The WARC Podcast

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498

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Nov 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

November 12, 202633 min

2027 trends: The drive to delegation

The AI delegation economy is complex and requires holistic brand building, not just a relentless focus on optimisation. But will customers really put their trust in AI agents to purchase on their behalf? Neil Barrie (21st Century Brands), Alicia Skubick (Trustpilot) and Steve Whiteside join WARC's Anna Hamill to break down 'the drive to delegation', based on insights from WARC's 2027 Marketer's Toolkit. Guests: Stephen Whiteside, Head of Content - Americas, WARC; Neil Barrie, Global CEO/Co-Founder, 21st Century Brand; Alicia Skubick, Chief Customer Officer & Chief Marketing Officer, Trustpilot David Tiltman, Chief Content Officer, WARC Supporting Resources: The Marketer's Toolkit 2027 (non-subscribers) https://www.warc.com/en/article/the-marketers-toolkit-2027-sample-23d3a5e296c4469eb729624359347df8 Chapters: 00:00 — Intro: 2027 marketing trends from WARC Marketer's Toolkit 02:40 — What the Delegation Economy Means for Marketers 06:07 — Agentic AI Adoption: From Research to Autonomous Purchases 06:38 — The Market Potential of AI-Assisted Shopping 08:12 — Consumer Trust, Privacy, and the Limits of Agentic AI 09:58 — Which Categories Will Shift to AI Delegation First? 13:52 — Brand Strategy in the Age of the Delegation Economy 14:06 — Human Proof: Building Trust Beyond AI Visibility 17:23 — Trustpilot, Reviews, and AI-Powered Discovery 20:47 — Priming and Proving: A Framework for Brands 24:54 — Preparing Marketing Teams for Agentic AI 29:12 — The Future of Brand Trust and Differentiation 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

November 10, 202642 min

Why discounting is ruining brands, and what to do next

New research from Les Binet and Dom Boyd reveals promotions are the largest single component of marketing spend, around twice the size of paid media advertising. Binet and Boyd join WARC's David Tiltman to discuss why 75% of marketers cannot estimate what proportion of their promotions are profitable, and how they can start breaking the promotion dependency spiral. Guests: Les Binet; Founder, Binet Consulting and Visiting Professor of Marketing and Business Strategy, Ravensbourne University Dom Boyd, Chief Strategy Officer - Global Clients, Kantar David Tiltman, Chief Content Officer, WARC Chapters: 00:00 — Intro: Why marketers rely on price promotions 02:32 — Why promotions matter now 04:25 — Promotions in the brand playbook 05:43 — The promotion addiction cycle 07:08 — Les Binet: Promotional spending as marketing’s “dark matter” 11:19 — Eight ways promotions can damage brands 16:25 — The consumer-goods marketer research 19:21 — Dom Boyd: The promotional blind spot 23:15 — Marketers’ influence—and the need for evidence 26:21 — Consumer expectations and the discounting cycle 30:48 — Dom Boyd: Principles for promotional detox 33:53 — Les Binet: When promotions can make sense 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

November 5, 202656 min

Secrets of breakthrough creativity

From the Insight to Impact event in Denver, WARC’s David Tiltman hears about Heineken’s formula for breakthrough creativity from Alison Payne, discovers the secrets of good strategy from Mischief’s Jeff McCrory, and learns how Marriott Bonvoy Traveller is making content that travels well with Talia Salem. This episode is sponsored by Profound. To learn more, go to tryprofound.com Guests: Alison Payne, Chief Marketing Officer - US, Heineken; Jeff McCrory, Partner and Chief Strategy Officer, Mischief; Talia Salem, Editorial Strategist; Marriott Bonvoy Traveller David Tiltman, Chief Content Officer, WARC Chapters: 00:00 — Intro: Insight to Impact in Denver 02:04 — Heineken: Creativity as a Growth Driver 06:56 — Heineken: Fandom, Sports, and the World Cup 11:55 — Heineken: Measuring Sponsorship Impact 16:06 — Heineken: AI, Creativity, and 2027 Priorities 24:09 — Mischief: Coors Light’s “Case of the Mondays” 28:43 — Mischief: Turning Brand Tension into an Idea 32:43 — Mischief: A Collaborative Role for Strategy 37:47 — Mischief: Upstream Strategy and AI’s Creative Future 41:48 — Marriott Bonvoy Traveler: The Editorial Platform 44:13 — Marriott Bonvoy Traveler: Why the Strategy Changed 48:10 — Marriott Bonvoy Traveler: New Content Pillars 50:25 — Marriott Bonvoy Traveler: Bringing Regional Teams In 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

November 3, 202641 min

The Effective CMO: Mercado Libre's Sean Summers

Mercado Libre is Latin America’s largest fintech and e-retailer. CMO Sean Summers joins WARC's Ann Marie Kerwin to discuss the importance of business impact, how the brand's creative makeover won them multiple Cannes Lions, building a culture of innovation, and what effectiveness means in the e-commerce space. Guests: Sean Summers, Chief Marketing Officer / EVP - Mercado Ads, Mercado Libre Ann Marie Kerwin, Americas Editor, WARC Supporting Resources: Mercado Libre: Handshake Hunt https://www.warc.com/en/campaigns/mercado-libre-handshake-hunt-55893db2b5e54e0ab2a5dd9d11943261 Mercado Libre: Franco Returns, We All Return https://www.warc.com/en/campaigns/mercado-libre-franco-returns-we-all-return-0a13c404c8414ce7ae146fd017e38c56 Mercado Libre: Coupon Rain https://www.warc.com/en/campaigns/mercado-libre-coupon-rain-a86f034b027248fead5ac3c1b077b0e7 Chapters: 00:00 — Intro: Mercado Libre's Sean Summers joins the pod 01:52 — Mercado Libre's Approach To Marketing Effectiveness, ROI, and Market Share 03:26 — Balancing Short, Mid, and Long-Term Marketing 04:45 — Driving App Downloads, Loyalty, and Customer Lifetime Value 06:00 — Brand Investment and Long-Term Growth 08:07 — Earning C-Suite Trust with Marketing Metrics 11:45 — How Mercado Libre Win Cannes Lions 14:26 — Rethinking Creative Bravery 16:32 — How GUT Challenged Mercado Libre’s Brief 20:57 — Turning the Delivery Promise into a Brand Moment 24:48 — Marketing as a Core Growth Function 27:08 — The Do, Think, Feel Framework for Ecommerce Marketing 32:00 — How Every App Interaction Builds Brand Equity 34:42 — Social Commerce, Affiliates, and Live Shopping 37:44 — Gen AI in Performance Marketing, Creativity, and Operations 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

October 29, 202654 min

Three ways AI is reshaping marketing insights

At the Insight to Impact event, WARC’s David Tiltman discovers how Mondelez’s insights team is using AI with Pam Forbus, examines the need for “marketing engineers” with Profound’s Matthew Huo, and goes deep on synthetic data research with Tracy Adams from the ARF and Keith Smith from the Marketing Science Institute. This episode is sponsored by Profound. To learn more, go to tryprofound.com Guests: Pamela Forbus, Global Chief of Insights & Analytics, Mondelez Matthew Huo, Product Marketing, Profound Tracy Adams, Senior Director of Research & Insights, The Advertising Research Foundation Keith Smith, Managing Director, The Marketing Science Institute David Tiltman, Chief Content Officer, WARC Chapters: (00:00) Intro: Welcome to Insights to Impact (02:29) Mondelez: Leading insights into AI’s future (06:21) Mondelez: Breaking silos with consumer insight (09:40) Mondelez: AI pilots, synthetic personas, and data foundations (13:52) Mondelez: Synthetic personas and real consumers (17:42) Profound: How brands appear in AI answers (21:46) Profound: Creating original, specific content (26:53) Profound: The rise of marketing engineers (34:01) Profound: AI’s impact on marketing jobs (37:24) The risks of synthetic research (42:15) Bias, variability, and validation (43:39) Why small prompt changes matter (49:06) Matching validation to decision stakes 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

October 27, 202650 min

Marketing research you need to know for 2027

We're digging into new effectiveness research, including new thinking on brand coherence, the resurgence of 'ad awareness' and how to get the most out of sports sponsorships, recorded live at the IPA Effectiveness conference in London. Hosted by WARC's Anna Hamill. Guests: Orlando Wood, Chief Creative Officer, System1 Paul Simonet, The Whole Brained Marketer Rory Natkiel, Founder of Box Count & Chair of the Sponsorship Effectiveness Forum Claire Humphris, Chief Marketing Officer, British Cycling Caitlin McRoy, Senior Sponsorship Manager at Sage Nic Pietersma, Group Director of Analytics, Ebiquity Anthony Jones, Head of Research, Thinkbox Jane Christian, EVP - Analytics, WPP Media UK Anna Hamill, Senior Editor, The WARC Podcast Chapters: [00:00] Intro: Live at the IPA Effectiveness Conference [01:29] Creative coherence: putting brands back on top [04:57] How the LLM model evaluates brand characteristics [07:14] Coherent brand character: examples from Red Bull, Guinness, and Cadbury [11:38] Brand coherence in an AI-driven world [17:39] Why ad awareness deserves a closer look [19:41] Ad awareness versus brand awareness [23:27] Research findings: ad awareness, consideration, and causality [28:00] Category differences and planning media to drive awareness [34:45] The sponsorship effectiveness gap [38:10] Sage’s approach: connecting sponsorship to broader brand goals [40:18] Three practices for effective sponsorship measurement [44:04] Long-term partnerships, flexibility, and creative platforms [47:45] Lessons learned, and research resources 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

October 22, 202657 min

Marketing success rests on better insights

Live from the Insights to Impact event, Reddit’s Lore Oxford shares how to get the best insights from the platform, Kraft Heinz’s Doug Healy and Zappi’s Julio Franco share how to make marketers love research, and Newell Brands’ Delicia Cooney discusses the importance of human-centric insights in the AI era. Hosted by WARC's David Tiltman. This episode is sponsored by Profound. To learn more, go to tryprofound.com Guests: Lore Oxford, Head of Insights Product, Reddit Douglas Healy, Head of North America Insights, The Kraft Heinz Company Julio Franco, Chief Customer Officer, Zappi Delicia Cooney, Senior Insights Director, Newell Brands David Tiltman, Chief Content Officer, WARC Chapters: 00:00 — Intro: Live from Insights to Impact 02:21 — Reddit: What “insight slop” means 06:30 — Reddit: Curating data and building analysis frameworks 10:29 — Reddit: Trust, human perspectives, and the platform’s growing influence 12:43 — Reddit: How brands can listen and activate authentically 19:26 — Introducing Kraft Heinz and Zappi’s research partnership 20:26 — Kraft Heinz: Moving from overtesting to a learning philosophy 25:54 — Why research shouldn’t feel like a creative report card 29:51 — Kraft Heinz: Flexible testing, business impact, and lessons learned 42:12 — Newell Brands: Rethinking the insights function 47:10 — Newell Brands: Building a human-needs framework 52:17 — Newell Brands: Reframing existing research and choosing clarity 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

October 20, 202627 min

A $1.3 trillion question: the rise of AI media

The future of AI media still feels uncertain: a goldrush where no one knows where to dig. A new report from WARC Media examines whether fragmenting attention leads to a concentration of monetisation in the advertising market and consider what this might mean for the next era of AI media. WARC's Alex Brownsell discusses the impact with Debra Aho Williamson. Chapters: [00:00] — Intro: How AI Media Could Reshape the $1.3 Trillion Ad Market [01:58] — Why WARC Is Measuring AI’s Impact on Advertising Investment [03:30] — What Is AI Media? ChatGPT, Google, and Amazon as Ad Channels [05:00] — Fragmented Consumer Attention and Concentrated Digital Ad Spend [07:23] — Why Google, Meta, and Amazon Attract Advertiser Investment [11:42] — Three Scenarios for AI’s Impact on the Advertising Market [13:58] — Could OpenAI Become a New AI Advertising Leader? [16:19] — Will AI Expand Digital Advertising or Replace Existing Channels? [18:45] — Why Incumbent Platforms May Benefit Most From AI [21:53] — How Consumer Behavior Will Shape the Future of AI Media [22:45] — Why WARC Used Visual Storytelling for the Sightlines Report [26:05] — Where to Read Sightlines and Hear the Report Presented 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

October 15, 202641 min

Why more strategists are going independent

Strategy legends Suzanne Powers and Tom Morton left agency-land to build their own independent strategy businesses, discovering brands need new solutions to strategy problems outside of the agency model. They join WARC's David Tiltman to discuss what they've learned so far, the opportunities for strategists in going indie, and how to build a successful independent strategy proposition. Guests: Suzanne Powers, Co-Founder, All& Tom Morton, Founder, Narratory Capital David Tiltman, Chief Content Officer, WARC Chapters: (00:00) — Intro: Why more senior strategists are going indie (02:07) — Why independent strategists are finding success (04:30) — How to build a independent strategy consultancy (05:27) — Reclaiming power and confidence (08:21) — Value propositions for strategy beyond ad briefs (10:56) — Is the independent strategy market becoming more competitive? (13:09) — New opportunities in brand strategy consulting (15:42) — Strategic planning for business pivots and growth (18:57) — Making brand strategy Board-ready (23:12) — How CMOs Can drive growth beyond advertising (24:38) — Finding hidden strengths (27:23) — Productized strategy vs. bespoke consulting (31:37) — Using AI to improve marketing workflows (35:44) — Why optimism matters for strategists 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

October 13, 202636 min

Strategy beyond the ad brief

AI makes it easier to compete inside markets that already exist. That does not make strategy less important; it makes the search for new sources of demand more important. Erich Joachimsthaler, founder and CEO at VIVALDI, joins WARC's Lena Roland to discuss new 'demand spaces' for strategy. Guests: Erich Joachimsthaler, founder and CEO, VIVALDI; co-author of 'Brand Leadership: Building Assets in an Information Economy' Lena Roland, Content Director, WARC Chapters: [00:00] Intro: Why strategists are moving upstream [03:23] AI and the changing source of competitive advantage [04:40] Finding growth beyond existing categories [06:47] Demand spaces vs. traditional market segmentation [09:23] Goodles: uncovering adult demand for mac and cheese [11:29] Rhode skincare: building a brand around a simpler routine [14:41] Demand-led portfolio strategy and product innovation [16:59] Tesla: meeting demand for luxury and sustainability [19:10] Where to compete vs. how to compete [20:20] Figma: redefining design software through collaboration [22:05] How to spot market shifts, workarounds, and new demand [23:49] Liquid Death: brand differentiation and copycat risk [27:32] How consumer needs, technology, and regulation create markets [30:11] Sizing demand spaces and making the investment case #business #marketing #innovation 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