Brandmakers

The Subthread

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Every two weeks

Brandmakers explores the world’s most innovative brands and the people behind them. Hosted by journalist Hannah Bowler and produced by The Subthread.

5 days ago

From Britpop to Squarespace: Making Culturally Fluent Brands | Brandmakers ft. Nate Skinner

In the 90s, Nate Skinner devoured Q, Melody Maker and the cult design publication Ray Gun. He'd buy CDs not just to listen to them. It is this education that taught him how ideas spread between people, scenes and communities and where brands fit within that. As senior director of global brand at Squarespace, Nate believes hiring culturally attuned creatives has a bigger impact on the tech company’s output than anything else. The episode also explores the industry’s move away from campaign cycles to an always on strategy. Interrogating how brands can create tentpole moments in this age. 00:00 - Introduction, who is Nate Skinner Squarespace’s senior director of global brand03:50 - Learning brand from Britpop 06:20 - The culture hasn’t changed the format did 09:10 - Building Squarespace’s innate creative taste 15:00 - Are we in a post-ad era?19:40 - Inside Squarespace’s Super Bowl ideation 24:22 - Playing music for creative inspiration Guest:Nate Skinner is senior director of global brand at Squarespace, where he leads the brand strategy and works on the website builders’ iconic Super Bowl campaigns. Before Squarespace, Nate spent two years as a brand narrative director for Nike in New York working to tell the stories of athletes and subcultures in the city. He’s a culturally attuned strategist working for one of the most distinctive technology brands. About Brandmakers:The Brandmakers podcast is a series exploring the world’s most innovative brands and the people driving them forward.Each episode, The Subthread’s editor and host Hannah Bowler will be joined by brand leaders to uncover the strategies and ideas keeping their brands culturally relevant.Brandmakers goes beyond origin stories, diving into ongoing culture, design, product and tech decisions that form a brand's long-term success. From bold strategies to breakthrough ideas, Hannah uncovers what keeps these brands at the cutting edge.About The Subthread:The Subthread is an independent media and events business focusing o
20 Jul

How Motorway Pushes the Boundaries in a Low Interest Category | Brandmakers ft. Cassie Hall

Cassie Hall, marketing and brand director at Motorway, has built her career transforming brands across categories - from global names like Virgin Atlantic, Nike and Diageo to high-growth platforms like Zoopla. Her skill lies in being able to prove the commercial case for brand investment, no matter the category.At Motorway she has the ambition to turn the used car platform into a household name, like a Monzo or a Wise. The strategy includes, entertainment and sports sponsorship, community engagement on Reddit, bold above the line campaigns and PR. Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction, who is Cassie Hall, director of marketing and brand at Motorway 03:00 - Getting her hands on the brief 05:30 - Brand as the system at the heart of a business 09:00 - Breaking down the department silos 11:30 - Proving the commercial value of brand 17:45 - Expanding Motorway’s cultural footprint 23:53 - Marketers need to become builders of new systems About Brandmakers: The Brandmakers podcast is a series exploring the world’s most innovative brands and the people driving them forward. Each episode, The Subthread’s editor and host Hannah Bowler will be joined by brand leaders to uncover the strategies and ideas keeping their brands culturally relevant. Brandmakers goes beyond origin stories, diving into ongoing culture, design, product and tech decisions that form a brand's long-term success. From bold strategies to breakthrough ideas, Hannah uncovers what keeps these brands at the cutting edge. About The Subthread: The Subthread is an independent media and events business focusing on the intersection of culture, creativity and innovation. We serve strategists, creatives and brand marketers across brands and agencies who are interested in what’s next. For more interviews, essays and features on what the future holds for marketing, innovation and creativity, head to The Subthread ►► https://www.thesubthread.com/
14 Jul

Semrush’s VP of Creative on Brand Building for LLMs | Brandmakers ft. Ben Kendall

In this special Cannes Lions episode of Brandmakers, Semrush’s VP brand and creative Ben Kendall, shares with Hannah Bowler how to use clever communication to stay visible online. As marketers pivot from SEO to AEO, Ben believes that telling a consistent brand story is the way to be surfaced in AI search. The ex-Red Bull and Airbnb marketer also talks about internal culture and how the art of having fun can build exciting and well loved brands.
19 May

How Notion Turns Superfans into a Community‑Led Growth Engine | Brandmakers ft. Áine Dundas

For this episode of Brandmakers, Notion’s head of marketing for EMEA, Áine Dundas, beams in from Dublin to share the secrets of Notion’s community-led strategy. Áine, a self-confessed fan of the productivity tool, tells us how Notion turned passionate users into true ambassadors, built guardrails for community-led storytelling and transformed influencer marketing and experiential into its core marketing channel.--This episode is presented by SBS. Helping brands and independent agencies deliver smarter, high-impact programmatic advertising. https://wearesbs.com/
5 May

Zalando’s Content-First Strategy: Inside Its Publishing Push | Brandmakers ft. James Rothwell

In this episode Zalando’s James Rothwell talks about turning a retailer into a publisher, why content and entertainment sit at the centre of its next chapter, and how a fashion platform becomes a broader lifestyle brand. -- This episode is presented by SBS. Helping brands and independent agencies deliver smarter, high-impact programmatic advertising. https://wearesbs.com/--Still haven’t subscribed to The Subthread on YouTube? ►► www.youtube.com/@UCfuNqZLzVlARdzVGeCajgMQ Want to read The Subthread ►► https://www.thesubthread.com/Follow The Subthread:Instagram ►► / https://www.instagram.com/thesubthread/?hl=enLinkedIn ►► / https://www.linkedin.com/company/thesubthread/ Get more incredible stories with our free newsletters: https://www.thesubthread.com/#/portal/signupABOUT THE SUBTHREADFor brands and agencies interested in what's next. The Subthread is an independent media and events business focusing on the intersection of culture, innovation and creativity for the marketing industries.
30 Apr

Pandora’s Marketing Director on Leaving Every Brand Stronger | Brandmakers ft. Stephanie Legg

Stephanie Legg loves the challenge of a brand transformation. Her promise as a CMO is to always leave a brand stronger than you found it. Stephanie joins Brandmakers after wrapping up a stint as chief marketer at footwear retailer Schuh where she was behind a radical new positioning, and starting a new venture as the UK's director of marketing at jewellery brand Pandora. After a decade at the Arcadia Group during its glory years, Stephanie knows what it takes to build strong brands but also understands boardroom tensions and how to fight for investment in upper funnel marketing.0:00 Intro1:33 Always leave a brand stronger than you found it 6:24 Bringing Schuh out of its cultural void 9:22 Improve the brand and cultural equity and you don't need sales 16:00 CMOs should have oversight of the entire funnel20:00 You've got to live and die by the data in your business 24:00 Lessons from branding from Kith 25:30 An insider's take on the Topshop comeback--This episode is presented by SBS. Helping brands and independent agencies deliver smarter, high-impact programmatic advertising. https://wearesbs.com/
21 Apr

Mailchimp Keeps Creativity Weird: Inside Its In‑House Creative Team | Brandmakers ft. Jeremy Jones

In this latest episode our host Hannah Bowler sits down with Jeremy Jones, global head of creative at Intuit Mailchimp.Jeremy shares his secret to fostering creativity within his in-house team. There's group trips to galleries and museums, arts and crafts sessions and carved out space in the working day to experiment with tools and techniques. And the results are there for all to see. --This episode is presented by SBS. Helping brands and independent agencies deliver smarter, high-impact programmatic advertising. https://wearesbs.com/--Still haven’t subscribed to The Subthread on YouTube? ►► www.youtube.com/@UCfuNqZLzVlARdzVGeCajgMQ Want to read The Subthread ►► https://www.thesubthread.com/Follow The Subthread:Instagram ►► / https://www.instagram.com/thesubthread/?hl=enLinkedIn ►► / https://www.linkedin.com/company/thesubthread/ Get more incredible stories with our free newsletters: https://www.thesubthread.com/#/portal/signupABOUT THE SUBTHREADFor brands and agencies interested in what's next. The Subthread is an independent media and events business focusing on the intersection of culture, innovation and creativity for the marketing industries.
13 Apr

ITV’s Brand Strategy: Why It Won’t Try to Out‑Netflix Netflix | Brandmakers ft. Paul Ridsdale

This week, the Brandmakers podcast dives into the world of ITV, a major UK broadcaster and content studio reaching millions of viewers through its channels and ITVX.Its director of brand and marketing, Paul Ridsdale, has been marketing the British broadcaster ITV for over 17 years, and has been a part of its journey from a TV channel to a streaming service and content creator. In this episode, presenter Hannah Bowler digs into the rise of the “browsing audience” and what that shift means for how modern viewers discover and connect with content.
2 Apr

Pinterest’s Bet on Culture and IRL Experiences | Brandmakers ft. Louise Foley

In this episode of the Brandmakers podcast, Hannah Bowler is joined by Louise Foley, director of marketing, Europe at Pinterest. They get stuck into the subject of trends and signals, and what marketers need to do to stay on the right side of cultural relevance. Louise also details her own marketing strategy and her push into fun and meaningful experiential events. Disclaimer: we recorded this episode just before Christmas, hence Louise’s background tree. She isn’t one of those all-year-round Christmas people – or maybe she is… -- This episode is presented by SBS. Helping brands and independent agencies deliver smarter, high-impact programmatic advertising. https://wearesbs.com/ -- Still haven’t subscribed to The Subthread on YouTube? ►► www.youtube.com/@UCfuNqZLzVlARdzVGeCajgMQ Want to read The Subthread ►► https://www.thesubthread.com/ Follow The Subthread:Instagram ►► / https://www.instagram.com/thesubthread/?hl=enLinkedIn ►► / https://www.linkedin.com/company/thesubthread/ Get more incredible stories with our free newsletters: https://www.thesubthread.com/#/portal/signup ABOUT THE SUBTHREAD For brands and agencies interested in what's next. The Subthread is an independent media and events business focusing on the intersection of culture, innovation and creativity for the marketing industries.
25 Mar

Mattel’s Big Pivot: From Toymaker to Global Entertainment Powerhouse | Brandmakers - Ruth Henriquez

In this episode of Brandmakers, Hannah Bowler dives into Mattel’s slow, deliberate shift from selling toys to building franchises – and asks its head of licensing and partnerships, Ruth Henriquez, about the decision of betting on fans, fast collabs and decades of nostalgia to make the model stick.--This episode is presented by SBS. Helping brands and independent agencies deliver smarter, high-impact programmatic advertising.--Still haven’t subscribed to The Subthread on YouTube? ►► www.youtube.com/@UCfuNqZLzVlARdzVGeCajgMQ Want to read The Subthread ►► https://www.thesubthread.com/Follow The Subthread:Instagram ►► / https://www.instagram.com/thesubthread/?hl=enLinkedIn ►► / https://www.linkedin.com/company/thesubthread/ Get more incredible stories with our free newsletters: https://www.thesubthread.com/#/portal/signupABOUT THE SUBTHREADFor brands and agencies interested in what's next. The Subthread is an independent media and events business focusing on the intersection of culture, innovation and creativity for the marketing industries.
16 Mar

Inside Jägermeister’s Culture Marketing Strategy | Brandmakers ft. Kea Kleihauer

In this episode of the Brandmakers podcast Hannah Bowler is joined by Kea Kleihauer who is senior manager global culture & experiential marketing at Jägermeister. Cultural marketing might be the buzzword of the moment but it has been around as long as the profession, yet it’s still misunderstood in boardrooms where it’s often treated like a channel rather than a long-term strategy. At Jägermeister initiatives like Save the Night show how cultural investment builds long term credibility and equity, especially in markets where traditional advertising isn’t possible. - This episode is presented by SBS. Helping brands and independent agencies deliver smarter, high-impact programmatic advertising. - 0:00 Intro 3:35 Understanding how culture moves, shapes and mutates 7:13 Innovation has been hijacked by technology 10:37 We as marketers love KPIs, but you can’t put KPI’s behind it 19:14 Brands as cultural patrons filling the gaps in funding 22:52 Culture doesn’t happen in the boardroom 30:43 Constraints can breed creativity 37:00 How to do global cultural storytelling41:00 Processes can chip away at the creativity Still haven’t subscribed to The Subthread on YouTube? ►► www.youtube.com/@UCfuNqZLzVlARdzVGeCajgMQ Want to read The Subthread ►► https://www.thesubthread.com/ Follow The Subthread:Instagram ►► / https://www.instagram.com/thesubthread/?hl=en LinkedIn ►► / https://www.linkedin.com/company/thesubthread/ Get more incredible stories with our free newsletters: https://www.thesubthread.com/#/portal/signup ABOUT THE SUBTHREAD For brands and agencies interested in what's next. The Subthread is an independent media and events business focusing on the intersection of culture, innovation and creativity for the marketing industries.

11 Episodes

Brandmakers explores the world’s most innovative brands and the people behind them. Hosted by journalist Hannah Bowler and produced by The Subthread.

Creator

The Subthread
Years Active

2026
Episodes

11
Rating

Explicit
Copyright

© The Subthread
Show Website

Brandmakers