EP 102: How Kevin Chesters Helped Make Britain’s Worst Ad

One advert wiped out a supermarket product in six weeks, and Kevin Chesters was right in the middle of it. He saw the disaster coming, ignored the warning signs and watched the whole thing collapse in real time.Kevin Chesters is a seasoned strategist with more than twenty five years in top flight marketing, including leadership roles as Chief Strategy Officer at Wieden+Kennedy London, Dentsu McGarryBowen and Ogilvy, plus a spell as Head of Strategy at BT. His track record gives him serious authority on how strategy actually gets done inside big organisations.He now runs his own consultancy, lectures widely and speaks around the world on creativity, storytelling and problem solving. His book The Creative Nudge became an Amazon best seller and helped cement his reputation as someone who can turn complex thinking into practical tools for marketers.Kevin talks through how a simple brief for a kid's snack turned into a chaotic TV script, a flawed media plan and a campaign he openly calls the worst ad in British history. His honesty shows how experienced strategists can still get caught in groupthink and momentum.Chris and Will dig into how the Big Cheese Dipper fiasco unfolded, why the agency pushed ahead and how the failure shaped Kevin’s career. The conversation moves from creative misfires to pitch disasters, toxic clients, time pressure and the trouble with rushed workshops.Kevin also shares what thirty years in agencies have taught him about confidence, collaboration and protecting work from being watered down. His stories are brutal, funny and painfully familiar for anyone who has ever tried to get a brave idea through an organisation.Send us Fan Mail Struggling to prove marketing's worth to your board? Grab our free one-page Board-Proof Scorecard: 👉 Download the scorecard 👈Got a marketing problem you would rather not admit to? Reply to this and we will answer it anonymously on the show.Subscribe to our newsletter The mistakes we see marketers make, every fortnight. 👉 [Subscribe here] 👈Follow Chris:X, TikTok, LinkedInFollow Will:LinkedInFollow The Show:TikTok, YouTube