Having read Economics at Cambridge, ex-Procter & Gamble marketer, Greg Jackson, explains the success behind Octopus, recently certified as a Which? Recommended energy provider for the 7th year in a row.

Innovative technology, great marketing and superb customer service are integral to the Octopus success story. Among the many amazing revelations in the chat with Rory, Greg points out that 65% of UK households have a car, an increasing number of which are EVs, and the battery in an EV can power a house for between 3 and 5 days. 

You'll hear about the Octopus Power Pack and the Fan Club - technical and marketing ideas that have helped Octopus achieve around 8 million customers in 18 countries. This is an essential listen.

If you want to do business with

the UK’s leading brands Request an ALF Insight demo.

To book your seat at the ALF Awards 2024, click here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Simon Peel has worked for, among others, MediaCom, Mindshare, 20th Century Fox and Adidas. Now he's Vice President of Global Marketing for the healthcare brand Haleon born out of GSK, Novartis and Pfizer.

In our Top Two Challenges, Simon describes the challenges facing both Haleon and the sector as a whole as being similar; through advertising, the need to create an emotional connection between the consumer and the brand in order to differentiate from retailers' own brand. As Rory says, price is key and sometimes you don't wake up with a 50p headache it's a £2.80 headache! The guys discuss marketing procurement and testing. Has the spreadsheet taken over?

Also under consideration, placebos, the dumb principal (sic), Sir Patrick Valance gets a shout as does RADIO with Rory saying he never heard a radio campaign that didn't work and yet it's often the bit that gets cut from the budget.

If you want to do business with the UK’s leading brands Request an ALF Insight demo.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lena Jüngst explored product development at University in Germany and turned a bachelor thesis into a product - air up® - non-flavoured water that tastes flavoured. Lena explains how it works to convert Rory and reveals that around 80% of what we perceive as flavour is actually derived from what we’re smelling. With this relatively new drink product, while you drink plain water, you experience taste. No sugar. Just science! The brand, initially launched direct to consumers in Germany, is becoming available globally. Rory and Lena discuss the marketing strategy for the product and Lena reveals how they are slowly moving into above the line advertising. There's no rush however, because the product is doing remarkably well as a D2C brand.

If you want to do business with the UK’s leading brands Request an ALF Insight demo.

Now you can nominate your business development heroes and attend the ALF Awards 2024 click here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yusuf Chuku is Executive Vice President, Strategic Planning & Commercial Impact at NBCUniversal. The guys explore how clients can best tap into the content-audience relationship and discuss partnerships, storytelling, branded content and the constant pressure to innovate and stay relevant to audiences. Fandemoniums? How does NBC Universal grow and access fandoms?

Yusuf also responds to our regular Top Two Challenges - what is the biggest advertising challenge for global television & media companies? And what is the most pressing challenge for NBC Universal?

If you want to do business with the UK’s leading brands Request an ALF Insight demo.

Now you can nominate your business development heroes and attend the ALF Awards 2024 click here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Charlotte Lock has had an illustrious career embracing the BBC, Tesco, Co-op, Asda, McCann and now the John Lewis Partnership where her experience in behavioural economics and partnerships is helping to develop the group’s offering. In this episode she joins Rory to discuss data driven customer insight and brand experience, along with segmentation in a variety of areas.

Plus, Charlotte talks us through this year's John Lewis Christmas ad, their first created by Saatchi & Saatchi. 

And in the Top Two Challenges, Charlotte reveals what she believes is the biggest challenge facing John Lewis and the most pressing issue for the retail sector as a whole.

If you want to do business with the UK's leading brands. Request an ALF Insight demo.

To nominate your business development heroes and attend the ALF Awards 2024, click here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Rory meets Jasper Martens, the Chief Marketing Officer at Pension Bee.

Pension Bee launched in 2015 after CEO and Co-Founder, Romi Savova, who had previously worked at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, had difficulties transferring her own pension. Jasper reveals that many of their over 1 million new customers didn’t realise the tax benefits and contributions that come from having the right pension arrangements and why Pension Bee is now on a mission to make the process easier to understand and keep track of.

With brand awareness in the UK now over 50%, Jasper explains the biggest marketing challenge for Pension Bee and why they've sponsored a Premier League football team.

In the Top Two Challenges, Jasper talks about the future challenges for Pension Bee and the pension industry as a whole.

Quite apart from the marketing insights revealed, this conversation will give you food for thought about your own pension arrangements.

If you want to do business with the UK’s leading brands, request an ALF Insight demo.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rory is joined by Milka Privodanova, VP Head of EMEA of Pinterest to talk about the online platform which they describe as 'personal media' rather than social.

Milka outlines how the user experience of Pinterest is a positive and natural environment for advertisers and how almost everything you see on Pinterest is available to buy. Food, beauty, fashion and home décor are all hugely popular but the company is also experiencing success in the areas of travel, financial services and entertainment.

In the Top Two Challenges, Milka shares what she believes is the biggest challenge for Pinterest and also the most pressing issue for the online media sector as a whole.

If you want to do business with the UK’s leading brands, request an ALF Insight demo.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As we head towards one million electric cars on Britain’s roads, Marketing Director Nic Thomas discusses Nissan’s drive towards a totally electric range in 2030. Nic addresses the ‘charging’ challenge faced by the whole EV industry and why he’s calling for destination charging to be legislated. 

Nic also discusses some of the exciting engineering and design benefits of Nissan EVs - imagine your office on wheels! - but also why timing is proving to be the main marketing challenge for Nissan. Plus, Nic and Rory talk about the cost of car batteries, ‘range anxiety’ and single pedal driving - who knew?

If you want to do business with the UK’s leading brands, request an ALF Insight demo.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rory chats to Emilie Vanpoperinghe, CEO and Co-Founder of Oddbox, the subscription box company that saves imperfect and surplus fruit and vegetables from going to waste. Emilie explains how the idea for the business came about, why pricing 'wonky' vegetables can be challenging and the company's plans for the future.

In the Top Two Challenges, Emilie shares her thoughts on what is the biggest challenge for Oddbox and the most pressing challenge for the grocery industry as a whole.

Code ALF will give new Oddbox customers 50% off their first box. Offer excludes the fruit booster box. Valid until 31st August, 2023.

If you want to do business with the UK’s leading brands, request an ALF Insight demo.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nicola Hamilton, Senior Director of Branding & Communications at GoCardless, outlines how businesses can get paid more easily and conveniently by using their service. She outlines that the challenge for GoCardless is the inertia of companies not realising how much money and time they can save by moving away from outdated, manual methods to automated, online payments. As someone who's worked in the industry for over 15 years Nicola counsels that fintech companies now need to focus on profitability more than growth.

If you want to do business with the UK’s leading brands, request an ALF Insight demo.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.