First Aired 23rd Dec 2023, this is the never before told story behind the making of the iconic Guinness Christmas Ad. Tom Kinsella, Damian Devaney, Mark Nutley and Pat Hamill who were part of the team client and agency side that made this ad join That's What I Call Marketing to talk about creating what has become one of the greatest Christmas Ads of all time. We discuss the development process, challenges encountered, and the enduring success of the ad after its release. The conversation highlights the power of creativity, the critical role of collaboration between agencies and clients, and the essential element of investing time and effort into crafting an impactful advertisement. Some key moments include

• 04:21 The Creative Process and Challenges
• 25:57 The Role of Music in the Ad
• 32:22 The Risk of Leaving Out the Pint
• 39:26 The Importance of Distinctive Assets
• 48:01 The Impact of the Ad Over Time
• 56:22 The Power of Creativity and Investment

But there is a tonne more, the power of music, the emergence of the line at the home of the black stuff, sweating the small stuff, investing in brilliance. So enjoy this episode about a story that has never been told. Special mention to the many others involved in the project:

• Mal Stevenson-Creative Director
• John Kelly-Voiceover
• Noel Byrne - Head of production
• Margo Tracey- Producer
• Mark Grehan/ Brendan Coyle – Account Director
• Grainne O’Driscoll-Account Manager
• Paddy Gibbons-Sound Mix
• April Redmond - Diageo
• Ronan Byrne - Diageo
• Niamh Cribbin - Diageo
• Paul Kelly - Diageo
• Mark Ody - Diageo
• Michael Ioakimides - Diageo
• Charles Coase - Diageo

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CMO's Katherine Melchior Ray & Nataly Kelly dive deep into the nuances of global marketing . Both are experienced global CMOs and authors of the book 'Brand Global, Adapt Local.' They share their insights on the complexities and rewards of building a brand that balances global consistency with local relevance. From discussing their extensive backgrounds in various industries to examining successful case studies like Kit Kat and Kerry Gold, Katherine and Natalie offer valuable frameworks and strategies for marketers aiming to expand globally. This episode is brought to you by Tracksuit, the affordable brand tracking dashboard covering over 25 countries. Tune in to learn about the challenges and rewards of global marketing, the importance of cultural intelligence, and the role AI might play in the future of marketing. Don't forget to leave a review and share this episode with your marketing community!

02:35 Katherine's Global Marketing Experience

04:32 Natalys Background and Contribution

05:18 The Power of Global Connections

08:31 Foundations of Marketing and Branding

09:40 Cultural Intelligence and AI Limitations

10:31 Localisation and Cultural Nuances

15:14 Organisational Attitude and Flexibility

16:35 Proximity Bias in Large Economies

17:49 Freedom Within a Frame Framework

19:04 Kit Kat's Global Strategy

20:46 Kerry Gold's Adaptation to US Market

22:05 Global Brand Consistency

26:33 The Impact of AI on Global Branding

28:23 Cultural Nuances in Marketing

29:36 Anecdotes and Lessons Learned

Buy the book https://www.amazon.ie/Brand-Global-Adapt-Local-Cultures/dp/1398619825

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When Imen Zitouni started out, there was no Google. She literally taught Canadian businesses how to use a mouse. Fast forward twenty-five years, and she’s the Chief Marketing Officer at Intact Insurance, leading one of the most ambitious rebrands in the industry from RSA Insurance to Intact and shaping how marketing, data and innovation work together in a company of 30,000 people.

In this conversation, Imen joins Conor at Intact House in Dublin to talk about the twists and leaps that built her career. She tells the story of the seven PowerPoint slides that convinced CEO Charles Brindamour to start The Intact Lab, an experiment that began with seven people and now employs over a thousand specialists in data, AI and customer experience.

She explains what innovation really looks like inside a business built on managing risk. how you protect teams so they can experiment, why “failing fast” only works if you decide fast, and what it takes to turn ideas into impact.

You’ll also hear how she applies the same mindset to marketing and why “Technology gives you speed. Storytelling gives you meaning.” As well as how the global Intact rebrand was “not a marketing project, but a company-wide one.” and why she believes creativity in insurance starts with culture, not slogans.

It’s an honest, practical conversation about leadership, experimentation, and brand building from one of Canada’s most respected marketing executives recorded on the day the Intact name officially launched in Ireland, the UK and Europe

02:30 – Teaching people how to use a mouse (and falling in love with the internet)

04:50 – Lessons from agency life at Cassette

06:20 – The late-night call that brought her into insurance

08:00 – Finding purpose in a data-driven industry

09:45 – “I have an idea”: how The Intact Lab began

10:50 – Protecting teams to innovate

13:40 – The 30-day rule and rapid prototyping

15:10 – “Fail fast” only works with fast decisions

17:30 – Moving from Chief Digital Officer to CMO

20:10 – Mentorship and learning from Anne Fortin

23:00 – “Technology gives you speed. Storytelling gives you meaning.”

24:40 – The founders’ story: building values before brand

26:40 – Naming Intact and the red brackets

27:30 – Rebranding RSA: “not a marketing project — a company-wide one”

30:20 – Global consistency vs local freedom

33:10 – When “witty” means different things in different markets

37:00 – Building a household brand and resilient communities

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In this episode, we dive deep into the latest marketing trends and campaigns we start by discussing OpenAI's new brand campaign, evaluating its impact and effectiveness. The conversation transitions to the growing competition in the AI space between ChatGPT and Claude, highlighting user adoption and brand health metrics. The trio also explores the recent controversies faced by Tylenol and how brand trust plays a crucial role in weathering PR storms. Lastly, they touch on Ben Stiller's foray into the healthier soda market with Stiller Soda and analyze the potential market dynamics. The episode is packed with insightful data and expert opinions, offering a comprehensive look at current marketing strategies and brand health management.

02:30 OpenAI's New Brand Campaign

03:23 AI Competitors and Market Penetration

08:17 Emotional Advertising and Brand Loyalty

13:25 Tylenol's PR Crisis and Brand Trust

21:02 Ben Stiller's Entry into the Soft Drink Market

29:16 Year-End Reflections

With thanks to Tracksuit

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What happens when one of the world’s most opinionated marketing professors looks beyond 2025 and starts thinking about the 2030s?

In this unfiltered conversation, Mark Ritson joins Conor Byrne on That’s What I Call Marketing for a fast-moving, hilarious, and deeply practical chat about what marketers are getting wrong and what still works.

From pricing and profitability to AI and the Mini MBA, Ritson lays out the truths that most brands quietly ignore:

👉 The real reason discounting destroys long-term value.

👉 Why profitability, not revenue, is the measure that matters.

👉 How brand equity lets companies charge 30% more — and why few marketers understand margins.

👉 The coming decade of synthetic data, AI-driven planning, and marketing’s Thirties where the fundamentals still decide who wins.

We also dive into Ritson’s columns on Nestlé’s new CEO, brand consolidation, the chaos of AI branding, and his viral takes on Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle ad. Expect blunt language, sharp analysis, and the kind of clarity only Ritson can deliver.

This is Ritson at full throttle cynical, evidence-based, and funny enough to make you forget you’re learning.

What You’ll Learn

Why pricing is the forgotten P — and marketers must reclaim it.

The psychological and financial damage of endless promotions.

What Nestlé’s portfolio clean-up reveals about focus and profit.

How the marketing profession lost the plot on creativity and strategy.

Why AI won’t kill marketing — it will expose who actually understands it.

The truth about the Mini MBA sale to Brave Bison and what’s next in the U.S.

⏱️ Episode Chapters

01:20 – Mark Ritson & his return to Dublin

03:00 – Why sold-out events show poor pricing strategy

04:30 – The hidden cost of discounting and brand devaluation

07:00 – How Kellogg’s proves the power of price premium

08:30 – Profitability vs. revenue: what marketers forget

10:20 – Why marketers must be part of pricing decisions

12:30 – Nestlé’s new CEO and the art of brand consolidation

15:00 – The 80/20 rule and why most portfolios are bloated

17:00 – “Kill a brand, keep a customer”: cutting smart

20:00 – Marketing talent and the future of brand management

22:00 – Have we over-hyped creativity?

23:00 – The 4Ps and why product and price still dominate

25:00 – Why marketers stop learning after launch

26:30 – “Strategy is the orgasm of marketing”

28:00 – OpenAI’s ad: a masterclass in bad branding

30:30 – The branding chaos in AI tools

31:50 – The “Thirties” lens: long-term change, not next-year fads

34:00 – What AI really means for marketers

36:00 – Why strong brands will still win in an AI world

38:00 – Synthetic data and the future of perfect marketing plans

40:30 – Sydney Sweeney, American Eagle & System1 scores

43:00 – Non-profits and the four Ps done right

46:00 – The Mini MBA sale & Brave Bison partnership

49:00 – The U.S. expansion plan with Adweek

51:00 – How success proved his own theories right

52:00 – On Ireland, Guinness, and the art of the deal

55:00 – Why Ireland outsmarted everyone in the EU

56:30 – Why Ritson never preps a talk — and why it works

Find out more about Tracksuit

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What happens when one of the world’s most innovative nonprofits starts thinking like a modern brand?

In this episode of That’s What I Call Marketing, Conor Byrne sits down with Brady Josephson, VP of Growth and Brand at Charity: Water, to talk about building a brand that competes for hearts, minds and wallets in the same arena as Nike or Netflix, but without their budgets.

They discuss how nonprofits can use brand tracking, future demand thinking, and marketing mix modelling to grow sustainably; how Charity Water turned trust into a growth engine; and why experimentation, intuition, and creativity matter more than ever.

In partnership with Tracksuit, the always-on brand tracking platform helping nonprofits measure what matters.

🎧 Subscribe for more conversations with marketing leaders: https://www.thatswhatIcallmarketing.com

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02:45 Brady’s path from teaching to purpose-driven marketing

05:30 The chip-on-the-shoulder moment: “How cute you work in nonprofit”

07:10 Solving the salary and perception problem with two bank accounts

09:00 The birth of Charity Water’s brand: intuition over focus groups

11:00 Proof, storytelling and tech: building Waterproof and donor trust

12:45 Rethinking competition — “We’re fighting Nike, not other nonprofits.”

15:00 From paid performance to brand tracking with Tracksuit

17:10 Future demand vs current demand: lessons from a plateau

19:45 Building brand salience when no one’s “in market”

21:00 How to run brand building on a limited budget

23:00 Experimentation, hypothesis thinking, and the difference between try, pilot, and test

27:20 Channel mix: why dominance matters more than diversification

31:10 TV, YouTube and MMM — what really drives donor acquisition

34:00 Segmentation, salience and Byron Sharp for nonprofits

36:00 The nonprofit plateau: learning from data, not instinct

37:10 AI, automation and the next frontier of giving

38:00 Brand trust and the simplicity of doing one thing brilliantly

41:00 Purpose, mastery, and marketing that matters

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PR isn't dead—it's evolved. And most brands are still playing by the old rulebook.

In this episode we sit down with three communications leaders to dissect how modern PR actually works: Pippa Doyle (Global PR at Whoop), Shireen McDonagh (Brand & Content at Legacy Communications), and Niamh Hopkins (Head of Consumer PR at Legacy).

This isn't theory. You'll hear the real story of how an agency changed a client's mind with a single email. Why Whoop runs exclusive events instead of chasing scale. How Krispy Kreme owned the news cycle in 24 hours when Leo Varadkar resigned. And why "freedom through structure" unlocks better creative than open-ended briefs.

If you're a marketer, brand leader, or agency professional wondering why your PR feels stuck in 2010, this conversation will rewire how you think about communications, content, and building brand fame in a cluttered market.

What You'll Learn:

Why PR should be renamed "communications" (and what that shift actually means)

The briefing framework that gets agencies to do their best work

How to turn one event into months of content across every channel

The truth about influencer numbers vs. engagement (and when each matters)

Why budget constraints unlock creativity instead of killing it

The "brand newsroom" model and who should be your editor-in-chief

How smaller brands can win with agility against bigger competitors

CHAPTERS:

00:00 - Introduction: The Evolution of PR

02:15 - Why "PR" Needs to Become "Communications"

04:25 - Case Study: How One Email Changed a Client's Mind

07:00 - What PR Actually Drives: Fame, Awareness & Word of Mouth

10:04 - Why Great Campaigns Start With Great Briefs

11:16 - The "Freedom Through Structure" Briefing Framework

13:14 - Why Budget Can Be a Beautiful Constraint

14:27 - Events as Content Machines, Not One-Day Moments

18:27 - Measuring Event Success: Beyond Who Showed Up

19:45 - Working With Influencers & Creators: Authenticity First

23:06 - Does Follower Count Actually Matter?

26:45 - Reactive Content Done Right: Aldi's Oasis & Krispy Kreme's Leo Moment

28:00 - The Brand Newsroom Model: Operating Like a Publisher

29:14 - Speed, Approvals & Team Alignment

32:05 - Practical Advice: Setting Up Your Comms Function for Success

37:52 - The Editor-in-Chief Role: Who Defends the Idea?

with Legacy Communications

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PR has always been about influence. Coverage, credibility, shaping the conversation. But in 2025, PR is becoming something bigger: the infrastructure that powers discovery itself.

In this episode of That’s What I Call Marketing, we unpack the collision of PR, SEO, and brand building in the age of AI search. Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and other tools are no longer sending users to ten blue links. They’re generating answers directly in the results. And those answers don’t come from nowhere.

Research shows that 89% of AI summaries trace back to earned media sources. Trusted outlets. Independent stories. Journalism that carries weight. Which means PR isn’t just a “nice to have” for reputation anymore — it’s becoming the raw material that decides whether your brand even shows up in the customer journey.

Across this conversation, we explore what that means for marketers:

• Why PR and SEO can’t live in silos, and how the brand newsroom model makes them work together.
• How to build visibility when there’s no guarantee of a click — and why being named in the answer might be more valuable than a referral.
• The role of blogs and owned content in the AI era — why they still matter, even if they never rank.
• How attribution is breaking down, and what marketers can do to rethink measurement when direct traffic and PPC get over-credited.
• Practical tactics: answering every related question in your content, writing for bots as much as for humans, and creating proof that compounds rather than one-off case studies.
• Why creative PR still matters more than ever, and how to structure stories that journalists — and machines — can’t ignore.

This isn’t a theoretical debate. It’s a frontline look at how PR is changing, why credibility is the most valuable currency in marketing, and what teams need to do to stay visible in a world where discovery is shifting beneath our feet.

If you care about where marketing is going, how to keep your brand discoverable, and why PR is entering a new golden age, this is the episode for you.

1:50 – The “oh shit” moment: Google AI Overviews

7:48 – PR as trust signals in AI

13:01 – Discovery beyond Google

15:35 – Blogs still matter

23:17 – Attribution is broken

31:22 – SEO becomes a brand function

44:08 – Writing for bots, not humans

49:20 – Don’t chase every shiny channel

57:00 – Building a Legacy

The Building A Legacy Series are in partnership with Legacy Communications

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Discover the challenges and strategies of leading brands such as Diageo and Indeed in navigating marketing spend and efficiency. Explore the rise and fall of BrewDog within the competitive beer category. Celebrate the unexpected but impactful engagement of Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs' Travis Kelce, and the buzz around Gordon Ramsay's new Wagyu burger collaboration with Burger King. With expert analysis from Tracksuit this episode is packed with valuable insights for marketers navigating a rapidly changing landscape. Don't miss out on these compelling stories rooted in brand data and strategy!

02:43 Marketing Strategies of Major Brands

04:40 Balancing Efficiency and Brand Building

06:13 The Role of AI and Organic Channels

06:32 Case Study: Indeed's Marketing Approach

08:42 Historical Evidence on Marketing Cuts

17:11 BrewDog's Market Performance

20:07 BrewDog's Brand Health and Challenges

20:35 BrewDog's Rebranding and Market Position

21:12 Cultural Impact on BrewDog's Brand

23:24 BrewDog's Competition and Strategic Moves

25:46 Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs: A Brand Collaboration

32:50 Gordon Ramsey and Burger King Collaboration

Find the hosts:

• Jasper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasperskinner/
• Dan:https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-fleming-a15854118/
• Conor: https://www.linkedin.com/in/conorbyrne/

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An in-depth conversation with the legendary Sir John Hegarty. Renowned for his groundbreaking work in advertising, Sir John shares his invaluable insights on the evolution of marketing, the role of creativity, and the future impact of AI on the industry. We explore Sir John's early career challenges, including being fired from his first job, and how these setbacks fueled his persistence and success.

Hear John talk about the campaign he loves, the one no one talks about as well as fascinating anecdotes behind iconic campaigns like Levi's 'Laundrette' and understand the magic behind their creation.

Discover why Sir John believes that creativity is the lifeblood of innovation and how companies can harness it for exponential growth. Learn about the importance of experimentation and the pitfalls of relying solely on data and algorithms.

This episode is a treasure trove of wisdom for anyone passionate about marketing, advertising, and creativity. Don't miss out on this opportunity to gain knowledge from one of the greatest minds in the industry.

00:58 Introducing Sir John Hegerty

01:17 The Knighthood Experience

03:27 Early Career Challenges

04:19 The Power of Failure

06:59 The Creative Revolution in Advertising

12:29 Iconic Campaigns and Their Impact

26:14 The Role of Humor and Testing in Advertising

34:00 The Importance of Creativity in Business

35:58 The Future of Marketing and Creativity

36:15 Stalking and Modern Advertising

37:18 The Role of AI in Marketing

39:00 Product Demonstration and AI

40:08 The CMO's New Role

42:02 The Importance of Creativity

44:41 Creativity in Business

46:29 The Impact of AI on Jobs

48:47 Experimentation and Fun in Marketing

55:22 Challenges and Fear in Marketing

01:04:20 Reflecting on a Legacy

Find out more about Sir John's course here

Visit That's What I Call Marketing here

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