The WARC Podcast

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476

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Aug 2026

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About the show

Bold Minds. Bold Moves. Get closer to insights, stories and lessons behind bold marketing with conversations hosted by the world’s leading authority on marketing effectiveness.

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60 recent

September 10, 202637 min

The psychological 'pause' reshaping the customer journey

Failing to usher buyers from discovery to purchase in the fewest possible steps is often seen as a setback. This belief misunderstands the consumer purchase journey, according to new research. Mindscope's Lea Karam and TikTok's Elias W. Bassil join WARC's Alex Brownsell to discuss the alchemy of customer consideration. Guests: Lea Karam, CEO & Founder of Mindscope Elias W. Bassil, Regional Head of Business Marketing, TikTok METAP Alex Brownsell, Head of Content, WARC Media Chapters: [0:10] – Introducing “The Alchemy of Consideration” with TikTok & Mindscope [1:56] – Does Marketing Misunderstand the Consideration Phase in the Customer Journey? [3:28] – Why Traditional Journey Models Are Broken [5:51] – Reframing Decision-Making Beyond Funnel Thinking [10:41] – What Is a Behavioral Pause? [12:57] – Desire vs Need: Liking, Wanting, and Value Alignment in Consumer Choice [13:42] – How Pauses Show Up on TikTok [16:54] – The Cost of Forcing Narratives in the Consideration Phase [18:18] – Short-Term KPIs vs Long-Term Brand Building: Rethinking the Attention Economy [21:10] – The Four Forces of Consideration: Social, Cognitive, Contextual, and Emotional [23:18] – Why Context Has Veto Power: Viewing Environment and Mental Availability [27:44] – How Brands Can Improve Consideration Effectiveness For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

September 8, 202639 min

Understanding 'Future Demand' with James Hurman

Effectiveness expert James Hurman joins to discuss the key ideas in his new book 'Future Demand', why performance marketing is plateauing, how brands really grow, and the nuances of building a dual measurement system. Hosted by WARC's David Tiltman. Guests: James Hurman, marketing effectiveness expert and author, 'Future Demand' David Tiltman, Chief Content Officer, WARC Chapters: [00:00] Introduction to James Hurman’s new book 'Future Demand' [03:21] Solving diminishing returns in performance marketing [07:07] Explaining 'future vs current demand' with the 95–5 rule and Ehrenberg-Bass insights [09:39] Why advertising doesn’t directly cause short-term sales [11:18] How consideration sets drive 84% of brand choice [13:20] Making marketing make sense to the C-suite [16:19] Advertising’s true role is misunderstood [22:38] Two jobs of advertising: brand building for future demand vs performance for current demand [23:20] How to measure brand and performance impact [27:15] Using emotional metrics as leading indicators [31:10] How digital-first brands rebalanced brand and performance [35:41] The 'two audience problem': why brands must be machine-readable and human-lovable For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

September 3, 202624 min

The Effective CMO: Instacart's Laura Jones returns

Instacart's Laura Jones returns to share practical lessons from Instacart's brand transformation, including prioritising effectiveness, brand-first marketing strategy, partnerships, Instacart's chase to win a Cannes Lion and much more. Guests: Laura Jones, Chief Marketing Officer, Instacart Ann Marie Kerwin, Americas Editor, WARC Chapters: [00:00] Introduction: Instacart’s marketing transformation project [01:36] Building the Instacart brand: From performance-pnly to full-funnel marketing [03:47] Balancing functional messaging and emotional storytelling [05:24] Redefining marketing measurement: From last-touch ROAS to portfolio impact [08:02] Explaining marketing effectiveness to the C-suite [09:25] Scaling an in-house creative agency [12:31] Instacart's 2026 Super Bowl campaign [16:41] Brand-building partnerships: WNBA and Feeding America [19:27] Brand stewardship: A new view on marketing effectiveness [21:22] Embedding brand across product, CX and culture [21:33] Learning from Cannes Lions and Raising the Creative Bar For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

September 1, 202652 min

The multiplier effect of creativity

The biggest creative risk? Not being creative enough. System1's Andrew Tindall joins WARC's Ann Marie Kerwin to discuss the multiplier effect of creativity, how brands can be more creative, and why it's essential to marketing that truly moves the dial for brands. Read The Multiplier Playbook research from WARC here: https://www.warc.com/en/the-multiplier-playbook-2026 Watch WARC's podcast on The Creative Dividend, a major new effectiveness study from System1 and Effie Worldwide, based on more than 1,200 Effie cases: https://studio.youtube.com/video/wH_tJ8xBfHA/ Guests: Andrew Tindall, Chief Advertising Officer, System1 Ann Marie Kerwin, Americas Editor, WARC Chapters: [00:00] Intro: The multiplier effect of creativity [01:52] Why future demand matters in brand building [02:18] How advertising drives brand growth [03:30] Why interesting, engaging creative beats narrow targeting [06:33] Creativity’s impact on short-term sales vs long-term brand effects [07:02] Emotional, distinctive, entertaining ads drive immediate response [10:46] The real 'cost of dull' in advertising [15:03] The Creativity Stack: distinctiveness, emotion, showmanship, and consistency [18:30] Why distinctiveness is table stakes for profitable brand growth [20:17] Showmanship in advertising: stopping the scroll [22:30] Consistency in creativity: how campaigns wear in, not wear out [27:01] Build, nudge, connect: a modern framework to replace the traditional funnel [29:43] Distinctive brand assets [33:46] Creative quality and media planning [42:00] Why marketers should let effective ads run much longer [45:10] Getting back to 'the big idea' [47:30] Tightening the creative brief [49:30] Why modern marketing feels overwhelming For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

August 27, 202646 min

Revisiting 'How Brands Grow' with Byron Sharp

'How Brands Grow' is one of the most influential books in marketing, exploring rules of brand growth such as mental and physical availability, double jeopardy, and increasing penetration. Professor Byron Sharp, its author and director of the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, joined WARC's David Tiltman at Cannes Lions to revisit its core principles and how they apply to today's marketing landscape. Guests: Byron Sharp, author, How Brands Grow; Professor of Marketing Science, University of Adelaide; Director, Ehrenberg Bass Institute David Tiltman, Chief Content Officer, WARC Chapters: [00:00] Introduction: Prof. Byron Sharp joins The WARC Podcast [02:40] Mental and physical availability: Where Byron Sharp and Mark Ritson align [04:00] Inside 'How Brands Grow': Laws of brand growth explained [05:20] The NBD-Dirichlet Model and Ehrenberg’s Law of Buyer Frequency [07:15] Andrew Ehrenberg’s influence on marketing science [09:30] Brand awareness and brand salience [12:40] Why CMOs must know the laws of marketing science [15:30] What brand image data really shows [18:50] Navigating recession: Should brands cut advertising spend? [22:10] Inflation, private label growth and CPG brand strategy [26:00] Mental availability as a brand asset [29:40] How small brands grow [32:20] Differentiation vs distinctiveness [36:12] Byron Sharp's advice on pricing power [37:30] How does brand image differ from mental availability? [40:16] How Ehrenberg-Bass laws work in disrupted and high-growth markets [42:24] The future of marketing science & fact-checking hype For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

August 25, 202639 min

The Effective CMO: Procter & Gamble's Marc Pritchard

Procter & Gamble is one of the world's biggest advertisers. Marc Pritchard, P&G's long-time Chief Brand Officer, joins WARC's Anna Hamill to share insights and lessons from almost 40 years in marketing at the CPG giant, including the enduring power of brand building, the evolution of media, adapting to the AI era, and how brand purpose and cultural insights delivered real business growth for its brands. This episode is sponsored by Circana. Learn more about their AI-powered marketing mix solution LiquidMix at circana.com/warc. Guests: Marc Pritchard, Chief Brand Officer, Procter & Gamble Anna Hamill, Senior Editor, The WARC Podcast Topics covered: [00:00] – Intro: P&G’s Marc Pritchard joins The WARC Podcast [02:01] – Defining marketing effectiveness: P&G’s 'five-fecta' growth framework [04:08] – P&G's brand-building fundamentals: the “who, what, how” model [07:09] – From TV to AI: How media fragmentation is changing marketing [07:51] – Media transparency and the missing sales attribution signal [10:18] – Why retail media is reshaping commerce at P&G [12:09] – How P&G is adopting retail media, algorithms and content flywheels [15:01] – AI as a brand-building and accelerator [18:32] – In-housing media, content and ad testing to speed up innovation [21:38] – Inside P&G's culture of marketing effectiveness [23:13] – Balancing content volume, quality and media spend [29:51] – How brand purpose and cultural insights grew P&G's brands [34:29] – How CMOs can navigate uncertainty around brand purpose [36:42] – Marc Pritchard's career advice for young marketers For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

August 20, 202617 min

Emerging themes in creative effectiveness

What do the winning campaigns from the 2026 Cannes Lions for Creative Effectiveness tell us about successful marketing in 2026? WARC's Amy Rodgers and Effie Insight's John Bizzell examine the big narratives emerging from this year's winners, in a category that rewards creativity that has also met business goals. Read the full report 'Creative Effectiveness Lions: Insights from the 2026 winners' here: https://www.warc.com/en/article/creative-effectiveness-lions-insights-from-the-2026-winners-c0d6c1492bb549a68c1e15dc36855364 Guests: Amy Rodgers, Head of Content, WARC Rankings and Effie Insights John Bizzell, Content Lead, Effie Insights Bertille Toledano, Jury President, Cannes Lions Creative Effectiveness 2026 Jane Wakely, Juror, Cannes Lions Creative Effectiveness 2026 João Gabriel Fernandes, Chief Strategy Officer, almapBBDO Chapters: [00:00] – Introduction: Creative Effectiveness Trends from Cannes Lions [01:30] – Inside the Cannes Lions Creative Effectiveness jury room [02:23] – What Makes a Creative Effectiveness Lion Different [05:09] – Cultural Intelligence in Action: Pedigree's Caramello and AXA's Three Words [09:33] – How Creative Campaigns Drive Real Business Growth and Societal Impact [12:20] – Turning Brand Assets into Interactive Tools: Vaseline, Ziploc, IKEA [14:21] – Reimagining Social to Build Brands: Uber Eats, IKEA “You up?” and Tips for Future Entrants For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

August 18, 202639 min

Agentic AI and the new delegation of consumer choice

New research by PHD and WARC explores the scale, timeline and implications of agentic AI for the wider marketing ecosystem. PHD's Rohan Tambyrajah and WARC's David Tiltman join Anna Hamill to discuss the implications for marketing as decision-making increasingly evolves from human consumers to machine intermediaries, including the 'Four Modes' frameworks, and key recommendations to navigate this new dynamic. Read 'From abundance to agents: How the delegation of choice is transforming marketing' on WARC: https://www.warc.com/en/article/from-abundance-to-agents-how-the-delegation-of-choice-is-transforming-marketing-dda80ff252d141c4bdb7211d230f407d Guests: David Tiltman, Chief Content Officer, WARC Rohan Tambyrajah, Worldwide Chief Strategy Officer, PHD Anna Hamill, Senior Editor, The WARC Podcast Chapters: [00:00 – Introduction: Agentic AI and the new customer journey [02:18] – Defining the 'two audience problem': humans and AI agents [02:47] – Why this agentic AI research matters for marketing [04:47] – Utopia vs dystopia: The realistic business case for agentic AI [06:34] – The abundance problem: fragmented attention and declining effectiveness [07:00] – Delegation to AI agents: From discovery and planning to automated action [09:30] – Which categories will agentic commerce disrupt first? [11:49] – 'Four Modes' framework overview [15:25] – Applying the 'Four Modes' framework by category [17:26] – Diagnosing your category’s current mode and spot signals of shift [20:15] – Developing human meaning and machine readability [22:31] – Effective advertising in an agentic AI world [25:02] – Balancing brand building, performance and agentic optimization [33:26] – Category entry points and mapping the agentic customer journey For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

August 13, 202631 min

Social media, creators and the 'twin pace' brand

New research from WARC finds that social and creator marketing – for all its speed and cultural relevance – hits three structural ceilings that no amount of additional content or paid media can break through alone. Tackling these ceilings is key to sustained growth. Rob Brittain and Rica Facundo join WARC's Biprorshee Das to discuss Pace Principle 2.0, WARC's latest research on marketing effectiveness from Asia. Guests: Rob Brittain, Marketing Effectiveness Consultant and co-author of Pace Principle 2.0 Rica Facundo, Managing Editor - APAC, WARC and co-author of Pace Principle 2.0 Biprorshee Das, India Editor, WARC Chapters: [00:00] Introduction: WARC's Pace Principle 2.0 research [02:39] What is a “social sprint”? [04:16] Content virality is an outcome, not a growth strategy [06:30] What is the difference between social strategy and emotional strategy? [09:35] Why do broad emotional strategies outperform social? [12:21] How should brands choose between micro creators and celebrity influencers? [16:28] The three ceilings of social media (platform, cultural, self-sustaining) [19:17] Aligning target market and creative strategy boosts effectiveness by 70 percent [23:03] Moving from “always on” content to always relevant [25:32] Social and creator campaign measurement [29:42] Key Pace Principle 2.0 recommendations for marketing leaders For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

August 11, 202644 min

Who murdered Madison Avenue?

How did ad agency economics become so challenging? Fee-cutting and low growth are part of the equation, but the roots of the issue go back decades. Ad industry analyst and author Michael Farmer joins WARC's David Tiltman to discuss his new book 'Madison Avenue Revisited' and offer his take on 30+ years of change to advertising business models, including the impact of dysfunctional client-agency relationships, increased creative workloads and AI. Guests: Michael Farmer, Chairman and CEO, Farmer&Co; Professor of Branding and Integrated Communications at The City College of New York David Tiltman, SVP - Content, WARC Chapters: [00:00] Introduction: Michael Farmer joins The WARC Podcast [06:49] From 'Madison Avenue Manslaughter' to 'Madison Avenue Revisited' [11:25] How ad agency workloads doubled while fees halved [18:29] Why big advertisers are underperforming GDP [23:44] Short-termism and the failure to brief for brand growth [27:51] The key factors undermining advertising economics [30:11] Artificial intelligence threatens advertising agencies [32:28] 'Infinite creative' doesn’t equal brand growth [35:18] Using AI to fund strategy and reinvesting in senior talent [37:01] How hold-cos, commissions, and cheap CPMs undermined creative value [40:29] Why do CFOs block long-term marketing investment? [41:02] How AI can optimise the marketing mix for growth For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe