# Coke CMO’s lessons on advertising, innovation and surviving corporate politics - Walter Susini

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/uncensored-cmo-257995/coke-cmo-s-lessons-on-advertising-innovation-and-surviving-corporate-politics-walter-susini
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/uncensored-cmo-257995/coke-cmo-s-lessons-on-advertising-innovation-and-surviving-corporate-politics-walter-susini.md
Podcast: [Uncensored CMO](https://stenobird.com/podcast/uncensored-cmo-257995)
Published: 2026-04-08T00:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://ucmo.transistor.fm/257
Audio file: https://media.transistor.fm/a28dfdd1/81499270.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/uncensored-cmo-257995/episodes/coke-cmo-s-lessons-on-advertising-innovation-and-surviving-corporate-politics-walter-susini
Duration seconds: 3653

## Resource

Walter Susini, former CMO of Coca-Cola Europe, joins us to share what it really takes to succeed inside one of the world’s most iconic brands. From the enduring power of “Holidays Are Coming” to the role of jingles and distinctive assets. We also dive into innovation at Coca-Cola, including the lessons from Coke Zero and the failed launch of Coke Energy, and where brands often get innovation wrong. But beyond marketing, Walter offers a candid look at the political reality of being a CMO, a theme he explores in his book Bullsh*t Inc., an unfiltered guide to how companies really operate behind the scenes. Drawing on decades of experience, he shares why performance alone isn’t enough, how decisions actually get made, and what it takes to survive and succeed inside large organisations. Get Walter's book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/BULLSH-INC-Unfiltered-Survival-Corporate/dp/B0G6PVDM11 Sign up to our live event, The Calling, on April 21st here: https://event.uncensoredcmo.com/events/uncensoredcmo/2044861 Subscribe to our newsletter, The One Thing: https://newsletter.uncensoredcmo.com/ Listen to our new podcast, Uncensored Renegades: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/uncensored-renegades/id1868870960 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7qnkqq0XSpgif9A5ZNgSpX?si=f181c3a0e9af480c Timestamps 00:00 - Start 00:58 - Walter Susini’s career journey 02:38 - Why Coke ran the holidays are coming ads for so long? 05:51 - The power of distinctive assets for Coca Cola - especially jingles 08:34 - Why Pepsi used Coke’s polar bear 11:50 - What the data says about the Pepsi polar bear ad 15:41 - Why Walter is a “Professor of Practice” 18:10 - The failed launch of Coke Energy 21:29 - Innovation in the drinks industry: launching Coke Zero 23:32 - The sweet spot for in…

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