Embracing Marketing Mistakes
Welcome to Embracing Marketing Mistakes, the world’s leading irreverent podcast for senior marketers who are tired of the polished corporate b*llshit. Join Chris Norton and Will Ockenden, founders of the award-winning Prohibition PR, as they sit down with industry leaders to dissect the career-ending f*ck-ups they’d rather forget. The show moves past any pretty vanity metrics to uncover the brutal, honest truths behind marketing disasters, from £30,000 SEO black holes and completely failed companies, to social media crises that went globally viral for all the wrong reasons. We don't just celebrate the f*ck-ups; we extract the tactical blueprints you need to avoid them yourself.
Episodes
EP 124: He Built His Own AI Company Then Shut It Down
A toxic hire nearly cost him his agency. Then he made a similar mistake again, this time trying to build his own AI instead of renting one.In this episode, Roger Hurni, founder and Chief Brand Strategist of Off Madison Ave, whose client roster includes Nike, Wells Fargo, PetSmart, and P.F. Chang's, breaks down the culture-first hiring lesson he learned the hard way, why his team abandoned an
EP 123: Why I Recommended the Man Who Fired Me - John O'Keeffe
He ran creative for the world's biggest advertising group. Then his own recommendation to the board cost him the job, and he sold every share he owned the same week.In this episode, John O'Keeffe explains how he took WPP from a "creative desert" to seven straight years as Creative Holding Company of the Decade, why recommending Mark Read to succeed Martin Sorrell as CEO turned
EP 122: The Sales Funnel Is a Hundred Years Old and Wrong
KFC and Weetabix both threw away the most famous slogans in their category, and had to fight their way back to them.In this episode, Tom Roach explains how "Finger Lickin' Good" and "Have You Had Your Weetabix" both got dropped while each brand chased fresher creative, and the research and internal persuasion it took to bring them back. He also breaks down why the standard
EP 121: I Invented a Category, Sold to Diageo, and Almost Lost It All
Ben Branson invented an entirely new drinks category from his kitchen. Then a £1 million hole nearly took it all away.In this episode, Ben explains how Seedlip, the world's first non-alcoholic spirit, grew twice as fast as the industry standard, and how that growth hid a working capital gap that surfaced mid-flight to Australia. He breaks down how the team traded their way out of the crisis i
EP 120: We Fired 30 People and Nothing Changed
A growth lead at a fast-scaling startup admits the truth: his old company cut a 30-person marketing and sales team, and sales didn't change at all.In this episode, Hector Hughes explains why a year of growth work, SEO, conversion rate optimization, and endless website testing achieved almost nothing, and how that failure led him to build Unplugged, a digital detox retreat business now serving
EP 119: Moz Founder: 'I Was Making $50M a Year and Miserable'
Rand Fishkin built Moz into the biggest name in SEO. Then he raised $30 million in venture capital and watched it nearly break him.In this episode, Rand explains why raising venture capital was his biggest mistake, how it led to a battle with depression and his resignation as CEO, and why he is happier, healthier, and making more money today running SparkToro, a company a twentieth the size of Moz
EP 118: This One Habit Cost Me 100 Million YouTube Views
A top YouTube strategist just revealed the single habit that cost him over 100 million views and then live-critiqued our own channel's titles on air.Leroy te Braak works with creators and brands doing hundreds of millions of views on YouTube. In this episode, he breaks down why most businesses get YouTube wrong, reveals his IDEAL framework (Idea, Data, Execution, Analysis, Longevity), and exp
From Petrified Wood to Pints Social Proof Gone Wrong
Behavioural science meets marketing mishaps back in episode 46 with Phill Agnew. As a specialist in testing what really works in ads, Phill exposes how well intentioned campaigns often push audiences in exactly the wrong direction. He unpacks the idea of negative social proof, where highlighting how many people binge drink, steal from parks or ignore donation prompts can actually signal that this
EP 117: 70% of Teams Are Using AI With Zero Oversight. Here’s What Happened
Most companies have bought AI. Hardly any are actually using it properly inside their teams.In this episode, recorded live at the AI for PR conference in London, we break down the real reason AI adoption fails in marketing and communications, and what it takes to make tools like Microsoft Copilot genuinely valuable.Chris Norton is with two experienced voices from the PR and SEO world who share pra
How a Transparency Slip Sparked a PR Firestorm
In this episode of Embracing Marketing Mistakes, Chris Pharo CEO from 72 Point talks through the controversy that erupted after critics on social media challenged the term guaranteed coverage. What began as a few confused comments quickly grew into a public discussion about ethics, transparency and how PR teams work behind the scenes. Chris explains how two members of his team were unexpectedly na
EP 116: "SEO Is Dead. It's an $85 Billion Market and It's Over"
Everyone is talking about AI transformation. Almost no one is thinking about whether their brand shows up when customers ask AI what to buy.This episode breaks down the biggest mistake in modern marketing and why PR is quietly becoming the most powerful driver of visibility inside generative search.Recorded live at the AI for PR conference in London, this episode features Andrew Bruce Smith, Johnn
The Hangover That Landed Us A Major Client
Our guest, Guy Utley CEO of Tall Agency, shares a candid story about winning a major pitch despite being severely hungover from celebrating a "Best Creative Agency" award the night before. This unexpected success led to a complete transformation in his approach to business presentations, moving away from over-preparation toward more authentic communication.• Celebrating winning "Bes
EP 115: The Moment Claude Co-Work Replaced 4 Days of Work in 30 Minutes
He handed AI a full marketing project… and it came back finished in 30 minutes.What used to take 4 days of analysis, reporting, and presentation building was done in a single sitting with better insights included.In this episode, Andrew Bruce Smith breaks down how tools like Claude Co‑Work are changing the way marketers actually work. This is not about faster copy or better prompts. It is about de
EP 114: We Deepfaked a CEO in 2 Minutes. Here’s What Happened
A finance worker joins a Zoom call with their CFO and colleagues.Everything looks and sounds real. They transfer $25 million. Every person on that call was fake.AI misinformation has moved from theory to real-world crisis, and brands are already losing control. From deepfake CEOs and fake giveaways to hijacked campaigns and cloned influencer accounts, the speed and scale of risk has changed comple
The Mistake That Burnt Me Out: Staying Too Long Where I Didn’t Belong
Cory Koryczan opens up about the career mistake that nearly broke her.Staying too long in a role that no longer fit. She’d built her identity around someone else’s business and clung to safety until it led to burnout. In this episode, Cory talks about the cost of over-loyalty, the fear that kept her stuck, and how she rebuilt her courage to finally walk away. She also shares a second big lesson fr
EP 113: Why Most CMOs Fail at Brand Strategy
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
I Took A Team To Paris And Discovered The Brief Was In Spam
A missed brief. A room full of decision-makers. A team fresh off the Eurostar waiting to present a tailored proposal that never existed—because the client’s detailed instructions were quietly filed in spam. We tell the whole story with candour, including the costs, the embarrassment, and the uncomfortable gap between personal brand and reality when a simple system failure derails a big moment.We d
EP 112: Author of Decoded Explains Why This T‑Mobile Ad Failed in One Sec
Phil Barden, Author of Decoded once led a European brand relaunch that cost millions. The problem was not the strategy, the budget or the agency. The human brain rejected the advert in seconds.In this episode, Phil explains the T‑Mobile campaign that quietly failed and why the creative meant something very different to audiences than it did in the boardroom.That mistake changed his career. It took
The Expedia Pitch Mix-Up: When the Wrong Logo Won the Deal
In this episode of Embracing Marketing Mistakes, Sam Benton, co-founder of Mad Masters, joins Chris Norton and Will Ockenden to revisit one of his most unforgettable marketing moments. Early in his career, Sam walked into a major pitch for Expedia only to realise that Experian’s logo was proudly displayed on every single slide. What could have been a career-ending blunder turned into a long-standi
EP 111: The Typo That Lucy Woolfenden Made It Onto a 96-Sheet Billboard
Growth looks exciting from the outside. Inside, it is usually chaotic, opinion-led and full of avoidable mistakes.In this episode, we sit down with Lucy Woolfenden, a former Skype marketer turned fractional CMO who now helps B2B and fintech scale-ups turn messy growth into focused, repeatable momentum.Lucy Woolfenden is a growth-focused fractional CMO and founder of The Scale-Up Collective, with s
The Disappearing Pitch: How a Magician Cost Us the Client
When James Thomlinson decided to “bring some magic” to a high-stakes pitch for InterContinental Hotels Group, he meant it, literally. The plan? A magician disguised as a team member, ready to wow the client with a “reappearing newspaper” trick. The result? Cringe, confusion, and a fast lesson in what not to do when pitching creative ideas. In this hilarious and humbling episode, James shares how a
EP 110: Most Creative Directors Are Never Told What Their Job Is | Mick Mahoney
Most creative directors are never told what their job actually is.That confusion leads to imposter syndrome, burnout and years of silent mistakes at the top of agencies.In this episode of Embracing Marketing Mistakes, we sit down with Mick Mahoney, one of the most experienced creative leaders in advertising. Mick spent over 25 years as a Creative Director, Executive Creative Director and Chief Cre
Too Many Topics, Too Few Clients: David's YouTube Marketing Mistake
David thought his YouTube channel was flying tens of thousands of views, rapid growth, big smiles all round. But behind the buzz was a costly mistake. By turning his finance channel into a jumble of lifestyle, language and fitness videos, he confused his audience and killed his conversions. In this episode, David joins Chris Norton and Will Ockenden to share how he turned his “carnival channel” fa
EP 109: The Tweet That Broke Yorkshire Tea with Dom Dwight
Dom Dwight joins Embracing Marketing Mistakes to share the reality of building a challenger brand that people genuinely care about.Across 18 years at Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate, Dom helped turn Yorkshire Tea into one of the UK’s most loved brands by backing creative risk, trusting people and stripping out layers of sign-off. In this episode, he talks candidly about the resistance that comes w
The Expensive Mistake of Starting a Shop You Don’t Believe In
What happens when you pour your heart and money into a business you’re not truly passionate about? In this episode, we hear the candid story of Louise, who launched a bricks-and-mortar craft shop while juggling three kids and a career in IT project management.She opens up about:Growing up in an entrepreneurial family in Northern IrelandWhy she started a business that never really aligned with her
EP 108: Why 95% Of Buying Happens On Autopilot
Most marketers believe customers think carefully before they buy. Behavioural science shows that 95% of buying happens on autopilot, driven by subconscious shortcuts rather than logic.In this episode of Embracing Marketing Mistakes, Nancy Harhut explains why framing, anchoring and presentation matter more than information. She shares real examples where small changes doubled results without changi
The Weight We Carry: Authenticity and Mental Wellbeing in Corporate Life
Mental health neglect emerges as the most impactful career mistake, affecting happiness, security, and stability in both personal and professional realms. Many people recognise mental health issues too late, silently carrying burdens that significantly impact their relationships and performance.Authentic Alex shares her story.• Tendency to ignore mental health concerns until they become impossible
EP 107: Award-winning ads stopped driving growth says Steve Harrison
Steve Harrison has spent over 40 years in advertising. He rose to Creative Director at Ogilvy, then founded Harrison Troughton Wunderman, building one of the most awarded direct marketing agencies in the world and winning 18 Cannes Lions.In this episode, Steve argues the industry lost effectiveness when it stopped focusing on selling and started chasing societal impact. He explains why award-winni
What Losing a £10K Tape Taught This BBC Journalist
Veteran tech journalist Spencer doesn’t hold back in this refreshingly honest episode filled with media mishaps and marketing missteps. From confidently predicting the iPad would never take off to losing £10,000 worth of BBC footage in a single stairwell accident, Spencer shares the kind of hard-earned lessons that come from real-world chaos. It’s a funny, cringe-worthy, and surprisingly relatable
EP 106: Ant Cousins Explains Why Handing Empathy to AI Almost Went Wrong
In this episode of Embracing Marketing Mistakes features Ant Cousins unpacking a moment where trusting AI with empathy nearly caused real harm.Ant Cousins is Vice President of Product at Meltwater and has spent over 25 years working across defence, public safety and AI. He previously advised the UK Ministry of Defence in Iraq and Afghanistan, worked in counterterrorism and strategic communications
The Costly Hiring Habit That Nearly Broke Sarah Clay’s Business
Ever hired someone just because you clicked with them? You are not alone. In this candid episode, our guest admits to recruiting based on personality instead of business needs. The result was duplicate roles, major skill gaps, and tough decisions that still sting years later.From letting go of an “amazing assistant” before the pandemic, a decision they still regret, to realizing the need for compl
How My Coca-Cola Site Tour Ended in Disaster - Richard Shotton
Marketing mistakes happen to everyone, even the so-called experts. We’ve seen everything from press releases that accidentally went viral for the wrong reasons to brand names so complicated even the CEO couldn’t spell them. But there’s something weirdly therapeutic about sharing these messes. One guest summed it up perfectly. If you’re only testing stuff you already know will work, you’re not real
EP 105: The Email That Destroyed 30 Years Of Customer Loyalty - Roger Dooley
One email rewrote “lifetime” loyalty and turned Carnival’s most devoted customers against the brand.In this episode, neuromarketing pioneer Roger Dooley breaks down the background to that decision, the Royal Caribbean photo-op disaster, and how AI could have stopped both.For twenty years, Roger has been inside the rooms where these calls are made, teaching companies how real human brains work in m
How A PR Exec Survived Lads’ Mags, a Riot, And A Near-Top Gun Airspace Incident
What happens when the person paid to pitch stories decides to live them instead? We pull back the curtain on 90s Soho PR, where relationships were built over ringing landlines, long lunches, and last-minute invitations, and where the distance between press release and personal risk got uncomfortably thin. From beer brands and lads’ mags to editors who wanted proof you’d done the crazy thing you pi
EP 104: Why Liquid Death and Guinness Highlight Their Flaws with Phill Agnew
Behavioural tactics collapse more often than marketers admit. Phill Agnew joins us again to expose the shortcuts that fail, the ones that hold up under pressure, and the science senior marketers can actually trust.Phill is the creator and host of Nudge, one of the most respected behavioural science podcasts in marketing. He is known for turning academic research into practical tools used by senior
We Printed 50,000 Catalogues... With the Wrong Phone Number.
Ever had that stomach-sinking moment when you realise you've made a massive, irreversible mistake? Try 50,000 glossy brochures printed with the wrong phone number. One poor marketer handed over a random pensioner’s number to the public, then had to hire temps to stick the correct digits on every single copy by hand. It only got worse from there. Mail merge cock-ups that sent rival names to cu
EP 103: From Fax Nightmares to AI: Staying Future Ready with Alistair Frost
A single fax almost caused a multimillion pound pricing collapse. Yet the story is only the starting point. This episode goes much deeper into how marketers cope with relentless technological change and why so many professionals feel overwhelmed.Allister Frost is the former Head of Digital Marketing Strategy at Microsoft and one of the first people inside the company to shape its early digital and
What happens when creativity outpaces strategy?
On this episode of Embracing Marketing Mistakes, I’m joined by Gareth Turner, founder of Big Black Door and former Head of Marketing at Weetabix. Gareth has over 23 years of experience in food and drink, having led marketing for brands like John Smith’s, Bulmers, Lurpak and Arla. From buying a racehorse for John Smith’s to launching Bulmers fruit ciders and leading the viral Beanz on Bix campaign,
EP 102: How Kevin Chesters Helped Make Britain’s Worst Ad
One advert wiped out a supermarket product in six weeks, and Kevin Chesters was right in the middle of it. He saw the disaster coming, ignored the warning signs and watched the whole thing collapse in real time.Kevin Chesters is a seasoned strategist with more than twenty five years in top flight marketing, including leadership roles as Chief Strategy Officer at Wieden+Kennedy London, Dentsu McGar
We almost made political history on Twitter, until they pulled the plug
I’m joined by Stuart Bruce, who is internationally recognised as the PR Futurist. He is a thinker, strategist and hands-on practitioner in modernised public relations, communications and corporate affairs. Stuart specialises in AI, communication technology (CommTech), measurement and evaluation, and crisis communications. He helps organisations embrace digital transformation and future-proof their
EP 101: Stop Wasting Social Spend: 12 Social Media Trends That Will Make Or Break 2026
Marketers are fighting on too many fronts. Budgets are tight, algorithms change daily and AI is flooding every feed with low grade content. This episode cuts through the noise and lays out the 2026 social landscape with absolute clarity.Chris and Will unpack the 12 trends shaping how brands win this year. The conversation covers AI brand bots, the rise of live shopping, the collapse of SEO into AE
Hold My Buffalo: Samsung's Aussie Adventure Gone Wrong
Joining the conversation today is Richard Noble, Head of European Public Relations at Audible. With years of experience managing brand reputation and navigating high-pressure PR situations, Richard understands how quickly things can go wrong when communication within a company breaks down. Today, he shares a story that highlights just how chaotic things can get, complete with a touch of Australian
Ep 100: 450,000 Emails and a Waterboarded Exec: The Best of 100 Episodes
A hundred stories in, and the sharpest truths are hiding inside the worst moments. We mark our rather large milestone with a definitive countdown of six unforgettable marketing screw-ups.From an automation update that unleashed 450,000 emails on VIPs in under an hour to a six-figure exhibition stand misspelling “software,” we explore what really fails in campaigns: governance, proofing, and the qu
When Exposing Bad Hairdressers Costs Eight Hours of Your Life
Let me introduce you to Ann Wright, a journalist, BBC producer and PRCA-approved media trainer with years of experience behind some of the UK’s biggest live events and investigations. She’s had an impressive career, but not without a few wild turns and difficult lessons along the way.While working on "UK's Worst Hair Disasters", Ann went undercover at a Norfolk salon with secret cam
The Secret Spelling Mistake That Cost Six Figures
In this episode, we’re joined by Rachel Massey, Director of Marketing at Huthwaite International. She talks us through one of the most stressful moments of her career and what it was like to deal with it in real time.We dig into a cringe-worthy marketing mistake involving a high-profile exhibition stand with "sofware" misspelled across the entire structure, leading to three days of anxie
EP 99: Why PR Needs a Complete Rethink in 2026: Sarah Waddington
She went globally viral. Overnight, she faced death threats, abuse and media frenzy reaching across continents. This is the story of how PRCA CEO Sarah Waddington rebuilt, refocused and reshaped the PR industry in the middle of chaos.In this episode of Embracing Marketing Mistakes, Sarah Waddington CBE breaks down the viral moment that changed her life, the hidden pressures of PR leadership and th
Even experts fall into their own marketing traps.
Katie Tucker is a marketing strategist who helps teams truly understand their customers so they can build products that sell. She works with companies of all sizes, offering practical support, training, and discovery sprints that cut through the noise and get results.But even she’s made the kind of mistake she warns others about. Despite her expertise in customer discovery, she once created a fami
EP 98: Media Training Masterclass: How Leaders Land Messages in a Digital‑First World
Chris Norton and Will Ockenden of Prohibition PR unpack what modern media interviews really feel like for leaders today. They move past the old PR textbook and talk frankly about hot mic blunders, off‑record comments that never stayed off the record and the way journalists now hunt for viral moments. Their stories make the risks feel real, but the tone stays grounded rather than dramatic.Let them
From Office to Remote: A Pandemic Pivot Gone Wrong
Rich Mullholland, Founder of Missing Link and a presentation company leader, shares how his eloquence led to convincing himself of incorrect strategies that nearly cost him their business after the pandemic. His decision to permanently close their unique office space following initial online success eliminated their word-of-mouth marketing engine and created significant challenges.• Being skilled
EP 97: Ex-McKinsey Strategist: Why Your Strategy Will Fail - Faris Aranki
A brilliant strategy doesn’t fail because it’s wrong. It fails because people don’t own it and leaders won’t focus. That’s the energising premise of our conversation with Faris Aranki, founder of Shear Ghetto Consulting and former McKinsey advisor, who breaks down why IQ without EQ and FQ leaves great plans to die at sign‑off.We unpack Faris’s simple but powerful multiplier: IQ × EQ × FQ. IQ is th
Behind the Skip: How Eight Students Nearly Ruined a VIP Event
Melanie Parker, a university recruitment professional, shares a hilarious mishap when student hospitality staff abandoned their posts at a high-profile university event to get drunk behind a skip. Eight students helping themselves to champagne and wine during a Vice-Chancellor's gathering led to a mortifying call from security and a scramble to manage the fallout.• Worked at Leeds Becker Univ
EP 96: Community Isn’t a Campaign: Lessons from Comms Hero Asif Choudry
What does it take to turn a simple hashtag into a thriving community of 15,000 marketing and comms professionals? In this episode, Chris Norton sits down with Asif Choudry, founder of Comms Hero, to unpack the journey from a one-off event in Manchester to a nationwide movement. They dive into the early days of superhero-themed conferences, the backlash that almost derailed everything, and why trea
The Unlikely Path from Vatican City to Kim Jong-un's Birthday Party
Ken Robertson, Paddy Power’s former Head of Mischief, was given one job: grab attention by any means necessary. Known for outrageous campaigns and a flair for chaos, he built a career out of toeing the line. But one particular stunt, his most ambitious yet, pushed things further than even he expected.It all began when Ken Robertson staged a marketing stunt at the Vatican. He had Paddy Power set up
EP 95: A £7K SEO Disaster to LinkedIn Success Story: Niraj Kapur
Ever sunk thousands into SEO with zero return? Or been ghosted after a pitch you poured your soul into? In this episode, LinkedIn Top Voice and sales trainer Niraj Kapur joins Chris Norton to unpack the brutal truths of modern selling. From reducing ghosting and building trust on LinkedIn to coping with rejection and learning from failure, this conversation is packed with practical advice and raw
I Forgot to Book the Entire Afternoon Session of my Event.
Former marketing manager at Prolific North, Natalie Davidson, once accidentally invited 100 people to the wrong day of an event due to a rogue automatic reminder. She discovered the mistake while in the middle of briefing a speaker and was unable to access her laptop for an hour, causing major stress. Miraculously, no one showed up early. Either attendees remembered the correct date or no one had
EP 94: The Pink Batman Strategy: Finding Your Brand’s Inner Weird - Mark Terry-Lush
Mark Terry Lush spent thirty years chasing every opportunity. Big brands, wild projects, new cultures, he said yes to them all. The problem was that adaptability started to feel like progress, and it cost him focus on his own brand.In this episode, Mark shares what he learned from building everyone else’s success while neglecting his own. We talk about why versatility without direction can derail
How A Bird, A Lost Bag, And A Typo Taught Me To Safeguard My Marketing Career
Writer and freelance marketing expert Sarah Townsend joined the show on episode 43; she shared a set of moments from her career that are equal parts chaotic and unforgettable She talks about shouting “Look, a heron!” in the middle of a live training session and leaving her suitcase on the wrong train while travelling to a major conference. The most painful moment arrives when she reveals the mista
When Twitter Turned On Royal Mail
A single missing gesture can set the internet alight. We open up about a day when Royal Mail faced a fast-moving backlash over Paralympics stamps and how a quiet policy gap looked like a loud value judgment on social media. From the first surge of tweets to the uncomfortable hours stuck in monitoring mode, we walk through what happens when your team lacks the tools, approvals, and scripts to respo
I Booked The Billboards For The Wrong Week And Somehow Didn’t Get Fired
When Lisa, co-founder of Common People and strategist at Wavemaker Manchester, accidentally misbooked an out-of-home campaign linked to a BBC event, it was more than an embarrassing blunder back in episode 41.It became the moment she started questioning who really gets to thrive in advertising and media. In this episode, Lisa recounts that campaign mishap, a chaotic run of travel mix-ups, a painfu
EP 93: How Overinvesting in Performance Ads Cost Adobe's Andy Lambert £30k
What happens when you drop £30,000 on an influencer and the sign-ups never show?In this episode of Embracing Marketing Mistakes, Andy Lambert, co-founder of ContentCal, author of Spheres of Influence and now Principal Manager of Product at Adobe Express, unpacks two costly growth errors: overinvesting in performance ads and running a transactional influencer campaign that barely moved the needle.A
The Craigslist Sandwich Board Stunt That Misfired
When Director of Thinking and Creative PR Specialist Peter Freedman joined us for this episode 39, he unpacked the unusual marketing mistake he made while working with Craigslist.Tasked with satirising the rise of in-your-face shirt sponsorships, Peter sponsored a women’s football team in Battersea Park and put them in full advertising sandwich boards. The stunt was pretty clever, photogenic and c
EP 92: What Ken Hughes’ 30-Foot Drop Teaches Brands About Loyalty
Ken Hughes spent 15 years chasing NPS scores, loyalty points and dashboards, only to realise his “loyal customers” were simply trapped by discounts and habit. Then he ignored two clear warning signs on his own roof, fell 30 feet and shattered 26 bones. That moment forced him to reconsider risk, fear and what real loyalty means for modern brands. In this episode, Ken explains why many brands confus
Inside the Haircare CGI Mishap That Stopped a Campaign
As Creative Marketer Anil Manji joined the show, he reflected on an early-career incident that continues to guide his thinking today. We take you into this segment of episode 40, inside a haircare TV ad that reused legacy footage, layered on a week of pricey CGI to turn shampoo into conditioner, and accidentally created a texture that read like something no brand wants on primetime. The client’s b
EP 91: How AI Is Transforming SEO: Chris Attewell on Google, Bing and the Future of Search
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 search. He breaks down how Google, Bing and ChatGPT a
I Lost $25,000 On Ads And Learned Exactly What Not To Outsource
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 spent more than twenty-five thousand dollars on ad s
What Happens When Your Influencers Refuse to Use Their Own Names
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 due to a lack of transparency. Marshall
EP 90: The Body Shop Line That Haunted Vikki Ross
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 into why stakeholders so often choose the safest opt
From helping DJ Bob Sinclair to almost getting fired.
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 Bob" featuring DJ Bob Sinclair teaching Frenc
EP 89: The Secret Brain Hack Powering the World’s Biggest Brands with Claire Koryczan
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. Expect practical tips, brain-friendly habits, and a fe
Three PR Nightmares That Cost Brands Millions
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• Negative sentiment towards Zara surged from 13% to
EP 88: How I Built a PR Agency from Zero During COVID - Darryl Sparey
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 start connecting PR and SEO performance to measura
EP 87: From KFC’s Pricing Error to Expedia’s Deck Disaster: Lessons from Sam Benton on Creative Courage
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 Experian logo appeared in an Expedia meeting but still le
She controlled her narrative by revealing her darkest secrets first
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 the Amish community in Pennsylvania• Her hand-rol
EP 86: When Google’s AI Stole Their Clicks: How Prohibition Turned a Traffic Crisis into GEO Strategy
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 myth that “rankings = revenue,” and how they pivoted
Breaking the BBC Homepage: Tales from the Trenches
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 pay-per-click campaign led to dismissal• Setting a l
EP 85: AI-Written RFP Fail: Why Pitches Collapse
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 boardroom table to dealing with AI-written briefs t
Knowing When to Fold: A Transatlantic Marketing Lesson
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 the same language• US clients expected much la
EP 84: Cracking the YouTube Algorithm: Lessons from Raw Data, Not Hype
Forget chasing subscribers and viral videos. It’s time to turn YouTube into a serious lead generation engine.In this episode of Embracing Marketing Mistakes, hosts Chris Norton and Will Ockenden sit down with David Greiner, co-founder of David & Luana Co., to explore how businesses can use YouTube not for vanity metrics, but as a predictable client acquisition channel.David shares the hard tru
The Gap Year that Almost Became a Career Gap
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 unexpectedly saved by the COVID pandemic's ti
EP 83: Demoted at Deliveroo: Alice Ter Haar's Career-Shaking Failure
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 psychological safety without the buzzwords or the fluff.We
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