The WARC Podcast

Aussie telco Telstra has successfully implemented core effectiveness principles across its brand. CMO Brent Smart joins WARC's Anna Hamill to discuss Telstra's brand evolution.

A fierce debate has broken out about the definition of television in 2025. Should TV advertising be defined by format, device or media owner? WARC's David Tiltman and Alex Brownsell are joined by guest editor Omar Oakes to examine the evidence.

Les Binet and Sarah Carter - two of marketing's most influential thinkers - join the pod to discuss where effectiveness is now, and where it's going next. Hosted by WARC's David Tiltman.

In today's climate, consumers are more nervous to spend. Brands need to show real value and connection and new usage occasions can help lower price sensitivity, and curb sales decline. WARC's Vaniele Casimir and Ann Marie Kerwin share examples of brands making the most of this strategy.

Not all influencer content is equally valuable in driving revenue. Dan Wilson, Co-Founder/Chief Data Officer of Charlie Oscar, joins WARC's Paul Stringer to discuss keys to creator effectiveness, based on evidence from 30 brands.

How can marketers reconcile the need for growth with the need for sustainability? Award-winning brand strategist Benoit Wiesser, Sustainable Marketing Compass' Alexis Eyre, and former Dove CMO Alessandro Manfredi discuss why we need Effectiveness 2.0.

What are the big trends in creative effectiveness for 2025? WARC's John Bizzell and Anna Hamill examine the big narratives emerging from this year's Creative Effectiveness Lions.

Leo India is the world's top ad agency for effectiveness, according to the 2025 WARC Rankings. WARC's Rica Facundo talks to Amitesh Rao (CEO) and Rajdeepak Das (CCO Publicis Groupe South Asia) about embedding effectiveness into agency culture.

Canva's journey from startup to global design brand has been nothing short of extraordinary. Canva's Kristine Segrist, Global Head of Consumer Marketing, joins WARC's Anna Hamill to share how its marketing strategy evolved as the company has grown.

New research from Fospha explores how quickly e-commerce marketers can expect to see payback from long-term brand building activity. Sam Carter, Fospha's CEO, joins WARC's Alex Brownsell to share the findings.

Industry legend Sir John Hegarty joins to talk all things creativity, his AI optimism, reframing risk, and...Taylor Swift? Hosted by LIONS' Paul Kemp Robertson. Check out the video version on WARC's YouTube channel.

The decline of the open internet, the rise of sell-side curation, and the next era of brand safety. WARC's Paul Stringer is joined by Joe Root, CEO/co-founder of Permutive to discuss the biggest trends shaping programmatic advertising in 2025.

With eight $1 billion+ brands, Kraft Heinz's commitment to building creative platforms is essential to growth. Chief Growth Officer Diana Frost joins the pod to discuss how Kraft Heinz is rethinking marketing effectiveness. Hosted by WARC's Ann Marie Kerwin.

Brian Morrissey (The Rebooting) joins to discuss big shake-ups in media including the impact of AI, Trump 2.0, and new revenue models with WARC's Alex Brownsell and David Tiltman.

Mark Ritson goes off-script to answer listener questions about Byron Sharp's view on pricing, agency upheaval, creators, AI, brand mega-deals and more with WARC's David Tiltman. Check out the video version on WARCs YouTube channel.

More and more senior strategy leaders are leaving ad agencies to go independent. Tom Morton, Suzanne Powers and Faris Yakob join the pod to discuss what the indie life offers. Hosted by WARC's David Tiltman.

E.l.f Beauty has seen 24 consecutive quarters of sales growth and market share gains. CMO Kory Marchisotto joins to discuss how marketing has played an outsized role in e.l.f's growth. Hosted by WARC's Anna Hamill.

Retail media's questionable creativity credentials may be holding it back from securing a greater share of brand marketing budgets. Commentators Andrew Lipsman, Colin Lewis and Kiri Masters joined WARC at Cannes Lions to explore how the industry can respond.

Aussie insurance giant Suncorp knows a thing or two about resiliency: both as a 120+ year brand, and through helping its customers in the toughest of times. Mim Haysom, EGM - Brand & Marketing, joins WARC's Rica Facundo to discuss what effectiveness means to Suncorp.

It's a Contagious takeover episode! Unilever's Esi Eggleston Bracey talks about the company's marketing refresh, and TikTok star Eugene Healey (eugbrandstrat) discusses why brands want to turn up in culture with Contagious's Adam Richmond.

Instacart grew from a tiny start-up in 2012 to 82.3 million grocery orders in Q1 2025. CMO Laura Jones joins the pod to share how marketing played an important role in that growth. Hosted by Ann Marie Kerwin, Americas Editor, WARC Strategy.

Creative Strategy Lions jury president Pats McDonald and juror Yusuf Chuku share tips on what drives outstanding creative strategy, jury deliberations and much more with WARC's John Bizzell.

Shoppers around the world buy Unilever's Dirt Is Good laundry products 120 times per second. Tati Lindenberg, Chief Brand Officer for Dirt Is Good, joins to discuss localising a global masterbrand, partnerships with Arsenal FC and much more. Hosted by WARC's Anna Hamill.

2025 Creative Effectiveness Lions jurors Andrea Diquez (Global CEO, GUT) and Martin Beverley (CSO, Ace of Hearts) share insights into the jury's decision-making process, the campaigns that impressed them, and tips on how to win a Lion. Hosted by WARC's John Bizzell.

How Brene Brown quotes helped Mercado Libre win dozens of Lions, some real talk on creators and inside stories from a Lions jury room. Hosted by WARC's David Tiltman.Guests: Sean Summers, Chief Marketing Officer, Mercado Libre; Fernando Ribiero, Global Chief Strategy Officer, GUT; Anastasia Leng, CEO and Founder, CreativeX; John Bizzell, Head of Awards, WARC

Mind-blowing new research on reach promises to reshape media investment. We also discuss Love Bonito's brand growth story and keys to multimarket success.Guests: Felipe Thomaz, Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Oxford; Stuart Bowden, Global Chief Strategy and Product Officer at WPP Media; Gurdeep Puri, Founding Partner at the Effectiveness Partnership; Andreas Krasser, CEO, DDB Hong Kong; Dione Song, CEO, Love Bonito

It's time to shake up how we think about creativity. Experts guests including System1, Heineken, Rob Campbell, Paula Bloodworth and Kantar drop by the pod with their perspectives on where creativity is going next.Guests: Paula Bloodworth, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer Alien Baby, Chief Marketing Officer of Idris Elba's IE7; Rob Campbell, Chief Strategy Officer, Colenso; Andrew Tindall, SVP, Global Partnerships, System1; Natasha Maharaj, Global International Brands Director, Heineken; Vera Sidlova, Global Creative Thought Leadership Director, Kantar

Brand building in a complex media landscape is the talk of the Croisette. Festival speakers including McDonalds, Spotify, Dr Grace Kite, the IPA, and Tracksuit join us to share about how to get it right.Guests: Michael Ainette, Chief Creative Officer, FCB New York; Rich Frankel, Global Creative Director, Spotify Advertising; Dr. Grace Kite, VP Analytic Partners; JJ Healan, VP of U.S. Marketing, Brand, Content & Culture; Laurence Green, Director of Effectiveness, IPA; Connor Archbold, Co-CEO of Tracksuit.

We're in Cannes! Expert speakers drop in to discuss unshittifying CX, the 'eye-watering' financial impact of dull media and how to unearth more insightful trends. Guests: Yael Cesarkas, Executive Strategy Director, R/GA; Dr Karen Nelson-Field, Founder, Amplified Intelligence; Adam Morgan, co-founder, eatbigfish; Amy Daroukakis, Founder, Culture Connectors. Hosted by Rica Facundo, Managing Editor - APAC, WARC.

Building influence in the C-suite, the creator takeover and 'unshittifying' CX... it's all happening at Cannes Lions 2025. WARC's David Tiltman and Anna Hamill discuss the big stories to watch at Cannes this year. Find out more about Creative Impact here.

Kidults, social fitness and the rise of conservative video... WARC's Adi Kishore and Stephanie Siew dig into entertainment and leisure trends marketers need to know.

Brand strategy has been 'enshittified', argues Richard Huntington, CSO of Saatchi and Saatchi, in his new book Feral Strategy. He speaks to WARC's Lena Roland about why marketers need to throw off the constraints of orthodoxy and dogma to fix bland and uninspiring work.

S4 Capital's Sir Martin Sorrell joins the pod to talk industry upheaval, AI, and how Asia is setting the pace for advertising's next era with WARC's Rica Facundo.WARC's report,The Pace Principle, is a landmark analysis and mythbusting guide built on consistent data from across Southeast Asia, Greater China, and India, to prove what marketing strategies work in dynamic markets like Asia to drive outsized impact. WARC Members get the full report along with practical insights to help CMOs and marketers of every level to apply these ideas to their own work, exemplary case studies, and a deck's worth of charts to help you drive growth in dynamic and diverse markets. If you're yet to subscribe, don't worry - you can also get a sample report here. 

Producing high-quality insights and seizing cultural moments are challenges to creative confidence, according to new research. Natalia Ball (Mars Pet Nutrition) and Annie Smith (LIONS Advisory) join WARC's Anna Hamill to discuss the state of creativity in 2025. Read the full study here: State of Creativity 2025: A call for confidence.

Now is the time for marketers to build relationships and more trust with the CEO and CFO. WARC's Cathy Taylor talks to Mary Kyriakidi, Global Thought Leader at Kantar and Eric Tsytsylin, Brand Strategy Partner at Lippincott about how marketers can prove marketing's worth in challenging times. WARC members can read the full WARC Guide on “Making the case to the C-Suite: How to prove marketing drive growth in uncertain times” here.

Amazon's media 'side hustle' is booming, but that's only part of the story. WARC's Alex Brownsell and Celeste Huang discuss how Amazon's burgeoning ad empire offers new opportunities to brands.

This year's biggest measurement trends include experiments, pricing effects, AI-powered creative testing and more. WARC's Paul Stringer sits down with Ekimetrics' Matt Andrew to discuss how marketers can maximise benefit in a changing landscape.The Future of Measurement 2025 explores the latest emerging trends in media and creative measurement.WARC Members can read the report in full hereIf you're yet to subscribe, you can find a sample report here

Entertainment-driven brands like Duolingo are thinking about brand building differently. Dan Salkey, Co-Founder & Strategy Partner at Small World and Michaela Kron-Hags, Global Marketing Campaign Director at Duolingo join WARC's Catherine Driscoll to discuss disruptive ways to build a brand.

Consumer changes, pricing, politicization, retail media and more. Ian Whittaker, co-founder at Liberty Sky Advisors, joins WARCs Anna Hamill to pick out the top stories to watch from quarterly earnings season.

Retail media is expanding beyond e-commerce ecosystems and into channels like social media and connected TV. Kiri Masters, an independent commentator on the retail media industry, discusses the opportunities and potential pitfalls with WARC Media's Alex Brownsell.

Economic upheaval is hitting consumer confidence hard, and 'nouveau nihilism' is on the rise. Traci Alford, Global CEO at Effie Worldwide, and Shaun Dix, Global Service Line Leader and CEO/Creative Excellence at Ipsos, discuss their new consumer report on Nouveau Nihilism with WARC's Cathy Taylor.

Which work made the podium in this year's regional WARC Awards? WARC's John Bizzell and Anna Hamill dig into the highlights. See all the winners across regions on our awards page.

The relationship between brands and news media has deteriorated in recent years. WARC's Alex Brownsell is joined by Omar Oakes, founder at OOmph and Jamie Credland, CEO of World Media Group, to discuss why and how the relationship can bounce back.To learn more, read the latest Global Ad Trends, part of WARC Media, a quarterly report which draws on WARC's dataset of advertising and media intelligence to give a holistic view on the industry.WARC Media subscribers can read the report in full.If you're yet to join, you can find a sample of the report here.

How can brands move to a truly integrated 'brand x performance' model? In this fourth installment covering WARC's Multiplier Effect research, Americas Editor Ann Marie Kerwin sits down with Prophet's Kate Price and Marisa Mulvihill.Prophet is a contributing partner on The Multiplier Effect, along with Analytic Partners, BERA.ai and System1.WARC Members get the full report ⁠⁠along with practical insights to help CMOs and marketers of every level to apply these ideas to their own work, exemplary case studies, and a deck's worth of charts to help you make your argument to the CFO. If you're yet to subscribe, don't worry - you can also ⁠⁠get the full report here⁠⁠.

As tariffs, and fear of recession, roil the global economy, Koen Pauwels, distinguished professor of marketing at Northeastern University in Boston, discusses paths forward for brands and consumers with WARC US Commissioning Editor Cathy Taylor.

WARC's Jenny Chan speaks with two top marketers Dhiren Amin (Income Insurance) and Jiunn Shih (Zespri Kiwifruit) to unpack the new Pace Principle report — and explore how these brands are putting twin-pace thinking into practice.WARC Members can read the Pace Principle here⁠.If you're yet to subscribe, don't worry - you can also ⁠get a sample report here⁠. 

The economy is hurting, and so are ad spend forecasts. WARC's Catherine Driscoll and Anna Hamill discuss how brands can stay effective on a low budget.

Does long-term brand building work in fast-paced markets? WARC's new research, the Pace Principle, proves the case. WARC's Jenny Chan asks Rica Facundo and Rob Brittain how to outrun the competition in Asia's dynamic markets.WARC Members can read the Pace Principle here.If you're yet to subscribe, don't worry - you can also get a sample report here. 

New WARC data models potential scenarios for media channels and key global markets as a result of economic upheaval. WARC's Alex Brownsell and James McDonald go through the numbers.WARC Subscribers can read the full Q1 2025 Global Ad Forecast update here.

How to convince leadership, especially the CFO, that investing in brand building isn't just a fluffy expense, but a critical driver of long-term, profitable growth. Americas Editor Ann Marie Kerwin talks with Preston Rutherford, cofounder of the men's apparel brand Chubbies, and Marathon, a new platform designed to measure the revenue impact of brand initiatives.

Congrats to 'ADLaM: An alphabet to preserve a culture' by Microsoft and McCann NYC, winners of the Effective 100. McCann's Socrates Papazoglou joins WARC's Anna Hamill to share the inside story behind the winning work.Find the full WARC Effective 100 Rankings here.