Series Five

This episode of The New Abnormal features Gareth Kay, Partner at The Intangibles 'the transformation consultancy for the intangible world'. He's spent over two decades working in, and learning from, some of the best creative companies in the world. 

In that time, Gareth realized there is no ‘one way’ to shape and deliver valuable brands that create sustainable demand, but there are some principles that hold true: that problem-finding is at least as important as problem-solving; that being interesting is as important as being right; that great brands are built by their behavior not just their narrative; that the biggest risk facing many businesses is the false division between ‘brand’ and ‘product’; that a strategy is only as good as the work it delivers. 

(By the way, he makes a return to the podcast, having been one of my first guests when I set the series up, back in 2000 during the first weeks of the pandemic). 

Gareth has earned himself a stellar reputation in the marketing world, and in this interview he discusses leading-edge thinking about the business context of today and how to unlock value for the world's most ambitious equity firms and brands...

Series Five 

This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Epaminondas Christophilopoulos, who is a Foresight, Strategy, Innovation and long-term planning advisor to government, private corporations and NGOs. 

A highly experienced foresight researcher with an extensive track-record on international projects and sound academic credentials, he's an expert on internationalization and research commercialization, and has managed projects in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. 

With a track record on several boards and expert advisory role in public policy institutions in Innovation, Culture, Agrofood, Environment, Security; Epaminondas is a UNESCO Chair on Futures Research, the President of MOMus, and is the ex-Chief Scientific Advisor for Foresight to the Greek Prime Minister.

In this episode we cover all of the above, along with his views on a range of catalytic issues being discussed in futurist-circles in 2025. And, as a bonus, he also discusses 'Russian Cosmism' a radical biopolitical utopian perspective espoused by the philosopher Nikolai Fedorov in the late 19th C, in which he 'rejected the contemplative for the transformative, aiming to create not merely new art or philosophy but a new world'. 

So...enjoy!

Series Four 

This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Jan Berger, the Founder & CEO of Themis Foresight. 

Based in Berlin, his company anticipates economic, technological, social and political drivers of future change. He and his team are driven by the conviction that outstanding futures research is key for the strategic direction of Europe's business and entrepreneurial elite. 

Jan's academic training was in Modern & Contemporary History and Slavic Studies, which led him to take an MA at Lomonosov Moscow State University. He's lived and worked on four continents, and has held leadership positions in corporations and startups. 

So...we discuss all of the above in what I hope you'll agree is a dynamic conversation!

Series Four

In this episode of 'The New Abnormal' I interview Nils Muller, CEO & Founder of TrendONE - a specialist agency that's a market leader in identifying key trends in fast moving branches of business. 

In our discussion, Nils discusses their methodologies and approach to working for clients such as BMW and Airbus, his viewpoints on developing 'Brand Germany' and takeouts from the Dubai Future Forum - having just returned from a hot and sunny UAE to a cold and snowy Germany. 

Hence, we discuss a range of topics covered at the forum, including Future Generations,  Future Education, and the Future of Nature regarding Planet-Centric Innovation.  Along the way, we also cover issues such as the latest thinking around Foresight, Strategic Growth, Collaborative Approaches and Futures-Literacy regarding Complexity, Experimentation and Anti-Fragility. 

So, I hope you enjoy listening to Nils as much as I did!

Series Four

In this episode of The New Abnormal, I interview Chris Arning, Founder of the boutique consultancy Creative Semiotics Ltd, co-founder of Semiofest, and course leader of 'How to do semiotics in seven weeks'. 

He works with best-in-class virtual teams to analyse brands in order to make them more coherent and true to themselves, more distinctive within their category and sector, and more resonant and relevant within the prevailing (and ever changing) culture. 

The outcome of his work is new pack designs, communication strategies, new systems for content creation and better equipped, more confident brand teams. He does that via semiotics: an evidence based technique rooted in academia via the premise that preference is driven by the intangible aspects of brands that activate associative thinking. 

Chris has a stellar reputation in his field, and in this interview he gives a brief masterclass in his specialist subject(s). So...enjoy!

Series Four

This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Michael Beverland, Professor of Brand Strategy, Strategy & Marketing, at the University of Sussex Business School.

He's an innovator in marketplace authenticity and strategic design research, as well as cultural marketing insights.

Michael is also the author of 'Building Brand Authenticity: Seven Habits of Iconic Brands' and 'Brand Management: Co-creating Brand Meaning'. (Which provides an overview of the controversies and debates, leading thinking and enduring challenges in brands and branding, including historical context, cultural & critical perspectives).

We discuss all of the above, therefore including issues such as classic and leading-edge thinking relating to branding / strategy / marketing, along with how these subjects are currently taught in business schools. Michael is an expert in his field, so I hope you enjoy listening to (and learning from) him as much as I did!

Series Four

This episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features Phil Balagtas, author of the superb new book 'Making Futures Work'.

Phil is also a former Design Director at McKinsey Design and General Electric (Digital & Aviation) with over 20yrs of experience as a Digital Interaction Designer and Design Leader working across sectors inc aviation, aerospace, airlines, advertising, retail, utilities, and public sector. 

He's also a Facilitator, Futurist and Founder of the Design Futures Initiative (a nonprofit based in San Francisco), the Speculative Futures network and PRIMER conference - initiatives dedicated to the education and advancement of Futures Thinking and helping organisations develop business and product strategies for the near and far future through Strategic Foresight and Speculative Design. 

In this fascinating conversation, we discuss all of the above. So...enjoy!

Series Four

This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Matt Boffey, Chief Strategy Officer at Design Bridge and Partners. He’s part of its Senior Leadership Team and Executive Committee, managing a business of nearly 300 people in London, where he leads a strategy team of ‘the brightest and best brand & design thinkers on the planet’! 

We discuss a range of career highlights (so far) including how he authored transformational brand strategies for the likes of Adidas and Deliveroo, developed world-famous global creative campaigns for Nike, and originated the much-imitated ‘Good Food Deserves Lurpak’ campaign. 

Elsewhere, Matt outlines the latest issues impacting the world of agencies, and how to encourage and enable a dynamic internal agency culture. He’s a really dynamic thinker, so I hope you enjoy listening to his viewpoints as much as I did. 

Series Four

This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features the brand innoventor & commercial strategist Stephanie Vilner-Sheppard, who consults globally on strategy to help clients innovate and futureproof their P&L (for people and planet). She’s a problem solver for brands and businesses, through a lens of planet-centred design-led thinking.

That problem solving might mean creating innovation pipelines or setting short-, mid- to long-range strategy, or pointing out white space that’s harder to see once you’re in a company obsessing over short term results. It will likely mean bringing in insights from seemingly far afield and disconnected to a particular industry vertical, pulling on deliberately disparate insights. 

In this wide-ranging interview, she explains how to see opportunities before others, her experience at the G20 where she was elected ‘Lead Delegate’ by EY, how she advised the Mexican President on futureproofing education, and why L’Oreal offered her any job in the company.

She’s deep multi-sector / multi-market experience, and so we discuss all of the above, and more, in this dynamic conversation. 

Series Four

This episode of ‘The New Abnormal’ podcast features the strategic psychologist Dr Max McKeown - a writer, consultant & researcher specialising in innovation strategy, leadership and culture. He’s written a series of influential books and conducts research with Warwick Business School.  

An advocate of innovation culture, he also argues that failure can be positive for progress if it is viewed as part of learning. He makes a distinction between change and progress, "change is inevitable but progress is not". 

His book on strategy was one of the winners at the Chartered Institute of Management's Book of the Year Awards, Max argues that "strategy is about shaping the future" and approaches the subject as something that people do, both as style of thinking and the combination of actions taken along with their consequences. 

So, we discuss the above and his viewpoints on those including Sartre and de Beauvoir along with topics including satisfaction, dissatisfaction, radical freedom, progress, and the illusion of stability.

Finally, he also gives us advanced notice of his next book 'Super Adaptability'.