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Marketing UnLearned

Marketing UnLearned

De : Ian Jindal
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 Marketing UnLearned explores the challenges the leading-edge digital marketing poses to established and received wisdom. All new initiatives, until proven, are subject to scrutiny and challenge: the ‘waddabouts’, the statements of inertia, the “why bother?”, the deprioritising questions. Within these challenges there is often a grain of truth, but in this series we’ll take the challenges head on and learn how the exemplars deliver persuasively - perhaps changing our thinking along the way. In partnership with Epsilon our first series will focus on innovation in the areas of retail media, digital advertising, CRM, and personalisation. We’ll speak with 10 expert practitioners who have moved beyond the optimised and well-know digital marketing processes. More than a simple ‘always sunny at 30,000ft’ case study, we’ll put the challenges to our guests and hear how they were overcome, how their thinking developed and learn about the ‘new state of the art’. While we may UnLearn some pieces of accepted wisdom, we’ll replace them with new, effective learning. Everyone wins with Marketing UnLearned.© RetailX 2025 Economie Management Management et direction Marketing et ventes
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    • "Innovation never sleeps" - Karl Gibbons of SharkNinja

      "Innovation never sleeps" - Karl Gibbons of SharkNinja
      Feb 9 2026
      In this episode of Marketing Un:Learned, Ian Jindal talks with Karl Gibbons, who leads sales strategy and analytics across Northern Europe for SharkNinja — the company behind two of the most disruptive consumer brands in small domestic appliances: Shark and Ninja. Karl brings a career built in FMCG food (most recently in butter and margarine) to a business that launches approximately 25 new products a year across 38 subcategories. The conversation explores what Karl has had to unlearn about pace, innovation cycles, brand building and channel strategy — and what he brought with him that still holds.About the GuestKarl Gibbons is Sales Strategy & Analytics Director for Northern Europe at SharkNinja, responsible for driving profitable category growth across the Shark and Ninja brands in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. Before joining SharkNinja just over a year ago, Karl spent the majority of his career in food — most recently in the butter and margarine category — giving him a sharp perspective on the differences between true fast-moving consumer goods and the relentless innovation cycle of consumer electronics.Episode Outline & Key TopicsIntroducing Shark and Ninja — two brands, one innovation engine[00:00]Karl explains how Shark (famous for vacuum cleaners, now expanding into beauty and home environment) and Ninja (known for bringing the air fryer to the UK mainstream, now spanning espresso machines, ice cream makers and pizza ovens) sit as separate brands under one company. Innovation is the connective tissue — SharkNinja runs a 24/7 global design cycle across teams in Shanghai, London and Boston, so "innovation never sleeps."Consumers as brand ambassadors — and why that isn't glib[07:00]Ian pushes back on Karl's claim that consumers are SharkNinja's greatest brand ambassadors. Karl responds with the Ninja CREAMi launch: an ice cream maker that generated a wave of organic user-generated content on TikTok and Instagram within 48 hours — with virtually no paid media support. Consumers discovered capabilities the engineers hadn't anticipated, and the five-star review culture feeds directly into product iteration.Signal vs. noise — managing data across 170+ retail partners[10:00]Ian challenges the "spontaneous eruption" narrative, pointing to SharkNinja's 170+ global retail partners, multiple marketplaces and direct-to-consumer channels. Karl acknowledges the orchestration required to have the right product on the right shelf at the right time, but maintains that once that groundwork is laid, consumer advocacy genuinely drives momentum — monitored by a substantial London-based social media team operating in near-real-time.From butter to vacuum cleaners — unlearning "fast-moving"[13:30]Karl reflects on his biggest career assumption: that food — with its short shelf life and weekly repurchase — was the fastest-moving category he could work in. In reality, the consumer electronics innovation cycle moves far quicker. A pound of butter hasn't changed in 100 years; what you can buy with a plug changes constantly. The consumer's appetite for "the next big thing" in appliances was something he had been naive about.The repurchase problem — five air fryers in a student kitchen[16:00]Ian describes visiting his daughter's student house and finding five Ninja air fryers in a row. Unlike butter, which is replenished weekly, an air fryer may last years. Karl explains how SharkNinja addresses this through relentless category extension (from air fryers to coffee machines to pizza ovens) and within-category innovation (e.g., the new Crispy air fryer offering new capabilities even in a market with 80%+ penetration). The challenge for brand teams is maintaining a coherent brand identity across products that range from £150 to £500.The Nordics — why one size doesn't fit all[20:00]Karl describes the reality of managing Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, where SharkNinja is a younger, less well-known brand. Amazon barely registers (around 1% market share) and direct-to-consumer e-commerce is less embedded than in the UK, France or Germany. This forces a different playbook: closer partnerships with dominant regional retailers like Elkjøp, using their credibility to build consumer trust. DTC sites are live in Sweden and Denmark, with Norway and Finland to follow later this year.What makes a great retail partner — the case for risk-taking[24:00]Asked to sketch the ideal retail partner, Karl's answer is pointed: willingness to take risks. Too many retailers, particularly in the UK, wait to see what competitors do, accelerating stasis. Karl calls for partners prepared to give more space to new brands, trial new categories, and experiment with pricing and promotions — even modest risks that could benefit the entire category, not just one supplier.Fleet of foot — when TikTok moves faster than range reviews[26:00]Karl identifies a structural tension: social media trends move in hours, but ...
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      33 min
    • "AI, Gamification, and the future of Loyalty" - Richard Potter, Microsoft, and Mrinalini Chowdhary, Epsilon

      "AI, Gamification, and the future of Loyalty" - Richard Potter, Microsoft, and Mrinalini Chowdhary, Epsilon
      Feb 4 2026
      Changing the Game - AI, Gamification & the Future of LoyaltyIn this episode of Marketing Un:Learned, Ian Jindal talks with Richard Potter, Director of Digital Strategy at Microsoft, and Mrinalini Chowdhary, Director of Strategy and Insights at Epsilon, about unlearning the outdated transactional view of loyalty programmes and rebuilding them around emotional engagement, permissioned data, and AI-driven personalization.From psychological drivers to agentic commerce, Richard and Mrinalini explore how gamification creates engagement loops and habits beyond the checkout, why loyalty is the permission system that unlocks responsible AI, and what empathy, measurement, and focus mean for leaders redesigning loyalty in 2026.Key Topics & TimestampsIntroductions: From Banking to Loyalty, Engineering to BoardroomsMrinalini introduces her journey from banking through startups into loyalty strategy at Epsilon, bringing 15 years of experience in strategy consulting, marketing, and product management. Richard outlines his hybrid role as engineer and business strategist, translating technology shifts into boardroom value for retail and consumer goods clients at Microsoft.02:50 - What Is "Digital" When Everything Is Digital?Richard explains that his "digital" title reflects the customer challenge: helping organisations understand what digital means in their operations. The real interest lies at the intersection of ones and zeros with human dynamics - whether in employees or consumers - and how digital experiences mobilise emotional responses while being rationally interpreted by systems.07:30 - 10:50 - Redefining Loyalty: Beyond Transactional SpamMrinalini reframes loyalty as shifting from purely transactional mechanics (sign up, purchase, get points) to emotional engagement. Modern loyalty must be dynamic and adaptive, creating engagement loops through sequential actions that build habits and keep consumers thinking about the brand between purchases, not just at checkout.10:50 - 13:40 - Psychological Drivers: Purpose, Delight, Empowerment & Loss AversionMrinalini unpacks the core psychological drivers that differentiate effective gamified loyalty:Purpose - Clear ultimate aims communicated through missions, tiers, and progress bars (both mechanics and visuals)Delight - Surprise, instant feedback, and gratification through pop-ups and visual rewardsEmpowerment - Giving consumers choice (e.g., select your birthday gift)Loss aversion - Streaks, expiring points, time-limited challengesScarcity - Exclusive VIP-tier benefitsSocial connection - Group challenges, quests, leaderboards, and competitive elementsThese drivers are individualised - what motivates one consumer differs from another.13:40 - 16:50 - From Passive Pages to Active Engagement LoopsIan references Tesco Media’s co-branded mechanic with Florian Clemens: instead of blanket discounts, customers choose 10 products they haven’t bought recently for a “game card,” then earn rewards by organically purchasing them over several weeks. The customer isn’t bribed - they’re playing, and brands fund the prize pool. This exemplifies the shift from passive loyalty pages to dynamic, habit-forming engagement.16:50 - 19:50 - The Rational Engine: AI Accelerates ExperimentationRichard frames loyalty as an inherently irrational, emotional human contract, but one that technology must solve rationally. Algorithms optimise contract dynamics on both sides of the exchange, but trust is fragile. The step-change with foundational models and machine learning is exponential horsepower: marketers can introduce new mechanics, test, fail, and iterate faster and cheaper than ever before. Experimentation is both accelerating and becoming more economical.19:50 - 24:50 - Agentic AI: When the Customer’s AI Talks to Your AIIan raises the strategic challenge: consumers now wield agentic AI that can cut through emotional loyalty and gamification to demand “best deal now.” The retailer’s advantage - massive data, sophisticated algorithms - is now matched by AI in the customer’s hands. Richard acknowledges the compression and hiding of the traditional contact period (website navigation, search indexing, abandoned baskets). Boardrooms are asking how to redeploy capital previously locked in telemetry, armies of analysts, and A/B testing.But AI is both challenge and solution: rational engines can anticipate agentic commerce and help enlightened boards reorient resources. The key is robust, permissioned data.24:50 - 28:10 - Gamified Loyalty as the Permission System for AIMrinalini describes gamified loyalty as linking campaigns in a cumulative string, tapping into “micro moments” that feel achievable and generate permission-based data. This data becomes a powerhouse fuelling all marketing channels - ROI extends far beyond incremental loyalty revenue into areas impossible to quantify.Richard underscores this point: loyalty is the ...
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      35 min
    • "Breaking the 'newness' paradigm" - with Luke Forshaw of Backmarket

      "Breaking the 'newness' paradigm" - with Luke Forshaw of Backmarket
      Feb 4 2026
      In this episode of Marketing Un:Learned, Ian Jindal talks with Luke Forshaw about unlearning the “new is best” dogma in consumer electronics and building a mainstream appetite for refurbished tech. From reframing second-hand as “renewed” to tackling e-waste, planned obsolescence and trust frictions, Luke shares how Back Market is turning circularity into an everyday choice rather than a niche crusade.Drawing on his years working on Apple at Media Arts Lab and in entertainment and finance brands, he explains how social, creators and physical retail experiments are helping to normalise refurbished devices across categories—from iPhones and laptops to coffee machines, pizza ovens and retro consoles.About the GuestLuke Forshaw is Head of Marketing for Back Market in the UK, responsible for brand, performance and customer growth in one of the company’s newer but fast-developing markets. Back Market is a French-founded marketplace that sells refurbished tech, aiming to make “renewed” devices safer, easier and more affordable to buy while extending product lifecycles and cutting e-waste.Before joining Back Market three years ago, Luke spent around seven years at Apple’s dedicated agency Media Arts Lab and has held marketing and media roles at Universal, Aviva, Beats, Red Bull and Vice. He originally studied English with ambitions to be a writer, discovering marketing through student work with Red Bull and Vice and staying with the discipline after graduating in 2010.Episode Outline & Key TopicsThe mission: making renewed tech normal, not nicheBack Market’s model and ambitionsBack Market positions itself as the world’s largest marketplace for refurbished devices, focused on prolonging the life of tech products and reducing climate impact from electronics waste. Luke unpacks three core pillars: sustainability (building a robust circular economy), quality (raising standards for reliability and experience in refurbished electronics) and accessibility (closing the digital divide by making high-end devices more affordable).Beyond smartphones: from iPhones to air fryers and pizza ovensWhile a majority of Back Market’s global purchases sit in smartphones (with iPhones leading in the UK), Luke explains why the business is pushing into laptops, tablets, kitchen appliances and “obscure” models like Ooni pizza ovens and Sage coffee machines. Wherever they add a new category, they see demand from consumers who want both sharper prices and more sustainable options, so the team is actively opening new lines and building demand around them.Unlearning “new is best” in consumer techChallenging the upgrade treadmill and “vintage tech”Ian and Luke explore how decades of marketing have equated progress and status with owning the latest device, and why that logic is breaking down. Luke argues that innovation deltas in smartphones and laptops are now often marginal for everyday use, price points are increasingly prohibitive, and many consumers are simply asking: “If what I’ve got works, why upgrade?”They also discuss the rise of “retro tech” on Back Market—from older iPhones and iPods to Sega Mega Drives—which has become one of the fastest-growing and most frequently sold-out subcategories, fuelled by nostalgia and a desire to switch off from always-on connectivity.Planned obsolescence, forced upgrades and “the obsolete computer”Luke describes Back Market’s more activist stance on parts of the tech industry it sees as unethical—from extraction and production through to marketing and planned obsolescence. He shares a campaign built around Windows 10’s end-of-support, where the team took an “obsolete” computer, deliberately broke it and then revived it with an alternative OS package to show students and everyday users they didn’t need to buy a new laptop just because software support had ended.The broader goal is to keep devices in circulation longer—through cleaning, optimisation and workarounds to forced obsolescence—whether or not the user ultimately buys from Back Market.Trust frictions: from “pub seller” worries to quality guaranteesDefining “refurbished” versus “used” and “second-hand”Luke talks through research Back Market has done across its markets to understand both motivations for buying refurbished tech and the perceived barriers. In the UK, most people say they know what “refurbished” means, but when probed they often lump together buying from a friend in the pub, a stranger on Facebook Marketplace and purchasing via a professional marketplace.Luke outlines how Back Market works with professional refurbishers who test and repair devices to “good as new” thresholds and backs that with warranties, free shipping and returns, and 30-day return windows—protections you do not get from casual peer-to-peer sellers.Educating without boring: creators, partners and timingBecause quality messaging can be dry, Back Market leans on trusted ...
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      41 min
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