Haleon's Danny Gardner: The Professor-Practitioner Revolutionizing Social Listening

Here's a plot twist: the guy who "wasn't all that good at" data and analytics in college is now the one teaching brands how to listen to their customers at scale. Danny Gardner went from economist to social intelligence expert at Haleon, and he's got some pretty bold takes on where this industry is headed. Spoiler alert: he thinks AI is coming for half his job, and he's weirdly excited about it.

Danny has a radical idea that the best marketing insights come free—straight from the people who are actually using your products. When someone spends their days analyzing what people really say about brands like Advil and Gas-X, you tend to develop some interesting perspectives about human behavior and the future of marketing.

Danny Gardner: How He Teaches Brands to Listen to Consumers 👨‍🏫

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The Economist-Turned-Social-Expert: Went from analyzing economic data to discovering that Gas-X's digestive health videos get massive engagement because "people love to make fun of themselves"🎯
The Consumer Whisperer: Teaches brands to "shut up and listen" to their customers at scale, turning everyday micro-moments into authentic content that feeds the creative engine for more ideas 👂
The AI Replacement Realist: Boldly admits AI will automate 50% of his social listening job and he's totally fine with it—wants the robots to handle both the easy stuff and the impossibly hard tasks 🤖
The Professor-Practitioner: Works for the company behind Advil and Sensodyne while teaching social listening at the University of Florida, living at the intersection of real-world brand work and academic theory 📚
The Attribution King: If he ruled the world, he'd create perfect social media ROI tracking so people only see content they actually care about, making everyone 300% happier with better targeting 👑