The Modern Retail Podcast
413 episodes - English - Latest episode: 2 days ago - ★★★★★ - 35 ratingsThe Modern Retail Podcast is a podcast about the retail space, from legacy companies to the buzzy world of DTC startups. Every Thursday, Cale Weissman, editor of Modern Retail, interviews executives about their growth and marketing strategies. And every Saturday Gabi Barkho, senior reporter, sits down with the Modern Retail staff to chat about the latest headlines in the retail world.
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Episodes
Intel's Teresa Herd: In-house agencies have 'invaluable' access to the business
January 10, 2019 05:00 - 20 minutesThe road to in-house certainly isn’t smooth. As the industry gets more and more excited about brands building their internal agencies, a bit of a rude awakening came in December last year when Intel announced it would be shuttering its internal agency, Agency Inside. Teresa Herd, who led Agency Inside and is now the vp and global creative director at Intel, talks about building an in-house agency, how external agencies fit in and more on this week's episode of Making Marketing.
SAP’s Alicia Tillman: The focus of B2B marketing has gone from decision-makers to consumers
January 03, 2019 05:00 - 39 minutesB-to-B marketing is not a bubble. The rise of influencers and direct-to-consumer businesses have presented marketers with new challenges with whom to market to and which tools and channels to use. Inside SAP, chief marketing officer Alicia Tillman is focused on extending the brand’s relevance from decision-maker to the everyday user.
Karmarama's Ben Bilboul on working with a consultancy
December 27, 2018 05:00 - 25 minutesConsolidation is the name of the game and one of the big players in the M&A space are consultancies. Karmarama CEO Ben Bilboul discusses the merits of being acquired by Accenture, why he is wary of holding companies and more.
Marketing drives the business again and agencies consolidate: The best of Making Marketing podcast in 2018
December 20, 2018 05:00 - 9 minutesOn this episode of the Making Marketing by Digiday, we recap the big themes that emerged for marketers this year, from agency consolidation to marketing evolving as a driver of business.
GoPro’s Nick Woodman on building a media brand that sells cameras
December 13, 2018 05:00 - 22 minutesFor GoPro, it never considered itself as solely a camera maker. Rather, it was a media brand, according to founder Nick Woodman. He discusses reshaping the brand over the years, how GoPro’s media team operates differently and more.
iCrossing’s Anne Bologna: Brands will take more marketing in-house in 2019
December 06, 2018 05:00 - 24 minutesBig mergers resulting in new entities like Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R have set the tone for 2019: It’s going to be the year of consolidation. Anne Bologna, chief strategy officer at Hearst-owned agency iCrossing, says there is too much continued pressure on agencies — a talent war with the duopoly and continuing competition has made agencies lose their confidence, and forget their craft. Bologna discusses why consolidation is necessary, how agencies are trying to be everything for clients ...
Deutsch’s Mike Sheldon: The advertising agency business is not growing
November 29, 2018 05:00 - 27 minutesThe big shift in this year has been in the marketers’ demands from an agency. It’s not just about the advertising anymore. Agencies are increasingly being called on to solve business problems -- and it's showing. Mike Sheldon, Chairman and CEO of Deutsch North America has witnessed exactly that in pitch meetings. Sheldon discusses learning new skills, the allure of consultancies and in-house agencies and more consolidation in 2019 on this episode.
IBM’s Michelle Peluso: Marketers need to be retrained on new skills
November 22, 2018 05:00 - 31 minutesBlockchain and AI are IBM's big bets to take the company back on the top as a leader in innovation and technology. Michelle Peluso, chief marketing officer at IBM, discusses how the technologies will change the craft of marketing.
Nestle’s Pete Blackshaw: It’s challenging for a company our size to pivot
November 15, 2018 05:00 - 30 minutesThere's a lot of talk around "nimbleness" inside big companies. But the legacy internal red tape stands in the way of operations and the lessons of traditional marketing behavior are difficult to unlearn. That's been the responsibility of Pete Blackshaw, Nestlé’s Global Head of Digital Innovation Service & Service Models, who has spent the last few years working on changing up the company's internal makeup so it can move faster. Blackshaw discusses the ease and difficulty of being a direct-to...
Rothy's president Kerry Cooper: The challenge for DTC brands is to figure out a path to profitability
November 08, 2018 05:00 - 31 minutesInstagram has long been touted as a haven for direct-to-consumer brands. The case has been the same for Rothy’s, a women’s shoe brand that recently surged in popularity after actress and royal family member Meghan Markle, wore the label on the day of her pregnancy announcement. But as the DTC market gets more and more saturated and that starts to reflect on Instagram, there's also potentially a tipping point where it ceases to make sense as a medium. Cooper discusses opening retail stores, fi...
MedMen’s David Dancer: Regulations need to catch up with the business of cannabis
November 01, 2018 04:00 - 32 minutesCannabis has succeeded in going from being stigmatized by society to now capturing the imagination of retailers, investors and consumers. MedMen, a publicly traded company out of California, is at the forefront of the developing cannabis industry. Standing in the way of its retail strategy are big hurdles like hyperlocal compliance issues, inconsistent regulations that differ state by state and the stigmatization associated with cannabis itself. David Dancer, the newly appointed CMO at MedMen...
MullenLowe Group's Alex Leikikh: There are too many agencies
October 25, 2018 04:00 - 32 minutesThe agency world is shrinking. Alex Leikikh, global CEO at MullenLowe Group, thinks there is an oversupply of agencies in the U.S. market. He believes that as more clients start to go in-house, there will be more mergers and more agencies will go out of business. MullenLowe Group is also a result of a merger that happened over three years ago. In our latest episode, Leikikh discusses management lessons he learned, the importance of bundling creative and media talent together and more.
Citi’s Jennifer Breithaupt: People are turning away from traditional advertising
October 18, 2018 04:00 - 28 minutesCiti has doubled down on music as it tries to become a more emotional part of its customers' lives, Citi’s Global Consumer CMO Jennifer Breithaupt said in the latest episode of Making Marketing. Breithaupt discusses how experiential made Citi’s marketing more effective, doing market-mix modeling and more.
Droga5's Neil Heymann: We have to remind ourselves that data represents people
October 11, 2018 04:00 - 28 minutesIndependent agencies are having a moment in the competitive advertising agency landscape, but it's not all rosy. On this episode of Making Marketing, Neil Heymann, Droga5's new chief creative officer, discussed how tough it is to be an indie creative agency these days, with client demands that keep changing in a market where it feels like nobody cares about creativity anymore.
VMLY&R’s Jon Cook: Agencies take the client relationship for granted
October 04, 2018 04:00 - 35 minutesLast week, Midwest digital shop VML was merged with old-school legacy agency Y&R, one of the first moves under WPP's new CEO, Mark Read. It's part of a larger plan to create a slimmer, less siloed holding company that's better suited to face the challenges of the industry. The global CEO of now named VMLY&R, Jon Cook, says a consolidation in the industry was long overdue -- and this is just the beginning.
Equinox's Vimla Black Gupta on data, influencers and turning Equinox into a lifestyle brand
September 27, 2018 04:00 - 26 minutesWhen it comes to lifestyle brands, Equinox makes a pretty good case for itself. What started out as a luxury gym has evolved into a hospitality brand, talent agency, digital magazine, and more. Leading the lifestyle charge is CMO Vimla Black Gupta, who believes that her role is all about understanding her customer as a whole. On this week's episode of Making Marketing, Black Gupta sat down to talk with us about the Equinox lifestyle, the art of mastering your own data, and how they expanded i...
R/GA's Bob Greenberg: 'If I see enough pushback, I'm on the right track'
September 14, 2018 04:00 - 34 minutesIn 1977, Robert Greenberg, also known as Bob, and his brother, Richard, decided to combine both their creative powers and initials to create R/GA. Since its creation over 40 years ago, R/GA has evolved many times, and that, according to Bob, played a major part in keeping it successful. On this episode of Making Marketing, Bob sat down to talk with us about the origins of R/GA, its near-constant evolution, and why people are so scared of change in the industry.
Verizon's Andrew McKechnie: 'The agency model is pretty flawed'
September 06, 2018 04:00 - 39 minutesIn the Spring of 2017, Verizon brought on Andrew McKechnie to run its new, in-house creative agency after a long career at Apple and a handful of other agencies. In this episode, McKechnie talks about why creatives actually do want to work with brands, the in-house difference, and why staying true to the brand is especially important when working with outside agencies.
Heineken's Jonnie Cahill: Bringing data and advertising in-house isn't always sustainable
August 30, 2018 04:00 - 33 minutesJonnie Cahill, the new CMO for Heineken USA, is charged with marketing one of the world's largest beer brands in one of the largest beer markets. In this episode, Cahill discusses Heineken's global focus, the specific challenges of the U.S. beer market, and the importance of knowing your customer.
Publicis' Nick Law: Big agencies don't take creativity seriously
August 23, 2018 04:00 - 36 minutesSince joining Publicis Groupe as global chief creative earlier this year, Nick Law, a longtime agency veteran, has been on a mission to help reinvent the agency holding company. On this episode, Law discusses how the internet has changed the way that ad agencies operate, how Publicis plans to stay relevant and why he steers clear of "big ideas."
Group M's Susan Schiekofer: We need to understand where impressions are coming from
August 16, 2018 04:00 - 28 minutesSusan Schiekofer, Chief Digital Investment Officer at Group M, runs digital investments at the world's largest media agency where her focus is purely on the brands. On this episode Schiekofer discusses the ins and outs of the pitch process, helping the clients to understand that good brand safety costs money,finding success on social media and the importance of keeping content away from fraud and fake news.
The reality of dying ad agencies
August 09, 2018 04:00 - 31 minutesAdapt or die. It’s something most business say they practice but rarely do. An exception is Tracy Wong, the founder of Wongdoody, a 25-year-old creative agency whose acquisition by Indian IT and consulting giant Infosys was announced in April. On this episode, he discusses changing models, being irrelevant, democratic cultures and more. This episode of Making Marketing was originally published on June 7, 2018
VC Eric Hippeau: Marketing is at risk of being commoditized
August 02, 2018 04:00 - 21 minutesEric Hippeau, managing partner at Lerer Hippeau Ventures, has invested in many entrepreneurial projects over the years. When looking for his next investment, one of the first things Hippeau considers is the passion and life experience of its founders. He joins us for a conversation on the Making Marketing podcast by Digiday.
Dentsu's Nick Brien: Performance based compensation deals are the future
July 26, 2018 04:00 - 35 minutesNick Brien, CEO of the Dentsu Aegis Network, talks about holding the agencies to a higher standard on accountability, the impending consultancy competition and procurement.
Intel’s Yogiraj Graham: Brands should own the creative process
July 19, 2018 13:32 - 25 minutesYogiraj Graham is the global director of the creative content labs at Intel. Through its in-house shop, Agency Inside, Intel has for years exercised comparatively firm control over its marketing. Yogi leads Intel’s team of 111 people globally, that serves the Intel brand. On this week’s episode, he discusses the road to going in-house, including the hard parts and the easier ones.
Northwestern Mutual’s Aditi Gokhale: ' I’m not a big believer in outsourcing everything to agencies'
July 12, 2018 04:00 - 26 minutesAditi Javeri Gokhale, the CMO of Northwestern Mutual, crafted her own job description as the first-ever CMO of the company and overhaul Northwestern Mutual’s brand awareness and practices. On this episode, she discusses her plan of action and where the “quiet brand” is switching into action.
Ogilvy’s Tham Khai Meng: Data without ideas is worthless
July 06, 2018 04:00 - 13 minutesTham Khai Meng is Ogilvy's worldwide chief creative officer. He thinks 'Westworld' is right. What is the difference between fake and real anymore? AI is blurring out all the definitions. On this episode, he discusses how the tech world has aggressively changed the playbook for agencies and the lessons that he has learned.
Anheuser-Busch’s Marcel Marcondes: Marketing is moving from being a ‘support function’
June 28, 2018 04:00 - 28 minutesCompanies have to be more than buildings -- they have to stand for something. It’s a tall order, especially if you sell products like toothpaste or deodorant. On this week’s episode of Starting Out, Anheuser-Busch U.S. CMO Marcel Marcondes discusses his mission to make it happen.
Richard Edelman: 'We would have been choked by the holding companies'
June 21, 2018 04:00 - 26 minutesRichard Edelman, president and CEO of Edelman, inherited the family business from his father 40 years ago. Since then, he has expanded the company to 29 different countries, while remaining independent and family-held. Edelman discusses growth, challenges and marketing challenges in this episode of Starting Out: Cannes Edition.
Wongdoody’s Tracy Wong: We're living the reality of dying ad agencies
June 07, 2018 04:00 - 23 minutesAdapt or die. It’s something most business say they practice but rarely do. An exception is Tracy Wong, the founder of Wongdoody, a 25-year-old creative agency whose acquisition by Indian IT and consulting giant Infosys was announced in April. On this episode, he discusses changing models, being irrelevant, democratic cultures and more.
HP's Antonio Lucio: 'Most data is commoditized'
May 24, 2018 04:00 - 30 minutesIn the year of the pivot to reality, marketers are rethinking their reliance on agencies and relationships with platforms. The General Data Protection Regulation has forced companies to reconsider business approaches, but good businesses are resilient. Antonio Lucio, HP's chief marketing officer, prizes resilience. On this episode of Starting Out, Lucio discusses championing diversity, the role of marketing in driving the business and more.
‘Advertising’s a weird industry’: Wieden+Kennedy’s Neal Arthur on stumbling into a career
May 17, 2018 04:00 - 30 minutesAs managing director of Wieden+Kennedy, Neal Arthur is an independent spirit who grew up as the only black kid in his California neighborhood. At Wieden and Kennedy, his independence found a home. On today’s episode, Arthur talks about stumbling into advertising, and how the independence at Wieden+Kennedy fuels tough creative decisions.
Verizon’s Andrew McKechnie: ‘I’ve always been experimental’
May 10, 2018 04:00 - 31 minutesAndrew McKechnie is the chief creative officer at Verizon, where he’s building the company’s in-house agency, 140. McKechnie, who last served as global group creative director at Apple, spent years on the agency side, which he says left him frustrated and more convinced than ever that the agency model as it stands is careening toward irrelevance. On this episode of Starting Out, McKechnie discusses his path to the industry, the problem with ego in advertising and the future of agencies.
'I felt like a fraud': PJ Pereira on proving yourself in advertising
May 03, 2018 04:00 - 27 minutesPJ Pereira is the founder and creative chairman of Pereira & O'Dell. He also wrote a trilogy of West African myths. On this episode of Starting Out, Pereira discusses how writing helps maintain his business and creative acumen, and he talks about the pressure he felt to assimilate into America.
TBWA's Nancy Reyes: 'When you earn something, it’s the best feeling you have'
April 26, 2018 04:00 - 23 minutesNancy Reyes is the managing director of TBWA\Chiat\Day in New York. Reyes grew up in Long Island City in New York amid rundown houses and warehouses. Her mother was a housekeeper, and her father drove taxis. On this episode of Starting Out, Reyes discusses her path to becoming a leader who values working for everything in life.
Leo Burnett’s Mark Tutssel on applying lessons from sports to advertising
April 19, 2018 04:00 - 26 minutesMark Tutssel is the executive chairman at Leo Burnett. Early on, he learned to watch people to understand them and the value of their attention. On this episode of Starting Out, Tutssel talks about the cruel yet kind decision of an agency executive in Bristol, England, that led him to London and a lesson he learned in a cab.
Essence’s Christian Juhl on growing companies and selling reptiles
April 12, 2018 04:00 - 25 minutesChristian Juhl is the global CEO at Essence. Juhl, who majored in political science in college, sees modern work as being inherently political -- from running a company to building consensus and avoiding factions. On this episode of Starting Out, he discusses how he went from beginning his career during the dot-com bust to landing at a scrappy office at Essence.
‘In careers, you make bets’: GE’s Linda Boff on taking chances and hiring with her ‘spidey sense’
April 05, 2018 04:00 - 28 minutesGE CMO Linda Boff has been in business for years. As a manager, she has developed what she calls a "spidey sense" about hiring. On this episode of Starting Out, Boff discusses how this sense has helped her decide which candidates to take chances on.
OMD CEO John Osborn: Allow yourself flexibility to explore opportunities
March 29, 2018 04:00 - 17 minutesJohn Osborn recently made a major leap when he moved to media agency OMD after 25 years at creative shop BBDO. But the seemingly sharp turn in his career was the result of an organized mind. On this episode of Starting Out, Osborn discusses being an over-programmer, obsessively charting out his career path, which began -- like many kids -- with mowing lawns.
Ogilvy & Mather’s John Seifert You’re only as good as others give you permission to be
March 22, 2018 04:00 - 23 minutesFrom college dropout to the worldwide CEO of Ogilvy & Mather, John Seifert’s career seems like the plot of a movie. Seifert joined the agency for a summer job during his sophomore year at the University of Southern California 38 years ago -- and never left. On this episode of Starting Out, Seifert discusses his path to one of the largest agencies in the world.
Big Spaceship’s Michael Lebowitz: ‘Half of all success is serendipity’
March 15, 2018 04:00 - 29 minutesMichael Lebowitz is the founder and CEO of creative agency Big Spaceship, which has grown to over 100 employees since he started it in 2000. In this episode of Starting Out, Lebowitz talks about the importance of creating a framework for creativity and his path to founding a company.
Razorfish co-founder Jeff Dachis on his days of being a provocateur
March 08, 2018 05:00 - 29 minutesJeff Dachis is the founder of diabetes management app One Drop and co-founder of Razorfish. On this episode of Starting Out, Dachis discusses his career path, from his days of being a self-described provocateur in downtown New York to starting a new venture after being diagnosed with diabetes.
DigitasLBi’s Michael Kahn: Sustainable leadership is a ‘marathon at a sprint pace’
February 22, 2018 05:00 - 19 minutesMichael Kahn went from multiple entrepreneurial stints to a long-term leadership role at Performics before arriving at DigitasLBi as its global brand president. In this episode of Starting Out, Kahn discusses the challenges of switching gears from short-term to long-term leadership.
Barton F. Graf CCO: ‘90 percent of a creative person’s life is rejection’
February 15, 2018 05:00 - 25 minutesGerry Graf is the chief creative officer and a founder at creative agency Barton F. Graf, who’s worked at major creative shops like Goodby Silverstein & Partners, BBDO and Saatchi & Saatchi. On this episode of Starting Out, Graf discusses how rejection — a fact of life in advertising — has marked his career and more.
Omnicom’s Jonathan Nelson: 'As you run a larger company, it’s harder to say we’re all equal'
February 08, 2018 05:00 - 25 minutesJonathan Nelson is the CEO at Omnicom Digital, a global marketing and communications holding company that employs about 84,000 people around the world. Nelson is a true veteran of digital. He founded Organic in 1983 and has seen some serious highs and serious lows in the business of advertising -- including having his staff quit after delivering on their first big assignment. What happened after, and more, on this episode of Starting Out.
McCann’s Harris Diamond: Hire people who are better than you
February 01, 2018 05:00 - 23 minutesMcCann Worldgroup CEO Harris Diamond has taken the IPG network to new heights since he came on board in 2012. In this episode of Starting Out, Diamond talks about work-life balance and an important lesson he learned in management.
Cycle Media’s Jason Stein: 'You can’t succeed if you’re not delegating to great people'
January 25, 2018 05:00 - 19 minutesJason Stein, founder and CEO of marketing service agency Laundry Service and media company Cycle, pushed himself to the extreme while founding two companies and learned to step back and lead once they were established. On this week’s Starting Out, Stein talks about what it takes to succeed in the early days of a business and continuing to reinforce its culture and values.
‘If I do this one more day, I might be doing it forever’: Ian Schafer on leaving the agency business
January 18, 2018 05:00 - 17 minutesLongtime agency veteran Ian Schafer recently announced his exit from the agency business following a midlife crisis that motivated him to try something new. On this week’s Starting Out, Schafer talks about learning to manage a business and pivoting to a new chapter.
P&G’s Marc Pritchard: ‘We needed to start having a discussion about unconscious bias’
January 04, 2018 05:00 - 20 minutesMarc Pritchard, chief brand officer at Procter & Gamble, made waves in the marketing industry by starting a conversation about unconscious racial bias, a step aligned with the principles that define his leadership -- humility and transparency. On this week’s Starting Out, Pritchard talks about having a role model in his father, his career path from a cafe busboy to an executive position at P&G and why it's important to discuss unconscious bias.
Best of 2017: Marketing experts share their best tips for success
December 28, 2017 05:00 - 13 minutesThis year, Digiday launched a new podcast called “Starting Out." We invited some of the biggest names in marketing to share the secrets of their leadership and success. Here are the five best pieces of advice that our guests swear by.