The WARC Podcast

Zoe Hamilton, Chief Strategy Officer for Unilever at Ogilvy London, talks about steering Dove's Real Beauty platform and its long-running effectiveness. She reflects on the platform’s origin, the research that sparked it, and how it evolved for digital and social challenges. Zoe also explains how a global purpose stays locally relevant and why longevity keeps the work effective.

Stuart A. Spencer, Group CMO at AIA who leads marketing across Asia and created the Rethink Healthy platform, discusses how to reshape health mindsets. He explores research on entrenched Asian health stereotypes. He explains creative that provokes reflection, films reframing vulnerability as strength, and how incentive programs and measurement drive real behavior change.

Adam Sheridan, Global Head of Products for Creative Excellence at Ipsos and author of Misfit Stories, explains why storytelling is underused in ads. He contrasts feature-led spots with relatable narratives, explores the misfit mindset and surreal humor, and examines short-form storytelling, participation tactics, and memorable commercial examples.

Juliet Heygarth, effectiveness lead at Effie Worldwide working on evidence-based marketing, and Andrew Tindall, System1 partnerships lead with creative measurement expertise, discuss the Creative Dividend study. They explore how creative quality and media spend combine to drive business outcomes. They unpack the creativity stack, creative efficiency metrics, super touch points, and why media scale turns creative into profit.

Alice Holzman, AXA France marketing chief who led the 'Three Words' protection rollout. Marco Venturelli, creative leader who shaped the campaign at Publicis. They discuss tackling domestic violence through a product change, convincing leadership, the creative messaging choices, cross‑functional challenges and the campaign’s real-world relocations and impact.

Rika Facundo, Managing Editor at WARC APAC and lead researcher on the report, brings expertise in marketing effectiveness, governance and measurement in APAC. She discusses governance as the root of the say-do gap. She explores legacy short-termism, why finance should measure brand, measurement windows and reporting cadence. She outlines APAC cultural barriers and urges shared accountability and redesigned governance.

Oliver Feldwick, Chief Innovation Officer at T&P and AI-savvy co-founder of WPP Open, explores how brands must speak to people and machine decision-makers at once. He outlines the 'two-audience problem' and why brand distinctiveness, machine-readable systems, and new metrics like 'share of model' matter. Practical checks and scalable brand systems are discussed.

Derek Sulger, Chairman of Shanghai Tang and seasoned luxury retail executive, outlines a selective, culture-led vision for modern luxury. He discusses prioritizing experiences over ownership, the Tang jacket as a signature origin story, using lifestyle touchpoints like restaurants and homewares, and choosing focused, high-confidence investments to protect brand DNA.

Eva Krautaylor, Global Insights Director at Warner Bros. Discovery, breaks down what drives content choice. Artie Bhaskaran, Global Head of Ad Research at Snap, discusses creator research and industry sentiment. Alex Brownsell, Head of Content for WARC Media, reports on trends from the Media Insights & Engagement Conference. They cover sports and YouTube growth, AI's role in discovery and ads, creator strategies, microdramas and fragmentation.

Celeste Wong, media insights analyst and lead author on a Netflix platform report. She walks through Netflix’s ad formats and capabilities. Forecasts for ad revenue growth and CTV dynamics are discussed. Adoption of ad tiers, which brands are advertising, and regional audience opportunities come up. The conversation also covers Netflix’s moves into games, podcasts and live sports to boost engagement.