Uncensored CMO

In this episode, we deep dive into the irrational world of customer behaviour with legendary behavioural economist Dan Ariely. Dan reveals why were all predictably wrong, how tiny invisible cues can radically change price perception, and why effort makes things feel more valuable. We also unpack the real reason people fall for misinformation, how to rebuild trust in broken industries like insurance, and why letting customers choose their own price might just be your smartest move. If you want to understand what truly drives decisions and how to use that insight to become a better marketer this ones unmissable.

Timestamps:

00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:50 - The story of Dan Arielys half beard
00:07:53 - Dans painful introduction into behavioural science
00:11:46 - Reaction to Jons house tragedy
00:15:11 - The hidden truths revealed by social science
00:21:43 - Invisible vs visible motivation
00:29:20 - How Dan would change insurance companies
00:33:30 - Lemonade insurance example
00:35:39 - Why the human brain is a vintage Swiss Army knife
00:38:08 - How context radically changes price perception (the relativity effect)
00:45:01 - Why you should let your customer choose their own price
00:47:11 - Why economists donate the least to charities
00:49:58 - Why effort greatly increases your price perception
01:00:06 - The real cause of misinformation and why it isnt what you might think
01:12:18 - What will be Dan Arielys new book?
01:13:38 - Why we are so afraid of mistakes

Rory Sutherland returns to the Uncensored CMO podcast, tackling the economic crisis with his signature wit and wisdom. As ever, he offers a refreshingly unconventional perspective on the world’s biggest problems — and marketing’s role in solving them.

In this episode, Rory explores why marketing is more like a casino than a science, how to capitalise on your competitors’ blind spots, and what his unexpected TikTok fame has taught him. Expect laughs, left-field insights, and the kind of brilliantly bizarre anecdotes only Rory can deliver.

Timestamps

00:00 - Intro
01:03 - Are we looking in the wrong place for growth?
05:33 - Should we slow down our adoption of AI?
09:08 - What marketers and the police have in common
14:40 - Marketing is a casino
17:42 - The most transformative behavioural science insights
19:47 - Take what your competition are doing badly and double down on it
26:20 - Fame is a luck multiplier
32:43 - Why AO add bears to every order
37:19 - How Rory would boost growth in the economy?
47:13 - What has Rory been profoundly wrong about and why

Scott Galloway (Prof G) has returned to the Uncensored CMO podcast for a second time, in a special live episode. Galloway is Professor of Marketing at NYU Stern School of Business and host of the Prof G and Pivot podcasts. He joins Jon in a special live episode in London and lives up to his billing as the most uncensored guest of all time. Scott takes big swings at the advertising industry throughout the episode - despite the audience of CMOs - claiming that the days of the CMO are numbered. He continues with his damning commentary on why the era of brand is dead, why rage is the new sex, why young men are in trouble and what marketers need to do in the age of AI.

Timestamps

00:00 - Intro
02:15 - How does Scott deal with the online negativity?
09:00 - Why the CEO saviours of social media won’t be turning up
16:13 - Scott’s thoughts on the Adolescence Netflix show
23:51 - Why marketers need to do the hard things
27:56 - How does Prof G assess a business opportunity
33:36 - What corporate employees can learn from entrepreneurship
40:22 - Why the CMOs days are numbered
47:33 - How should marketers approach AI
56:06 - What things has Prof G been profoundly wrong about

Thank you to System1 for making the live event possible.

Credits

Host: Jon Evans
Executive Producer: James McKinven
Director: Kerry Collinge
Event management: Lara Zwirn, Gen Norris
Social media: Sam Price
Event graphics: Colin Jenkinson
Production: Kinura

Live from Adobe Summit in Las Vegas, in this bonus triple header, Jon speaks with Colin Fleming (ServiceNow), Stacy Martinet (Adobe) and Billy Seabrook (IBM) about the hot topic in marketing today, AI, and what a new wave of agentic AI technology means for marketers.

Timestamps

00:00 - Intro
00:51 - Part 1: Colin Fleming
01:51 - The things people don’t understand about B2B marketing
03:32 - How AI is having an impact on marketing
05:29 - ServiceNow’s relationship with Adobe
06:21 - Advice to marketers to stay on cutting edge of AI
08:47 - Part 2: Billy Seabrook IBM
09:17 - Where are we on this AI journey
11:31 - Principles of an effective campaign using AI
13:02 - How effective has AI been for IBM
18:16 - What’s next when AI at scale becomes the norm?
21:08 - AI: a threat or an opportunity?
22:06 - Part 3: Stacy Martinet
22:33 - Stacy’s role at Adobe
23:18 - What makes great marketing for marketers?
24:12 - Communicating all the changes in marketing (specifically with AI)
25:15 - What is Agentic AI and what are it’s use cases?
28:27 - How technology is used to enhance creativity
30:31 - Tips on how to utilize agentic AI
31:43 - How to future proof our marketing
32:48 - What goes into creating an event like Adobe Summit

00:00 - Intro
00:51 - Part 1: Colin Fleming
01:51 - The things people don’t understand about B2B marketing
03:32 - How AI is having an impact on marketing
05:29 - ServiceNow’s relationship with Adobe
06:21 - Advice to marketers to stay on cutting edge of AI
08:47 - Part 2: Billy Seabrook IBM
09:17 - Where are we on this AI journey
11:31 - Principles of an effective campaign using AI
13:02 - How effective has AI been for IBM
18:16 - What’s next when AI at scale becomes the norm?
21:08 - AI: a threat or an opportunity?
22:06 - Part 3: Stacy Martinet
22:33 - Stacy’s role at Adobe
23:18 - What makes great marketing for marketers?
24:12 - Communicating all the changes in marketing (specifically with AI)
25:15 - What is Agentic AI and what are it’s use cases?
28:27 - How technology is used to enhance creativity
30:31 - Tips on how to utilize agentic AI
31:43 - How to future proof our marketing
32:48 - What goes into creating an event like Adobe Summit

Seth Matlins is the Managing Director of the Forbes Forbes CMO Network, where he oversees the annual Forbes World's Most Influential CMOs List, the Forbes Entrepreneurial CMO 50 List, the Forbes CMO Summit, the Forbes European CMO Summit, and an expanding marketing content portfolio. Seth is an award-winning marketer, who has spent a career in and advising the C-suite of dozens of the 100 most valuable brands globally.

Timestamps

00:00 - Intro
00:45 - Seth’s new podcast
02:58 - Why are there not enough CMOs becoming CEOs
05:28 - Marketing needs much better marketing
07:36 - Seth’s career history
08:00 - Working jobs that have never existed before
11:41 - Scars from being a failed entrepreneur
13:24 - Making unexpected connections between fields
18:23 - Why organisations need to trust their marketers
20:26 - What makes a CMO influential
26:29 - Everyone is a brand manager
28:35 - How CMOs can be more influential
35:13 - The world’s most entrepreneurial CMOs
41:12 - What makes a CMO entrepreneurial
46:22 - Doing a lot with little
47:02 - What is changing for CMOs in 2025