Oliver sits down with Orlando Wood, Chief Innovation Officer at System1 Group and author of Lemon and Look Out, to unpack how advertising has shifted from right-brain showmanship to left-brain salesmanship, and why that’s costing brands attention, memorability, and growth.

From Yorkshire Tea’s witty, character-led “Everything’s Done Proper” to the unsettling “stare” creeping into modern branding, Orlando shows how right-brain showmanship, story, character, humor, and music consistently outperform left-brain salesmanship, tight close-ups, on-screen commands, and cut-heavy edits. He explains how rebalancing the two can boost emotional connection, embed memories, and make both brand building and performance work harder across B2C and B2B.

With billions wasted on dull ads, the stakes are real: emotionally engaging creative amplifies extra-share-of-voice returns, reduces price sensitivity, and strengthens brand salience. 

For marketers, creatives, and business leaders, this episode delivers actionable insights on anchoring ideas in brand purpose, stress-testing creative through iterative sprints, and using automation to amplify, not replace, emotional storytelling.

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