Uncensored CMO

Author: Jon Evans

The Uncensored CMO was created to explore the good, the bad and quite frankly downright ugly truth about marketing theory & practice.
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Language: en

Genres: Business, Entrepreneurship, Marketing

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Rory Sutherland on why luck beats logic in marketing
Episode 233
Tuesday, 13 January, 2026

Our most popular guest ever is back - Rory Sutherland returns for a wide-ranging conversation on why marketing works best when it embraces luck, spontaneity, and a little irrationality. From the dangers of confected outrage and self-censorship to the unfair economics of marketing, Rory challenges the industry’s obsession with logic, optimisation, and process.We discuss why success is often misunderstood as skill rather than luck, the value of doing a few things irresponsibly, and why inefficiency can be a feature rather than a flaw. As ever, Rory connects behavioural science, creativity, and business reality in ways few others can.Timestamps00:00 - Intro01:16 - How Rory deals with his new micro fame03:12 - How Jon shut down the London Underground07:04 - The problem with confected outrage10:34 - How self-censoring is affecting creativity12:10 - The power of spontaneity and luck in advertising16:03 - The unfair economics of marketing20:54 - Is success just luck?23:12 - Spend 95% responsibly, and 5% irresponsibly30:12 - Doubling down on what your competitors do badly34:32 - Why so many businesses are no longer customer focused35:29 - Inefficiency as a feature37:08 - The power of herd mentality43:26 - What marketers can teach the business world48:13 - Why internal process is killing businesses51:15 - Lessons from 200 years of The Spectator advertising54:47 - Rory’s closing thoughts on marketing