
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.
Latest episodes

Nov 21, 2024 • 27min
SBP 098: The Barber's Brief - November 21, 2024
Welcome to another episode of The Barber’s Brief!
Join Marc and Vassilis as they dive into the latest marketing and business news, spotlight a standout case study in their Marketing Moment, and wrap up with the Ad of the Week.
Enjoy the show!
Follow our updates here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sleeping-barber/
Get in touch with our hosts:
Marc Binkley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcbinkley/
Vassilis Douros: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vassilisdouros/
Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction
00:51 - Why Tide is shifting to social-first marketing for its latest NFL blitz.
03:47 - Spotify takes aim at YT with a new revenue-sharing platform for creators.
06:07 - Google to halt political ads in EU over new regulations.
10:07 - US Ad spend managed by agency holding companies.
14:15 - 2024 CeraVe's Super Bowl Stunt: A Humorous Take on Brand Awareness.
14:15 - Ad of the Week - VW, Think Small
In The News Links:
Title: Why Tide is shifting to social-first marketing for its latest NFL blitz - https://www.marketingdive.com/news/tide-tackles-NFL-marketing-campaign-social-creator-content/732597/
Spotify takes aim at YT with a new revenue-sharing platform for creators - https://www.businessinsider.com/spotify-battles-youtube-with-new-creator-video-revenue-sharing-program-2024-11
Google to halt political ads in EU over new regulations - https://searchengineland.com/google-halt-political-ads-eu-448336
US Ad Spend managed by agency-holding companies, Shane O’Leary - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/shane-o-leary-1660_sometimes-you-see-a-graph-or-piece-of-data-activity-7261356951370895360-BMSB

Nov 14, 2024 • 1h 31min
SBP 097 - A Customer Promise Is A Business Strategy, with Roger Martin, Mimi Turner and Jann Martin Schwarz.
In this episode, we're excited to welcome back our returning guest, Roger Martin, and he's brought along two brilliant co-researchers/authors, Mimi Turner and Jann Martin Schwarz!
They’re here to share insights from the latest Promise to the Customer (PTTC) research by WARC and The B2B Institute. Last year, Roger joined us to discuss findings from a B2C dataset, but this time, it’s all about B2B.
So grab a seat, plug in your earbuds and join us as we dive into what really matters to business customers today—direct from the experts.
Our Guests
Roger Martin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/roger-martin-9916911a9/
The World’s Authority on Strategy
Named #1 Management Thinker by Thinkers50
Trusted strategy advisor to CEOs of the biggest companies on the planet like P&G, Lego, Ford
Author of 13 books & 34 HBR articles including Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works
Mimi Turner - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mimi-turner/
Head of Marketplace Innovation with LinkedIn LMS
Fellow @ The B2B Institute
Jann Martin Schwarz - https://www.linkedin.com/in/janns/
Founder of The B2B Institute, Sr. Director Marketplace Innovation
Follow our updates here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sleeping-barber/
Get in touch with our hosts:Marc Binkley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcbinkley/Vassilis Douros: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vassilisdouros/
Timestamps
0:57 - Introduction to Mimi, Jann & Roger
3:05 - How LinkedIn is shaping the understanding of B2B marketing
5:00 - Defining & examples of a promise to the customer (PTTC)
8:40 - Linking PTTC to strategy
10:53 - Why PTTC matters
14:40 - PTTC isn’t just for big brands
18:47 - The link between PTTC and a winning aspiration in business strategy
20:39 - Why PTTC can help brands differentiate
24:08 - PTTC examples with Sage ERP B2B SaaS
26:20 - how PTTC can improve ad creative
27:55 - Why PTTC works
32:50 - PTTC is more than an ad campaign
35:14 - Aligning sales & marketing to simplify the buyer’s experience
38:43 - PTTC impact on ABM & targeting
41:52 - Customer promises make the customer-company relationship tangible
44:20 - Business isn’t personal?
46:20 - The real job of B2B marketers
50:17 - How you know when you’ve got a brand
51:40 - The importance of knowing a brands before buying
54:58 - Brands are like blame insurance in decision making
57:20 - Roger: the most striking finding from this research
1:00:45 - Jann: the most striking finding from this research
1:03:55 - Mimi: the most striking finding from this research
1:05:41 - how P&G used PTTC to evaluate campaigns
1:10:08 - Post-pod with V, Marc & MIMI!
Links & References
The B2B Institute - https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/b2b-institute
Making a Promise to the Business Customer - https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/b2b-institute/making-a-promise-to-the-business-customer
Full Research Library - https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/b2b-institute/b2b-research?selectedFilter=all-categories
The Product Delusion - https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/b2b-institute/b2b-research/trends/the-product-delusion
Roger Martin
Website https://rogerlmartin.com
Medium https://rogermartin.medium.com/
SBP - PTTC 2023 episode with Roger https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/sbp-040-making-a-promise-to-the-customer-with-roger-martin/id1609811324?i=1000631039119

Nov 7, 2024 • 30min
SBP 096: The Barber's Brief - November 6, 2024
Welcome to another episode of The Barber’s Brief!
Join Marc and Vassilis as they dive into the latest marketing and business news, spotlight a standout case study in their Marketing Moment, and wrap up with the Ad of the Week.
Enjoy the show!
Follow our updates here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sleeping-barber/
Get in touch with our hosts:
Marc Binkley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcbinkley/
Vassilis Douros: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vassilisdouros/
Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction
01:25 - Is influencer marketing right for you?
04:24 - lululemon and Fanatics Partner with NHL® to Launch New Premium Fan Apparel Collection.
08:18 - Moo Deng will Die. Your brand needs to be immortal.
12:08 - ChatGPT search officially launches
18:26 - The Marketing Moment: Heinz Ketchup, It has to be Heinz.
25:21 - Ad of the Week - Apple, Write Smarter.
In The News Links:
Is influencer marketing right for you?
Dr. Grace Kite https://www.linkedin.com/posts/magic-numbers-co_is-influencer-marketing-right-for-you-the-activity-7254761570923069441-iknX
YouGov findings: https://business.yougov.com/content/50275-from-kitchen-to-closet-nearly-three-in-five-users-find-fashion-and-food-influencer-advice-helpful
lululemon and Fanatics Partner with NHL® to Launch New Premium Fan Apparel Collection
Source: https://corporate.lululemon.com/media/our-stories/2024/lululemon-and-fanatics-partner-with-nhl
Moo Deng will Die. Your brand needs to be immortal
Andrew Tindall on The Drum
Source: https://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2024/10/24/moo-deng-will-die-your-brand-needs-be-immortal
ChatGPT search officially launches
Source: Techcrunch
Link: https://searchengineland.com/chatgpt-search-officially-launches-447919
The Marketing Moment:
Heinz Ketchup: It has to be Heinz
WARC Cannes Creative Lions Grand Prix, Creative Effectiveness Lions
Agency - Rethink Canada
https://info.canneslions.com/the-official-cannes-lions-2024-wrap-up-report/creative-impact
Ad Of The Week:
Title: Write Smarter
Advertiser: Apple
Link: https://youtu.be/3m0MoYKwVTM?list=TLGGnLWpSYG3DtwwNTExMjAyNA
The latest Apple ad, ‘Write Smarter,’ follows an office worker using the tech giant's Intelligence system on his iPhone 16 Pro to refine his usually casual emails into polished, professional messages, much to the surprise of his boss, who seems a bit perplexed by the sudden shift in tone.

Oct 31, 2024 • 1h 5min
SBP 095: AI-Powered Synthetic Market Research. With Peter Weinberg.
Welcome to another episode of the Sleeping Barber Podcast!
Join Marc and Vassilis as they dive into the fascinating world of marketing strategy and innovation with a special guest, Peter Weinberg. AI is the biggest topic of the past two years. When you combine that with the science behind evidence-based marketing principles and the discipline of Market Research you get Evidenza.
Our Guest:
Peter Weinberg
Co-Founder, Evidenza
https://www.linkedin.com/in/weinbergpeter/
Enjoy the show!
Follow our updates here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sleeping-barber/
Get in touch with our hosts:
Marc Binkley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcbinkley/
Vassilis Douros: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vassilisdouros/
TimeStamps
0:56 - Introduction to Peter Weinberg
1:59 - What is synthetic research?
3:45 - Three phases of Peter’s career
7:03 - Leading on cutting edge thinking & technology
9:30 - 5/95 Rule
10:50 - Segmenting the market for AI-based research
13:04 - Thinking about Category Entry Points for Evidenza
15:38 - How to create synthetic personas
17:58 - A word from our sponsor - Quatical
19:19 - The speed and flexibility advantage of Synthetic-research
22:00 - Augmenting traditional market research
23:35 - Building CFO ready marketing strategy
25:48 - Using AI to solve TAM, SAM and SOM
27:23 - Correcting for hallucinations
30:24 - Error in AI v. traditional surveys
32:01 - Improving accuracy of synthetic research
33:51 - The opportunity and limitations of synthetic research
35:42 - Product Market Fit for Evidenza
37:38 - AI can be used for much more than copywriting
39:03 - How a background in marketing influences business operations
43:29 - Most growth comes from new customers
45:25 - Opportunity to financialize marketing plans
46:57 - Why marketers need to learn financial language
47:58 - Learn more about Evidenza
48:37 - Post pod with V and Marc

Oct 24, 2024 • 37min
SBP 094: The Barber's Brief - October 24, 2024
Welcome to another episode of The Barber’s Brief!
Join Marc and Vassilis as they dive into the latest marketing and business news, spotlight a standout case study in their Marketing Moment, and wrap up with the Ad of the Week.
Enjoy the show!
Follow our updates here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sleeping-barber/
Get in touch with our hosts:
Marc Binkley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcbinkley/
Vassilis Douros: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vassilisdouros/
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
02:15 In-house vs. Downtown Agencies: Cost Savings or Misconception?
06:55 Just do it! Brand Name Lessons from Nike's Troubles!
13:19 Dom Pérignon perfectly demonstrates the appeal of scarcity.
19:25 Great Whitepaper from Mailchimp - How to Grow Your Brand
22:58 Marketing Moment: Insights from Adweek 2024
32:13 Ad of the Week
In the News links:
In-house vs. Downtown Agencies:
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7253289716513431553/
Brand Name Lessons from Nike's Troubles!
https://aswathdamodaran.blogspot.com/2024/10/just-do-it-brand-name-lessons-from.html
Dom Pérignon perfectly demonstrates the appeal of scarcity
https://www.marketingweek.com/ritson-dom-perignon-appeal-scarcity/
Whitepaper from Mailchimp:
https://mailchimp.com/resources/how-to-grow-your-brand/
Marketing Moment:
Adweek 2024 Key Learnings:
CTV and Retail Media
AI’s Role in Advertising
Harnessing First-Party Data
Omnichannel and Full-Funnel Strategies
Privacy and Regulatory Uncertainty
Declining Focus on Social Purpose, DEI and Sustainability
Ad of the Week: https://youtu.be/qvFnf2EEd20?feature=shared

Oct 17, 2024 • 1h 13min
SBP 093: Financial Metrics for Marketers. With Omar Roubi.
Welcome to another episode of the Sleeping Barber Podcast!
Join Marc and Vassilis as they dive into the fascinating world of marketing strategy and innovation with a special guest, Omar Roubi. Within a business, there appears to be a constant tension between marketing and accounting/finance departments. In this episode, Marc and Vassilis speak with Omar Roubi to explore that relationship and look for some common ground and language that can help marketers better understand their businesses.
Our Guest:
Omar Roubi https://www.linkedin.com/in/omar-roubi-cpa-texas/Host & Director, Education & Content at LumiQ | Accounting Instructor at University of Colorado Denver | Accounting Textbook Author with Top Hat
Enjoy the show!
Follow our updates here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sleeping-barber/
Get in touch with our hosts:
Marc Binkley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcbinkley/
Vassilis Douros: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vassilisdouros/
Timestamps:
0:57 - Intro to Omar
1:47 - About LumiQ
4:50 - Target Canada - Why they Failed
6:22 - What is a capital budget & how does it affect the 4Ps
8:11 - The danger of putting strategy before execution of the 4Ps
10:33 - Big M marketing is different from advertising
12:35 - The value including marketers CMO in Capital budget planning
16:01 - Why No Amount of Budget could have created demand for Target Canada
20:09 - How to justify marketing budgets to accounting
21:45 - Predicting the future vs. Reporting on the past
25:50 - Marketing and accounting education
30:05 - Do we understand what return means?
32:30 - How accountants see brand
34:58 - Goodwill & Settting Expectations
39:22 - A process to improve budgeting
41:08 - Understanding the roles of Finance & Accounting
43:55 - Avoiding WAGs (Wild Ass Guesses)
48:12 - Justifiing ROI: Time is on your side
52:00 - Three tips for marketers to improve financial acumen
58:45 - Post Pod with V and Marc

Oct 10, 2024 • 29min
SBP 092: The Barber's Brief - October 10, 2024
Welcome to another episode of The Barber’s Brief! Join Marc and Vassilis as they dive into the latest marketing and business news, spotlight a standout case study in their Marketing Moment, and wrap up with the Ad of the Week.
Enjoy the show!
Follow our updates here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sleeping-barber/
Get in touch with our hosts:
Marc Binkley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcbinkley/
Vassilis Douros: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vassilisdouros/
Links:
Title: The Big Dilemma in Advertising
Source: Tom Goodwin
Link: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tomfgoodwin_this-is-the-big-dilemma-in-advertising-activity-7248050327734611968-jbDM
Title: IAS To Sell Attention Data to Publishers
Source: Marketing Brew
Link: https://www.marketingbrew.com/stories/2024/10/03/ias-to-sell-attention-data-to-publishers
Pareto’s Law: How Its Legacy Has Misled Marketers from Focusing on the Most Significant Consumers
Source: Andreas Wallin https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/paretos-law-how-its-legacy-has-misled-marketers-from-focusing-wallin-vrruf
Privacy laws raise questions for advertisers: Here’s what the numbers say
Source: Marketing Dive
Link: https://www.marketingdive.com/news/privacy-laws-raising-questions-advertisers-numbers-data-protection/728072/
Timestamps:
00:00 introduction
01:40 The Big Dilemma in Advertising
04:07 IAS To Sell Attention Data to Publishers
06:56 Pareto’s Law: How Its Legacy Has Misled Marketers from Focusing on the Most Significant Consumers
10:15 Privacy laws raise questions for advertisers: Here’s what the numbers say
15:05 McCain by Adam & Eve/DDB: When the chips are down, margins matter. How a focus on long-term emotional brand building reduced price elasticity and increased profits for McCain
22:22 Ad of the Week

Oct 3, 2024 • 1h 16min
SBP 091: The Cost Of Dull Ads. With Adam Morgan.
Welcome to another episode of the Sleeping Barber Podcast!
Join Marc and Vassilis as they dive into the fascinating world of marketing strategy and innovation with a special guest, Adam Morgan. Adam is a pioneer in business and marketing, best known for his book "Eat Big Fish," which has inspired countless brands to adopt a challenger mindset. He’s also authored "The Pirate Inside" and "Overthrow" and hosts the podcast "Let's Make Things More Interesting." In this episode, Adam discusses his latest research with System1 and Peter Field on "The Cost of Dull," exploring the financial impact of uninspired advertising.
Guest Bio:
Adam Morgan
Partner, eatbigfish: Brand and Marketing Consultant
On LinkedIn
Follow our updates here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sleeping-barber/
Get in touch with our hosts:
Marc Binkley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcbinkley/
Vassilis Douros: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vassilisdouros/
Timestamps
0:54 - About Adam
3:23 - Defining Dull
4:28 - The data sources of Dull
6:16 - Mediocrity inspired this research
10:01 - 4 the horseman of the dull-ocolypse
14:10 - Do dull ads influence consumer perceptions
17:33 - Optimizing to the average
18:27 - Sponsor - Quatical: Fractional Marketing Leadership
20:46 - The Smarter we get, the duller we get
22:07 - The financial impact of Dull
24:49 - Is average ad creative actually responsible?
27:34 - What makes impactful communication
30:15 - Emotion is more than tears
34:05 - Insurance industry has raised the B2B bar of creativity
36:19 - The % of B2B ads that are dull
41:07 - Attention & reach are different
43:03 - Dull inputs lead to dull outputs
44:10 - What is Risk and what is responsible
48:21 - Using AI in ad creative
52:52 - More about Adam
54:04 - Post Pod with V & Marc
Literature:
Risk & Responsibility: A lesson in creative responsibility
The Cost of Dull with Peter Field — The Challenger Project | The Home of Challenger Brands
Let's Make Your Brand More Interesting | Inc.com
The £10m cost of dull advertising | WARC | The Feed

Sep 26, 2024 • 30min
SBP 090: The Barber's Brief - September 26, 2024
Welcome to another episode of The Barber’s Brief! Join Marc and Vassilis as they dive into the latest marketing and business news, spotlight a standout case study in their Marketing Moment, and wrap up with the Ad of the Week.
Enjoy the show!
Follow our updates here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sleeping-barber/
Get in touch with our hosts:
Marc Binkley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcbinkley/
Vassilis Douros: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vassilisdouros/
Timestamps
0:00 - Introduction
01:15 - Nike’s Market Strategy and Challenges
05:31 - Amazon’s Return to Office Mandate
09:52 - Swedish Advertising Insights
13:45 - The Evolution of KPIs in Marketing
25:38 - Ad of the week
Links:
Title: Did Nike Lose it’s Cool or it’s place? Prof. Koen Pauwels
Source: Prof. Koen Pauwels
Link: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/did-nike-lose-its-cool-place-prof-dr-koen-pauwels-0cmqe/?trackingId=8MbCHRTATd%2Bm4DNRnHllsA%3D%3D
Amazon Says No To Remote Work - Mandates full 5-day return to office
Source: Techcrunch
Link: https://techcrunch.com/2024/09/16/amazon-mandates-full-five-day-return-to-office/
Link#2: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/amazon-employees-blast-andy-jassy-113949840.html
Title: Effective Communication 2024 report by Sveriges Annonsorer & NoA Consulting
Source: Sveriges Annonsorer
Link: https://www.sverigesannonsorer.se/kunskap/rapporter/effective-communication-2024
Title: Is the KPI still a good indicator of performance? Johnny Corbet
Source: Marketing Week
Link: https://www.marketingweek.com/kpi-good-indicator-performance/
The Marketing Moment:
How KFC Integrated Creative Quality into Their Marketing Effectiveness Assessments
Link: https://www.kantar.com/inspiration/advertising-media/how-kfc-integrated-creative-quality-into-their-marketing-effectiveness-assessments
Ad of the Week
MIRO - collaboration and project management software
https://youtu.be/shy3tqvHb4g?si=QyNchqm5jw2e4GDo
The Back Story - the production team used Miro to produce the commercial for Miro
https://go2.miro.com/how-we-launched-a-national-ad-campaign-with-Miro.html

Sep 19, 2024 • 1h 13min
SBP 089: Future Demand, Not Demand Generation. With James Hurman.
Welcome to another episode of the Sleeping Barber Podcast!
Join Marc and Vassilis as they dive into the world of marketing effectiveness with special guest James Hurman.
James, the founder of Previously Unavailable and the Masters of Advertising Effectiveness program, shares his deep insights into the startup ecosystem, the importance of balancing customer acquisition costs (CAC) with brand awareness, and the concept of future demand. This episode is packed with valuable knowledge on how to build sustainable marketing strategies that drive long-term success.
Enjoy the show!
Our Guest:
James Hurman - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameshurman/
Founder Previously Unavailable - Innovation Studio
Founder & Programme Director of the Masters of Advertising Effectiveness course with WARC
Co-founder of Tracksuit - a SaaS brand health tracking system
Co-author with Peter Field on the Cannes Lions / WARC publication called Creative Effectiveness Ladder
Author of a new book for startups called Future Demand and The Case for Creativity
Follow our updates here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sleeping-barber/
Get in touch with our hosts:
Marc Binkley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcbinkley/
Vassilis Douros: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vassilisdouros/
Timestamps:
0:00 - Episode Introduction
3:28 –the trouble with CAC & the startup playbook
6:39 – why future demand (brand building) is important for startups
10:15 – is demand generation possible
15:04 – Why CAC gets worse without brand awareness
17:30 – Split budgets between brand and performance marketing
19:00 – James’ journey into effectiveness
24:14 – What is effectiveness?
26:35 – The Creative Effectiveness ladder
32:35 – Do ads wear out or wear in?
37:10 – The customer need behind Tracksuit’s brand health tracking SaaS
41:10 – Lessons for early-stage startups
44:53 – The power of industry expertise inside a startup
47:58 – Building Effectiveness knowledge inside companies
51:15 – Much of what marketers are taught is wrong
53:30 – Marketing evidence needs to wear in
54:15 – how to learn more about James
55:09 - Post Pod with V and Marc
Background Research & Literature:
James on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameshurman/
Tracksuit https://www.gotracksuit.com/us
Previously Unavailable https://www.previously.co/
Creative Effectiveness Ladder https://www.lionscreativity.com/creative-effectiveness-ladder
The Principle of Future Demand https://www.previously.co/projects/the-principle-of-future-demand
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