OnBD with ALF

Christian Thrane is the Managing Director of Marketing at EE and BT's Consumer Division. The merger of the two companies in 2016 has opened many opportunities. Christian, who joined just before lock-down, has been charged with setting out the new offerings for both existing and new customers. Service to the consumer is at the top of his agenda and on his watch this has improved on every level sinc...

Having read Economics at Cambridge, ex-Procter & Gamble marketer, Greg Jackson, explains the success behind Octopus, recently certified as a Which? Recommended energy provider for the 7th year in a row. Innovative technology, great marketing and superb customer service are integral to the Octopus success story. Among the many amazing revelations in the chat with Rory, Greg points out that...

Simon Peel has worked for, among others, MediaCom, Mindshare, 20th Century Fox and Adidas. Now he's Vice President of Global Marketing for the healthcare brand Haleon born out of GSK, Novartis and Pfizer. In our Top Two Challenges, Simon describes the challenges facing both Haleon and the sector as a whole as being similar; through advertising, the need to create an emotional connection between th...

Lena Jüngst explored product development at University in Germany and turned a bachelor thesis into a product - air up® - non-flavoured water that tastes flavoured. Lena explains how it works to convert Rory and reveals that around 80% of what we perceive as flavour is actually derived from what we’re smelling. With this relatively new drink product, while you drink plain water, you experience tas...

Yusuf Chuku is Executive Vice President, Strategic Planning & Commercial Impact at NBCUniversal . The guys explore how clients can best tap into the content-audience relationship and discuss partnerships, storytelling, branded content and the constant pressure to innovate and stay relevant to audiences. Fandemoniums? How does NBC Universal grow and access fandoms?   Yusuf also responds to...

Charlotte Lock has had an illustrious career embracing the BBC, Tesco, Co-op, Asda, McCann and now the John Lewis Partnership where her experience in behavioural economics and partnerships is helping to develop the group’s offering. In this episode she joins Rory to discuss data driven customer insight and brand experience, along with segmentation in a variety of areas.   Plus, Charlotte...

In this episode, Rory meets Jasper Martens, the Chief Marketing Officer at Pension Bee. Pension Bee launched in 2015 after CEO and Co-Founder, Romi Savova, who had previously worked at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, had difficulties transferring her own pension. Jasper reveals that many of their over 1 million new customers didn’t realise the tax benefits and contributions that come from having...

Rory is joined by Milka Privodanova, VP Head of EMEA of Pinterest to talk about the online platform which they describe as 'personal media' rather than social. Milka outlines how the user experience of Pinterest is a positive and natural environment for advertisers and how almost everything you see on Pinterest is available to buy. Food, beauty, fashion and home décor are all hugely popular but th...

As we head towards one million electric cars on Britain’s roads, Marketing Director Nic Thomas discusses Nissan’s drive towards a totally electric range in 2030. Nic addresses the ‘charging’ challenge faced by the whole EV industry and why he’s calling for destination charging to be legislated.  Nic also discusses some of the exciting engineering and design benefits of Nissan EVs - imagine yo...

Rory chats to Emilie Vanpoperinghe, CEO and Co-Founder of Oddbox, the subscription box company that saves imperfect and surplus fruit and vegetables from going to waste. Emilie explains how the idea for the business came about, why pricing 'wonky' vegetables can be challenging and the company's plans for the future. In the Top Two Challenges, Emilie shares her thoughts on what is the biggest chall...

Nicola Hamilton , Senior Director of Branding & Communications at GoCardless, outlines how businesses can get paid more easily and conveniently by using their service. She outlines that the challenge for GoCardless is the inertia of companies not realising how much money and time they can save by moving away from outdated, manual methods to automated, online payments. As someone...

In 2018, Finn Lagun went on Dragon's Den but failed to convince Peter Jones & Co to invest in his home delivery pasta business. Now the business has a multi-million pound turnover and is majority owned by the pasta giant Barilla. Rory quizzes Finn about moving from 'pasta through your letter box' to a business which has now expanded into retails outlets and offers fully prepared takeaway deliv...

Rory Sutherland is joined by Khartoon Weiss, Global Head of Agency & Accounts at TikTok. Since launching in 2016, TikTok has seen a meteoric rise to success, currently boasting 1.2 billion monthly users across the globe.  Rory and Khartoon discuss the unique elements of the platform that make it so appealing and examine how brands can harness the existing creativity and community to engag...

Rory meets Tim Keaveney, Co-Founder of Homethings, a challenger brand offering sustainable household cleaning products delivered direct to your door.  As a winner of Sky’s Zero Footprint Fund, Tim reveals their plans for their first TV campaign and discusses how perceptions are changing about the efficacy of ‘green’ products. Plus, in the Top Two challenges, Tim shares the biggest issues...

Lars Silberbauer has been named as one of the most innovative and influential marketers in Europe. Before joining HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, as Chief Marketing Officer in September 2022, he held positions with the International Olympic Committee, MTV, Viacom and Lego.  Rory talks to Lars about 'Circular', the new subscription service for Nokia phones which is looking to revolutioni...

With a distinguished career in textiles and fashion retail, Lynne Walker is Director of Primark Cares. Lynne talks to Rory about the phenomenal high street success of Primark and how the brand approaches marketing, the environment and sustainability. If you want to do business with the UK’s leading brands,  request an ALF Insight demo. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informati...

Marcia Kilgore is a serial entrepreneur, having successful launched companies such as Bliss Spa, Soap & Glory and FitFlop. Her most recent company is Beauty Pie, which she describes as her 'best idea yet'. In this episode Rory Sutherland chats to her about the idea behind the brand, the benefits of operating a membership model, how they reach new customers and the biggest challenges facing Bea...

Rory meets Nikki Garg, Co-Founder of the Good Pea Co, a disruptor brand producing plant-based milk made from pea protein. Nikki shares the background story to the product, discusses the challenges of being a start-up during lockdown, explains why sustainability and health is at the heart of everything they do and reveals why peas might just save the planet. On Brand is brought to you by https://ww...

Kian Golzari is one of the world's leading product development and sourcing experts. He's personally sourced over 2,500 products for the likes of Bed, Bath and Beyond, Procter & Gamble, Visa, Panasonic and even Google. Rory quizzes him on all aspects of his work including working in China. If you're thinking of developing a new product Kian is your go-to guy. You can find out more at https://w...

Nicola Matthews UKI Head of Marketing at Tony’s Chocolonely joins Rory to explain that Tony's Chocolonely is more a mission than a chocolate company. Almost everywhere in the world, chocolate lovers are provided with a wide range of flavours to enjoy. Big chocolate companies make a lot of profit. Nothing wrong with that. Without profits a company will go bankrupt. So far, so good. However, le...

Rory chats to former Nike CMO, Greg Hoffman, about his extraordinary career with one of the biggest brands in the world. They discuss why you shouldn’t ‘chase cool’ and how to make memorable marketing campaigns even when resources are limited. Greg shares insights from his recent book, ‘Emotion by Design’. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kraft Heinz is the fifth-largest food and beverage company in the world, and home to a global portfolio of household brands, including eight which are worth more than $1 billion each. Rory chats to their New Ventures Director, Caio Fontenele, about how his team can continue to honour the traditions of the Heinz brand whilst embracing and exploring new products. They also discuss where he sees the...

Yazan bin Mohammed, chief executive of the grocery home delivery service Beelivery, talks Rory through this fast growing trend and explains why some of the protagonists will prosper but not all will survive. It's all about the business model. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Trinny London has been a digital-first brand since it launched. Shira Feuer, Chief Marketing Officer talks to Rory about building Trinny Woodall’s beauty brand in a sector where the customer base usually want to be able to test or try first. Shira talks about the brand’s online try-on and product recommendation tool, Match2Me. Trinny London came into its own when the pandemic hit as they were...

Rory chats with David Sandström, the Chief Marketing Officer for the ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ giant, Klarna, who have over 90 million global users and perform two million transactions a day. They discuss the misconceptions around the business model, the challenges of marketing to an expanding and diverse customer base and Klarna’s plans to reshape the future of e-commerce. Plus discover why Rory think...