Canned the Marketing Podcast

When you’re up against a giant, you do not outspend them. You out-position them. 
In this episode of Canned, Ben van Rooy and Stephanie Quantrill unpack challenger brands versus market leaders and why bigger is not always better. From Pepsi taking on Coca-Cola at the Super Bowl, to Whittaker's holding its ground against Cadbury, and how Skinny emerged in response to 2degrees, this is a sharp, practical breakdown of how David can beat Goliath. 
If you manage brand in NZ or Australia, this one is worth a listen.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
 • Why positioning is your most affordable weapon
 • How repetition builds mental availability when budgets are tight
 • When market leaders should launch sub-brands versus stay the course
 • Why reframing the category can be more powerful than product innovation
 • How defending your lane beats trying to be everything to everyone
Bonus Nuggets
 • The Super Bowl Pepsi polar bear taste test and what it signals about competitive framing
 • Why Whittaker’s goes upmarket instead of chasing Cadbury on price

Call to action
 If you are either the scrappy challenger or the comfortable category leader, this episode asks one uncomfortable question: are you defending your positioning hard enough?
Resources mentioned:
 • Pepsi
 • Coca-Cola
 • Whittaker's
 • Cadbury
 • 2degrees
 • Skinny
 • Dollar Shave Club
 • Gillette
 • Unilever
 • OpenAI
Connect with us:
 • Ben van Rooy – https://www.linkedin.com/in/benvanrooy/

• Stephanie Quantrill – https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-quantrill/

Explore more from Canned:
 • Canned the Marketing Podcast: www.cannedmarketing.com

• Cue Marketing: www.cuemarketing.co.nz

• Human Digital: www.humandigital.com

Timestamps
 00:00 – Challenger brands versus market leaders
 00:11 – Pepsi, Whittaker’s and the positioning battle
 16:23 – Skinny launched as a response to 2degrees
 17:19 – Dollar Shave Club and acquisition strategy
 24:22 – Repeat, repeat, repeat as a challenger strategy
 44:15 – Why Whittaker’s cannot be Cadbury

www.cannedmarketing.com
Stephanie Quantrill - Linkedin
Ben Van Rooy - Linkedin

Strategy gets talked about a lot in marketing—but is rarely defined well. In this episode of Canned: The Marketing Podcast, hosts Steph Quantrill (Cue Marketing) and Ben van Rooy (Human Digital) cut through the noise to unpack what strategy really is, why so many businesses confuse it with tactics, and how that confusion quietly kills focus, momentum, and results.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
Strategy is a set of choices, not a plan
True strategy answers where you play and how you win—before a single tactic is chosen.
Why strategy is as much about saying “no” as it is saying “yes”
Trade-offs are not a weakness; they’re the point.
The hard line between strategy and tactics
Media plans, campaigns, and content calendars are execution—not strategy.
Why marketing strategy must ladder up to business strategy
When marketers don’t understand the commercial direction, they are destined to fail.
What good strategy looks like inside real organisations
Clear positioning, consistency over time, and fewer, better campaigns.
Why constant reinvention is usually a red flag
Strong brands evolve—but they don’t panic-reset every year.
Bonus Nuggets
Why being “busy” often masks a lack of strategy
The inbox vs intention problem most marketers face
Why channel-hopping is a symptom, not a solution
The myth that strategy needs to be clever or complex
A refreshingly practical take on “strategy on a page”
Why Listen?
If you’ve ever been asked to “do a strategy” when what’s really wanted is a media plan—or you’ve watched teams mistake activity for progress—this episode is for you. Steph and Ben bring clarity, lived experience, and straight talk to one of marketing’s most misunderstood disciplines. You’ll come away with sharper language, stronger conviction, and a clearer sense of how strategy should actually guide your work day to day.
Chapters (with timestamps)
00:00 – Welcome & scene setting
Why strategy keeps coming up—and keeps being misunderstood.
02:30 – What strategy really is
A clear definition and why documents aren’t the point.
06:30 – The cascade of choices
Where to play, how to win, and the power of focus.
11:45 – Strategy vs tactics
Drawing a firm line between thinking and doing.
15:30 – Marketing’s role in business strategy
Why marketers need context, not just briefs.
20:00 – What good strategy looks like in practice
Consistency, positioning, and fewer campaigns done better.
27:00 – Brand examples and lessons
Who’s staying the course—and who’s getting distracted.
35:00 – Clarity over cleverness
Why great strategy simplifies decisions instead of complicating them.
39:00 – What’s next
Teasing the upcoming episode on challenger brands vs market leaders.
www.cannedmarketing.com
Stephanie Quantrill - Linkedin
Ben Van Rooy - Linkedin

Customer Experience Is the Brand (Especially When Things Go Wrong)
In this episode of Canned the Marketing Podcast, Steph and Ben are joined by Sarah Clearwater, founder of Reframr, to unpack why CX is the delivery of your brand promise — and why the best brands shine brightest when everything goes sideways.
This is a practical, no-nonsense conversation for marketers who are tired of talking about “customer centricity” and actually want to do something about it.
What We Cover
1. Customer Experience ≠ Marketing (But They’re Inseparable)
Marketing makes the promise.
 CX keeps it — or breaks it.
Sarah explains why CX is the glue between marketing, sales, product, service and tech — and why organisations that treat it as a silo end up with beautifully branded disappointment.
2. Why Journey Mapping Still Matters (When Done Properly)
Journey mapping one of the most effective decision-making tools.
We get into:
Why org charts are the enemy of good CX
Where handovers really fail (hello B2B 👀)
How mapping exposes misaligned KPIs across teams
Spoiler: most “lead quality” problems aren’t actually lead problems.
3. CX as a Growth Lever (Not a Vibe)
If you’re struggling with:
Acquisition
Conversion
Retention
Churn
Cost to serve
…there’s a strong chance your promise and delivery are misaligned.
Sarah breaks down how CX work connects directly to the metrics CFOs actually care about — without needing a six-figure tech stack.
4. B2B CX: The Invisible Journey Everyone Ignores
B2B buying isn’t one customer — it’s a committee.
We unpack:
Why 7–10 stakeholders break most B2B journeys
The risk of selling to one person and onboarding another
Why CRMs help, but don’t magically fix experience gaps
If you’ve ever heard “marketing brings rubbish leads” or “sales kills momentum” — this bit will sting (in a good way).
5. Real CX in the Wild: When Things Go Wrong
The best brand moments don’t happen when everything’s smooth.
We share real examples from:
Mecca and the Beauty Loop backlash
ASB delivering calm, human support in a crisis
Catherine Wilson proving founder-led service still wins
Mitre 10 turning product advice into brand loyalty
Smart Takes You’ll Steal for Work
“Customer experience is how organisations build resilience, not just satisfaction.”
Personas > demographics. Behaviour beats age every time.
Talking to customers who cancelled will teach you more than 10 NPS surveys.
If you digitise a broken experience, you don’t fix it — you scale the problem.
Bonus for Marketers
Sarah also shares:
How to introduce CX into organisations that “aren’t ready”
How to use moments like CRM re-platforming as leverage
Why CX and marketing are long-term partners, not project buddies
Plus: a free upcoming webinar on optimising pipelines using customer journey mapping.
Who This Episode Is For
Senior marketers juggling brand + performance
B2B marketers dealing with messy funnels and handovers
Anyone sick of “customer first” being pure theatre
Leaders who want fewer CX buzzwords and more business impact
To do your own customer journye map - try this free framework here: https://www.reframr.co.nz/90minutemap
Lis
www.cannedmarketing.com
Stephanie Quantrill - Linkedin
Ben Van Rooy - Linkedin

It’s 2026, Ben’s back from Rio (minus a phone… plus a backup phone like an absolute psychopath), and Steph’s back from a soggy Coromandel reset. This week, they crack open the crystal ball and give it their best shot at calling the trends for marketers to pay attention to in 2026—brand vs performance, AI slop, agency shake-ups, and why “real” is the new premium.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
Brand is back (and B2B finally got the memo): Why over-relying on lead gen is about to hit diminishing returns—and what smarter funnel balance looks like.
AI adoption + AI backlash: How the rise of AI is also creating demand for human tone, originality, and experiences you can’t copy-paste.
Specialist agencies will win: Why consolidation opens the door for niche players (and why the big generalists may struggle to justify margins).
The content explosion is coming: More content than ever… but quality will be the only thing that cuts through.
Long-form makes a comeback: Podcasts, Substack, and deeper storytelling as a counter-move to short-form overload.
B2B buyer expectations are evolving: Consumer-level experiences are now the baseline—generic websites and generic messaging won’t survive.
New role alert: “Vibe Translator”: Why businesses may need a human to translate the subtext between CEO ambition and CFO caution. ;)
Bonus Nuggets
Ben’s Rio marketing lens: beachfront selling, loudspeakers, national pride, and the kind of “awareness” you can’t block.
Elf Cosmetics x Liquid Death: a brand collab that’s basically a marketing fever dream (in a good way).
SXSW Sydney cancelled: what it signals about event viability and where marketers might look instead (Austin, anyone?).
CES gadgets: fridge cameras, barcode scanning, and a robot vacuum that does stairs (aka: the future is weird).
Why Listen?
Every week Canned breaks down localised marketing trends and hot takes every marketer needs to know . This episode is about 'better'.  Better brand thinking, better creative judgment in an AI-saturated world, and better strategy for where humans add value (hint: not generating 500 “Buy our widgets!” ads). If you’re trying to make smart calls on budget, brand, content, and capability this year—this episode will sharpen your instincts fast.
Chapters (with timestamps)
00:00 – Welcome back to 2026: Ben (Human Digital) + Steph (Cue Marketing) set the scene
00:34 – Holiday recap: Coromandel calm vs Rio chaos (and the stolen phone story)
04:08 – Marketing in Rio: what stood out “in the wild”
05:37 – Steph’s marketing news: Elf x Liquid Death + Sydney Sweeney/American Apparel talk
08:44 – Ben’s news: Golden Globes adds a podcast category + CES highlights + SXSW Sydney cancelled
13:00 – Episode setup: 2026 predictions + disclaimer (no fact-checkers were harmed)
14:08 – Prediction 1 (Ben): Brand becomes even more important, especially in B2B
16:13 – Prediction 1 (Steph): The “real” renaissance + experiences + anti-AI sameness
19:39 – Prediction 2 (Ben): Rise of specialist agencies + in-housing + AI reshaping roles
23:15 – Prediction 3 (Steph): Optimism returns (steady growth, not boom) + more fractional/specialist talent use
26:29 – Prediction 3 (Ben): Content explosion: quantity rises, quality decides
29:39 – Prediction 4 (Steph): Long-form comeback (Substack, blogs, longer storytelling) + more podcasts
31:23 – Prediction 5 (Ben): B2B buyer exper
www.cannedmarketing.com
Stephanie Quantrill - Linkedin
Ben Van Rooy - Linkedin

It’s the Canned Christmas special — and we’re not handing out participation trophies. Hosts  Steph Quantrill (Cue Marketing) and Ben van Rooy (Human Digital) are joined by brand strategist and cultural commentator Eugene Healey for a sharp, no-holds-barred breakdown of the brands that defined 2025 — for better and for worse. From Cannes side-quests to culture-war campaigns, this episode cuts through the hype to ask one brutal question: did it actually work?

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

Why Cannes feels more like a tech festival than a creative one
Who really owns the agenda now — and why “creativity” is often just the theme, not the point.
The danger of confusing discourse with demand
Why brands can win the internet and still lose the market (hello, American Eagle).
How New Zealand continues to punch above its weight creatively
And why small markets can still make globally relevant work.
What great brand recovery actually looks like
When leaning into chaos is smarter than running from it.
Why regulation is not an excuse for boring marketing
And how the best brands find space to move anyway.
What separates talkable campaigns from effective ones
The difference between cultural noise and commercial impact.

Bonus Nuggets

Why Eugene calls Cannes “a tech conference wearing creativity as a costume”
The real reason Australian industries feel creatively paralysed
How IKEA nailed its NZ launch by obsessing over lived experience
Why Coca-Cola’s AI Christmas ads feel like “elevator music for television”

Naughty & Nice List Highlights

Naughty: American Eagle – cultural heat, commercial cold
Nice: Herpes NZ – purpose-led creativity that actually moved behaviour
Naughty: Optus – when brand teams pay for operational failures
Nice: IKEA – brand codes, executional detail, zero shortcuts
Nice: Cadbury Made to Share – product, packaging, and consumption moments aligned
Meh: Coca-Cola – tradition on autopilot, now with AI
Nice (and tear-jerking): John Lewis – proof emotion still beats assets

Why Listen?

If you’re sick of marketing commentary that confuses attention with effectiveness, this episode is for you. It’s a smart, funny, sometimes uncomfortable conversation about what actually builds brands in today’s fragmented, hyper-cultural landscape — and why courage, clarity, and taste still matter more than trend-hopping. Perfect listening for marketers who want to sharpen their thinking before 2026.
www.cannedmarketing.com
Stephanie Quantrill - Linkedin
Ben Van Rooy - Linkedin