Fightback: An innovation podcast

In this week’s episode, we have the pleasure of talking to Rachel Eyre of Sainsbury’s. As Head of Future Brands, Rachel and her team are bringing the best of startup food and drinks products to their 27 million weekly customers. We talkcrickets to kombucha, and how Sainsbury’s scale and depth of marketing experience is one of their greatest assets. We also hear who’s keeping her up at night and why being able to lead change might well be the most important skill for any innovator.

In this week’s episode of Fightback, Robin speaks with Stephen Scott (Scottie), Chief Digital Officer at Avios. They cover off a whirlwind of topics including how the loyalty sector is evolving, why Avios is moving to a product led organisation, where Agile and Design thinking fit into their evolving target operation model and why it’s better to go through people than around them to drive change. Oh and how Scottie is not quite ready to trust in electric aircraft for a safe landing!

In this week’s episode we meet Nick Tate, Head of Next at GSK. We talk about finding meaning in your job, how large corporates such as GSK have a responsibility to impact the world around them in a positive way, and how being nosey is a foundational skill for success in innovation.

In this week’s episode, Robin speaks with Craig Foster of Homeserve where we find out what happens when you have an ambitious CEO, a curious new MD and a marketing guy that moves to the shed in the car park. We talk about the importance of being clear on what business you are truly in, and the failure that can come with ignoring the changing market around you as well as ways to overcome the sucking sound of the core.

In this episode, Robin speaks with Jeremy Smith from NatWest. It’s an amazing glimpse into NatWest’s unique venture model, as well as an important lesson in having the right executive buy-in and sponsorship and a great discussion about why London is the world leader in fintech startups.We also touch on how Open Banking is driving innovation, how to grow new brands both from the inside and through partners and why co-location away from the mothership is super important.

In this episode, Robin interviews Rich Corbridge, Director of Innovation and Dave Robinson Head of Data and Personalisation at Boots.In this lively chat, they talk about the future of the high street chemist and their recent launch of in store video GP consultation; their “willful disruption” innovation approach; the cultural changes they are spearheading including the permission to fail; their work with the NHS; their approach to data and loyalty, and how they work with partners from Microsoft to startups to win their fightback.They finish up with a few predictions and a wish list of innovations they wished they’d been part of.