Sleeping Barber - A Marketing Podcast

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 teams are left busy but directionless. From there, they examine why many organizations are stuck using AI to make marketing cheaper, not more valuable, and why that mindset risks turning marketing into a disposable cost center rather than a strategic function.The episode then tackles the growing backlash against “less is more” marketing, drawing on effectiveness research that shows scale, reach, and creative boldness still matter—even in a world obsessed with efficiency dashboards.They close with Ad of the Week, spotlighting Petro-Canada’s “No Time to Hibernate” Winter Games campaign, breaking down why distinctive assets, emotion, and long-term creative commitment still outperform cautious, forgettable work.If you’re feeling pulled in too many directions, overwhelmed by priorities, or pressured to optimize your way to growth, this episode offers a much-needed reset.Key TakeawaysIf everything is a priority, you don’t have a strategy.Strategy requires exclusion. Anxiety fills the gap when leaders avoid hard choices.Activity is not clarity. More dashboards, roadmaps, and urgency don’t replace direction—they often create noise.AI used only for efficiency shrinks marketing’s importance. Making content cheaper doesn’t make marketing more valuable or more defensible.AI is moving from experimentation to infrastructure.Organizations that fail to move from tools to orchestration risk building tech debt, not advantage.“Less is more” is often a trap.Small, fragmented marketing doesn’t reduce risk—it guarantees invisibility.Reach, scale, and salience still drive growth. Efficiency metrics are useful, but they don’t replace business outcomes.Brand vs. performance is a false dichotomy. Every marketing activity builds the brand—customers experience one system, not silos.Great campaigns compound over time. Distinctive assets and creative consistency matter more than short-term optimization.Chapters / Timestamps00:00 – Welcome to the Barber’s Brief - What caught Marc and V’s attention this week.01:00 – Strategy Anxiety: When Everything Is a Priority - Why lack of focus creates burnout, reactivity, and execution without confidence.04:45 – Strategic Drift and the Cost of Avoiding Hard Choices - Why exclusion matters as much as inclusion in real strategy.06:40 – AI, Davos, and the Efficiency Trap - Why using AI to do “more with less” risks shrinking marketing’s role.09:15 – From AI Pilots to Enterprise Infrastructure - How AI becomes tech debt without orchestration and outcomes.11:45 – Less Is Not More: Why Marketing Needs Scale - Why cautious, fragmented spend often delivers the worst ROI.14:45 – Efficiency Metrics vs. Business Outcomes - The danger of optimizing dashboards instead of growth.16:30 – Brand vs. Performance: A False Divide - Why all marketing builds the brand—and why silos hurt effectiveness.18:30 – Ad of the Week: Petro-Canada’s ‘No Time to Hibernate’ - A breakdown of emotion, distinctive assets, and long-term creative value.22:45 – What’s Coming Next on the Podcast - Upcoming episodes and closing thoughts.Show Links:If Everything Is a Priority, You Don’t Have a StrategyLink: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/everything-priority-you-dont-have-strategy-anxiety-g-douglas-x0wae/What most marketers missed at DavosLink: https://www.thedrum.com/opinion/what-most-marketers-missed-at-davosLess is not more: Marketers ‘must go big or go home’Link: https://www.decisionmarketing.co.uk/news/less-is-not-more-marketers-must-go-big-or-go-homeStop saying ‘brand marketing’, it’s one half of a false dichotomyLink: https://www.marketingweek.com/stop-brand-marketing-false-dichotomy/Ad of the WeekPetro-Canada / It's No Time To Hibernatehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfGXYpTG_LUhttps://lbbonline.com/news/Petro-Canada-Milano-Cortina-Olympic-Paralympic-Winter-Games-2026-Campaign

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’t mean brands are gaining market share, competitive advantage, or long-term resilience.This episode digs into why marketers over-index on revenue and ROI, why market share is harder (but more honest) to use as a growth signal, and why a huge part of marketing’s job is simply not screwing things up. The discussion also reframes advertising as both an offensive and defensive investment, emphasizing the role of creative effectiveness, mental availability, and protecting existing demand — not just chasing new sales.If you’ve ever been told to “just grow revenue” without clarity on what growth actually means, this episode is for you.Topics covered:Why revenue growth can mask stagnationMarket share vs. revenue: why they’re not interchangeableThe danger of confusing category growth with brand growthWhy marketers are often rewarded for being “in the right boat at the right time”Advertising as demand protection, not just demand creationThe three levers marketers actually have (and why they’re mostly equalized)Creative effectiveness as the only real multiplierWhy “don’t screw it up” is an underrated marketing strategyHow to think about growth accelerants and external shocksWhy long-term success depends on solving for the 95%, not the 5%Timestamps00:00 – Introduction02:00 – Revenue vs. Growth: The Core Misunderstanding - Why increasing revenue doesn’t automatically mean a brand is growing — and why market share matters.05:00 – Category Growth, Timing, and the Illusion of Marketing Genius - How external forces (COVID, category expansion, timing) create false signals of success.08:30 – Market Share Is Hard (But More Honest) - Why market share is rarely reported, difficult to measure, and still the most truthful growth signal.11:30 – Advertising as Protection, Not Just Growth - Why a major part of marketing’s job is maintaining demand and preventing decline.14:30 – The Three Levers Marketers Actually Control - Spend, creative effectiveness, and media quality — and why none are silver bullets on their own.17:00 – The Real Takeaway: Don’t Screw It Up - Creative quality, mental availability, and being ready when growth accelerants appear.19:30 – Final Reflections and Close - What marketers should do differently on Monday morning.19:25 – Final reflections and closing thoughts

Dale Harrison, a strategy consultant and former CFO with a physics background, joins to debunk marketing growth myths. He stresses that most brands don’t grow market share, despite industry hype. Dale reveals that true growth often stems from external innovations rather than marketing tactics. He highlights that 90% of campaign success is tied to reach, which is limited by budget. Instead, marketers should focus on creative effectiveness, as loyalty is more random than marketers assume. Get ready for an eye-opening discussion on market dynamics!

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 different story. Drawing on peer-reviewed research from Ehrenberg-Bass, MIT, Melbourne Business School, Nielsen, and the Journal of Advertising Research, this Sharp Cut separates belief from evidence.They unpack why personalization systems are built on inaccurate data, why targeting errors compound rather than optimize, why click-through rates are meaningless, and how narrow targeting actively undermines growth by excluding future buyers.Most importantly, they outline what actually works: reach, creative quality, mental availability, contextual relevance, and proper experimentation.If you care about effectiveness over mythology, this episode is for you.Chapters:00:00 - Introduction04:13 - Beliefs vs. Evidence07:48 - The Targeting Effectiveness Evidence11:07 - The Compound Problem12:54 - The Measurement Illusion14:47 - The Hidden cost of Narrow Targeting17:21 - What Actually Works20:00 - Our Final TakeKeyKey TakeawaysPersonalization is widely believed, not well proven. Most supporting stats come from surveys and vendor case studies, not controlled experiments.Data accuracy is poor. Identity and attribute targeting accuracy often ranges between 32–69%, with many segments no better than a coin flip.Targeting errors compound. Stacking multiple “precise” attributes multiplies mistakes, not accuracy—often reaching less than 15% of the intended audience.Third-party targeting performs no better than random. This holds true in both B2C and B2B contexts, even for senior decision-makers.CTR is a vanity metric.Studies show click-through rates have near-zero correlation with brand outcomes or ROI.Narrow targeting hurts growth. It focuses spend on the ~5% in-market while excluding the 95% who drive future demand.What works instead:Reach over precisionContext over profileFirst-party data for retention, not acquisitionCreative as the real targeting leverMeasurement tied to business outcomesControlled testing with holdoutsLinks:The value of getting personalization right—or wrong—is multiplying. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/growth-marketing-and-sales/our-insights/the-value-of-getting-personalization-right-or-wrong-is-multiplyingArtist sells invisible sculpture—Adtech sells the same thing. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/augustinefou/2021/06/03/artist-sells-invisible-sculptureadtech-sells-the-same-thing/Yeo, T. E. D., Chu, T. H., & Li, Q. (2025). How persuasive is personalized advertising? A meta-analytic review of experimental evidence of the effects of personalization on ad effectiveness. Journal of Advertising Research, 65(4), 616–631. https://doi.org/10.1080/00218499.2025.2467763Neumann, N., Tucker, C. E., Subramanyam, K., & Marshall, J. (2023). Is first- or third-party audience data more effective for reaching the ‘right’ customers? Quantitative Marketing and Economics, 21(4), 519–571. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11142-023-09796-wDyson, P. (2021, July 14). The advertising multipliers that matter are not what marketers think. Kantar. https://www.kantar.com/inspiration/advertising-media/the-advertising-multipliers-that-matter-are-not-what-marketers-thinkEast, R., Romaniuk, J., Chowdhury, T., & Uncles, M. (2023). The fallacy of the retention economy. International Journal of Market Research, 65(4), 415–431. https://doi.org/10.1177/14707853231174549WARC. (2023). The multiplier effect report: How to maximize the impact of your advertising.

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 content into “bite-sized chunks” just to appease AI search—because what works today may not work tomorrow.Next, they revisit Paul Feldwick’s classic “message myth” argument: advertising isn’t just a rational “message delivery” machine—it’s showmanship, emotion, and association-building that shapes preference and memory. Finally, they break down the strategic implications of the Google + Walmart partnership and what it signals about the future of retail discovery, closed-loop measurement, and platform power consolidation.Ad of the Week: Miller Lite starring Christopher Walken, a “masterclass in showing up without shouting,” built around a simple cultural truth: people aren’t showing up like they used to—and maybe we should.To close, they preview The Sharp Cut: an upcoming POV episode on one-to-one marketing, mass personalization, and whether the promise is real or overhyped.Listen, share, and stay sharp, everyone!Key TakewaysStop calling marketing “CapEx” to sound finance-savvy. If you misuse accounting language (ROI, CapEx/OpEx), you lose credibility fast—especially with CFOs.Marketing doesn’t cleanly fit CapEx logic. Brand value is uncertain, often maintenance-based, and hard to capitalize like a tangible asset.Better move: push for practical governance: separate marketing line items on the P&L, and treat “foundational” work (e.g., rebrand) more like development/R&D where appropriate.Google’s warning on AI-era SEO: don’t rebuild your site into short “LLM-friendly chunks” just because it may perform temporarily—optimize for humans, not the machine.The “Message Myth” still matters: effective advertising is often less about what it says and more about what it does—creating emotional associations and mental availability.Digital vs. analog communication: boards tend to prefer “digital” (logic, claims, propositions), but “analog” (music, mood, emotion, showmanship) is what drives preference.Google + Walmart = retail discovery power shift. Expect more closed-loop, AI-driven commerce experiences where media, merchandising, and checkout blur together.Ad of the Week insight: sometimes the strongest creative move is restraint—Walken’s presence sells “showing up” as a cultural reset, not a hard sell.Chapters00:00 Introduction and Marketing Moments01:14 The Language of Marketing and Finance07:47 Content Strategy in the Age of AI12:51 The Message Myth in Advertising18:57 Google and Walmart's Retail Partnership25:19 Ad of the Week: Miller Lite's Campaign27:43 Upcoming Changes in the PodcastLinks:Marketing is Not CapEx—Stop Saying It Is - https://www.marketingweek.com/marketing-not-capex-ridicule-finance/Google doesn’t want you to create bite-sized chunks of your content - https://searchengineland.com/google-doesnt-want-you-to-create-bite-sized-chunks-of-your-content-467269The Message Myth revisited - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/message-myth-revisited-paul-feldwick-wq0ge/

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 cartooning reveal the depth of thought behind humour.Stripping ideas down to their essence is crucial in creativity.Humour serves as a pressure release valve in tense situations.Marketing should be fun and engaging, not overly serious.Navigating AI's impact requires a balance of caution and experimentation.Building a culture of innovation involves embracing risk and creativity.Self-observation is key to understanding absurdities in marketing.Levity can enhance productivity and team dynamics.Preparing for future challenges necessitates a light-hearted approach. Chapters00:00 - New Beginnings: Celebrating Year Five01:12 - The Art of Cartooning: Insights from Tom03:05 - Humour in Marketing: A Pressure Release Valve06:52 - Navigating Change: The Role of AI in Marketing10:32 - Risk and Innovation: Building a Culture of Creativity14:43 - Finding Levity in Challenges: Preparing for 2026

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 readers and experience at General Mills, Nestlé, Method Products, and HotelTonight, Tom has spent two decades documenting what actually stops good ideas from becoming reality.In this conversation, we explore:The "Scolded Syndrome": The DBS Bank story where fear of being "scolded" paralyzed an entire organization until one senior executive squatted in a corner holding his earlobes and changed everythingWhy fear kills innovation faster than any competitor: How "I might get scolded" becomes the silent phrase that stops transformationThe simple tool hiding in plain sight: Why humour isn't just comic relief—it's Apple's "most powerful tool to drive fear out of the system"From business school to half a million readers: The terrifying moment a Harvard professor threw Tom's first cartoon on an overhead projector, and how that panic became a callingThe pressure release valve every team needs: How humour defuses tension, unlocks honest conversations, and enables better decision-makingWhy you're juggling unicycles on pogo sticks: The impossible "more with less" paradox and how to survive it without breakingTom reveals how he's used cartoons to navigate impossible client situations, transform hierarchical cultures at major banks, and help teams move from fear-based paralysis to innovation-driven action. This isn't about becoming funnier—it's about becoming braver.The takeaway: Innovation doesn't die because we lack good ideas. It dies because we're too afraid to voice them, test them, or defend them. And the antidote isn't another framework or process it's giving people permission to be human.If you've ever felt your team second-guessing every decision, if "we might get in trouble" stops more initiatives than budget constraints, or if innovation feels like performance theater rather than actual progress this episode offers a path forward.Featured in this episode:Tom Fishburne, The Marketoonist Creator of 23 years of weekly marketing cartoonsPublished author and contributor to NYT, Fast Company, Wall Street JournalTED speaker on "The Power of Laughing at Ourselves at Work"TIMESTAMPS/CHAPTERS00:00 - 04:30 | The First Laugh That Changed EverythingTom's origin story: the terrifying moment a Harvard Business School professor put his first cartoon on an overhead projector in front of 80 people and why that panic turned into a 23-year career04:30 - 09:15 | From Stub Files to Systematic CreativityHow Tom developed his creative process when he quit his day job why waiting for inspiration doesn't work when innovation is your business09:15 - 15:45 | Where Cartoons Go (And What They Reveal)NSA presentations, corporate transformation projects, and why Tom's cartoons show up in more strategy decks than actual strategies what that says about our relationship with truth-telling15:45 - 23:30 | The Unicycle-Pogo Stick SyndromeUnpacking the central innovation paradox: being asked to do more with less while simultaneously riding unicycles and pogo sticks and why laughter is the only sane response23:30 - 32:00 | Pain Points as the Foundation of FellowshipWhy Tom's cartoons resonate: they don't attack people, they reflect shared struggles and how recognizing we're all "going through it together" unlocks innovation32:00 - 42:15 | The Scolded Syndrome: A Culture Transformation StoryTom's most profound client experience at DBS Bank in Southeast Asia:Why employees kept saying "I'm worried I might get scolded"The moment a senior executive squatted in a corner holding his earlobes (the school punishment position)How everyone's laughter broke years of hierarchical paralysisWhy innovation was dying not from lack of ideas but from fear of speaking up42:15 - 48:00 | The Simple Tool: Why Humour Drives Fear OutApple's Hiroki Asai on why "fear kills creativity and humour is our most powerful tool to drive fear out of the system"—and how leaders set the tone by being willing to laugh at themselves first.48:00 - 53:55 | Humour as Innovation Strategy, Not EntertainmentThe difference between being funny and being human at work—why the bar for "humor" in business is surprisingly low, and how even moderate levity unlocks better decisions53:55 - 59:47 | Using Humour to Navigate the ImpossibleHow Tom used cartoons throughout his career to defuse difficult situations:Meeting with Target buyers during product delisting conversationsBreaking through hierarchical cultures at financial institutionsSetting the tone for transformation without threatening power structuresWhy humour doesn't mean you need to be a comedian, it means being willing to be human59:47 - End | Where to Find Tom & Putting This Into Practice23 years of weekly cartoons, newsletter subscriptions, workshop approaches, and how to start using humour as an innovation tool in your own organization

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 and emotional connection in marketing. The episode concludes with a powerful ad campaign by Toyota Hellas (Ogilvy Greece) that addresses gender-based violence, showcasing how advertising can stand for meaningful social issues.Enjoy the show!Episode TakeawaysNine in ten marketers believe strong brands command higher prices.Most marketing teams fail to prove their impact on pricing power.Creativity and emotional connection are crucial for effective advertising.The effectiveness crisis in advertising reflects a shift in media spending.Global ad spend is growing despite economic challenges.Digital native categories are driving ad spend growth.Influencer marketing is becoming more data-driven and measurable.Long-term objectives can drive both short-term and long-term results.Agency-client relationships significantly impact marketing effectiveness.Canadian ads outperform foreign ads in various markets.Chapters00:00 - Welcome to the Final Episode of Barbara's Briefs02:45 - Pricing Power and Marketing Effectiveness05:55 - The Effectiveness Crisis in Advertising09:11 - Global Media Trends and Advertising Spend12:00 - The Rise of Influencer Marketing17:48 - The Alchemy of Effectiveness with Paul Tedesco38:12 - Toyota's Powerful Ad Campaign by Ogilvy GreeceEpisode Links:Pricing Power Depends on Marketing (And How to Prove It)Link: http://linkedin.com/pulse/why-your-brands-pricing-power-depends-marketing-how-prove-pauwels-paiye/The ‘effectiveness crisis’ is really media becoming democratized - James HankinsLink 1: https://www.marketingweek.com/effectiveness-crisis-media-democratised/Global Ad Trends: Media’s new normalLink: https://www.warc.com/content/paywall/article/Warc-Data/Global_Ad_Trends_Medias_new_normal/en-GB/162121? WPP Media enriches influencer offering with YouTube creator data dealLink: https://www.marketingdive.com/news/wpp-media-enriches-influencer-offering-with-youtube-creator-data-deal/807813/The Marketing Moment - The Canadian Effies - Alchemy of Effectiveness, with Paul TedescoLink: https://theica.ca/alchemyofeffectiveness-2025Ad of the week - Title: Toyota promotes escape, whatever the car.Link: https://ogilvy.gr/work/toyota-escape-vehicle

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 journey, and the challenges of measuring ROI. The conversation also touches on the necessity of simplifying the buyer experience and the evolving landscape of marketing channels.Enjoy the show!TakeawaysSales and marketing must work together for a holistic view.Physical availability is crucial for B2B success.Understanding customer relationships is key to effective marketing.The power of three dimensions: presence, prominence, and portfolio.Channel strategies should focus on de-duplicated reach.GEO is becoming increasingly important in marketing.The traditional ROI formula is flawed and needs reevaluation.B2B marketing is becoming more creative and opportunistic.Simplifying the buyer's journey is essential for success.Navigating the complexities of product offerings is a challenge. Chapters00:00 - Introduction02:53 - Understanding Customer Relationships Across Departments05:50 - The Importance of Physical Availability in B2B Marketing08:57 - Reframing Marketing Strategies: The Power of Three12:00 - Navigating Channel Strategies and Frequency in Marketing14:56 - The Role of GEO in Modern Marketing17:58 - Challenges in Measuring ROI and Simplifying Buyer Experience

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 competitors who are easier to find and buy from. Heath argues physical availability (being easy to find and buy) is marketing's responsibility, not sales alone. She explains why 60% aided awareness means nothing if your website is confusing, your sales team doesn't cover key regions, or you're absent from review sites buyers check. This conversation covers the diagnostic questions every CMO should ask, how to allocate budget between mental and physical availability (60/40 split), and why fixing your biggest gap in the next 90 days matters more than trying to fix everything at once.Chapters00:00 Opening: The Physical Availability Problem02:50 Why the B2B Institute Cares About Physical Availability07:30 The Missing Half: What Physical Availability Actually Means15:00 The Three Ps: Presence, Prominence, Portfolio25:00 Why This Is Marketing's Problem, Not Sales' Problem40:00 Real Examples: Where Brands Lose Buyers55:00 Budget Allocation and Cross-Functional Orchestration01:05:00 The Diagnostic Question Every Marketer Should Ask This WeekLinksThe B2B Institute's Report on Easy to Find https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/b2b-institute/easy-to-find-being-where-b2b-buying-happensTy Heath on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyronaheath/