Marketing is failing in the places where trust matters most. In this episode, Warren Fiveash and Paul Duxbury unpack why fake discounts, confusing subscriptions, and awkward cancellation flows are damaging long-term brand value.

They also explore what marketing really is in practice: helping businesses make better, more intentional decisions around pricing, positioning, and customer needs.

From small business examples to ethical marketing and audience profiling, this conversation gets into the real-world impact of trust, transparency, and consistency. Key topics:

• Why misleading discounts backfire
• How subscription tactics damage trust
• What “real” marketing looks like in small businesses
• The role of ethics and transparency
• Turning audience insight into action

If you care about pricing strategy, consumer trust, and building a stronger brand, this one is for you.

#Marketing #BrandTrust #PricingStrategy #ConsumerTrust #EthicalMarketing #BusinessStrategy #SmallBusinessMarketing #CustomerExperience #SubscriptionModel #MarketingPodcast

For years, marketing has been built around big nationwide or global events - from live music at the world's biggest stadiums to the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

But with mixed reviews of the World Cup and controversy and cynicism around the approach to commercialising it further, are people beginning to lose faith in large events and products?

In this week's show, Warren and Paul discuss why things are beginning to change and whether we reached peak consumerism.

Quick review of the next episode

Paul and Warren discuss the value of developing communication skills in marketing, particularly when getting across the value to Chief Finance Officers, and Chief Executives. Warren describes how you can win at communications and advice and tips on what you need to do.

Paul takes us behind the scenes at the British F1 Grand Prix at Silverstone. He gives his perspective on the brand associations at the event, and why some brands might surprise you. Who do you think was present at the F1? And what have pigeons got to do with brand and perspective?

#brandstrategy #f1 #silverstone #marketing #marketingshed #sportmarketing #retailmarketing

Warren and Paul break down three marketing stories from the week, starting with FIFA's not-so-subtle "hydration breaks" that are really advertising breaks, and the brilliant way Levi's turned having their stadium logo covered up into a masterclass in distinctive brand assets.

Then Warren's got a bone to pick with Butlin's new "swap boring for fun" campaign — is it smart positioning, or does it insult the very families it's trying to convert? And Warren pitches an invention every sleep-deprived parent would queue up for.

Warren Fiveash:   / warrenfiveash  
Paul Duxbury:   / paulduxbury  

#MarketingPodcast #BrandStrategy #DistinctiveAssets #SportsMarketing #FIFA #Levis #Butlins #MarketingNews

Ferrari Luce launches — and the internet loses its mind. Warren and Paul think they're all wrong. Here's why.

Plus: Are websites about to become obsolete? With AI glasses arriving and generative search reshaping how people find brands, this may be Web 3.0 — and it's already started.

This week on the Marketing Shed:

🚗 Ferrari Luce — a design disaster or a future classic? Paul draws the line from the Citroën DS and the Sydney Opera House to the original Apple iMac. The critics are entitled to their opinion. They're still wrong.

👓 Google's AI glasses are back — and they raise a serious question for every marketer: when people start walking around asking AI what to buy, do we still need websites the way we used to? Warren makes the case for a quiet tipping point.

🤖 The gap nobody's talking about in L&D — Paul's big takeaway from the Econsultancy Capability Leaders Forum: capability builders are designing interventions for a world that has already moved on. Learners are learning in the flow of work, right now, using AI. Is your organisation ready?

🎂 Paul turns 60 — and is heading to Wimbledon for the first time to mark the occasion.

📣 Speaking event — Warren and Paul are taking their act on the road. They'll be speaking at the Play AI London Marketing Summit on 2nd July at the Bankside Hotel, London. Tickets: search 'PLAI London Marketing Summit'.

Warren Fiveash and Paul Duxbury are marketers who break down what actually matters — from brand strategy and consumer behaviour to AI, culture, and the future of the industry. No buzzwords. No waffle. Just the marketing conversation you actually want to have.

🎙️ New episodes every week — subscribe so you never miss one.

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00:00 Paul turns 60 — and why your 60s might be your best decade
03:00 UK staycations: why this country undersells itself
06:00 AI and the death of the learning intervention
10:30 Google AI glasses and the end of website browsing as we know it
14:30 Ferrari Luce — why the critics are wrong (and the share price will recover)
19:30 Week ahead: speaking at Play AI London Marketing Summit

Huel’s £1billion acquisition by Danone is a real success story for a brand that’s been built over 10 years. However, will a brand built organically and through a loyal customer base, find it struggles to maintain that as part of a corporate brand? Super fan Paul’s discusses the relationship.

We also discuss Warren’s experience of Specsavers and has football nostalgia gone too far with La Liga’s retro shirt weekend?

#laliga #nostalgiamarketing #strategy #retroshirts #huel #danone #customerloyalty

Warren logged into Amazon Prime and found a product at one price.
He signed out. The same product was cheaper.

Amazon knew his purchase history. It knew he'd probably buy it anyway.
So it charged him more.

Is that a loyalty scheme — or the opposite of one?

In this week's episode, Warren and Paul dig into what Amazon Prime
actually is — and whether the loyalty label still holds up when the
platform knows your behaviour better than you do.

Also this week:
→ Two ads banned by the ASA for misleading pricing claims (Premier Inn isn't the only one)
→ The quiet power of the Post-it note — and why in-person meetings
still do something Zoom can't replicate
→ What the Amazon pricing story means for every brand that calls
itself "customer-first"

🎙️ The Marketing Shed — Warren Fiveash and Paul Duxbury break down
what's actually happening in the marketing world. No fluff.
No buzzwords. Just what matters.

📩 Get in touch: [email protected]

#AmazonPrime #BrandLoyalty #MisleadingAdvertising

Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction and Personal Updates
• 08:28 Marketing and Consumer Trust
• 15:21 Consumer Behavior and Perception in Marketing