Marketing Masters - The Art and Science of Modern Marketing with Host Zania Guy

Hosted by Zania Guy

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May 2026

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Welcome to 'Marketing Masters – The Art and Science of Modern Marketing,' the definitive podcast for exploring the cutting-edge of marketing, advertising, and content creation. Dive into conversations with the industry's luminaries, uncovering the alchemy of their success – a blend of art, science, and sheer genius. Together, we'll unlock the secrets to mastering the marketing universe. Let's embark on this journey of discovery and transformation.

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June 16, 2026Episode 201 hr 19 min

Marketing Has Lost Its Seat at the Table | Michael Durie

Marketing has lost its seat at the table, and Michael Durie says it's our own fault. After over four decades in marketing, he unpacks what founders, CMOs and small businesses keep getting wrong about brand, budgets and AI.Some call Michael the godfather of marketing in the South Island. We get into why social media is killing cut-through, why direct mail is making a comeback in 2026, how much a small business should actually spend on marketing, the leaky bucket of customer attrition, and the campaign that took Mazda from 3% to 5% market share.Full of things you can act on by Monday morning. Follow Marketing Masters so you never miss an episode.Chapters00:00 Direct marketing's comeback, Jaguar, and the top table01:24 Meet Michael Durie, the godfather of marketing03:56 The biggest misconception founders have about marketing07:42 "Build it and they'll come" and the fail-fast trap10:16 NZ success stories: Halter, Seequent, Hamilton Jet13:20 Unpopular opinion: the marketing plan vs marketing planning15:06 When to ignore your customers (the Steve Jobs rule)18:02 The Jaguar rebrand: brave or brand suicide?20:42 Why piling into social media kills your cut-through24:03 The channel mix: out-of-home, print, radio and podcasts27:12 Why direct mail and guerrilla marketing are back30:28 Three questions to ask when a product won't sell33:08 The leaky bucket: customer attrition explained37:46 Why a phone call beats an NPS survey41:46 The campaign that took Mazda from 3% to 5% market share46:27 How much should a small business spend on marketing?52:21 Breaking into marketing in the age of AI57:36 How a David Ogilvy book changed his career1:00:48 Is marketing treated as the "colouring-in department"?1:03:50 Stop chasing vanity metrics, obsess over the bottom line1:06:58 Five decades in, why curiosity still wins1:09:09 The "secret sauce": Stickman, Specsavers, Whittaker's1:13:30 Big ideas on small budgets (Australia Post x Sydney Swans)1:16:22 The one thing to do on Monday morning

May 18, 2026Episode 1953 min

Iyia Liu Built $3.5M in a Year. Now She's Doing It Again With Claude, Meta + FMCG | Marketing Masters

$3.5 million in her first 12 months of business at 21. Multiple brands built and sold across shapewear, supplements, haircare, gifting, fashion and now FMCG. Three seasons of Boss Babes. Four thousand founders coached through Make It Happen.Iyia Liu has done it.And she's still building.Her newest brand, Brewe Iced Coffee and Matcha, is rolling into Woolworths supermarkets in June, five months after launch. Buyers told her that doesn't happen. It's happening.What makes this conversation different is the timing. Iyia is launching a brand right now, in 2026, with every lesson from a decade of brand-building plus a stack of tools that didn't exist when she launched her first business. Claude in the workflow. Meta's new algorithm rewriting paid social. The mass micro-influencer affiliate model. FMCG as a whole new game. And it's working.So we asked her to walk through the entire playbook. Not the highlight reel. The actual mechanics.What you'll hear in this episode:The principle behind every brand she's built ("people will literally just buy what other people buy")Why she'd run zero paid ads on day one of a new business in 2026How she's using Claude to set up Meta ad campaigns end to end without touching a buttonThe six-angle creative framework she uses to generate 85 ads for one campaignThe mass micro-influencer affiliate model behind one Shopify brand doing $500 million in three yearsThe outreach volume game most founders are losing (message 100, not 5)Why $1 on email returns $36, and the founders still ignoring itHow community got Brewe into Woolworths five months after launchThe exact pricing formula she uses across every brandWhy this is the slowest business she's ever grown, and what she's learning from itIf you're building a brand, scaling a brand, or thinking about starting one, this is the most practical hour of marketing you'll listen to this year.🎧 Chapters00:00 The one principle behind every brand Iyia has built03:30 Why she'd run zero paid ads on day one of a new brand05:00 Mass micro-influencers and why founders are messaging too few people07:00 Macros, micros, nanos: when each one actually earns its fee08:30 Using Claude to build a full Meta ad campaign without touching a button10:00 Meta's algorithm change and what it means for creative11:00 The 50 to 100 creatives rule (Iyia is running 85)12:00 The six-angle framework with the playground client example14:30 The tools and tabs Iyia opens every morning17:00 How she decides what to test and what to bin18:00 The Comfrt case study: $500M in three years on mass micro-affiliates20:00 Two posts a day, every day, and who actually runs it21:00 How community got Brewe into Woolworths in five months23:00 Why FMCG broke every e-commerce assumption Iyia had28:00 The collab strategy: influencer marketing without the influencers30:00 The DM outreach volume game (message 50 to 100, not 5)32:00 The highest-paid influencer she's ever worked with33:00 Affiliate marketing in New Zealand and what to call it instead35:00 Sampling, manufacturing and vetting suppliers36:30 The retention mistake Iyia made across multiple brands37:30 Why $1 on email returns $3639:00 The three-channel mix Iyia gives every client in 202641:00 Pricing: buy at $20, mark up to $80, bundle the rest44:00 The why: from a dingy flat to a green oasis and two kids46:00 The juggle, hiring family, and what comes nextHosted by Zania GuyMarketing Masters is the podcast about the marketers building the brands we actually buy from.zaniaguy.com

April 14, 202655 min

Flipping the Script: Brave, Human-First Marketing with Frith Wilson-Hughes

What does it take to push a 65-year-old brand in a bold new direction and actually get it over the line?Frith Wilson-Hughes is the Content Marketing Manager at Southern Cross Health Society and part of the team behind the Feel Good Project, a campaign that ditched the tired health insurance playbook and put real members centre stage in a way that's joyful, unexpected, and moving.Search "Southern Cross Feel Good Project" on YouTube to watch the ad - it's worth it.Before Southern Cross, Frith spent eight years at Spark NZ in social, content and brand where she learned that the best creative work comes from being honest with your agency partners, not polished presentations and safe briefs.In this episode we get into what brave brand work actually looks like from the inside, how to build trust at every touchpoint, and why the 60/40 brand vs performance rule matters more when your customer's buy journey takes months, not minutes.We also cover the creator economy in New Zealand, why social has shifted from a two-way channel to a passive one, how Frith is using AI to keep her brand's tone of voice consistent, and the one piece of advice she'd give any marketer who wants to build a brand that actually lasts.If you work in marketing, content, or brand strategy, this one's for you.Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a rating or comment and hit follow so you never miss a new episode. New conversations drop regularly.Marketing Masters is the podcast that explores the art and science of modern marketing, unpacking lessons from the people shaping the industry.

January 12, 2026Episode 1756 min

AI in Marketing 2026: Adapt or Fall Behind. Marketing Masters - The Art and Science of Modern Marketing

Who wins, who loses, and how to stay relevant as AI reshapes marketing, creativity and business.This episode is not about whether AI matters. It’s about what happens if you don’t adapt now.In this episode of Marketing Masters – The Art and Science of Modern Marketing, Zania brings together three leading minds who are already operating at the cutting edge of AI, while much of the industry is still trying to catch up.This is a practical, honest conversation about AI in marketing, AI in business, and the future of work, looking ahead to what 2026 really means for careers, teams, creativity, and growth.Meet the guests shaping what comes next:Dr Shahper Richter, Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland Business School, researches how emerging technologies reshape human behaviour, workplaces, and the future of marketing itself. She is helping prepare the next generation of marketers for success in a workforce that no longer follows traditional career paths.Adnan Khan, Co-Founder of Stitch and Stitch Predict, is transforming how brands in New Zealand and globally understand what actually drives growth. His work focuses on AI-powered marketing intelligence, agentic workflows, and measuring performance in a privacy-first world, collapsing weeks of insight into days.Heath Waugh, Founder of Matter Studio, has made one of the boldest business pivots in the creative industry. He has stepped away from traditional photography to build one of the world’s first creative studios merging high-end visual craft with advanced AI image creation.This is not theory. These are real decisions, real pivots, and real consequences.In this episode, you’ll learn:- What AI in Marketing 2026 actually means for marketers, creatives and business leaders- Why AI will not replace marketers, but AI-fluent marketers will replace those who do not adapt- The difference between generative AI and agentic AI, explained clearly and practically- How AI is changing marketing performance, creativity, and decision-making- Why “AI-powered” is about to become meaningless as a differentiator- How to avoid low-quality AI output and protect human judgement, taste and trust- What to start doing now to stay relevant as the gap between winners and laggards widensIf you are a marketer, founder, creative, or business leader feeling the ground shift beneath your role, this conversation will give you clarity, context, and a practical way forward.

September 30, 2025Episode 1621 min

Marketing Master and Content Creator - Ryan Stokes

Ryan Stokes has a gift for turning the ordinary into the unforgettable. You might remember him as the face of Skinny, or for the wild Trade Me stunt where he sold a “Covid-free bag of air” that became one of the ten most-viewed auctions of all time. Or maybe you watched him on The Kelly Clarkson Show, after teaching his family to play music together during lockdown.Now Ryan’s behind the scenes as Social Content Creator and Community Manager for ASB, helping the bank tell stories that connect to customers in fresh, authentic and unexpected ways. Organic views are soaring, the requests to be featured on their social channels are on the rise and the content is proving a bank really can be fun to follow.At the Marketing Association's OnSocial conference, I sat down with Ryan to talk about the shift from being in front of the camera to building the stories behind it, why he still loves creating, and how he keeps content entertaining, relatable, and share-worthy.Ryan has earned a reputation as one of the most creative content makers in the country. If he can make finance engaging, just imagine what ideas you’ll walk away with after listening to this episode of Marketing Masters.

August 5, 202559 min

Marketing and SEO Master - Richard Conway - Pure SEO. Winning in Search and AI

Welcome to Marketing Masters - The Art and Science of Modern Marketing. In this episode we cover a very hot topic! The way people search is evolving. Google still dominates in volume - billions of daily searches - but it’s no longer the only game in town. AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude are quickly becoming alternative starting points for search.This shift isn’t about replacing Google, it’s about expanding how and where people discover brands and your business/brand being everywhere where potential customers are. From TikTok and Instagram to Amazon and AI chatbots, we’re entering the era of 'Everywhere Optimisation'. So, how do businesses ensure they’re visible across all these channels? To help us unpack it all, today’s guest is Richard Conway - founder and Managing Director of Pure SEO, one of New Zealand’s top digital agencies and a 2024 Google Premier Partner. For over 15 years, Richard has helped Kiwi businesses master online visibility. He’s also a columnist, speaker, investor, and mentor.

July 7, 2025Episode 141 hr 9 min

Marketing Master: Andrew Hughes on SEM - Winning with Google Ads and SaaS Growth

What happens when a former journalist discovers the power of Google Ads? For Andrew Hughes, it sparked a 15-year career in digital marketing that took him from small-scale campaigns to leading global SEM at Xero. Along the way, he even won one of Google’s most prestigious global awards.In this episode of Marketing Masters, Zania unpacks the thinking, strategy, and financial modelling behind Andrew’s high-performance marketing approach. From budget planning to full-funnel frameworks, and from AI automation to boardroom credibility, this episode is a practical guide to mastering SEM at scale.What you'll learn:How a $10-a-day campaign kickstarted Andrew’s curiosity in paid mediaWhy smart marketers “earn the right to spend” by starting with unit economicsHow Xero structures SEM inside a global SaaS businessFull-funnel marketing strategies that link brand, performance, and acquisitionHow automation, AI, and Performance Max are reshaping paid searchHow to build trust with finance and executive teams using clear outcomes and a sharp strategyIf you’re working in paid search, performance marketing, or responsible for digital growth, this conversation is essential listening.#MarketingMasters #DigitalMarketing #SEM #PerformanceMarketing #AndrewHughes #XeroMarketing #GoogleAds #FullFunnelMarketing #Marketing #MarketingLeadership

July 2, 2025Episode 1317 min

Kelsi Boocock aka Healthy Kelsi + Founder of Shnack - NZ's first plant-based, canned protein shake.

In this episode of Marketing Masters - The Art and Science of Modern Marketing, we sit down with Kelsi Boocock, aka Healthy Kelsi, to talk content, community, and NZ's first-ever plant-based canned protein shake!What started as a lockdown side hustle sharing recipes on social has grown into a powerhouse wellness brand. Today, Kelsi has a following of over 500,000, her own supplement line (Second Nature Supplements), and Schnack – New Zealand’s first plant-based protein drink in a can.We unpack:The content habits that built her brandHow audience feedback led to new productsBalancing creativity with business logisticsThe magic of showing up authentically (and how her dad became a brand character)If you’ve ever wondered how creators become founders, this episode is packed with insights and inspiration.🎧 Listen now and follow Marketing Masters for more conversations with the minds shaping modern marketing.#MarketingMasters #HealthyKelsi #Schnack #SecondNature #ContentToCommerce #NZBusiness #KiwiFounders #SocialMediaMarketing

June 17, 202515 min

Rob Thomas - Marketing Master and Global Head of Digital at Zuru

16 Brands. 81 Countries. No TV Ads. How ZURU Does Marketing Differently - with Rob ThomasHow do you launch 16 brands in 81 countries in just 12 months - all without a single TV ad in the US?In this special episode of Marketing Masters, recorded live at the #OnSocial25 event by the Marketing Association NZ, Zania Guy chats with Rob Thomas, Global Head of Digital at ZURU. He lifts the lid on what it takes to build billion-dollar brands from scratch - fast.From testing in New Zealand to scaling globally, Rob shares ZURU’s digital-first, content-led approach to brand building. He unpacks how they use creators, test-and-learn tactics, and smart strategy to win in market after market - and why staying scrappy is still in their DNA.You’ll learn:Why over 90% of ZURU’s marketing is digitalHow they test in NZ before going globalThe story behind "Granny XSHOT content” that went viral with 200M+ viewsWhat marketers can learn about speed, agility and thinking bigThis one’s a must-listen for anyone working in brand, digital, strategy or content.🎧 Follow the show and leave a review if you enjoyed it.More episodes at: zaniaguy.com/podcast-marketing-masters#MarketingMasters #ZURU #RobThomas #DigitalMarketing #BrandBuilding #GoToMarket #OnSocial25

April 7, 2025Episode 1146 min

Marketing Master - PAK'nSAVE Marketing Master and Manager of the famous Stickman - Lauren Ness

What do you get when you mix a budget-friendly supermarket with one of the most beloved and bonkers brand icons in the country? You get marketing magic that wins creative awards globally!In this episode of Marketing Masters - The Art and Science of Modern Marketing, we go deep into the yellow and black with the woman behind it all, Lauren Ness, Senior Marketing Manager at PAK’nSAVE.From Stickman’s globally award-winning antics to DJ sets at Rhythm & Vines, Lauren shares the wild ride of building one of New Zealand's boldest and most distinctive retail brands. We talk about what it really takes to be brave in marketing, not just in the creative, but in the DNA of the team that brings it to life.In this must-listen episode, we cover:• The evolution of Stickman, including how he became one of NZ’s top influencers• How to push boundaries and truly stand out• The power of agency-client trust (and yes, actual tattoo contracts)• Why recycling old ads can be smarter than starting from scratch• What modern marketers need to focus on right nowWhether you're leading a brand or just getting started, this episode is packed with insights, laughs, and proof that thinking differently seriously pays off.Hit play - you’ll never look at supermarket marketing the same way again.