The Marketing Hustle: Brand of the Match

"A personal brand is not you posting cocktails on holiday." That's the opening jab in round five of Brand of the Match.

This week's fight: who's the true champion of personal brand.Personal brand is the intentional building of an individual's profile to drive a business, career or commercial outcome, not just having a reputation or a following. In the fifth episode of Brand of the Match, Lottie and Joel put personal brand under the microscope, from Emma Grede's step into the limelight to promote her book after decades building brands behind the scenes, to Grace Beverly's radical transparency around motherhood, to SheerLuxe's internal agency model that turned staff into influencers and sold the business for a reported £40 million. Along the way they cover PerfectTed's LinkedIn culture and its Steven Bartlett origin story, Currys' employee generated content and the fallout between Dr Miami and a former employee over incentives and credit.

By full time, there's only one winner. Do you agree with the result? Tell them in the comments.

This episode is brought to you by Stickybeak, rapid consumer research built for FMCG marketers. Test packaging, concepts and campaigns with real people in under 48 hours. Find out more at stickybeak.co.

Follow Brand of the Match:

Joel Bjarni Marlinarson: Instagram & TikTok @coldestjoel, LinkedIn Joel Bjarni Marlinarson

Lottie Unwin: Instagram @lottieunwinmarketing, TikTok @lottieupworld, LinkedIn Lottie Unwin

Subscribe wherever you're listening, it makes a huge difference to the show.Timestamps: 00:00 - Coming up on Brand of the Match 00:47 - "May the best player win" 00:53 - Kick-off: Champion of Personal Brand 01:04 - Defining personal brand 01:21 - Counter: it's not just having followers, it's intentional business-building 01:43 - Yellow card: everyone already has a personal brand 02:36 - Yellow card volley: reputation versus personal brand for professional gain 03:10 - Landing on a shared definition 03:23 - Special mention: Emma Grede stepping into the limelight 04:36 - Grace Beverly and documenting motherhood in real time 06:03 - The moment of restraint: choosing not to share more 06:36 - Personal brand has to be intentional, not just engagement bait 07:08 - The hidden cost: emotional weight and thick skin 08:15 - Personal brand as a career necessity, especially on LinkedIn 08:48 - SheerLuxe: turning employees into influencers 09:55 - How SheerLuxe made it work: willing faces and a 20% cut 10:26 - Founders who treat personal brand as a threat 12:11 - Halftime: word from Stickybeak 12:22 - Second half: PerfectTed's Heinz collab, real or not 12:45 - The Steven Bartlett Vegas story behind PerfectTed's culture 13:23 - Personal brand only works with a genuine incentive 13:37 - Case study: Dr Miami and a former employee's fallout 14:14 - Should personal brand talent be on contractual terms 14:33 - Lottie's own experience: mandating it failed, fostering it worked 15:48 - Where the line sits: a photo versus scripted influencer work 15:59 - Currys' employee generated content and its enterprise value 16:28 - The risk of resentment, and AI-generated employees 16:39 - Shout out: Laura Roman of Up Talent 16:56 - Final whistle for this round 17:23 - SheerLuxe crowned Brand of the Match 17:39 - The British Airways deals, the 20% cut and the reported £40 million sale 18:07 - Crystal ball: personal brand still rare, but not for long 18:31 - Prediction: personal brand written into employment contracts 18:51 - Prediction: a personal brand strategist in every department 19:13 - Prediction: the return of the publicist 19:54 - Outro and how to follow the show

Virality is reach beyond the people who already follow you, whether that's a video hitting a million views or an idea landing at the school gates.

In the fourth episode of Brand of the Match, Lottie and Joel put virality under the microscope, Nothing's tech-brand-as-fashion-house TikTok strategy, to the real-or-engineered debate behind the KFC pickle jacket and the McDonald's CEO's burger bite. Along the way they cover Jet2's missed chance to turn Jess Glynn's holiday moment into a brand world, Wendy's sassy customer service voice, IKEA's Punch the Monkey turnaround, TOTM's period care regulation petition, and Liquid Death's $450 Ozzy Osbourne "DNA" cloning cans.
By full time, there's only one winner. Do you agree with the result? Tell them in the comments.
This episode is brought to you by Stickybeak, rapid consumer research built for FMCG marketers. Test packaging, concepts and campaigns with real people in under 48 hours. Find out more at stickybeak.co.
Follow Brand of the Match:
Joel Bjarni Marlinarson: Instagram & TikTok @coldestjoel, LinkedIn Joel Bjarni Marlinarson
Lottie Unwin: Instagram @lottieunwinmarketing, TikTok @lottieupworld, LinkedIn Lottie Unwin

Subscribe wherever you're listening, it makes a huge difference to the show.

Timestamps:00:00 - Coming up on Brand of the Match00:47 - "May the best player win"00:49 - Kick-off: Champion of Virality01:00 - Defining virality on short-form platforms01:54 - Virality as an idea, not just content: KFC's chicken shortage02:36 - It's the message that goes viral, not the messenger03:16 - Red card: "most brands know what's going to go viral"04:06 - Rimowa's DJ bag-fire backlash and the luxury risk04:33 - Compared to the Stanley Cup car-fire story04:41 - Red card: crediting the craft behind on-brand virality06:04 - Off-brand virality is hard too, and the case against rage bait06:37 - Wendy's Amy Brown and the individuals behind viral moments07:18 - IKEA's Punch the Monkey and Alisa Wardrope08:02 - Yellow card: nominating Nothing08:33 - Nothing's scrappy TikTok versus polished Instagram09:15 - Real or engineered: the KFC pickle jacket and McDonald's CEO10:17 - Counter: the follow-up is what makes McDonald's work11:07 - Jet2 and Jess Glynn's missed brand-building moment12:20 - Timing and red tape in big organisations12:48 - The lottery numbers metaphor for irrelevance versus risk14:12 - Everyone's a marketing expert now15:14 - The rotating-approver hack for cutting red tape15:59 - First impressions, and why not everything should go viral16:01 - Halftime: word from Stickybeak17:14 - Second half: Toot's period care petition18:01 - Shout out: Holly Ricks, Lizzie Steno and 17,000 signatures19:03 - Word of mouth: the WhatsApp group test19:56 - Why comment counts are a poor audience proxy20:19 - Liquid Death's $450 Ozzy Osbourne "DNA" cans21:36 - Red card: compared to Sydney Sweeney x Dr Squatch22:19 - Final whistle for this round22:44 - Nothing crowned Brand of the Match23:06 - Crystal ball: brands admitting virality hasn't served them24:08 - Prediction: valuing sustained strategy over viral hits25:00 - Outro and how to follow the show

Brand of the Match is back for round three, and this one's a scrap. Lottie Unwin and Joel Bjarni Marlinarson take on social campaigns: the channel everyone thinks they understand and almost nobody gets right.
A social campaign isn't a TV ad reposted on Instagram. It's built for social, from the ground up, with social as the destination. This week Lottie and Joel go head to head on Apple's unhinged new TikTok tone for the MacBook Neo launch, Hair Syrup's Dragon's Den underdog story turned comment-section cult following, Sult's founder-led rise on the back of co-founder Millie Goldsmith's own audience, All Things Butter and Bold Bean's recipe feeds that have become destinations in their own right, QuickBooks Studios' surprisingly brilliant YouTube series for creators, Duolingo's retreat from the unhinged tone it invented, Blank Street, Gap, OpenAI and more!  Only one brand walks away crowned Brand of the Match.
This episode is brought to you by Stickybeak, rapid consumer research built for FMCG marketers. Test packaging, concepts and campaigns with real people in under 48 hours. Find out more: stickybeak.co
0:00 — Intro: how the show works, red cards, yellow cards and the whistle

0:49 — Kick-off: Round three, Champion of Social Campaigns

1:07 — Defining a social campaign: content built for social as the destination

2:14 — Format switch for this round: pitch and judge

Apple's TikTok reinvention for the MacBook Neo launch

Yellow card: has Apple gone to "TikTok therapy" far too late

Apple's defence: product-specific, and a hedge against losing the AI race

Hair Syrup's Dragon's Den underdog story and comment-section community

8:49 — Segue into Salt

Salt's colour ownership, founder pull and the case for radical transparency

Does social buzz actually convert, and Salt's messaging gaps

14:11 — Half-time: the Stickybeak ad break

15:24 — Second half: All Things Butter and Bold Bean as recipe-content destinations

Boring businesses doing brilliant social: QuickBooks Studios on YouTube

Duolingo pulling back its unhinged tone of voice for Gen Alpha

Blank Street's Affogato Ball, treated like a fashion drop

Built's comedy writers' room and Gap's new chief entertainment officer

Gap's nostalgia-led comeback, leaning on Kelis's "Milkshake"

OpenAI's nostalgic art direction, winning the heart over the spec sheet

27:18 — Final whistle and verdict

27:51 — Red card: Bold Bean, for lacking episodic follow-through

28:11 — Gap crowned Brand of the Match for Social Campaigns

28:44 — Predictions: Snapchat, LinkedIn and Franco Manca's Strava play

29:53 — Prediction: more behind-the-scenes education on what a campaign actually takes

30:22 — Outro and how to follow the show

Joel Bjarni Marlinarson — Instagram & TikTok: @coldestjoel | LinkedIn: Joel Bjarni Marlinarson

Lottie Unwin — Instagram: @lottieunwinmarketing | TikTok: @lottieupworld | LinkedIn: Lottie Unwin

Subscribe wherever you listen, and drop a comment if you think we got the verdict wrong.

In This EpisodeFollow the Show

The Marketing Hustle, Brand of the Match. Champion of OOH.
Brand marketers have always argued about the best campaigns down the pub. Now Lottie Unwin and co-host Joel Bjarni Marlinarson are doing it properly, with red cards, yellow cards and a full-time whistle.
Out of home covers billboards, installations and anything you see out and about. But in the age of social, OOH is now curated to travel well beyond its physical location.
In the second episode of Brand of the Match, Lottie and Joel put out of home under the microscope. It's a channel as old as advertising itself, from Surreal's LinkedIn-native billboard mockups and Canva's genuine "make the logo bigger" takeover of Waterloo station, to TfL and Heineken Zero's confusing Bakerloo Line rebrand, to Rhode's headline-grabbing pimple patches at Coachella. Along the way they cover Pip & Nut's decade of the same squirrel, Lime Bike's reactive dig at London's tube strikes, Turo's shot at stealing Zipcar's audience, and Nike's provocative takeover of the London Marathon.
By full time, there's only one winner. Do you agree with the result? Tell us in the comments.
This episode is brought to you by Stickybeak, rapid consumer research built for FMCG marketers. Test packaging, concepts and campaigns with real people in under 48 hours. Find out more at stickybeak.co.
Follow Brand of the Match:
Joel Bjarni Marlinarson:
Instagram & TikTok @coldestjoel, LinkedIn Joel Bjarni MarlinarsonLottie Unwin: Instagram @lottieunwinmarketing, TikTok @lottieupworld, LinkedIn Lottie Unwin
Please subscribe wherever you're listening, it makes a huge difference to the show.
Timestamps:00:00 - Coming up on Brand of the Match00:47 - Countdown into round two00:53 - Kick-off: Champion of Out of Home01:15 - Out of home as old as advertising itself02:31 - Joel's spectrum: from LinkedIn mockups to full-spend campaigns03:25 - Surreal's copywriting-led fake billboards04:05 - Canva's real Waterloo station takeover05:38 - TfL x Heineken Zero's Baloo line rebrand07:24 - Rhode x Coachella's pimple patch stickers10:34 - Half time: word from Stickybeak11:45 - Second half kicks off11:55 - Pip & Nut's squirrel and the case for consistency14:11 - Lime Bike's reactive tube strike ads15:11 - Turo's dig at the collapsing Zipcar18:03 - Nike's London Marathon takeover23:01 - Final whistle for this round23:17 - Pip & Nut crowned Brand of the Match23:54 - Looking ahead: the future of out of home26:45 - Outro and how to follow the show

Welcome to Brand of the Match, a new series from The Marketing Hustle.
Lottie Unwin is joined by co-host Joel Bjarni Marlinarson (founder of Coldest Creative) to debate which brands are playing the partnership game best, red cards, yellow cards and all.
This week's category: Partnerships.
Lottie and Joel go head to head on Diet Coke x The Devil Wears Prada, Kit Kat's "stolen lorry" stunt, the London Marathon activations from Adidas, Nike and Hoka, Poppi's launch into Pret, Lucky Saint x Lime Bike, Unplugged x Damson Madder and Zendaya x Law Roach for On.
One winner gets crowned Brand of the Match.
Thank you to our sponsor Stickybeak — rapid consumer research built for FMCG marketers. Test packaging, concepts and campaigns with real people in under 48 hours.Find out more: stickybeak.co
0:00 — Intro: Lottie's background and the new co-host format
0:26 — Joel introduces Coldest Creative and the "brands as football teams" idea
0:47 — How the show works: red cards, yellow cards, the whistle and Brand of the Match
1:44 — Kick-off: Round one, Partnerships
Diet Coke x The Devil Wears Prada, and why it works when partnerships are the core of the idea, not an afterthought
Kit Kat's "stolen lorry" stunt and moving at social speed
London Marathon 2026: Adidas, Nike, Hoka and Wild Deodorant's last-minute activation
Why behind-the-scenes content is now outperforming the polished final asset
10:22 — Half-time: the Stickybeak ad break
11:35 — Second half: Poppi's launch into Pret, and whether it's a smart distribution play or a brand risk
Lucky Saint x Lime Bike, and building partnerships around habits people already have
Unplugged x Damson Madder's single-cabin collaboration
M&S's compliments campaign and the power of employees posting before the brand does
Zendaya x Law Roach for On, and the satirical "assistant" framing
Jacquemus and his grandmother: legacy as a partnership hook
Predictions: employee-led campaigns and the rise of "pay to access an audience" partnerships
23:05 — Final whistle and verdict
26:13 — On, with the Zendaya x Law Roach campaign, is crowned Brand of the Match
26:22 — Outro and how to follow the show

Drop us a follow!
Joel Bjarni Marlinarson — Instagram & TikTok: @coldestjoel | LinkedIn: Joel Bjarni Marlinarson
Lottie Unwin — Instagram: @lottieunwinmarketing | TikTok: @lottieupworld | LinkedIn: Lottie Unwin

Subscribe wherever you listen, and drop a comment if you think we got the verdict wrong.