The Brand Hunch
Building a brand is hard, but proving its ROI is harder. The Brand Hunch podcast explores how top brand and marketing leaders are bridging the gap between creative hunches and their bottom line, with persectives from Canva, Specsavers, RM Williams, Kantar, Who Is Elijah, and so many more. Because sometimes, the more you believe in a creative direction, the harder it is to defend it... especially when boardroom pressure pushes you toward the predictable path. I’m your host, Lindsay Rogers, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Sydney-based brand growth agency, Chello. In my experience, the hardest part of building a great brand isn't having the idea; it's operationalising it so the whole business feels it and lives it. Each episode, we get into the weeds with CMOs, founders, and revenue leaders who are proving that brand is the ultimate commercial driver. We skip the surface-level advice to uncover the real stories: the instincts they fought for, the ways they connected brand love to the bottom line, and their approach to growing great brands.
If you prefer to read interviews, check out our Substack: https://thebrandhunch.substack.com/
And if you're interested in what we do at Chello, check out our website https://www.chello.com.au/ or get in touch at hello@chello.com.au 👋
Episodes
38 episodes
Future Demand’s Telstra playbook with James Hurman & Brent Smart
In a world where brands struggle to balance immediate sales and long-term growth, two marketing powerhouses share their secrets for sustainable success. In this episode, Lindsay is joined by Brent Smart, former CMO of Telstra, and James Hurman,...
The two-channel strategy: using focus as your secret weapon for growth
Jaimee Vilela spent fifteen years running marketing for other people's brands before backing a hunch and purchasing Cooki Haircare, a shampoo bar business doing four sales a day. Two and a half years later, it's doing roughly 300 sales a day D2...
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The great Australian lamb ads: mastering long-term creative consistency
Nathan Low spent fifteen years at Unilever before landing the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer role at Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA), where he now looks after the iconic Lamb and Beef campaigns Aussies know so well. In this epi...
The transformer mindset: why the best marketers own the numbers, not just the brand
From Arnott's to My Muscle Chef, me&u and now Verandah Brands, Clementine Churchill has built a career on refusing to separate marketing from the rest of the business. In this episode, she chats to Lindsay about why she once swapped ...
The risks and rewards of building a global challenger brand, locally
Catherine Dix, Managing Director ANZ, waterdrop®, joins Lindsay to unpack three years of building a global challenger brand from the ground up here in ANZ. From holding off on retail expansion until the market was ready, to landing a landmark A...
From the boardroom to the bottom line: the commercial case for brand investment
Sudeep Gohil has seen the industry from almost every angle, and he's got some opinions that are worth the listen. In this episode, Lindsay sits down with the former founding partner of Droga5 Australia and ex-Partner in Charge of Brand and Mark...
Brand as an operating system: the report, the tensions, the hot takes
Too many agencies assume what brands are doing. At Chello, we went out and asked them. In this episode, Lindsay sits down with Chello's Strategy Director Tom Dabner and Co-Founder & Executive Creative Director Tristan Velasco to unpack O...
Stop broadcasting, start connecting: the rules of modern PR
What does great PR actually look like in 2026, and why are so many brands still getting it wrong? Lindsay sits down with James Hutchinson, CEO of global PR powerhouse Sling & Stone, to discuss the state of modern communications. From the growin...
A modern tastemaker on building premium brands in a copycat world
What does “good taste” actually mean, and is it something you're born with? In this episode, we chat with Zhoe Low, Marketing Director at MoveActive and former GM of Marketing & Retail at July Luggage, about why taste is an essential ingredient...
The long game: why Specsavers never looked away from its brand platform
In this live episode, recorded at Content Summit Australia, Lindsay sits down with Anri Mc Hugh, Head of Marketing - Awareness & Consideration at Specsavers ANZ, to explore one of the most enduring brand platforms in advertising history. Almost...
High performance, higher purpose: From Formula 1 to philanthropy
Having held senior marketing roles at Formula 1, World Rugby, Rugby Australia, and now Guide Dogs Australia, Marissa Pace knows a thing or two about life in the fast lane. In this episode, we chat about how she builds fan bases and communities ...
Putting the ‘cult’ in culture: Lessons from a decade in hospitality
In this episode, we sit down with Nick Parmar, a seasoned Brand Director who’s helped build a host of culturally-attuned brands from New York to APAC and the Middle East. Nick shares what he learnt as Head of Global Brand Experience for W Hotels W...
Curiosity and conscientiousness: habits that spark effective management
In this episode, we chat to Georgie Leslie, CMO at Future Group, about what it really takes to lead in a category most people tend to ignore (spoiler: it’s superannuation). We unpack the realities of nudging action in a low-interest category and t...
Let go to level up: how to build high-performance marketing teams
In this episode, we chat with Matt Gudge about the messy, brilliant reality of marketing in high-growth businesses, from tourism during COVID to scaling complex marketplaces and jumping head-first into health tech. We get into why prioritisation b...
Employer brand: embedding company culture from the inside out
In this episode, we chat with Ainsley Pope about the side of brand most people never see: the inside. From her work at Westpac and PwC to building the employer brand function at IAG, Ainsley breaks down how culture, internal comms and a clear narr...
A brand built on banter: exploring Better Beer’s cult status
In this episode, we sit down with Hannah Vinden to unpack how Better Beer went from a scrappy startup to one of Australia’s favourite beer brands. (Spoiler: most of it was down to gut feel, good banter and a seriously engaged community.) Hannah sh...
From legacy to longevity: Scaling a heritage brand into new markets
R.M.Williams is many things; handcrafted, hard-wearing, and quintessentially Australian. But how do you keep a 1932 icon relevant for a 2025 audience? In this episode, Lindsay sits down with Victoria Taylor, Head of Brand Marketing Communications ...
Activate hustle mode: building a brand from the ground up
In this episode of The Brand Hunch podcast, we chat to Raquel Bouris, Creative Director and Founder of cult fragrance brand Who Is Elijah. From a $12K investment to a $20M business, Raquel shares how a mix of obsession, delusion (her words, not ou...
Live at SxSW Sydney: the ROI of creative courage
This episode’s a special one, our first ever live recording at SxSW Sydney! We chat to Mark Richardson, GM of Marketing at Petbarn (and formerly of Aldi, Marley Spoon, and M&C Saatchi), about challenger brands, creative effectiveness, and the ROI ...
Balancing legacy with innovation: product development as a marketing lever
In this episode of The Brand Hunch podcast, we chat to Revlon ANZ Marketing Director Amy Kingon Smith about the fine art of keeping a 92-year-old brand feeling fresh. From protecting classics to knowing when to shake things up, she shares how prod...
Entertain or die: Balancing creativity and commercial success as a CMO
In this episode of The Brand Hunch podcast, we chat with Francis Coady, CEO of Grand Pacific Entertainment & Advisory and king of branded entertainment. From launching Havas’ Sports & Entertainment division and scaling it into a multi-million doll...
Challenger marketing: Lessons from a growth hacker
In this episode of The Brand Hunch podcast, we sit down with Anna Cheng, Head of Marketing at Turo. An experienced growth marketer, Anna shares her perspective on marketing with a challenger mindset; she runs weekly marketing experiments and expec...
Reading currents: embracing fast and slow culture
In this episode of The Brand Hunch podcast, we chat to Dan Robertson-Jones, Partner at Kantar. Dan's career spans research and strategy across many of the world's most well-known brands. His role now centres around culture, strategy and the futur...
Unapologetic and unmissable: this ad is not an ad
In this episode of The Brand Hunch podcast we chat to Robbie Brammall, ex-CMO of MONA Museum for the past eight years. Possibly one of the most coveted CMO roles in the country, MONA is known for its hedonistic, polarising approach to everything i...
From briefs to the boardroom: A marketer's journey to CEO
In this episode of The Brand Hunch podcast we chat to Jennifer Vandekreeke, CEO at URBNSURF. Jennifer's career has centred around experiences and tourism, launching the Carnival Cruise Line business into Australasia and now pioneering the Australi...
