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Call To Action

Call To Action

Written by: Giles Edwards
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 Feel better about marketing™ The go-to podcast for anyone trying to make sense of the world of marketing, business and beyond. In an industry that is a minefield of utter bollocks, we aim to capture our heroes and allies from the front line to have a chin-wag with.

It’s like Pokémon Go, with the single but vital exception that it’s not a short-term bandwagon of shite.

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Episodes
  • 172: Tim Delaney on building one of ad-land’s most brilliant careers

    172: Tim Delaney on building one of ad-land’s most brilliant careers
    Dec 12 2025
    This week we made our way through twenty rolls of ‘Word a Day’ toilet paper – not (entirely) because of tummy trouble, but in order to impress one of the world’s greatest wielders of words, copywriting legend Tim Delaney.

    An advertiser who made all of advertising try harder with their adverts, Tim is of course the founder of the famous Leagas Delaney agency as well as being one of the all-time great copywriters.

    You’ll no doubt have spent much time gawping at and/or weeping over some of his most iconic work – including some extraordinary campaigns for Harrods, Adidas and Nationwide. He’s also the creative brain behind the unforgettable ‘Perfect Day’ film for the BBC – giving the world the briefest sniff of what a Bowie/Boyzone collaboration might have been.

    Wildly successful in both the building of an agency and the writing of copy, Tim is also one of advertising’s most compelling talkers of sense – with a philosophy built around strategic thinking, disciplined work and a healthy appreciation for the value of intuition.

    In a chat where we skid quickly and wildly away from what we laughably called ‘the agenda’, Tim takes us on an entertaining and eye-opening journey through one of the most remarkable lives in the creativity game.

    This episode is proudly dedicated to Tom Harrington.

    Follow Tim on LinkedIn

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    Timestamps

    04:40 - First Job in Advertising
    06:45 - Transitioning to Copywriting
    09:40 - Early Days in Advertising
    12:49 - The Band Experience
    14:03 - From Music to Advertising
    19:07 - Climbing the Advertising Ladder
    22:11 - The Role of Creativity in Advertising
    29:03 - Challenges at BNP
    30:41 - Understanding Advertising's Mystique
    34:08 - The Impact of Technology on Advertising
    39:39 - Enthusiasm for Newcomers
    43:53 - Advice for Junior Copywriters
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    56 mins
  • 171: Kazeem Jamal on the importance of finding the funny side

    171: Kazeem Jamal on the importance of finding the funny side
    Oct 24 2025
    This week we’ve been out every night, committing crimes (twocking Nokias, cussing at ducklings, stealing the dust caps off your dad’s tyres) all to attract the attention of South-London Batman himself – and this week’s guest – Kazeem Jama.

    A comedian so entertaining he almost makes you hate yourself slightly less for being on Instagram all the goddam time, Kazeem has been liberally lubricating the amusement pipes on the BBC, Comedy Central and the Mobo Awards.

    Before comedy grabbed him by the earlobe and dragged him over to the funny side, Kazeem spent decades working in the education sector, primarily with children with special needs and in alternative education – making him humorous and kind-hearted enough to make us all feel really bad about our own decisions, especially the terrible stuff we said to those ducklings.

    This episode is proudly dedicated to the people who shaped Kazeem: his mum, his dad, his kids, and all the doubters along the way.

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    Follow Kazeem on Instagram and Facebook
    Watch the videos that has us cracking up: Frozen and Waze
    Sign up to the mailing list
    To go see him live: tickets here.

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    Timestamps

    02:50 - Kazim's Uncommon Path: From Rugby to Comedy
    07:51 - Ownership: The Key to Kazim's Comedy Journey
    11:26 - Drama Class: The Shy Comedian's Dilemma
    12:52 - Channelling Frustration: The Sports Outlet
    18:30 - Stage vs. Socials: The Comedy Landscape
    21:26 - Navigating Tough Topics: Kazim's Approach
    27:06 - The Unexpected Funeral Laugh
    31:03 - Nine-to-Five vs. Comedy Dreams: The Struggle
    34:08 - Attention, Skill, Monetizing: The Comedy Cycle
    39:03 - The Art of Not Giving a Damn: Embracing the Process
    42:48 - Comedy Contracts: The Safe Space Agreement
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    57 mins
  • 170: Marcus du Sautoy on how to see the stories in numbers

    170: Marcus du Sautoy on how to see the stories in numbers
    Sep 19 2025
    This week we rented the top 3 maths movies of all time – A Beautiful Mind, The Imitation Game and 3 Men and a Baby – all in order to be mathematically competent enough to share a pod with one of the world’s greatest number nibblers, Marcus du Sautoy.

    So highly acclaimed and awarded, we could have filled the entire podcast by listing out his many achievements, Marcus is perhaps best known as a Professor in Mathematics, Fellow of the Royal Society and Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University.

    But, as well as being one of the very smartest people on the planet, he’s also one of the most engaging and enlightening speakers on the unexpected stories to be found in numbers, having written for several national newspapers and appeared on a number of mathematically-inclined TV shows including Mind Games, The Story of Maths and The Code (not to be confused with The Cube).

    By now you’ve probably run out of fingers to tally up all the brilliant things he’s done, so we shall just wrap up by saying he’s also the author of a series of superb books examining the relationship between maths, creativity, music, games and more – including Blue Prints, The Music of Primes and The Creativity Code.

    (Basically, the fact that it took us all this time to mention he’s also an OBE tells you all you need to know. He’s an impressive dude.)

    In an episode where Giles wears his disappointing GCSE results like a hi-vis vest of inadequacy, we ponder the search for meaning in numbers and how the stories behind them can help shape ideas and solve problems.

    This episode is proudly dedicated to Mr Baleson.

    Follow Marcus on LinkedIn

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    Timestamps

    04:17 - The Influence of a Great Teacher
    06:03 - Mathematics as a Language and Creative Outlet
    08:44 - The Intersection of Mathematics and the Arts
    12:08 - Exploring Creativity in Mathematics
    15:17 - The Relationship Between Structure and Artistic Expression
    21:10 - The Cicada's Prime Number Life Cycle
    30:51 - Patterns and Expectations in Art and Comedy
    33:09 - The Role of Mathematics in Problem Solving
    43:15 - The Importance of Storytelling in Science
    46:25 - The Search for Meaning in Numbers
    48:13 - The Dual Nature of Scientific Thinking

    Marcus’ Book recommendations are:

    A Mathematician’s Apology by G.H. Hardy

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    Show More Show Less
    56 mins
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