This week in Cannes, McDonald's CFO said that marketing is a critically important investment to drive growth. Here's how behavioural science can make us better at communicating the value of marketing.

I felt both elation and despair when I read McDonald’s CFO Ian Borden’s comments in Cannes this week. Elation from the realisation that there is a CFO out there who gets that marketing is a critically important investment to drive growth. Despair from the fact that things had gotten so bad that marketing was seen as a “nebulous black box” at McDonald’s.

So here’s a sneak peak from episode 2 of my MAD//Masters By Rory Sutherland course. In this lecture, I echo the great Jeremy Bullmore and claim that the notion of ‘marcomms’ has contributed to marketing being seen as a comms discipline - and not an important source of value creation and competitive advantage.

I also introduce the concept of the broken binoculars, why taking market research literally is a mugs game when it comes to things like pricing, and how behavioural science can make us better at communicating the value of marketing.

BECOME BETTER AT CREATING VALUE - ENROL TODAY

Is MAD//Masters By Rory Sutherland right for you? 

If you’ve got an inquisitive mind and this sounds like the kind of content you’d like to get your teeth into, do sign up for this summer’s intake of MAD//Masters By Rory Sutherland. I’ve made it my mission to help marketers (or CFO’s with an interest!) unlock the value of behavioural science and creativity in value creation. Why? Because we need to get better at it, both for the sake of our careers and profession!

REGISTER FOR £1295 + GET A FREE MAD//FEST TICKET (WORTH £995)

What do you get?

  • 10 CPD-approved on-demand lectures created to help you apply behavioural science, creativity and critical thinking to your marketing and commercial challenges
  • Full year access to live online Q&A sessions
  • My video feedback on the (optional) assessment brief
  • Complimentary MAD//Fest London ticket (worth £995)
  • In-person ‘Lunch + Learn’ session at MAD//Fest London (attend on 4 July ‘24 or 1 July ‘25)

Just because everyone loves a deal (there’s plenty of useful insights on choice architecture in the course!), ENROL TODAY for just £1295 + get a free ticket to MAD//Fest London worth £995!

I do hope you can join me.

RORY SUTHERLAND

Vice-chair, Ogilvy, Co-founder, MAD//Masters By Rory Sutherland


P.S. Contact sam@madfestlondon.com for group booking rates and join teams from Amazon, Néstle, Unilever, P&G, VaynerMedia, NEOM and many more!