The MarketingKind podcast

MarketingKind
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The MarketingKind podcast features conversations that change the way we change the world with Paul Skinner and guests. This series is for marketers, entrepreneurs, business and charity leaders who are interested in learning from diverse perspectives how we can change the stories that guide how we live and work for the better. Each episode delves into how we can use the skills of marketing to address society’s biggest challenges and how we can narrate our way to a better future.

  1. Caroline Edwards on sustainable banking & financial wellbeing

    Jun 23

    Caroline Edwards on sustainable banking & financial wellbeing

    Lisa Basford, former Head of CSR at IHG, founder of Good Endeavours and a founding member of MarketingKind, interviews Caroline Edwards, Sustainable Banking Lead for Financial Capability at NatWest Group plc, to explore leadership, sustainable banking and financial inclusion. It is a refreshing conversation about leadership without ego, driving change through big business vs entrepreneurship, resilience, and finding your allies to create impact. Caroline starts by saying that NatWest (then RBS) was the bank that nearly broke Britain, so it knows what it means to be unsustainable. Caroline shares how CSR has changed throughout her career, how NatWest has evolved, and what sustainable banking and financial inclusion mean for them today. She says that children have already formed their money habits by the age of seven, so we need to be teaching everyone from a young age, both at home and at school. NatWest and others have successfully lobbied to change the curriculum so that financial education will soon be taught in schools. Caroline inspires us with her dedication to celebrating our differences and the many practical ways NatWest is supporting customers, partners and colleagues on financial education and wellbeing.

    1h 14m
  2. Nic Marks on Happiness is a Serious Business

    May 31

    Nic Marks on Happiness is a Serious Business

    In this episode Anna Mullenneaux and Paul Skinner, co-founders of MarketingKind, interview Nic Marks, author of Happiness is a Serious Business, founder of Friday Pulse and creator of the Happy Planet Index. Together with MarketingKind members we explore how to build happy teams and why they drive greater productivity, creativity and success at work. Nic shares that happy teams are twice as likely to be successful as successful teams are to be happy, a powerful reminder that wellbeing is not a “nice to have”, but a serious driver of business performance. Our discussion covers: • The hidden costs of stress, boredom and loneliness at work • Why “okay” may be the most expensive word in business • How leaders can create the conditions for happier and more effective teams Nic shares his Five Ways, which are practical actions every organisation can apply to build happier teams: 1. Connect 2. Be Fair 3. Empower 4. Challenge 5. Inspire You can watch Nic’s new speaker reel here. And if you don't yet have a copy of Happiness is a Serious Business, you can order it here. And you can learn more about MarketingKind membership here.

    55 min
  3. John Kay on why almost everything we are told about business is wrong

    May 14

    John Kay on why almost everything we are told about business is wrong

    With reason and evidence on your side, why is this not yet mainstream? Paul Skinner, founder of MarketingKind, interviews Sir John Kay, CBE, to explore why almost everything we have been told about business is wrong and how we can rewrite the story of enterprise. We discuss the ideas in his latest book, The Corporation in the 21st Century, while also touching on topics from a few of his previous works including Obliquity, Radical Uncertainty and Greed is Dead. John argues that the culture shift away from the social movements of the 60s was so strong that it is still holding sway today, even though evidence shows us that shareholder value maximisation is not the best way to grow business value. In the discussion he cites Halifax, ICI and GEC as examples of businesses whose shifts from a stakeholder approach to shareholder maximisation led to their downfalls. John talks about the need to revisit the original purpose of the corporation as a legal vehicle for collective enterprise with sustainable success coming from creating value for customers, employees, and society (not merely extracting it for financiers). John says we need to bring back the sense of responsibility in business and that although we should not be bogged down by excessive legislation, bad managers should go to jail (like they used to). We discuss the changes in capital, dematerialisation, business ethics vs CSR, economic rent, the weight of GDP, the role of social media, AI and how to restore the legitimacy of business. John argues that the 21st-century corporation must be reinvented as a social institution, not a financial asset. You can learn more about John’s work here. And you can look out for John's revised version of Obliquity, which will be coming soon to address obliquity in an age of AI.

    1h 13m
  4. Aleksandra Przegalińska on the story of AI

    May 3

    Aleksandra Przegalińska on the story of AI

    In this episode Anna Mullenneaux and Paul Skinner, co-founders of MarketingKind, explore with Aleksandra Przegalińska why we need to set the story straight on AI. We have seen how unregulated AI hype has created a backlash. As a result we may now have more realistic expectations of what AI can do. But it is changing how we work and how we relate to ourselves and others. And as a society we need to innovate in response. Aleksandra is a futurist, philosopher, author, Vice-Rector at Kozminski University, Senior Researcher at Harvard's Center for Labor and a Just Economy, and she was recently appointed by Donald Tusk to his Future Council for Poland. We cover the impact AI is having on career starts and how university education may need to change to help students better prepare for employment. We explore how AI is reshaping our relationships with ourselves and each other, for instance its use in therapy, tutoring and dating.  She has created her own AI digital double, which has been well trained on her slides, lectures and her thinking to help her students to prepare for exams. She shares why AI is a breakthrough tool for marketing insights. People are more honest and open in AI marketing surveys because they don't feel they are being judged. They will in particular be more honest about sharing negative feedback. There are some areas such as IT where we are seeing big increases in efficiency, but there are many others where there is no productivity increase. For instance, a recent study from MIT Sloan Business School showed that most AI trials in businesses are not successful. Her team at Harvard has done a lot of research on how marketers are working collaboratively with AI. Where there is a smart division of labour, with AI being used for research and humans doing the copywriting for instance, it can lead to an impressive 40% spike in productivity.  She and her colleague recently used AI as a critical collaborator to provide feedback when writing their book Converging Minds and they found it to be a very valuable tool. In her role on Poland’s Future Council she is bringing a perspective on the differences in the labour market in the US vs Europe. Europe is criticised for moving slowly on AI, but Aleksandra believes this is protecting us to some degree. Europe is gradually building its techstack and this is important for security. Over-reliance on US tech is a threat. Aleksandra encourages her students to take a pluralistic approach. To be open and try and test different AIs, which can trigger creative thinking.  She says we need to think critically and be aware that AIs are not benign tools, they have been programmed (each with its own agenda).  She wants to see more open forums of discussion around how we are using AI and what has worked and what hasn't worked.

    1h 2m
  5. Martin Gutmann on why we celebrate the wrong leaders

    Apr 21

    Martin Gutmann on why we celebrate the wrong leaders

    In our recent Digital Fireside with Martin Gutmann, bestselling author, speaker, historian and management professor, we explore his book The Unseen Leader: How History Can Help Us Rethink Leadership.  Lauren Cooper, Lead Commercial Manager at Clear Score and a member of the MarketingKind community, interviews Martin to discover why we celebrate the wrong leaders, what history can teach us about great leadership and the things we need to actually look out for to identify good leaders. We learn leadership lessons from Homer Simpson. And we explore how our own biases get in the way and why leaders like Trump, who lurch from crisis to crisis in a sensational manner, are considered “great”. We are predisposed to see leadership in people who: ~ Speak more - regardless of what they say ~ Appear confident - regardless of how competent they are ~ Are perpetually busy - regardless of what they are doing This of course creates a toxic culture where people actually doing good work feel overlooked and unmotivated. And this is a self perpetuating cycle. We need to reimagine what good leadership looks like. We need to celebrate those who mitigate crises. And ask ourselves who actually led the team to success? Martin encourages us to focus on leaders who have the right contextual balance between: 1) Confidence and Humility 2) Values and Pragmatism 3) Vision and the Mundane  We also cover Shackleton-related hate mail and the importance of storytelling and self-promotion. Martin’s reading recommendations include: The Sociology of Work by Keith Grint Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders? by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic Spencer Harrison's recent article in The Atlantic - https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7125163/2026/03/20/nba-leadership-culture-mistakes-warriors/ The Culture Map by Erin Meyer Learn more about Martin’s work here. Buy a copy of The Unseen Leader here. And learn more about MarketingKind membership here.

    1h 10m
  6. JiaJia Smith on when purpose meets design

    Mar 24

    JiaJia Smith on when purpose meets design

    ​"Most purpose-driven brands make the same mistakes. They lead with themselves. It's what they believe, what they want to see, and what they stand for. It feels internal or inward facing. And they forgot this one thing that changes everything, which is 'what does the audience feel?'." In this episode ​Anna Mullenneaux and Paul Skinner, co-founders of MarketingKind explore with Jiajia Smith​, brand design expert​, what happens when purpose meets good design. ​This edit shares JiaJia's introduction to the session and part of the group discussion, but most of the discussion, where we all shared our own examples of good design and explored why they work​,​ was for live participants only. JiaJia kicks off the conversation by exploring the definition of design and saying: Purpose fails when it just stays internal. We need a process for how your purpose can connect hard with your audience. Purpose gives us direction. Then design translates that purpose into something the people can actually experience. Something they can see, touch, smell, move through. When people experience something well crafted, they feel it. That feeling, whatever it is whether it is connection, trust, inspiration, belonging, is what shifts behaviour. And that is how brands use good design to create change. ​JiaJia shares visual design examples from: ​- Black Lives Matter ​- This Girl Can ​- Extinction Rebellion - And the Fearless Girl, a bronze sculpture by Kristen Visbal facing the iconic Charging Bull in Manhattan’s Financial District. ​We also discuss design elements from the websites of: ​- Greenpeace ​- Charity Water ​- WWF ​- And Patagonia​. ​​And we explore how design helps brands build trust, clarity, emotional resonance and memorability.

    19 min
  7. Jitske Kramer on navigating tricky times

    Mar 13

    Jitske Kramer on navigating tricky times

    Tricksters are necessary to challenge the status quo. But when we elevate them to leader​s, we risk ending up with ​'Jack Sparrows as CEOs and Pinocchios as political leaders​'.​ In this episode Paul Skinner, founder of MarketingKind, interviews ​Jitske Kramer, corporate anthropologist, speaker and author of nine bestselling and award-winning books​, about the ideas in her latest book Tricky Times: Navigating the Messy Middle of Change.​ Jitske argues that after decades of pursuing limitless growth, we’re finally confronting the reality that limits do exist. The global order is shifting, and we’re in what anthropologists call a liminal phase​, the messy, uncomfortable middle between an old system that no longer works and a new one that hasn’t fully emerged. And there’s no shortcut through it. Transformation requires this period of not knowing. That’s why leadership matters more than ever right now. But it’s also why leadership is so difficult. Many leaders are deeply invested in the old world order, so even when it’s clearly failing, letting go takes courage. During the conversation we explored the role of the trickster​, the archetype that bends rules and ​tests boundaries. Tricksters are important. They ​challenge and expose weaknesses in the system. But there’s a risk. When societies start to celebrate tricksters as heroes, we sometimes end up putting them in charge and that’s when a trickster culture can take hold. As Jitske warns, tricksters don’t just play​, they have a playbook. Big promises that don’t hold up. Simple scapegoats for complex problems. Narratives designed to provoke emotion rather than truth. As she puts it:​ “Don’t be fooled by big promises. And watch for the old human trick of the scapegoat​, ‘because of the refugees, we don’t have houses’. It’s b******t, and we should call it out.” The challenge for all of us is to resist the seduction of those narratives and instead create space for honest, difficult conversations. Because tricksters have always existed. But in a world of digital platforms and limitless AI, the trickster playbook has become far more powerful and far more dangerous.​

    1h 14m
  8. Sarah Housley on become better futurists

    Mar 5

    Sarah Housley on become better futurists

    "...positive visions don't necessarily come with statistics. They come with creativity and imagination. And we don't make as much room for creativity and imagination in our culture as I think we should." In this episode Anna Mullenneaux and Paul Skinner, co-founders of MarketingKind, interview Sarah Housley, design futurist and author of Designing Hope: Visions to Shape Our Future, to discuss how we can develop greater agency in imagining what better futures could look like and find the right ways to start working towards them. We talk about why it feels like we’ve stopped dreaming about better futures and what it takes for leaders, marketers and organisations to start imagining them again. Not as a nice-to-have, but as a practical skill for navigating change. We explore the ideas in Designing Hope and the four futures movements highlighted in the book that spark hope, action and critical thinking about how we might live in the decades ahead.We discuss how hopeful futures are created (not predicted) and reflect on how marketers and leaders can develop the mindset and tools to become better futurists in our own spheres of influence. Sarah’s reading recommendations: Dorian Lynskey - Everything Must Go Octavia Butler Kim Stanley Robinson Becky Chambers Learn more about Sarah’s work here. And learn more about MarketingKind membership here.

    34 min
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About

The MarketingKind podcast features conversations that change the way we change the world with Paul Skinner and guests. This series is for marketers, entrepreneurs, business and charity leaders who are interested in learning from diverse perspectives how we can change the stories that guide how we live and work for the better. Each episode delves into how we can use the skills of marketing to address society’s biggest challenges and how we can narrate our way to a better future.

Information

  • Creator
    MarketingKind
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    58
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © MarketingKind
  • Show Website
    The MarketingKind podcast