Two marketers who never planned to be marketers break down exactly how they fell into the industry. One came through science. One came through life coaching. Both arrived here by accident.

Jack Ferguson and Ben Reeves are this episode's co-hosts.

Listen in to hear:

• How and why Jack lost money on his very first client
  
  
• How a podcaster launched Ben’s marketing career
  
  
• How different Jack found the automatic respect given to marketer's vs those with a scientific background
  
  
• The story behind Ben’s first client and why that business never scaled
  
  
• The moment Jack realised he was a marketer before he understood what it was
  
  
• How Ben ended up in marketing despite having no career plan to do so
  
  
• The challenges Jack faced shifting from scientific, evidence-based thinking to an opinion driven industry
  
  
• Why Ben walked away from hospitality to try life coaching before becoming a marketer
  
  
• How scientific thinking still shapes Jack’s brand strategy work today
  
  
• How a decade across agencies, tech and brand has shaped Ben’s entire marketing worldview

This episode pulls back the curtain on how Ben and Jack both got started in marketing.

About your co-hosts:

Jack Ferguson is an evidence-based brand strategist

Ben Reeves is an experienced ecommerce strategist

Helpful Links:

Find Jack on LinkedIn here: Jack Ferguson | LinkedIn

Find Ben on LinkedIn here: Ben Reeves | LinkedIn

Follow The Push on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thepush

Follow The Push on TikTok here: thepushmedialab (@thepushmedialab) | TikTok

Follow The Push on Instagram here: Instagram

Visit The Push website here: https://bethepush.com/

Visit Jack’s personal website here: https://jackferguson.co/

Visit Ben’s website here: https://benreeves.co/

Every marketer has questioned whether this career’s really for them; especially after getting blamed, burning out, or being abandoned when times get tough.

Chanel Clark joins Jack Ferguson and shares stories of being pushed out, made redundant on day one of lockdown, and writing $8 ad copy to survive, before turning it all into The Marketing Club, a 12,000+ strong community that’s kept countless marketers in the game.

In this episode:

- Jack talks about why marketing becomes the easiest function to blame, and how to stay credible when the business turns on you.

- Chanel talks about the moment she was told she didn’t belong, and how that early rejection became the fuel for everything that followed.

- Chanel talks about the humbling months writing $8 ads and risky cold emails that led to her next big break.

- Chanel talks about rebuilding confidence after getting pushed out of roles despite strong performance.

- Jack talks about how “it’s marketing’s fault” becomes corporate code for “we don’t understand our business.”

- Jack and Chanel talk about belonging, rejection, and why the marketers who stay are the ones who’ll reshape the profession.

If you’ve ever thought “maybe marketing isn’t for me,” this one will hit home.

Co-Hosted by 

Brand Strategist Jack Ferguson

And

Founder of The Marketing Club and Independent Consultant Chanel Clark

Helpful Links:

Find Jack on LinkedIn here: Jack Ferguson | LinkedIn

Find Chanel on LinkedIn here: Chanel Clark | LinkedIn

Follow The Push on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thepush

Follow The Push on YouTube here: The Push - YouTube

Follow The Push on TikTok here: thepushmedialab (@thepushmedialab) | TikTok

Follow The Push on Instagram here: Instagram

Visit The Push website here: https://bethepush.com/

Visit Jack’s personal website here: https://jackferguson.co/

Visit Chanel’s website here: Chanel Clark - Marketing Consultant

Visit The Marketing Club’s website here: The Marketing Club

Follow The Marketing Club on Instagram: Instagram

Follow The Marketing Club on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-marketing-club-au-nz

Every brand wants to stand out, but few are willing to break the rules to do it.

In this episode, Jack dives into the world of rogue brand building, the unconventional, often scrappy ideas that make brands unforgettable.

He explores how some of the world’s most unconventional brand strategies broke through.

He covers:

 • Bumble’s guerrilla campus campaign that turned curiosity into growth

 • Red Bull’s early illusions of popularity and how they seeded salience

 • Jeep’s illegal-looking parking stunts that embodied its “go anywhere” positioning

And most importantly, how thinking beyond media habits and into your customer’s actual life can make your brand feel inevitable.

Helpful Links:

Find Jack on LinkedIn Here: Jack Ferguson | LinkedIn

Find Jack's Website Here: Evidence-Based Brand Strategy & Marketing Consulting | Jack Ferguson

Visit The Push Website Here: For Senior Marketers...By Senior Marketers | The Push

Find The Push on LinkedIn Here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thepush

Find The Push on YouTube Here: The Push - YouTube

Find The Push on TikTok Here: TikTok - Make Your Day

Find The Push on Instagram Here: https://www.instagram.com/bethepush

- https://brogan.com/blog/guerrilla-marketing-example-5-jeep-outdoor-parking/

- Red Bull Out of the Box Marketing

- Bumble Early Days Brand Building

Every marketer has lived through a project that started smoothly and ended sideways.

In this episode, co-hosts Jack Ferguson and Ben Reeves discuss scope creep. They share war stories, practical scoping habits, and mindsets that keep you sane when a client says, “Can we just add one more thing?”

If you deal with unclear briefs, have underquoted projects before, or work with clients who expect magical turnarounds, this one’s for you.

On this episode:

• Jack shares how instant quotes backfire when clients haven’t done discovery
• Ben shares a story of a national retailer who cut retainers from 100 hours to 30, and what broke first
• How Ben dealt with a client who ignored hours, then blamed output
• Jack shares a story of a prospect who wanted a full brand refresh price “on the spot”
• Why marketers should document everything, even internal emails and sign-offs
• How to protect your boundaries without sounding defensive

         And 

• Why sometimes letting a client learn the hard way is the most strategic move you can make

Your co-hosts:

- Jack Ferguson is an evidence based brand strategist

- Ben Reeves is an experienced ecommerce strategist

Helpful Links:

Find Jack on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackfergusonmymm/

Find Ben on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benreevesco/

Follow The Push on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thepush

Follow The Push on TikTok here: thepushmedialab (@thepushmedialab) | TikTok

Follow The Push on Instagram here: Instagram

Visit The Push website here: For Senior Marketers...By Senior Marketers | The Push

Visit Jack’s personal website here: Evidence-Based Brand Strategy & Marketing Consulting | Jack Ferguson

Most of us remember Play-Doh from childhood, but few of us realise what makes it truly distinctive. 

In this episode, Brand Strategist Jack Ferguson explores how a product known for its texture built enduring emotional equity through something far less obvious.

He explores:

• How a brand's strongest assets and true distinctiveness can emerge accidentally, and what that means for you
• The overlooked power of non-visual assets like smell, touch, and sound
• How brands like Play-Doh, AFL, and Coca-Cola encode sensory memories that last
• Why marketers should pay attention to how brands are felt, not just seen
• Why “transcending senses” may be the next frontier for brand distinctiveness

A thought-provoking episode for senior marketers who want to build brands that stick in memory, sometimes in ways we never planned.

Helpful Links:

Find Jack on LinkedIn Here: Jack Ferguson | LinkedIn

Find Jack's Website Here: Evidence-Based Brand Strategy & Marketing Consulting | Jack Ferguson

Visit The Push Website Here: For Senior Marketers...By Senior Marketers | The Push

Find The Push on LinkedIn Here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thepush

Find The Push on YouTube Here: The Push - YouTube

Find The Push on TikTok Here: TikTok - Make Your Day

Find The Push on Instagram Here: https://www.instagram.com/bethepush

Play-Doh Finally Launches Play-Doh For Adults

Hasbro Trademarks a Favorite Smell from Childhood: The PLAY-DOH Scent | Hasbro

Smells like victory: registering scent trade marks in Australia - Trademark - Australia

Meet the Exclusive Club of Trademarked Scents in the U.S.

Friends was a hit sitcom released in the 90s, known for its feel-good humour and iconic characters. The show’s success is a sight to behold, maintaining popularity even to this day. 

Though not only was it loved by millions, but it's also a case study in superb branding. 

In particular, its theme song is the perfect distinctive brand asset. 

In this episode we break this down and discuss why.

Evidence-based brand strategist Jack Ferguson is your host.

He discusses: 

• How “I’ll Be There for You” became a masterclass in distinctive branding, and how it endured for 30 years
• How the song’s composers capitalised on the song’s initial interest
• The compounding salience effect: how a single asset multiplied exposure and made the Friends brand iconic
• How to recognise “Friends potential" in other brands (with examples)
• How to design your own brand promotional flywheel, inspired by this Friends case study

Helpful Links: 

Find Jack on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackfergusonmymm/

Follow The Push on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thepush

Follow The Push on TikTok here: thepushmedialab (@thepushmedialab) | TikTok

Follow The Push on Instagram here: Instagram

Visit The Push website here: For Senior Marketers...By Senior Marketers | The Push

Visit Jack’s personal website here: Brand Strategist + Marketing Consultant — Jack Ferguson

The Push has hit Episode 50 for Season 3!

With 99% of podcasts not making it past Episode 20, we thought this was a great opportunity to stop and reflect.

Listen in as your host Jack Ferguson shares 50 lessons from producing 50 episodes! 

He covers:

• Our podcast tech stack
• How much it costs to produce and promote the podcast every year
• What the season’s most downloaded episodes are
• The number of views Season 3 podcast content has on YouTube
• How the podcast has attracted clients
• Tactics that were effective for promotion, and those that weren’t
• How listener feedback has been utilised to improve the podcast over time
• How the podcast was named and the origins of the brand ‘The Push’
• Decisions that have been made about the future of the podcast

Helpful Links:

Find Jack on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackfergusonmymm/

Follow The Push on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thepush

Follow The Push on TikTok here: thepushmedialab (@thepushmedialab) | TikTok

Follow The Push on Instagram here: Instagram

Visit The Push website here: For Senior Marketers...By Senior Marketers | The Push

Visit Jack’s personal website here: Brand Strategist + Marketing Consultant — Jack Ferguson

Marketing careers don’t stall by accident; they stall because the way agencies hire, reward, and manage talent leaves a lot to be desired.

This episode is co-hosted by:

- Brand Strategist Jack Ferguson 

and 

- Fractal Marketing Agency Owner Gerard Doyle

Here’s what the episode covers:

• Gerard shares a story of how a prominent brand fired an agency in the midst of a talent shortage, only for it to backfire
• Gerard explains why the best marketers are often the first to leave when agency redundancies hit, and what the early warning signs of an agency on the slide are.
• Gerard explains why junior marketers should avoid recruiters, and why senior marketers should engage them instead
• Gerard shares the hard truth about why agencies are often hired as a client’s “job insurance” and what that reveals about power dynamics, blame-shifting, and agency-client relationships.
• Jack talks about wildly overloaded marketing JDs and how it is all too common at the moment
• Gerard discusses how FIFA ticket purchases can be a ‘job security test’ and what it says about generational differences in career confidence
• Gerard talks about why he thinks pay secrecy fuels turnover, and how transparent pay could fix it
• Gerard discusses the importance of highlighting the quiet achievers in marketing agencies instead of rewarding the squeaky wheels

Helpful Links:

Find Jack on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackfergusonmymm/

Find Gerard on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerarddoyle/

Follow The Push on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thepush/

Follow The Push on TikTok here: thepushmedialab (@thepushmedialab) | TikTok

Follow The Push on Instagram here: Instagram

Visit The Push website here: For Senior Marketers...By Senior Marketers | The Push

Visit Jack’s personal website here: Brand Strategist + Marketing Consultant — Jack Ferguson

Visit Gerard’s website here: The Startup Marketing Agency for Founders and Entrepreneurs – Helping Entrepreneurs find customers for their amazing services and inspiring solutions

 With 2 million businesses in Australia and most brands blending into a sea of sameness, is uniqueness even achievable, or worth chasing? 

In this solo episode, Jack Ferguson unpacks what the data says about meaningful differentiation (spoiler: only 5–10% of brands get there), explores why most brands blur together, and introduces the idea of “demand point constellations” as a pathway to true brand growth. 

If you’re a senior marketer wrestling with strategy, stakeholder persuasion, or simply trying to build something that stands apart, this episode will give you fresh angles and practical ways to think about brand value beyond the usual “point of difference” clichés. 

Hosted by:

Jack Ferguson - Host of The Push, and Brand Strategist

Helpful Links:

Find Jack on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackfergusonmymm/

Follow The Push on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thepush

Follow The Push on TikTok here: thepushmedialab (@thepushmedialab) | TikTok

Follow The Push on Instagram here: Instagram

Visit The Push website here: For Senior Marketers...By Senior Marketers | The Push

Visit Jack’s personal website here: Brand Strategist + Marketing Consultant — Jack Ferguson

Studies/posts referenced in episode:

Evidence concerning the importance of perceived brand differentiation: https://www.marketingscience.info/wp-content/uploads/staff/2015/08/different.pdf

The myth of brand differentiation: Consumers believe that only 5% of brands are unique. What do you do if you’re in the 95%?

Household brands losing ground Deloitte reports: America's Household Brands Losing Ground, Deloitte Reports

Havas Meaningful Brand Survey: Inside Havas' Meaningful Brands 2023 report– adobo Magazine

Brands proven to grow 5x faster when meaningfully different: Brands proven to grow 5X faster when meaningfully different: Kantar

What makes brands grow like crazy? https://lnkd.in/p/gsddA6QA

Building a brand is hard enough; but when you’re a marketer, the challenge intensifies. You feel the pressure to be perfect, and every misstep feels like you “should’ve known better.” 

Brand Strategist Jack Ferguson and Founder of the Marketing Club Chanel Clark co-host this episode.

In this episode, Chanel shares how leaning into authenticity and vulnerability, rather than perfection, built her credibility, grew the Marketing Club to 10,000 members, and turned simple diary-style LinkedIn posts into a fully booked consultancy and speaking opportunities with Google and SXSW.

The episode covers:

• How Jack accidentally picked a fight on LinkedIn and went viral
  
  
• How Chanel and Jack’s discomfort around talking about personal achievements makes self-promotion feel unnatural
  
  
• How Chanel has noticed marketing professionals struggle to transition from promoting others to promoting themselves
  
  
• The pressure Chanel believes marketers feel to present a perfect, polished image online
  
  
• How Chanel launched the Marketing Club from a simple Slack community and grew it to 10,000 members in two and a half years
  
  
• How Chanel’s public disclosure of losing $80,000 in her first year of business became a powerful LinkedIn post
  
  
• Chanel’s experience running a successful consulting business for 18 months without a website
  
  
• How Chanel built a personal brand by documenting her marketing journey through “diary entries” on LinkedIn
  
  
• How Chanel overcame her initial discomfort with self-promotion by being authentically vulnerable online
  
  
• How Chanel became fully booked within a month of launching her consultancy
  
  
• How Chanel grew her profile to secure speaking slots at SXSW and Google

Find links to Jack's and Chanel's online profiles below:

Find Jack on LinkedIn here: Jack Ferguson | LinkedIn

Find Chanel on LinkedIn here: Chanel Clark | LinkedIn

Follow The Push on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thepush

Follow The Push on TikTok here: thepushmedialab (@thepushmedialab) | TikTok

Follow The Push on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/bethepush

Visit The Push website here: For Senior Marketers...By Senior Marketers | The Push

Visit Jack’s personal website here: https://jackferguson.co/

Visit Chanel’s website here: Chanel Clark - Marketing Consultant

Visit The Marketing Club’s website here: The Marketing Club

Follow The Marketing Club on Instagram: Instagram

Follow The Marketing Club on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-marketing-club-au-nz