How to Build a Brand People Love | Sarah Holt on Marketing, Leadership & AI

What makes a brand so good that customers keep coming back?In this episode, we sit down with Sarah Holt, CMO of Center Parcs UK & Ireland, to unpack the thinking behind one of the UK’s most loved experience brands, her approach to marketing leadership, customer experience, commercial growth and the rapidly changing world of AI.Sarah shares how Center Parcs achieved record revenue of £758 million, record EBITDA of £323.9 million and its highest ever occupancy of 97.5%, while revealing why the real secret to the brand’s success isn’t advertising.It’s the experience customers have once they’re there.We explore why Sarah would choose investing in customer experience over increasing the marketing budget, how she approached her first 90 days as CMO, why she deliberately spent her first 100 days learning rather than fixing, and how she identified three key areas for transformation - brand, personalization and capability.