The WARC Podcast

Brands are increasingly looking toward micro and nano creators for social cut-through. Marcus Yong, VP - Global Marketing at travel brand Klook, joins WARC's Rica Facundo to discuss how smaller creators can help target niche segments while still scaling for reach, based on frameworks from WARC's Pace Principle 2.0 research. Guests: Marcus Yong, VP - Global Marketing, Klook Rica Facundo, Managing Editor - Asia, WARC For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

The gap between creative and media is closing, with large scale creative data and next-gen measurement tools combining to predict commercial outcomes, not just clicks. Boots' Peter Grant, CreativeX's Anastasia Leng and DAIVID's Ian Forrester join the pod to share the lessons from a pilot experiment at health and beauty retailer Boots, and what its taught them about the future of creative effectiveness. Hosted by WARC's David Tiltman. Guests: Peter Grant, interim media and marketing effectiveness director, Boots Anastasia Leng, founder and CEO of CreativeX Ian Forrester, founder and CEO of DAIVID Chapters: [00:00] Boots, CreativeX and DAIVID’s Real‑World Test [03:55] Boots’ effectiveness journey [05:49] 3,500 assets at scale: how CreativeX built creative observability for Boots [07:43] What is a creative quality score? [09:32] Inside DAIVID’s model: attention and brand recall metrics [11:41] Human ground truth vs synthetic data panels [12:52] Linking creative signals to real‑world commercial outcomes [14:55] Results of the testing on Meta and YouTube [17:22] Diagnosing boredom, confusion and underperforming creative at scale [20:02] How Boots uses creative data to reinvest, not cut, media spend [22:02] From one‑off analysis to always‑on optimization [24:34] Feeding signals into GenAI and creator workflows [27:26] Fixing long‑tail content waste in digital media [30:18] Common language for creative and media teams [38:06] Boots’ 18‑month vision: operationalized creative effectiveness For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

Failing to usher buyers from discovery to purchase in the fewest possible steps is often seen as a setback. This belief misunderstands the consumer purchase journey, according to new research. Mindscope's Lea Karam and TikTok's Elias W. Bassil join WARC's Alex Brownsell to discuss the alchemy of customer consideration. Guests: Lea Karam, CEO & Founder of Mindscope Elias W. Bassil, Regional Head of Business Marketing, TikTok METAP Alex Brownsell, Head of Content, WARC Media Chapters: [0:10] – Introducing “The Alchemy of Consideration” with TikTok & Mindscope [1:56] – Does Marketing Misunderstand the Consideration Phase in the Customer Journey? [3:28] – Why Traditional Journey Models Are Broken [5:51] – Reframing Decision-Making Beyond Funnel Thinking [10:41] – What Is a Behavioral Pause? [12:57] – Desire vs Need: Liking, Wanting, and Value Alignment in Consumer Choice [13:42] – How Pauses Show Up on TikTok [16:54] – The Cost of Forcing Narratives in the Consideration Phase [18:18] – Short-Term KPIs vs Long-Term Brand Building: Rethinking the Attention Economy [21:10] – The Four Forces of Consideration: Social, Cognitive, Contextual, and Emotional [23:18] – Why Context Has Veto Power: Viewing Environment and Mental Availability [27:44] – How Brands Can Improve Consideration Effectiveness For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

Effectiveness expert James Hurman joins to discuss the key ideas in his new book 'Future Demand', why performance marketing is plateauing, how brands really grow, and the nuances of building a dual measurement system. Hosted by WARC's David Tiltman. Guests: James Hurman, marketing effectiveness expert and author, 'Future Demand' David Tiltman, Chief Content Officer, WARC Chapters: [00:00] Introduction to James Hurman’s new book 'Future Demand' [03:21] Solving diminishing returns in performance marketing [07:07] Explaining 'future vs current demand' with the 95–5 rule and Ehrenberg-Bass insights [09:39] Why advertising doesn’t directly cause short-term sales [11:18] How consideration sets drive 84% of brand choice [13:20] Making marketing make sense to the C-suite [16:19] Advertising’s true role is misunderstood [22:38] Two jobs of advertising: brand building for future demand vs performance for current demand [23:20] How to measure brand and performance impact [27:15] Using emotional metrics as leading indicators [31:10] How digital-first brands rebalanced brand and performance [35:41] The 'two audience problem': why brands must be machine-readable and human-lovable For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

Instacart's Laura Jones returns to share practical lessons from Instacart's brand transformation, including prioritising effectiveness, brand-first marketing strategy, partnerships, Instacart's chase to win a Cannes Lion and much more. Guests: Laura Jones, Chief Marketing Officer, Instacart Ann Marie Kerwin, Americas Editor, WARC Chapters: [00:00] Introduction: Instacart’s marketing transformation project [01:36] Building the Instacart brand: From performance-pnly to full-funnel marketing [03:47] Balancing functional messaging and emotional storytelling [05:24] Redefining marketing measurement: From last-touch ROAS to portfolio impact [08:02] Explaining marketing effectiveness to the C-suite [09:25] Scaling an in-house creative agency [12:31] Instacart's 2026 Super Bowl campaign [16:41] Brand-building partnerships: WNBA and Feeding America [19:27] Brand stewardship: A new view on marketing effectiveness [21:22] Embedding brand across product, CX and culture [21:33] Learning from Cannes Lions and Raising the Creative Bar For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

The biggest creative risk? Not being creative enough. System1's Andrew Tindall joins WARC's Ann Marie Kerwin to discuss the multiplier effect of creativity, how brands can be more creative, and why it's essential to marketing that truly moves the dial for brands. Read The Multiplier Playbook research from WARC here: https://www.warc.com/en/the-multiplier-playbook-2026 Watch WARC's podcast on The Creative Dividend, a major new effectiveness study from System1 and Effie Worldwide, based on more than 1,200 Effie cases: https://studio.youtube.com/video/wH_tJ8xBfHA/ Guests: Andrew Tindall, Chief Advertising Officer, System1 Ann Marie Kerwin, Americas Editor, WARC Chapters: [00:00] Intro: The multiplier effect of creativity [01:52] Why future demand matters in brand building [02:18] How advertising drives brand growth [03:30] Why interesting, engaging creative beats narrow targeting [06:33] Creativity’s impact on short-term sales vs long-term brand effects [07:02] Emotional, distinctive, entertaining ads drive immediate response [10:46] The real 'cost of dull' in advertising [15:03] The Creativity Stack: distinctiveness, emotion, showmanship, and consistency [18:30] Why distinctiveness is table stakes for profitable brand growth [20:17] Showmanship in advertising: stopping the scroll [22:30] Consistency in creativity: how campaigns wear in, not wear out [27:01] Build, nudge, connect: a modern framework to replace the traditional funnel [29:43] Distinctive brand assets [33:46] Creative quality and media planning [42:00] Why marketers should let effective ads run much longer [45:10] Getting back to 'the big idea' [47:30] Tightening the creative brief [49:30] Why modern marketing feels overwhelming For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

'How Brands Grow' is one of the most influential books in marketing, exploring rules of brand growth such as mental and physical availability, double jeopardy, and increasing penetration. Professor Byron Sharp, its author and director of the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, joined WARC's David Tiltman at Cannes Lions to revisit its core principles and how they apply to today's marketing landscape. Guests: Byron Sharp, author, How Brands Grow; Professor of Marketing Science, University of Adelaide; Director, Ehrenberg Bass Institute David Tiltman, Chief Content Officer, WARC Chapters: [00:00] Introduction: Prof. Byron Sharp joins The WARC Podcast [02:40] Mental and physical availability: Where Byron Sharp and Mark Ritson align [04:00] Inside 'How Brands Grow': Laws of brand growth explained [05:20] The NBD-Dirichlet Model and Ehrenberg’s Law of Buyer Frequency [07:15] Andrew Ehrenberg’s influence on marketing science [09:30] Brand awareness and brand salience [12:40] Why CMOs must know the laws of marketing science [15:30] What brand image data really shows [18:50] Navigating recession: Should brands cut advertising spend? [22:10] Inflation, private label growth and CPG brand strategy [26:00] Mental availability as a brand asset [29:40] How small brands grow [32:20] Differentiation vs distinctiveness [36:12] Byron Sharp's advice on pricing power [37:30] How does brand image differ from mental availability? [40:16] How Ehrenberg-Bass laws work in disrupted and high-growth markets [42:24] The future of marketing science & fact-checking hype For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

Procter & Gamble is one of the world's biggest advertisers. Marc Pritchard, P&G's long-time Chief Brand Officer, joins WARC's Anna Hamill to share insights and lessons from almost 40 years in marketing at the CPG giant, including the enduring power of brand building, the evolution of media, adapting to the AI era, and how brand purpose and cultural insights delivered real business growth for its brands. This episode is sponsored by Circana. Learn more about their AI-powered marketing mix solution LiquidMix at circana.com/warc. Guests: Marc Pritchard, Chief Brand Officer, Procter & Gamble Anna Hamill, Senior Editor, The WARC Podcast Topics covered: [00:00] – Intro: P&G’s Marc Pritchard joins The WARC Podcast [02:01] – Defining marketing effectiveness: P&G’s 'five-fecta' growth framework [04:08] – P&G's brand-building fundamentals: the “who, what, how” model [07:09] – From TV to AI: How media fragmentation is changing marketing [07:51] – Media transparency and the missing sales attribution signal [10:18] – Why retail media is reshaping commerce at P&G [12:09] – How P&G is adopting retail media, algorithms and content flywheels [15:01] – AI as a brand-building and accelerator [18:32] – In-housing media, content and ad testing to speed up innovation [21:38] – Inside P&G's culture of marketing effectiveness [23:13] – Balancing content volume, quality and media spend [29:51] – How brand purpose and cultural insights grew P&G's brands [34:29] – How CMOs can navigate uncertainty around brand purpose [36:42] – Marc Pritchard's career advice for young marketers For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

What do the winning campaigns from the 2026 Cannes Lions for Creative Effectiveness tell us about successful marketing in 2026? WARC's Amy Rodgers and Effie Insight's John Bizzell examine the big narratives emerging from this year's winners, in a category that rewards creativity that has also met business goals. Read the full report 'Creative Effectiveness Lions: Insights from the 2026 winners' here: https://www.warc.com/en/article/creative-effectiveness-lions-insights-from-the-2026-winners-c0d6c1492bb549a68c1e15dc36855364 Guests: Amy Rodgers, Head of Content, WARC Rankings and Effie Insights John Bizzell, Content Lead, Effie Insights Bertille Toledano, Jury President, Cannes Lions Creative Effectiveness 2026 Jane Wakely, Juror, Cannes Lions Creative Effectiveness 2026 João Gabriel Fernandes, Chief Strategy Officer, almapBBDO Chapters: [00:00] – Introduction: Creative Effectiveness Trends from Cannes Lions [01:30] – Inside the Cannes Lions Creative Effectiveness jury room [02:23] – What Makes a Creative Effectiveness Lion Different [05:09] – Cultural Intelligence in Action: Pedigree's Caramello and AXA's Three Words [09:33] – How Creative Campaigns Drive Real Business Growth and Societal Impact [12:20] – Turning Brand Assets into Interactive Tools: Vaseline, Ziploc, IKEA [14:21] – Reimagining Social to Build Brands: Uber Eats, IKEA “You up?” and Tips for Future Entrants For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

New research by PHD and WARC explores the scale, timeline and implications of agentic AI for the wider marketing ecosystem. PHD's Rohan Tambyrajah and WARC's David Tiltman join Anna Hamill to discuss the implications for marketing as decision-making increasingly evolves from human consumers to machine intermediaries, including the 'Four Modes' frameworks, and key recommendations to navigate this new dynamic. Read 'From abundance to agents: How the delegation of choice is transforming marketing' on WARC: https://www.warc.com/en/article/from-abundance-to-agents-how-the-delegation-of-choice-is-transforming-marketing-dda80ff252d141c4bdb7211d230f407d Guests: David Tiltman, Chief Content Officer, WARC Rohan Tambyrajah, Worldwide Chief Strategy Officer, PHD Anna Hamill, Senior Editor, The WARC Podcast Chapters: [00:00 – Introduction: Agentic AI and the new customer journey [02:18] – Defining the 'two audience problem': humans and AI agents [02:47] – Why this agentic AI research matters for marketing [04:47] – Utopia vs dystopia: The realistic business case for agentic AI [06:34] – The abundance problem: fragmented attention and declining effectiveness [07:00] – Delegation to AI agents: From discovery and planning to automated action [09:30] – Which categories will agentic commerce disrupt first? [11:49] – 'Four Modes' framework overview [15:25] – Applying the 'Four Modes' framework by category [17:26] – Diagnosing your category’s current mode and spot signals of shift [20:15] – Developing human meaning and machine readability [22:31] – Effective advertising in an agentic AI world [25:02] – Balancing brand building, performance and agentic optimization [33:26] – Category entry points and mapping the agentic customer journey For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

New research from WARC finds that social and creator marketing – for all its speed and cultural relevance – hits three structural ceilings that no amount of additional content or paid media can break through alone. Tackling these ceilings is key to sustained growth. Rob Brittain and Rica Facundo join WARC's Biprorshee Das to discuss Pace Principle 2.0, WARC's latest research on marketing effectiveness from Asia. Guests: Rob Brittain, Marketing Effectiveness Consultant and co-author of Pace Principle 2.0 Rica Facundo, Managing Editor - APAC, WARC and co-author of Pace Principle 2.0 Biprorshee Das, India Editor, WARC Chapters: [00:00] Introduction: WARC's Pace Principle 2.0 research [02:39] What is a “social sprint”? [04:16] Content virality is an outcome, not a growth strategy [06:30] What is the difference between social strategy and emotional strategy? [09:35] Why do broad emotional strategies outperform social? [12:21] How should brands choose between micro creators and celebrity influencers? [16:28] The three ceilings of social media (platform, cultural, self-sustaining) [19:17] Aligning target market and creative strategy boosts effectiveness by 70 percent [23:03] Moving from “always on” content to always relevant [25:32] Social and creator campaign measurement [29:42] Key Pace Principle 2.0 recommendations for marketing leaders For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

How did ad agency economics become so challenging? Fee-cutting and low growth are part of the equation, but the roots of the issue go back decades. Ad industry analyst and author Michael Farmer joins WARC's David Tiltman to discuss his new book 'Madison Avenue Revisited' and offer his take on 30+ years of change to advertising business models, including the impact of dysfunctional client-agency relationships, increased creative workloads and AI. Guests: Michael Farmer, Chairman and CEO, Farmer&Co; Professor of Branding and Integrated Communications at The City College of New York David Tiltman, SVP - Content, WARC Chapters: [00:00] Introduction: Michael Farmer joins The WARC Podcast [06:49] From 'Madison Avenue Manslaughter' to 'Madison Avenue Revisited' [11:25] How ad agency workloads doubled while fees halved [18:29] Why big advertisers are underperforming GDP [23:44] Short-termism and the failure to brief for brand growth [27:51] The key factors undermining advertising economics [30:11] Artificial intelligence threatens advertising agencies [32:28] 'Infinite creative' doesn’t equal brand growth [35:18] Using AI to fund strategy and reinvesting in senior talent [37:01] How hold-cos, commissions, and cheap CPMs undermined creative value [40:29] Why do CFOs block long-term marketing investment? [41:02] How AI can optimise the marketing mix for growth For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

Just 29% of creator ads outperform the average brand ad. Research from System 1, WPP Media and Tiktok uncovers what drives attention, emotion and brand recognition across creator content. System 1's Andrew Tindall and brand strategist Eugene Healey join WARC's Anna Hamill to break down creator effectiveness hacks, how to brief creators properly, and why so many marketers are using the wrong metrics to measure success. Guests: Andrew Tindall, Chief Advertising Officer, System1 Eugene Healey, Brand Strategist and Content Creator (@eugbrandstrat) Anna Hamill, Senior Editor, The WARC Podcast Chapters: 00:00 - Intro: Welcome to The WARC Podcast 00:10 - How do creators build brands? 02:17 - Methodology of the WPP Media/TikTok/System1 creator research 04:09 - What really drives brand memory: engagement, deep engagement or creativity? 05:37 - How should creators and brands think about brand fit and long-term impact? 07:54 - What metrics should marketers prioritise in creator marketing? 13:55 - Characteristics of the most effective creator campaigns 16:27 - What creator content actually performs on social? 20:03 - 3x brand memory lift from early brand cues 22:43 - Briefing creators for authenticity and effectiveness 27:54 - Why you can’t outbrief a bad strategy in creator marketing 29:27 - What are social devices and what is the one thing marketers should do next? For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

Uber's Lucinda Barlow offers advice for marketers on how to build a safe culture for creative experimentation, identifying strategic blind spots, making decisions in times of extraordinary uncertainty and how to localise a global brand. Hosted by WARC's Rica Facundo. Guests: Lucinda Barlow, Head of International Marketing, Uber Rica Facundo, Marketing Editor - Asia Pacific, WARC Chapters: 00:00 – Introduction to The WARC Podcast with Uber's Lucinda Barlow 01:14 – Uber’s growth and category creation 03:43 – What is 'smart' risk taking? 07:13 – Overcoming fear, hierarchy, and failure in marketing organizations 11:51 – Proving long-term brand impact 15:36 – Explaining marketing terms to CEOs and CFOs 17:28 – Why entertaining creative beats rational promos in brand building 19:41 – Inside Uber’s “Skip the Kung Fu” Hong Kong campaign 23:35 – How Uber localizes a global brand 28:06 – Uber Eats' World Cup campaign with Gordon Ramsey 28:30 – Why AI alone can’t replace human creativity For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

How do the best marketers actually integrate brand and performance – not just in theory, but in org design, planning and measurement? Prophet’s Kate Price and Monica El Hassan join WARC's Ann Marie Kerwin to discuss strategies for a more integrated approach, based on WARC's marketing effectiveness research The Multiplier Playbook. Guests: Kate Price, Partner - Marketing Transformation, Prophet Monica El-Hassan, Partner - Media, Prophet Chapters: 00:00 – Intro: The Multiplier Playbook on The WARC Podcast 01:49 – Why brand and performance marketing teams are siloed 03:18 – Cultural divides: traditional brand vs digital performance 04:28 – Specialist skills, loss of generalists and pressure on CMOs 07:15 – Shared language: bridging brand, demand and media teams 09:58 – Customer-centric marketing: changing behaviour to drive growth 14:30 – Integrated planning: how overperforming marketers organise 19:45 – Budget rebalancing: brand investment vs performance metrics 24:19 – B2B SaaS case: US Open sponsorship as a brand–demand engine 31:23 – Shared KPIs: proving commercial impact of brand marketing 38:34 – Org design: generalists, team structures and planning rhythms 40:21 – Key takeaways for marketing leaders For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

Brand equity is essential to win on AI platforms. Equity can't be built without memory, and memory can't be built without attention. WARC's Alex Brownsell discusses what role attention plays in AI visibility for brands, and practical advice to implement, with experts Dr. Karen Nelson Field, Carl Wåreus and Scott Reinders. Guests: Dr Karen Nelson-Field, Founder & CEO of Amplified Carl Wåreus, Head of Partners & Specialists, Google Nordics Scott Reinders, COO, Connect - part of The Up&Up Group Chapters: 00:00 - Intro: Brand, AI Search and Attention on The WARC Podcast 02:08 - From Blue Links to Conversations: How AI is Changing Search Behaviour 03:31 - Collapsing the Messy Middle: LLMs as the New Consideration Engine 04:41 - Brand Equity as an AI Ranking Signal: Google Example from Sweden 06:54 - Levers vs Drift: Managing Brand Signals AI and LLMs Can See 08:21 - Automated Creative at Scale: Avoiding the ‘AI Slop’ Trap 10:32 - Visibility Starvation: The Risk of Low-Attention, Fast-Decay Media 12:32 - Misattribution and Invisibility: How Low Attention Hurts LLM Visibility 14:54 - Media Quality Redefined: High-Attention vs High-Intent Environments 16:14 - Silent Zone vs Vocal Zone: Human Noise, Reviews and AI Training Data 18:37 - Moving Beyond an Attention Metric: Attention as System Architecture 19:35 - Inside Attention AI: Generative Attention Modelling for Media and Creative 22:54 - Media Ceilings, Creative Hooks: How Formats and Assets Shape Attention 26:58 - Practical Advice: Multiplying Brand Equity, Attention and AI Visibility For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

Cultural intelligence is high stakes for brands in the era of infinite content. Developing culturally-fluent talent is essential for brands seeking an edge. Cultural strategist Rachel Lowenstein and Effie LIONS Foundation CEO Allison Knapp Womack join WARC's Rica Facundo to discuss what's motivating young marketers, emerging cultural strategy trends and what it really means to move at "the speed of culture". Guests: Allison Knapp Womack, CEO, Effie LIONS Foundation Rachel Lowenstein, Cultural Strategist and Content Creator Chapters: 00:00 – Intro: Talking cultural intelligence on The WARC Podcast 00:48 – What is cultural intelligence? 02:28 – Why brands get culture wrong: the Ipsos x Effie Lions Foundation study explained 04:47 – What’s at stake now: AI, social media backlash, and reputational risks for brands 07:26 – Talent vs jobs: The case for inclusive marketing talent 10:12 – Building a diverse pipeline of culturally intelligent marketers 16:43 – New talent models: Flash Teams, flexible cultural strategists, and moving at the speed of culture 19:45 – Romantasy and why centering new cultural perspectives drives growth 22:48 – Practical ways to develop young marketing talent 24:37 – Squiggly line careers: practical advice for emerging cultural strategists and CMOs For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

New data from CreativeX reveals the alarming extent of 'churn and burn' short-termism among advertisers, based on a study of 633,000 ads over two years. Content volume is way up, but media budgets aren't. So what's going on? Anastasia Leng, CEO of CreativeX, joins WARC's David Tiltman to break down the data, examine the most concerning trends, and discuss how brands can turn the ship around. Guests: Anastasia Leng, CEO, CreativeX Chapters: 00:00 – Fragmentation of creativity and the ‘more with less’ challenge 04:12 – From pre-testing to creative auditing at scale 05:18 – Why media and creative must come back together 06:54 – Explaining ‘fewer, bigger, longer, better’ 09:19 – From scarcity to abundance: when ‘more content’ goes wrong 10:14 – Inside the study: 633k ads, $2bn spend, 143 Fortune 500 brands 12:52 – Content production up 29% in two years 14:01 – Media spend per ad down 15%: weaker support for each asset 15:34 – Short runs: 32 days for direct response ads, 40 days for brand ads 17:28 – Algorithms as creative directors and a crisis of confidence 19:49 – 93% of ads under $10k; 70% under $1k in spend 21:32 – Low-budget ads score 20% lower on creative quality 24:48 – Sub-$10k ads absorbing 30% of a $2bn media budget 32:05 – Three fixes: big ideas, media thresholds, better learning loops 35:29 – ‘Big swings’: $100k+ ads run 89 days but get only 18% of spend For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

Creative Strategy Lions jury president Sarah Lemarié and juror Dan Hill share powerful advice on how to level up strategic thinking, their stand out campaigns from Cannes Lions, why they look for 'strategic firsts' in the jury room, and a warning on using AI in awards entries. Hosted by Effie Insight's John Bizzell. Guests: Sarah Lemarié, Chief Strategy Officer, Publicis France Dan Hill, Global Chief Strategy Officer, Wieden+Kennedy Chapters: 00:00 – Intro: Cannes Lions Creative Strategy Winners 2026 01:46 – Meet the Jury: Sarah Lemarié & Dan Hill on Judging Creative Strategy Lions 03:43 – Creating a Benchmark: Why Creative Strategy Lions Build a “Body of Work” 07:11 – Defining ‘What Good Looks Like’ in Creative Strategy at Cannes Lions 10:21 – Human Ingenuity & Empathy in a World of AI: What the Winners Proved 11:38 – Grand Prix Breakdown: Heineken’s “The Pub That Refused to Die” in Ireland 13:18 – Community Ownership & Brand Purpose: How Heineken Helped Save Local Pubs 16:09 – Gold Winner Spotlight: Faroe Islands Space Program and Tidal Energy Reframing 17:48 – “Simple but Clever” Strategy: Making Sustainable Tech Feel Playful & B2B-Friendly 20:12 – AI and Creative Strategy: Dove Real Reviews, Claude and LLM‑Ready Ideas 23:37 – Classic vs New Media: How Dove and Claude Blend Old CPG and New Tech 24:38 – How to Win a Creative Strategy Lion: Entry Writing, Storytelling & Results 26:40 – The Fosbury Flop of Strategy: Novelty, Firsts and Playful Creativity at Cannes For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

Mark Ritson is back to talk all things marketing skills, back-to-basics brand fundamentals, the impact of AI on the marketing workforce and why he's tired of marketing's 'culture of bullsh*t'. Hosted by WARC's David Tiltman. Guest: Mark Ritson, Founder, miniMBA Chapters: 00:00 – Intro: Mark Ritson joins The WARC Podcast 02:33 – Ritson & Byron Sharp: surprising areas of agreement 07:40 – The Multiplier Playbook and the effectiveness “say–do” gap 09:09 – Ipsos x Ritson test: two‑thirds of marketers fail basics 11:28 – Marketing’s skillset problem 15:20 – Fewer, bigger, longer: brand building vs short‑termism 18:58 – Why “idiot competitors” help smart brands win in recessions 19:41 – CreativeX data: 93% of big‑brand digital ads spend under $10k 22:38 – When performance thinking invades long‑term brand building 23:08 – AI and synthetic data: what will really change in marketing 24:56 – AI‑built marketing plans and a 60–65% cut in jobs 28:45 – Creator marketing, TikTok and the distinctiveness challenge 32:31 – The “uncivil war” in effectiveness and why debate matters For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe