The Overthinkers Rachel Mercer & Shann Biglione

Strategists are often introverts, and meetings can be harder to navigate - especially those large sessions with countless stakeholders. Are there ways to better stand out and say the right thing, at the right time?

Almost 3 years into the pandemic, we've had plenty of opportunity to shift our work to a remote approach. Clearly strategic planning has not ended, but does remote work make it harder, or less effective? Does it reduce the role of the planner in the process, or does it reinforce it?

Of all practices in the boardroom, marketing tends to be one of the most opinionated about other people's work. With constant commentary on what is or isn't good marketing, it's not uncommon for passionate opinions to turn into aggressive (sometimes even abusive) takes. Is that specific to marketing? And what's driving it? People being a******s or natural dynamic of a very public output?

This week, as Rachel takes on her new mommy duties, we're delighted to welcome Vanessa Toro as co-host of the podcast!

Joined by Farrah Bostic and Adam Pierno, co-hosts of In The Demo, a podcast that looks at how cohorts of people are best researched, understood and addressed, we discussed the failures of the demographic segmentation and how to build marketing plans for more meaningful audience groups.

The tech industry, which has come to dominate most of ad spends, has been facing some headwinds lately. Does that mean the tech Goliaths' struggle is good news for all the advertising Davids? Or could they take them in their swirl?

Some organisations have clear marketing guidelines and principles, others just go with the flow. Which ones are more likely to have an edge?