Business of Marketing

Recorded live at Cannes Lions, John Horsley sits down with Alistair Hill, Co-Founder of On Device, to explore why marketing measurement still gets so much wrong.

They discuss why click-through rates can be a terrible measure of brand effectiveness, the growing problem of survey fraud, how brands can connect brand lift to commercial outcomes, and why AI is shifting measurement from reports consumed by people to data consumed directly by machines.

Alistair so explains why the smartest marketers are moving towards outcomes-based planning, why confidence matters when balancing brand and performance, and why being able to find and tell stories through data remains one of the most valuable skills in marketing.

Emma Armstrong, CEO of BBDO New York and Global Transformation Officer at BBDO Worldwide, joins John Horsley live from Cannes Lions to discuss AI, creativity, brand building and the future of agencies.

Emma explains why the role of a modern agency goes far beyond making advertising. The best agencies act as business partners, helping clients understand shifts in culture, technology and consumer behaviour, then turning those changes into ideas that build brands and drive growth.

As Emma puts it, agencies are “translators of the world into brands.”

They discuss why brand building is becoming more important as media fragments and customer journeys become increasingly complex, and why the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence could make human creativity and judgement more valuable, not less.

Emma also explores the risk that “AI drives us to the mean”. While AI can accelerate research, analysis and repetitive tasks, she argues that distinctive brands still depend on people who can think differently, make connections and apply judgement.

The conversation also covers:

• Creativity as a measurable driver of business growth

A wide-ranging Cannes Lions conversation about BBDO, artificial intelligence, creativity, brand strategy and why great agencies still have an essential role in helping businesses stand out and grow.

In this episode of The Business of Marketing, John Horsley sits down with Erin Chin, Global Head of Brand Marketing at Logitech G, live from Cannes Lions, for a wide-ranging conversation about brand, creators, fandom and the changing media landscape.

Erin explains why Logitech G treats creators as business partners, not marketing channels, and how its “design by collaboration” approach brings gamers, esports professionals and creators directly into the product development process.

They discuss why brands need to stop over-engineering creator partnerships, the importance of giving creators genuine freedom, and why the ambition shouldn’t be to control every expression of a brand, but to build something communities actively want to make their own.

The conversation also explores:

Why creator authenticity matters more than tightly controlled brand messaging

How Logitech G co-creates products with gamers and esports professionals

Why fandom can become one of a brand’s strongest competitive advantages

Supporting creators beyond the commercial relationship, including mental health and underrepresented communities

The huge shift in Gen Z media consumption towards TikTok, YouTube and creators

How brands should measure creator impact beyond traditional engagement metrics

Why share of search can reveal whether creator activity is genuinely driving interest

How AI search and answer engines are changing brand visibility, earned media and content strategy

Why brand remains a competitive moat that competitors and “dupes” cannot easily replicate

What marketers can learn from the best work at Cannes Lions about keeping ideas simple

Erin also shares lessons from a career spanning Goldman Sachs, P&G, Diageo, Proximo Spirits, PepsiCo and Mountain Dew, and explains why deep consumer understanding remains at the heart of great marketing.

A conversation about what happens when brands stop treating audiences as targets and start building products, stories and communities people genuinely want to participate in.

Carmen Rodriguez, Global Chief Growth Officer at GUT, on bravery, sustainable growth and why the best agencies know when to say no.

Recorded live at Cannes Lions, Justin Cooke sits down with Carmen Rodriguez to explore what growth really looks like when creativity, culture and commercial ambition all have to move together.

Carmen explains why GUT sees itself as “a brave agency for brave clients”, why bravery isn’t binary, and how the agency uses a bravery scale to help brands become progressively bolder without losing sight of the business outcome.

They discuss:

Carmen also shares the thinking behind GUT’s philosophy that “bravery means business”, and why consistency, creativity and the courage to make uncomfortable decisions can ultimately drive stronger commercial results.

A brilliant conversation about the business of creativity, recorded live at Cannes Lions 2026.

Michael Scott, Global CRO, LoopMe: Why Brand Performance Is Back

What happens when marketers focus too heavily on the 5% of consumers already in market?

Michael Scott, Global Chief Revenue Officer at LoopMe, joins John Horsley live from Cannes Lions to discuss why brands need to start filling the top of the funnel again, and how better data, AI and real-time measurement are making brand investment easier to prove.

They explore the shift from web to mobile apps, the growing importance of first-party data, why immersive mobile experiences are becoming more valuable, and how AI is changing targeting, optimisation and product development.

Michael also explains why marketers need to simplify ad tech, move beyond jargon and focus on the outcomes that actually matter to the business.

In this episode:

Recorded live at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

The Business of Marketing brings together senior leaders shaping the future of marketing, media, technology and business.

Tracey Shirtcliff, Founder & CEO of Scope Better, joins John Horsley live from Cannes Lions to unpack one of the biggest commercial problems facing agencies: why so many are still pricing the future using models built for the past.

Having previously built and sold agency workflow platform Traffic Live, Tracey has spent years inside the economics of creative and professional services businesses. Her argument is simple: agencies cannot embrace AI, automation and new ways of working while continuing to sell hours, roles and rate cards.

In this episode, they explore:

Tracey also explains why the agencies that win will be those that treat pricing and scoping as a strategic discipline, not an administrative task.

“The Excel spreadsheet is 30 years old. It’s not a model for the new world.”

A sharp conversation about agency economics, AI, pricing, profitability and what it really takes to build a more scalable services business.

Recorded live at Cannes Lions from the DEPT® Secret Garden.

Tom Murphy, Chief Creative Officer at VML, joins John Horsley live at Cannes Lions for a sharp conversation about creativity, AI, advertising and what actually makes people pay attention.

They discuss why “a thousand times zero is still zero”, how too many decision-makers can average great ideas down, why taste matters more in the age of AI, the return of craft and analogue culture, and why the best brands sometimes need to let go of control.

Plus, Tom explains why advertising is “always dying”, why Cannes Lions still matters, and what he looks for in the next generation of creative talent.

Recorded live at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Growth isn't a playbook. It's a series of decisions.

What separates companies that scale from those that stall?

Michael Lehman, President Americas at Equativ, has led growth across venture-backed startups, private equity businesses and companies preparing for exit. In this conversation with John Horsley, recorded live at Cannes Lions, he explains why every stage of growth demands a different strategy.

From product-market fit and commercial execution to leadership, AI and the future of premium publishing, Michael shares a refreshingly practical perspective on building businesses that last.

Topics include:

• Why there is no blueprint for growth

An in-depth conversation about leadership, growth and navigating one of the fastest-changing industries in business today.

What if the future of marketing isn't advertising at all?

Recorded live at Cannes Lions, Justin Cooke sits down with Matt Longley, CEO of Mobsta, to explore why the next competitive advantage won't come from buying media more efficiently, but from understanding human behaviour better.

Matt shares how Mobsta evolved from a mobile targeting business into an intelligence platform, why customer success should sit at the centre of every business, and why agencies need to think more like consultants than media buyers.

They discuss:

• Why the "perfect moment" matters more than audience segments.

A conversation about leadership, data, AI, and building businesses around curiosity instead of convention.

AI isn't fixing broken go-to-market strategies. It's exposing them.

Recorded live at Cannes Lions, John Horsley is joined by Fiona McKenzie, President, Europe at Marketbridge, for a practical conversation about what AI is really changing inside modern marketing organisations.

Rather than chasing the latest AI tools, Fiona argues that marketers should be fixing the fundamentals first. Poor data, disconnected teams, fragmented technology and outdated processes don't disappear with AI. They become even bigger problems.

In this episode, they discuss:

• Why AI is amplifying broken go-to-market systems rather than repairing them.

They also explore why agencies are becoming transformation partners, why sales, marketing and customer teams need shared KPIs, and what separates the organisations pulling ahead from those simply adding more AI tools.

If you're leading marketing, revenue or digital transformation, this episode is packed with practical insight on building a connected go-to-market strategy that can actually benefit from AI.