TWICM 223: Ex Telstra & IAG CMO Brent Smart on The Creative Conviction That Changes Businesses

Brent Smart, former CMO of Telstra and IAG, joins That’s What I Call Marketing to discuss how creative conviction builds brands, changes businesses and makes marketing more effective.

From rebuilding NRMA Insurance around its heritage of help to changing how Australians felt about Telstra, Brent explains how to get a business behind bold creative work, protect brand investment under pressure and give it time to deliver commercial results.

In this episode, we cover:

– Why influencing people and protecting ideas are essential skills for a CMO.

– How Brent brought NRMA’s “help” positioning back to life and why employee pride matters for customer experience.

– How to balance current demand with future demand without sacrificing long-term growth for this quarter’s targets.

– How Telstra challenged corporate advertising conventions with 26 short, stop-motion films during the Olympics.

– Why craft is a strategic choice and how it can signal a premium brand.

– How holdout tests and switching activity off can help reveal what your marketing is contributing.

A useful listen for marketers interested in brand building, creativity, marketing effectiveness, CMO leadership, agency relationships and commercial impact.

That’s What I Call Marketing is the podcast for marketers who care about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Follow the show for more conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, professors, authors, thinkers and practitioners.

Find more episodes at: https://www.thatswhaticallmarketing.com

Timestamps

03:13 Missing law school by one mark

05:41 What agencies teach future CMOs

10:05 Protecting creative ideas inside a corporation

16:08 Marketing science: Australia, the UK and America

18:37 Moving from agency CEO to insurance CMO

23:12 Why low-involvement categories need creativity

25:35 Rebuilding NRMA around help and heritage

30:09 Balancing current demand and future demand

35:58 Making the commercial case for brand investment

39:55 Telstra’s reputation challenge and customer research

43:18 The Olympic campaign: 26 films, one better network

46:27 Why craft is a strategic choice

48:06 Holdout tests and learning by switching things off

50:43 What Brent wants to do next

Further reading

Explore the Telstra Playbook from Future Demand:

https://community.futuredemand.com/playbooks/the-telstra-playbook

Brent also discusses Future Demand by James Hurman and its practical distinction between converting today’s buyers and building demand among the people who will buy in the future.

Episode partner: Tracksuit

This episode is brought to you in partnership with Tracksuit, the always-on brand tracking platform. Tracksuit helps marketers understand brand performance over time and bring evidence into conversations about brand investment with business leaders.

Find out more: https://www.gotracksuit.com

That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.

Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.

Listen, follow and find more episodes at: https://www.thatswhaticallmarketing.com

Connect with Conor on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/conorbyrneirl/

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