Jiří Koleňák: My name is Jiří Koleňák and welcome to the Úspěšní (Successful) podcast, where we explore the principles and habits that drive my guests to succeed. My guest today is Milan Formánek. Milan has been working in marketing for over 20 years. He helps companies create their strategic compass so they know what to say, to whom, where, and how often, which platforms and agency partners to choose, and what internal processes to implement for smooth execution. Milan spent 14 years at Red Bull, led a creative agency, and sits on the board of Czechitas. You might also know him as a jury member in competitions like Agency of the Year, Marketer of the Year, Young Lions, or the Social Impact Award. Last but not least, Milan is a lecturer at Newton University and the guarantor of the MBA Marketing program. Hi Milan, welcome to the podcast.
Milan Formánek: Hi Jirko, thanks a lot for having me.
Jiří Koleňák: Milan, what brought you the greatest joy in recent days?
Milan Formánek: Just yesterday, our neighborhood association held a pumpkin carving event, which was great. We live near a forest, and normally it's just a quick "hello" on the street. People often don't know their neighbors as well as they used to—they get into their cars in the morning, work all day, and leave town for the weekend.
Jiří Koleňák: Even if you live in the forest?
Milan Formánek: Exactly! So a few years ago, we founded a neighborhood association to organize cultural and sports events, play together, and build community. It completely transforms your daily life when you recognize people on the street, swap apples from the garden, or watch each other's kids.
Jiří Koleňák: Building a community is fantastic. How did you get into marketing originally? What motivated you to pursue this career path?
Milan Formánek: I was headed down this path from childhood. I'm a typical generalist—I don't specialize deeply in just one thing, but I go very wide. Back in primary school, I was editor-in-chief of our school magazine, took photos, edited videos, built websites, and learned basic programming in QBasic. Choosing marketing felt natural because I always enjoyed combining these skills.
Jiří Koleňák: That’s the exact opposite of my story—I studied electrical engineering at university and never actually practiced it!
Milan Formánek: I took my high school graduation exams in marketing and went on to study it at university. Having a childhood dream aligned with your lifelong field might be slightly uncommon in this industry.
Jiří Koleňák: You worked at Red Bull for a long time. How did that experience shape you?
Milan Formánek: I’m deeply grateful for it. Red Bull taught me to focus heavily on execution quality in fine detail. Working with below-the-line (BTL) channels—like events, sponsorships, and influencer partnerships—was standard practice at Red Bull back in the 90s. Today, companies are trying to discover how to work with digital influencers, but brands like Nike, Adidas, and Red Bull perfected those concepts decades ago. Those pre-digital content principles easily replicate into today’s world of digital marketing and AI.
Jiří Koleňák: Red Bull’s famous slogan is "Red Bull gives you wings." Can you recall a moment when Red Bull gave you wings—either the energy drink or working for the brand?
Milan Formánek: There were many! Aside from late-night energy drink moments, one daytime event stands out: I was sitting in a helicopter holding a camera. About three meters away, a paraglider was descending. The helicopter matched his descent speed, and another three meters past his thin glider lines, aerobatic pilot Martin Šonka brought his plane to a vertical hover on its propeller. All three of us descended in formation together. That was an extraordinary experience, and there were many like it.
Jiří Koleňák: Running a creative agency must have brought a whole set of different challenges. Which ones stick out?
Milan Formánek: Agency tendering—when clients search for a new agency partner—is fascinating. Often, companies invite ten agencies to pitch instead of a sensible four or five. I always recommend using resources like férovýtendr.cz to run ethical pitches. A study by BetterBriefs.com revealed a massive gap: 96% of client marketers believe they write good agency briefs, but only 4% of agencies agree. Having worked in media, on the client side, and in agencies, I saw both sides of that divide. Early in your career, working agency-side is a fantastic way to peek into the strategies of global corporations and rapidly understand different industries.
Jiří Koleňák: What three recommendations would you give to dramatically improve a marketing brief?
Milan Formánek: First, take it seriously and invest proper time. Don't delegate it entirely to a junior marketer. I tell clients: "Have your top management and board sign off on the brief in blood, but then stay out of micro-managing the creative execution." Usually, the opposite happens—executives ignore the brief and then debate logo sizes or color palettes later. Involve your CFO and Sales Director early. Second, keep the brief concise (one to two pages), but include specific visual benchmarks—examples of previous campaigns, competitors, or other industries—and explicitly explain why you like or dislike them. Don't just say "I like this ad." Specify: "I like the fast pacing and music, but it's lit too darkly for our brand." Concrete references clarify expectations far better than abstract strategic jargon.
Jiří Koleňák: Moving up from briefs to overall marketing strategy, where do companies make the biggest mistakes?
Milan Formánek: Marketing follows a strict sequence: Diagnosis (Research) $\rightarrow$ Strategy $\rightarrow$ Tactics (Execution). The biggest flaw is skipping research and strategy to jump straight into operational tactics because tactics yield immediate, visible outputs. Research feels slow or academic to many founders, but skips are fatal. Research doesn't require massive budgets; secondary data sources—like public demographic databases, official statistical offices, or market reports—are readily available for free. Simple ethnographic observation is also hugely underused. If I'm promoting a university, I don't just put students in a focus group room; I sit on campus, observe what they wear, what tech they use, and how they interact naturally. Retailers and event organizers often miss using simple point-of-sale or trade show surveys as valuable market research.
Jiří Koleňák: So it's about acquiring true market insight.
Milan Formánek: Exactly. Most companies hold under 10% market share, yet they shape their entire strategy based solely on feedback from existing customers, assuming they represent the whole market. Existing early adopters are often market anomalies. You must study potential customers you don't have yet. Furthermore, strategy shouldn't just be condensed into a single catchy slide right away. Draft a comprehensive deck first, test your assumptions, and then distill it into a one-page summary. Finally, choose a clear strategic path. There are multiple routes up Mount Everest; identify the options, pick your primary route, and establish clear triggers for when to switch to a backup path if needed.
Jiří Koleňák: What defines effective marketing in today’s landscape?
Milan Formánek: Marketing is a young discipline—just over a century old. As Byron Sharp noted in How Brands Grow, marketing today resembles medicine a century ago, when doctors still used bloodletting and ignored handwashing despite published evidence. Many marketers ignore evidence-based principles, relying instead on subjective anecdotes ("bloodletting"). To do good marketing, master the core literature first: Byron Sharp’s How Brands Grow and Rory Sutherland’s Alchemy. Avoid charlatans selling quick-fix "snake oil." Combine real consumer market data with consistent brand assets (distinctive brand codes) across all channels.
Jiří Koleňák: At Newton University, you teach marketing strategy. How do you help professionals bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical execution?
Milan Formánek: Understanding marketing concepts is a progression: knowing, understanding, and implementing. Many people know buzzwords or rules like Les Binet and Peter Field's 60:40 ratio (60% brand building, 40% performance marketing), but they treat it as a rigid formula rather than understanding how to adjust it based on category dynamics, brand maturity, and market conditions. My teaching approach focuses on curation. I collect global case studies, charts, and frameworks, presenting a single concept from four distinct visual angles. When students see multiple perspectives addressing common objections, the concept clicks.
Jiří Koleňák: You travel extensively and consume a lot of audiobooks and podcasts. What resources do you recommend for personal and professional growth?
Milan Formánek: I keep a structured "to-learn list" categorized by books, podcasts, and courses. For audiobooks, I use the Blinkist app to listen to 15-minute summaries of hundreds of books yearly. I bookmark the top 5% and listen to their full unabridged audiobooks. In podcasts, I strongly recommend Business Wars—it offers deep, investigative storytelling on famous corporate rivalries like Adidas vs. Nike or Red Bull vs. Monster.
Jiří Koleňák: Is there a travel destination that brought you a transformative mindset shift?
Milan Formánek: Visiting Borneo was profound. I sat with a monk who highlighted how fortunate young people are today to travel and see different ways of living, relationships, and careers beyond their hometowns. But he added a vital lesson: at some point, stop just watching how others live, pick your path, and actually live it. Many travelers use travel to escape their real lives. That conversation inspired me to pause constant travel, build my home, tend my garden, and enjoy daily life where I am.
Jiří Koleňák: Let's discuss major marketing megatrends—AI, generational shifts like Gen Z and Alpha.
Milan Formánek: I love the meme showing a mother playing with a child labeled "AI" in a pool, while a child labeled "NFT" is drowning next to them, and "Metaverse" is already lying dead at the bottom! Every trend undergoes the Gartner Hype Cycle, where early expectations are wildly exaggerated. However, AI is genuinely impactful because foundational machine learning has quietly operated in our phones and software for years. You don't need to panic or assume half of all jobs will vanish overnight. Set aside 30 minutes every Friday to experiment with new AI tools. Use AI for inputs—brainstorming, research, draft analysis, strategic sparring—rather than generating final outputs. For performance marketing and data synthesis, AI is already useful; for core brand building and high-level creative execution, human judgment remains superior.
Jiří Koleňák: Will Gen Z and Gen Alpha radically change marketing?
Milan Formánek: Tactical execution details shift, but fundamental human psychology evolves over centuries, not years. Twenty years ago, people declared television dead, yet TV remains one of the most effective brand-building media available. Don't confuse your personal bubble or family habits with nationwide consumer behavior. Follow reliable market research on platforms like LinkedIn rather than relying on personal assumptions.
Jiří Koleňák: What advice would you give to someone wanting to work as a marketing consultant?
Milan Formánek: Gain diverse experience across client-side, agency, and media roles before consulting. You can build a portfolio career simultaneously through freelancing, board roles, or volunteering for non-profits. To advise decision-makers effectively, you must understand their complete operational reality, not just your narrow domain.
Jiří Koleňák: What drives your personal outlook on life?
Milan Formánek: My vision board centers on two core themes: Love and Exploration. Love for family, community, and tending my garden—which offers a beautiful compressed metaphor for life's seasons. Exploration means continuously learning new skills, trying different disciplines, and expanding my horizons.
Jiří Koleňák: When you recall a moment when you felt truly successful, what comes to mind?
Milan Formánek: I intentionally play the long game. I look up to mentors in their 60s who have navigated multiple career cycles with broad perspective, rather than 30-year-olds who just sold a startup. I don't feel a rushed need to constantly build a loud personal brand or maximize short-term fame and revenue. Resisting the urge to monetize every opportunity and focusing on quiet, deep learning is challenging, but far more fulfilling in the long run.
Jiří Koleňák: Thank you, Milan, for sharing your experience, strategic insights, and life philosophy with us.
Milan Formánek: Thanks Jirko, it was a pleasure!
Jiří Koleňák: To our viewers, please subscribe and stay tuned for more conversations with remarkable guests. See you next time!
