Embracing Marketing Mistakes

In this episode, we’re joined by Rachel Massey, Director of Marketing at Huthwaite International. She talks us through one of the most stressful moments of her career and what it was like to deal with it in real time.
We dig into a cringe-worthy marketing mistake involving a high-profile exhibition stand with "sofware" misspelled across the entire structure, leading to three days of anxiety while hiding the error from company executives and thousands of visitors.
• Six-figure exhibition stand at Excel London featured a prominent spelling mistake that went unnoticed by everyone except a competitor
 • Decision to avoid drawing attention to the typo rather than attempting a last-minute correction
 • Psychological impact of spending three full days at an exhibition expecting to be called out at any moment
 • Revelation that many people don't notice spelling errors in familiar words because our brains fill in what we expect to see
 • Additional stories of marketing mishaps including press release errors and mass mailings with embarrassing typos
 • The universal experience of having to sometimes employ the "ostrich approach" when mistakes can't be fixed
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She went globally viral. Overnight, she faced death threats, abuse and media frenzy reaching across continents. This is the story of how PRCA CEO Sarah Waddington rebuilt, refocused and reshaped the PR industry in the middle of chaos.
In this episode of Embracing Marketing Mistakes, Sarah Waddington CBE breaks down the viral moment that changed her life, the hidden pressures of PR leadership and the uncomfortable truths about misinformation, trolls and industry standards.
We cover her journey into strategic advisory, the fight against fake experts, the realities of agency life in a tough economy and the role PR must play in repairing a fractured society.
Whether you’re a PR leader, agency founder or senior marketer, this is essential listening.
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Katie Tucker is a marketing strategist who helps teams truly understand their customers so they can build products that sell. She works with companies of all sizes, offering practical support, training, and discovery sprints that cut through the noise and get results.
But even she’s made the kind of mistake she warns others about. Despite her expertise in customer discovery, she once created a family travel course without doing proper market research, assuming her personal experience and enthusiasm would be enough. It wasn’t. The course never launched, and COVID-19 ended up saving her from what would have been a costly flop. It was a sharp reminder that even seasoned pros can forget the basics when emotion gets in the way of evidence.
• Built a social media following while on a family gap year travel adventure
• Created a comprehensive course teaching others how to travel with children
• Secured prominent media coverage in The Times with a link to the course
• Made the classic mistake of only getting feedback from friends and family
• Felt immense pressure for the venture to succeed after quitting a regular job
• COVID-19 halted all travel plans, inadvertently preventing a potential business failure
• Learned that professional expertise doesn't make you immune to marketing blind spots

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Chris Norton and Will Ockenden of Prohibition PR unpack what modern media interviews really feel like for leaders today. They move past the old PR textbook and talk frankly about hot mic blunders, off‑record comments that never stayed off the record and the way journalists now hunt for viral moments. Their stories make the risks feel real, but the tone stays grounded rather than dramatic.
Let them take you through a practical approach to landing messages with confidence in a digital‑first environment. Chris and Will explain how to prepare properly, handle awkward questions and speak with the kind of clarity that holds up on camera. The advice is direct, usable and built for anyone who represents a brand when the stakes are high and the margin for error is tiny.
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Rich Mullholland, Founder of Missing Link and a presentation company leader, shares how his eloquence led to convincing himself of incorrect strategies that nearly cost him their business after the pandemic. 

His decision to permanently close their unique office space following initial online success eliminated their word-of-mouth marketing engine and created significant challenges.

• Being skilled at persuasion can lead to convincing yourself of incorrect ideas
• During lockdown, the presentation company initially went to zero revenue
• By August, they achieved their best month in 18 months with no live events
• September became their best month in 24 years as presenters needed online training
• They permanently closed their unique office with distinctive features
• The office closure unknowingly destroyed their word-of-mouth marketing engine
• Staff became distributed across multiple locations, making office reopening difficult
• By the time they realised the mistake, they lacked the resources to create a new remarkable space
• The experience taught them about the importance of recognising when a pivot is just a "swinging door"
Is your strategy still right in 2026? Book a free 15-min no obligation discovery call with our host: 👉 [Book your call with Chris now] 👈

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