This is Contagious

This is Contagious is a show that explores how ideas shape brands and culture.Join Alex Jenkins, Chloe Markowicz and Katrina Stirton Dodd from the Contagious team as they unpack the thinking behind the world’s most interesting ideas – from trends and technology, through marketing and media, to campaigns, creativity and everything in between.

This is Contagious is a business podcast hosted by Contagious, with 9 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Contagious hosts This is Contagious, a business show with 9 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #8

  Worldbuilding 101: How to turn a brand into an immersive commercial universe

  Aug 11, 202645 min

  Tracing a line from Tolkien to Mattel’s toyetics, the Contagious team explores why brands are moving beyond storytelling to create richer, more immersive worlds. We look at the rules that make fictional worlds believable and how worldbuilding can help brands escape commoditisation, fuel always-on creativity and give people something to believe in, belong to and buy into. Along the way, we explore: How Jellycat’s worldbuilding whimsy helped drive 66% revenue growth Why the story is in the world, not the other way around The toyetic rules that make Barbie Land believable How Disney’s underground Utilidors keep fantasy intact When a brand should act like a character, not a company How Trader Joe’s became a tiki-themed grocery store and why Londoners carry its tote bags Why your brand might need a map more than a sales strategy If you work in marketing, you should almost definitely subscribe to Contagious IQ - an intelligence platform that helps brands and agencies supercharge their creativity by learning from the world's most impactful brands, campaigns and trends.

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  Episode #7

  Disruption, community & zero distance: inside E.l.f.'s marketing playbook

  Jul 28, 202638 min

  Kory Marchisotto, the president of E.l.f. Brands, joins Contagious to unpack how a scrappy startup selling premium cosmetics at affordable prices evolved into a beauty powerhouse. This episode explores the ideology, marketing and organisational culture behind E.l.f. Beauty’s explosive growth. We dig into how its biggest innovations were led by its community, how the company encourages healthy conflict and why its mantra is ‘anything is e.l.f-ing possible’. We also explain: Why E.l.f. started selling empty bottles to its fans The difference between shaping and leading culture Why people were clamouring to get financial advice from a beauty brand How girls dropping out of sports could impact their future career success How to create the workplace conditions necessary for innovation to thrive Why E.l.f. maintains ‘zero distance’ between its C-suite and its fans. How to jolt people into awareness around important issues If you work in marketing, you should almost definitely subscribe to Contagious IQ - an intelligence platform that helps brands and agencies supercharge their creativity by learning from the world's most impactful brands, campaigns and trends.

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  Episode #5

  Cannes Lions decoded: the campaigns, conversations and creativity that mattered

  Jul 1, 202645 min

  The Contagious team returns from Cannes Lions 2026 to deliver our sunburnt take on the awards, the talks and what it all means for the industry. Hot from the Croisette, we find out whether How Brands Grow is a brutally boring read, why the UN needs marketers more than ever, how the industry's best work is turning problems into opportunities, and how creative treasure can be found everywhere - from a dot-matrix printer receipt to a 12-tonne chocolate heist. Along the way we delve into: How to navigate the AI bifurcation without losing your humanity The psychology behind humorous responsibility Why lived human experience is becoming marketing's biggest moat How the biggest award winners turned problems into creative opportunities Why the marketing funnel is giving way to communities, conversations and participation How to tell if your CEO has no imagination If you work in marketing, you should almost definitely subscribe to Contagious IQ - an intelligence platform that helps brands and agencies supercharge their creativity by learning from the world's most impactful brands, campaigns and trends.

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  Episode #4

  Goosebumps, group chats & the World Cup: how to win the aftermath economy

  Jun 17, 202643 min

  Budgets will be wasted. Brands will be ruthlessly filtered out. The real game starts after full time. James Kirkham, founder of Iconic and ex-head of Copa90, joins Contagious to unpack why the 2026 World Cup is fundamentally different to previous tournaments - and what brands need to do about it. This episode explores the new playbook for World Cup marketing, where winning isn’t about owning the biggest moment, but creating the conversations, emotions and cultural ripples that keep spreading long after the final whistle. . We’ll explain: Why the best metric right now is goosebumps The reason creators are better value than athletes How Gen Z are different to previous generations of football fans Why group chats are the new stadiums The power of conversations that happen after the game Why the Village People were the canary in the cultural coalmine If you work in marketing, you should almost definitely subscribe to Contagious IQ - an intelligence platform that helps brands and agencies supercharge their creativity by learning from the world's most impactful brands, campaigns and trends.

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  Episode #3

  Brain rot, AI slop & doomscrolling: how brands win in the attention economy

  Jun 3, 202648 minS0

  <p>In this episode, Contagious investigates what happens when content supply completely outstrips human attention, and how brands can win in a world dominated by infinite scroll, clip farms, AI slop and algorithmic overload.</p> <p>Along the way, we’ll explore why Universe 25’s infamous rodent utopia experiments feel eerily relevant to modern media, why today’s attention panic may simply be history repeating itself, and why the real problem might not be shrinking attention spans but a zero tolerance reaction to boring content.</p> <p>We’ll explain:</p> How brands cut through in a world of infinite noise T...

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Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.