Let’s wrap up 2025 on a high note by highlighting the hard working, deep thinking and occasionally irreverent experts that help make us better marketers.
Keeping up these days is so hard – a constant struggle with daily changes in technology, marketing, media and consumers.
The constant changes are challenging for anyone to keep up with, much less master.
Luckily, there are people you can trust to keep you up to speed! This past year we published two lists of folks worth following (volumes 1 and 2).
As we ready ourselves for an eventful new year, here’s an updated list – volume 3. Follow these folks and you can’t go wrong. Follow their LinkedIn posts, read what they write, check out their conference appearances, watch their videos and listen to their podcasts. You’ll be better informed and even more ready to succeed in your own business.
Some of the folks we follow closely at Mercer Island Group include:
Volume 3: Follow these experts & be a better marketer!
Henry Innis – Henry leads Mutinex, a leading MMM provider and writes the immensely interesting blog Marketing Economics (on substack).
Faris Yakob – Author of Paid Attention, founder of consultancy Genius Steals and the popular Strands of Genius newsletter. Brilliant consumer strategist.
WARC – The free daily WARC newsletter is a must-read for marketers. Membership brings with it a wide range of additional depth.
CMO Confidential – The #1 Youtube show for CMOs. Mike Linton’s interviews are entertaining and informative.
Olivia Morley – Olivia leads FusionFront Media and co-hosts the Agency Business podcast with Madison & Wall’s Brian Weiser.
Dr. Augustine Fou – Worried about digital fraud, bots and waste? Look no further than Dr. Augustine Fou’s writings.
Michael Burgi – Michael covers media for Digiday. Reading his work keeps you up to-date on most of what is happening in the changing media landscape.
Campaign, TrinityP3 and the State of the Pitch – Mercer Island group partnered with Campaign US and TrinityP3 Global Marketing Consultancy to bring the State of the Pitch research to the US. Agencies can participate the free, fast and confidential 2025 US research until January 21, 2026 here.
Pesach Lattin – The “Rabbi of ROAS”. Controversial coverage of what’s right and wrong in media, martech and agencies. Writes the ADOTAT newsletter, a fun and informative read.
Volume 4? I hope you enjoy volume 3 – something for everyone. And please send me your recommendations for future volume 4!
PS – Reminder, Volumes 1 & 2: In case you missed our prior lists, here are the experts included in volumes 1 & 2:
Creative, Media and/or Marketing Effectiveness:
Sir John Hegarty – You know who he is and should follow him.
Billy Ryan – CSO at UK media agency The 7Stars, one of the finest indie media agencies in the world. His posts are always thoughtful and considered.
Les Binet – Les is well known for groundbreaking work like The Long and Short of It (with Peter Field) and How Not to plan (with Sarah Carter).
Peter Field – In addition to his frequent collaborations with Les Binet, Peter also recently contributed to The Extraordinary Cost of Dull.
Tom Roach – VP of Brand Strategy at Jellyfish. An award-winning marketing, brand and communications strategist, speaker and writer, whose articles on creative effectiveness are required reading. A frequent speaker at Cannes Lions, SXSW, and IPA Effie week.
Dr. Grace Kite – Grace turns data into meaning and profit at her firm Magic Numbers and often shares her brilliance on social and at conferences.
Andrew Tindall – Andrew is an SVP at System1, a leading advertising testing platform. He writes daily about “the world’s best ads & why they work”. A “must follow” on LinkedIn if you in our industry.
Ed Cotton – Ed has spent over three decades helping brands develop effective communication strategies. Past experience at McCann-Erickson, Lowe and BSSP. Active on Substack & LinkedIn.
Dr. Karen Nelson-Field – Her books, The Attention Economy and How Media Works, and The Attention Economy: A Category Blueprint are essential reading for anyone involved in advertising or media plans.
Ian McGrath – Ian leverages a varied background across agencies, marketing and media to provide a compelling point of view on a variety of marketing topics. He’s a frequent poster on LinkedIn.
Kevin Goodwin – Kevin is VP of Strategy at New Engen, a leading digital marketing agency. He regularly posts on topics like platform effectiveness, marketing experiments, and performance media.
Lori Highby – Lori writes often about digital marketing and account service. She leads workshops with Agency Management Institute on Account Service – both at the basic and advanced levels.
Marketing Strategy & Science
Tom Morten – Chief Strategy Officer at R/GA before launching Narratory Capitol, a strategy consultancy that helps technology, media and creativity-powered businesses to build bigger futures.
Julie Kinner – Julie leads JK & Associates, a Zurich based strategy shop focused on consumer brands. She posts frequently on a wide range of brand & marketing topics.
Graham Robertson – Graham is founder of Beloved Brands, a Toronto based consultancy that helps marketing teams make smarter decisions, produce better work, and drive stronger results.
Mark Ritson – Ignore (or enjoy) all the f-bombs; the content is king.
Dale W. Harrison – B2B counsel that is disciplined, strategic, documented, and thought provoking.
Professor Dr. Koen Pauwels – One of the finest marketing academics in the world and a Distinguished Professor of Marketing at Northeastern University.
Transparency & Data Integrity
Nick Manning – Co-founder of Manning Gottlieb OMD and former CSO at Ebiquity. His mentoring business, Encyclomedia, offers strategic advice to media and advertising companies. Cofounded Advertising Who Cares, a movement focused on fixing he ills of today’s advertising industry.
Arielle Garcia – A leading figure in privacy, data ethics, and responsible media, and former senior advertising agency executive, Arielle is Director of Intelligence at Check My Ads (Check My Ads exists to shine a spotlight into ad tech’s dark corners).
AI
Shelly Palmer – Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at the Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with tech strategy & solutions. Shelly’s blog covers AI daily in an easy to read and useful way.
The Business of Advertising
Brian Wieser – Brian founded Madison and Wall, an advisory and consulting firm as well as a provider of data and research to technology, media, retail and services businesses supported by advertising. Madison and Wall writes weekly about the industry, has a podcast and other free materials (in addition to serving as a paid consultant and analyst).
Heart in Marketing
Alan Quarry – Alan founded one of Canada’s finest agencies, Quarry Integrated Communications (now Marketbridge). Today, Alan focuses on making the world a better place, or as he says: “In a world where you can be anything, be KIND. And then, BE KINDER.” Alan recently founded the grassroots, global movement called Love Beats Hate, to encourage, engage and equip others to choose heart over hate.
Podcasts
The Uncensored CMO, Jon Evans
Build a Better Agency, Drew McClellan
On Strategy Showcase, Fergus O’Caroll
The CMO Podcast, Jim Stengel
Soul & Science, Jason Harris
Sell with Authority, Stephen Woessner
Steve Boehler, founder, and partner at Mercer Island Group has led consulting teams on behalf of clients as diverse as Ulta Beauty, Microsoft, UScellular, Nintendo, Kaiser Permanente, Holland America Line, Stop & Shop, Qualcomm, Brooks Running, and numerous others. He founded MIG after serving as a division president in a Fortune 100 when he was only 32. Earlier in his career, Steve Boehler cut his teeth with a decade in Brand Management at Procter & Gamble, leading brands like Tide, Pringles, and Jif.
Mercer Island Group helps marketers and agencies succeed. Company leadership is as much at home with marketers and their C-Suites as in an agency’s boardroom. With marketers, Mercer Island Group is a top 5 agency search consultancy covering all types of agency relationships (creative, media, web, PR, experiential) and assists marketers with marketing organization structure, workflow and critical skill development (briefing, creative evaluation & feedback, etc.). The company also supports leading and aspiring agencies with positioning, pitch and strategy training and pitch support.