That's What I Call Marketing S4 Ep26: Mark Ritson on The Biggest Mistakes Marketers Still Make & How to Stop
What happens when one of the world’s most opinionated marketing professors looks beyond 2025 and starts thinking about the 2030s?
In this unfiltered conversation, Mark Ritson joins Conor Byrne on That’s What I Call Marketing for a fast-moving, hilarious, and deeply practical chat about what marketers are getting wrong and what still works.
From pricing and profitability to AI and the Mini MBA, Ritson lays out the truths that most brands quietly ignore:
👉 The real reason discounting destroys long-term value.
👉 Why profitability, not revenue, is the measure that matters.
👉 How brand equity lets companies charge 30% more — and why few marketers understand margins.
👉 The coming decade of synthetic data, AI-driven planning, and marketing’s Thirties where the fundamentals still decide who wins.
We also dive into Ritson’s columns on Nestlé’s new CEO, brand consolidation, the chaos of AI branding, and his viral takes on Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle ad. Expect blunt language, sharp analysis, and the kind of clarity only Ritson can deliver.
This is Ritson at full throttle cynical, evidence-based, and funny enough to make you forget you’re learning.
What You’ll Learn
Why pricing is the forgotten P — and marketers must reclaim it.
The psychological and financial damage of endless promotions.
What Nestlé’s portfolio clean-up reveals about focus and profit.
How the marketing profession lost the plot on creativity and strategy.
Why AI won’t kill marketing — it will expose who actually understands it.
The truth about the Mini MBA sale to Brave Bison and what’s next in the U.S.
⏱️ Episode Chapters
01:20 – Mark Ritson & his return to Dublin
03:00 – Why sold-out events show poor pricing strategy
04:30 – The hidden cost of discounting and brand devaluation
07:00 – How Kellogg’s proves the power of price premium
08:30 – Profitability vs. revenue: what marketers forget
10:20 – Why marketers must be part of pricing decisions
12:30 – Nestlé’s new CEO and the art of brand consolidation
15:00 – The 80/20 rule and why most portfolios are bloated
17:00 – “Kill a brand, keep a customer”: cutting smart
20:00 – Marketing talent and the future of brand management
22:00 – Have we over-hyped creativity?
23:00 – The 4Ps and why product and price still dominate
25:00 – Why marketers stop learning after launch
26:30 – “Strategy is the orgasm of marketing”
28:00 – OpenAI’s ad: a masterclass in bad branding
30:30 – The branding chaos in AI tools
31:50 – The “Thirties” lens: long-term change, not next-year fads
34:00 – What AI really means for marketers
36:00 – Why strong brands will still win in an AI world
38:00 – Synthetic data and the future of perfect marketing plans
40:30 – Sydney Sweeney, American Eagle & System1 scores
43:00 – Non-profits and the four Ps done right
46:00 – The Mini MBA sale & Brave Bison partnership
49:00 – The U.S. expansion plan with Adweek
51:00 – How success proved his own theories right
52:00 – On Ireland, Guinness, and the art of the deal
55:00 – Why Ireland outsmarted everyone in the EU
56:30 – Why Ritson never preps a talk — and why it works
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