Your CMO Mentor

Performance marketing can feel like you’re squeezing harder and harder for the same results. CPAs creep up. Growth slows. And suddenly, the next move isn’t about optimisation — it’s about expansion.In this episode, James and Joe sit down with Kate Waters, Commercial Director at ITV, to explore what TV advertising really offers modern marketers. From protecting price sensitivity and lowering CPAs across channels to making TV accessible for small and medium-sized brands, Kate shares how measurement, creativity and smart testing are reshaping what TV can do for growth.Key topics include: • Why TV lowers CPAs across social and search • How TV advertising protects price and margin • The “rising tide” effect on performance channels • How to start with regional geo testing • Making TV ads with AI for small budgets • Using outcomes modelling to forecast website uplift⸻Timestamps:00:00 TV’s impact on price sensitivity06:01 Skills marketers need today19:39 Why TV still works22:48 Trust and costly signalling35:14 Measuring real business outcomes43:35 How to test TV safely47:58 Small brands winning with TV⸻Watch / listen:Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-meetup-podcast/id1365546447Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5QvmFdxg5pMwsfPkKjhXl9⸻Please take the time to check out our partners, all of whom we work with because we think they’re useful companies for lovely marketers.Frontify – All your brand assets in one place: Frontify combines DAM, brand guidelines, and templates into a collaborative source of brand truth.Mailchimp - The all-in-one marketing platform that helps teams turn emails, automation, and now SMS into smarter, more connected customer journeys (and they’ve been longtime friends of TMM!).Cambridge Marketing College – The best place to get your marketing qualifications and apprenticeships.Planable – the content collaboration platform that helps marketing teams create, plan, review, and approve all their awesome marketing content.Wistia – a complete video marketing platform that helps teams create, host, market, and measure their videos and webinars, all in one place.

What if half of advertising’s problems come down to this: we keep asking people why they do things… and they genuinely don’t know?In this episode of Your CMO Mentor, we’re joined by Richard Shotton (behavioural science author of The Choice Factory and The Illusion of Choice) to unpack what actually changes behaviour and why small experiments often beat confident opinions, focus groups, and “what customers say they want.”We cover:- Why customer explanations can be misleading (even when they’re trying to be helpful)- The most underrated skill for marketers right now: behavioural science (and why it’s pretty AI-proof)- “Make it easy”: the simple lever most brands underuse- Choice paralysis, and why “too much choice” depends on the person- How to run smarter research with message testing (tiny tweaks, cleaner insight)- Why social proof works in B2B too (yes, even with doctors)- The internal comms mistake that accidentally encourages bad behaviour- How to use behavioural nudges without trashing long-term trust (hint: measure both)If you’re trying to get better at influencing behaviour - without becoming a weird persuasion goblin - this one’s for you :)⸻Huge thanks to our sponsor, Weglot! Weglot makes website translation feel human, helping brands grow into new markets without losing their tone of voice.This week we're excited to share access to ⁠Weglot’s Next Market Live replay⁠, packed with real stories and practical insights on expanding into Spain.⸻CHAPTERS00:00 Why customers don’t know why they buy05:00 What skill marketers should learn first07:35 The trait great marketers share09:10 Dream mentors (and why)10:20 The best lesson a mentor taught him18:15 Stop trusting surveys so much20:20 Make behaviour easy27:20 How to run better experiments31:30 Does behavioural science work in B2B?46:45 Nudges vs long-term trust⸻GUESTRichard Shotton. Author of The Choice Factory and founder of Astroten, a consultancy that applies findings from behavioural science to improve marketing.https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-shotton/https://www.astroten.co.uk/⸻STAY IN THE LOOPThis podcast is brought to you by The Marketing Meetup.Get thoughtful marketing ideas, upcoming episodes, and community conversations in your inbox:https://themarketingmeetup.com/newsletter⸻WHAT SHOULD WE COVER NEXT?We shape Your CMO Mentor around the questions marketers are actually asking.If there’s a challenge you’d love us to tackle, let us know. We’re listening.

When we spoke to Jessica Cobarras, CMO of Asana, her passion for people really came through. In this podcast episode, we talk about how centring people at the heart of what she does has allowed Jessica to create an environment where teams can do their best work, grow their careers, and feel connected to the mission they're building together.Thanks Weglot for sponsoring this episode. This is the event Joe mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/live/XUs5WFZBL5YKey takeaways from the episodeReframe AI from tools to outcomes.Jessica emphasises that AI transformation should not start with adopting more platforms or features. Instead, marketing leaders should begin with the outcomes they want to improve (impact, effectiveness, customer value) and then use existing tools and capabilities more intelligently to get there. Human barriers matter more than technical ones.A recurring theme is that change around AI is often slowed by very human challenges—imposter syndrome, fear of getting it wrong, and uncertainty about how roles might evolve. Addressing these emotional and psychological barriers is critical to successful adoption. Soft skills are becoming a core marketing capability.Jessica highlights communication, empathy, and the ability to navigate ambiguity as essential skills for marketers today—especially in fast-changing environments driven by AI and automation. Psychological safety enables innovation.Leaders need to actively create an environment where teams feel safe to experiment, ask questions, and make mistakes. This safety helps marketers remain curious and creative rather than becoming defensive during periods of rapid change. AI adoption should be cross-functional and collaborative.The conversation stresses the importance of strong alignment between marketing, sales, and technology teams. AI initiatives work best when they are built together rather than owned by a single function in isolation. The real opportunity is role evolution, not replacement.Jessica shares how AI can augment marketers’ work and reshape responsibilities, allowing teams to focus more on strategic thinking and higher-value contributions instead of routine or manual tasks.

Brand is one of the hardest things for marketers to justify, especially when budgets are tight, pressure is high, and leadership wants results now.

Today, we’re joined by Matt Herbert, Co-Founder of Tracksuit, to talk about how marketers can make more confident cases for brand and use measurement to build trust, not just dashboards.

This is a grounded, mentorship-led conversation about
what “brand” really means inside a business
how brand and performance work together rather than against each other
choosing brand metrics leadership actually understands
using data as career currency, not just reporting
staying confident when measurement reveals uncomfortable truths

If you’ve ever struggled to get buy-in for long-term work, felt nervous about what measurement might uncover, or wanted to be taken more seriously in strategic conversations, this episode is for you.

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Huge thanks to our sponsor, Weglot! Weglot makes website translation feel human, helping brands grow into new markets without losing their tone of voice.

This week we're excited to share access to Weglot’s Next Market Live replay, packed with real stories and practical insights on expanding into Spain.

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CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro
4:31 The skill marketers need now
6:03 Existing vs future demand
8:22 Mentors, growth, and good advice
11:45 The mistake marketers make early
14:13 What brand tracking really solves
16:56 Why brand is everyone’s job
18:21 The brand metrics that matter
22:14 Making the case for brand under pressure
25:00 Balancing short-term and long-term
29:28 Using insight as career currency
32:02 How fast brand actually moves
37:25 How to start even with limited budget
43:20 Building trust with brand data
47:03 One thing to do tomorrow

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GUEST
Matt Herbert, Co-Founder and CCO at Tracksuit
https://www.linkedin.com/in/herbertmattj
https://www.gotracksuit.com/uk

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STAY IN THE LOOP
This podcast is brought to you by The Marketing Meetup.
Get thoughtful marketing ideas, upcoming episodes, and community conversations in your inbox.
https://themarketingmeetup.com/newsletter

⸻
WHAT SHOULD WE COVER NEXT?
We shape Your CMO Mentor around the questions marketers are actually asking.
If there’s a challenge you’d love us to tackle, let us know. We’re listening.

Many marketers are told they have to choose: brand or demand.More leads now, or long-term impact later.In this episode of Your CMO Mentor from The Marketing Meetup, Jessica Shapiro (CMO at LiveRamp, former marketing leader at Starbucks and SAP) explains why that framing is broken and what actually works instead.We get into how brand and demand feed each other, not fight for budget. Jessica shares real examples from global brands, honest lessons from leadership, and clear advice for marketers trying to get buy-in from CEOs and CFOs who want results now.You’ll hear: • Why brand and demand are a symbiotic system, not competing channels • What’s different (and what isn’t) between B2B and B2C brand building • How Starbucks used brand experience to unlock real demand growth • How to make the case for brand when leadership only asks for leads • What strong marketing teams do differently to align brand, demand, and salesThis episode is for marketers at any level who want to do thoughtful work, build credibility, and stop feeling like they’re fighting the same internal battle every quarter.Timestamps00:00 – Why brand and demand aren’t opposites06:38 – The skill every marketer should build early07:31 – Why storytelling separates good marketers from great ones10:02 – The truth about mentors12:13 – Career advice from Microsoft16:13 – Why failure matters more than early wins18:53 – Brand vs demand26:40 – How to get CEOs and CFOs on board29:17 – Starbucks brand experience → demand growth32:29 – How to structure teams35:02 – How to fuel everyday collaboration36:29 – Budgets & 60/40 rule41:13 – “My CEO only wants leads”: how to navigate that conversation43:59 – One thing every marketer should practice more👉 Follow us for thoughtful marketing conversations @themarketingmeetupSubscribe to borrow the brain of one of marketing's brightest brains every week!