Embracing Marketing Mistakes
Welcome to Embracing Marketing Mistakes, the world’s leading irreverent podcast for senior marketers who are tired of the polished corporate b*llshit.
Join Chris Norton and Will Ockenden, founders of the award-winning Prohibition PR, as they sit down with industry leaders to dissect the career-ending f*ck-ups they’d rather forget. The show moves past any pretty vanity metrics to uncover the brutal, honest truths behind marketing disasters, from £30,000 SEO black holes and completely failed companies, to social media crises that went globally viral for all the wrong reasons.
We don't just celebrate the f*ck-ups; we extract the tactical blueprints you need to avoid them yourself. If you are a business owner, or a CMO looking for a competitive advantage that only comes from real-world experience, this is your weekly masterclass in resilience and strategy.
- Listen for: Raw stories from top brands, ex-McKinsey strategists, and industry disruptors.
- Learn from: The errors that cost thousands and the recoveries that saved careers.
- Get ahead by: Turning other people's nasty disasters into your unfair market advantage.
If you have a story to tell and would like to appear on the show, tell us your biggest marketing mistake and drop us a line.
Embracing Marketing Mistakes
The Costly Hiring Habit That Nearly Broke Sarah Clay’s Business
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Ever hired someone just because you clicked with them? You are not alone. In this candid episode, our guest admits to recruiting based on personality instead of business needs. The result was duplicate roles, major skill gaps, and tough decisions that still sting years later.
From letting go of an “amazing assistant” before the pandemic, a decision they still regret, to realizing the need for complementary skills over similar personalities, this is an honest look at one of entrepreneurship’s most common and costly mistakes.
The turning point came when they recognized the problem and invested in professional hiring help, creating stronger and more balanced teams. Whether you are making your first hire or managing a growing company, this episode offers lessons that can help you avoid the same pitfalls.
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Got a marketing problem you would rather not admit to? Reply to this and we will answer it anonymously on the show.
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