Business of Marketing

Recorded live at Cannes Lions, Justin Cooke is joined by Sarah Robertson, Chief Product Officer at Experian, for a conversation about one of the persistent challenges facing modern businesses: turning data into something genuinely useful. Sarah argues that organisations often start in the wrong place. Rather than asking what data they have or what technology they should deploy, they need to begin with the outcome they are trying to create. They discuss why more data does not necessarily produce better decisions, why data quality remains fundamental in the age of AI, and the challenge of connecting fragmented identities, legacy systems and increasingly complex customer journeys. Sarah also takes Justin inside the product mindset at Experian: how to establish whether customers genuinely value an idea, why product teams need to work closely with sales and marketing without simply building whatever they ask for, and what it takes to turn an insight into something customers will actually pay for. They also explore AI's impact on product development and data engineering, the growing importance of identity and measurement, why emotional intelligence and critical thinking are becoming more valuable skills, and the potential consequences of AI for people entering the workforce. As Sarah puts it: “The data isn’t the exciting bit. It’s really what you can do with that data.” A practical conversation about data, product, AI and how businesses move from information to outcomes, recorded live at Cannes Lions.

Recorded live at Cannes Lions, John Horsley is joined by Pierce Cook-Anderson, Managing Director, Advertising at Mail Metro Media. After more than 20 years spanning publishing, media sales and ad tech, including roles at Future, Sky, the FT, Newsweek, OpenX and Equativ, Pierce has returned to publishing at what he describes as an “existential moment” for the industry. They discuss how AI and zero-click search are reshaping publishing, why trusted journalism could become more valuable as AI-generated content proliferates, and the growing question of how publishers receive fair value when their journalism is used by LLMs. Pierce also explains why Mail Metro Media is working with fewer, more strategic technology partners, how first-party data is changing the publisher proposition, and why relationships between brands and publishers are becoming less transactional and far more collaborative. They also explore premium advertising, trust, creativity, the renewed importance of brand building, and why the best briefs should challenge publishers to create something brands haven’t seen before. Recorded live at Cannes Lions, this is a timely conversation about the future of publishing, advertising and quality journalism in an AI-driven world.

What makes a burger look like your burger? Or a beer look like your beer? For Olaf van Gerwen, Founder & Global Creative Director of Chuck Studios, that question gets to the heart of a problem facing some of the world’s biggest food and drink brands: too much advertising makes the category look good, while doing very little to make the brand distinctive. Recorded at Cannes Lions, Olaf joins John Horsley to talk about the craft and science of building brands through food. They explore why years of performance marketing have pulled attention away from long-term brand building, why consistency beats constantly reinventing the campaign, and how brands can develop a distinctive “culinary identity” in much the same way they build a visual or sonic identity. Olaf also shares the thinking behind Chuck Studios’ work with brands including McDonald’s, KFC and Lipton, why subtle brand cues can become incredibly powerful over time, and why his decision to specialise completely in food and drink transformed his own career. His advice for anyone coming into the industry is equally clear: find the thing you want to be known for, then go deep. A conversation about creativity, distinctiveness, specialism and what it really takes to build a brand people remember.

AI is changing how consumers discover products, how brands reach them and, increasingly, how marketing itself gets done. John Horsley is joined by Travis Clinger, Chief Connectivity & Ecosystem Officer and GM, International at LiveRamp, for a wide-ranging conversation about the infrastructure behind that transformation. Travis explains why connecting identity across platforms has become so important as consumers move between CTV, social, publishers, retail media and emerging AI interfaces. They discuss the evolution beyond cookies, the rise of interoperable identity, measurement and clean rooms, and why marketers increasingly need to understand a sequence of customer interactions rather than attribute a sale to a single advert. Travis also takes John inside LiveRamp’s push into agentic marketing, including its LiveRamp Agent Builders programme and the growing role of AI agents in measurement, data collaboration and marketing workflows. The conversation covers: • Why the customer journey is becoming more fragmented • How unified identity connects brands across channels • What AI agents could change inside marketing teams • Why clean rooms and measurement are becoming easier to use • How innovation differs across the UK, Australia, Europe and the Middle East • What brands such as L’Oréal and United Airlines are doing differently • Why Travis believes simply “showing up” remains one of the most powerful career advantages A fascinating look at how data, identity and AI are converging, and what marketers need to understand about what comes next.

For years, programmatic advertising has been optimised around clicks, viewability and other proxy metrics. But marketers increasingly want a much simpler answer: what did this investment actually do for the business? Recorded live at Cannes Lions, John Horsley sits down with Luca Filardo, Chief Revenue Officer at Adlook, to explore how AI is changing the economics, speed and expectations of digital advertising. Luca explains why marketers are moving beyond media metrics towards ROAS and real business outcomes, and how AI is making it possible to change targeting, creative and campaigns in real time as market conditions shift. They also get into conversational campaign building using LLMs, AI-powered audience creation, connected TV, attention and creative optimisation, the growing problem with publisher ad overload, fraud, and why the role of a modern CRO now extends far beyond simply running a sales team. Plus, Luca shares why relentless curiosity matters in an industry moving this quickly, and the Japanese principle of Kaizen: getting a little better every single day. A conversation about what happens when programmatic stops simply buying media and starts responding intelligently to the world around it.

Most brands say they have a first-party data strategy. Far fewer are actually using that data to shape the media they buy. Recorded live at Cannes Lions, John Horsley sits down with Rob McLaughlin, Founder and CEO of AUDIENCES, to explore why so much customer data still fails to make it into media activation and what needs to change. Rob argues that less than 3% of media spend is currently informed by first-party data, creating what he calls the “activation gap”: businesses have the permission, technology and customer intelligence, but still fail to put it to work. They discuss why brands may already have most of the data and technology they need, why chasing a 360-degree customer view can be both unrealistic and intrusive, and why CMOs and CTOs need to work far more closely together. Rob also explains AUDIENCES’ new partnership with Snowflake, how bringing activation capability directly into a company’s existing data infrastructure can remove months of complexity, and why customer data should remain with the organisation it was originally entrusted to. The conversation also goes behind the business, from bootstrapping AUDIENCES and building enterprise-grade software from day one to Rob’s experience founding and exiting Loop Horizon, hiring the right early team and why he remains unapologetically optimistic about entrepreneurship. A conversation about making first-party data genuinely useful, building software businesses from scratch and closing the gap between having customer intelligence and actually doing something with it.

Recorded live at Cannes Lions 2026, Justin Cooke sits down with Luis Miguel Messianu, Founder, President and Chief Creative Officer of MEL, for a conversation about cultural intelligence, creativity, AI and where brands will find their next wave of growth. Luis has spent decades challenging the way brands think about multicultural marketing, building award-winning agencies and leading creative work across some of the world’s biggest brands. His argument is increasingly relevant far beyond multicultural marketing: the brands that win will be those that understand culture deeply enough to make people feel genuinely understood. Luis explains why specificity creates authenticity, why multicultural thinking belongs at the centre of the brief rather than at the edge of a campaign, and why brands looking for growth need people inside their organisations who have actually lived the cultures they want to reach. Justin and Luis also explore the impact of AI on creativity. Luis describes AI as “augmented imagination” and argues that, as technology makes execution faster and easier, human nuance, taste, cultural insight and the quality of the underlying idea will become even more valuable. They discuss: • Why multicultural marketing can no longer be treated as a niche • How cultural intelligence creates stronger brand connections • Why changing the brief is often the first step towards changing the work • What leading McDonald’s creative work across 46 markets taught Luis about human behaviour • Why AI could make cultural insight and creative originality more important, not less • How agencies can protect their creative soul while still building successful businesses They also talk about agency reinvention, creative standards, mentoring the next generation of talent and why Luis believes advertising is ultimately “the business of optimism”. A wide-ranging conversation about culture, creativity, growth and what will differentiate great brands in an increasingly AI-powered world.

Recorded live at Cannes Lions 2026, Justin Cooke sits down with Lisa Morgan, Managing Director of Generation Media, one of the UK’s leading independent media agencies specialising in children, young people and family audiences. Children and young people are often the earliest adopters of new platforms, technologies and behaviours, but understanding what captures their attention, earns their trust and builds lasting affinity is becoming increasingly complex. Lisa explains why Generation Media built its business around deep audience specialism, how children now influence major household purchasing decisions, and why marketers need to move beyond simply measuring reach and attention towards understanding fandom, affinity and long-term engagement. They discuss the changing role of linear TV, the growth of experiential marketing, social media regulation, brand safety, the importance of insight in spotting emerging trends, and why global strategies still need local understanding. Lisa also shares how Generation Media’s employee ownership model has shaped its culture, how coaching changed her own leadership style, and why AI and automation will make human qualities such as curiosity, judgement, passion and strategic thinking increasingly important. In this episode: • Why children and young people cannot be treated as one audience • How brands can spot emerging trends before they become mainstream • Why marketing is shifting from attention to affinity and fandom • How AI is changing the skills agencies need • What employee ownership can teach businesses about culture and leadership • Why the future of media still includes lessons from the past This is a conversation about understanding the next generation of consumers while building the next generation of agencies.

AI might be dominating the conversation in marketing, but Miguel Machado believes most businesses are focusing on the wrong thing. Recorded live at Cannes Lions 2026, Justin Cooke sits down with Miguel Machado, CEO of Keenfolks, to discuss why competitive advantage will come from data, not AI alone, and why marketing needs to move beyond one-off campaigns towards intelligent systems that continuously learn and improve. They discuss: Why marketing needs to focus on business outcomes, not outputs Why proprietary data will determine who wins with AI The shift from campaigns to repeatable intelligent marketing systems Why 90% of AI pilots can fail while investment continues to grow How CMOs and CTOs are becoming increasingly interconnected Why technology adoption ultimately depends on people Why efficiency should be a consequence of growth, not the objective How Keenfolks is building a new model around technology, data and human capability A conversation about what AI-native marketing actually looks like when you move beyond the hype and connect technology directly to business growth. Recorded live at the DEPT Garden during Cannes Lions 2026.

Recorded live at Cannes Lions, Katie Mitchell, Managing Director of Seen Studios, joins Justin Cooke on the Business of Marketing to explore why the future of brand experience is neither physical nor digital, but the connection between the two. Katie explains why physical spaces still matter in an increasingly digital world, how brands can turn stores, pop-ups and events into content engines, and why the best experiences start with a genuine understanding of the audience rather than the creative idea. The conversation covers how brands can build connected online and offline experiences, localise global campaigns without losing consistency, make experiential marketing work harder commercially, and measure the return on expensive physical activations. Katie also gets into the business of running and growing an agency, from building a strong leadership culture and protecting margins to why she believes human relationships will remain critical to new business, even as sales and marketing become increasingly automated. A conversation about experiential marketing, retail, brand experience, consumer behaviour, agency growth and the increasingly connected physical and digital customer experience.

Recorded live at Cannes Lions 2026, Justin Cooke sits down with Marcus Startzel, CEO of GumGum, to explore what the next era of advertising looks like when brands stop thinking only about audiences and start thinking about mindset. Marcus explains why context, attention and receptivity are becoming critical to advertising effectiveness, and how AI is making the old promise of reaching the right person, with the right message, at the right moment far more achievable. They discuss: Why consumers are different people at 7am and 7pm, even if the audience data says otherwise How GumGum is using its Mindset Graph to understand when people are most receptive to advertising Why attention alone is not enough without relevance How AI could reshape targeting, optimisation and brand outcomes Why customer obsession still matters more than the technology What Marcus learned about leadership from Amazon and serving as a nuclear submarine officer Why “ship, shipmate, self” still shapes the way he leads How fast decision-making, trust and constant innovation separate the companies that grow from those that get left behind A conversation about AI, adtech, customer obsession and leadership, and why understanding the moment someone is in could become one of advertising’s biggest competitive advantages.

Recorded live at Cannes Lions, John Horsley sits down with Alistair Hill, Co-Founder of On Device, to explore why marketing measurement still gets so much wrong. They discuss why click-through rates can be a terrible measure of brand effectiveness, the growing problem of survey fraud, how brands can connect brand lift to commercial outcomes, and why AI is shifting measurement from reports consumed by people to data consumed directly by machines. Alistair so explains why the smartest marketers are moving towards outcomes-based planning, why confidence matters when balancing brand and performance, and why being able to find and tell stories through data remains one of the most valuable skills in marketing.

Emma Armstrong, CEO of BBDO New York and Global Transformation Officer at BBDO Worldwide, joins John Horsley live from Cannes Lions to discuss AI, creativity, brand building and the future of agencies. Emma explains why the role of a modern agency goes far beyond making advertising. The best agencies act as business partners, helping clients understand shifts in culture, technology and consumer behaviour, then turning those changes into ideas that build brands and drive growth. As Emma puts it, agencies are “translators of the world into brands.” They discuss why brand building is becoming more important as media fragments and customer journeys become increasingly complex, and why the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence could make human creativity and judgement more valuable, not less. Emma also explores the risk that “AI drives us to the mean”. While AI can accelerate research, analysis and repetitive tasks, she argues that distinctive brands still depend on people who can think differently, make connections and apply judgement. The conversation also covers: • Creativity as a measurable driver of business growth • The changing relationship between agencies, CMOs, CEOs and CFOs • Why agencies need to understand the whole business, not just the marketing brief • How AI is changing advertising, marketing and creative work • Why distinctive brand assets and consistency matter more in fragmented customer journeys • Building high-performing agency cultures and leadership teams • Why saying no to the wrong pitch can sometimes be the right commercial decision • The future of the advertising agency model • The skills the next generation needs to succeed in marketing and advertising A wide-ranging Cannes Lions conversation about BBDO, artificial intelligence, creativity, brand strategy and why great agencies still have an essential role in helping businesses stand out and grow.

In this episode of The Business of Marketing, John Horsley sits down with Erin Chin, Global Head of Brand Marketing at Logitech G, live from Cannes Lions, for a wide-ranging conversation about brand, creators, fandom and the changing media landscape. Erin explains why Logitech G treats creators as business partners, not marketing channels, and how its “design by collaboration” approach brings gamers, esports professionals and creators directly into the product development process. They discuss why brands need to stop over-engineering creator partnerships, the importance of giving creators genuine freedom, and why the ambition shouldn’t be to control every expression of a brand, but to build something communities actively want to make their own. The conversation also explores: Why creator authenticity matters more than tightly controlled brand messaging How Logitech G co-creates products with gamers and esports professionals Why fandom can become one of a brand’s strongest competitive advantages Supporting creators beyond the commercial relationship, including mental health and underrepresented communities The huge shift in Gen Z media consumption towards TikTok, YouTube and creators How brands should measure creator impact beyond traditional engagement metrics Why share of search can reveal whether creator activity is genuinely driving interest How AI search and answer engines are changing brand visibility, earned media and content strategy Why brand remains a competitive moat that competitors and “dupes” cannot easily replicate What marketers can learn from the best work at Cannes Lions about keeping ideas simple Erin also shares lessons from a career spanning Goldman Sachs, P&G, Diageo, Proximo Spirits, PepsiCo and Mountain Dew, and explains why deep consumer understanding remains at the heart of great marketing. A conversation about what happens when brands stop treating audiences as targets and start building products, stories and communities people genuinely want to participate in.

Carmen Rodriguez, Global Chief Growth Officer at GUT, on bravery, sustainable growth and why the best agencies know when to say no. Recorded live at Cannes Lions, Justin Cooke sits down with Carmen Rodriguez to explore what growth really looks like when creativity, culture and commercial ambition all have to move together. Carmen explains why GUT sees itself as “a brave agency for brave clients”, why bravery isn’t binary, and how the agency uses a bravery scale to help brands become progressively bolder without losing sight of the business outcome. They discuss: Why sustainable agency growth can mean growing more slowly, not faster How GUT said no 27 times in its first year to protect the kind of agency it wanted to become Why people come first, the work second and clients last How GUT identifies the gap between a marketer’s ambition and a brand’s willingness to be brave Why long-term agency relationships depend on trust, senior involvement and genuine partnership Why agencies need to understand the client’s business, not simply sell advertising Why simple execution built on a powerful human insight is cutting through at Cannes Why creativity should remain at the centre of growth Carmen also shares the thinking behind GUT’s philosophy that “bravery means business”, and why consistency, creativity and the courage to make uncomfortable decisions can ultimately drive stronger commercial results. A brilliant conversation about the business of creativity, recorded live at Cannes Lions 2026.

Michael Scott, Global CRO, LoopMe: Why Brand Performance Is Back What happens when marketers focus too heavily on the 5% of consumers already in market? Michael Scott, Global Chief Revenue Officer at LoopMe, joins John Horsley live from Cannes Lions to discuss why brands need to start filling the top of the funnel again, and how better data, AI and real-time measurement are making brand investment easier to prove. They explore the shift from web to mobile apps, the growing importance of first-party data, why immersive mobile experiences are becoming more valuable, and how AI is changing targeting, optimisation and product development. Michael also explains why marketers need to simplify ad tech, move beyond jargon and focus on the outcomes that actually matter to the business. In this episode: Why over-investing in lower-funnel marketing eventually runs out of road How AI and LLMs are changing web and mobile behaviour Why first-party data is becoming critical to brand performance How marketers can quantify upper and mid-funnel investment Why mobile apps offer brands a more immersive customer experience How AI enables near real-time audience optimisation Why ad tech needs to make the complex simple The value of long-term brand building over constant promotion Michael's advice to people starting their careers: “Just say yes.” Recorded live at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The Business of Marketing brings together senior leaders shaping the future of marketing, media, technology and business.

Tracey Shirtcliff, Founder & CEO of Scope Better, joins John Horsley live from Cannes Lions to unpack one of the biggest commercial problems facing agencies: why so many are still pricing the future using models built for the past. Having previously built and sold agency workflow platform Traffic Live, Tracey has spent years inside the economics of creative and professional services businesses. Her argument is simple: agencies cannot embrace AI, automation and new ways of working while continuing to sell hours, roles and rate cards. In this episode, they explore: Why 60–70% of agencies are still recording and charging for time How poor scoping quietly destroys agency margins Why Excel spreadsheets and disconnected systems are holding agencies back The shift from selling hours to deliverables, outputs and outcomes How agencies should commercialise their investment in AI Why pricing, CRM, workflow and finance need to become connected How AI agents could fundamentally change agency pricing and scoping Why fixing the commercial engine can be more valuable than simply chasing another client Tracey also explains why the agencies that win will be those that treat pricing and scoping as a strategic discipline, not an administrative task. “The Excel spreadsheet is 30 years old. It’s not a model for the new world.” A sharp conversation about agency economics, AI, pricing, profitability and what it really takes to build a more scalable services business. Recorded live at Cannes Lions from the DEPT® Secret Garden.

Tom Murphy, Chief Creative Officer at VML, joins John Horsley live at Cannes Lions for a sharp conversation about creativity, AI, advertising and what actually makes people pay attention. They discuss why “a thousand times zero is still zero”, how too many decision-makers can average great ideas down, why taste matters more in the age of AI, the return of craft and analogue culture, and why the best brands sometimes need to let go of control. Plus, Tom explains why advertising is “always dying”, why Cannes Lions still matters, and what he looks for in the next generation of creative talent. Recorded live at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Growth isn't a playbook. It's a series of decisions. What separates companies that scale from those that stall? Michael Lehman, President Americas at Equativ, has led growth across venture-backed startups, private equity businesses and companies preparing for exit. In this conversation with John Horsley, recorded live at Cannes Lions, he explains why every stage of growth demands a different strategy. From product-market fit and commercial execution to leadership, AI and the future of premium publishing, Michael shares a refreshingly practical perspective on building businesses that last. Topics include: • Why there is no blueprint for growth • Product-market fit vs execution problems • Building a strategy every employee can explain • Leadership, burnout and organisational clarity • Why clients want fewer, deeper technology partners • AI's impact on publishers and premium media • Advice for the next generation entering marketing and adtech An in-depth conversation about leadership, growth and navigating one of the fastest-changing industries in business today.

What if the future of marketing isn't advertising at all? Recorded live at Cannes Lions, Justin Cooke sits down with Matt Longley, CEO of Mobsta, to explore why the next competitive advantage won't come from buying media more efficiently, but from understanding human behaviour better. Matt shares how Mobsta evolved from a mobile targeting business into an intelligence platform, why customer success should sit at the centre of every business, and why agencies need to think more like consultants than media buyers. They discuss: • Why the "perfect moment" matters more than audience segments. • How business intelligence could become more valuable than media buying. • Why great leaders remove barriers rather than manage people. • How AI should strengthen human judgement, not replace it. • The career lessons that shaped Matt's leadership philosophy. A conversation about leadership, data, AI, and building businesses around curiosity instead of convention.