August 2025 Podcast Round-Up: 10 Years of Flaunt, AI Mode, and why you’re marketing shouldn’t be linear. 

We had some very candid talks, from Lee sharing what he’s learned in the past 10 Years of fronting Flaunt and the misconceptions of agency life, followed by some forward-thinking discussions on Google’s new AI mode, and the importance of having a multi-platform search. 

Whether you’re leading an agency or thinking of utilising one to get some stellar results for your business, these talks will give you an insight into modern marketing practices, things we’ve learned along the way, and some useful insights you can take away and use in your day-to-day.

Polly sat down with Flaunt Digital’s CEO, Lee, to reflect on what 10 years of running an agency really looks like, where he opens up about the big wins, the near-misses, and the leadership curveballs that shaped the journey. From hiring missteps to pitch evolution, tough culture calls to proud project moments, we’ve got the key moments here.

If you’re heart isn’t in it, don’t go for it. Lee shared the moment he realised the business he’d built wasn’t the one he wanted to scale. It’s difficult when the money is being put on the table to grow something, but saying no was something that paid off, and why we’re at Flaunt today. Passion and expertise are so important when investing into a long-term business, so don’t scale for the sake of it.

2020 was the year that shaped this. With the COVID cohort starting remotely, Lee realised that they started at a disadvantage. We love flexibility and everyone at Flaunt can work from home for two days of their choice per week, but being fully remote doesn’t just mean missing out on office small talks. You miss hearing how problems get solved, how other people handle pressure, and nuggets of information that could spark some new innovative ideas, which you can’t just pick up through Zoom. 

Lee tried remote for Flaunt, but it just didn’t align with the personality of the agency. In service-based businesses, culture isn’t just built into the time you spend on the job, it’s built in real conversation, face-to-face moments, and friendships from the outside of the department charts. 

Overall, it’s worth trying things, and it’s not a one-size-fits-all when it comes to operational setup – but for us, being in the office really helps to shape the great work culture and cross-collaboration that we have between the teams.

Over the last 10 years, agency culture hasn’t just evolved, it’s been challenged, stretched and redefined. Employees want more from their workplaces, and come in with clearer expectations, and businesses are under pressure to deliver more than the bare minimum. 

We have an extensive list of benefits for those who work within our agency, but it’s taken a while to get the balance right. Unfortunately, you can’t do everything, but making sure you have clarity and fairness in your perks, and build a culture that works both for the business and the employees is crucial. 

Being in the industry for a decade means we have been able to be more meticulous with our hiring process, and we don’t just hire from perfect CVs. Lee looks for energy, honesty,and someone who can bring disruption to the team (in a good way). Why?

Because it’s easy to spot if someone is bluffing, but a lot harder to find someone who clicks into the culture and shakes things up for the better. There’s not a guaranteed formula, but it becomes easier with more experience.

Starting a business is one thing, but scaling is something else entirely. What works in the first year won’t cut it in year ten. The way you track performance, make decisions and run operations has to evolve. Owning a business means you never stop learning, and as soon as you’ve got something figured out, something’s bound to change. 

To continue with the ten-year celebrations, Polly and Lee talk about the ten biggest myths about agency life and what goes on behind the scenes. From discussions on freelancers and AI, they pulled apart some lazy clichés and shared real agency stories. This is great for anyone who is thinking about joining an agency or wants to know the behind-the-scenes of working with one.

There’s always the talk that agencies overcharge, but the common truth is that most good ones are over-servicing. Brands’ budgets are squeezed, and this almost always impacts marketing spend, and agency margins have become tighter than ever. It’s a hard balance to strike for an agency, because it’s tough when the budget runs out, yet you still want to deliver. 

Lee shared some stats from Prolific North on the UK’s top agencies, where there has been an 18% decline in pre-tax profits, despite a 14% YoY increase in turnover. We’re squeezing our budgets to deliver the best we can for clients.

Tactics are the quick win, the visible output, but the real value is the thinking behind them. Yes, it’s easier to show tangible tactics and results; they’re easier to package for clients but what makes a difference between a campaign that lands and one that just ticks boxes is the strategy. 

With the increase of AI there’s only more room for strategy to become the competitive edge between you and your competitors. AI can take on those manual tasks – and the clients that understand that have a team working with them that can do more. 

Check out our previous episode on strategy versus tactics here for a deeper discussion of the two. 

People have a misconception that agency life is full of vision boards and brainstorms over flat whites, with a glamorous edge and rose-tinted glasses. Yes, there is some of that. We do have strategy sessions, we do take our meetings to a coffee shop. 

But behind every idea is a mess of spreadsheets, deadlines, pitch decks and Slack chaos. It’s not easy work. We wear hats for multiple industries in a fast-paced environment, but we wouldn’t change it. Because when you’re with the right agency and the right people, you get creativity, camaraderie and a culture that genuinely makes you better.

We don’t enter awards, and here’s why: They don’t show the real value of the work you do. Awards aren’t a metric of impact. Our real validation comes from our performance and relationships we have with our clients, not paying towards entries for trophies.

Top tip: If you want to know if an agency is actually any good, check out their results and case studies. Ask their current and former clients. 

AI mode has been released, and of course Dan and Lee had to talk about it. But is it less of a revolution and more of a rebrand? 

It feels big, but that’s because Google’s building a strategic feed to keep you in the SERPs. They explored the old SEO truths that have suddenly been repackaged as shiny, new must-knows. If you want to stay ahead of Google updates, pitched SEO as a client, or wondered how to win in a world where AI answers come before your link, this ones for you.

Search is booming and SEO agency demand has increased – so why is everyone panicking about AI? Brands still need to earn attention, and those who specialise in SEO are perfectly placed to lead the way with a killer strategy. AI has only made SEO more valuable in the wake of AI overviews and AI mode. 

There’s so may new buzzwords (GEO, AIO) but the fundamentals haven’t changed: strategic search visibility, more customers, more revenue. Don’t panic and rebrand your offering overnight because LinkedIn’s shouting about the latest three-letter trend.

With trillions of searches per year, no one knows user behaviour better than Google. Then layer this with Gemini, an industry-leading AI model, and what do you get? AI overviews that answer better, follow up smarter, and soon will actually help you take action. 

Let’s take the travel industry for example. They won’t just be helping you with holiday information, but making the booking, evolving it from question, to answer, to outcome. Google’s new strategy is going to be keeping the users in-platform for longer, adding more value.

SEO’s been underpriced for years, and Paid Media costs keep climbing, because brands are using it to plug the gaps left by declining organic reach. Google’s cashing in now, while it figures out how to monetise AI overviews and Gemini, whilst PPC is getting pushed below the fold. 

AI-powered search is starting to look like the next-gen SERP. Paid Media won’t stop, but the balance is changing.

User behaviour has shifted, and strategy has changed with it. Google search is becoming a last click platform, and instead it’s about multi-platform optimisation, grounded in how real users move, search scroll and convert. 

TikTok was a game changer for this, becoming a searchable content platform. Unlike Instagram, which hoped you’d stumble across content, TikTok helped you find it. It merged discovery and intent, and in doing that, disrupted user dwell time across every platform. 

You can see that other platforms have pivoted to adapt to this, which is our cue to stop treating platforms in silos. Everything is blending the consumers have access to hundreds of touchpoints across both search and social.

Lee and Dan talk about why the marketing funnel was never real, and how linear customer journeys are the biggest myth still shaping brand strategy. They cover our offering Orbit model, which helps brands actually show up in the chaos of the real path to purchase, which looks more like Reddit rabbit holes, TikTok detours, and 500+ messy touchpoints.

The real client question in 2025 is: Where does my audience actually hang out, and how do we show up in these moments? It’s not scattergun, it’s not every platform every day. It’s about mapping your role across the messy user journey and pulling the right levels. SEO, Paid, Content, PR, all in the right place, at the right time.

When a brand finds an agency that becomes an extension of its team, one that adapts quickly, consistently delivers results, and drives real impact, there’s no need to swap agencies. In today’s fast-moving market, constant agency hopping and drawn-out pitch processes will only mean missed opportunities. Focusing on speed, foresight, and sustained collaboration is how the best results are achieved. 

The relationship between brand and organic search has always been complicated, and holistic marketing isn’t optional anymore. 

Clients often assume, ‘We already have brand, so SEO doesn’t add value there,’ but that view misses the point. SEO has always had the power to shape and influence brand perception, not just capture existing demand. Even over a decade ago, strategies like citation-only link building were proving how search visibility could drive brand authority for global companies investing heavily in SEO.

Now, that conversation is finally catching up. Brands are recognising that organic search isn’t just performance-driven; it’s a critical lever in building brand and establishing trust. Here at Flaunt, we follow and Orbit framework, which puts the user at the centre of strategy, because linear funnels don’t reflect real behaviour.

Advances in AI mean we can process data faster, pre-test, scale creative and optimise across multiple channels more efficiently. The result? A smarter, holistic marketing that drives impact without bloating workloads.

This is just a handful of insights that we covered in our August podcast episodes, and there’s plenty more where they came from over on anywhere you get your podcasts. 

See you next month for more insights from our next episodes.