EP 113: Why Most CMOs Fail at Brand Strategy
6/2/20261 hr 6 min
Most marketing fails before a single ad is made. Not because the execution is bad, but because teams leap straight to tactics and skip the strategy underneath. Ben Norman calls the result "busy fools": lots of activity, very little impact.
Ben, Strategy Director at Principles Agency and host of Marketing Room 101, joins Chris and Will to break down what brand strategy actually is, why so many senior marketers get it wrong, and how to do it properly without drowning in 20-page decks and brand "salad bowls".
What you'll learn:
- The simplest definition of strategy you'll hear, using Ben's "person and product" model
- Why diagnosis comes before strategy, and strategy before tactics (borrowed from the ancient Greeks)
- The Three Cs framework: customer, company, competition, and why every problem comes back to them
- The "bow tie" method for distilling a mountain of insight down to a single word
- Why you should think in alternatives, not competitors (a Snickers competes with doing nothing, not just a KitKat)
- The McCafé anti-poncery campaign and what makes it a masterclass in positioning
- Why "channel neutrality" matters, and why SEO, GEO and AEO are all just "search"
- How strategic thinking applies to everything from cleaning your house to running the country
Plus Ben serves up his now-famous Menu of Mistakes, including the £70k pitch that got away, the food shoot where he forgot to book the art director and styled it out by pretending he was one, and the Wally the Whale mascot meltdown at Wetherby Racecourse that ruined childhoods and lost punters their bets.
The conversation closes with the three things Ben would banish from marketing right now: tiny microphones, people misusing the word "omnichannel", and the damage social media is doing to society.
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:15 Building a podcast with Room 101
4:35 Mini MBA and marketing basics
7:40 What strategy really means
12:35 The Three Cs and the bow tie
17:55 Listening first and field research
21:00 Knowing when insight is enough
24:55 McCafé and anti-poncery positioning
29:10 Strategy thinking in daily life
34:45 False binaries and channel neutrality
39:35 What communications means in practice
42:25 The menu of marketing mistakes
46:30 Wally the Whale mascot meltdown
51:05 The missing art director food shoot
54:40 Three things to banish now
57:35 Social media harm and regulation
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsChris Norton· Host0:00
Hi, welcome back to Embracing Marketing Mistakes, the show that helps you grow through other people's failures. And this week we've got Ben Norman, strategy director at Principles Agency, and also host of Marketing 101.
Ben Norman· Guest0:10
I think I might be uniquely qualified for this because I think I'm actually the only marketer who has more mistakes to his name than successes. You know when you think about it and you think the career that we, the career that we have, people go, "It's not brain surgery. No one else goes to that brain surgeon. Have you thought about doing it like this? Because my nephew has done a bit of brain surgery."
Chris Norton· Host0:28
So sit back, relax, and let's hear what Ben Norman's got to say about marketing strategy. Enjoy. [upbeat music] Ben Norman, welcome to the show.
Ben Norman· Guest0:44
Thank you for having me. I think it's, um... This is what it's like to be inside a real podcast, isn't it?
Chris Norton· Host0:49
I wouldn't call it a r- I wouldn't call it a real side- inside a podcast.
Ben Norman· Guest0:52
Yeah.
Will Ockenden· Host0:53
Welcome inside a podcast.
Ben Norman· Guest0:54
I've not been inside a proper one before.
Will Ockenden· Host0:55
Well, we've had a good, um, pre-show warm-up, haven't we? We've covered everything from UFOs, conspiracy theories, um, the capitalist society we're trapped in.
Ben Norman· Guest1:05
Yeah, I think if, if anybody does want to get- Simulation theory ... yeah, if anyone wants to get a really good opinion on UFOs, speak, reach out to Chris Norton.
Chris Norton· Host1:13
No, I love it. I love all that. Love all that stuff.
Ben Norman· Guest1:16
Yeah.
Chris Norton· Host1:16
Right. So, uh, obviously we've got a podcast, you've got a podcast. M- and we've been on your podcast about... What was it? Five months ago, six months ago. How long you been doing it?
Ben Norman· Guest1:24
I think it's over a year.
Chris Norton· Host1:25
Is it a year ago?
Ben Norman· Guest1:26
Yeah, you were like my fourth episode, I think, you guys.