That's What I Call Marketing

Tourism marketing often gets reduced to beautiful beaches, drone shots and generic aspiration. Susan Coghill has spent years proving that isn’t enough.In this episode of That’s What I Call Marketing, Conor sits down with the CMO of Tourism Australia to explore how one of the world’s most recognisable destination brands thinks about salience, creativity, distinctive assets and long-term brand building in an increasingly competitive global market.Susan shares the story behind Tourism Australia’s hugely successful “Come and Say G’Day” platform, why Ruby the Kangaroo became such a powerful brand asset, and how the organisation balances consistency with freshness across markets including the US, UK and China.The conversation also explores Susan’s fascinating career journey from working at Apple during the “Think Different” era, including delivering creative work directly to Steve Jobs in Hawaii, through to leading one of the most admired tourism brands in the world.Along the way, they discuss:Why Australian marketers consistently punch above their weight globallyThe role of salience and mental availability in destination marketingWhy tourism brands often fall into category samenessThe importance of distinctive assets like Ruby the KangarooHow Tourism Australia approaches talent partnerships with figures like Nigella Lawson and Robert IrwinWhat modern tourism marketing can learn from entertainment and social mediaHow AI discoverability is changing brand strategy and search behaviourWhy consistency compounds in marketingThis is a conversation about much more than tourism. It is really about how brands stay memorable in a crowded world.07:40 – Working during Apple’s “Think Different” era & meeting Steve Jobs14:05 – Moving from agency life to brand side16:20 – Why Tourism Australia is “the best job in the world”18:00 – Why Australian marketers punch above their weight20:15 – Escaping tourism marketing clichés22:10 – Building the “Come and Say G’Day” platform24:45 – Talent strategy, Robert Irwin and Nigella Lawson29:30 – How Tourism Australia thinks about salience and consideration32:10 – Competing without the biggest budget35:00 – Social media, TikTok and destination storytelling38:20 – The creation of Ruby the Kangaroo42:40 – AI discoverability and the future of search45:20 – Why tourism marketing matters economically and culturallyA huge thank you to our partners at Tracksuit for supporting the podcast.You can listen to more episodes of That’s What I Call Marketing here:That’s What I Call Marketing

Jessica Jensen is the CMO of LinkedIn, but this conversation goes far beyond platform strategy or social media trends.In this episode of That’s What I Call Marketing, Jessica joins Conor Byrne for a deep conversation about what modern marketing leadership actually looks like inside one of the world’s biggest technology companies.From studying Japanese and living in Tokyo, to starting a business during the 2008 financial crisis, to leading global marketing teams across Silicon Valley, Jessica shares the experiences that shaped her approach to marketing, creativity, leadership and growth.They explore why marketers need a GM mindset, how LinkedIn thinks about trust and brand building, why AI is changing career development, and what separates marketers who stay relevant from those who get left behind.Jessica also explains:– Why most marketing messaging is forgettable– Why marketers should learn finance, product and sales– How LinkedIn manages global marketing across multiple business units– Why human networks matter even more in the AI era– The real tension between global scale and local market needs– What CMOs actually measure internally– Why humour and humanity matter in B2B marketingIf you’re a CMO, marketing leader, brand strategist, or someone trying to build a long-term marketing career in the age of AI, this episode is packed with practical insight.Timestamps00:00 Intro02:25 How Jessica accidentally inspired the podcast03:40 Learning Japanese & living in Tokyo05:45 Startup failure & “Mama had to go get a job”07:00 Discovering marketing at Facebook08:40 Bringing humour into LinkedIn marketing10:55 The difference between LinkedIn & Indeed12:30 Why personal brands matter more in AI13:40 Is organic reach on LinkedIn getting harder?15:05 Managing complexity as LinkedIn’s CMO18:00 Running global marketing across 20+ markets22:05 Breaking down silos inside large organisations26:20 What Jessica actually measures as a CMO28:15 Why marketers need a GM mindset30:20 Why marketers should “wear lots of sweaters”32:00 Jessica’s warning for marketers ignoring AI35:20 The skills marketers need in 202637:45 What prepared Jessica to become LinkedIn’s CMO39:00 Final reflections on leadership & humanitySubscribe for more conversations with the world’s leading CMOs, founders, strategists and creative leaders.Listen to the podcast:Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7MXhujDpTzbSRRbyQFgdWpAcast: https://shows.acast.com/thats-what-i-call-marketingFollow Conor Byrne on LinkedIn for more marketing analysis and commentary.Brought to you by TracksuitTracksuit is the always-on brand tracking platform helping marketers understand brand health, measure impact, and make better decisions over time.👉 https://gotracksuit.com#Marketing #CMO #LinkedIn #ArtificialIntelligence #BrandStrategy #B2BMarketing #MarketingLeadership #PersonalBrand #FutureOfWork #DigitalMarketing

Banking is one of the hardest categories in marketing.Trust is fragile. Customer expectations are shaped by every app on their phone, not just other banks. And every interaction has the potential to redefine the relationship.In this episode of That’s What I Call Marketing, Conor Byrne sits down with Laura Lynch, CMO of Bank of Ireland, to explore what it actually means to build a modern banking brand in 2026.Laura takes us inside Bank of Ireland’s recent brand transformation, including the thinking behind the new “Right With You” platform, the role of customer experience in shaping strategy, and why the bank deliberately avoided category clichés in its latest advertising work.The conversation also explores:Why Laura stepped out of traditional marketing roles before becoming CMOHow customer trust is rebuilt after the banking crisisThe balance between AI, personalisation and human connectionWhy marketers can become too focused on attribution and performance metricsThe challenge of creating distinctive advertising in regulated categoriesHow Bank of Ireland uses customer insight, segmentation and CX to shape growthThe role of leadership, resilience and timing in building a marketing careerLaura also shares the inside story behind Bank of Ireland’s latest campaigns, including the strategic use of humour, movie references, and why every line, casting decision and creative choice was intentionally designed to create distinction.For marketers working in financial services, regulated industries, or legacy brands navigating change, this is a fascinating look at how modern brand building actually works inside one of Ireland’s most important organisations.Timestamps:00:00 – Why trust in banking has to be earned every day02:00 – Laura Lynch’s path to becoming CMO of Bank of Ireland06:30 – Leaving traditional marketing to build customer experience capability10:00 – Going “all in” to land the CMO role13:00 – Leadership, intensity and avoiding groupthink16:30 – The reality of leading marketing inside a major bank18:00 – Rebuilding customer trust after the banking crisis20:00 – Why banking competition has fundamentally changed21:30 – Inside Bank of Ireland’s new brand strategy24:00 – Building “Right With You” with customers and colleagues27:00 – Why the strategy had to stretch the organisation29:00 – The making of the new Bank of Ireland advertising32:00 – Using humour to talk about fraud and financial confidence35:00 – Creating distinctive work in a regulated category37:00 – AI, personalisation and the future of marketing teams39:00 – Why performance marketing alone is not enoughBrought to you by TracksuitTracksuit is the always-on brand tracking platform helping marketers understand brand health, measure impact, and make better decisions over time.👉 https://gotracksuit.comListen / Follow That’s What I Call Marketing:🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7MXhujDpTzbSRRbyQFgdWp📩 Email: thatwhatswhatIcallmarketing@gmail.comSubscribe for weekly conversations with leading marketers.

The Singles is back with Tracksuit, taking some of the biggest marketing stories in culture right now and putting them under a bit more pressure using real brand data.Because the interesting part is rarely just the campaign itself. It is what the campaign reveals about the category, the audience, and the way brands are trying to grow.In this episode, Conor Byrne is joined by Ed Parkin and Bella Harrison from Tracksuit to explore three very different examples of brands using culture, entertainment, and timing to build relevance.Lucky Saint shows how alcohol-free beer has moved far beyond Dry January, using Lime Bikes, London culture, run clubs, and moderation trends to position itself as a year-round brand for active urban consumers.Lego demonstrates why it remains one of the most culturally flexible brands in the world, turning the FIFA World Cup into entertainment before a ball has even been kicked, while continuing to stretch beyond the toy category into fandom, collectibles, and adult audiences.The conversation then turns to the latest Entertain or Die Report, looking at why entertainment is increasingly becoming a commercial growth strategy rather than just a creative ambition.The episode also explores:Why brands are now competing against Netflix, TikTok, creators, and sport for attentionThe shift from “salesmanship” to “showmanship” in advertisingWhy entertaining brands are outperforming commerciallyWhat brands like Currys, Compare the Market, Guinness Zero, and Lego are getting rightHow mental availability is built long before purchase moments happenIf you want a deeper understanding of how entertainment, culture, and brand growth connect together, this episode is packed with practical examples and real-world data.Listen to Paul Feldwick on That's What I Call Marketing here:Paul Feldwick on That's What I Call MarketingRead the full Entertain or Die report:Entertain or Die Report Find out more about Tracksuit:TracksuitListen to more episodes of That's What I Call Marketing:That's What I Call MarketingTimestamps:02:06 – Lucky Saint and the rise of moderation culture03:24 – Why Lucky Saint is so culturally aware05:05 – Lime Bikes, London culture, and timing07:08 – The functional drinks category shift08:45 – Alcohol-free beer becoming mainstream10:00 – Guinness Zero vs Lucky Saint11:18 – Winning locally before scaling nationally13:22 – Brand perception and category positioning15:00 – Lego and the FIFA World Cup campaign16:01 – Why Lego works across every demographic18:22 – Lego’s cultural timing advantage20:00 – Lego, fandom, and entertainment21:40 – World Cup advertising and brand competition22:15 – Entertain or Die explained24:00 – Why entertainment drives commercial growth25:35 – Future demand and entertainment26:17 – Gap hires a Chief Entertainment Officer27:09 – What makes brands entertaining29:00 – Brands that entertain us today31:00 – Why culture matters inside companies

We talk about personalisation as if it’s about the person. It isn’t. It’s about prediction.”That line sits at the centre of this conversation with James Taylor, CEO & Founder of A Particular Audience and once you hear it properly, it’s difficult to go back to how most marketing teams currently think about relevance. Because for years, personalisation has been framed as something close to one-to-one messaging. The idea that if we just had enough data, we could tailor every experience to the individual. It sounds right. It feels intuitive. And yet, in practice, it has largely disappointed.What James lays out here is a different way of understanding the problem.Not who the customer is — but what they are doing.Not static segments — but real-time signals.Not demographics — but behaviour.Drawing on his experience building AI-driven recommendation systems used by global retailers, he explains how the most effective ecommerce experiences are not built around people, but around patterns. Around the relationships between products, actions, and intent. Around what millions of other customers have done before you, and what that makes likely next. This fundamentally changes how you think about websites, search, media, and even creativity.Along the way, the conversation explores why so many early personalisation efforts failed, how Amazon and Netflix approached the problem differently, and why most retailers are still playing catch-up despite having access to the same underlying data.There’s also a more grounded thread running through it — the reality of AI in practice. Not the version you see in product demos or LinkedIn posts, but the version that still requires constraints, rules, and human oversight. The version that gets things wrong. The version that can be incredibly powerful, but only when properly understood.For marketers, there’s a useful tension here, on one side, the promise of hyper-relevance and automation, on the other, the discipline required to make it actually work.This episode sits right in that space.⏱️ Key Moments:00:00 – Why “you are not your demographic” changes everything02:15 – From investment banking to building AI products08:00 – The real meaning of personalisation (and why it’s been misunderstood)12:30 – Behaviour vs demographics: what actually drives relevance18:00 – Building a recommendation engine from scratch26:00 – Why most retailers still lag behind Amazon30:00 – How AI is changing marketing teams34:00 – The limits of AI (and why rules still matter)36:30 – “Personalisation is just good prediction”What you’ll take from this episode:Why most personalisation strategies fail to deliverHow recommendation systems actually work in ecommerceThe difference between explicit and implicit customer signalsWhy demographics are often a poor proxy for behaviourHow AI should (and shouldn’t) be used in marketing todayWhat marketers need to rethink about relevance and experience designBrought to you by TracksuitTracksuit is the always-on brand tracking platform helping marketers understand brand health, measure impact, and make better decisions over time.👉 https://gotracksuit.comListen / Follow That’s What I Call Marketing:🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7MXhujDpTzbSRRbyQFgdWp📩 Email: thatwhatswhatIcallmarketing@gmail.comSubscribe for weekly conversations with leading marketers.

How Brands Should Really Be Planning Christmas CampaignsWhat happens when you start planning Christmas… in April?In this episode of That’s What I Call Marketing, Conor Byrne is joined by Pete Markey (former CMO of Boots, Marketing Week Marketer of the Year) and Leanne Tomasevic (Insights Lead at Electric Twin) to explore how brands should approach Christmas advertising — using real-time synthetic audience insights.Instead of guessing what consumers want, this episode puts Electric Twin’s platform to the test live, revealing how marketers can simulate audience reactions, test ideas, and sharpen creative briefs months before campaigns go live.The result is a grounded, practical look at:What people actually want from Christmas ads in 2026Why emotional storytelling still matters (but needs reframing)The role of celebrities, music, and consistencyHow to balance commercial pressure with authenticityAnd how AI-driven research can speed up better decisionsIf you’re working on a Christmas campaign, brand strategy, or creative development, this is a genuinely useful watch.⏱️ Timestamps00:00 – The reality of planning Christmas in April01:10 – What Electric Twin actually does (synthetic audiences explained)03:00 – Why speed matters in modern marketing decision-making05:30 – Live demo: Understanding the mood of the nation at Christmas08:30 – What consumers really want this year (family, realism, restraint)12:00 – Gifting trends: practicality vs meaningful connection14:30 – The balance between storytelling and selling16:00 – What people want from Christmas ads now18:00 – Should brands use celebrities? (and when it works)21:00 – The role of consistency (Kevin the Carrot, John Lewis, Coca-Cola)24:00 – Realism vs escapism in Christmas creative27:00 – How agencies can use this to build stronger briefs29:00 – The most memorable Christmas ads and why they last32:00 – Should brands reuse ads instead of making new ones?33:00 – Why music is critical to Christmas advertising effectiveness35:30 – Final thoughts: faster insight, better decisions🎯 Key TakeawaysChristmas advertising isn’t about excess — it’s about connection under constraintConsumers want authenticity, not performanceCreative effectiveness improves when insight is iterative, not staticConsistency often beats novelty in building long-term brand memoryAI isn’t replacing research — it’s changing how quickly you can think🔗 Links & ResourcesLearn more about Electric Twin: https://electrictwin.comListen to more episodes: That’s What I Call MarketingPrevious episode with Dr. Ben Warner (Synthetic Research deep dive)🎙️ About the PodcastThat’s What I Call Marketing features conversations with leading marketers, CMOs, and industry thinkers — focused on how marketing actually works in practice.If you’re working on Christmas 2026 right now, get in touch with Electric Twin

The Singles is back with a new line-up from Tracksuit, looking at the marketing stories everyone is talking about In this episode joined by Bella & Ed we take a look at the data behind three very different moments McDonald’s shifts the conversation away from product and towards Gen Z employees, at a time when confidence in job opportunities for young people is low. It could easily have drifted into familiar employer-brand territory, but early signals suggest it is doing something more meaningful, with trust moving among younger audiences in a category where that is not easy to shift.KitKat finds itself at the centre of a global story after 12 tonnes of product are stolen, and instead of containing it, turns it into something participatory. Consumers are actively engaging, brands are joining in, and even a “KitKat” crypto coin spikes by 2000%. Most reactive marketing creates attention. Very little of it changes behaviour. This one starts to.Justin Bieber’s Coachella set works in a different way, stripping everything back and building the performance around YouTube. Nearly 6 million people stream it, and it splits opinion in a way that keeps it moving. It takes something familiar and presents it in a way that forces people to reprocess it, which is often where attention sustains rather than fades.Along the way, the conversation gets into why authenticity is showing up differently in production, how nostalgia actually works when brands get it right, and why participation is becoming more valuable than passive reach. 05:00 – McDonald’s: trust, Gen Z and employer brand 10:30 – KitKat: heist, participation and brand response 15:50 – Justin Bieber: YouTube, nostalgia and polarisation 20:30 – Nostalgia in advertising and brand memory 25:00 – Always-on tracking and what the data showsDon't forget to check out the new Entertain or Die report at TracksuitCOMING SOON - TWICM Training course will launch, stay tuned

The first Cannes Sessions episode of That’s What I Call Marketing is here and we kick off the series by interviewing three Irish IAPI Young Lions winner teams heading to Cannes: Darragh Spain and Fardosa Flanagan (Young Marketer, 123.ie/Intact Insurance), Ciara and Niamh (Film, Droga5), and Emily and Rhea (Digital, Omnicom Media). They discuss why they entered, how they tackled the 48-hour brief, research and insight methods, time management, prototyping and AI tools for film, adapting to an older target audience, presentation pressure, reactions to winning, and how they’re preparing for Cannes through past work review, equipment planning, bootcamps, and confidence. The Cannes Sessions are brought to you by The Digital Voice.These interviews shine a spotlight on their exceptional talents and the creative potential that exists within the next generation of marketing leaders, lets support and celebrate these future leaders as they prepare to bring home some medals from one of the most prestigious events in the marketing world.01:05 Young Lions Explained01:40 Meet the Winning Teams02:43 Darragh and Fardosa Intro03:19 Cracking the Brief04:33 Research and Insights06:55 Teamwork Under Pressure08:21 Shortlist to Presentation10:11 Winning the Call11:29 Preparing for Cannes12:55 Niamh and Ciara Win13:35 Film Category Workflow15:45 Agency Advantage16:21 Why Enter Young Lions17:07 Choosing a Category17:22 Learning Film Skills18:06 Upskilling With AI18:52 Planning For Cannes19:35 Storytelling Edge21:07 Why Enter Young Lions22:24 Team Dynamic Under Pressure24:03 Choosing The Digital Route24:51 Cracking The Age Group25:39 Winning Call Reaction26:42 Cannes Prep And MindsetSponsored by The Digital Voice, the amplification agency working with global ad tech and martech brands across press, thought leadership, content, social, events, and creative.