The 30 Minute CMO

How should marketers approach vendor selection? This is an often overlooked part of the job but one that can be the difference between successful outcomes and potentially huge overheads. Ad tech and martech are two of the biggest expense line items for marketers at both brands and agencies, so the need to rationalize the choice of which partner to go with and justify it to management is crucial. O...

What's going on with the job market in advertising, marketing and tech? Seemingly everyone has either been affected or knows people who have been laid off in the past couple of years. With so many people out in the market, it feels like landing a great gig is nearly impossible. But is this true? How should we be thinking about our CVs, our skills and our networks? When does it make sense to use Li...

Marketers often worry that performance marketing and its focus on short-term sales is overshadowing their brand-focused investments. At the core of this dilemma is confusion about how to properly set up brand the right brand measurement framework to evaluate the impact of activity in market. On today's episode, Gosha and Alex parse through an HBR story that focuses on this issue and provide our co...

Loyalty is an oft-neglected superhero of marketing, capable of driving consumers to make irrational economic decisions for the sake of freebies and perks. On this show, we dissect our obsession with loyalty and talk about what differentiates successful programs from those that we tend to forget. Hosted by Gosha Khuchua and Alex McNamara. Visit us at www.30minuteCMO.com and follow us on IG @30Minut...

The last decade has seen growth marketing ascend to the top of many brands' marketing agenda. For many startups, growth marketing is the only kind of marketing they believe and invest in. And yet, this approach is incredibly short-sighted and ignores fundamental marketing truths. On this episode, we discuss this fallacy and why brand or awareness marketing needs to reclaim the top spot. Hosted by...

Out of Home is undergoing a kind of a renaissance but is still seen as a small component of brands' marketing plans. What is the secret power of modern day OOH? How should marketers think about the medium? And is this the last channel that can truly reach most consumers with great advertising without being skipped or ignored? We invited Craig Barber, SVP of Out of Home for Dentsu to discuss this t...

How are marketers harnessing the power of AI to move the boundaries of what's possible? What do we have to look forward to and is there anything to fear? And who is going to emerge as the champion of this new, brave era of marketing? We invited the CEO of Rembrand, Omar Tawakol, to share his thoughts on these topics and to give us a sneak peak into the work that his company, Rembrand, is doing to...

It's hard to underestimate the impact of the hit show Drive to Survive on the fortunes of Formula 1. It has been brought in millions of new fans, opened up the US to the sport and created new superstars out of drivers, team principals and owners alike. On this episode, Gosha Khuchua and Alex McNamara invite an old friend of the show, Colin Landforce (see Episode 20) to share their views and experi...

Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has collapsed and gone into administration. Hundreds of startups find themselves thrown into a full blown crisis, with access to their own working capital in jeopardy. During this time, it's crucial for these brands to keep their customers front and center while they navigate this situation. Alex McNamara and Gosha Khuchua offer a few tips for how to communicate with cust...

There are few markets that are as irrational and as driven by perception, branding, ego and ambition as the world of luxury watches. What makes people go crazy for certain Rolexes and Omegas? How do brands manage to differentiate themselves in a time when their products can often feel like relics of a bygone era? And what fuels the insane secondary market where some time pieces can fetch hundreds...

A decade ago, Mada Seghete and her MBA classmates came up with an idea for an MBA project. Fast forward to today, and this idea morphed into a business that is valued by investors at $4B. As one of the cofounders of Branch, the wildly successful mobile marketing and measurement platforms, Mada had a front row seat to the rapid rise of mobile marketing and with it the need to define and shape her c...

In the last two weeks, over 300 global brands announced some form of boycotting Russia over its war with Ukraine. How are these decisions made? What do they mean to brands, consumers and politicians? Are they effective and what message do they aim to send? To help us answer these and other questions, we invited Ray Wert who for years has advised companies, publishers and political campaigns on the...

After a public fall out between a brand and an agency on Twitter we talk to Linsey Loy, an agency growth leader, to unpack the agency client relationship. Through the lens of building new relationships Linsey talks us through how to get the most from the agency in the pitch process, the agency hesitation in sharing work, and saying no so you can say yes. This is a great episode this week for anyon...

Does the Atlantic divide really change creative advertising that much? Is research reviving or killing ads? How can you be the best agency partner? This week we continue our international series with Mark Rees-Weeden, Managing Partner of Grey London. With decades of leading some of the largest European, and global brands, Mark helps us unpack these questions (and shares his thoughts on some of the...

What makes Scandinavian marketing unique? Why is Sweden so unique among Nordic countries in building global brands? Is globalization having a positive or negative effect on how marketing is being thought about by Scandinavian brands? And what makes the global marketing machine at one of the world's top fashion brands work? We posed these these and other questions to Jan Montwill, H&M's Global Digi...

Peloton is in a heap of trouble. We debate where the company can find new avenues for growth. And we talk about how failed brand promises can impact consumer loyalty using a very real example from Best Buy. Hosted by Gosha Khuchua and Alex McNamara Visit us on www.30MinuteCMO.com and follow us on IG @30MinuteCMO

Happy new year! On our 50th show, we talk about ads we have thoughts about, including a few gems from Ryanair. We also look at the mostly empty CES this year and what this means for the events brand moving forward. And we share our thoughts on how some upstart agencies are trying to position themselves in the highly competitive market and what the reality looks like for them, when it comes to pitc...

On this week's show, we pick apart a few great ads from Sweden, Iceland and Norway and we also focus our attention on changes at Instagram as well as on brands trying to displace incumbents in the sharing economy space. Hosted by Gosha Khuchua and Alex McNamara Visit us at www.30MinuteCMO.com and follow us on IG @30MinuteCMO

On this week's show, we wag our finger at the latest batch of Christmas ads from Amazon, Coca Cola and John Lewis. We also talk about the surprising effectiveness of timeshare marketing, the Aaron Rodgers scandal, Facebook's transformation into Meta and the passing of the advertising legend David Kennedy (of Weiden + Kennedy). Hosted by Gosha Khuchua and Alex McNamara. Visit us at www.30minuteCMO....

On today's episode we feature two ads that we have thoughts about (we see you, BA and Fiji Airways). We also go a bit deep on soccer with our concern around Arsenal's choice to do a partnership with the new Batman movie release as well as the escalating feud between the game maker EA and FIFA. Hosted by Gosha Khuchua and Alex McNamara. Visit us at www.30minuteCMO.com or follow us on Instagram @30M...

On today's show, we are going to the movies! The fall of blockbusters is finally here and we are especially excited to talk about Bond. James Bond (and the brand integrations in this long-running movie franchise). So pull up the bar stool, order a martini (shaken, not stirred) and join us for this episode of The 30 Minute CMO. Hosted by Gosha Khuchua and Alex McNamara Visit us on www.30minuteCMO.c...

On this week's show, we talk about Ads We Have Thoughts About, including a couple of true gems from Balenciaga (again!) and the furniture rental startup Fernish. We dive into the Facebook outage and the whistleblower scandal that's threatening to upend the company's business. And we finish with another rant about poorly written emails from brands - this time from YouTube TV. Hosted by Gosha Khuchu...

On this week's episode, we take a look at some great ads we loved from Bigelow Tea and a funeral parlor (yes, really!). We also discuss the Balenciaga x Fortnight collaboration in Picadilly Circus and Times Square. Other topics include the incredibly weird letter from the Peloton CEO and a discussion around the usefulness of Clear's app in creating additional value with the customer. Hosted by Gos...

Today is the 1 year anniversary of Ad Talk and we are celebrating with our favorite topics! First up - bad bad bad (!!) meme marketing on Reddit and Instagram. Just stop! Next up - Marketing vs. Branding and why it's important to know the difference if you're a marketer. Rounding up this week's show is the humble QR code. Once given up for dead, it's enjoying a second (or third?) life and we could...

Today's show is all about the agency pitch process. Having served time on both sides of the agency-brand equation, Alex and Gosha dissect the process step-by-step, discuss what's not working and offer their advice on how to do it right. If you're a brand that's in market for an agency, or an agency that's pitching for new business, this episode's for you! Hosted by Gosha Khuchua and Alex McNamara....