The WARC Podcast

At the Insight to Impact event, WARC’s David Tiltman discovers how Mondelez’s insights team is using AI with Pam Forbus, examines the need for “marketing engineers” with Profound’s Matthew Huo, and goes deep on synthetic data research with Tracy Adams from the ARF and Keith Smith from the Marketing Science Institute.
This episode is sponsored by Profound. To learn more, go to tryprofound.com
Guests:
Pamela Forbus, Global Chief of Insights & Analytics, Mondelez
Matthew Huo, Product Marketing, Profound
Tracy Adams, Senior Director of Research & Insights, The Advertising Research Foundation
Keith Smith, Managing Director, The Marketing Science Institute
David Tiltman, Chief Content Officer, WARC
Chapters:
(00:00) Intro: Welcome to Insights to Impact
(02:29) Mondelez: Leading insights into AI’s future
(06:21) Mondelez: Breaking silos with consumer insight
(09:40) Mondelez: AI pilots, synthetic personas, and data foundations
(13:52) Mondelez: Synthetic personas and real consumers
(17:42) Profound: How brands appear in AI answers
(21:46) Profound: Creating original, specific content
(26:53) Profound: The rise of marketing engineers
(34:01) Profound: AI’s impact on marketing jobs
(37:24) The risks of synthetic research
(42:15) Bias, variability, and validation
(43:39) Why small prompt changes matter
(49:06) Matching validation to decision stakes

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.

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We're digging into new effectiveness research, including new thinking on brand coherence, the resurgence of 'ad awareness' and how to get the most out of sports sponsorships, recorded live at the IPA Effectiveness conference in London. Hosted by WARC's Anna Hamill.
Guests:
Orlando Wood, Chief Creative Officer, System1
Paul Simonet, The Whole Brained Marketer
Rory Natkiel, Founder of Box Count & Chair of the Sponsorship Effectiveness Forum
Claire Humphris, Chief Marketing Officer, British Cycling
Caitlin McRoy, Senior Sponsorship Manager at Sage
Nic Pietersma, Group Director of Analytics, Ebiquity
Anthony Jones, Head of Research, Thinkbox
Jane Christian, EVP - Analytics, WPP Media UK
Anna Hamill, Senior Editor, The WARC Podcast
Chapters:
[00:00] Intro: Live at the IPA Effectiveness Conference
[01:29] Creative coherence: putting brands back on top
[04:57] How the LLM model evaluates brand characteristics
[07:14] Coherent brand character: examples from Red Bull, Guinness, and Cadbury
[11:38] Brand coherence in an AI-driven world
[17:39] Why ad awareness deserves a closer look
[19:41] Ad awareness versus brand awareness
[23:27] Research findings: ad awareness, consideration, and causality
[28:00] Category differences and planning media to drive awareness
[34:45] The sponsorship effectiveness gap
[38:10] Sage’s approach: connecting sponsorship to broader brand goals
[40:18] Three practices for effective sponsorship measurement
[44:04] Long-term partnerships, flexibility, and creative platforms
[47:45] Lessons learned, and research resources

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

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Live from the Insights to Impact event, Reddit’s Lore Oxford shares how to get the best insights from the platform, Kraft Heinz’s Doug Healy and Zappi’s Julio Franco share how to make marketers love research, and Newell Brands’ Delicia Cooney discusses the importance of human-centric insights in the AI era. Hosted by WARC's David Tiltman.
This episode is sponsored by Profound. To learn more, go to tryprofound.com
Guests:
Lore Oxford, Head of Insights Product, Reddit
Douglas Healy, Head of North America Insights, The Kraft Heinz Company
Julio Franco, Chief Customer Officer, Zappi
Delicia Cooney, Senior Insights Director, Newell Brands
David Tiltman, Chief Content Officer, WARC
Chapters:
00:00 — Intro: Live from Insights to Impact
02:21 — Reddit: What “insight slop” means
06:30 — Reddit: Curating data and building analysis frameworks
10:29 — Reddit: Trust, human perspectives, and the platform’s growing influence
12:43 — Reddit: How brands can listen and activate authentically
19:26 — Introducing Kraft Heinz and Zappi’s research partnership
20:26 — Kraft Heinz: Moving from overtesting to a learning philosophy
25:54 — Why research shouldn’t feel like a creative report card
29:51 — Kraft Heinz: Flexible testing, business impact, and lessons learned
42:12 — Newell Brands: Rethinking the insights function
47:10 — Newell Brands: Building a human-needs framework
52:17 — Newell Brands: Reframing existing research and choosing clarity

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

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The future of AI media still feels uncertain: a goldrush where no one knows where to dig. A new report from WARC Media examines whether fragmenting attention leads to a concentration of monetisation in the advertising market and consider what this might mean for the next era of AI media. WARC's Alex Brownsell discusses the impact with Debra Aho Williamson.
Chapters:
[00:00] — Intro: How AI Media Could Reshape the $1.3 Trillion Ad Market
[01:58] — Why WARC Is Measuring AI’s Impact on Advertising Investment
[03:30] — What Is AI Media? ChatGPT, Google, and Amazon as Ad Channels
[05:00] — Fragmented Consumer Attention and Concentrated Digital Ad Spend
[07:23] — Why Google, Meta, and Amazon Attract Advertiser Investment
[11:42] — Three Scenarios for AI’s Impact on the Advertising Market
[13:58] — Could OpenAI Become a New AI Advertising Leader?
[16:19] — Will AI Expand Digital Advertising or Replace Existing Channels?
[18:45] — Why Incumbent Platforms May Benefit Most From AI
[21:53] — How Consumer Behavior Will Shape the Future of AI Media
[22:45] — Why WARC Used Visual Storytelling for the Sightlines Report
[26:05] — Where to Read Sightlines and Hear the Report Presented

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

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Strategy legends Suzanne Powers and Tom Morton left agency-land to build their own independent strategy businesses, discovering brands need new solutions to strategy problems outside of the agency model. They join WARC's David Tiltman to discuss what they've learned so far, the opportunities for strategists in going indie, and how to build a successful independent strategy proposition.
Guests:
Suzanne Powers, Co-Founder, All&
Tom Morton, Founder, Narratory Capital
David Tiltman, Chief Content Officer, WARC
Chapters:
(00:00) — Intro: Why more senior strategists are going indie
(02:07) — Why independent strategists are finding success
(04:30) — How to build a independent strategy consultancy
(05:27) — Reclaiming power and confidence
(08:21) — Value propositions for strategy beyond ad briefs
(10:56) — Is the independent strategy market becoming more competitive?
(13:09) — New opportunities in brand strategy consulting
(15:42) — Strategic planning for business pivots and growth
(18:57) — Making brand strategy Board-ready
(23:12) — How CMOs Can drive growth beyond advertising
(24:38) — Finding hidden strengths
(27:23) — Productized strategy vs. bespoke consulting
(31:37) — Using AI to improve marketing workflows
(35:44) — Why optimism matters for strategists

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