Call To Action

We’ve laid an intricate trap of clever beer and wine based nudges this week to catch Richard Chataway, Vice President of the BVA Nudge Unit UK, founder of the Communication Science Group (CSG) and quite simply one of the most talented behavioural science practitioners in the world.    He chats away (sorry) on a load of topics, including an early temping job at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’s examinations (written, ahem) department, direct marketing, behavioural science and how it can help in the Coronavirus crisis, the writing of his new book ‘The Behaviour Business’, his past roles for the UK and Australian governments, ethical issues around nudging and tonnes more interesting stuff. And his passion for Ipswich Town.   Go listen now and discover why stellar brands like IKEA, Google, Sainsbury’s and Starbucks have looked to him for behavioural science guidance. ///// Follow Richard on LinkedIn. And on Twitter. Here is the Communication Science Group’s website. And the BVA Nudge Unit

We’ve masqueraded as a waiter with dreams of Hollywood this week to catch LA’s finest CX designer Matt Watkinson. Matt is co-founder and CEO of Methodical and an internationally renowned author, speaker, and consultant on customer experience and business strategy, speaking at events for the likes of Microsoft, Salesforce, American Express, and the FBI. His first book, The Ten Principles Behind Great Customer Experiences, won CMI’s Management Book of the Year, and his second book, The Grid, was shortlisted for 2019’s Management Book of the Year. He talks to us on his very unique early career path (he has never actually been employed), how designing an award-winning website for Argos launched him into the UX and ultimately the CX stratosphere, 10 CX principles to follow, his books, his frustrated dreams of being a pianist and so much more. Go gorge and enjoy. ///// Follow Matt on LinkedIn. And on Twitter. Here is Methodical’s website. Watch Matt's COVID-19 Business Battle Plan and support ISOLATEDTalks.c

We’ve cut a cheeky round hole in the ice to catch former figure skater and strategic consultant and business leader Liana Dinghile, this week. A proud Londoner with a mix of Sicilian and Scottish heritage, Liana works with Tonic Creative Business Partners, having previously been at Siegel + Gale and Dragon Rouge. She has helped guide some of the world’s most successful organisations, working with the likes of Bayer, Sainsbury’s, British Airways and Hewlett Packard. She talks to us on her early career as a figure skater, how she got into the industry with TUI, making the move from client to agency side, what makes a good strategy and examples of brands that nail it, positive work cultures, her love and knowledge of wine, and barrels more. ///// Follow Liana on LinkedIn And her agency, Tonic Here is Tonic’s website Liana is also a member of the BIMA Mentoring Council Book Recommendations: Laws of Simplicity by John Maeda Rise by Gina Miller /////

This week we’ve laid bait of tempting language to snare the exceptionally talented writer and founder of the language strategy agency That Explains Things, Nick Parker.   A one-time creative director, magazine editor, keynote speaker, children’s book author, Viz cartoonist and crystallised-piss-on-door-hinges remover, Nick now helps fellow copywriters, agencies and brands like BT, PWC, Tesco and Spotify define brand tone of voice.   He talks to us on a treasure trove of topics, including his first paid job creating a cartoon strip for Viz, tips for writing, useful words, authoring child fiction, how to define tone of voice, how to run a good workshop and more. You’d be a fool not to let us bend your ear ‘ere. ///// Follow Nick on LinkedIn. On Twitter. Here is his agency website. And his ‘find your own tone of voice’ kit, Voicebox. And Nick's book The Exploding Boy and Other Tiny Tales. Book Recommendations: Made to Stick by Chip & Dan Heath Alchemy by Rory Sutherland /////

This week we’ve landed in the docklands of London to catch the baby-faced assassin and CEO of NY Collective, Nicole Yershon, who ignites fires of change consulting huge brands like Ford, British Airways and Pizza Hut.   Heralded by The Drum as one of the 25 most influential women in the British digital industry over the last 25 years, she talks to us about her early career and how she went from selling blouses from a stall on Petticoat Lane to working with industry legend Dave Trott at GGT.   But that’s not all. She also dives into her time at Ogilvy & Mather and a rather ingenious way of generating R&D budget for their London Digital Innovation Lab that involved pimping out Rory Sutherland, her Fearless Manifesto, the work of The NY Collective, her best-selling Amazon book Rough Diamond and a whole lot more. ///// Follow Nicole on LinkedIn. On Twitter. On Facebook. And on Instagram. Find out all about the NY Collective. And Nicole’s best-selling book. Book Recommendations: 21 Lessons for the 21st

This week we’ve muscled past the marketing mafia to shakedown the Don of decision science; Phil Barden. His client-side chops cover working for T-Mobile, Unilever and Diageo, until a run-in with two Germans and a flash mob flung him headfirst into the world of neuroscience and understanding human behaviour. As MD at decision science consultancy DECODE Marketing, he’s written 'Decoded: The Science Behind Why We Buy', a best-seller with stacks of praise from the likes of Rory Sutherland.    Phil gives us the lowdown on why he got into decision science, Tropicana’s failed redesign, the emotional side of Cillit Bang, scoffing Jaffa Cakes straight off the production line and tonnes more. There’s unmissable insight for brand mobsters managers too.   /////   Follow Phil on Twitter. And on LinkedIn. Or drop him a line. And check out DECODE Marketing. Decoded – The Science Behind Why We Buy by Phil Barden. The Blogfather sunk his teeth into the Mouldy Whopper debate last week with help from Phil’s WARC article on th

We’ve lurked by the theatre stage door this week to catch Charlie Russell; the West End and Broadway star of the smash hit show, The Play That Goes Wrong. Together with her long-standing friends in the Mischief Theatre company, she has appeared in a hit parade of great shows, including The Comedy About A Bank Robbery and Groan Ups, while Mischief Comedy have recently aired their first TV show on the BBC; The Goes Wrong Show. Charlie talks to us on a huge repertoire of subjects; getting into drama school, the beginnings of Mischief Theatre, how Improv theatre works, what makes a good comedy actor, how pain is integral to great comedy, the difference between performing on TV and theatre, taking the show to Broadway, and what it was like to meet and work with the Hollywood director JJ Abrams. So, exit stage left pursued by a bear and go listen. ///// You can follow her on Twitter. And check out all the Mischief Theatre shows. And the BBC’s The Goes Wrong Show. Which is now available on Amazon. Her agent is

This week we’ve rowed up the Thames with a wine-laced bait to catch Kerry O’Connor, Co-Founder at Tonic Creative Business Partners. Kerry has many specialities, including marketing strategy, PR, and belting out power ballads to huge crowds for charitable causes. She’s mostly worked agency-side for the likes of Ogilvy, Publicis, Imagination and Dragon Rouge, yet also has client-side chops from a stint with what is now Virgin Media. She talks to us on a vast array of information nuggets, including: working at Ogilvy (where accounts included Ford and IBM), overcoming stigma to get into the industry, big agencies Vs small agencies, client side Vs agency side, business development & strategy, positioning, the pitch process, defining growth and singing as part of a Queen tribute act in the Islington Assembly Hall to over 900 people! There’s so much packed in, it’s a veritable sardine can of an episode. Enjoy. ///// Follow Kerry on LinkedIn Tonic’s LinkedIn Page Tonic's website Book Recommendation: The Fo

This week we’ve snuck up the Thames to Ogilvy’s offices to catch Shelina Janmohamed; the bestselling author of Love in a Headscarf (a memoir about growing up as a British Muslim woman), and the Vice President of Islamic Marketing at Ogilvy- The world's first bespoke consultancy for building brands with Muslim audiences.She also, somehow, still finds time to write for the Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and the BBC, and was named one of the UK’s 100 most powerful Muslim women.   She talks to us on how brands and agencies can understand the Muslim population better to create better ads and comms, writing books, how writing ‘Be Nice’ on her index finger helps her be a better person, how being a mother has improved her efficiency x10, the social healing power of chips, working on the iconic Motorola RAZR and more. ///// Follow Shelina on LinkedIn On Twitter On Facebook Her books/reports are: Love in a Headscarf by Shelina Generation M by Shelina The Great British Ramadan from Ogilvy. Book Recommendation: Alch

This week we’ve packed our plasticine and carried out a search of The Avon to pick up Bristol’s finest maker of noise, Gavin Strange. By day, Gavin is Director and Designer at the beloved Aardman Animations, the Academy Award winning studio behind Wallace & Gromit, and by night he indulges in passion projects, drenching them in fizzy, fuzzy energy as he morphs into his alter-ego Jam Factory. A serial tinkerer whose capacity for fun bursts through his beanie, Gavin is also an author, toy inventor and speaker. He talks to us candidly on this, having car parts thrown at his head, pixels, plasticine and what Morph is really like, the unlikely crossover of Maya Angelou and Dragon Ball Z, why we need more wonky things, and a whole lot more. Embrace your fizz and fuzz. Listen and you won’t be disappointed. ///// Gavin/JamFactory Links:   Follow @JamFactory on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn  And visit his website. (https://www.jam-factory.com/) Gavin’s directorial debut, The Amazing Maya Angelou And his

We’ve put a tasty worm on our line and cast it into the Big Apple to catch Zenith Media’s Exec VP & Head of Innovation, Tom Goodwin.   The best thing to come out of Sheffield since Sean Bean, Tom has worked with a list of clients that reads like the FTSE 100, including Microsoft, BMW, FOX and Emirates, and he is also the bestselling author of the ground-breaking book, Digital Darwinism.   Tom talks to us on tonnes of topics, including the evolution of tech and what excites him, his experience working at TBWA, metrics & short-termism, programmatic, selling Ribena to the North of England and a whole lot more. ///// Links:   Follow Tom on LinkedIn  On the Twitter And here is his website   Book Recommendations:    Re-imagine by Tom Peters Disruption by Jean-Marie Dru  Alchemy by Rory Sutherland /////

We sneaked up the river Liffey in a Viking long boat and kidnapped arguably Ireland’s greatest marketer for a natter; Colin Lewis.    Colin’s vast experience and multiple industry awards come from a career that includes working at iconic brands like BMI, 118118, Thomas Cook and CityJet, and from working all over the world, from Australia to Hong Kong, Japan, and the UK and Ireland. He’s also a speaker, lecturer and teacher, educating brands such as Unilever, Facebook, Ryanair, and Heineken.   This pod is packed with nuggets of golden insight as Colin talks to us on strategy, friction, robot car racing, the value of teaching and education in marketing, how to truly be market orientated, turning into a grumpy old man, and lots more.   We also assume he has an exclusive membership for The Long Room Library at Dublin’s Trinity College, as he is one of the best-read people we’ve ever spoken to, and he’s shared tonnes of tomes below. ///// Colin Links:   Follow Colin on LinkedIn And on Twitter Read his Marketi

We’ve lurked in the waters of San Francisco Bay to catch arguably the most outspoken and controversial voice in the industry; the bullshit detecting bulldog, Bob Hoffman. He is the acerbic wit behind the highly popular ‘Ad Contrarian’ blog, named one of the world’s most influential marketing and advertising blogs by Business Insider, and is the author of four Amazon Number 1 selling books about advertising. Bob’s commentary has appeared in the likes of BBC World Service, The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times and Forbes. He talks to us on his early career as an adult fiction writer (!!!), ad fraud, his experience of client and agency side, the great danger of tracking and surveillance in online advertising, the de-valuation of creativity, his writing of a new book and so much more. ///// Bob Links:   Follow Bob on LinkedIn On the Twitter Here is his AdContrarian blog And his website You can also check out the details on his 4 published books here   Book Recommendations:  The Anatomy of Hum

This week we dug out our knickerbockers and legged it up the fairway to catch an ex-golf pro with one of the strongest drives in the industry, Di Wilkins. She joined the agency Critical Mass 21 years ago and never left. As CEO, Di has created a genuinely special work culture rooted in Canadian values and best showcased by an avalanche of industry accolades this year, including Best Agency to Work For and Employer of the Year. Di explains that what she lacks in polish, she makes up for in heart. And we guarantee that after this episode there’ll be a queue of Call to Action listeners from here to Canada vying to be her friend. You can listen to her talk candidly on the benefits of being “absolutely clueless", the silliest thing she’s done with a JPEG, pioneering customer-centricity before it was vogue and a whole lot more. ///// Di: Follow Di on LinkedIn.   Critical Mass: On the Twitter. On the Facebook. On the LinkedIn. On the Instagram. On their Website. Book Recommendations: She’s also recommended

This week we’ve got our large sea-going vessel out of dry dock once again to go across the pond to catch Dr. Stefanie K. Johnson; author, speaker and professor of Management at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds School of Business.    Stefanie has come a long way since discovering in her first jobthat a children’s ball pit is the most disgusting place on earth. She is now one of the world’s leading authorities on improving diversity and inclusion in business and has published over 70 journal articles and book chapters for the likes of Harvard Business Review and Journal of Applied Psychology.    Stefanie has achieved stellar coverage with media giants such as The Economist, The Guardian, Time and CNN, while her learning partners on diversity and inclusion include Netflix, Starbucks and P&G, amongst many other household brand names.   She talks to us on defining bias, the ABC’s of how to break it, how businesses can improve diversity and inclusion, leadership, her life as a professor, swing dancing

This week we’ve laid bait of Guinness and Rosé to snare the man who launched his agency from his front room whilst sitting in his pants, the day after he called his old boss a ‘cock’. It can only be Paul Mellor.   Taking the piss out of the industry whilst on the piss with our podcast host Giles, it’s a wonder how they actually finished with a fully recorded episode. Paul takes us on a riotous ride on how he went from working in a coleslaw and potato salad factory (yep, you heard that right) to running one of the best brand and ad agencies in London. Topics and targets rattled through also include; why advertising is shit and how it can be better, Pot Noodles, how brands can achieve genuine stand out by risk taking, and the wildly successful ‘Take Fucking Risks’ speaker series Paul founded, with guests like Bob Hoffman, Dave Trott, Cindy Gallop, and Grace Dent.   The first Call to Action podcast to require a health warning, the fumes from this episode alone could damage your liver whilst also serving as a sla

This week we’ve only caught a cold (well, it is that time of year), but much more excitingly we’re putting out a bite-size Call to Action pod blast to exclusively announce details of our very first live Call to Action podcast event. It’s like a cranked-up Question Time, taking place in a pub to booze-fuel the debate and replacing the politicians with talented peeps who aren’t afraid to tell it like it is. Join us for a riotous and fun night for our first-ever live event. It will be a cocktail of much-loved regular Call To Action pod features alongside lively debate of hot 2019 topics in the marketing and advertising industry, all in an amazing and intimate venue. We’re laying on a pub-grub buffet and a couple of free drinks, all covered under the cost of a ticket, while everyone also gets a Call To Action goodie-bag to take away too. Think you have a question to stump our panel? They’re well up for a challenge, so submit questions by emailing hello@calltoaction.co or dropping us a message on the usual Call

This week we’ve travelled to a galaxy far, far away to ensnare Brian Macreadie; B2B Marketing’s self-styled Yoda.   Brian’s stellar career includes a period as Marketing Director for Media and Sport at Getty Images,marketing communication roles at large telecoms companies such as AT&T, and over 12 years’ experience as head of marketing at several international law firms. More highly decorated with medals than Ryan Giggs, Brian has over 60 prestigious B2B industry awards,and is so highly thought of that he often sits on the judging panels themselves, including being 3-times judge at the B2B Marketing Awards.   He talks to us on his time in the Defence sector, his move to Marcoms, the pressures faced working in B2B, his encounters with the Sith (Digital Snake Oil Merchants), tips on how to write B2B marketing emails the B2B client-side impression of agency side, tips for briefing agencies and a whole lot more. ///// Brian's Links: Brian on LinkedIn Brian on Twitter Brian's Website Archived article What

We’ve tracked a trail from London to Sydney and back again this week, to catch our latest podcast guest Jane Evans. Many are billed as being ‘brutally honest’, but Jane wrote the rule book on “not giving a f*ckery.” Jane has worked for some of the biggest agencies on the planet, including JWT and Ogilvy, before setting up her own agency Giant Leap, where clients included Revlon, Maserati and a bevy of beer breweries. But arguably her greatest work is being done now, running Janee; a part-advertising agency, part-activist organisation that is fighting for gender equality and diversity in advertising and society, and giving a voice to a new breed of superwomen. She talks to us candidly on this, the heyday of the Ad Industry in Australia, how Martin Sorrell then f*cked it all up, what makes great ads work, why modern beer ads don’t work, being a Mum, and a whole lot more. ///// Jane and Uninvisibility: Jane on Twitter Jane's Website The Uninvisibility Project Instagram @Uninvisibility Twitter @Uninvisibili

This week we’ve gone over The Pond to catch Designer, Author, Speaker, Teacher and all-round cool dude and professional hell-raiser, James Victore. Part Yoda part Darth Vader, his often-controversial yet striking work is exhibited all around the world, including at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and has appeared on the covers of Esquire and Time Magazine. He’s also worked for clients such as Adobe, Mailchimp and Moet & Chandon, and recently captured all his learnings in his new book, Feck Perfuction. He talks to us on his early career, designing posters, designing book jackets, his influences, his creative Texas retreat, his workhorse typefaces, what to do with shit clients, having a "God damn opinion", and a whole lot more, so go have your ears bent now (in a good way). ///// James Online: Instagram @JamesVictore Twitter @JamesVictore Website  James Links/Books: New York City Department of Probation project case study  Victore or, Who Died and Made You Boss? by James Victore Feck Perf