Tarek Sioufi is Grey’s Chief Strategy Officer. He has led brand strategy for adidas, The Financial Times, Sainsbury’s, Iceland, Netflix, Cadbury and Coca-Cola.

In this episode we discuss:

• The power of imagination
• Why strategy is simple
• Do ideas just ‘find’ strategists
• Are strategists the smartest people in the room
• Three modes of thought for devising a brilliant strategy
• The most debated Christmas ad of all time
• The UK’s super bowl
• Promoting Iceland – the country, not the supermarket
• Taking on Google for Iceland (and Sweden)
• Stella’s new campaign

Tarek Sioufi

Tarek is a multi-award winning strategist with over 20 years of industry experience. He has held senior roles at some of the world’s most entrepreneurial and creatively awarded agencies including: Media.Monks, Wieden+Kennedy, The Brooklyn Brothers, Fallon and Sid Lee.

He joined Grey in 2023 as Chief Strategy Officer and leads some of the agencies key accounts including, Etihad, Sky Bet, Haleon and Vodafone Ireland. Tarek’s work has been celebrated both for its creativity and effectiveness by Cannes Lions, The Effies, D&AD and Contagious Pioneers.

And in 2022, Tarek was recognised by Campaign Magazine for outstanding contributions to the industry in their 40 over 40 category and by BIMA (The British Interactive Media Association) as one of the nation’s top strategists and consultants.

Find Tarek on LinkedIn

Show Notes

Full show notes, including a transcription andlinks to everything discussed can be found here.

Joe Rampley is the Creative Brand Manager at Forest, London’s homegrown ebike company. He joins the show to talk about their new campaign.

In this episode we discuss:

• Why perfection is overrated
• The insight behind Forest’s new campaign
• Why they rebranded
• How ad placement is as equally important as creative
• How you measure success when building a brand
• Why Ritson’s Mini MBA is worth the money

Full show notes, including a transcript, links to everythingdiscussed and contact details can be found on the episode page.

Joe Rampley

Joe leads Forest’s Creative Team, shaping the brand’s voice across everything from campaigns to positioning. He began his career as a freelance designer and illustrator, always with a keen interest in cycling culture.

After a design internship with Deliveroo, he moved in-house and now serves as guardian of the Forest brand, overseeing all things creative for Forest.

Find Joe on LinkedIn

Tim Donald is the Creative Director at Sneak, the cult energy brand known for its disruptive campaigns, chaotic storytelling, and fiercely loyal fanbase.

In this episode we discuss:

• Why you shouldn’t chase seniority
• Building from DTC to retail
• The power of design for Sneak
• Satanic cults for marketing activations
• Building a brand around gaming culture
• Finding the sweet spot between nerd culture and popular culture
• The creative pressure to stay true to the brand heritage
• The impact of price promotion on brand
• Building communities for marketing while not “selling out”

Full show notes, including contact details and a transcript can be found here on the show page.

Paul Makaya is the Founder and CEO of Bergast House, one of Zimbabwe’s most progressive integrated advertising agencies, that produces work that fuses insight, design, and purpose to drive both business growth and cultural impact.

In this episode we discuss:

• Being authentically yourself
• Clients using AI
• Radio being the dominant media platform across Africa
• Shooting for greatness
• Why diverse teams perform better

Talk To Your Customers Research

I'm running a survey at the moment to find out how frequently marketers speak to customers and what they learn if/when they do.

All the details and the survey are on this page.

A full transcription, contact details and enhanced show notes can be found here: https://eximomarketingstrategy.com/never-average-with-paul-makaya-strategy-sessions-podcast/

Chloë Davies is a multi award-winning founder, a transformation consultant, chef and creative visionary whose work sits at the intersection of creativity, culture and social.

In this episode we discuss:

• Understanding what matters and what doesn’t
• Reflecting on how culture shapes us
• How It Takes A Village Collective came about
• Using social impact to change the world
• The story behind Virgin’s ‘See The World Differently’ campaign
• Why real relationships are essential to the agency / client magic
• Creating a ruckus in Ad Land
• The continuation of poor male behaviour in the marketing industry
• The challenges of trying to change an industry perspective of Black women
• How you can support It Takes A Village Collective

Talk To Your Customers Research

I'm running a survey at the moment to find out how frequently marketers speak to customers and what they learn if/when they do.

All the details and the survey are on this page.

Show Notes

The full show notes, transcription and links to everything Chloë talks about can be found on the episode page here.

Cynthia Harris, MBA, leads 8:28 Insights, a consumer insights and marketing strategy agency rooted in cultural competence and human understanding.

In this episode we discuss:

• How we deal with change
• Getting good briefs from clients
• The magic sauce between agencies and clients
• Harnessing imagination
• Speeding up research
• Lessons from P&G
• Celebrating client wins

Cynthia Harris

Cynthia Harris, MBA, leads 8:28 Insights, a consumer insights and marketing strategy agency rooted in cultural competence and human understanding. With a pre-agency career spanning Abbott Nutrition, P&G, McCormick, and Bath & Body Works, she blends nearly 20 years of experience with a passion for empathy and human stories.

An award-winning industry leader and a distinguished Insights Association Laureate, Cynthia is a sought-after speaker and thought leader, recognized for her contributions to the industry and her ability to make brands more human. A tennis enthusiast and world traveler, Cynthia calls Columbus, Ohio, home. Cynthia also serves as an Insight's Association North Central Chapter Board Director.

If you enjoyed the show, please give it a 5* rating.

Find the full show notes, transcript and links on the episode page.

Brendan McDowell is the founder of BPerfect Cosmetics and Voduz Hair. He’s built two amazing brands (from a background in sales) by investing in community and social media.

In this episode we discuss:

• Work life balance
• Building a community of fans
• Following social trends and social selling
• Dragons Den and Made Up In Belfast
• Opening on the High Street when everyone said “the High Street is dead”
• Staying close to the customer as your role evolves into CEO
• Launching in Superdrug
• Rethinking sales from a strategic perspective
• What comes next

Brendan McDowell

Founded in Belfast in 2012 by visionary entrepreneur Brendan McDowell, BPerfect Cosmetics set out to revolutionise the beauty industry with products that are easy to use, versatile, and transformative. Brendan’s game-changing approach caught the spotlight in 2017 on Ireland’s Dragons’ Den, where he wowed all five Dragons and secured offers from two, to which he later declined.

Since then, Brendan has been nominated for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year and earned multiple awards for his bold entrepreneurial spirit. Today, BPerfect is a global beauty powerhouse, stocked in over 2,000 locations across Ireland, the UK, and internationally.

Known for its cult-favourite makeup, tanning essentials, and more recently, skincare, BPerfect has also partnered with top makeup artists and influencers to create standout collections like the Stacey Marie Carnival Collection, LMD Collection, and Annalivia Collection.

With record-breaking sales on TikTok and a spot among the top five beauty brands in the UK and Ireland, BPerfect is leading the way with exciting new revenue streams and unstoppable growth.

Find Brendan on TikTok and Instagram

Andi Jarvis

If you have any questions or want to talk about anything that was discussed in the show, the best place to get me is on LinkedIn or Instagram.

If you want the podcast emailed to you sign up for it onthe Eximo Marketing website.

Make sure you subscribe to get the podcast pushed to you and if you enjoyed the show, please give it a 5* rating.

Andi Jarvis, Eximo Marketing.

Phillip Oakley is a brand strategist and marketing consultant with over 20 years of experience helping brands stand out and grow.

In this episode we discuss:

• The power of questions and curiosity
• Talking to your customers and the power of bringing the customer voice into the room
• Overcoming objections for talking to your customers
• What the movie Arthur Christmas can teach us about marketing
• Riches in Niches
• The power of visiting the store where your product is sold

Phillip Oakley

Phillip Oakley is a brand strategist and marketing consultant with over 20 years of experience helping brands grow and stand out across industries like technology, medtech, and consumer goods. In 2012, he founded Common Giant, a boutique consultancy that helps businesses leverage branding as a competitive advantage in a crowded marketplace.

Phillip has also served as VP of Brand Strategy, helping retail brands sell in, stand out, and sell through while consulting on marketing strategy and creative execution for various business models.

An energetic keynote speaker, Phillip shares insights on branding and creativity. He also lectures junior creatives and small businesses on effective marketing and is an eternal student of branding and marketing, having completed the Marketing Week Mini MBA and MAD//Masters.

Find Phillip on LinkedIn.

Recommendations

• Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl

Strategy Masterclass with Seth Godin

I’m doing a series of strategy masterclasses with Seth Godin in Ireland this spring. If you use code Eximo (capital E) then you’ll be able to grab a ticket for £225 instead of the full rate of £265.

You get to work with Seth, who will be joining remotely from his NYC studio, with me in the room and the team from Horrible Brands to help out with brand strategy. These events have been put together by the Event Queen Treena Clarke. Tickets available from here.

Strategy Sessions Host - Andi Jarvis

If you have any questions or want to talk about anything that was discussed in the show, the best place to get me is on LinkedIn or Instagram.

Make sure you subscribe to get the podcast directly or sign up for it here to have it emailed when it's released.

If you enjoyed the show, please give it a 5* rating.

Transcript

A full transcript is available on the episode page here.