Una Walsh on Google, Nike, Apple, and the Magic Brands Keep Cutting

Una Walsh has spent 25 years working at the seam between what a brand promises and what a customer actually feels — from Virgin Atlantic and Nike's House of Innovation to Apple, and now as Executive Experience Design Director at Google.

In this conversation, Una and co-hosts Gully Flowers and Kerrie Finch dig into why retail has gotten boring, what brands like Nike and LOEWE are doing differently, and why the obsession with frictionless efficiency is quietly killing brand joy.

They also get into AI, craft, and why a sewing machine doesn't make you a fashion designer.

Topics covered:

– Why Virgin Atlantic was Una's first lesson in holistic brand experience

– The Nike Soho flagship: what went wrong on opening day and how they fixed it

– The retail ritual that makes the Nike shoe box moment magic

– How Google is thinking about physical retail for its devices and hardware

– "We moved from the age of information to the age of imagination" — Es Devlin

– Why creatives still need to sell their ideas, no matter how senior they get

– AI as a sparring partner, not a shortcut

Second Wind is hosted by Gully Flowers and Kerrie Finch. New episodes every other Tuesday.