#139 Why brand matters more in an AI world, with Sandra Phillipson

#139 Why brand matters more in an AI world, with Sandra Phillipson

July 3, 2026 · 50 min · Episode 139

About this episode

Jonny Ross discusses the increasing importance of brand in an AI-driven world with guest Sandra Phillipson.

AI has made brand matter more, not less. When a machine is choosing who to recommend, brand is what gets you picked. Jonny Ross talks to brand and customer strategist Sandra Phillipson, founder of Crozest after a 25-year career in brand and customer strategy, most of it inside one of the UK's biggest banks. From the Madonna pen to Airbnb, the Evri rebrand to this week's Halifax news, this is a practical case for treating brand as a commercial lever, not a logo. Score your own brand and AI visibility in a couple of minutes, free, no sell: https://jonnyross.com/magic-multiplier Three things you will take away: Why brand is the biggest commercial lever in your marketing, and how clear positioning lets you charge more Sandra's working numbers on the new buyer journey: around 70 per cent of it now happens before anyone reaches your website, and a buyer arriving from an AI recommendation converts around three times higher Brand warms up the buyers, performance converts them. Why the two teams drift apart, and what joint accountability looks like Jump in: (02:04) What big brands understand about brand ROI that smaller businesses miss (11:29) Sandra's insider take on the Halifax and…

People in this episode

Host: Jonny Ross

Guest: Sandra Phillipson

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Crozest, Halifax, Lloyds, Evri, Airbnb

Places: UK

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