Inspiring Futures

The Inspiring Futures podcast has been on hiatus for the past few months. In that period, a few recordings made last year never made it out into the public airwaves, which is an absolute disgrace. One such recording was an interview I did with Sophie Ozouz, the co-founder of Kin. Kin is a purpose-focused agency with offices in NY and Los Angeles. Sophie founded the agency with a former colleague Kwame Taylor Hayford. In the interview, I discuss Sophie's background as a strategist,  her experiences working at Sid Lee, their motivations for starting her own shop, their work at Kin, and some general discussion on brands and purpose. Kin was named Ad Age's Purpose Agency of the Year in 2022

Vasanth is a polymath- he's a creative director, but he's also an author, he has an engineering background is a graduate of computer engineering and started his career as a digital consultant. Somehow he saw the light, transitioned to copywriting, and has held numerous jobs with JWT, Wunderman, Edelman, and Sapient-Razorfish.  Vasanth also spent time in the halls of one of the most respected creative departments on the planet- BBDO NY. He worked on the likes of  P&G (Gillette), J&J (Splenda, Lactaid), GE, Mars, and Emirates Airlines.For the past four years, he's been running his shop, The Sunny Side, which aims to disrupt large agencies and make the combination of quality, speed, and price work. It seems to be paying dividends as the agency has picked up business from Sephora, Castrol, Novartis, and P&G.  In our conversation, we talk about his background, career, his work at BBDO, the similarities and differences between Asian markets, and bringing speed and skill to some of the biggest clients in the world. 

A few weeks back I was fortunate to chat with Neel Williams - Group Creative Director at the Martin Agency. Neel runs all things creative on the massive GEICO account. I couldn't beat the brilliant intro Neel has on his website, so I decided it was simplest to just cut and paste it."I am a copywriter by trade, Group Creative Director by title and gumbo-lover by birth. I graduated from Yale University, majoring in Art History. After attending The Creative Circus and working in Atlanta & New York, my wife and I moved to Richmond, Virginia.Since then I've made a lot of fun stuff at The Martin Agency, helped write two nationally published books, invented a high-five machine, grown two mediocre moustaches, fathered two outstanding children, founded a modern fairytale podcast, and sang lyrics about Irritable Bowel Syndrome with Boyz II Men."In the episode- we discuss Neel's early motivations to be a strategist, how he shifted into the creative domain, the importance of inspiration, improvisation with boundaries, the importance and role of strategy on the GEICO account, and the challenge of finding new ideas when you've already done most of the ones that are available. 

Bonnie Wan has been working at Goodby since 1998.  In 2022, she was named Advertising Age/Creativity Chief Strategy Officer of the Year.She started her career at Weiss, Whitten, and Stagliano in NY before becoming Adam Morgan's first hire at TBWA Chiat Day LA followed by stints at FCB and Hal Riney before joining GSP to work with Jon Steel. In the conversation, we talk about the shifts and changes in the strategy discipline with leaders moving from gurus to guides.  Higher stakes for clients and a wider remit in terms of media expansion. She describes her approach to strategy is to work and think as a "team"- "it's not about being the smartest person in the room", but "making the whole room smart" and that requires a spirit of generosity.  The department culture is key for Bonnie- it's all about her bench and her team and making alchemy happen between the members of the team.  When it comes to philosophy around the process of strategy, she highlights the need for always-on, constant monitoring of culture and of consumers and the practice of always asking the smartest questions to ensure you arrive at a really interesting place. Bonnie talks about her development of "Brand Camp" which is a 6-week strategy sprint that gets clients to an "organizing idea" and involves workshops with GSP strategists and the client C-Suites.  This has served to bring new non-advertising clients to the agency and codified in detail the strategic process. For emerging talent- she's created a 15-week training camp that teaches the fundamentals of Strategy.We also talk about her upcoming book- "The Life Brief" - where she applies the strategic thinking and framing used for brands to life. Which is something she applied successfully in her life, Bonnie has just signed a book deal with Simon and Schuster . 

This podcast episode features an interview with Stevie Archer- ECD and Kevin Skobac-Managing Director, Strategy- SS+KSS+K is part of the M&C Saatchi network and has been around for 30 years. It has a history of working in the political arena - including working for Obama in 2008. That political experience translates into a philosophy they describe as "thinking politically and acting creatively". In the conversation, we talk about the agency and how its philosophy manifests itself in the work and the discipline of strategy, how creative and strategy work together and discuss in detail their work for Icelandic Tourism. 

Kierstin De West is the Chief Marketing Officer of Alpha Foods.This podcast is the story of Kierstin's journey from ad agency strategist to brand marketer to running her consulting business and on to senior brand roles at Lululemon and Alpha Foods.In the episode, we talk about what she learned along the way,  what agency folks need to know about working client-side, why strategists make great marketers, and even how to market plant-based foods. 

Nick Steel is the co-founder of the creative independent agency HarrimanSteel. The shop has worked with the likes of Uber, Seedlip, Tom's, Nike, Girl Effect, FootLocker, Patagonia and more. Nick founded the agency straight out of art school at 27 and was lucky enough to get Nike as his first client. In our conversation, we talk about his approach to the business, the importance of agency culture, and how the pandemic has shaped his thinking and that of the agency. 

The latest episode of Inspiring Futures features an interview with Nikita Walia- the founder and CEO of Blank.Nikita studied at NYU and went straight to work as a "digital native" on the coalface of social media. She's done stints at We are Social, Matte Projects,, King &Partners- before setting up her own agency. Our conversation takes on the ambitious challenge of exploring the current state of social media from a variety of different angles and perspectives. From the challenge of working in social media today, to the unrealistic demands and expectations of clients, to influencers and their current status, the emergence of new social channels, and the potential for new collaborative communities like DAOs.

The podcast episode features an interview with Thomas Papadopoulos who is the CEO and co-founder of the Paris-based innovation consultancy Possible Future.Thomas spent 16 years in the consultancy industry, first at Accenture, leading the Accenture Interactive Digital practice in France, then as a Partner in charge of Digital Transformation at Infosys and finally as Managing Partner at Weave, developing the digital business practice to support the digital transformation of large corporations. His field of expertise covers multiple industries including FMCG & Retail.Possible Future is a consulting company dedicated to bringing innovation to market by harnessing the skills of engineers, designers, and business strategists. Its client roster includes- Richemont. Intermarche, Société Générale and it's part of the Cap-Gemini group. 

Wayne Chang is the General Manager of Saatchi Art. Wayne is an emerging artist himself but also has significant experience in the web and e-commerce space- starting with Newsweek and with stints at Photobucket and DogVacay. Saatchi Art is the world's largest platform for emerging artists with 1.4 million artworks, from 94k artists, representing 110 countries. In our conversation, we talk about what emerging art and art are exactly, how the site functions and works with both collectors and artists,  the emerging NFT space, and Saatchi Art's efforts, and how Saatchi Art connects with its live event brand 'The Other Art Fair" to bring new collectors to the art market.

Thomas Kolster is a former ad agency copywriter who when the climate conference came to his hometown, Copenhagen- asked himself some serious questions and went off to investigate how advertising could do more good. The result was the book "Goodadvertising" which was a bold attempt to change the role of advertising from just selling to being able to promote good. In 2020, Thomas wrote another book "The Hero Trap" which argues that brands need to understand how they can motivate people to change and become better versions of themselves. Thomas is a globally recognized keynote speaker featured at events like SXSW, TEDx, Eurobest, D&AD, Epica, ad:tech & Sustainable Brands, a columnist for publications including- Adweek, The Drum, The Guardian and several other publications and a regular judge at international award shows. 

Lidiya is currently in Lviv and up until a week before the war began was working as a strategist at TBWA in Kyiv.In the conversation, we talk a little about her background and where her attention is focused right now- on the "Information War"- most advertising and marketing professionals who are not fighting are now working on the Information War and working together on specific assignments and issues relating to this war. In addition, to this work, Lidiya mentions the constant barrage of requests for contacts that she receives on social media be this help for refugees in Warsaw or transportation help for people in Ukraine. We talked about the help that those overseas can give she feels that obviously giving to help humanitarian efforts is critical, but she believes the biggest problem that needs the smartest strategic and creative minds to solve is communicating the real story to Russians. She even mentions the challenge within her own family which has cut ties with their relatives over the war.

Proto is a consultancy that was founded just over a year ago by some of the leadership of R/GA.'s business transformation unit. In the episode, I talk with Rachel Mercer- the Chief Experience Officer, and Mike Rigby- Chief Design Officer.The conversation covers their background and experience, the types of work that Proto is involved with, and the importance of clearly defining your own brand and living its values.It's a fascinating conversation that shows how creativity can move upstream in the world of consulting and how a valuable mix of skills and experience can help clients shift and transform their businesses for the digital age and beyond. 

In a world where every marketeer is talking about purpose, it is interesting to find an agency that has been working in this domain for over a decade.In this episode, I talk with Rob Holzer- the founder and CEO of Matter Unlimited.Rob is something of a digital pioneer and was the co-founder of Syrup- a digital agency that worked with the likes of Puma and GE and got acquired by LBI.Matter Unlimited works with a mix of non-for-profits, foundations and large clients and it's the experience they have on the ground with the non-profits that helps inform how they advise and the strategies they create and build for brands.In a world of short-term projects, Rob is especially proud of his long-term client relationships including one that spans over a decade with Merck.

Connor Moore and Paul Amitai are the Executive Creative Director and Executive Strategy Director of Listen. Listen is a sound agency that helps companies and brands create and build audio and sound strategies. Connor designed the sound of  Tesla's Model 3  engine tone to a family of alerts and notifications for Uber's Drivers App.  He helped define Google's audio design language for Google Glass, Waymo, and Google PayIn the podcast, we talk about both their backgrounds, the types of work they are engaged in, and the process and approach behind the work.

Ben Dietz led commercial partnerships at VICE Media and is now a consultant for media and consumer brands. He publishes the [SIC] Weekly newsletter and is the co-host of the Culture Club Show on Clubhouse on Wednesday nights. Ben has spent time advising brands on how to reach into unfamiliar and potentially risky spaces through his work with VICE and youth culture.In the podcast, we discuss his experience and what we learned from it, and how it applies to understanding the new worlds that are forming the foundational building blocks of the metaverse- as in bitcoin, digital currency and NFTs 

Neil Parker is the co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of co: collectiveOver a decade ago co: collective was born- founded by Neil, Rosemarie Ryan, and  Ty Montague.  Rosemarie and Ty had run the NY office of JWT and Neil had been the global strategy head of design firm Wolff Olins.co: collective's arrival on the scene caused something of a stir because it wasn't the typical start-up from senior ad agency figures- it wasn't an ad agency- it was a brand consulting company with a difference.As I learn in the conversation with Neil he brought something very different to the table from a strategic perspective. He wasn't your classic ad strategist, his background was in management consulting- so he brought more of a business perspective to the world of brands and branding.We talk about what this means, how co works, how it works with others, and discuss various developments that we see in the world of brands and branding in 2021. 

One of the best things strategy-wise to come out of the last couple of years is the 30-minute University of Planning which was the brainchild of Dr. Gordon Euchler. The university does 2 things..1- Connects mentors to mentorees 2. Organizes talks/learning sessions. This platform has allowed strategists from all over the world to learn for mentors and for mentors to learn from the mentorees. We are in a world where in-house training and mentoring are hard to come by- not that this is a replacement, but it's a nice addition. In this podcast, I talk to Gordon about his career trajectory, the challenges of strategy in Germany, learning from John Lowery, the origins of 30 Minute University, where it is headed, working at Deloitte with the opportunity to make ideas real businesses and Shakespeare. 

Matt Davies and Pieter-Paul von Weiler are freelance strategists based in Melbourne, Australia who have created a consulting service to help clients construct better briefs. The idea is fueled by an extensive research project that found up to 33% of marketing budgets are wasted from the inefficiencies created by bad briefs- Matt and Pieter-Paul are on a mission to change that.In our conversation, we talked about their backgrounds, the catalyst behind Better Briefs, the reception so far, the disparity between agencies and clients over briefs and where Better Briefs is headed in the future. 

Lindsay Stein is the new chief of social impact at Havas in NY. Havas has been making some big moves around social impact recently and Lindsay is freshly installed in the New York office with the charge to make a difference inside the agency and with clients.Lindsay's started her career in sports journalism but has a deep knowledge of the US marketing communication scene from her stints at PR Week, Advertising Age, and Campaign US.Her last role was with the non-for-profit organization-  "Today, I'm Brave" which unlocks bravery in underserved youth around the world and helps them become our next generation of leaders. Her role will encompass the breadth of social impact including diversity and sustainability and she is keen that this isn't seen as an opportunity to seize competitive advantage and plans to share learnings and findings with agency competitors and even host events on the topic.These are clearly early days, she is less than a month into her role, so it will be very interesting to see where this goes. As we discussed in the conversation this is about having a serious commitment from the leadership of the organization and recognizing that this is a long-term effort- things will not be solved immediately and there will doubtless be numerous challenges that need to be overcome. Her take is to keep things optimistic and positive.  

Rob Walker is a writer, teacher, and journalist. He studied journalism and started his career working for trade magazines. In the early 2000s, he worked for Slate under the leadership of Michael Kinsley who suggested he should write a weekly column about advertising. Kinsley's perspective was advertising was a key cultural force but it wasn't understood or appreciated as such. Rob found this somewhat of a challenge, being dismissive of brands and ads himself. However, eventually, he got hooked on the topic and he ended up spending a decade writing the "Consumed" column for the New York Times Magazine. Rob is now focused on helping people find interesting ways of escaping the Attention Economy by seeking out new moments of opportunity and discovery which he started exploring with his 2019 book, the Art of Noticing, and has followed up with in his subsequent Subtack newsletter. 

Nick is one of the creative leaders over at design and strategy company- COLLINS. We had a very interesting, but somewhat rambling conversation where we covered his background in music, his work for record companies, and the magazine Frank. To be honest, I talked a little too much - Nick was either interviewing me or I was interviewing myself. We did manage to talk about some of the work and process for COLLINS clients like Crane, Clubhouse, and Robin Hood. And we touched upon the old favorite of how we work and create together during COVID, which led nicely to a chat about their new space in Brooklyn., 

Design is tough to understand and that makes design strategy even tougher. In this episode, Paul Collins the Strategy Director of Elmwood does a brilliant job of explaining how strategy works in a design agency. What is there to do? How it inspires and how it works with clients.  We also talk about boundaries, like- where design ends and advertising begins. Elmwood and Paul have a lot of interesting experiences especially with the Tecate beer brand which we discuss in some detail. 

David is the Founding Partner at HUSH. Hush is a unique experience design practice where they create experiences designed for physical environments that use digital technology and data.Think of a space like the lobby at Uber's HQ and HUSH are the folks that bring that experience to life.This requires a really interesting set of skills from architecture through to coding and finding the talent and getting them to work seamlessly together is a fascinating challenge. So, in the conversation, I talk to David about the company- how it functions,  how they use inspiration, how they create and present their ideas- plus how they've been managing to do this in the pandemic enforced virtual workspace. 

The latest episode of Inspiring Futures features an interview with John Graham- Head of Strategy at Cartwright. John has had an amazing strategy career - starting off working on Dos Equis at Havas,  going to BBH and getting to work on the Axe account and the famous "Susan Glenn" campaign, and then 7 years at 72 and Sunny where he rose through the strategy ranks and worked on numerous accounts including - Activision, Starbucks, and Sonos.John is now at Cartwright in LA. The agency was founded by Keith Cartwright and part of the WPP family with clients that include- The NBA, P&G, and CBS News. 

The latest episode of Inspiring Futures is an interview with John Roescher- the CEO and co-founder of handsome in Austin, Texas.  We got to talk about the genesis of the company, what designing experiences mean and are, how to manage to combine the advertising and design discipline under one roof, and we also talked about the future of a company that operates without an HQ.

Nathan Phillips is the co-founder of the NY agency Technology Humans and Taste.  Prior to becoming a copywriter, he worked in the performance art world, starting out in the world of improv. These are the experiences he brings to his agency where strategy is all about opening up possibilities, rather than the traditional approach of a finely tuned focus and creativity is something that is always on and if creatives aren't working on client work they are developing ideas for the agency's content arm. One particularly interesting initiative is the agency's databank/database of truths which is part of an ongoing process to collect,(sessions every Friday) archive, and use. 

Frank Rose started his career as a beat reporter on the NY music scene for the Village Voice and went on to write for Fortune and Wired covering the worlds of business and technology.  Now he's a Senior Fellow at Columbia School of the Arts  and faculty director of the executive education program Strategic Storytelling,Frank has just authored a new book - "The Sea We Swim In- How Stories Work in a Data-Driven World" published by Norton. In the book, Frank argues that stories are the most powerful way of persuading people, but this idea has been ignored or rejected by everyone from economists to marketers. What has changed is the way in which technology has allowed us to experience stories- either through streaming media with our Netflix  "binge-watching" or  perhaps, most importantly, our ability to  immerse and interact with stories at scale. 

The longer one spends in the industry, it seems it gets easier to get more skeptical and cynical about the ad business. However, if you want a different take- talk to people who are just embarking on their careers in the business and see nothing but positivity and hope. I recently interviewed Payal Pereira and  Shannon Gerety who are recent strategy graduates from the VCU Brandcenter.  I was taken aback by their maturity, pragmatism, and good old-fashioned enthusiasm for the business and craft of strategy. What impressed me most was their desire to be part of the changes that the industry needs to make and how well they understood the importance and potential impact of these changes. There's a lesson here for those in management- the world you see isn't the same one that your new employees see and it's therefore imperative that you listen and learn. Reverse mentoring can be a powerful thing. 

Greg Hahn left the world of big agency advertising for what basically was a start-up and has kicked off with quite an incredible first year. The agency was recently awarded Ad Age's "Newcomer of the Year" with the following soundbite " “Since Mischief officially hung out its shingle on June 1 of 2020, its ascent has been swift and storied, with each campaign living up to the agency's name.”Greg and I had a wonderful and wide-ranging conversation that included- what it's like to leave and start up something fresh, the appeal of his partnersNFA which is best expressed by its mantra "What would you do if you weren't afraid". the real origin story of the great Snickers campaign, NY as a source of inspiration, cat herding, Fallon, the power of great strategy and strategists, the importance of calling it a day- and not pulling all-nighters- plus much more... 

Design is a phrase that's often used as a catchall for a lot of different disciplines. This podcast is focused on the world of brand design- meaning crafting and creating the identity and look of a brand new brand or updating an old one.To help me navigate through this complex world, the podcast features two guests- Christina Falzano - Managing Director of Conran Design US, and Ben Solomon- VP Creative Director.We discuss how this work is done, what is required to make it successful, and importantly how you sell something that it's subjective in the extreme. 

Lesley Bielby was part of the second wave of account planners who landed on US shores.  She is currently the CSO of Hill Holliday- her second time in this role and has spent time at Digitas, Di Massimo Goldstein. MMB and a number of London shops. She has just written a book - Super Strategist- The Art and Science of Modern Account Planning. It is designed to be a guide to Account Planning today, taking the core principles and craft from the origins back in the late 1960s and merging them with the new demands of data, science that come from the worlds of digital and social. In our conversation, we talk about the evolution of the discipline and the challenges and new demands of it today. Lesley offers a ton of practical and pragmatic observations and insight about what a Strategy Department looks like and how it functions in 2021. She takes a long-term view of talent development asking the individuals in her time to declare a major and two minors, a reflection of the evolution of the Planning discipline, and to ensure that everyone has the comprehensive set of skills required today.

Mo Said heads up the creative shop Mojo Supermarket which includes the likes of Adidas, Fenty, and Netflix as its clients..Mo's story is an inspiring one- he literally clawed his way to the top of the creative tree in advertising after arriving in the US from Lahore, Pakistan as a 17-year-old. He has worked on some of the biggest brands and created a number of award-winning campaigns during his stints at BBDO and Droga5 in New York.His mission now is to develop a company with a truly creative culture- one that nurtures, protects, and inspires its creative talent and at the same time does brilliant, breakthrough, culturally relevant work that puts brands on the map. 

Dan was one of the original team who helped established Innocent Drinks. A brand born in 1998 on the whim of four friends who maxed out their credit cards and found a couple of investors to back them making fruit smoothies. The company sold a majority stake to Coca-Cola in 2010. Dan headed up all things brand at Innocent from its inception to 2018 when he left for Apple. In the podcast, we talk about the genesis and genius of Innocent- what and who it took to build the brand, creating vs. managing, and the importance of teams and collaboration. 

The episode features an interview with Tracey Follows who is a professional futurist. Since the future is what the podcast is supposed to cover, it was fantastic to have Tracey on the show. Tracey started her career in advertising and then moved client-side before taking on senior strategy roles at VCCP and JWT. Most recently she has been working as a futurist and running her own consultancy. Tracey has just authored a new book that explores the future of the individual in the technological age. The book explores the themes of identity, the relationship between man and machine. It's basically a guide to help people understand how to protect their autonomy when the world around them is transforming. From her perspective, we need to be armed with the knowledge to understand the personal and societal implications of bio-hacking, mind-clones, and even more contemporary, health passports.

Aaron Duffy is a director and the co-founder of the agency Special Guest. In the podcast, we talk about his journey from art school into the world of commercials and film direction.  Getting his first break with BBH London who let him loose on an Audi ad that happened to win a Lion in Cannes. He is also one of the creative forces by the iconic Parisian Love spot for Google as well as the highly awarded Chrome Project work. 

Alex Benett-Grant founded Amsterdam shop "We are Pi" when he was 28 and now 10 years later the agency is firmly part of the establishment of indy creative shops- especially after winning the Ad Age International Small Agency of the Year in 2019.Mark Lester is the agency's head of strategy- having joined the shop from R/GA-NY - also in 2019.Our conversation covered many topics from agency culture, working in Amsterdam, the changing ad agency landscape, managing through COVID, and more.

Bree Groff is a partner at SYPartners and an expert in change.We first talked on this podcast in August 2019 where Bree talked extensively about her background in the world of change management and what it takes to get people to do the difficult thing and change. Fast forward to February 2021 and it seemed like an opportune moment to reconnect with Bree to understand what she was both seeing and doing. This seemed to make sense given that many business analysts are talking about the pandemic moment as a period that has seen change accelerate; with developments that used to take years, now happening in a matter of months. Given that Bree is on the frontline of helping organizations change- we talk about what she's seeing, hearing, and learning. What she thinks are some of the fundamentals of how our working lives have changed and are going to change and her hope for the upcoming "Roaring Twenties"

Alexander Rae and I had the opportunity to interview Carolyn who is the executive creative director at Young & Laramore in Indianapolis.We talked about Indianapolis, the new rules and definitions of creativity, why she loves strategy, and more.Sadly, she never told us she was also a podcaster. I guess we aren't getting invited onto any of her shows.

Craig Mawdsley and Bridget Angear are two of the biggest names globally in the world of Account Planning.They have not only won every significant strategy award going- including multiple IPA Effectiveness Awards, but their day job was to co-managing the Planning Department at AMV-BBDO in London.Interestingly, I learned that Craig majored in business and Bridget in economics- which is an interesting combo for a planning team at a creative shop, but clearly a nice advantage being able to speak the same language as their clients. Just over a week ago, they left their full-time positions at AMV to start the Craig&Bridget Consultancy.Our conversation was a little all over the place, but it the randomness allowed us to cover a wide range of topics including- the changing demands on strategy, the core skills that strategists need, the challenges brands face, data, and storytelling through to the future of business and life Post-Covid.

Chuck and Nandi Welch run Rupture Studio a consultancy that helps brands and corporations navigate the complex world the exists across the worlds of business, marketing, culture, and lifestyle. They bring over 30 years of combined experience to the table- Nandi in brand management and Chuck from his work with media and creative agencies ranging from Mediavest and Naked to McCann and Wieden & Kennedy. In our conversation, we talked about their experience, the benefits of running their own consulting company, the work they are doing, and some of the challenges involved in getting companies to get to grips with and understand the real world- be that outside or inside of their building.With events of the past year pushing the diversity agenda to the forefront of the business agenda- Chuck and Nandi shared their thoughts on the smartest ways for companies to make meaningful progress on this critical issue.

Rishad is one of the smartest minds in the ad business. He moved from Bombay to Chicago to do an MBA in Marketing and Finance at the University of Chicago, got hired at Leo Burnett and stayed for his entire career. That's not entirely correct- he worked his way across and up to the very top of the Publicis Group becoming Chief Strategist and Member of the Directoire. He spent his career thinking about the future especially in media and digital- he had roles at Starcom and help created a number of companies and was Chairman of Digitas LBI and Razorfish.He has a unique set of experiences that make him well-equipped to take observe some of the key macro trends and developments. In 2020, Rishad wrote his first book "Restoring the Soul of Business: Staying Human in the Age of Data" which was critically acclaimed with Strategy and Business naming it one of its top business books of 2020....he makes as thoroughly documented a case as I have come across for why the businesses that thrive are those whose leaders know that what made them great is their human resources. Tobaccowala singles out mighty customer- and user-focused corporations — Walmart, Starbucks, Domino’s, Google — that have “successfully reoriented their thinking on how to fuse technology and humanity,” while he warns of “data-blinded companies” that stumble when they do not correct such matters as “stifled employees [who are] not encouraged to contribute ideas or insights” and “poor customer service due to automated, robotic processes that cause frustration and hurt the brand.”....In my conversation with Rishad, we talked about the book, what he has learned from his experiences, his background, and his thoughts on the business implications of the pandemic.

This was a pod recorded almost a year ago- right before COVID hit and somehow this recording got lost in the mix.Brent Vartan left his high-powered strategy job at Deutsch to join a former colleague Mike Duda and created Bullish.Bullish is a hybrid company that brings together a PE/VC company and a creative agency- the remit is as an early stage/angel. The vision is to "own what they make" to get equity and ownership in the company's they work for. They only invest in consumer categories- there are apparently 256 of them!!The very first company they invested in was Birchbox in 2010....because they believed they need a brand and then they got introduced to Harry's, etc.Bullish was also they were the first money in Casper and Peleton. Their work is all about brand and providing thinking about how to build a brand, but also how to create a deep customer experience. A big challenge is understanding what the opportunities and limits are of a newly minted brand. Brett also talks about the differences between the ad industry and VCs and The Bay Area and NY and explains how hard it is to make this happen for an agency; you need brand strategists and MBAs and there also needs to be a willingness to risk your own money. This podcast was recorded at Betaworks and was recorded by Alexander Rae, who also co-hosted.

Jason Harris is the CEO and Co-Founder of Mekanism. In our conversation, we discussed the evolution of the agency in the past 15-years from a digital shop, to a viral agency, a production house, and now a full-service shop with 4 offices and 200 employees. Jason is a firm believer in the importance of relationships and understands that at its essence, advertising is a people business. It's the reason Mekanism establishes offices close to its major clients. It's also the motivation behind a new book he has out called "The Soulful Art of Persuasion" which is something akin to a C21st version of How to Win Friends and Influence People. He acknowledges the big shift that has happened with leadership having to flip to understand concepts like empathy and purpose. What he espouses for human beings he also recognizes matters for brands. Mekanism is also an agency with a strong internal culture guided by a fundamental set of beliefs and values. From the onset, this was an agency that celebrated together with trips to Mexico and Hawaii, the most recent outing in 2019 was a camping trip in California. We also talked about the key-contributors to long-term success which he defined as being his fellow partners, a long-term legal council/business advisor, and his many connections in the ad industry who he has sought advice when needed. Finally, like everyone, Jason is looking forward to Summer 2021 when the Mekanista (Mekanism employees) will return to their offices and the agency can reassert its culture and the development of ideas can be more organic and free-flowing and less of a process run by the demands of Zoom.

Seven years ago, Rob Baird, Seth Gaffney, and Krystle Loyland left Mother NY to set up their own shop- Preacher.I got the chance to sit down and have a chat with Rob and Seth. I learned they made a deliberate decision to locate to Austin- partly because Rob wanted to head back to Texas, but also because they wanted to impact, connect, and contribute to a place with a diverse artistic culture. They added an art gallery to their agency space from the get-go.In the conversation, we talk about the importance of having a point of view as an agency, the advantage of having skilled practitioners from different disciplines as founders, working with friends, and building a "family" culture that is strong enough to support a cast of 60 folks.Importantly, they've learned from some of the best along the way, and instead of jettisoning some of that thinking- they've used it as a foundation to build from; they clearly have tremendous respect for their alma mater- Mother; they parted as friends, and the larger agency has consistently supported them from the sidelines.

Charlotte is the CEO of The Talent Business in North America. She has a background in advertising having worked in the client services side of a number of agencies including - TBWA, McCann, and JWT. For the past eight years, Charlotte has worked for The Talent Business in Los Angeles in New York.In our conversation, we talk about the new energy around marketing talent and the desire for companies to find the right people to help them grow. We discuss the qualities that companies and brands are looking for and how these compare to the leadership qualities of old. In addition, we also talk about how the pandemic has accelerated the demand for change and has in some ways been a kind of incubator for a new breed of more vulnerable, open, and empathetic management.

Cindy Judge is the President and CEO of the Boulder, Colorado-based- creative collective that works across the areas of research, strategy, design, and communication for its clients. SRG has expertise and a reputation for its work in the food and beverage space having worked with many of the leading restaurant chains and CPG brands. The focus of the conversation with Cindy focused on food- what we are seeing in the pandemic, what are some of the broader trends she is noticing and how are Americans' attitudes to food changing.

Kristen Cavallo re-joined the Martin Agency as CEO 3 years ago. The agency was in crisis and was in urgent need of rejuvenation. She had spent 13 years at Martin in a variety of roles ranging from Planning Director to Head of Business Development but left in 2014 to join Mullen.It was Kristen's first CEO job and she leaned in on her experience as a strategist- applying brand planning skills to the Martin Agency brand.By going back to the origins, she unearthed the first principles of the agency and found they were still relevant today. In 2019, she was named Ad Age's Executive of the Year. Elizabeth Paul joined Martin from Mullen in January 2020 and has been instrumental in bringing new strategic thinking to the table- like the "Diversity Brief". Having built a strong team-when the pandemic struck, the team's strength paid dividends since they already had such a solid working relationship. Out of the gate- within days of the pandemic and the impending "work from home" IPG mandate, the Martin team brainstormed implementable ideas for every one of the agency's clients and was all in on getting these ideas made and ensuring there was no slow down or pause.The change of leadership, the doubling down on the importance of getting brands talked about by consumers, and the commitment to diversity have all been strong transformative forces for Martin; not only has this helped to maintain the confidence of its existing client base, but it has also been instrumental in bringing in new clients. Since the pandemic struck in March of this year, the agency has brought on seven new pieces of business. In a wide-ranging conversation, we talk about the process of change, what the agency believes in, and why and how they managed to keep it all together working remotely and via Zoom

In this episode, we focus on Sweden and ad education. I talk to Tobias Lundquist and Kasper Wahlström Koritz, who work in business development at Most Studios in Stockholm, who share their experiences from a couple of Sweden's ad schools. Kasper is a recent student from Hyper Island, Tobias was the program director at Berghs School of Communication (Berghs has been winners of the Cannes student competition every year for the past 5 years), and he was also a member of the program steering committee at Hyper Island for motion graphics. Our conversation talks about both schools and how they have evolved to get students to think more about overall business, product development, and agile approaches. We also get to talk about Sweden and its passion for the start-up culture, fueled by a government incentive to provide free computers for households, the influence of Skype and Spotify, and some of the pioneering digital shops.

This episode features an interview with John V Willshire. John has been running his innovation consultancy- Smithery for the past nine years- after graduating in Economics- he trained as a market researcher, worked for Viacom Out of Home, and then took on various roles at PHD- including separately - in the disciplines of econometrics and innovation.Somewhat disillusioned with agency innovation offerings - he set up his own with the guiding mantra "Make Things People Want, rather than Make People Want Things."Our conversation was broad and touched on his background in economics to building motivating narratives and onto the future of work. We covered a lot of territory in the sixty or so minutes but looks like we are going to need to do a part 2 because we have more ground to cover.

In this episode, I talk with Tim Maleeny who is the President and Chief Strategy Officer at Havas- NY.Tim has an interesting background which includes stints at Hal Riney when Hal was working there, Ogilvy, RGA, and Havas.In our conversation, we talk about how the discipline has evolved and is evolving, the importance of department and teamwork, and how to run an agency and win business during a pandemic- which Havas appears to be doing OK at.We also talk about the importance of being passionate about something else other than advertising because that fuels the day job. Tim is the author of six almost seven mystery novels.