Samuel J Scott
A former journalist, consultant, and director of marketing in the high-tech industry, Samuel Scott is now a global keynote marketing speaker and writer of the regular The Promotion Fix column in The Drum.
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Samuel J Scott's 2024 biography
Many speakers sell something — especially if they speak for free. They annoy audiences with their sales pitches for their company’s products, their books, or their consulting services. But Samuel’s company’s product has nothing to do with marketing. He does not have a book. He does not do consulting.
Rather, Samuel Scott uses his decades of experience to give business clients and conference attendees actual insights into marketing best practices rather than buzzword-filled fluff. And yes — he charges a fee instead of selling something to audiences.
Samuel’s first career as a journalist and newspaper editor lets him see through the BS that fills much of the marketing industry. His second career in marketing has provided him the insights that he now shares with the world on stages and through his columns in publications ranging from The Drum to TechCrunch.
Scott has Mini-MBAs in marketing and brand management from Marketing Week in London, a Master of Advertising Effectiveness from the World Advertising Research Center (WARC) in the UK, and a B.S. in journalism from Boston University. He is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) in the UK and a member of Toastmasters International.
In 2019, Scott was a judge for the UK Ad Association’s Young Lions competition in advance of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Scott is American and lives in Tel Aviv.
Samuel J Scott's 2024 talks & topics
MARKETING IN 2025: How — And How Not — to Use AI and Other New Tech
Is AI hype or something real? Samuel says the answer is a bit of both. In this keynote address, he walks through the entire marketing process from market research at the beginning to communications tactics at the end to show how artificial intelligence and other new tools can or cannot help at each step along the way. Then, he highlights some of his favorite tools and shows how to use them within the overall framework.
Actionable takeaways:
- Get an introduction the entire, end-to-end marketing process (research / diagnosis / strategy / tactics).
- Learn how AI and other new tools can or cannot help specific parts of that work.
- See recommended examples of those tools and how to use them.
ACTIONS, NOT ADS: How Your Company Can Use Brand Purpose to Help the World
Many consumers say they prefer sustainable products and do not want to support sweatshops, but they still often buy the cheapest clothing and running shoes made in such places anyway. Companies today want to do better, but they are getting such mixed signals from customers. In this keynote, Samuel will show how companies can navigate this complex environment and both help the world and sell more products at the same time. The key to understand: Actual brand purpose goes far beyond just saying nice stuff in ads, and the benefits go far beyond just selling more stuff.
Actionable takeaways:
- See four examples of companies in various industries and countries that are using brand purpose to help both the world and their businesses.
- Gives an overview of marketing strategy and marketing tactics.
- Shows a step-by-step example of how a company could use brand purpose when targeting millennials and Gen Z.
BETTER TOGETHER: How Brand and Performance Advertising Both Fuel Growth
The marketing world has become obsessed with online direct response and short-termism, both of which are hurting long-term advertising effectiveness. In this talk, Samuel argues that we need to get out of our bubble and rethink our approach to media planning today by integrating traditional and online channels as well as long-term and short-term strategies in the most effective ways. Here, he will show how both types of advertising can work together for maximum effectiveness.
Actionable takeaways:
- Learn the difference between “brand” and “performance” advertising tactics.
- See how they both “perform” — they just perform in different ways and in different time frames.
- Understand how to build marcom campaigns that both get sales today and build brands for more future sales tomorrow.
TECH STARTUPS NEED TO KNOW: ICP Gets Revenue, But STP Brings Profits
There are two main orientations in business — being product-oriented or being market-oriented. Each has its pros and cons, and each comes with a set of common assumptions and practices. In this talk, Samuel describes the differences, assumptions, and processes and then argues that each is useful in different contexts. The product-orientation model, he says, starts with the product, leads to the creation of an “ideal customer profile” (ICP), and is useful for quick wins and sales revenue in the short term. The market-orientation model, he then says, starts with market research and goes into segmentation, targeting, and positioning (STP) and more before thinking about the product and marcom. This process is the key to maximizing profits in the long term. Samuel shows youn how to do it.
Actionable takeaways:
- Learn the difference between product orientation and market orientation.
- Understand how product orientation is useful for early-stage startups that need quick sales and revenue and how market orientation is best for later-stage startups that need to show actual net profits.
- See how market orientation is done through the traditional STP method and the end-to-end marketing process of research, diagnosis, strategy, and tactical planning.
THE B2B SECRET: How Building a Brand is the Ultimate “Growth Hack”
In this fun and informational keynote that can include props, Samuel will discuss the benefits of a strong brand, product marketing versus brand marketing, the importance of mental availability and brand equity, examples of good B2C and B2B branding, how to build a brand, and how to manage and measure mental availability brand equity. After all, B2B marketing is more similar to B2C than people think.
Actionable takeaways:
- Understand the importance of brand equity and how strong brands lead to greater revenue and profit, more sales pipeline in the present and the future, greater conversion rates, higher prices, and overall valuations.
- See how to build mental availability and brand salience among the 95% of B2B buyers who are not in the market right now so that they will remember you when they want to buy a product in the future.
- Learn the step-by-step process of brand positioning, brand codes, brand objectives, brand architecture, tactical execution, budgeting, and tracking.
PROTECT YOUR BUDGET: Defending Marketing Campaigns in Difficult Economic Times
In any recessionary environment, businesses instinctively want to cut advertising budgets — especially at the top of the funnel. In this talk, Samuel will give an introduction to Brand 101, demonstrate how brand advertising works, and show the benefits of building a strong brand. Then, he will show how to translate general marketing and advertising concepts into CFO-speak and financial metrics into CMO-speak so that both sides will understand each other. After all, cutting brand advertising spend in the short term will only hurt companies in the long term after the economy recovers.
Actionable takeaways:
- Understand how brand advertising gets leads and sales today and tomorrow, increases conversion rates, and raises pricing power over the short- and long-term.
- See why cutting brand advertising spend today harms companies tomorrow — even long after recessions are over.
- Learn how to defend your top-of-the-funnel brand advertising spend to CFOs, CEOs, and boards of directors.
EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT MARKETING (But Were Afraid to Ask)
Advertising, communications, and marketing are not the same thing. In fact, they mean very different and important things. In this workshop, Samuel outlines the end-to-end marketing process that has been created in academia and proven in the real world. He introduces the overall approaches that have been developed by the leading people in the field over decades and then adds further context and specific examples from his own career in marketing. This covers research, segmentation, targeting, positioning, funnel analysis, financial objective setting, product management and product marketing, pricing, distribution, marcom planning, and copywriting. Marketing is a lot more than just “creating content.”
Actionable takeaways:
- Learn the entire, end-to-end marketing process.
- Understand the theoretical foundations and then see real-world examples from Samuel’s career and elsewhere.
- See the best practices for each individual step and how they all relate to each other.
- Connect campaign metrics to strategic objectives to company business goals.
- Get handouts and summaries so people can do the same at their jobs.
Samuel J Scott's 2024 speaking fees
- Israel
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