037: Sir Martin Sorrell on deal making, motivation & holding power in advertising

A Load of BS on Sport: The Behavioural Science Podcast with Daniel Ross and Dan Biggar

I like to take the odd risk with my guests. I like to stretch beyond the realms of the beh sci academics and veer into business, sport, perhaps politics.
This pod is a little different in its genre is that it is striving to get to the heart of human motivation. Why do we do the things that we do?
Martin Sorrell is one of the titan's of global capitalism over the last 40 years and that's Sir Martin Sorrell, who made his name building the WPP advertising empire before departing acrimoniously 5 years ago, only to start his next venture S4 Capital barely having slid off the treadmill. Now 77, he shows no signs of slowing down.

We talk about what he loves about his work, power and relevance, self-doubt and ending his news day diet by going to bed with Emily Maitlis. Well, if only.

Martin is a polished, tough nut to crack but stick around and you'll get some very personal family anecdotes which go some way to explain the man.

Show notes

• What Martin loves about what he does
• Keeping physically and mentally fit
• News day concluding by going to bed with Emily Maitlis
• Choose your Chairmen carefully
• Love of power and need for relevance
• Self-doubt
• Putting money where your mouth is
• Getting people to do what you want them to do
• Managing incentives: Group vs. local level
• Art vs science in advertising
• Campaign magazine bias
• What makes Martin happy?
• Meaning of Judaism to Martin

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• Podcast music: Tamsin Waley-Cohen's Mendelssohn's violin concerto