The WARC Podcast

Epizodes

• How L'Oréal thinks about creator ROI 11.06.2026 28min

  Beauty giants L'Oréal have built a new framework to quantify the impact of creators on marketing effectiveness. L'Oréal's Vas Kourakis and Meta's Maria Pavlova join WARC's Anna Hamill to discuss how the measurement framework came together, essential best practices, and what marketers can learn from their experience.
• Breaking down the nostalgia industrial complex 09.06.2026 38min

  Nostalgia. Cultural déjà vu. Kidulting. Why are so many people desperate to escape the present? Welcome to our new sister podcast, This Is Contagious. In this episode, Contagious investigates everything from why adults are rebuilding their teenage bedrooms, to landlines for kids and the return of the iPod, and revealing why the past has become one of culture’s most powerful refuges. If you work in marketing, you should almost definitely subscribe to Contagious IQ - an intelligence platform that helps brands and agencies supercharge their creativity by learning from the world's most impactful brands, campaigns and trends. Hosted by Contagious's Alex Jenkins, Chloe Markowicz and Katrina Stirton Dodd.
• Changing the playbook: Sports marketing's next era 04.06.2026 38min

  With billions pouring into sports marketing this year, the stakes are high for brands. Ahead of the FIFA World Cup, and with more advertisers backing women's sports, We Are Social Sport's Joe Weston and Fuse's Matt Bailey join WARC's Anna Hamill to discuss the emerging trends in sports marketing.
• Connecting sustainability with marketing effectiveness 02.06.2026 39min

  How do social values and environmental sustainability boost marketing effectiveness? Goodvertising's Thomas Kolster joins WARC's Amy Rodgers to discuss how sustainability is a driving factor on the most effective advertising campaigns, based on WARC Rankings data.
• The Effective CMO: The New York Times' Amy Weisenbach 28.05.2026 41min

  How does a 175-year-old news brand thrive in a volatile media economy? Amy Weisenbach, Chief Marketing Officer at The New York Times, joins WARC's Anna Hamill to discuss the strategies behind the publication's outsized revenue growth, as well as how to build brand trust and daily habits across news, games, sports and much more.
• Five 2026 consumer trends you need to know 26.05.2026 26min

  AI companions, social media concerns and 'comfort spending' are among key trends shaping consumer behaviour in 2026. WARC's Adi Kishore speaks to Stephanie Siew and GWI's Jason Mander about the big changes marketers need to know, based on WARC's 2026 Consumer Trends Report.
• The Multiplier Playbook: your guide to better marketing 21.05.2026 23min

  Are you stuck in the ROAS death spiral? Marketers have long struggled to prove the ROI of brand building, relying on flawed, short-term metrics that erode long-term value. BERA's Michael Reh and WARC's Ann Marie Kerwin explore how to accurately track and quantify the Multiplier Effect—the compound growth achieved when brand and performance marketing work together.
• How Meta evolved its advertising proposition 19.05.2026 22min

  Meta's ad business funds an aggressive AI programme which, in turn, fuels the flywheel through further increases in ad revenue. WARC's Alex Brownsell joins Anna Hamill explore Meta’s hyper-efficient ad business, evaluate usage across its apps, and assess the performance of Meta campaigns.
• The Multiplier Effect: what we know so far 14.05.2026 29min

  WARC's research The Multiplier Effect proved that stronger brand equity acts as a multiplier, driving greater impact and efficiency for performance advertising. Ahead of the next stage of the project, WARC's Ann Marie Kerwin spoke to David Tiltman and the ANA's Stephanie Fierman about new survey data and what we've learned so far.
• How marketing measurement is evolving in 2026 12.05.2026 33min

  Michael Kaminsky, co-founder of Recast, joins Paul Stringer to discuss media's shift to outcomes measurement and the impact of AI on measurement, as they try to disentangle AI hype from reality.
• The daytime drop: rethinking social media effectiveness 07.05.2026 36min

  Not all time spent with social media is equal, according to new research. Social effectiveness varies significantly by time of day, giving out of home media an important role in priming and amplifying social media campaigns. Posterscope's Russell Smither and Dentsu's Ciara Smyth join WARC's Alex Brownsell to discuss.
• Marketing frameworks for a digital-first world 05.05.2026 48min

  Effectiveness expert James Hankins joins the pod to analyse influential ideas in marketing effectiveness, including the Hankins hexagon, share of search, digital availability, and the gravity of e-commerce. Hosted by WARC's David Tiltman.
• What resilience means for brands right now 30.04.2026 35min

  What does brand resiliency mean in a polycrisis? Fast Venture's Wade Eagar shares a four-phase framework for marketers to navigate geopolitical and economic uncertainty with WARC's Catherine Driscoll.
• The Effective CMO: Sephora's Zena Arnold 28.04.2026 41min

  Sephora is one of the world’s biggest beauty retailers. Zena Arnold, US CMO, joins the pod to discuss 'the lipstick effect', why Sephora is investing in women’s sports, emerging retail trends and the importance of brand building. Hosted by WARC's Anna Hamill.
• Effective marketing is built on soft skills 23.04.2026 32min

  Ideas on their own don’t deliver marketing effectiveness. What if the real driver is something less visible? BMF Australia's Anna Bollinger and Christina Aventi join WARC's Rica Facundo to discuss the outsized influence of soft skills including trust, psychological safety and simplicity.
• AI vs. retail media: why brand trust still wins 21.04.2026 30min

  From LLM platforms for discovery through to 'bot-to-bot commerce', agentic commerce is already revolutionizing the retail media space. WARC's Ann Marie Kerwin is joined by Andrew Lipsman and Alex Brownsell to discuss WARC's new Retail Media Radar report.
• Four frameworks marketers need to know 16.04.2026 49min

  Effectiveness expert Tom Roach joins the pod to analyse some essential ideas in marketing effectiveness, including the performance plateau, the modified funnel, 'lots of little' and share of model. Hosted by WARC's David Tiltman.
• Why brand is critical in the age of generative AI 14.04.2026 44min

  In a generative AI world, strong and consistent brands act as a bulwark against LLM confusion. But how can marketers equip themselves for success? WARC's Cathy Taylor talks to WARC guide contributors Gary J. Nix and Kate Watts how to build iconic or enduring brands in the AI era.
• Systems thinking: what it is and what it's not 09.04.2026 41min

  Brands act as systems of meaning, with flexibility preferred over rigid guidelines. So what does 'complex systems management' mean for marketers? JP Castlin joins WARC's David Tiltman to break down the terminology of systems, the complexity of modern marketing and the need to find answers to that complexity.
• Implications of the Gulf energy crisis 07.04.2026 21min

  WARC's new Global Ad Forecast maps out three scenarios for media spend as a result of war in the Middle East. WARC's James McDonald and Alex Brownsell make sense of the data, and what the current volatility will mean for advertisers in 2026.