Audience Connection

How Olly wowed the crowd at Adfest

In this episode, co-hosts Lydia Chan and Olly Atkinson recaps his talk at AdFest 2026 in Thailand titled "Making People Care: Storytelling in the Age of AI,” where he strapped biometric trackers on 50 unsuspecting audience members and measured their brain activity in real time. What happened next revealed something most marketers don't want to admit: the content we think is working, often isn't.

From a curiosity gap that spikes immersion in 30 seconds flat, to corporate messaging that tanks it just as fast, Olly unpacks what the neuroscience actually says about why some content sticks and most gets filtered out. Plus, a whiskey brand that ditched their assumptions, rewrote their entire creative strategy, and saw a 56% revenue jump in three months with no extra media spend.

If you create content, brief it, approve it, or sit in rooms talking about it, this one will change how you think about all of it.

 

Follow Audience Connection Podcast:

• Website: https://www.casualfilms.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/casualglobal/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/casual-films-international
• BlueSky: @casualglobal.bsky.social

Subscribe now and join the conversation about creating content that truly resonates and storytelling backed by behaviour science.

Are you doing brand storytelling right? Jordan Kelley will know

In this episode of Audience Connection, Lydia Chan sits down with Jordan P. Kelley, Director of Content and Editor-in-Chief at Aivanta, to explore what it truly means to do brand storytelling right and why so many brands are still getting it wrong.

With nearly a decade of reviewing brand-funded films and curating the programming for the Brand Storytelling Conference, Jordan shares what separates content that audiences actually choose to watch from content that simply blends into the noise. He explains why brand storytelling is not a long-form ad, how putting humans at the center of a story is the most reliable path to engagement, and why the element of choice is everything in today's on-demand world.

The conversation digs into the real tension that exists between artistic vision and brand objectives, and how the most effective players in the space are those who can bridge both. Jordan also unpacks how storytellers can build internal buy-in by reverse-engineering leadership's metrics and grafting those goals directly onto the creative work, making the case for brand storytelling in a language that resonates in the boardroom.

If you're interested in how brands can move beyond campaigns and create content that builds genuine audience affinity, or how AI and smarter measurement will reshape the future of brand storytelling, this episode is packed with insights you can take straight back to your team.

Follow Audience Connection Podcast:

• Website: https://www.casualfilms.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/casualglobal/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/casual-films-international
• BlueSky: @casualglobal.bsky.social

Subscribe now and join the conversation about creating content that truly resonates and storytelling backed by behaviour science.

Sandra Gaudenzi on Intentional Storytelling | Part 2

Oliver Atkinson continues his conversation with Sandra Gaudenzi to ask a tougher question: once a story moves someone, how do you turn that moment into real change without slipping into manipulation?

Sandra reframes impact storytelling as intentional storytelling, mapping every layer from who makes the work and how the interface is designed to the conversations, communities, and campaigns that follow release. Her metaphors land hard: a single story is just one fish in an ocean of narrative change, and a brand chasing short-term persuasion is like a parent ending a supermarket tantrum through force, effective now, costly later. She also argues that behavior change needs repetition, belonging, and values that are lived consistently, not just performed in the ad.

For marketers, brand leaders, filmmakers, and strategists, this episode is a sharp guide to behavior change, long-term trust, and the kind of storytelling that shapes culture instead of merely chasing attention.

Learn more about Sandra:

• 🌐 Website: www.what-if.uk
• 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandragaudenzi/

Follow Audience Connection Podcast:

• Website: https://www.casualfilms.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/casualglobal/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/casual-films-international
• BlueSky: @casualglobal.bsky.social

Subscribe now and join the conversation about creating content that truly resonates and storytelling backed by behaviour science.

From Storytelling to Storyliving with Sandra Gaudenzi | Part 1

Oliver Atkinson sits down with interactive documentary pioneer Sandra Gaudenzi to explore why stories become more powerful when audiences stop being spectators and start becoming participants.

From the childhood moment a speck of dust made her realize perception is constructed, Sandra traces how language, culture, and media shape reality. She breaks down interactivity from branching paths to participatory spaces, then makes it tangible with a locative storytelling project that asks cyclists to record why they love a corner of London and leaves a “cloud of stories” for strangers to discover. She also shows how subtle interaction can deepen empathy, whether that means choosing when to look away in Alma or feeling another life inside Notes on Blindness.

In a world of passive scrolling and fractured attention, this episode gives marketers, filmmakers, experience designers, and communication leaders a practical lens on agency, embodiment, and why stories stick when people do more than watch.

Learn more about Sandra:

• 🌐 Website: www.what-if.uk
• 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandragaudenzi/

Follow Audience Connection Podcast:

• Website: https://www.casualfilms.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/casualglobal/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/casual-films-international
• BlueSky: @casualglobal.bsky.social

Subscribe now and join the conversation about creating content that truly resonates and storytelling backed by behaviour science.

Why Most Content Misses the Mark - Insights From Creative Testing Expert Sabrina Talma

Lydia Chan is joined by Sabrina Talma, CEO and Co-Founder of Human Made Machine, a creative intelligence platform that helps global brands test and refine creative work before it goes to market. With clients spanning Google, the NBA, and The North Face, Sabrina brings a rare, data-backed perspective on what actually resonates with audiences — and what quietly falls flat.

Sabrina shares why most brand campaigns miss the mark from the start, and how marketers are often too close to their own work to judge it objectively. She walks through a real campaign example where two nearly identical ads targeting Gen Z in the US and China landed in completely opposite ways — and what it revealed about the danger of treating global audiences as one. She also weighs in on whether higher production value actually drives better performance, and what regional differences her team is seeing in the data.

The conversation digs into AI-generated creative, including results from a real Puma head-to-head test comparing AI and human-made ads, and why AI tends to converge on average rather than differentiate. Learn why AI personas for creative testing are not ready for prime time, drawing on both her own experiments and a Stanford and Google DeepMind study on digital twins.

If you're a marketer, creative director, or brand strategist trying to understand what makes audiences truly connect with content, this episode is packed with insights you can bring back to the team.

Follow Audience Connection Podcast:

Website: https://www.casualfilms.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/casualglobal/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/casual-films-international
BlueSky: @casualglobal.bsky.social

Subscribe now and join the conversation about creating content that truly resonates and storytelling backed by behaviour science.

Why Neuroinclusive Design Is Better for Everyone with Oliver Markeson

To mark Neurodiversity Celebration Week, Oliver Atkinson sits down with Oliver Markeson,  CEO and Co-Founder of Neurohaus, to explore why neuroinclusive design is not a niche fix but a smarter way to build calmer, clearer audience experiences that work better for everyone.

Oliver's starting point is personal. A late diagnosis made him look differently at the world around him, at the way people shop, work, and move through spaces, and ask why so much of it feels unnecessarily hard. That question became Neurohaus, and a body of work with brands like Pandora and Versace that proves neuroinclusive design isn't a niche fix. It's just a smarter design.

In this episode, he gets specific. He talks about the "triggers" that create overload, the queue barriers that send autistic shoppers turning right to avoid them, and the "glimmers" that do the opposite: small, sensory moments so well-considered they can make an airport feel genuinely playful. His core argument is disarmingly simple: reduce friction, simplify information, and stop making people raise their hand just to get a better experience.

With one in five people neurodivergent, this isn't a niche conversation. It's a commercial one. Fewer abandoned journeys, stronger retention, brands people actually trust, the business case and the human case turn out to be the same case.

If you work in marketing, design, retail, or internal comms, this one's worth your full attention.

 

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Chapters / Key Takeaways:

00:00 Introduction

04:12 One in Five Consumers Are Wired Differently

08:21 Feel It, Don't Just Learn It

21:17 Designing for the 20% Improves It for Everyone

29:39 Triggers vs. Glimmers

50:51 Avoid Othering at All Costs

 

Learn more about Neurohaus:

🌐 www.neurohaus.co

📸 @_neurohaus

 

Follow Audience Connection Podcast:

• Website: https://www.casualfilms.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/casualglobal/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/casual-films-international
• BlueSky: @casualglobal.bsky.social

Subscribe now and join the conversation about creating content that truly resonates, backed by behaviour science.

 

MindStates: The Hidden Moment That Changes Every Decision with Will Leach

Oliver Atkinson sits down with behavioural science researcher Will Leach, founder of MindState Group and author of Marketing to MindStates, to reveal how “hot states” (MindStates) shape decisions, and how targeting the moment can lift your B2B messaging. 

Will maps his MindState model, goals, motivations, regulatory fit, and triggers, showing how nine core motivations and 21 decision shortcuts can turn a fuzzy persona into a usable brief.

Hear how a hotel CMO flipped from trashing a campaign to championing it once it was framed as social proof, and why brands should be the utility belt, not Batman.

With audiences making around 35,000 decisions a day, the default response to complex messaging is to swipe past and “think about it later.” If you pitch, launch, or sell inside crowded categories and buying committees, this is your guide for measurable lift, without gimmicks. 

Plus, Oliver and Will dig into the AI angle, including Bevy (behavioural intelligence), emotionally intelligent customer personas you can “ask” in meetings, and where AI helps most (and where to be careful).

 

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Chapters / Key Takeaways:

00:00 Introduction

03:22 – Mind States Over Personas

14:40 – Be the Utility Belt, Not Batman

15:45 – More Information, Less Persuasion

24:21 – The Two-Why Ladder

47:32 – Motivation vs. Manipulation

 

 

Follow Audience Connection Podcast:

• Website: https://www.casualfilms.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/casualglobal/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/casual-films-international
• BlueSky: @casualglobal.bsky.social

Subscribe now and join the conversation about creating content that truly resonates, backed by behaviour science.

A Count Down to Connection with Amazon LEO's Global CD Michael Sternoff

This podcast episode features Michael Sternoff, Global Creative Director at Amazon Leo (Amazon's low-Earth orbit satellite network). Michael shares his diverse background, spanning Emmy-winning filmmaking and video game trailers, highlighting how these experiences shaped his approach to making technical concepts feel human and authentic. The discussion centers on the launch of Amazon Leo's brand film, "Countdown," which uses right-brain storytelling to showcase real-world impacts of connectivity, emphasizing authenticity through casting and rooted use cases. Michael also offers insights into brand building, prioritizing audience connection and consistent storytelling over short-term analytics, and the importance of creative resilience in a dynamic environment. 

Amazon Leo: A new era of internet is coming:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPN4ik8_t0g

Follow Audience Connection Podcast:

• Website: casualfilms.com
• Instagram: @casualglobal
• LinkedIn: Casual Films International
• BlueSky: @casualglobal.bsky.social

Subscribe now and join the conversation about creating content that truly resonates, backed by behaviour science.