countries and transforms how AI reveals what people actually need, not just what they buy. He shares his "people-centric AI" framework that moves beyond traditional consumer segmentation...

Most brands lose relevance one price-led campaign at a time. Carolyn Pollock, former CMO of Tailored Brands and advisor to CEOs, transformed iconic menswear brands by reconnecting with consumer truth rather than chasing discounts. She reveals her "Love the way you look" strategy that rebuilt emotional brand equity, her framework for turning finance leaders into marketing allies through shared assu...

Frozen food faces a massive perception problem that's costing brands billions. Alex Hardy, Consumer Insight & Analytics Director at Nomad Foods, bridges this gap by transforming misconceptions into market opportunities across 25 European markets. He reveals how demand space frameworks uncover universal meal occasions that transcend cultural boundaries, why AI experimentation requires a "proble...

Most meal kit companies struggle with turning trial customers into loyal subscribers. Patrick Roney, Customer Insights & Analytics Lead at HelloFresh, bridges marketing strategy with behavioral data to solve this exact challenge, having previously applied similar approaches at McDonald's and Burger King. He reveals HelloFresh's "bigger, healthier, tastier" framework that doubled recipe variety...

Marketing teams measure campaigns but miss the bigger picture of systematic effectiveness. Sorin Patilinet, Global Marketing Effectiveness Executive at PepsiCo, bridges engineering precision with marketing creativity to build scalable measurement systems that actually drive business growth. He reveals the Kaizen principle for iterative testing that changes one variable at a time, explains why ad w...

Most insights teams still operate like order-takers, not strategic partners. Sinead Jefferies, SVP of Professional Services at Zappi and former Chair of the Market Research Society, bridges C-suite strategy with operational research excellence, transforming how organizations embed consumer truth into decision-making. You'll discover her "know your audience" framework for speaking the language of b...

Most global brands fail at cultural relevance despite massive research investments. Katherine Melchior Ray, former CMO at Shiseido and marketing leader across Nike, Louis Vuitton, and Hyatt, bridges strategic vision with cultural intelligence gained from 12 years working abroad. She reveals the "freedom within a framework" approach that lets KitKat succeed in 14 countries, the cultural intelligenc...

Most brands treat Super Bowl advertising like a single moment instead of a strategic system. Mark Kirkham, CMO of PepsiCo Beverages US, and Greg Guidotti, CMO of Ferrara Candy Company, reveal how winning Super Bowl campaigns actually work. The process starts months before kickoff with clear business objectives, not just creative buzz. They share the "make simple special" framework that drives real...

Marketing teams struggle with AI-powered shopping while insights teams chase transaction patterns. Michael Nevski, Director of Global Insights at Visa, bridges both worlds by transforming payment data into consumer behavior intelligence that drives creative strategy and product innovation. He reveals the "specific task framework" that doubles consumer willingness to share data with AI agents, the...

Marketing teams waste millions chasing what consumers say they'll do. Richard Shotton, Founder of Astroten and author of Hacking the Human Mind, reveals how behavioral science bridges the gap between consumer intentions and actual purchasing behavior.  He shows how brands like Apple, Guinness, and Monzo use psychological principles to influence decisions without consumers even realizing it.&n...

Most brands chase trends after they peak, missing the real opportunity. Avery Akkineni, CMO at VaynerX, bridges strategic vision with tactical execution through her unique experience launching VaynerMedia APAC and advising Meta, TikTok, and Salesforce on emerging platforms. She reveals her "day trading attention" framework for spotting underpriced channels before competitors, the owned-earned-paid...

Most global brands dilute their message when scaling across markets. Ridhima Thukral, Global Brand Director at Unilever, proves the opposite. Iconic brands become lighthouses that deepen their core philosophy while expressing it locally across countries. She reveals how Dirt Is Good maintains one human truth about play and discovery, while manifesting as football in Brazil and Holi festivals in In...

Most brands treat consumer feedback like a necessary evil. Chris Bellinger, Chief Creative Officer at PepsiCo Foods US, reveals how top creative teams turn feedback into their secret weapon. Chris bridges the gap between bold creative vision and consumer truth, transforming how iconic brands like Lay's and Doritos connect with audiences. In this episode hosted by Nataly Kelly, CMO at Zappi, Chris...

Sports brands struggle to maintain relevance beyond game day. Marissa Solis, SVP of Global Brand and Consumer Marketing at the NFL, transforms seasonal entertainment into year-round cultural engagement through strategic storytelling and community impact. In this conversation with host Nataly Kelly from Zappi, Marissa reveals: the "script insight" framework that turned social criticism into beloved...

Zappi's Nataly Kelly and Steve Phillips introduce a new season of Inside Insights by breaking down the 2025 Connected Insights Imperative. They unpack why teams with connected insights report 24-point higher satisfaction , how data fragmentation (41%) blocks impact, and why only 23% of companies having a dedicated insights org is a wake-up call. You'll hear ways to “stream” consumer insight into d...

Leonard Murphy, Chief Advisor for Insights and Development at Greenbook, delves into emerging trends in market research, how innovative methodologies and technologies (particularly AI) can drive better business decisions and shares strategies for improving data quality and engagement. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-...

Deirdre van Zyl, Head of Innovation Planning for Africa at Diageo, discusses her passion for innovation in the complex markets of Africa, the transformative power of AI in the insights industry and the strategies for leading and motivating teams in a rapidly changing environment. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-...

Steve Phillips, founder and Chief Innovation Officer at Zappi, joins us for his seasonal AI episode to share Zappi’s latest innovations in AI and the progressive work he’s been doing, how to actually get big, rich data and ultimately, how AI Agents will help brands create brilliant products that win with consumers.  Learn more about our AI Concept Creation Agents: https://www.zappi.io/web/marketin...

Brett Townsend, co-author of Insights on the Brink and SVP at Quester, compares and contrasts his own book with The Connected Insights Revolution and discusses how, together, both offer a blueprint for insights professionals to transition from a project management role to a strategic advisor role and how to focus more on the fun parts of insights such as storytelling and customer empathy. Check ou...

Richard Shotton, behavioral scientist, author of The Choice Factory & founder of Astroten, discusses the power social proof and biases hold, where to apply behavioral science to better understand consumers and drive change and how to best maximize productivity with AI. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info...

Jacci Weber, Team Lead, Pet Parent Insights at Mars Petcare & Co-Founder of the Insights Career Network, discusses the exciting parts of tech and its role in market research, her experience leading AI initiatives, the impact an insights professional should have and her passion for spreading pet parent centricity.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at...