The 7 Best Marketing TED Talks for Business Practitioners

The editors at Solutions Review curated this list of the best marketing TED talks for practitioners in the field.

TED Talks are influential videos from expert speakers in a variety of verticals. TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from business to technology to global issues — in more than 110 languages. TED is building a clearinghouse of free knowledge from the world’s top thinkers, and their library of videos is expansive and rapidly growing.

Solutions Review has curated this list of marketing TED talks to watch if you are a practitioner in the field. Talks were selected based on relevance, ability to add business value, and individual speaker expertise. We’ve also curated TED talk lists for topics like talent management and AI/ML.

Why gender-based marketing is bad for business — Gaby Barrios | TED@BCG Mumbai

“Companies often target consumers based on gender, but this kind of advertising shortcut doesn’t just perpetuate outdated stereotypes — it’s also bad for business, says marketing expert Gaby Barrios. In this clear, actionable talk, she explains why gender-based marketing doesn’t drive business nearly as much as you might think — and shows how companies can find better ways to reach customers and grow their brands.”

Gaby Barrios is the lead expert for the Center for Customer Insight in the Americas and a core member of the Consumer, Global Advantage, and Marketing, Sales & Pricing practices at Boston Consulting Group. She has dedicated her career to understanding consumers across the world in a wide range of industries, from fast-moving consumer goods, travel and retail, to financial services, healthcare and technology. At BCG, Barrios is one of the leaders of the Demand Centric Growth topic, which aims to drive organic growth anchored on deep consumer understanding.

How Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google manipulate our emotions — Scott Galloway | TED Salon: Brightline Initiative

“The combined market capitalization of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google is now equivalent to the GDP of India. How did these four companies come to infiltrate our lives so completely? In a spectacular rant, Scott Galloway shares insights and eye-opening stats about their dominance and motivation — and what happens when a society prizes shareholder value over everything else. Followed by a Q&A with TED Curator Chris Anderson. (Note: This talk contains graphic language.)”

Scott Galloway teaches brand strategy and digital marketing at the NYU Stern School of Business. He is the author of “The Four” and “The Algebra of Happiness,” and cohost of the “Pivot” podcast. He was named “one of the world’s 50 best business school professors” by Poets & Quants in 2012. He is also the founder of Red Envelope and Prophet Brand Strategy. He was elected to the World Economic Forum’s Global Leaders of Tomorrow and has served on the boards of directors of Urban Outfitters, Eddie Bauer, The New York Times Company, and UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.

Bitcoin. Sweat. Tide. Meet the future of branded currency. — Paul Kemp-Robertson | TEDGlobal 2013

“Currency — the bills and coins you carry in your wallet and in your bank account — is founded on marketing, on the belief that banks and governments are trustworthy. Now, Paul Kemp-Robertson walks us through a new generation of currency, supported by that same marketing … but on behalf of a private brand. From Nike Sweat Points to bottles of Tide (which are finding an unexpected use in illegal markets), meet the non-bank future of currencies.”

Paul Kemp-Robertson is the Editorial Director of Contagious Communications, which he cofounded with Gee Thomson in 2004. Contagious Communications is a multi-arm advertising resource that runs the quarterly magazine Contagious, an app that showcases videos of innovative marketing case studies, and various other online resources. Kemp-Robertson previously served as editor of shots and Worldwide Director of Creative Resources at Leo Burnett Chicago.

404, the story of a page not found — Renny Gleeson | TED2012

“Oops! Nobody wants to see the 404: Page Not Found. But as Renny Gleeson shows us, while he runs through a slideshow of creative and funny 404 pages, every error is really a chance to build a better relationship.”

Renny Gleeson helps navigate brands through fresh concepts, such as viral marketing and social media, to find the pulse of the modern consumer. He leads interactive strategy for ad agency Wieden+Kennedy, drawing on his unique experience as a game developer. Gleeson serves on the board of directors of Rhizome.org and is the co-founder of the PIE tech accelerator in Portland, Oregon.

How to make choosing easier — Sheena Iyengar | TEDSalon NY2011

“We all want customized experiences and products — but when faced with 700 options, consumers freeze up. With fascinating new research, Sheena Iyengar demonstrates how businesses (and others) can improve the experience of choosing.”

Sheena Iyengar studies how people choose, and her research has been informing business and consumer-goods marketing since the 1990s. She currently serves as S.T. Lee Professor of Business at the Columbia Business School. Her research focuses on the psychology of choice and decision-making, addressing how humans face challenges in a world where they are inundated with options. She has also tackled issues in the business world through the lenses of network analysis and diversity-inspired ideation.

What physics taught me about marketing — Dan Cobley | TEDGlobal 2010

“Physics and marketing don’t seem to have much in common, but Dan Cobley is passionate about both. He brings these unlikely bedfellows together using Newton’s second law, Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, the scientific method and the second law of thermodynamics to explain the fundamental theories of branding.”

Dan Cobley serves as Director of Marketing at Google for central and northern Europe, where he connects customers and businesses, helping both navigate digital space to find what they need. Before Google, Cobley was the Vice President of Branding and Marketing for Capital One and the Marketing Director of Ask Jeeves.

The tribes we lead — Seth Godin | TED2009

“Seth Godin argues the Internet has ended mass marketing and revived a human social unit from the distant past: tribes. Founded on shared ideas and values, tribes give ordinary people the power to lead and make big change. He urges us to do so.”

Seth Godin is an entrepreneur and blogger who thinks about the marketing of ideas in the digital age. After working as a software brand manager int he mid-1980s, Godin started Yoyodyne, one of the first Internet-based direct-marketing firms with the notion that companies needed to rethink how they reached customers. He has produced several critically acclaimed books, including “Permission Marketing,” “All Marketers Are Liars,” and “Purple Cow.”