From Bread to Brand: How Gail’s Built an In-House Creative Engine - Ep 65
An in-house agency at a bakery? Gail’s Head of Brand, Charlotte Gunn, reveals how she codified the brand, built a creative studio from scratch and turned bakeries into brand experiences.Welcome to the Marketing Hustle - a podcast about the real work behind building bold brands. We go behind the scenes with founders and marketing leaders to hear honest, unfiltered stories of what actually drives growth and cuts through the noise to build something that lasts.Today’s guest is Charlotte Gunn, Head of Brand at Gail’s Bakery - the fast-scaling chain that’s rewriting what a “bakery brand” means in the UK. Charlotte was tasked with two huge challenges: codify the brand so everyone in the business knows what “being on-brand” means and build an in-house creative team that could replace traditional agencies.In this conversation, Charlotte opens up about what it takes to run a brand-led creative studio inside a food business, why brand lives in experiences (not guidelines) and how Gail’s has made brand everyone’s job – from bakery managers to ops teams. We also dive into:Why in-housing creative makes sense for scale-ups (not just Adidas or Lego)How Gail’s trains 170 bakeries to deliver consistent brand experiencesThe “brilliant basics & magic moments” framework powering community loveWhy storytelling, not campaigns, is the real moat for growing food brandsHow to protect brand soul while scaling 40+ new bakeries a yearThis is a masterclass in brand-building that goes way beyond croissants.
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The CMO Who Turned Content Into a Traffic-Driving Growth Engine at Carwow - Ep 64
60% of traffic. 1.6 billion views. A YouTube celebrity in-house. Carwow CMO Ben Carter reveals how they built a content machine so powerful, it became their moat and their moneymaker.Welcome to the Marketing Hustle - a podcast about the real work behind building bold brands. We go behind the scenes with founders and marketing leaders to hear honest, unfiltered stories of what actually drives growth and cuts through the noise to build something that lasts.Today’s guest is Ben Carter, CMO of Carwow - one of the most quietly disruptive brands in the UK. In this episode, Ben shares the inside story of how content became their unfair advantage: 60% of their traffic is free. Their YouTube channel boasts 10 million subscribers and 1.6 billion views. And their in-house presenter? Recognised by 25% of UK men.But this conversation is about far more than content.Ben opens up about losing his job unexpectedly and what it really takes to lead inside a Series E business during economic uncertainty.We also dive into:How CarWow raised $52M in Series E funding from Bessemer and othersWhy first-party data and retail media are the real goldmine for modern marketersThe death of SEO as we know it and the coming AI-ification of searchWhy most CMOs are either too brand or too performance and what it means to be bothThe future of jobs, AI, and marketing orgs in the next 5 yearsThis is an honest, high-intensity and highly strategic episode for anyone trying to scale a brand, build a resilient team, or keep up with the seismic shifts reshaping marketing today.
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Building a Team of 20 Experts, 3 Businesses & a Podcast: Behind the Brand Strategy of a Serial Founder - Ep 63
In this bold, brilliantly honest episode, Marketer and Founder of Sprowt Carly Osman Holmes turns the tables on Brand Hackers founder Lottie Unwin for a no-holds-barred chat on marketing’s biggest problems and possibilities. From the rise of tactical fluff to the cult of hot takes, Lottie opens up about what’s broken, what’s working and how we fix it. Together, they pull apart the myths around personal brand, purpose-led fluff and why most teams are running on fumes. Essential listening for anyone who actually wants to sell stuff (and still sleep at night).Welcome to the Marketing Hustle – a podcast about the real work behind building bold brands. We go behind the scenes with founders and marketing leaders to hear honest, unfiltered stories of what actually drives growth and cuts through the noise to build something that lasts.In this bonus episode, Carly Osman Holmes interviews Lottie Unwin in a refreshingly candid deep dive into the state of marketing today. They unpack the dangerous drift toward tactical thinking, the dilution of “challenger brand” into pure aesthetic and why many marketers have lost their strategic edge. Lottie shares her unfiltered views on building a commercial brand, navigating AI hype and why clarity, curiosity and ruthless prioritisation are key. From team burnout to the future of personal branding, this episode is a real-time reflection on what it takes to build smart, resilient brands in 2025.Want 30% off Valerie? Type "CARLYOH" into the checkout at wearevalerie.com.Follow Lottie: https://linktr.ee/themarketinghustleFollow Carly: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlyosman/Listen on Apple & Spotify: https://linktr.ee/themarketinghustle
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From Three Businesses to One Baby: Startup Lessons from the Edge of Mat Leave - Ep 61
She built not one, but three businesses - and now she’s planning to step away. In this special episode, Brand Hackers founder Lottie Unwin gets grilled by Koru Kids CEO Rachel Carrell on the messy truth of scaling, letting go and leading with impact. From how to not be that annoying founder, to the AI shifts no one’s ready for – this is a raw, witty and essential listen for anyone building something that matters.Welcome to the Marketing Hustle – a podcast about the real work behind building bold brands. We go behind the scenes with founders and marketing leaders to hear honest, unfiltered stories of what actually drives growth and cuts through the noise to build something that lasts.In this episode, the mic flips and founder Lottie Unwin sits in the hot seat. Interviewed by Rachel Carrell – founder of childcare platform Koru Kids and self-confessed AI obsessive – this conversation dives deep into the challenges of leading a fast-growing business, being a marketing-led founder, and how not to drive your marketing team mad.They cover everything from how to hire a maternity cover CMO (spoiler: think strategically, not symmetrically) to why most job descriptions are stuck in 2019. Lottie also opens up about planning for mat leave as a founder of three businesses, building a rocket-ship team at Brand Hackers and how LinkedIn changed everything for her.Candid, sharp, and full of hard-won wisdom - this is essential listening for anyone juggling leadership, legacy and life transitions.
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The CMO Who Scaled to 120 Million Users on a Shoestring Budge - Ep 60
He scaled a mission-led brand from 50 million to 120 million users. Now he’s revealing the truth behind it all. Former Too Good To Go CMO Ivo van den Brand opens up about imposter syndrome, emotional leadership, and why most people misunderstand what a CMO actually does. Bold, honest and essential listening for anyone building a brand.Welcome to the Marketing Hustle - a podcast about the real work behind building bold brands. We go behind the scenes with founders and marketing leaders to hear honest, unfiltered stories of what actually drives growth and cuts through the noise to build something that lasts. Today’s guest is someone you may not know by name, but you’ve almost certainly used the app he helped scale to over 120 million users across 19 countries: Too Good To Go.Ivo van den Brand is the outgoing CMO of one of the most successful mission-driven brands in Europe and in this episode, he opens up about what it really took to lead a business at that scale - what worked, what didn’t and what he wishes more marketers understood.But this conversation goes way beyond food waste or app growth.It’s about the real job of being a CMO - why it’s more about leadership than marketing and how to stay grounded in a mission-led business without burning out. Ivo speaks candidly about imposter syndrome, pressure and navigating company-wide change while still showing up with empathy.It’s honest, it’s sharp and it’s full of insights for anyone growing a career - or a brand - with purpose. Follow Lottie: https://linktr.ee/themarketinghustleListen on Apple & Spotify: https://linktr.ee/themarketinghustle
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