Brand Wars
By Lloyd Williams
Brand WarsMay 27, 2021
24 | Brand Wars with Beth Thomas from Deliveroo
Deliveroo needs no introduction! We chat to the brilliant Beth Thomas who has been their Social Media Manager for the past two years. We cover Topshop (RIP), brands getting involved in trending topics, feeding sushi to penguins and our problem with helicopters!
WARNING: This was recorded at 4pm on a Friday afternoon so there are above-average levels of idle chat but hope you enjoy nonetheless!
23 | Brand Wars with John McManus from Minor Figures
The rise in popularity of dairy alternatives has sparked a true brand war among a category of feisty, quirky challenger brands and one that we've covered before on the podcast (Nespresso vs. Oatly) but a new challenger has entered: Minor Figures.
Minor Figures describes itself as an unlikely mob of painters, jazz musicians, basketball players and barbers, brought together by a love of specialty coffee and all of the creative cultures in its orbit. Minor Figures makes plant-based, 100% vegan products to lift your coffee and your mind. So we're really excited to welcome our special guest this week - Marketing Director "AKA the real skimmed shady" John McManus.
Enjoy.
22 | Brand Wars feat. Steve Dool from Depop
This week we are lucky to have Steve Dool, who is Head of Brand Partnerships at Depop. Now, if you're over 30 like me, you may be wondering what is Depop and I can tell you it's a marketplace to buy and sell, or mostly re-sell fashion items. It has upwards of 30 million users, most of which are under 25.
Lets find out more!
21 | Brand Wars feat. Alex Latham from Chip
Welcome to Season 3 of Brand Wars - we're back with bigger interviews with some amazing guests lined up from some amazing brands. The main focus of this season is to learn about brands from many businesses who are, ultimately, still trying to build theirs, the start-ups and fast growing companies!
We have a brilliant guest for episode one in the shape of Alex Latham who is the Co-founder & Chief Marketing Officer at Chip and crutially, was featured in the Forbes 30 Under 30 last year. Chip is a personal finance app that gives it's users access to the best savings accounts and investment funds.
Chip has 400,000 users and has one of fintech’s biggest investor communities, with over 23,000 shareholders.
Have we peaked too early?
20 | Luxury Special with Grace Fung from Coty
Welcome to a belated edition of Brand Wars and sadly, the last one for a little while. We recorded this one back in the summer but it's taken a LONG time to get approved and uploaded...
This episode's guest is the brilliant Grace Fung. Grace has been working at the global beauty titan Coty for 12 years but her current role is the Influencer Marketing & Comms Lead for the luxury division, working on brands including Gucci, Calvin Klein, Burberry, Hugo Boss and more!
We ask the big philosophical question, what is luxury? How can brands use social without spoiling their premiumness? Can beauty brands use Twitch? and how much random stuff can you order to a table from the Wetherspoons app? Like I said, luxury!
Thanks for listening and we'll be back soon.
19 | Gaming Special with Techland's Sheri Kryeziu
Welcome to this edition of Brand Wars - a gaming special!
This weeks guest is the Sheri Kryeziu. Sheri has recently moved from London to Warsaw in Poland to become the Influencer Marketing Lead for Techland - a video game developer and publisher - most well known for Dead Island and Dying Light
We chat to Sheri about how he is approaching the upcoming release of Dying Light 2, why do gamers have the most engaged following, are brands over-investing in esports, is Riot Games the best brand in the World but first Sheri and myself go all Michael Portillo on the travel spots of Warsaw.
Thanks for listening and hope you enjoy!
18 | Peer-to-peer Shopping Special with Yoann Pavy
This weeks guest is the king of peer-to-peer shopping having made his name as the Head of Digital Marketing at Depop before moving on to sneaker marketplace 'Laced' and now in his newest role as VP of Marketing at Twig.
Twig is a neo bank that allows you to upload items, get a valuation and convert your things into cash.
Now I should point out that Twig used to be called DIEM and this rebrand took place after the episode was recorded a few weeks ago. So wherever you here us mention DIEM, autocorrect it in your mind to Twig. If you want to find out more about what the heck I'm going on about - go to twigcard.com!
Let's get on with the episode...
17 | Pasta Evangelists Special with Finn Lagun
Benvenuto! This week we are very lucky to welcome the brilliant Finn Lagun - Co-Founder and CMO of Pasta Evangelists.
Since Pasta Evangelists was born in a basement in Notting Hill in 2016, it's appeared on Dragons' Den, launched it's first retail concession in Harrods, devloped it's e-commerce offering through Ocado, M&S and Deliveroo and earlier this year, Barilla, the world's biggest pasta company, purchased a majority stake.
Finn's passion transports us to farest corners of Italy as he shares his experience and knowledge of the history, the culture and the food of Italy as well as the fascinating story of Pasta Evangelists from "Pasta La Disaster" to "Pasta de résistance!"
Enjoy!
Follow on Instagram @brandwarspod16 | Monzo Bank Special with Richard Cook
This week we're delighted to welcome Richard Cook, Social Media Manager at Monzo for a good old chit-chat. If you didn't already know, Monzo Bank launched in 2015 as one of the first neo or digital-only banks, offering a mobile-first experience and coral-coloured debit cards. It became the darling of crowdfunding when it raised a record-breaking £1 million in just 96 seconds.
We chat to Richard about the early days of Monzo, why did it become a cult brand amongst North London tech types and how does he get people engaged in conversations about finance?
We really enjoyed this one so hope you do too!
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15 | Budweiser Special with George Crewe
We're back after a few weeks off and we're kicking off an exciting little run of guest episodes with a man that combines two of our first loves: Football and Beer.
Joining us this week is George Crewe, Global Content & Community Manager at Budweiser UK. Prior to that he was Social Campaigns Manager at Joe Media and worked on some much better podcasts than this one frankly, including House of Rugby with James Haskell!
We also talk Messi vs. goalkeepers, Leicester's FA Cup win and how brands can get involved in podcasting (hint hint!).
Follow us @brandwarspod on Instagram.
14 | Ultimate Ears Special with Daniel Clayton
It's time for another special guest special and this week we're turning it up to eleven with Daniel Clayton from Ultimate Ears.
Ultimate Ears is an American custom in-ear monitor (IEM), speaker, and earphone manufacturer based in California, acquired by Logitech in 2008.
Daniel has had an enviable career so far working in marketing roles for the likes of Monster, Logitech Music and now in his role as Global Influencer and Social Media Marketing Manager at Ultimate Ears Pro.
We talk about Vans, Van Halen, Boxing, Boxers and Subscription Boxes as well as discussing how brands can stand out in an increasingly saturated headphone and music market. Let's jump right in!
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13 | Levi's vs. Burberry
Unlucky number 13, notably for WiFi strength in this episode... This is our ye olde fashion special. Levi's and Burberry - two brands founded in the mid 19th Century back when Sir Martin Sorrell was just a boy. We discuss the American Gold Rush, the Great British Weather, Daniella Westbrook, Football Hooligans, World Wars and Lloyd's new home town of Basingstoke whilst Chris spends the whole episode trying to stop himself making the whole episode about the history of denim. Enjoy!
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12 | NFL Special with Jamie King
This week is a HUGE one for us as we have mentioned a few times how we are big NFL fans and we have had the pleasure of chatting with Jamie King at NFL UK as we talk everything from how Twitter has helped shape and connect the American Football community, the difference watching the Super Bowl live in Miami to watching at home on the sofa like the rest of us, and debating one of life's big questions...is Tom Brady the GOAT?
Sit back, enjoy and don't forget to follow us on Instagram @brandwarspod
11 | Nespresso vs. Oatly
With its image of an AmEx-wielding, Hilton minibar-raiding elite global lifestyle repped by Gorgeous George, Nespresso (along with Starbucks) helped change the coffee world by bringing espresso-quality coffee into the home. But has that world moved on? A world now shaped by brands like Oatly - the Swedish oat milk maker who took on the dairy gods but making "milk, but made for humans." Let the Battle of the Baristas commence!
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10 | Brand News - Weetabix & Baked Beans
Brand Wars presents Brand News: The biggest news that unless you work in Social Media is not big news in any way. On this week's show...
We review The Internet's reaction to a worse combination than gale force winds on bin day, Twitter experiments with new revenue models, Facebook plans to copy Clubhouse (but will probably end up buying it) and Instagram is sick of your TikTok videos.
Last but not least... Rebecca Black drops 'Friday' remix on Wednesday and we find out what The Body Coach has been up to with the return of Joe Wicks Corner!
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9 | The North Face vs. New Balance
"10 years ago if you wore a North Face jacket with Reebok trainers you were a geography teacher. Nowadays you're going to see Skepta."
A staple of middle-England Dads, the utilitarian brands equally loved by hikers, adventurers, elite athletes as they are rappers, grime MCs, Supreme aficionados and even US Presidents.
How exactly did brands that started out as tents and arch supports grow into the boundaryless symbols of cool they are today?
Join Lloyd and Chris on an all-expenses paid trip through the ages of running gear and outerwear folklore.
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8 | Brand News - Memes take Precedence
Bernie Sanders wins Biden inauguration as the memes take precedence. Are Spotify's new podcast ads taking the mic? We also discuss Oatly's shaming of Dads who drink cow’s milk, Adidas' blockbuster esports sponsorship, Bandsintown is the new kid in Streamingtown and we check on the wellness of The Body Coach in our now weekly feature 'Joe Wicks Watch.'
Don't forget to follow us on Instagram @brandwarspod!
7 | Brand News - David Bowie lands on TikTok, Primark Under Pressure and All the Young Dudes head to Dubai!
What's happening in our World this week?
David Bowie lands on TikTok, Influencers scramble to justify exotic Dubai getaways in pandemic, Pokémon is celebrating its 25th anniversary with Katy Perry, Fortnite streamer TheGrefg breaks Twitch records with more than 2 million concurrent viewers, Primark refuses to go online despite £1bn lockdown loss and THAT Joe Wicks fart discussed!
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6 | Special - Brands to Watch in 2021
Special because we've cast aside the regular versus format and special because we've managed to keep it under an hour! Featuring NIO, Rivian, goPuff, Future Farm, Peloton, Clubhouse and we find out about Chris' million dollar toy collection.
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5 | IKEA vs. Volvo
The battle of the Swedes... Ulrika Jonsson vs. Sven-Göran Eriksson you ask? No not that one, the other one: IKEA vs. Volvo! We discuss the birthplace of flat-pack furniture, how IKEA products get their names and the IKEA wedding plus how did Volvo get their reputation for safety and does Zlatan actually do anything for the brand?
4 | Ray-Ban vs. Ben & Jerry’s
It's been a long time coming thanks to, chiefly, Chris' technical broadband issues but this week features two of our personal favourite brands - Everyone's go-to duty free sunglasses: Ray-Ban vs. a brand that's particularly close to Chris' heart: Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Enjoy!