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Podcast · 22 episodes

Scratch: CMO Interviews

by Rival · English

Why do some businesses grow faster than others? What do the marketers leading them do differently? How can we learn from them to grow our own businesses and careers? Scratch explores the world of challenger marketing - the thinkers and doers questioning the status quo and rewriting the marketing rule book ‘from scratch’. Each episode will dive deep into the experience and perspective of an industry thought leader to understand the unique insights and ideas that have powered their success. We will interview some of the biggest names in the marketing world - the people with the most interesting stories to tell. We’ll hear from the CMOs of the biggest brands in the world, but also the entrepreneurs building hyper-growth start-ups to really understand the full spectrum of challenger marketing today. We’ll get into the nitty gritty: the details of how they think and what they do differently in order to deliver simple, clear, and actionable lessons for all marketers. Scratch is the ‘How I Built This’ of marketing - we hope to inform and inspire a generation of marketers to grow their businesses and their careers like true challengers ‘from scratch’ every day.

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Rebundling Culture: How Cîroc is Building a Next-Gen Community in a Fragmented WorldHow brands can “rebundle” culture after microcultures and AI-driven content sameness—using constraints, taste/judgment, and community-led platforms rather than superficial AI output.10 Sep 2026 · 50 min · 21 chapters
The Death of Average: What Jumeirah Knows About Luxury That AI Doesn'tLuxury brand building in an AI era—why “average” marketing will commoditize experiences, and how Jumeirah uses AI to elevate (not flatten) guest experience through brand point of view, long-term…29 Jul 2026 · 49 min · 18 chapters
How Ladder became Apple's favorite app and made Hilary Duff the face of fitnessLadder’s contrarian marketing and growth playbook—how it built a strength-training app around expert programming, then scaled via organic TikTok/Instagram “creator engines,” and finally crossed into…24 Jun 2026 · 53 min · 18 chapters
Checkout.com’s Playbook for Beating Global Giants: Pick One Fight.Checkout.com’s marketing “challenger brand” playbook—how to win against global payments giants by picking one fight, breaking category norms, and building brand preference in B2B (while staying…10 Jun 2026 · 40 min · 19 chapters
The CMO Who Faked a Data Breach for Black Friday. The Payflex Playbook.Payflex CMO Tracy Lee Zurcha Campbell explains how to build trust and brand equity in controversial buy-now-pay-later fintech, balancing “radical honesty” with emotional brand positioning and…27 May 2026 · 45 min · 17 chapters
Social Is Becoming a Revenue Channel. Most CMOs Aren't ReadySocial is shifting from “vanity” follower growth to a measurable revenue channel driven by organic engagement, private conversations (comments/DMs), and AI-native workflows.13 May 2026 · 42 min · 19 chapters
750 Billion Dollars in Marketing Spend Is Being Wasted Every YearMarketing spend is largely wasted because traditional measurement relies on self-reported behavior and can’t access subconscious drivers; marketing is “broken” due to tool-chasing over craft and a…29 Apr 2026 · 46 min · 22 chapters
115 stores and coffee at 30,000feet; Bootlegger's Playbook for Dominating the CategoryHow Bootlegger (South Africa) builds and protects a “brand world” while scaling to 115 all-day cafes, staying consistent across channels, and using non-traditional growth plays like in-flight coffee…15 Apr 2026 · 49 min · 17 chapters
“The Apple of Toothbrushes”: How Suri is Disrupting the $10 Billion Oral Health Care IndustrySuri’s challenge to the oral-care incumbents by redesigning the electric toothbrush around design-led performance, sustainability, and fast, performance-driven marketing—earning “Apple of…1 Apr 2026 · 50 min · 16 chapters
“Listen Loudly”: How the World's Largest Credit Union Thinks Like a Challenger Brand“Listen Loudly”: How the World's Largest Credit Union Thinks Like a Challenger Brand18 Mar 2026 · 42 min · 13 chapters
Community beats influencers: How Grind Coffee became the UK's most popular coffee brandIn this episode, Eric Fulwiler hosts a discussion with Stacey Fitzgerald, Brand Director, and Frankie Cook, Brand Marketing Lead at Grind Coffee.4 Mar 2026 · 53 min · 21 chapters
How Satisfy Built The Most Adored Brand In RunningThe podcast explores the unique marketing philosophy of Satisfy, a trail running apparel brand, as discussed by Daniel Groh, the Chief Brand Officer.16 Feb 2026 · 45 min · 22 chapters
How Brompton Built One of the Biggest Brands In CyclingHow Brompton Built One of the Biggest Brands In Cycling28 Jan 2026 · 47 min · 17 chapters
Inside Webflow’s Bet on an AI-Native Web and What That Means For CMOsIn this episode of the Scratch podcast, Eric Fulwiler interviews Adrian Rosenkranz, Chief Revenue Officer at Webflow.14 Jan 2026 · 46 min · 26 chapters
Rewriting The Sports Marketing Playbook: How Manors Is Becoming The Most Memorable Brand In GolfIn this episode of Scratch, host Viren Samani interviews Alex Ames, Marketing Director at Manors Golf, a challenger brand revitalizing the golf industry with creativity and cultural relevance.10 Dec 2025 · 1 h 4 min
Roots before Reach: YETI's Playbook To Building an Iconic BrandYETI's Playbook To Building an Iconic Brand19 Nov 2025 · 35 min
From Cornwall to the World: How Finisterre’s community marketing strategy built a global brandIn this episode of Scratch, host Eric Fulwiler interviews Bronwen Foster-Butler, CMO of Finisterre, a cold-water surf brand originating from Cornwall.29 Oct 2025 · 48 min
Inside Salesforce’s Marketing Machine: CMO Ariel Kelman on AI, Data, and the Future of MarketingIn this episode of Scratch: CMO Interviews, Ariel Kelman, President and CMO of Salesforce, discusses how challenger marketing principles apply even to category leaders like Salesforce.13 Oct 2025 · 47 min
Ocean Bottle’s Secret to Scaling Impact With 2 Billion Plastic Bottlesis a podcast that dives into challenger marketing, exploring what differentiates successful marketers and companies.8 Oct 2025 · 37 min
How Barclays Adopts a Challenger Mindset to Innovate a 300-Year-Old BrandBarclays’ CMO Lily Tomovich explains how a “challenger mindset” and customer-experience obsession drive innovation at a 300+ year-old bank, balancing digital efficiency with “human” support and…24 Sep 2025 · 42 min · 14 chapters
The Secret Marketing Playbook Behind Burger King, Popeyes, & Tim HortonsDaniel Bloomer, CMO of AMIA (Restaurant Brands International: Burger King, Popeyes, Tim Hortons, Firehouse Subs), explains how he transformed RBI’s marketing approach in EMEA—shifting from…16 Jul 2025 · 36 min · 13 chapters
Scratch Special: How Baby Eric & Baby Jenna Survived Cannes 2025The hosts (Eric Fulweiler and “Baby Jenna”) recap “10 takeaways from Cannes 2025,” framed as how marketing agencies should respond to industry shifts: Big holding companies (“big six”) losing…11 Jul 2025 · 37 min · 15 chapters