Sleeping Barber - A Marketing Podcast
Ready to rethink business strategy and supercharge your marketing game? Join hosts Marc Binkley and Vassilis Douros as they break down big questions at the crossroads of strategy, marketing effectiveness, and creative impact. From real-world case studies to hot-off-the-press business news, each episode dives deep into how modern companies navigate complexity. Plus, interviews with global thought leaders bring you fresh insights and actionable strategies to drive growth and build unforgettable customer experiences. This is your backstage pass to smarter thinking and better business results.
Episodes
SBP 229: The PostPod - Lessons from Pats McDonald. AI Won't Decide the Future of Marketing. We Will.
AI is going to take our jobs. AI will commoditize creativity. AI will make strategy worse.But AI isn't making those decisions. We are.In this PostPod, Marc and V reflect on their conversation with Pats McDonald, Chief Strategy Officer at dentsu, and explore one of the most important ideas emerging from the AI conversation: human agency still matters.They discuss why AI may eliminate barriers witho
SBP 228: Interview - AI Won't Decide the Future of Marketing. We Will. With Pats McDonald.
What if the biggest mistake we're making with AI is the way we talk about it?Pats McDonald, Chief Strategy Officer at Dentsu Creative, joins the Sleeping Barber Podcast to challenge one of the dominant narratives surrounding artificial intelligence: that AI itself is determining what comes next.Her argument is simple: AI doesn't make these choices. People do.We explore what that means for marketer
SBP 227: The Sharp Cut - Brand Does Not Belong to Marketing
Ask ten marketers to define brand and you get ten answers. Ask them who owns it and you get one: marketing. Marc and V think that second answer is the problem.In this reboot of episode 4, they work through three questions with no guest and no script. What is brand? Marty Neumeier calls it the gut feeling people have about you. Roger Martin calls it generating confidence. Both descriptions point at
SBP 226: The Barber's Brief - The AI Efficiency Trap: When Doing More With Less Backfires
What happens when AI makes marketing more efficient, but every dollar saved gets taken out of the marketing budget?Welcome back to the Barber’s Brief, where we unpack the marketing stories, ideas and creative work that caught our attention.This week, we start with what might be one of the unintended consequences of the AI revolution: the efficiency spiral. As marketers use AI to accomplish more wi
SBP 225: The PostPod - Lessons from Traci Alfford. Good Work Is a Habit Not a Score
What actually makes marketing effective?It's tempting to point to great creative.Or strong media.Or impressive results.But after our conversation with Effie Worldwide CEO Traci Alford, we realized effectiveness is something much bigger.In this Post-Pod we unpack the four-part system behind effective marketing and discuss why leadership, culture and organizational alignment often matter more than a
SBP 224: Interview - Good Work is a Habit, Not a Score. With Traci Alford
Most companies treat effectiveness like a scoreboard. Traci Alford, Global CEO of Effies Worldwide, sees the entries from 130 countries, and she says that is exactly where it goes wrong.Measuring the crop does not grow it.In this conversation recorded in Cannes, Traci lays out the 4 things behind every winning case:understand the business problemfind a real insight rather than a statement of facte
SBP 223: The Sharp Cut - Brand Awareness Is The Wrong Metric
Brand awareness is one of the most reported metrics in marketing.It's in almost every board deck.Almost every brand tracker.Almost every agency review.But what if it's measuring the wrong thing?In this Sharp Cut, Marc and V explore why mental availability matters more than awareness, why Category Entry Points (CEPs) outperform personas as a planning framework, and why marketers should stop asking
SBP 222: SBP Interview - Feels vs. Deals: The Real Battle for Q4. With Andrew Tindall and Vanessa Chin.
What actually mattered at Cannes?More importantly...What should marketers do differently because of it?In this special collaboration between The Sleeping Barber, That's What I Call Marketing, and System1, we unpack the biggest lessons from Cannes Lions and turn them into practical advice for the second half of the year.Topics include:Mark Ritson & Byron Sharp's rare appearance togetherWhy crea
SBP 221: The PostPod - Lessons from Ty Heath. B2B Marketing is Playing the Game on Hard Mode.
Ty Heath has a way of making complex marketing ideas feel deceptively simple.After our latest conversation with the former LinkedIn B2B Institute leader, we sat down to unpack the biggest ideas that stayed with us—from why B2B is simply "marketing on hard mode," to why confidence may be the true outcome of great B2B marketing.Along the way we explore:Why the same marketing principles apply across
SBP 220: Interview - B2B Marketing is Playing the Game on Hard Mode. With Tyrona Heath.
B2B marketing isn't playing a different game. It's playing the same game on hard mode.In this episode, we're joined by Ty Heath, Global Director of Thought Leadership Go-to-Market at LinkedIn and co-founder of the B2B Institute.Fresh off serving as Jury President for the Creative B2B Lions at Cannes, Ty shares what separated the best work from the rest—and why B2B creativity is entering a new era.
SBP 219: The Sharp Cut - How Advertising Really Works
What if almost everything we've been taught about advertising is built on a sales model from 1904?In this Sharp Cut, we unpack six of marketing's most persistent myths—from "digital has no waste" to "last-click attribution tells us what works"—before rebuilding a simpler, evidence-based explanation of how advertising actually works.Rather than relying on theory, we challenge these ideas using our
SBP 218: The Barber's Brief - The Shelf Life of Competitive Advantage
What do Netflix, Reddit, AI, M&M's and Lyft have in common?More than you might think.In this episode of The Barber's Brief, Marc Binkley and Vassilis Douros unpack one of the biggest strategic lessons in modern marketing: competitive advantages don't last forever.From Netflix reconsidering binge watching, to Reddit fighting AI generated spam, to the explosion of Martech tools and one of the ye
SBP 217: The PostPod - Lessons from James Hurman. Ads Don't Persuade People to Buy.
What if marketing's biggest challenge isn't proving its value—but explaining it? Following our conversation with James Hurman, we reflect on one of the most practical frameworks we've encountered in years: Future Demand.Rather than revisiting every topic from the interview, this Post-Pod explores what the ideas actually mean for marketers trying to influence leadership, defend budgets, and build l
SBP 216: Interview - Ads Don’t Persuade People to Buy. With James Hurman.
Advertising doesn't work by persuading people to buy. It works by creating future demand. James Hurman returns to unpack his new book: why the funnel is the wrong model, how the biggest group of buyers isn't in the market yet, why green dashboards can hide a dying brand, and how to make the case for brand spend to a CFO who only sees this year.There are two types of demand in any market: the small
SBP 215: What Marketers Still Get Wrong. With Prof. Byron Sharp.
Byron Sharp — Professor of Marketing Science, Director of the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute at the University of Adelaide, and author of How Brands Grow — joins us at Cannes fresh off his sold-out Bassey Theatre session with Mark Ritson (a thousand people queued to get in).We dig into the five fundamentals he and Ritson agreed on and, more usefully, where the industry keeps getting them wrong. Byron ex
SBP 214: The Cannes Cut - The Gap Between Knowing and Doing: Day 5 Reflections. Featuring David Tiltman.
After five days, dozens of interviews, countless presentations, and conversations with some of marketing's brightest minds, one thing became clear:The future of marketing isn't about more technology. It's about better thinking.Throughout Cannes Lions 2026, we spoke with leaders from System1, WARC, Ehrenberg-Bass, Amazon Ads, Pinterest, and many of the industry's leading creative and effectiveness
SBP 213: The Cannes Cut - Dull Ads Are A System, Not A Symptom. With Orlando Wood.
Day 4 on the Croisette, and the Cannes Festival of Creativity is in full swing. The Cannes Cut series is proudly presented by System1.Vanessa Chin, VP Marketing at System1, opens with a live field dispatch: which campaigns are actually scoring at Cannes, what the new Creator Effectiveness Playbook says about briefing for emotional impact, and why Dunkin' took gold while Kit Kat posted one of the h
SBP 212: The Cannes Cut - Brand Fit Beats Follower Count: Day 3 Reflections
Day three at Cannes Lions revealed something unexpected.Coming into the festival, many predicted AI would dominate every conversation.Instead, another topic has quietly taken centre stage:Creators.Not creator hype. Not influencer marketing. Creator effectiveness.Presented by System1, today's Cannes Cut explores one of the biggest conversations happening across the Croisette. Marc and Vassilis refl
SBP 211: The Cannes Cut - Creators, Commerce, and Amazon's Canvas: Day 2 Reflections
This episode has been presented by System1.Everyone talks about the full funnel. Amazon has actually built it. Day 2 of the Sleeping Barber's Cannes Cut takes Marc and V from the Amazon port activation, a full marina-length brand experience housing a cafe, a speakeasy, 30 meeting rooms, and a stage headlined by Shaquille O'Neal and Oprah, to a sit-down interview with Lauren Anderson, US Head of th
SBP 210: The Cannes Cut - Creativity That Works: Cannes Day 1 Reflections
This episode has been presented by System1.What happens when Byron Sharp, Mark Ritson, System1, creators, AI, and Cannes Lions all collide on Day One?In the first edition of our Cannes Cut series, presented by System1, Marc and V unpack the biggest themes emerging from Cannes Lions 2026, including why creativity is increasingly being judged through the lens of effectiveness, why marketers may be s
SBP 209: The Sharp Cut - Buyers Don't Move in Straight Lines
What if the biggest problem in marketing isn't your message, your targeting, or your budget? What if it's the map you're using?For more than a century, marketers have relied on funnels, customer journeys, and pipeline stages to explain how people buy.The problem?People don't move in straight lines.In this Sharp Cut, Marc and Vassilis unpack why buying behaviour looks far more like a messy search p
SBP 208: The Barber's Brief - The Rosé Can Wait. Our Questions Cant + Special Announcement
For years, Cannes Lions has been the home of creativity. This year, it feels like effectiveness is taking center stage.In this special Cannes preview edition of The Barber's Brief, Marc and Vassilis discuss what they're most excited to explore at Cannes Lions 2026.From the surprising reunion of Mark Ritson and Byron Sharp, to the growing influence of effectiveness research, creator marketing, AI,
SBP 207: The PostPod - Lessons from Karen Pearce: Great Creative shouldn’t feel scary
Most marketers think great creative comes from better talent. Karen Pearce made a different case.In this Post Pod discussion, Marc and Vassilis reflect on their conversation with Karen Pearce, Partner at Rethink and one of the leaders behind some of the most awarded creative work in the world.The discussion explores why creativity often dies inside organizations before it ever reaches the market,
SBP 206: Great Creative Shouldn't Feel Scary. Karen Pearce, Rethink.
Most people assume award-winning creative work is a high-wire act: brilliant, risky, and impossible to repeat. Karen Pearce of Rethink makes the opposite case. Fresh off Ad Age's 2026 Agency of the Year and ADWEEK's 2025 Independent Agency of the Year, and as the most-awarded independent agency in the world last year, Rethink keeps producing famous, business-moving work on purpose.Recorded as a Ca
SBP 205: The Sharp Cut - Busy Is Where Strategy Goes to Die
What if the biggest threat to your strategy isn't a competitor, a budget cut, or AI?What if it's busyness?In this Sharp Cut, Marc Binkley and Vassilis Douros tackle one of marketing and leadership's biggest comfort blankets: the belief that activity equals progress.Drawing on the work of Roger Martin, Richard Rumelt, Michael Porter, Henry Mintzberg, and decades of research in strategy, psychology,
SBP 204: The Barber's Brief - AI Won’t Save Bad Marketing
Everyone is talking about AI replacing marketers.But what if the bigger problem isn't AI at all?In this episode of The Barber's Brief, Marc Binkley and Vassilis Douros explore a series of stories that challenge some of marketing's biggest assumptions.They unpack new research showing that most CMOs aren't worried about AI replacing jobs. They're worried about whether their teams have the skills to
SBP 203: The PostPod - Lessons from David Lui: Retail Isn't Dying. The Operating Model Is.
Most marketers talk about growth through media, performance, and digital channels.But what happens when growth comes from stores, people, and product instead?In this PostPod discussion, Marc and Vassilis reflect on their conversation with David, exploring the resurgence of iconic Canadian brand Kit and Ace and what modern marketers can learn from retail done properly.The conversation moves beyond
SBP 202: Retail Isn't Dying. The Operating Model Is. With David Lui
The Bay closed. Frank and Oak shuttered. Insolvencies have been climbing for years and the narrative everyone's repeating is that retail is in trouble. David Lui has a different read. Retail isn't dying. The operating model is. And the brands going under aren't the ones customers stopped loving, they're the ones whose people, product, and place stopped working.As CEO of Kit & Ace and co-founde
SBP 201: The Sharp Cut - A Tale of Two Frequencies
For decades, marketers have debated one question:How much frequency is enough?But what if the industry has been arguing about two completely different things the entire time?In Part 2 of this Sharp Cut series, Marc Binkley and Vassilis Douros revisit the reach vs frequency debate after a wave of listener feedback challenged, refined, and strengthened the original episode. What emerges is a far mor
SBP 200: The Barber's Brief - This is Two Hundred!
Most podcasts never make it past three episodes. This is episode 200.In this special 200th episode of The Barber’s Brief, Marc Binkley and Vassilis Douros reflect on five years of The Sleeping Barber Podcast while diving into some of the biggest marketing conversations shaping the industry right now.The episode explores why the laws of growth apply even to blood donation behaviour, how brands like
SBP 199: The PostPod - Lessons From Terry O'Reilly: The Ads That Shouldn't Have Worked.
What if modern marketing’s biggest problem isn’t bad targeting… but safe creativity?In this PostPod episode of The Sleeping Barber Podcast, Marc Binkley and Vassilis Douros unpack their conversation with advertising legend Terry O'Reilly, and explore what today’s marketers may have lost in the pursuit of optimization, dashboards, and defensible decisions.From pink flamingos and whistling beer camp
SBP 198: The Ads That Shouldn't Have Worked. With Terry O'Reilly
There is a commercial in this episode that the president of Fibreglass tried to kill on a Thursday. By Sunday he had changed his mind, when his minister grabbed his arm and told him the pink panther ads were the funniest thing in advertising.That campaign went on to capture 70 percent of the Canadian insulation market.Every story Terry O'Reilly tells in this conversation is a campaign like that.A
SBP 197: The Sharp Cut - Purpose is a promise most brands can't keep
Most marketers believe brand purpose drives growth.The data says otherwise.In this episode of The Sharp Cut, we take on one of marketing’s most widely accepted ideas and put it under a microscope. Drawing on research from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, Peter Field’s IPA databank analysis, and perspectives from Mark Ritson and Roger Martin, we unpack a simple but uncomfortable truth:Brand purpose wo
SBP 196: The Barber's Brief - The Missing Layer In Performance Marketing?
In this episode, we cover everything from the growing trust gap in performance marketing to the evolving role of attribution, AI, and search, and what it all means for how marketers prove impact.What we unpack:1. Performance marketing’s missing layer: proofAre clicks, conversions, and ROAS actually telling the truth — or just telling a story?We explore the growing need for verification, transparen
SBP 195: The PostPod - Lessons from Dr. Nicole Hartnett: Loyalty is everywhere. Growth isn’t.
In this episode, Marc and Vassilis revisit their conversation with Dr. Nicole Hartnett, reflecting on the enduring principles of marketing effectiveness. They discuss the importance of market penetration over customer loyalty, the significance of mental and physical availability for growth, and the need for marketers to understand their customer profiles better. The conversation emphasizes the sim
SBP 194: Loyalty Is Everywhere, Growth Isn't. With Dr. Nicole Hartnett.
DescriptionPicture a marketing world flipped upside down: Where heavy buyers aren't your golden goose, where loyalty programs might be missing the point, and where the brands you think are exceptional actually follow surprisingly predictable patterns. Dr. Nicole Hartnett, senior marketing scientist at the world-renowned Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, joins Marc and V to demolish some of marketing's mos
SBP 193: The Sharp Cut - Reach Don’t Teach: The Truth About Reach and Frequency
Welcome back to our latest 'Sharp Cut.' A segment where Marc and Vassilis challenge marketing's comfort blankets.In this episode, Marc and Vassilis discuss the traditional marketing beliefs about reach and frequency, exploring the origins of the 'rule of three' and what current research reveals about effective media strategies. Learn how to optimize your media plans by focusing on broad reach and
SBP 192: The Barber's Brief - Is a sandwich without bread still a sandwich?
In this episode of the Sleeping Barber Podcast, Marc and Vassilis discuss the news that caught their attention over the past couple of weeks, including the implications of consumer data collection, the ongoing debate between reach and frequency in advertising, Unilever's recent marketing strategy shift, Patagonia's innovative approach to integrating marketing with impact, and a creative campaign b
SBP 191: The PostPod - Lessons from Andrew Tindall: The Confidence Crisis in Marketing
In this episode of the Sleeping Barber Podcast, Marc and Vassilis reflect on their conversation with Andrew Tindall about the complexities of advertising, creativity, and the current state of the industry. They explore the Advertising Planning Matrix, discuss the confidence problem within the industry, and emphasize the importance of creativity as a growth lever. The conversation also highlights t
SBP 190: Your Marketing Dashboard is Lying to You. With Andrew Tindall
DescriptionYour media dashboard looks confident. Clicks up. Conversions tracked. Reach reported. But according to three years of evidence built on 1,265 global campaigns, that dashboard may be the single biggest obstacle standing between you and real business growth.Andrew Tindall is Chief Growth Officer at System1 and the author of The Creative Dividend, a landmark publication built on the Effie
SBP 189: The Sharp Cut - The Invisible Hands: How Dead Ideas Run Your Marketing Strategy
In this episode, Marc and Vassilis explore the invisible mental models that shape marketing decisions, questioning long-held beliefs such as the funnel model, the five times customer acquisition myth, and the effectiveness of purpose-driven marketing. They discuss the cashflow funnel as a more accurate representation of customer journeys and emphasize the importance of mental availability in drivi
SBP 188: The Barber's Brief - Does brand purpose actually lead to growth?
In this edition of the Barber's Brief, Marc and Vassilis discuss various things that caught their attention, including the role of brand purpose in driving growth, the challenges faced by D2C brands, TikTok's new commerce initiative, Coca-Cola's innovative campaign, and KitKat's creative response to a theft incident. They explore how brands can navigate the evolving landscape of consumer behaviour
SBP 187: The PostPod - Lessons from David Aaker: The Power of Origin Stories
In this PostPod, Marc and Vassilis unpack their conversation with David Aaker, diving deep into brand strategy, organizational structure, and the evolution of performance marketing. They reflect on David's thoughts around LL Bean's origin story, the importance of communication in organizational design, and the cyclical nature of short-termism in marketing, especially when the economy faces uncerta
SBP 186: A Boot, A Beer and a Sledgehammer. With David Aaker
What do a cold beer, a pair of duck-hunting boots, and a heavy sledgehammer have to do with $14 trillion in brand equity?In this masterclass, David Aaker—the "Father of Modern Branding" explains how these iconic "memory anchors" do the heavy lifting that traditional "demand marketing" cannot. We dive into the "Curse of Success," why most companies are stuck in a "herd" of sameness, and how to navi
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SBP 185: The Sharp Cut - The Incentives Trap: The Blueprint for Success [Part 3]
The final installment (part 3) of our series about the incentives trap.In this episode, Marc and Vassilis outline the blueprint for success where they actively challenge the complexities of marketing measurement, emphasizing the need for a goal-oriented approach rather than relying on easily accessible metrics.They also discuss the dangers of short-term measurement, the importance of understanding
SBP 184: The Barber's Brief - Have most marketers not learned the basics?
In this episode of the Sleeping Barber Podcast, Marc and Vassilis delve into various topics surrounding marketing, brand performance, and the evolving landscape of digital advertising.They discuss a recent study on brand performance metrics, the importance of foundational marketing knowledge, and how nostalgia can be leveraged by heritage brands. Additionally, they explore Google's new AI advertis
SBP 183: The PostPod - The Habit That Shapes Better Marketers
What shapes the way you think?In this post-pod conversation, Marc Binkley and Vassilis Douros reflect on their discussion with Roger Martin — not just on strategy, but on something deeper: where curiosity comes from, and why it matters more than ever.From personal stories to practical implications, this conversation explores the moments that shape how we question, how we problem-solve, and how we
SBP 182: The Decision Factory: AI’s Missing Manual. With Roger Martin
The modern marketing organization is not a factory that produces campaigns; it is a Decision Factory that produces choices. In this episode, legendary strategist Roger Martin returns to explain why his 20-year-old "Knowledge Funnel" is more relevant in 2026 than ever before. As AI commoditizes the "mode" (the average), the role of the marketer must shift from executing tasks to solving mysteries a
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SBP 181: The Sharp Cut - The Incentives Trap: Revenue is a Vanity Metric [Part 2]
Why do smart marketing teams keep optimizing for the wrong things?In Part 1 of this Sharp Cut series, we explored Goodhart’s Law — when a measure becomes a target, it stops being a good measure.But the real problem doesn't start on the marketing dashboard.It starts two floors above it.In this episode of The Sharp Cut, Marc Binkley and Vassilis Douros trace the incentive problem all the way from th
SBP 180: The Barber's Brief - Why Are Agencies in Such Deep Trouble?
In this episode of the Sleeping Barber Podcast, Marc and Vassilis discuss the evolving landscape of digital advertising, focusing on the shift from traditional targeting methods to understanding consumer intent. They explore the challenges faced by creative agencies in adapting to new market realities and the innovative advertising strategies being employed in the automotive sector. The conversati
SBP 179: The PostPod - Stop Buying Media on CPM
When budgets tighten, marketers are told to find efficiency.Cheaper CPMs.Lower cost impressions.More targeting.Shorter ads.It looks smart in a spreadsheet.But according to Peter Field — often called the “Godfather of Effectiveness” — CPM may be one of the most dangerous metrics in modern marketing.In this episode of The Sleeping Barber Podcast, hosts Marc Binkley and Vassilis Douros unpack their c
SBP 178: Stop Buying Media on CPM. With Peter Field
In this episode, the "Godfather of Effectiveness" Peter Field joins the show to discuss why the pursuit of efficiency is making marketing less effective. He breaks down the "Triple Jeopardy" facing modern marketers: over-investing in the bottom of the funnel, producing dull rational creative, and purchasing low-attention media. Field provides an evidence-based case for why the industry must move a
![SBP 177: The Sharp Cut - The Incentives Trap: When Metrics Become Targets [Part 1]](https://artwork.captivate.fm/1e566d18-87fa-41d6-8d11-e6694b720f39/The-Sharp-Cut-Incentives-Part-1.png)
SBP 177: The Sharp Cut - The Incentives Trap: When Metrics Become Targets [Part 1]
In 2004, Wells Fargo’s internal audit flagged a problem: employees felt they couldn’t hit sales targets without gaming the system.The scandal broke 12 years later.Two million fake accounts.Thousands fired.Billions in fines.No one set out to commit fraud.They optimized for the metric.In this Sharp Cut, we break down Goodhart’s Law — when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure —
SBP 176: The Barber's Brief - Welcome to the Age of Answers
Welcome back to The Sleeping Barber Podcast — and to the Barber’s Brief, where Marc and V step into the shop, sweep up the last couple weeks of headlines, and figure out what’s actually worth keeping (and what belongs in the bin).In this episode, we break down four stories shaping marketing right now:PepsiCo’s creator-led “Flavor Swap” drop (and why TikTok Shop is turning distribution into the str
SBP 175: The PostPod - Hyper-Targeting is Killing Growth
In this episode of the Sleeping Barber podcast, Marc and Vassilis discuss the challenges of programmatic advertising, focusing on misconceptions around last click attribution, the pitfalls of hyper-targeting, and the limitations of traditional marketing personas. They explore the importance of integrating paid and organic search strategies, the need for broader audience targeting, and the signific
SBP 174: Hyper-Targeting Is Killing Growth. With Vince Simone
OverviewThe promise of digital advertising was precision: right message, right person, right time. No waste. But here's the uncomfortable truth, while we've been obsessing over hyper-targeting, consumer behaviour has already shifted without us. 90% of Canadians now consume CTV. Less than 50% still have cable. And 60% of their time is spent on the open web, not walled gardens.The question isn't whe
SBP 173: The Sharp Cut - The Most Dangerous KPI in Marketing
In this conversation, Vassilis Douros and Marc Binkley delve into the complexities of measuring ROI in marketing. They discuss common misconceptions about ROI, ROAS, and MER, emphasizing that these metrics often lead marketers to focus on short-term efficiency rather than long-term effectiveness. The duo highlights the importance of collaboration across teams to ensure that marketing promises alig
SBP 172: The Barber's Brief - How can I communicate better with my mother?
In this episode of Barbers Brief, Vassilis Douros and Marc Binkley discuss recent trends in marketing, including the impact of Super Bowl ads, Google's February 2026 core update, the rise of agentic AI, and a surprising increase in trust in advertising. They explore how these elements shape brand strategies and consumer behaviour, emphasizing the importance of relevance and quality in content crea
SBP 171: The PostPod - Making Super Ads
With the Big Game just days away, Marc and Vassilis unpack the biggest ideas from their recent conversation with Vanessa Chin (System1) — and what marketers should actually be watching for when the ads roll.This PostPod dives deeper into why emotion beats logic, why branding is still underused in creative, and how storytelling, distinctive assets, humour, and cultural context combine to create ads
SBP 170: Making Super Ads. With Vanessa Chin.
Super Bowl ads cost ~$8M for 30 seconds. So what separates a legendary “Super Ad” from an expensive shrug?In this episode of The Sleeping Barber Podcast, Mark and Vassilis welcome back Vanessa Chin from System1 to break down what actually drives impact when the stakes are highest.You’ll learn how System1 measures emotion and brand recognition (Star, Spike, and Fluency ratings), why “more you feel,
SBP 169: The Sharp Cut - Personas, we have a problem.
Welcome back to The Sharp Cut — where Marc and Vassilis take scissors to marketing’s biggest comfort blankets. This episode’s target: personas.Not “burn them all”… but the idea that personas are a valid operating system for audience strategy. Marc and V argue that personas don’t fail because they’re fictional — they fail because they pretend markets are stable, targetable, and neatly categorized,
SBP 168: The Barber's Brief - Marketers beware! Less is not more.
In this week’s Barber’s Brief, Marcc and Vassili unpack four timely stories that cut to the heart of modern marketing leadership: strategy clarity, AI’s real role in organizations, and why going small in marketing is often the riskiest move of all.The conversation starts with a sharp diagnosis of “strategy anxiety”—the condition where everything is labelled a priority, trade-offs disappear, and te
SBP 167: The PostPod - The Only Growth Lever Marketers Control.
In this post-pod discussion, Vassilis and Marc unpack the biggest ideas from their recent conversation with Dale Harrison on The Only Growth Lever Marketers Control — and what those ideas actually mean for marketers in practice.They explore a critical but often uncomfortable distinction: revenue growth is not the same as real growth. When categories expand, tides rise for everyone — but that doesn
SBP 166: The Only Growth Lever Marketers Control. With Dale Harrison.
Most brands do not grow. Despite the industry's obsession with "growth porn," relative market share remains remarkably stable over decades. In this episode, Dale Harrison—physicist, former CFO, and consultant—joins Marc and V to dismantle the illusion of marketing-driven growth. He argues that most "hockey stick" curves are the result of external technological innovations or massive capital inject
SBP 165: The Sharp Cut - Right Message Wrong Everything: The Truth About 1:1 Targeting.
Welcome to the first Sharp Cut from The Sleeping Barber Podcast — a tighter, opinion-led format designed to challenge marketing’s most persistent assumptions. In this episode, Vassilis and Marc take on one of the industry’s most widely accepted beliefs: one-to-one personalization.Despite overwhelming surveys claiming consumers want personalization and businesses need it, the evidence tells a very
SBP 164: The Barber's Brief - Don’t Create Bite-Sized Chunks of Your Content
In this Barber’s Brief, V and Marc cover the biggest marketing and platform stories from the last couple of weeks—plus introduce a new segment.First up, they unpack why marketers should stop trying to re-label marketing as CapEx, and why misusing finance terms (like ROI) can damage credibility with CFOs. Then they move into search and AI: Google’s Danny Sullivan warns publishers not to restructure
SBP 163: The PostPod - Fear is Killing Your Innovation
Vassilis and Marc reflect on their conversation with Tom Fishburne, the Marketoonist. They explore the art of cartooning, the importance of humour in marketing, and the challenges posed by AI and innovation in the industry. The duo emphasizes the need for levity in the face of challenges, particularly as they prepare for the uncertainties of 2026.Enjoy the episode!Key TakeawaysTom's insights into
SBP 162: Fear Is Killing Your Innovation (And The Simple Tool That Fixes It). With Tom Fishburne, Marketoonist.
What if the biggest barrier to innovation in your organization isn't lack of ideas, budget, or talent—but fear?Tom Fishburne, the Marketoonist, whose cartoons have appeared in more marketing decks than most actual strategies joins Marc and V to reveal why corporate fear is sabotaging innovation, and the surprisingly simple tool that breaks through it.With his weekly cartoons reaching over 500,000
SBP 161: The Barber's Brief - Toyota Promotes Escape, Whatever The Car.
In this final episode of our Barber's Briefs for 2025, Marc and Vassilis discuss various marketing and advertising topics, including pricing power, the effectiveness crisis in advertising, global media trends, and the rise of influencer marketing. They also feature an insightful conversation with Paul Tedesco about the Alchemy of Effectiveness report, which highlights the importance of creativity
SBP 160: The PostPod - Why Awareness Is Not Enough.
In this episode of the Sleeping Barber Podcast, Marc and Vassilis reflect on their conversation with Ty Heath. Together, they discuss the complexities of B2B marketing, emphasizing the importance of understanding customer relationships across various departments. They also dive into the significance of physical availability in B2B marketing strategies, the need for a holistic view of the customer
SBP 159: Why Awareness Isn't Enough. With Ty Heath.
B2B Institute's Ty Heath on Why Mental Availability Without Physical Availability Is Wasted InvestmentIn collaboration with the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, Ty Heath, Director and Co-founder of LinkedIn's B2B Institute, reveals research showing B2B brands typically appear in only 3-4 channels while buyers engage with an average of 32 touchpoints. The result? Buyers who prefer your brand default to co
SBP 158: The Barber's Brief - Omnicom and IPG: Congrats On Being Huge!
In this episode of the Sleeping Barber Podcast, Marc and Vassilis discuss topics that caught their attention over the last couple of weeks, including the recent merger between Omnicom and IPG, the impact of AI on retail, particularly through Amazon's new shopping assistant Rufus, and Adidas' innovative approach to market research by utilizing search data instead of traditional surveys. They also d
SBP 157: The PostPod - Principles Beat Tactical Noise.
In the latest episode of the Sleeping Barber Podcast, Marc Binkley and Vassilis reflect on their conversation with Jane Ostler Chief Insights officer at Kantar.Marc and Vassilis discuss the challenges brands face in a rapidly changing environment, particularly focusing on the impact of AI on branding and marketing strategies. They explore the concept of 'sea of sameness' in branding, the importanc
SBP 156: BrandZ: Principles Beat Tactical Noise. With Jane Ostler.
Jane Ostler, Chief Insights Officer at Kantar, joins V and Marc to discuss 20 years of BrandZ data and what it reveals about brand growth. We explore the Meaningful, Different, Salient framework, why relative difference beats absolute uniqueness, and how marketers can separate strategic principles from tactical noise. Jane explains how small brands can compete without massive budgets, why trends s
SBP 155: The Barber's Brief - Who’s Really Running Marketing Now?
In our latest episode, Marc and Vassilis discuss the evolving landscape of advertising and marketing, focusing on the impact of AI technologies. They explore how AI can outperform human copywriters in ad creation, the implications of Amazon's layoffs due to AI automation, and the changing nature of marketing jobs. The conversation also delves into the ethical concerns surrounding hyper-personaliza
SBP 154: The Post Pod - Dull Media Smells Like Burning Money.
In this PostPod episode, Marc and Vassilis discuss the complexities of digital advertising, emphasizing the importance of understanding viewability versus visibility, the pitfalls of cheap media, and the critical role of creative quality. They reflect on insights from recent guests and explore strategies for effective marketing, including the need for internal awareness and organizational change.
SBP 153: Dull Media Smells Like Burning Money. With Adam Morgan and Karen Nelson-Field
In this episode of The Sleeping Barber Podcast, Marc and Vassilis sit down with Adam Morgan (Eat Big Fish) and Dr. Karen Nelson-Field (Amplified Intelligence) to talk about one of marketing’s most overlooked money pits — dull media.You’ve heard of dull ads — but what about dull media?From perfume that smells like burning money to attention metrics that flip our measurement logic upside down, this
SBP 152: The Barber's Brief - Love Over Clicks?
In this episode, Vassilis and Marc explore things that caught their attention over the last couple of weeks. Key stories they highlight include:Ehrenberg-Bass Is Probably Right. Until It Isn’t. A piece by G Douglas Why marketing’s old rules still work in a new world, by Mark Pritchard 7 Focus Areas as AI Transforms Search and the Customer Journey in 2026Love Over Clicks, by Paul WorthingtonFor the
SBP 151: Live From 'The Gathering' 2025
Recorded live in Banff at The Gathering 2025, this special on-location episode of The Sleeping Barber Podcast brings together three conversations and a recap from hosts Vassilis Douros and Marc Binkley.The episode explores how belonging, creativity, and technology are shaping the next chapter of marketing — from AI and the creator economy to the deeper values that connect brands and people.Ryan Gi
SBP 150: The 8 Fundamentals of Effective Marketing
There's a lot of marketing effectiveness research out there. Binet and Field. Byron Sharp. Jenni Romaniuk. The Ehrenberg-Bass Institute. Karen Nelson-Field. Peter Field. System1. The Effies and the IPA databank. If you're trying to absorb all of this while doing your actual job, it's overwhelming.So we're making it simple: Eight fundamentals. These aren't tactics or channels. They're the underlyin
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