The Black Box of Media Podcast S4 E16 | ft. Jodi Murray-Freedman, Bakers Delight

Every marketer wants to build a famous brand. But what happens when almost everyone already knows who you are? The challenge changes. It is no longer about building awareness. It is about staying relevant, increasing purchase frequency, defending market share and making every marketing dollar work harder. In Season 4 Episode 16 of The Black Box of Media, Aleisha McCall sits down with Jodi Murray-Freedman, Chief Marketing Officer at Bakers Delight, one of Australia's most recognised retail brands with more than 500 bakeries across the country, to unpack the thinking behind how the brand keeps growing. Jodi explains how she turns "latent love" for the brand into visits, why the business moved from campaign-led marketing to Keep It Real, how an independent media partner helps a smaller budget punch above its weight against the supermarkets, and the planning system, built on one shared spreadsheet and a cross-functional group called POMS, that sits behind every campaign. She also shares the story behind the bold BCNA breast cancer campaign that generated over $5 million in free PR, what a failed Martech roadmap taught her about marketing leading and technology enabling, why she says "don't let FOMO drive your AI strategy", and the "how we roll" team exercise that ended with four principles printed on desk frames. If you are responsible for growing an established brand, balancing brand and performance, or making smarter media investment decisions, this conversation offers practical lessons from one of Australia's most recognisable retail businesses. -- TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Introduction to The Black Box of Media 01:43 Beyond the headlines: the decisions and the mistakes 03:09 Earning the CMO seat: eight years, promotions and a bold BCNA idea 04:55 The campaign that generated over $5 million in free PR 08:56 Staying relevant when everyone knows you: tapping into latent love 12:35 Nostalgia, trust and why people turn to the brands they grew up with 14:54 From campaigns to Keep It Real: how the platform was born 20:36 Behind the scenes content and the power of the bun rounder 23:00 Competing with the supermarkets without matching their media budget 26:08 When campaigns do not land: fail fast, regroup and move on 30:21 The system behind the campaigns: one spreadsheet and POMS 37:44 Thinking beyond Marcoms: House of Hilo and planning years ahead 44:25 Media is not a silver bullet: franchisees as the second customer 50:10 Technology and AI: what a failed Martech roadmap taught her 55:22 Don't let FOMO drive your AI strategy 58:34 Data foundations: a single source of truth and data integrity 59:38 What becoming CMO changed: presence, mentoring and backing your gut 1:07:47 How we roll: building team expectations from the bottom up 1:10:55 Where to find Jodi -- Subscribe for more episodes with the real strategies behind high-performance media advertising. Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6zOt... Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Follow Aleisha on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/aleisha-mccall-749a2615 Instagram: @ultimateedgecommunications - @advertising_with_aleisha Website: www.ultimateedgecommunications.com.au