In this episode of The Six Sells Podcast, Mike Nicholson spoke to Ian Whittaker who is the MD and Owner of Liberty Sky Advisors.

With over 20 years’ experience as an equities analyst covering global media, digital, and technology, Ian is recognised for his pattern recognition across cycles — identifying how shifts in technology, regulation, geopolitics, and capital markets translate into strategic risk, valuation outcomes, and long-term competitive advantage.

Double winner of the City AM Analyst of the Year Award he brings a financial markets mindset to industry decision-making, and an industry practitioner’s realism to financial and boardroom discussions.

Here are some of the topics we discussed in this episode.

Open AI and the ongoing narrative

The SME advertising market

The innovation of ad tech and the small company advantage

Scale and knowledge within larger companies

Ad tech and process

Redesigning everything you thought before

The potential consolidation of LLMs

Locking into the AI ecosystem

Transformation in media and tech due to AI

Potential apocalypse for traditional media

The attention economy

The ideological battle of all audiences being equal

Looking under the iceberg and changing perceptions

Moving towards a results driven world

The foundations being laid for transformation

The spend on technology and the results that it produces

The ‘grey swan’ and the ripple effect

About The Six Sells Podcast:

The Six Sells Podcast is for people working in marketing, media, advertising and adtech.

There are over 130 episodes and counting, and the biggest episodes have achieved 30,000 views across all platforms.

Want to get in touch? Email [email protected]

Who is Six Sells?

Six Sells is a UK-based executive visibility and thought leadership agency that works globally with CEOs and senior leaders in media, advertising, adtech and technology.

Founded in 2018, we turn each executive's expertise into distinctive, authoritative content in their own voice, built to reach two audiences at once: the humans that matter to them, and the AI models those humans now ask for answers.

Our work combines executive ghostwriting, video, podcasts, photography and awards to build familiarity, trust and authority across LinkedIn, Reddit, YouTube, Substack, the trade press and the wider web.

We also help executives and their companies improve their visibility in AI search and large language models (LLMs) through generative engine optimisation (GEO), increasing the likelihood that platforms including ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Perplexity and Claude can discover, understand, cite and recommend their expertise.

Email [email protected] for more information.

In this episode of The Six Sells Podcast, Mike Nicholson spoke to Cadi Jones who is the SVP Emea at Index Exchange.

Cadi is also an ambassador for AdTech Connect and her experience includes MD at Pixability, CCO at Qmee, Commercial Director at Beeswax, Commercial Innovation Director at Clear Channel, Head of Partnerships at Bloom and 7 years at Yahoo!

Here are some of the topics we discussed in this episode.

Pitching CTV to the media buyer

Combining the power of CTV with digital advertising and targeting

The early challenges of VOD and the comparison to CTV

Who brands are trying to reach

Targeting and CTV

The partnerships with DSP’s

CTV and measurement - bridging linear and digital thinking

Brands leaning into MMM assessment and applying geographical, regional hold-outs

The impact on sales

CTV as part of retail media strategies

The evolution of local TV advertising

Rapid disruption and how AI is impacting the industry

Driving outcomes, adoption and performance

Standards within CTV and making things possible

Avoiding repetition within CTV

Live events and programmatic advertising

What’s next for CTV

About The Six Sells Podcast:

The Six Sells Podcast is for people working in marketing, media, advertising and adtech.

There are over 130 episodes and counting, and the biggest episodes have achieved 30,000 views across all platforms.

Want to get in touch? Email [email protected]

Who is Six Sells?

Six Sells is an executive visibility agency for CEOs and senior leaders working in media, advertising, and technology.

Content published by executives consistently reaches more people, earns more engagement, and attracts more meaningful responses than content published by brands.

With that in mind, we work with CEOs and senior leadership teams to create consistent, credible content that reaches the people who matter most to your business.

In this episode of The Six Sells Podcast, Mike Nicholson spoke to Alice Anson, who is the Director of Digital Media at Nectar360.

Alice is also an IAB UK board member and her impressive experience includes Head of Digital Partnerships at Eurostar, negotiating global contracts at The Body Shop, trading and marketing at lastminute.com and direct management at Amazon.

Here are some of the topics we discussed in this episode.

Within retail media, which word is the most important? Retail or media?

Advertising in the aisle

Retail media networks and walled gardens

Delving into the data and building an IP

Balancing the needs of the shopper and the advertiser

The right message at the right time with the customer at the heart

Managing stakeholder expectations

Targeting the right consumer with your brand

Above the line campaigns within retail media

Connected stores and bringing screens and apps together to infuse data cues

How data powers the store experience

The power aisle

Modelling customers and purchasing decisions

How AI is integrated into the retail media network

Audience building and media planning

Unlocking measurement and the ambition for real time programmatically serviced results

The weather and responding to real time cues

Transparency and standards within measurement

About The Six Sells Podcast:

The Six Sells Podcast is for people working in marketing, media, advertising and adtech.

There are over 130 episodes (and counting), and the biggest episodes have achieved 30,000 views across all platforms.

Want to get in touch? Email [email protected]

Who is Six Sells?

Six Sells is an executive visibility agency for CEOs and senior leaders working in media, advertising, and technology.

Content published by executives consistently reaches more people, earns more engagement, and attracts more meaningful responses than content published by brands.

With that in mind, we work with CEOs and senior leadership teams to create consistent, credible content that reaches the people who matter most to your business.

In this episode of The Six Sells Podcast, Mike Nicholson spoke to Tomas Forsbäck, who is the CEO and Founder of ReadPeak.

ReadPeak have helped over 1,000 brands to make native advertising a strategic part of their marketing through their innovative platform. Described as a ‘rock star founder’ by his peers Tomas is an entrepreneur who has set himself a mission to prove that with the right technology native advertising can beat social media platforms in conversion rates.

Here are some of the topics we discussed in this episode.

Advantages of startups adopting new AI ad tech

Strategic and tactical AI approaches

Fitting into the new AI world to look at how your business needs to evolve

Thinking about what an AI driven market will look like in 5 years time

The importance of coding with AI

How your education will change to adapt to this skills shift

Coders as architects and their new emerging job roles

The explosion of apps in a noisy marketplace

Planning for a future that is vastly unpredictable

The Open Web, publishers and advertising

Changing models - what needs to change in an AI world

What social media have done really well in marketing

The reach and frequency argument

Attentive reach and frequency and outcomes

The importance of the ad experience and integrated placements

Going beyond the impression based model

Native content blending in to stand out

The impact of audible books and the impact of A/B testing

About The Six Sells Podcast:

The Six Sells Podcast is for people working in marketing, media, advertising and adtech.

There are over 125 episodes (and counting), and the biggest episodes have achieved 30,000 views across all platforms.

Want to get in touch? Email [email protected]

Who is Six Sells?

Six Sells is an executive visibility agency for CEOs and senior leaders working in media, advertising, and technology.

Content published by executives consistently reaches more people, earns more engagement, and attracts more meaningful responses than content published by brands.

With that in mind, we work with CEOs and senior leadership teams to create consistent, credible content that reaches the people who matter most to your business.

In this episode of The Six Sells Podcast, Mike Nicholson spoke to Carly Activille, who has over 20 years of advertising experience working across digital, print, magazines, newspaper, demand gen, programmatic, podcasts, and events.

Carly’s background spans the Daily Mail, Express, ReachLocal, Publications UK, Dennis, Future and now Audience Q where she is the Managing Director. A proud member of MEFA, she describes herself as data driven and an omnichannel enthusiast!

Here are some of the topics we discussed in this episode.

Starting out in regional press

How personal circumstances can affect career progression

Challenges and how they shape women in the workplace

Talking about IVF and the grief of baby loss

Being a voice and support for others

The importance of protected leave

Enabling leaders to have difficult conversations

Nurturing leaders and championing your team

Mutual respect, safe spaces and team culture

Mentorship and lifting others up

Harnessing lived experience to answer questions

Believing in yourself and keep doing what you’re doing

Being visible and putting yourself forward

LinkedIn, events and podcasts

Never questioning your value

Find the places that know your worth

Growth, encouraging and championing your team

About The Six Sells Podcast:

The Six Sells Podcast is for people working in marketing, media, advertising and adtech.

There are over 100 episodes and counting, and the biggest episodes have achieved 30,000 views across all platforms.

Want to get in touch? Email [email protected]

‍

Who is Six Sells?

Six Sells is an executive visibility agency for CEOs and senior leaders working in media, advertising, and technology.

Content published by executives consistently reaches more people, earns more engagement, and attracts more meaningful responses than content published by brands.

With that in mind, we work with CEOs and senior leadership teams to create consistent, credible content that reaches the people who matter most to your business.

In this episode of The Six Sells Podcast, Mike Nicholson spoke to Ollie Deane, former Director of Commercial Outdoor and DAX at Global, Agency Group Head at Clear Channel and now Co-Founder of The GoodNet - winner of Campaign’s Start Up of the Year 2025 Award.

Here are some of the topics we discussed in this episode.

Understanding the UN definition of sustainability

Sustainability as a transformational challenge

The opportunity and the challenge

Meaningful progress within sustainability

Sustainability as a business driver

Sustainability as a driver for performance

The three C’s - content, carbon and corporate

The metrics to put in place to reach your bigger goals

Chasing progress over perfection

Brands and responsible manifestos

Programmatic, carbon and wasted energy

Curation within the industry and the levers that can be pulled

Licensing data and activating media

About The Six Sells Podcast:

The Six Sells Podcast is for people working in marketing, media, advertising and adtech.

There are over 100 episodes and counting, and the biggest episodes have achieved 30,000 views across all platforms.

Want to get in touch? Email [email protected]

‍

Who is Six Sells?

Six Sells is an executive visibility agency for CEOs and senior leaders working in media, advertising, and technology.

Content published by executives consistently reaches more people, earns more engagement, and attracts more meaningful responses than content published by brands.

With that in mind, we work with CEOs and senior leadership teams to create consistent, credible content that reaches the people who matter most to your business.

At MAD//Fest North in 2026, Rory Sutherland shared a top marketing tip with Mike Nicholson. Here it is in just over one minute.

In this episode of The Six Sells Podcast, Mike Nicholson spoke to Dean Harris, Head of Co-Op Media Network, accountable for commercial strategy, proposition development, marketing, operations. Innovation and team leadership.

Here are some of the topics we discussed in this episode.

The decision behind creating a retail media network

Separating the proposition away from supermarket grocery retail media towards convenience retail media

The big punch of a small shop

Treating the network as a brand  

The importance of positioning

Challenging the status quo about small baskets

Trust and the importance of people

Events that signal credibility

Easy to buy, easy to serve and easy to sell

Sharing the proposition, the evidence, creating curiosity and having the conversation.

The importance of relationships

Varied purchase cycles and the serendipity of B2B

The importance of being visible on LinkedIn with your personal brand

Familiarity, trust and credibility

The convenience environment and the shopping mindset

Brand equity, loyalty, trial and non negotiables

The mission based approach

About The Six Sells Podcast:

The Six Sells Podcast is for people working in marketing, media, advertising and adtech.

There are over 100 episodes and counting, and the biggest episodes have achieved 30,000 views across all platforms.

Want to get in touch? Email [email protected]

Who is Six Sells?

Six Sells is an executive visibility agency for CEOs and senior leaders working in media, advertising, and technology.

Content published by executives consistently reaches more people, earns more engagement, and attracts more meaningful responses than content published by brands.

With that in mind, we work with CEOs and senior leadership teams to create consistent, credible content that reaches the people who matter most to your business.

In this episode of The Six Sells Podcast, Mike Nicholson spoke to Lucy Verby who has 20+ years of experience in the agency sector heading up strategy at PHD, Dentsu and Carat before founding her strategic consultancy We Are Masterplan - teaching everything from critical thinking, to pattern recognition and tailoring approaches to both customers and clients. Lucy is also the Founder and Chair of UN//SCENE a creative and marketing festival designed to platform fresh thinking and new voices.

Here are some of the topics we discussed in this episode.

The whisper becomes a shout - the transition to running a company and the reformation of priorities

The powerful, the powerless and the pointless - the importance of shaping and reclaiming the media narrative

Defining strategy and lining up behind a definition that works

The optimal path to your goals within your resources

Articulating your strategic platform and avoiding word salads

Shifting mindsets and getting from point A to point B

The importance of teaching strategy and reflecting consumer mindsets

The myth that only certain people are good at strategy and avoiding gatekeeping

Unlocking the potential of your whole team

The process and the practice of strategy

Strategy as a team sport and taking the pressure off

Finding the opportunities to drive growth and uncover what is useful

Critical thinking and pattern recognition

What growth looks like and differentiation in the marketplace

Accepting and absorbing AI and the importance of critical thinking

About The Six Sells Podcast:

The Six Sells Podcast is for people working in marketing, media, advertising and adtech.

There are over 100 episodes and counting, and the biggest episodes have achieved 30,000 views across all platforms.

Want to get in touch? Email [email protected]

‍

Who is Six Sells?

Six Sells is an executive visibility agency for CEOs and senior leaders working in media, advertising, and technology.

Content published by executives consistently reaches more people, earns more engagement, and attracts more meaningful responses than content published by brands.

With that in mind, we work with CEOs and senior leadership teams to create consistent, credible content that reaches the people who matter most to your business.

In this episode of The Six Sells Podcast, Mike Nicholson spoke to advertising royalty Patrick Collister, Custodian of The Caples Awards, creative guru, ad trainer, honorary Fellow of the IPA and author extraordinaire about his distinguished career.

Here are some of the topics discussed:

Writing the ‘Accrington Stanley, Who Are They?’ Milk ad and the story behind it

Hiring planners to test a hypothesis and test patterns within data to drive insights

Getting signoff from everyone including Ian Rush, to Liverpool FC to Margaret Thatcher

The proudest ads of Patrick’s career from ‘The Water in Majorca’ to Heinz Baked Beans

Making ads memorable and the difference between the 80’s and today

Left brain advertising and the importance of featuring relatable characters and people

The process of writing a TV ad

The ingredients of the perfect ad and the three P’s - people, plot, place

Importance of creativity and change

About The Six Sells Podcast:

The Six Sells Podcast is for people working in marketing, media, advertising and adtech.

There are over 100 episodes and counting, and the biggest episodes have achieved 30,000 views across all platforms.

Want to get in touch? Email [email protected]

‍

Who is Six Sells?

Six Sells is an executive visibility agency for CEOs and senior leaders working in media, advertising, and technology.

Content published by executives consistently reaches more people, earns more engagement, and attracts more meaningful responses than content published by brands.

With that in mind, we work with CEOs and senior leadership teams to create consistent, credible content that reaches the people who matter most to your business.