When a profession brags about its ability to operate without formal training, you know you have a vanity problem. Founder of the MiniMBA, marketing professor and not-actually-that-angry columnist Mark Ritson joins the Looking Outside podcast to reiterate the central role of marketing in business – to understand the other. Marketers today have a branding problem, making it about themselves, the glitz and the awards, and Mark says this is all imposter syndrome stemming from lack of formal training. Empathy is foundational to marketing and is so needed in organizations distracted with short term priorities and obsessed with a narrative of constant change. And it can be a powerful unlocker of transformative ideas (like saving abandoned dogs).

If you’re tired of talking about brand purpose, you’re not alone. In most cases, when researched, purpose just does not work. But perhaps it’s been sitting with the wrong department this whole time … Author of The Purpose of Purpose, brand strategist and former stand-up comedian Ron Tite, argues that purpose is not for the marketers but for human resources, because ultimately what you "say” about your brand hinges entirely on what you collectively “think” within your company. There is there a tendency in organizations to bypass the bit in the middle - to voice your vision before you’ve backed it up tangible policies, incentives and activities. Without that, it’s just bullshit PR.

Being a marketer today is challenging enough, just imagine what it’s like for the next generation of brand leaders coming in to study marketing. On this episode of Looking Outside we explore the mindset and skills that future brand leaders are considering, with Adjunct Professor at SMU Cox School of Business, Radhika Zaveri. With over 20 years experience leading billion dollar brands at some of the world’s leading organizations, Radhika brings a wealth of wisdom to her marketing students. But some of the most critical lessons she is teaching them may be surprising.

Today we’re looking outside a very familiar topic, exploring brand building that strengthens a brand’s equity today and sets it up for the future. We’re joined for this all-marketing chat with marketing rockstar, fellow podcaster, Founder of unmtchd.brands and former Puma exec, Oana Leonte.

Oana recently pivoted from a marketing career working to build some of the world’s biggest brands, including WB, Paramount and Disney, to building her own brand. Armed with a big ambition to make marketing a better place for marketers and in bringing the magic back into marketing, and with the goal of helping marketers focus on the most required skills for the future.

Marketing is often thought of as a creative field, in part because it leans into the art of negotiation to sell a product, but it must be done with rigor. In this episode, we explore that rigorous side of marketing, and the research that should shape its decisions, with Marketing Science research professor and Director of the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, Byron Sharp.

Marketing science is at its core punk, or anti-establishment, and because of this Byron challenges any purist academic to ‘get out of the lab’ and the marketing bubble, and into the real world. There you must put aside your assumptions about what works based on isolated cases, or personal passions, and any snobbery you may hold about unglamourous categories, and seek out the patterns that form evidence. “Look and you will see,” Byron says, because most people don't bother to really look.

In Episode 19 we speak with marketing strategist and successful author, Mark Schaefer on the way to generate and leverage Influence, for both your personal and professional brands.

Author of nine books including Return on Influence and Cumulative Advantage, Mark shares his research and experience in the area of content marketing. He explains why it’s not enough to simply generate content; why you must rise above the noise with a ‘spiky point of view’.

To kick off Looking Outside we’re joined by talented and bold marketer Rose Jia, Head of Growth Marketing at Amazon Grocery.

Together Jo and Rose explore the tried and true practice of Marketing, and how organizations can stretch beyond familiar predefined pathways (and results) from marketing by employing a new mindset.