Best marketingforstartups Podcasts (2025)

1
EP 91: How AI Is Transforming SEO: Chris Attewell on Google, Bing and the Future of Search 55:24

11h ago55:24

55:24

This week on Embracing Marketing Mistakes, Chris Norton is joined by Chris Attewell, former CEO of Search Laboratory and now board advisor at Realise Advisory, to explore how AI is changing the future of SEO. Chris revisits his early years in digital marketing and explains how Search Laboratory moved from PPC into SEO, digital PR and integrated sea…

1
I Lost $25,000 On Ads And Learned Exactly What Not To Outsource 7:29

7d ago7:29

7:29

When Pinterest Strategist and Niche Marketing Expert Meagan Williamson joined the show for Episode 38, she opened up about a painful and expensive mistake that shaped the way she works today. Early in her business, she hired a Facebook ads expert to run paid traffic to a new funnel that had never been tested organically. Over a 90-day period she sp…

1
What Happens When Your Influencers Refuse to Use Their Own Names 17:41

6d ago17:41

17:41

Marshall Manson is the CEO of Fleishman Hillard and a communications strategist with deep experience in both brand marketing and corporate reputation. In 2006, while working at Edelman, he played a central role in the infamous "Walmarting Across America" campaign, an early and much criticised attempt at influencer marketing that quickly unravelled …

1
EP 90: The Body Shop Line That Haunted Vikki Ross 57:44

14d ago57:44

57:44

A single soft line on The Body Shop catalogue haunted copywriter Vikki Ross for six months. Years later, another forgettable line slipped through and ended up across London on billboards. In this episode, I talk to Vikki about how those moments changed the way she presents copy and how she helps clients avoid drifting into the dull middle. We get i…

1
From helping DJ Bob Sinclair to almost getting fired. 6:07

14d ago6:07

6:07

Christopher McKay, Head of Brand Engagement at Hillarys shares his career-defining failure when working at Ministry of Sound, revealing how a creative idea bombed due to lack of audience research and testing. • Started career in journalism before moving to PR at CalPR in Leeds • Moved to Ministry of Sound in London • Created "French Lessons with Bo…

1
EP 89: The Secret Brain Hack Powering the World’s Biggest Brands with Claire Koryczan 1:00:01

18d ago1:00:01

1:00:01

What if the key to leading brilliant brand teams was already wired into your brain? Claire Koryczan, founder of Imagine Beyond, has helped FTSE 100 brands and creative agencies unlock smarter ways to lead, create and think. In this episode, she shares how neuroscience shapes everything from energy in meetings to decision-making under pressure. Expe…

1
Three PR Nightmares That Cost Brands Millions 7:40

23d ago7:40

7:40

Marketing mishaps from major brands reveal the critical importance of PR coordination with marketing efforts and careful forward planning to prevent campaign disasters. • Zara's campaign featuring mannequins with missing limbs was filmed before the Israel-Palestine conflict but released during war coverage, resulting in widespread criticism • Negat…

1
EP 88: How I Built a PR Agency from Zero During COVID - Darryl Sparey 48:28

21d ago48:28

48:28

What happens when you leave a top PR agency to launch your own business, only for the world to shut down weeks later? Darryl Sparey, co-founder of Hard Numbers and former Hotwire leader, shares how he built an agency focused on proving marketing impact through data. In this episode, Darryl explains how marketers can move beyond vanity metrics and s…

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EP 87: From KFC’s Pricing Error to Expedia’s Deck Disaster: Lessons from Sam Benton on Creative Courage 49:08

1M ago49:08

49:08

Sam Benton, co-founder of Mad Masters, shares a career-shaping error many ambitious marketers will recognise: believing you know it all and avoiding help until reality proves otherwise. He explains why pricing is a feeling, not a number, how KFC’s box-meal flop only succeeded after they doubled the price, and the pitch-room mistake where an Experia…

1
She controlled her narrative by revealing her darkest secrets first 10:40

1M ago10:40

10:40

Today we speak with Greg Matusky, CEO & Founder, Gregory FCA Public Relations. He talks about being a young PR professional. We learn how Auntie Anne Beiler, founder of the famous pretzel franchise, brilliantly managed a potential scandal by revealing her own past mistakes before they could be used against her. • Auntie Anne grew up connected to th…

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EP 86: When Google’s AI Stole Their Clicks: How Prohibition Turned a Traffic Crisis into GEO Strategy 45:29

1M ago45:29

45:29

When Google rolled out AI Overviews, Prohibition PR’s founder Chris Norton and co-owner Will watched something shocking: their clients’ sites still ranked high, but traffic plummeted overnight. The cause? AI summaries stealing clicks before users ever reached their pages. In this episode, Chris and Will reveal how a 50% traffic crash exposed the my…

1
Breaking the BBC Homepage: Tales from the Trenches 8:20

2M ago8:20

8:20

We explore marketing mishaps and professional blunders that offer valuable life lessons with a bit of humour. Our guest today is Gerry White, SEO, Growth and Product Led Marketing Expert he talks about costly decimal point errors right through to accidentally breaking the BBC homepage himself. • How a decimal point error (£50 instead of 50p) in a p…

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EP 85: AI-Written RFP Fail: Why Pitches Collapse 39:15

2M ago39:15

39:15

What do you do when your big pitch idea quite literally vanishes in front of the client? For James Tomlinson, it involved a magician, a torn-up Financial Times, and the most awkward silence of his career. In this episode of Embracing Marketing Mistakes, James reveals the pitch fails that taught him more than any win ever could from sanding a CEO’s …

1
Knowing When to Fold: A Transatlantic Marketing Lesson 9:06

2M ago9:06

9:06

Andrew Bloch shares the challenging story of opening Frank PR's New York office after successful expansion to Manchester, Glasgow, and Sydney. What started as a promising venture with moderate success ultimately became a significant business lesson about knowing when to walk away. • American business culture proved vastly different despite sharing …

1
EP 84: Cracking the YouTube Algorithm: Lessons from Raw Data, Not Hype 50:46

2M ago50:46

50:46

By Prohibition PR

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The Gap Year that Almost Became a Career Gap 4:42

2M ago4:42

4:42

Marketing professionals aren't immune to making classic business mistakes, especially when personal projects cloud professional judgment. Our guest Katie Tucker, a Customer Insight Strategist, and Author of Do Penguins Eat Peaches, shares how her family gap year adventure led her to create a course without proper market validation, only to be unexp…

1
EP 83: Demoted at Deliveroo: Alice Ter Haar's Career-Shaking Failure 56:57

2M ago56:57

56:57

Careers rarely implode on schedule, but what you do next can change everything. When Alice Ter Haar was demoted at Deliveroo, right as the rocket ship was taking off she refused to hide. Instead, she told the truth, turned a career low into an origin story, and built Badass Unicorn to help high-growth teams find confidence, resilience, and psycholo…

1
Webinar FAIL: That Time I Forgot to Record Our Huge Influencer Webinar 7:02

2M ago7:02

7:02

Shaheen Samavati, Co-founder and CEO of Vera Content, explores career mistakes through a cautionary tale of a webinar gone wrong during severe storms in Spain. 😱 Shaheen a committed marketing agency owner, shares how forgetting to hit record on a high-profile influencer webinar with 1,000 registrants and 350 live attendees created an expensive prob…

1
EP 82: Mastering LinkedIn Visibility: Four Steps to Turn Followers into Clients 53:08

2M ago53:08

53:08

Think your LinkedIn profile is just a digital CV? Think again. In this eye‐opening conversation with Louise Brogan (Founder, Brogan Partners; LinkedIn: Louise Brogan Ltd. – Video Content Marketing) LinkedIn UK, author of Raise your Visibility on LinkedIn, we uncover the strategic approach that transformed her business from a failing craft shop to a…

1
Direct Marketing Fuck Up that Taught Me Everything Advertising Couldn't 5:09

2M ago5:09

5:09

In this mini series where we take a look back to our guest's mistakes they have shared, we have Patrick Collister's marketing mistake. Everyone makes mistakes in their marketing careers, but few are willing to discuss them openly. In this refreshingly candid conversation, our guest reveals how a seemingly catastrophic career move - joining a French…

1
EP 81: How a Prestige Client Nearly Cost Alexandra Galviz Her Authentic Brand 54:38

3M ago54:38

54:38

Alexandra Galviz, better known as Authentic Alex, is a LinkedIn Top Voice and the co-creator of the global LinkedIn Local movement. At just 24, she was leading training for 350 people across 21 offices, while secretly battling imposter syndrome, burnout and the pressure of living a life that didn’t feel like her own. Her viral LinkedIn post about l…

1
Food Marketing Gaffe: My Culinary Embarrassment with Meena Patak 5:57

3M ago5:57

5:57

Tamsin Daniel, a senior marketing professional and Head of Marketing at Firetree Chocolate, shares her embarrassing culinary f*ck up while supporting celebrity chef Meena Patak during a cooking show filmed in India. What begins as an exciting opportunity quickly descends into chaos with illness and a fundamental misunderstanding about chickpeas. 🤣 …

1
EP 80: The 1 B2B Thought Leadership Strategy You're NOT Using in 2025 53:08

3M ago53:08

53:08

Only 26 percent of B2B brands see real results from thought leadership, even though 80% are actively producing it. In this episode, we explore why most strategies are falling short in a time when trust in media and corporations is at just 33 per cent in the UK. The biggest missed opportunity is clear. Employee-shared content delivers 561% more reac…

1
Sadie Straw’s Inbox Fail and the Wellness Campaign That Asked Too Much 19:48

3M ago19:48

19:48

Wellness initiatives in the workplace often sound ideal, but what happens when they demand more than businesses can give? In this Campaign Crunch mini-episode, we’re joined by guest Sadie Straw to unpack Joe Wicks’ Movement Hour campaign, which encouraged employers to give staff an extra hour off each day for physical activity. Despite 10,000 compa…

1
EP 79: Why the BBC's Spencer Kelly Said the iPad Would Fail, Hours Before Its Launch 1:13:24

4M ago1:13:24

1:13:24

Back when Apple was rumoured to be about to launch the iPad, BBC presenter Spencer Kelly was already on air confidently predicting that the rumours were nonsense, because tablets were a stupid idea. Just six hours later, Steve Jobs proved him spectacularly wrong. In this episode, Spencer reflects on the mistake, the lessons it taught him about spot…

1
EP 78: From Zero Clients to LinkedIn Success: Sarah Clay’s Lockdown Marketing Fail 54:49

4M ago54:49

54:49

For Sarah Clay, that nightmare became her big break. Pre-pandemic, she was running a social media agency for hospitality brands. Then lockdown hit, and in the space of a week her market evaporated. Instead of wallowing, she made a bold pivot into LinkedIn training. That’s when she spotted the goldmine nobody was talking about: employee advocacy. Ge…

1
EP 77: Mind Games: Richard Shotton Reveals Marketing's Hidden Secrets 58:39

4M ago58:39

58:39

Tired of marketing campaigns that miss the mark? Richard Shotton, bestselling author of "The Choice Factory" and "The Illusion of Choice," reveals why understanding human psychology is the secret sauce behind effective marketing. The gap between what consumers say influences them and what actually drives their behavior creates a golden opportunity …

1
PR FAIL: I sent a press release that wasn't approved and made the 10 o'clock news. 5:15

5M ago5:15

5:15

Our host, Chris Norton, reveals his biggest career mistake when he joined a new PR agency as an account manager. What started as enthusiasm to impress his new employers quickly descended into a PR disaster when he prematurely distributed a press release about a new bar opening without client approval. • Background as a PR professional with experien…

1
EP 76: How British Wool Turned 30,000 Farmers into Brand Advocates 44:51

5M ago44:51

44:51

What does it take to market an iconic British agricultural product in today's digital world? Graham Clark, Director of Marketing at British Wool, pulls back the curtain on the fascinating journey of promoting this sustainable fiber to modern consumers. British Wool stands as the last remaining farmers' cooperative in the UK, representing approximat…

1
Media Training Error: The Constructive Dismissal Quip That Sparked a Training Fuck Up 4:13

5M ago4:13

4:13

Exploring professional mishaps in the world of media training, our guest expert media trainer, Guy Clapperton, shares candid stories from 20 years of journalism experience that reveal how technical difficulties, difficult clients, and embarrassing moments become valuable learning experiences. • A particularly memorable mishap involved conducting in…

1
The Molly Mae Effect: Salvaging Brand Reputation Through Community Engagement 15:26

5M ago15:26

15:26

When a high-profile fashion brand stumbles at launch, how do they rebuild customer trust? This fascinating episode dives into Molly Mae's clothing brand "Maybe" and their clever reputation recovery strategy following a quality control disaster that left customers disappointed. Our marketing experts Lauren and Becca unpack how the brand leveraged In…

1
Marketing Mistake: Did I Just Break Stock Market Regulations? 6:31

5M ago6:31

6:31

Neville Hobson, a former Vice President of Corporate Communications, shares a near career-ending mistake when he accidentally published financial results for a public company 12 hours early by hitting "publish" instead of "schedule." Quick thinking and a lot of panic led him to unpublish the content, reschedule it correctly, and immediately report …

1
EP 75: Your Marketing Team Just Got Smarter Thanks to AI 53:57

5M ago53:57

53:57

What happens when you mix two decades of digital comms experience with a brain wired for analytics, SEO and AI? You get friend of the show Andrew Bruce Smith. He’s the founder of Escherman, a CIPR Fellow, and Chair of the AI in PR panel, not to mention a certified Google Partner who’s trained over 3,000 organisations. From global brands to governme…

1
Marketing Blunder: When 500 Becomes 5K: A Coney Island New Year's Disaster 4:12

5M ago4:12

4:12

The podcast explores notable professional mistakes and what can be learned from them. B2B Marketing expert Tom Basgil shares his experience organising a New Year's Eve fireworks event at Coney Island, where instead of the expected 500 attendees, 5,000 people showed up, creating major logistical challenges with insufficient facilities. • Event was p…

1
EP 74: Are You Still Measuring Outputs When You Should Be Measuring Outcomes? 1:01:02

5M ago1:01:02

1:01:02

Let’s be honest, the PR world still loves a good-looking coverage book. A glossy spread in the national press, a namecheck in a podcast, a flurry of social mentions. It feels like success. But what’s it actually doing for the business? Not much, in most cases. For too long, we’ve let vanity metrics run the show – chasing likes, impressions and clip…

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FAIL: Hops and Dreams: The Beer That Nobody "Cheers'd" To 3:28

6M ago3:28

3:28

Rachel Auty, head of marketing at Brew York, discusses the brewery birthday celebration that featured collaborations with international breweries like Lervig and Hidden Springs, creating six beers with a Eurovision tie-in called "Collabivision." What seemed like marketing genius internally received a lukewarm public reception, teaching them valuabl…

1
EP 73: The Art of Authentic Brand Storytelling: Rachel Massey on Breaking Through B2B Blandness 32:29

6M ago32:29

32:29

Rachel Massey, Director of Marketing at Huthwaite International, is a brilliant B2B marketing manager with deep experience in leading marketing operations and running fully integrated campaigns that actually deliver on business objectives. She’s worked across both large corporations and SMEs in a range of sectors, and always brings a sharp, strateg…

1
Marketing Mishap: Using My Name As My Password Wasn't Great 3:42

5M ago3:42

3:42

Moving fast in business means making quick decisions that can sometimes lead to significant mistakes, as Jack Sutcliffe, CEO of Powersheds, found out when their website was hacked due to an overly simplistic password. • Rapid decision-making is part of their business approach, which inevitably leads to some wrong choices • Poor decisions have inclu…

1
FAIL: When your business feels like your baby, you take the losses personally 4:22

6M ago4:22

4:22

Chris Simmance, Founder of OMG Centre, opens up about the hard leadership lessons learned through emotional reactions to business setbacks and poor financial management in agency life. • Letting emotional responses to client departures negatively impact team management • Acknowledging how leadership mistakes create lasting negative impressions that…

1
FAIL: "I Started an Online Wine Business Right Before Lockdown" 10:09

6M ago10:09

10:09

Josh Lachovic, ex-startup founder turned growth agency founder, shares his journey from digital marketing roots to founding a wine startup that experienced meteoric growth during the pandemic, only to face the harsh reality when lockdown behaviors proved unsustainable. • Started in SEO and content writing at a PR agency, combining his tech backgrou…

1
Oinking Outside the Box: Marketing Lessons from a Cartoon Pregnancy 15:23

6M ago15:23

15:23

Welcome to another Campaign Crunch episode where we take a look at trending campaigns, what they did and the results they gained. This podcast (presented by one of our Account Managers, Becca Quinlan) delves into one of the most fascinating PR campaigns of recent times - the introduction of Evie Pig to the Peppa Pig universe. From pregnancy announc…

1
FAIL: I was almost printed on the front page of a national newspaper 4:51

7M ago4:51

4:51

This clip explores career mistakes and what people learn from them. Andrew shares a memorable blunder from his early journalism career when he nearly became part of the printing machinery at the historic launch of the Today newspaper in 1986. • Sent to cover the launch of the Today newspaper as his first press assignment • Instructed to get an excl…

1
EP 72: Why Lazy Content Will Kill Your Brand 54:18

7M ago54:18

54:18

Guy Utley from Tall Agency shares his journey from recognising his creative talents at school to founding a digital agency working with global brands like Lego and Shark Ninja, focusing on the critical importance of specialisation in marketing. • The value of using specialists rather than generalists - "I wouldn't use a painter to fix my roof" • Ho…

1
Marketing FAIL: How I made 120,000 Anglers Angry 3:44

7M ago3:44

3:44

Andy Green shares his biggest professional mistake from his time as deputy head of PR at Yorkshire Water, when he inadvertently angered 120,000 anglers by running a competition featuring a photo that violated pike fishing ethics. 😱 • Angling Times (circulation 120,000) ran a front-page headline: "Anglers in fury over YW competition" • The fundament…

1
EP 71: The Future of Chocolate Is Hidden in Volcanic Soil 50:57

6M ago50:57

50:57

Ever wondered what makes truly exceptional chocolate? The secret might be sitting right beneath its roots - volcanic soil. Tamsin Daniel, Head of Marketing at Firetree Chocolate, takes us on a fascinating journey through the world of premium chocolate production, revealing how cocoa grown in the nutrient-rich volcanic soils of remote islands create…

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The Art of Global Content with Shaheen Samavati 16:27

7M ago16:27

16:27

Marketing across borders goes far beyond simple translation - it requires genuine cultural understanding and strategic adaptation. In this eye-opening conversation with Shaheen Samavati, co-founder and CEO of Vera Content, we explore the intricate world of multilingual marketing and why so many brands struggle to get it right. Shaheen reveals how h…

1
EP 70: "Getting Fired Was the Best Career Move I Ever Made" 1:05:06

7M ago1:05:06

1:05:06

Getting fired can be devastating to your career - or it can be the catalyst for something greater. For Patrick Collister, being unceremoniously dismissed from a French-owned direct marketing agency where he was billed at £1000 per hour became a transformational moment that propelled him toward success. In this fascinating conversation, Patrick take…

1
Severance: The Marketing Masterclass Behind Apple TV's Cult Show - Campaign Crunch 23:10

7M ago23:10

23:10

Marketing a TV show in today's crowded streaming world requires more than just trailers and billboards - it demands innovative thinking that captures attention and builds genuine connection. That's exactly what we explore in this fascinating conversation with Courtney Milne from our team at Prohibition, who unpacks the brilliant marketing strategy …

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EP 69: The Fake Follower Epidemic: Stop Vanity Metrics Killing Your Brand - Marketing Room 101 Special 36:07

8M ago36:07

36:07

In this special episode of Embracing Marketing Mistakes, Chris and Will take a seat on the guest side as they're invited onto the Marketing Room 101 podcast, hosted by Ben Norman. The theme? Banishing their marketing bugbears forever. Together, they tackle the frustrating world of fake followers, influencers backed by bots, and the questionable pra…

1
EP 68: AI, Reddit, and Micro-Virality: Our Social Media Trends for 2025 51:15

8M ago51:15

51:15

Following on from our most popular episode last year where we looked at social media trends for 2024, we have our 2025 prediction list. Social media continues to evolve rapidly, with new platforms emerging and established ones transforming to meet changing user preferences and behaviours. We look at the key trends that will shape social media marke…

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