IN THE MEDIA
Quick facts.
- Based in: London and Essex, UK
- Specialises in: Fractional CMO, B2B tech and professional services
- Founded: Human Hatstand Ltd
- Notable clients: LEGO Group, Deutsche Bank, Manchester United, LG
- Speaking: DMWF Global (ExCeL London, 2026), DMWF Europe (Amsterdam, 2026), CIM London, The Marketing Meetup
- Media: The Guardian, Campaign Live, The Drum, Little Black Book
- Podcast/video series: Bin Juice
John Lyons is a London & Essex based Fractional CMO and marketing strategist with over 20 years of experience in B2B technology and professional services marketing. He has worked with brands including LEGO, Deutsche Bank and Manchester United, spoken at conferences including DMWF Global and the Chartered Institute of Marketing, and been featured in The Guardian, Campaign Live and The Drum.
And apparently, people keep asking John to say things out loud. Here’s the evidence.
Over the past two decades, John Lyons has been interviewed, featured, quoted, invited, occasionally ambushed, and once lured out of the shadows by a blue tick and the gall of a Gary Vee groupie.
The result? A body of work spanning podcasts, vodcasts, live talks, press features, guest columns, and the odd press release — across the UK, USA, and Africa. From The Guardian to a Malawian marketing summit. From Campaign Live to a Substack with a refreshingly low tolerance for nonsense.
If you’re trying to work out whether John knows what he’s talking about, this is probably the page to be on.
What people have asked him about
Brand loyalty. Promotions strategy. Fractional CMOs. AI in marketing. Digital audits. Retail mechanics. Why agencies keep making the same tech mistakes. Why most brand strategy is dressed-up common sense. And, on one memorable occasion, Bruce Lee.
He’s talked to marketers, strategists, agency founders, business owners, and anyone willing to hit record and let him get on with it.
Featured in & appeared on
A career’s worth of proof that John has opinions, and that other people find them useful.
🎤 Podcasts & Audio
Call to Action, ...Gasp! Agency · 2022
Strategy, loyalty, promotions, Parliament, James Blunt, and the Batwing. A wide-ranging conversation with one of the UK’s sharpest marketing agencies.
Sweathead with Mark Pollard, When Every Single Day Hurts · 2022
A candid conversation about what it really feels like to be a senior marketer — the parts people don’t usually say out loud.
Sweathead, Are Fractional CMOs Tiny?
What a fractional CMO actually does, how it works in practice, and why the title confuses people who’ve never needed one. John also provides a mental health update from his earlier appearance.
The Overthinkers, How Young Marketers Find Their Voice
How young marketers find their voice alongside veterans. Spoiler: it takes longer than LinkedIn would have you believe.
The Viral Genius Podcast, Beyond the Pitch Slap
Using AI as a research tool rather than a content machine, and why product market fit and a clear value proposition do more work than anything you say in the pitch.
Retail Oriented Podcast, Promotional Mechanics at Retail
What actually works in retail promotions, and why most brands get it backwards.
Indie Business Club, It's Oh So Quiet: Finding Clients
What to do when the pipeline goes quiet, with my very short guest contribution on how indie business owners can actually attract clients rather than waiting to be found.
Monigle, Conducting a Complete Digital Audit
The questions every brand should be asking about their digital presence, and mostly isn’t.
Let’s Talk Branding, The Building Blocks of a Marketing Career
What actually matters when building a marketing career, stripped of the career advice clichés.
Let’s Talk Branding, The Secret Behind Brand Advocacy
A deep conversation on brand advocacy, loyalty, and when to prioritise acquisition over retention — with examples drawn from LEGO, Hasbro, and beyond.
Client Success Matters, Bridging the Agency/Client Divide
What makes client-agency relationships actually work, empathy, business outcomes over deliverables, and why agencies that don’t understand their client’s internal politics are always fighting with one hand tied behind their back.
Martechify, How a Former LEGO Group Executive Is Using AI to Revolutionise B2B Prospecting
Practical AI applications in B2B marketing, from someone who uses the tools daily and hasn’t drunk the Kool-Aid.
Indie Business Club, 40 Lucky Man: lessons in luck with John Lyons
With my top mate Mel Barfield, we talk luck in careers, squiggly routes into marketing, and how a hat and some bins became distinctive assets.
📹 Video & Vodcasts
ISOLATED Talks®, Routine and Ritual in Marketing, Architecture & Life
A dedicated talk on the ISOLATED Talks® platform, a curated series featuring Rory Sutherland, Dave Trott, Mark Pollard, and Tom Goodwin among others. John’s 9-minute talk draws on his background as an architect and explores the role of routine, ritual, and structure in both creativity and marketing. Good company to be in.
A vodcast conversation on what it takes to show up with authority and purpose as a senior marketer, and why so many people in the industry confuse being busy with being effective.
Untapped Conference, Birmingham
A headline speaker slot at Untapped, Notepad's annual in-person event. Theme: the future of creativity. John made the case for what human thinking still does that AI can’t replicate, yet.
Fractional CMOs & The 90-Day Win
Another vodcast hosted by Dean Waye and featuring John and Volker Jaeckel discussing the roles and responsibilities of fractional CMOs and what a successful first 90 days in seat should look like.
Unicorn Chef EP17, Marketing & Masala with John Lyons
John joins host Amy Stokes-Waters to discuss all things branding, how to stand out in a crowded industry, and giving their top tips for improving your marketing whilst cooking up a delicious Chana Masala.
GoodEnoughChats, Grief, divorce, isolation, and finding a path back, with John Lyons
John opens up about the series of life events that brought him to the edge, and the path he took to find his way back.
Are brand mascots making a comeback?
A documentary from Marcel's lab, which features John and Hat discussing the rise of brand mascots.
The System Behind It, Marketing Is a Business Discipline, Not a Function
Why marketing is a business discipline rather than a colouring-in department, including the comms agency CRM cleanup that drove a record quarter, and why being choosable comes before you spend a penny on awareness.
Bin Juice, Video & Podcast Series · Ongoing
John’s own video and podcast series, with a dedicated site at binjuice.co.uk. Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, and Podchaser. 26+ episodes covering AI, distinctive brand assets, metrics that matter for SMEs, growth hacking versus informed marketing, and the fallacy of brand purpose. Delivered wearing a hat, sat in front of some bins. Exactly what it says on the tin.
The full YouTube playlist for Bin Juice, all episodes in one place.
📰 Press & Editorial
The Guardian, Business Solutions Supplement · 2003
Yes, 2003. That’s over 20 years of being considered worth quoting. Make of that what you will.
The Drum, End of an Era: Creatives Reflect on Adam&EveDDB’s Best John Lewis Ads · 2023
Quoted alongside agency leaders on the campaigns that defined a generation of British advertising.
Little Black Book (LBB), Solving the Technology Challenge in an Agency
The piece that needed writing and that most agencies still haven’t read closely enough.
Global Banking & Finance Review, Peccadillo Pictures
Brand strategy and digital campaign work for Peccadillo Pictures, covered in the Global Banking & Finance Review.
MediaPost OMMA Awards, 2016 Winner · 2016
Recognised for digital marketing excellence at one of the industry’s most competitive award programmes.
Promo Marketing, 5 Tips for Using Receipt Validation in Promotions
Practical, useful, and the kind of content that gets bookmarked rather than skimmed.
Commerce & Industry Magazine, Power Hour Feature · 2024
John is named as a headline speaker at Power Hour, a digital sector briefing series backed by a DCMS-funded Creative Growth programme. Commerce & Industry is the leading B2B publication for Yorkshire and Humber, solid regional authority coverage alongside national credentials.
Boss Today, Why Memorable Brands Win: What Differentiates Brands in a Crowded Market . 2026
The man with the hat and the bins on how distinctiveness serves a practical purpose.
16 Experts on the Cost of Playing It Safe in B2B Messaging
One of sixteen contributors to Yara Abboud's piece on why B2B businesses cling to category convention, and what sounding like everyone else costs them.
19-news.com, Profile Feature · 2015
An early profile feature on John’s work and thinking in digital marketing and his accidental role in the birth of urban golf.
✏️ Guest Columns & Blogs
The Marketing Meetup Blog, We Need to Talk About Loyalty
The piece that sparked more DMs than almost anything else John has published. If brand loyalty is your thing, start here.
Marketing Unfiltered, The Undeniable Case for Investing in Brand
If you’re still treating brand as a nice-to-have, this one’s for you.
AI Journal, AI: Marketing’s Friend or Foe?
A measured take from someone who uses AI tools daily and hasn’t drunk the Kool-Aid.
No Wanky Bollocks, F**k Milk · 2023
An essay on milk, meaning, and marketing that makes considerably more sense when you read it. The title is accurate.
AI earns its keep in the diagnosis, not the output. What it's actually good for, and what it isn't.
🎤 Talks & Events
Figaro Digital, Before You Optimise the Funnel, Fix the Proposition
Why unclear positioning upstream makes everything downstream more expensive, and what to fix before you touch the funnel. Spring Digital Marketing Summit, London, May 2026.
DMWF Global, Speaker Profile (ExCeL London, May 2026) · 2026
Speaker and session chair at DMWF Global, the Digital Marketing World Forum’s flagship international conference. John chairs tracks on omnichannel marketing and B2B strategy alongside speakers from JCDecaux, Microsoft, and Unilever.
DMWF Europe, Speaker Profile (Amsterdam, November 2026) · 2026
Session chair at DMWF Europe in Amsterdam, chairing both the Sales Enablement & B2B Marketing track and the Omnichannel Marketing & Personalisation track. Roles reserved for practitioners the conference considers genuine subject matter experts.
CIM London Workshop, Does Brand Loyalty Exist? · 2018
A question the industry still hasn’t properly answered, put to a room of marketers who had strong feelings either way. Hosted by the Chartered Institute of Marketing, London.
Brand, West Chester University of Pennsylvania . 2025
Guest speaker on the Branding course at West Chester University of Pennsylvania, run by Professor Tom Elmer. John talks about the business value of brand and how to quantify it.
MWNation / Malawi, Digital Marketing Summit
Invited to address Malawian marketers on digital strategy. One of the more geographically ambitious speaking engagements on the list.
📢 Announcements & Industry News
Technology for Marketing, Top 30 Marketing Influencers 2026
Shortlisted for the 2026 Top 30, answering the year's theme, Creative Intelligence in Action.
Response Source, John Lyons Joins Leadership Team at ...Gasp!
Official announcement of John joining the leadership team at marketing consultancy Gasp.
Marketers Media, John Lyons Launches B2B and B2C Consultancy
Launch announcement for John’s independent marketing consultancy, covering B2B and B2C clients.
Want John to say things out loud at your event, on your podcast, or in your publication?
He’s opinionated, well-prepared, and won’t need three rounds of amends to get to the point.
“John brings a rare combination of deep marketing knowledge delivered with an inimitable empathy for what it takes to do the work.”
Shann Biglione
Host of The Overthinkers podcast & author
“No-nonsense marketing wisdom, delivered with style. John knows his marketing onions better than most.”
Naeem Alvi-Assinder
Founder at Notepad (B Corp), Untapped host
WANT JOHN TO SAY THINGS AT OR FOR YOU?
If you'd like to have me say things on your podcast or vodcast, give a keynote at your event, chair a stage or moderate a panel, drop me a line.