Oliver Atkinson sits down with behavioural science researcher Will Leach, founder of MindState Group and author of Marketing to MindStates, to reveal how “hot states” (MindStates) shape decisions, and how targeting the moment can lift your B2B messaging. 

Will maps his MindState model, goals, motivations, regulatory fit, and triggers, showing how nine core motivations and 21 decision shortcuts can turn a fuzzy persona into a usable brief.

Hear how a hotel CMO flipped from trashing a campaign to championing it once it was framed as social proof, and why brands should be the utility belt, not Batman.

With audiences making around 35,000 decisions a day, the default response to complex messaging is to swipe past and “think about it later.” If you pitch, launch, or sell inside crowded categories and buying committees, this is your guide for measurable lift, without gimmicks. 

Plus, Oliver and Will dig into the AI angle, including Bevy (behavioural intelligence), emotionally intelligent customer personas you can “ask” in meetings, and where AI helps most (and where to be careful).

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00:00 Introduction

03:22 – Mind States Over Personas

14:40 – Be the Utility Belt, Not Batman

15:45 – More Information, Less Persuasion

24:21 – The Two-Why Ladder

47:32 – Motivation vs. Manipulation

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