PHD MENA’s new podcast series has been created to support marketers and business professionals in building the next wave of challenger brands. Each episode decodes the world of media and marketing and shines a light on the strategies of successful brands.

In the first episode, live on Apple and Spotify streaming platforms from this week, industry experts from PHD MENA and Arla Foods demystify the power of data to drive ambitious brand growth.

Hosted by PHD and The Marketing Society, the inaugural episode features David Barnes, PHD UAE’s Director of Data and Measurement, and Rania Hatoum, Arla Foods’ Regional Digital Lead, as they analyse case studies, trends and news about data, technology and analytics. They also discuss future technologies, the rise of eCommerce, successful campaigns that were born out of data and the wider impact of data on business practices.

“Harnessing the power of data is more critical today than ever. The magnitude of data can certainly look overwhelming, but it is the obsession with metrics that gives it a bad name,” Barnes argues. “We must focus on ‘effectiveness’ to build a brand rather than ‘efficiency’. This is one of the key challenger behaviours described in Overthrow II, the book PHD co-authored with eatbigfish.”

“Overthrow II, and its focus on the challenger attitude, has been a powerful eye-opener and generated much interest on how to embrace it,” adds Luca Allam, Managing Director of PHD UAE. “With our podcast, we will dig further into this new thinking for brands to build disproportionate growth when they need it most.”

A 2019 study estimated that there were 1.3 million regular podcast listeners in the UAE alone. As this listenership grows thanks to the rising number of podcasts in, for, or about the region, coupled with the need to work from home, PHD MENA regards the format as an ideal way to share industry knowledge with clients, partners and the broader industry.

The next episode will be released in April, featuring PHD MENA’s Head of Strategy and Specialised Services, Daniel Shepherd, who will be sharing his insights on data signals that are most crucial to monitor when building a challenger brand.

The PHD MENA podcast is available on Spotify, audioboom and Apple Podcasts – search for ‘PHD MENA’.