Embracing Marketing Mistakes

Andy Green shares his biggest professional mistake from his time as deputy head of PR at Yorkshire Water, when he inadvertently angered 120,000 anglers by running a competition featuring a photo that violated pike fishing ethics. 😱• Angling Times (circulation 120,000) ran a front-page headline: "Anglers in fury over YW competition"• The fundamental rule in pike fishing is to catch, photograph, and then release the fishKey lesson: When dealing with specialist subjects you're unfamiliar with, always consult an expert who knows the audience and subject matter. While a tad embarrassing, Andy notes his mistake was relatively minor compared to Government mistakes that can impact financial markets Is your strategy still right for 2026? Book a free 15-min discovery call to get tailored insights to boost your brand’s growth. 👉 [Book your call with Chris now] 👈 Subscribe to our Newsletter✒️Don't miss a hilarious mistake or free event by 👉 subscribing to our newsletter here. 👈 Follow Chris Norton:X, TikTok, LinkedInFollow Will Ockenden:LinkedInFollow The Show: TikTok, YouTube

Ever wondered what makes truly exceptional chocolate? The secret might be sitting right beneath its roots - volcanic soil.Tamsin Daniel, Head of Marketing at Firetree Chocolate, takes us on a fascinating journey through the world of premium chocolate production, revealing how cocoa grown in the nutrient-rich volcanic soils of remote islands creates distinctively complex flavour profiles that chocolate lovers are increasingly willing to pay premium prices for.What makes Firetree's approach particularly interesting is their commitment to the bean-to-bar process. Working directly with small-scale farmers in places like the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and the Philippines, they're creating chocolate with nuanced taste notes that challenge conventional chocolate making. Tamsin shares insights from her remarkable career working with iconic food brands including Newman's Own, Pataks spices, and Betty's Tea Rooms. Her candid "chickpea disaster" story from an early marketing trip to India with Meena Patak offers a humbling reminder of how even the smallest details can impact marketing success. The conversation explores broader food marketing trends, including the shift toward taste appreciation, ethical sourcing considerations, and how major retailers like Tesco are recognising consumer demand for more sophisticated offerings.Whether you're a chocolate enthusiast, food marketer, or business owner interested in premium product positioning, this episode delivers valuable insights into how authentic product differentiation combined with distinctive brand positioning creates lasting consumer appeal.  Is your strategy still right for 2026? Book a free 15-min discovery call to get tailored insights to boost your brand’s growth. 👉 [Book your call with Chris now] 👈 Subscribe to our Newsletter✒️Don't miss a hilarious mistake or free event by 👉 subscribing to our newsletter here. 👈 Follow Chris Norton:X, TikTok, LinkedInFollow Will Ockenden:LinkedInFollow The Show: TikTok, YouTube

Marketing across borders goes far beyond simple translation - it requires genuine cultural understanding and strategic adaptation. In this eye-opening conversation with Shaheen Samavati, co-founder and CEO of Vera Content, we explore the intricate world of multilingual marketing and why so many brands struggle to get it right.Shaheen reveals how her Madrid-based agency manages content for international brands across 17+ markets by combining local expertise with cohesive brand strategy. Rather than relying on direct translations, they employ freelancers physically located in target markets who understand regional nuances and cultural contexts. This approach solves two common client challenges: consolidating fragmented international marketing operations or efficiently scaling content for new market entry.The conversation takes a fascinating turn when we discuss how AI is transforming multilingual content creation. Shaheen shares her pragmatic approach to balancing AI efficiency with irreplaceable human expertise. "We've been working on how to leverage AI without relying on it too much," she explains, highlighting the importance of preserving cultural authenticity.Most memorably, Shaheen vulnerably recounts a costly marketing mistake - failing to record a webinar featuring a major industry influencer after securing 1,000 registrations. This candid story offers valuable lessons about preparation, contingency planning, and recovering from marketing mishaps. We also explore the varying state of influencer marketing across global markets, with Instagram emerging as the dominant platform for such collaborations.Whether you're responsible for international marketing campaigns or simply curious about cross-cultural content strategies, this episode offers practical insights for creating marketing that truly resonates across borders. Connect with Shaheen on LinkedIn or visit veracontent.com to learn more about effective multilingual content strategies. Is your strategy still right for 2026? Book a free 15-min discovery call to get tailored insights to boost your brand’s growth. 👉 [Book your call with Chris now] 👈 Subscribe to our Newsletter✒️Don't miss a hilarious mistake or free event by 👉 subscribing to our newsletter here. 👈 Follow Chris Norton:X, TikTok, LinkedInFollow Will Ockenden:LinkedInFollow The Show: TikTok, YouTube

Getting fired can be devastating to your career - or it can be the catalyst for something greater. For Patrick Collister, being unceremoniously dismissed from a French-owned direct marketing agency where he was billed at £1000 per hour became a transformational moment that propelled him toward  success.In this fascinating conversation, Patrick takes us behind the scenes of his remarkable journey from copywriter trainee at Ogilvy to Executive Creative Director and eventually Head of Design at Google. Patrick unpacks how his most humiliating professional setback opened the door to understanding direct marketing just as digital communications was transforming the industry.Patrick shares the untold story behind one of Britain's most iconic advertisements - the "Accrington Stanley" milk commercial that continues to resonate decades later. Discover how that instantly recognisable line "Accrington Stanley, who are they? Exactly!" wasn't the original plan at all, but emerged from rejection and creative necessity.Throughout our discussion, Patrick explores the paradox at the heart of effective marketing: the tension between creative risk-taking and business pragmatism. He challenges the concept of "risk" altogether, suggesting that what we call risky is often just exciting and unfamiliar. His refreshingly practical definition of creativity as "nothing more and nothing less than solving problems" strips away mystique and makes innovation accessible to everyone.For marketers navigating today's fractured media landscape, Patrick offers invaluable insights on reframing challenges, interrogating briefs properly, and fostering environments where meaningful creativity can thrive. His stories of pitch disasters, encounters with industry legends, and observations about the current state of advertising deliver both entertainment and enlightenment.Subscribe now to hear Patrick's full conversation and learn how our greatest professional mistakes often become our most powerful catalysts for growth and reinvention. Is your strategy still right for 2026? Book a free 15-min discovery call to get tailored insights to boost your brand’s growth. 👉 [Book your call with Chris now] 👈 Subscribe to our Newsletter✒️Don't miss a hilarious mistake or free event by 👉 subscribing to our newsletter here. 👈 Follow Chris Norton:X, TikTok, LinkedInFollow Will Ockenden:LinkedInFollow The Show: TikTok, YouTube

Marketing a TV show in today's crowded streaming world requires more than just trailers and billboards - it demands innovative thinking that captures attention and builds genuine connection. That's exactly what we explore in this fascinating conversation with Courtney Milne from our team at Prohibition, who unpacks the brilliant marketing strategy behind Apple TV's hit show Severance.Severance isn't just a compelling dystopian drama about corporate life gone wrong; it's a masterclass in how thoughtful, world-building marketing can transform a high-concept show into a cultural phenomenon. We take a look into the show's premise - a workplace where employees undergo a procedure that surgically separates their work memories from their personal lives—and how this unique concept lends itself to memorable marketing activations.From creating a fully functioning LinkedIn profile for the fictional Lumon Industries (complete with propaganda and fake job listings that attracted over 87,000 followers) to publishing an actual self-help book featured in the show, the Severance marketing team extended the show's universe into our reality. The crown jewel of their strategy? A stunning glass box installation in Grand Central Station where the actual cast performed as their characters without scripts, generating over £5 million in earned media value from a single activation.What makes this approach so effective is its commitment to analogue marketing in our digital age. Rather than relying solely on online promotion, Severance created tangible experiences - like special vinyl soundtrack releases with "innie" and "outie" editions containing fictional company artifacts. The result? Severance overtook Ted Lasso as Apple TV's most streamed show through organic word-of-mouth growth.Whether you're a fan of the show or a marketing professional looking for fresh inspiration, this episode offers valuable insights into how the most powerful marketing doesn't just promote content - it creates immersive worlds that audiences want to be part of. Ready to sever your connection with conventional marketing wisdom? Listen now and discover how thinking outside the digital box can create true cultural impact. Is your strategy still right for 2026? Book a free 15-min discovery call to get tailored insights to boost your brand’s growth. 👉 [Book your call with Chris now] 👈 Subscribe to our Newsletter✒️Don't miss a hilarious mistake or free event by 👉 subscribing to our newsletter here. 👈 Follow Chris Norton:X, TikTok, LinkedInFollow Will Ockenden:LinkedInFollow The Show: TikTok, YouTube

In this special episode of Embracing Marketing Mistakes, Chris and Will take a seat on the guest side as they're invited onto the Marketing Room 101 podcast, hosted by Ben Norman. The theme? Banishing their marketing bugbears forever. Together, they tackle the frustrating world of fake followers, influencers backed by bots, and the questionable practice of excessive pitching. With a healthy mix of insights, laughs, and personal anecdotes, including Ben's fondness for George Clooney and Will's longing for office camaraderie, they explore how authenticity and genuine influencer relationships can triumph in an industry increasingly cluttered by inauthenticity. Check out Marketing Room 101 here Is your strategy still right for 2026? Book a free 15-min discovery call to get tailored insights to boost your brand’s growth. 👉 [Book your call with Chris now] 👈 Subscribe to our Newsletter✒️Don't miss a hilarious mistake or free event by 👉 subscribing to our newsletter here. 👈 Follow Chris Norton:X, TikTok, LinkedInFollow Will Ockenden:LinkedInFollow The Show: TikTok, YouTube

Following on from our most popular episode last year where we looked at social media trends for 2024, we have our 2025 prediction list.Social media continues to evolve rapidly, with new platforms emerging and established ones transforming to meet changing user preferences and behaviours. We look at the key trends that will shape social media marketing in 2025, from the rise of Blue Sky to creative disruption strategies that help brands break through the noise.Some of our predicted trends include:• Blue Sky's explosive growth challenging both Threads (300M users) and Twitter (X)• YouTube experiencing a renaissance with long-form content and new features like Hype• B2B brands adopting more personality-driven approaches on LinkedIn• Micro-virality becoming more effective than broad-reaching content strategies• Outbound engagement helping brands proactively connect with audiences• Reddit representing an untapped resource with 1.2B monthly active users globally• Creative disruption helping brands stand out in an oversaturated content landscape• AI continuing to evolve as a content creation tool, best used as a starting point• TikTok Shop's massive growth, generating $100M on Black Friday aloneDon't forget to revisit your social media strategy if you haven't done so in the past year, refresh your audience personas, and test new approaches based on where your audience is spending their time. Is your strategy still right for 2026? Book a free 15-min discovery call to get tailored insights to boost your brand’s growth. 👉 [Book your call with Chris now] 👈 Subscribe to our Newsletter✒️Don't miss a hilarious mistake or free event by 👉 subscribing to our newsletter here. 👈 Follow Chris Norton:X, TikTok, LinkedInFollow Will Ockenden:LinkedInFollow The Show: TikTok, YouTube

What does it really take to build a successful SaaS business from scratch with no funding? Emeric Ernoult knows the answer all too well - he went three years without a salary while bootstrapping Agorapulse, now one of the world's leading social media management platforms.The journey began in 2000 with a community-building software before "social media" was even coined as a term. For nearly a decade, his team struggled with a product that was ahead of its time and in the wrong market (France, in French). The pivotal shift came when they recognized Facebook's dominance and evolved their offering to meet what social media managers actually needed daily: tools to manage comments, schedule posts, and measure results.Emeric's breakthrough innovation - the social media inbox - transformed how professionals handle online communications. Rather than the chaotic column view popularised by early tools like Hootsuite and TweetDeck, Agorapulse organised incoming content chronologically like an email inbox. This seemingly obvious solution propelled them from zero to $5 million in revenue before competitors eventually copied it.Emeric categorises his costliest mistakes: hiring without clearly defining roles, ignoring gut feelings about unsuitable candidates, delaying necessary terminations, creating overly complex pricing models, and attempting go-to-market strategies without proper expertise. "I can count the smart things I've done on two hands," he admits, "but I'd need several bodies to count my mistakes."Today, Agorapulse is tackling social media's biggest challenge: proving ROI. Their patent-pending technology connects social activities directly to website conversions, showing which specific posts, comments, and replies drive business results. It's this innovation that's helping social media managers finally gain the respect and budgets they deserve from sceptical executives. Is your strategy still right for 2026? Book a free 15-min discovery call to get tailored insights to boost your brand’s growth. 👉 [Book your call with Chris now] 👈 Subscribe to our Newsletter✒️Don't miss a hilarious mistake or free event by 👉 subscribing to our newsletter here. 👈 Follow Chris Norton:X, TikTok, LinkedInFollow Will Ockenden:LinkedInFollow The Show: TikTok, YouTube

YouTube isn’t just holding its own against TikTok and Instagram – it’s thriving. In fact, in the US, it’s now watched more on televisions than computers, marking a major shift in how audiences engage with digital content. Yet despite this growth, many marketers still don’t truly understand how to make the platform work for them.In this sharp and practical conversation with Ballint Kistoth from Voxtr, we dig into why 99% of YouTube channels never make it past five videos, usually because creators give up too early. Ballint breaks down what it really takes to build a successful channel, starting with the essentials: a compelling hook, thumbnail, and title – all of which need to be nailed before you even hit record.For brands serious about using YouTube properly, understanding audience behaviour is crucial. We explore the niches with the highest ad revenue (finance tops the list at $60–$80 per thousand views) and why your audience’s age, location and intent can make or break your monetisation strategy. You’ll also learn why your videos should be at least eight minutes long, and how to structure them to keep viewers watching until the end.Ballint also challenges the common myth that short-form content viewers will naturally become long-form viewers, a false assumption that’s led many marketing strategies astray.Whether you’re building a new channel or trying to revive a dormant one, this episode gives you a clear, no-nonsense approach to making YouTube content that attracts, engages, and converts.Stop guessing – and start getting results. Listen now. Is your strategy still right for 2026? Book a free 15-min discovery call to get tailored insights to boost your brand’s growth. 👉 [Book your call with Chris now] 👈 Subscribe to our Newsletter✒️Don't miss a hilarious mistake or free event by 👉 subscribing to our newsletter here. 👈 Follow Chris Norton:X, TikTok, LinkedInFollow Will Ockenden:LinkedInFollow The Show: TikTok, YouTube

Who would you trust more to recommend a product or service - an influencer who is paid to promote it, or a friend who is a genuine fan and user of the brand? In this episode, we sit down with Paul Archer, founder of Duel and passionate 'advocate' for brand advocacy. He offers brilliant insight into how brands can thrive in an era in which consumer trust in brands is plummeting - but our natural faith in our friends and family remains strong. Paul's argument is that brands need an advocacy programme to succeed. Unlike traditional influencer marketing, which he describes as paying people to "pretend to like your brand", true advocacy taps into the enthusiasm of genuine fans who already love what you do. The key? Having a clear purpose that makes it easier for consumers to understand and align with the experience you're creating. Want to find out how to truly tap into the power of word-of-mouth marketing? Learn everything you need to get started, including the five-stage process brands follow to build genuine, authentic brand advocacy programmes. Is your marketing strategy ready for 2025? Book a free 15-min discovery call with Chris to get tailored insights to boost your brand’s growth.👉 [Book your call with Chris now] 👈Subscribe to our Newsletter✒️Don't miss a hilarious fail or event by 👉 subscribing to our newsletter here. 👈 Each week we document what we are doing in our business and creative journey, I share new things I've discovered, mistakes I've made, and tons of valuable marketing tips!Follow Chris Norton:XTikTokLinkedInFollow Will Ockenden:LinkedInFollow The Show:TikTokYouTubeRequest a Guest To Come On The Podcast:🎙️ Share your own marketing journey on our pod! 🌟 Click HERE to share your details on why you would be a brilliant guest and join the conversation. Is your strategy still right for 2026? Book a free 15-min discovery call to get tailored insights to boost your brand’s growth. 👉 [Book your call with Chris now] 👈 Subscribe to our Newsletter✒️Don't miss a hilarious mistake or free event by 👉 subscribing to our newsletter here. 👈 Follow Chris Norton:X, TikTok, LinkedInFollow Will Ockenden:LinkedInFollow The Show: TikTok, YouTube