The Scottish Marketing Network Podcast

Episode 15: Mercy Abel, Intergenerational Workplace & Bridging The Gap

Mercy is a multi-award-winning marketer and early careers specialist. She is a passionate advocate for representation and access in the creative industries. She’s spoken on the IPA panel about age representation in adland, and hosts The Audacity of We—a Gen Z careers podcast that also runs as a live show. In this episode Kerry talks to Mercy about her recent work around bridging the gap, intergenerational workplace dynamics and the steps forward in DEI in the last 5 years.
 
You can find Mercy on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mercyabel/overlay/contact-info/ LinkedIn or Instagram Instagram 
Details of Mercy’s workshops: Workshop facilitation offerings 
Email: mercyabel@hotmail.co.uk 
 
 
 
 

Episode 14: The Scottish Marketing Summit

Susan Carruthers is the driving force behind Scotland’s brand-new event, the Scottish Marketing Summit. On Wednesday, 5 November 2025, Susan is bringing together brilliant minds for a day of practical, action-packed marketing insight. Held at the Village Hotel in Glasgow, this summit is all aboutgetting seen, getting heard, and getting paid.  Susan joins Kerry to tell us all about her journey as she adds another marquee event to the Scottish marketing calendar.
 
Get your tickets for the summit https://www.scottishmarketingsummit.co.uk/2025-summit
Follow Susan https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-carruthers-104040299/
Book Recommendation https://amzn.eu/d/4pj9zyr

Episode 13: Award Nominations

Stephen Emerson is the Scotland editor for Insider Media, a national B2B publication company with publishing and events operations in each region of the UK. Since joining in February, he has helped Insider Media launch a daily newsletter, establish a roundtable programme while also working on the firm’s corporate finance awards. 
He joins us to talk about Insider Media’s Made in Scotland Awards which will be held in Glasgow on September 25. We cover off what makes a nomination stand out, the benefits to your business in getting involved in awards and the impact this will have on your presence in the wider community.
 
 
Stephen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-emerson-b176a912/
Insider Made in Scotland Awards 2025: https://www.insidermedia.com/event/made-in-scotland-awards-2025
Deep Work by Cal Newport: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Deep-Work-Focused-Success-Distracted/dp/1455586692

Episode 12: The Power of PR with Gregor and Scarlett Hollerin

Story Shop is an independent PR agency known for creative, earned-first storytelling. They recently won Medium-Sized Agency of the Year at the PRCA Awards for their work with purpose-driven brands. Their client work spans everything from whisky and wellness to education, hospitality, and sport. Their co-founders Scarlett and Gregor join Kerry to share the story of how they built Story Shop, talk about the power of PR, and give a real-life perspective on what it’s like running a business together as a married couple.
 
Scarlett and Gregor shared some recommendations with us throughout the episode, you can connect with them and find their recommendations via these links:
 
Story Shop Insta: https://www.instagram.com/wearestoryshop/?hl=en-gb
Scarlett Hollerin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hillscarlett/
Gregor Hollerin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregor-hollerin-a7b1361b/
 
 
David C Baker – 2Bobs podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5g4kMBqrmyhPLZ2OTt1emd?si=05120d98320d4575
Carless People book by Sarah Wynn-Williams: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Careless-People-explosive-memoir-doesnt/dp/
The Nineties book by Chuck Klosterman: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Audible-The-Nineties-A-Book/dp
Dinner with The MacLeans on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7ckSGCU1QlgHswSSpuxAwK?si=6a637484fdc94679

Episode 11: Building Brands Across the Globe

In this episode Kerry invites Elliot Davis to discuss global brand building. Since graduating from the University of Strathclyde, Elliot's career has taken him all over the world to work with some high-impact brands.  Elliot touches on the nuances of culture in brand building, the importance of values and a human led message, and the part technology plays. He also tells us about his recent publication as he delves into he world of personal brand!
 
You can follow Elliot on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomaselliotdavis/
 
Read his blog on the broken career ladder, featured in LBB: https://lbbonline.com/news/career-ladder-marketing-advertising-crisis
 
You can check out Dicks Sporting Good’s “There She Is” campaign on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXUtbJVzMEQ
 
Pedigree's "Caramelo" marketing campaign in Brazil aims to change perceptions of mixed-breed dogs and encourage their adoption. 
 
And pick up The Ministry of Common Sense: How to Eliminate Bureaucratic Red Tape, Bad Excuses, and Corporate Bs on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ministry-Common-Sense-Eliminate-Bureaucratic/dp/0358272564

Episode 10: Mentoring Matters

In this episode Kerry talks to Lizzie Donaldson Founder of Berry and Laurie MacPherson, Career Coach & LinkedIn Mentor about how to get mentoring right. There is a rising demand for support in career development within Scotland’s marketing & business community, Lizzie and Laurie talk to us about what you can expect as a mentor and mentee, how to set yourself up for success, and which type of program might be right for you.
 
Laurie Macpherson, Career and LinkedIn Mentor.
With a background mentoring teams in retail and travel, Laurie moved into the careers space in 2015 and has supported hundreds of people to plan and take the next steps in their career, including many marketers! She specialises in supporting women at mid and senior level to find roles that are rewarding, whatever that means to them. In addition, she has run mentoring programmes on behalf of Skillfluence and delivered business mentoring as an associate of Connect Three. She is currently running the 4th round of the WiSA mentoring programme for Skillfluence, having matched and supported many successful partnerships over the past three incarnations of the programme.
 
Lizzie Donaldson, Founder & Director of Berry; Mentoring, Management & Legal Services Company.  
Qualified in 2009 as a Lawyer in Scotland and has practiced employment law since then; moving in-house in 2012 and headed up in-house global employment legal teams in Diageo, Conde Nast and Nokia so has lots of experience of working alongside the Marketing team!  Lizzie is a mentor to many lawyers in her personal network and believes in everyone having access to mentoring opportunities.  She created Berry so that mentoring is done meaningfully in organizations, with membership groups and in diversity programs to help level the playing field.  She consults with the programme coordinator and trains mentors and mentee populations. 
 
Lizzie’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lizzie-donaldson/
Laurie’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauriemac/
This Will Pass To, book recommendation: https://www.amazon.co.uk/This-Too-Will-Pass-Professional/dp/1911246410
The Squiggly Careers podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/6t6vYEeYl3Kmdd0AE6v3xj?si=8beb40ae896d4d30

Episode 9 - Amazon as a Specialism

In this episode Kerry talks to Calum Prentice, Amazon Lead for AFG Media/ Morphsuits.  We hear how Calum has progressed his career in the Amazon space and become specialist in this space. Calum tells us about the benefits of getting Amazon right, but also some of the pitfalls if you’re not using best practice. Amazon is arguably the most powerful selling platform and we wanted to pick up some do’s and don’ts from someone deeply integrated in the space.
 
 
You can follow Callum on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/calum-prentice/
 
Here are some of the recommendations Calum shared during the episode:
Serious sellers from Helium 10 - https://open.spotify.com/show/31CTCHQGSghLavsf0otYQqAM/PM from Kevin King - https://open.spotify.com/show/0To9xTXTrBrcExPDB1knVcWinners by Alastair Campbell - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Winners-And-How-They-Succeed/dp/B00YG00Q18/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0

Episode 8: Reinventing Brands with Oli Norman

In this episode Kerry talks to Oli Norman, CEO & Founder of ITISON. We hear about the evolution of this brand spanning 20 years, the changes in the market, in social media and the effect this has on the hospitality industry and D2C brands, as a whole. Oli shares some thought-provoking and insightful insights into his method of brand creation.
 
Oli recommends we listen to Professor Scott Galloway, Prof G Markets  https://open.spotify.com/show/7syF2ry9j6nqYc656WHBA7?si=1cc1f617294d4893

Episode 7: Navigating B2B

In this episode Kerry talks to Gordon Ross, Head of Marketing & Salary Sacrifice at Gofor.  We hear about his career path through B2B marketing, navigating new ways of working and progressing through some highly regarded organisations in this field.
 
Gordon’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gordonross1/
John Niven, O Brother: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brother-John-Niven/dp/180530058X
The Rest is Politics: https://open.spotify.com/show/1Ysx8g1Iw42gESAtegrFaH
The Rest is Politics US: https://open.spotify.com/show/1OY3nyGYqjIO4aWMW2feLy
Useful LinkedIn AI account:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/how-to-ai-guide/
Hubspot blog: https://blog.hubspot.com/
 

Episode 6: Importance of Building a Network with Craig Campbell

In this episode, Jamie sits down with Craig Campbell, a well-known name in the SEO industry, to explore the power of networking. Craig shares how he has built a network of successful individuals who have helped him reach new career heights—and how he’s now paying it forward by helping others grow in the digital marketing space.
We dive into why networking is crucial in today’s competitive landscape, how to connect with the right people, and the mindset needed to leverage your network for success.
 
We’d love to hear your thoughts on this discussion—leave your feedback and share it with your network!
 
You can find more information on Craig here:
https://www.youtube.com/@CraigcampbellseoUk
https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigcampbell0302/
https://www.craigcampbellseo.com/