The Whole Marketer podcast

Episode #137. Today's episode is a holistic topic on how the breadth and depth of marketer’s roles are continuing to evolve as we move towards leading the long-term commercial agenda, understanding the advancements in science and neuromarketing for how consumers make decisions and adopting AI into our everyday lives. 

Abby’s guest is legendary marketing leader, Margaret Jobling, Group Chief Marketing Officer at NatWest Group. Before joining Natwest in 2020 and implementing agile ways of working, “Tomorrow Begins Today” brand platform and the NatWest partnership with team GB for the Paris Olympics in 2024, Marg has spent the majority of her marketing career in FMCG categories, working on some iconic brands such as Lynx, Dove, Radox, Cadbury, Dairy Milk and Birds Eye, as well as Director of Marketing for British Gas. 

In this episode, Margaret shares her definition of the role of marketing today and how it has evolved, the art and science of marketing, learnings as a CMO, marketing in the age of AI and building trust and authenticity with consumers in a digital environment. 

Plus Margaret’s career highs and howlers, and advice for marketers of tomorrow. 

00:00:00 Welcome and why we need evolving skills in marketing today 

00:03:13 Defining of the role of Marketing 

00:05:40 Key shifts in marketing 

00:06:42 Impact of technology on customer interactions 

00:10:05 What are the skills required for modern marketers 

00:11:27 The future of marketing with AI and building trust 

00:20:53 Skills Margaret looks for when hiring marketers 

00:24:56 Building relationships with stakeholders 

00:28:14 Experimentation, Curiosity and Continuous Learning 

00:31:16 Margaret’s Career Highs and Howlers 

00:36:31 Advice for marketers of tomorrow 

Host: Abigail (Abby) Dixon FCIM/ICF | LinkedIn

Guest: Margaret Jobling | LinkedIn

The Whole Marketer podcast is here to support and empower the people behind brands and businesses with the latest technical tools, soft and leadership skills and personal understanding for a fulfilling marketing career and life as a whole. For more info go to www.thewholemarketer.com 

Episode #136. This episode is a personal understanding topic for working parents to help you gain fulfilment in your life as a whole - navigating the reality of being both a marketer and a parent and what you can do to balance both worlds when work and home life collide. 

Joining Abby is her guest Rachel Morris, an Exec business coach, co-founder of Motion Learning and best-selling author of ‘Working Mother’, a book inspired by Rachel’s decades of expertise and practice coaching new parents as they leave and return to work.  

In this episode, Rachel shares her definition of working parents, challenges faced particularly by mothers, insights on setting boundaries, self-care, and the emotional struggles during transitions like maternity leave. 

Plus Rachel’s advice for working parents. 

00:00:00 Welcome and challenges faced by Working Parents. 

00:02:21 What is a Working Parent?  

00:04:01 Rachel's motivation for writing ‘Working Mother’ book. 

00:09:46 Common emotional patterns experienced by working parents. 

00:10:41 Overwhelm during maternity leave preparation. 

00:12:40 Fear and anxiety in new parenthood.  

00:16:58 Challenges of returning to work. 

00:20:21 Why you should set boundaries.  

00:25:54 Understanding what gives you energy. 

00:32:53 Empowerment to gain clarity and direction. 

00:37:17 Finding fulfilment to gain balance. 

Host: Abigail (Abby) Dixon FCIM/ICF | LinkedIn

Guest: - Rachel Morris MNCIP, PCC - | LinkedIn

The Whole Marketer podcast is here to support and empower the people behind brands and businesses with the latest technical tools, soft and leadership skills and personal understanding for a fulfilling marketing career and life as a whole. For more info go to www.thewholemarketer.com

Episode #135. Today’s topic is a technical skill on copywriting and its critical role in driving action and building brand trust. 

Joining Abby to discuss is seasoned copywriter Dave Harland aka the Word Man. A naturally entertaining storyteller, over the past two decades Dave has built a notable career in persuasive writing that captures attention for brands such as Google, Jaguar, Tesco and Castor. He is a regular speaker at industry events and also has a LinkedIn following of almost 100k people who enjoy his witty stories - particularly leading scammers down rabbit holes and challenging bad actors on the internet. 

In this episode Dave shares his definition of copywriting, 3 effective copywriting principles, when brands get it wrong, empathy for your audience, copywriting tips and brand success stories.  

Plus Dave’s career highs and lows and advice for marketers. 

00:00 Welcome and why the art of copywriting is so important for marketers. 

05:44 How being entertaining converts consumers into loyal fans. 

07:52 Ryanair excels at self-deprecating, entertaining branding. 

13:16 Brands misuse clichés and jargon which impacts consumer engagement. 

18:56 Empathy is crucial for effective copywriting skills. 

22:20 Knowing what is interesting to your audience. 

26:50 How to improve your writing skills. 

31:37 How Dave turned a career low into university writing opportunity. 

36:46 Dave’s career high and advice for marketers. 

Host: Abigail (Abby) Dixon FCIM/ICF | LinkedIn

Guest: Dave Harland | LinkedIn

The Whole Marketer podcast is here to support and empower the people behind brands and businesses with the latest technical tools, soft and leadership skills and personal understanding for a fulfilling marketing career and life as a whole. For more info go to www.thewholemarketer.com 

Episode #134. Today’s topic is Agency Partnerships – what makes a great client-agency relationship and perspective from both sides of the fence. 

Joining Abby to discuss is Richard Robinson, awarded "One of the ten most influential Leaders in Digital & Tech" (BIMA) and Campaign A-List 2024. Richard is highly experienced in the client (McDonalds, Coca-Cola) and agency (Publicis Worldwide) world and as an intermediary for both at Xeim Engage and Oystercatchers. In his latest role as Executive Director of Ingenuity+ and Exco member of The Ingenuity Group, UK's largest connector of brands with agencies, Richard specialises in connecting the Marketing World. 

In this episode Richard shares the two fundamentals of a great agency partner, the role of account handling, all agency ‘rules of engagement’, quality of briefing, plus insight from Ingenuity+ ‘Redefining the pitch’ report and why Richard is excited about the future of his new role. 

Read a copy of Ingenuity+ report mentioned in this episode: Ingenuity + Redefining The Pitch (ingenuitylondon.com)

Host: Abigail (Abby) Dixon FCIM/ICF | LinkedIn

Guest:  Richard Robinson🔥 | LinkedIn

This episode is sponsored by House of Performance 

Need to up your game in PPC, Paid Social or Display? 

House of Performance are a team of passionate marketeers growing ambitious brands through paid media. 

For a free mini audit, get in touch with the team at https://houseofperformance.co.uk/wholemarketer 

The Whole Marketer podcast is here to support and empower the people behind brands and businesses with the latest technical tools, soft and leadership skills and personal understanding for a fulfilling marketing career and life as a whole. For more info go to www.thewholemarketer.com 

Episode #133. Strategy is the technical skill explored in this episode, with a lens on simplifying the process to ensure marketers have not only the vision and clarity for where you want to take your brand or business, but also ensuring you have the actionable plan to get you there. 

Discussing simplified strategy is Abby’s guest, Alice Benham - entrepreneur, business & marketing strategist and fellow podcaster as host of ‘Starting the conversation’ podcast. Alice works with small businesses to grow their brands online and recently published her book ‘The Digital Marketing playbook’. 

In this episode Alice shares her definition of strategy, ensuring strategy is actionable, simplifying the process in 3 steps, the buyer’s journey, content as value, push and pull, urgency & scarcity and examples of small businesses successfully building their brand online. 

Plus Alice shares her career highs and lows and advice for marketers. 

Host: Abigail (Abby) Dixon FCIM/ICF | LinkedIn

Guest: Alice Benham | LinkedIn

This episode is sponsored by House of Performance 

Need to up your game in PPC, Paid Social or Display? 

House of Performance are a team of passionate marketeers growing ambitious brands through paid media. 

For a free mini audit, get in touch with the team at https://houseofperformance.co.uk/wholemarketer 

The Whole Marketer podcast is here to support and empower the people behind brands and businesses with the latest technical tools, soft and leadership skills and personal understanding for a fulfilling marketing career and life as a whole. For more info go to www.thewholemarketer.com 

Episode #132. The focus of this episode is wellness for marketers, and the importance of prioritising your wellbeing not only for your health but to also ensure you have the energy to thrive in our fast-paced and challenging – yet rewarding - profession. 

Abby’s guest to discuss wellness is EY’s Chief Marketing Officer, Rebecca Hirst. Rebecca is an award-winning marketer who has worked on some of the biggest global brands including Samsung, Coca-Cola and Kimberly-Clark. This topic of ‘wellness’ is a particular passion point for Rebecca as, alongside her marketing career, she has a post grad in Nutrition and historically even set up a health coaching business to help other marketers and highflyers to incorporate wellness into their day-to-day. 

In this episode, Rebecca shares her definition of wellness, rest and restore for marketers, her own journey to setting up ‘Glorious Wellness’ and practical tips for real world wellness and how you can role model this for others. 

Plus her career highs and lows and advice for marketers. 

Host: Abigail (Abby) Dixon FCIM/ICF | LinkedIn

Guest: Rebecca Hirst | LinkedIn

This episode is sponsored by House of Performance 

Need to up your game in PPC, Paid Social or Display? 

House of Performance are a team of passionate marketeers growing ambitious brands through paid media. 

For a free mini audit, get in touch with the team at https://houseofperformance.co.uk/wholemarketer 

The Whole Marketer podcast is here to support and empower the people behind brands and businesses with the latest technical tools, soft and leadership skills and personal understanding for a fulfilling marketing career and life as a whole. For more info go to www.thewholemarketer.com 

Episode #131. Today’s episode is a personal understanding topic on finding your ideal role; looking beyond the job title for a role that plays to your strengths and values and is fulfilling for you. 

Joining Abby to discuss ideal roles and shining a light on hiring practices in the marketing is profession is Lauren Spearman. Lauren is a seasoned marketing professional with over 17 years of experience with brands such as Sky, Benefit Cosmetics and MADE.com. Now thriving as a freelance Brand Consultant, Lauren uses her growing platform on TikTok to champion pay transparency and improved recruitment practices in the marketing industry through her candid insights and advocacy efforts. 

In this episode, Lauren shares her definition of an ideal role, green and red flags hiring practices, salary transparency, interview tasks, advice for hiring managers, giving and receiving feedback when job searching. Plus career highs and lows. 

Download your free workbook on how to find your ideal role here Resources and free support - The Whole Marketer 

Host: Abigail (Abby) Dixon FCIM/ICF | LinkedIn

Guest: Lauren Spearman | LinkedIn

This episode is sponsored by House of Performance 

Need to up your game in PPC, Paid Social or Display? 

House of Performance are a team of passionate marketeers growing ambitious brands through paid media. 

For a free mini audit, get in touch with the team at https://houseofperformance.co.uk/wholemarketer 

Episode #130. Season 8 begins with a soft skill on being human and the importance of ‘humanness’ particularly for marketing leaders - being authentic, honest and open in order to build relationships with your team and connect more deeply with your customers and consumers. 

Joining Abby is Dom Dwight, former Marketing Director and now Director of strategy, insight, product innovation and diversification for Taylors of Harrogate – best known for Yorkshire Tea, the UK’s number one tea brand. 

In this episode, Dom shares his marketer’s definition of being human, humanness for brands and marketers, the role of AI to free up space for marketers to be more human, vulnerability and imperfections, leadership learnings and psychological safety for marketing teams and agencies. Plus Dom’s career highs and lows. 

Host:  Abigail (Abby) Dixon FCIM/ICF | LinkedIn

Guest: Dom Dwight | LinkedIn

This episode is sponsored by House of Performance 

Need to up your game in PPC, Paid Social or Display? 

House of Performance are a team of passionate marketeers growing ambitious brands through paid media. 

For a free mini audit, get in touch with the team at https://houseofperformance.co.uk/wholemarketer 

The Whole Marketer podcast is here to support and empower the people behind brands and businesses with the latest technical tools, soft and leadership skills and personal understanding for a fulfilling marketing career and life as a whole. For more info go to www.thewholemarketer.com 

Episode #129. Understanding grief is the topic of this episode, an area of personal understanding to support ourselves but also others in our care that may be experiencing grief. 

*Trigger warning: This episode contains discussion around bereavement and loss of a child. 

A complex and personal process, grief is the intense feeling of loss of someone or something which can manifest physically, mentally and emotionally.   

Abby’s guest is Lucy Hudson, Managing Director of McCann Birmingham which is part of McCann Central, the UK’s largest marketing communications integrated agency. Lucy is a WACL Talent Award Winner, mentor and founding member of The Margot Collective, McCann World group’s first female-led consulting collective.  

After losing her daughter Poppy to a brain tumour, Lucy is dedicated to talking and writing about the effects of grief, particularly in the workplace. 

In this episode, Lucy shares her definition of grief and how it becomes a part of you, the impact bereavement has in the workplace, companies making admin and return to work easier, ‘pre-grief’ and understanding all the elements of loss (finance, identity, career, your own health). Plus practical advice for employers to support colleagues.  

Host: Abigail (Abby) Dixon FCIM/ICF | LinkedIn

Guest:  Lucy Hudson | LinkedIn

The Whole Marketer podcast is here to support and empower the people behind brands and businesses with the latest technical tools, soft and leadership skills and personal understanding for a fulfilling marketing career and life as a whole. For more info go to www.thewholemarketer.com 

Episode #128. The Burnout Miniseries ep5 – The last episode in our mini-series on burnout shares the story of an agency marketer who, following her experience of extreme burnout, uses the power of breathwork, meditation and wellbeing to help and prevent burnout in others. 

Abby’s guest is Briony Gunson, mindset coach, wellbeing trainer, meditation teacher and breathworker. Passionate about supporting people in managing stress, anxiety and burnout, some of Briony’s corporate clients include NHS, EY, Santander, Lloyds bank, We Work and Freemasons. 

In this episode, Briony shares her definition and experience of burnout, listening to your mind and body system, processing trauma, safe spaces, slowing down feeling uncomfortable and power of breathing and techniques. 

Plus her advice for marketers of tomorrow. 

Host: Abigail (Abby) Dixon FCIM/ICF | LinkedIn

Guest:  Briony Gunson | LinkedIn

The Whole Marketer podcast is here to support and empower the people behind brands and businesses with the latest technical tools, soft and leadership skills and personal understanding for a fulfilling marketing career and life as a whole. For more info go to www.thewholemarketer.com