[ Perspectives ]
Ideas meet
the real world.
Stress-testing marketing theory against what actually happens in market, through The Sleeping Barber with Marc Binkley and writing by Vassilis Douros.
[ In conversation ]
Good questions. Serious minds. No easy answers.
A selection of conversations from The Sleeping Barber, co-hosted by Vassilis Douros and Marc Binkley.
THE SLEEPING BARBER
Roger Martin
Strategy & decision architecture
A New Way to Think
Listen to episode ↗THE SLEEPING BARBER
Prof. Karen Nelson-Field
Amplified Intelligence · Attention economics
Dull Media Smells Like Burning Money
Listen to episode ↗THE SLEEPING BARBER
Prof. Byron Sharp
Ehrenberg-Bass · Laws of growth
Marketing Resolutions for 2025
Listen to episode ↗THE SLEEPING BARBER
Traci Alford
Effie Worldwide · Effectiveness
Good Work is a Habit, Not a Score
Listen to episode ↗THE SLEEPING BARBER
Orlando Wood
System1 · Creative effectiveness
The Secrets to Ad Effectiveness
Listen to episode ↗THE SLEEPING BARBER
Andrew Tindall
System1 · Measurement realities
Your Marketing Dashboard is Lying to You
Listen to episode ↗THE SLEEPING BARBER
Prof. Jenni Romaniuk
Ehrenberg-Bass · Brand assets
Better Brand Health
Listen to episode ↗THE SLEEPING BARBER
James Hurman
Previously Unavailable · Future demand
Future Demand, Not Demand Generation
Listen to episode ↗THE SLEEPING BARBER
Karen Pearce
Rethink · Creative bravery
Taking Chaos out of Creativity
Listen to episode ↗
[ Explore by subject ]
Follow the question.
Econometrics, MMM and incrementality can sharpen budget allocation. What do the numbers reveal, what do they miss, and how do you make a better investment decision?
Choosing where to play, shaping a customer promise and balancing long-term brand growth with short-term demand.
Attention metrics, in-house team design and AI transformation meet the realities of making creative work cut through.
Vassilis on the practical decisions behind growth, technology and alignment.
[ Speaking ]
Testing ideas out loud. With teams and on industry stages.
Speaking with marketing organizations and leadership teams, and joining industry panels on media strategy and commercial effectiveness.
Keynotes · Team sessions · Industry panels
Topics Vassilis brings to organizations
Escaping the short-term ad trap
Why brands chasing this quarter's clicks end up paying more for less growth, and how to rebalance brand and demand without losing the room.
Marketing through volatility
What holds when budgets get cut, priorities flip and the CEO wants an answer by Friday. A field view from the operator's chair.
Evidence-based growth
Making empirical research survive contact with boardroom reality, so the marketing plan is argued on evidence rather than opinion.
For organizers and hosts
Invited by marketing organizations, executive teams and industry events to speak on effectiveness and media strategy. If you’re hosting Vassilis, his short bio and portrait are below.
Vassilis Douros is a marketing effectiveness and media strategist with more than 20 years in the operator's chair, spanning the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, Universal McCann, Deloitte, bwin, Sport Chek, Sporting Life Group, WestJet and TELUS. He is a two-time Canadian Marketing Association Awards judge, has served on the Strategy Agency of the Year jury, and co-hosts The Sleeping Barber podcast with Marc Binkley. He speaks on escaping the short-term ad trap, marketing through volatility and evidence-based growth.
[ From thinking to doing ]
A better question can change the whole plan.
The Marketing Collective brings this same scrutiny to strategy sprints, media plan reviews and senior advisory. When the decision matters, let’s talk about it.