Ty Heath is the Director of the LinkedIn B2B Institute. The B2B Institute works with some of the world's leading marketing academics to find counter-intuitive ideas that can have a ridiculous impact on B2B brands. In this interview, we discuss B2B Marketing 101. You can find Ty here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyronaheath/ You can download our "How To Do Strategy" ebook, read by 120,000+ people here: https://mailchi.mp/sweathead/how-to-do-strategy-by-sweathead Our next Sweathead Strategy Accelerator happens in March, 2024. Find details at www.sweathead.com.

Ana Andjelic has a PhD, has worked in many of your favorite New York advertising and digital agencies, and now has a massive role at Esprit as the Chief Brand Office and the Chief Marketing Officer. This means Ana is responsible for anything that leaves the office. I caught up with her in the Esprit office to find out how her and the team are reviving Esprit, a brand that, at one time, had a market capitalization of $20 billiong. You can find Ana here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anaandjelic/ ** Sign up for The Sweathead Get-Ahead free livestream from London on Jan 31 and Feb 1 here: https://sweathead.com/sweathead-get-ahead/ My London Masterclass tickets are here: https://sweathead.com/london-strategy-masterclass-with-mark-pollard/ And you can grab free ebooks and find out about our classes here: https://sweathead.com/

There was a time on LinkedIn that was before Alex M H Smith and a time on LinkedIn that was after Alex M H Smith. Every week, tens of thousands of people now see Alex's posts about strategy in their feed but it wasn't always this way. In this episode, we discuss what Alex is up to and how he uses social media. We were going to talk about some of his strategy posts and thoughts but...I actually don't talk to many people about social media so we kept the conversation there. You can find Alex here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-m-h-smith/ ** Sign up for The Sweathead Get-Ahead free livestream from London on Jan 31 and Feb 1 here: https://sweathead.com/sweathead-get-ahead/ My London Masterclass tickets are here: https://sweathead.com/london-strategy-masterclass-with-mark-pollard/ And you can grab free ebooks and find out about our classes here: https://sweathead.com/

Trish Berrong is a copywriter and strategist who spent decades at greeting card company Hallmark. She's not only written greeting cards but she helped Hallmark develop an in-house agency that went from serving Hallmark to serving external clients. And this is what we discuss. You can find Trish here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trishberrong/ ** Find out about our strategy training and conferences at http://www.sweathead.com You can download a free 50-page ebook "How To Do Strategy" here: https://mailchi.mp/sweathead/how-to-do-strategy-by-sweathead

You can find a link to the personal development template here: https://sweathead.com/personal-plan Sign up for The Sweathead Get-Ahead free livestream from London here: https://sweathead.com/sweathead-get-ahead/ My London Masterclass tickets are here: https://sweathead.com/london-strategy-masterclass-with-mark-pollard/ And you can grab free ebooks and find out about our classes here: https://sweathead.com/

Anirban Roy is Head of Strategy at Wieden + Kennedy in India. They have offices in Delhi and Mumbai. In this interview, we discuss good relationships with creative teams - whether it's common, what makes them difficult, and what makes them work. You can find Anirban here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anirbanroyplanner/ ** Find out about our strategy training and conferences at http://www.sweathead.com You can download a free 50-page ebook "How To Do Strategy" here: https://mailchi.mp/sweathead/how-to-do-strategy-by-sweathead

Polly Wyn Jones has been anlayzing advertising for over 30 years. In the past two years, she's published two articles about humor in advertising - how it ebbed and flowed over the past 2 decades, the kinds of humor there are in ads, and if it's coming back. And this is what we discuss. You can find Polly's two articles here 1. https://www.kantar.com/uki/inspiration/advertising-media/how-to-get-humour-right-in-advertising 2. https://www.kantar.com/north-america/inspiration/advertising-media/starting-to-laugh-again-the-slow-return-of-humour-in-advertising You can find Polly here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/polly-wyn-jones-67a0b3137/ ** Find out about our strategy training and conferences at http://www.sweathead.com You can download a free 50-page ebook "How To Do Strategy" here: https://mailchi.mp/sweathead/how-to-do-strategy-by-sweathead

Paul Fisher, Head of Strategy at BBDO Dublin, woke up with a mission one Sunday a couple of weeks ago. He wanted to confirm or debunk a belief that there's less humor in advertising than before. He spent hours trawling through and categorizing campaigns. And I thought it would be worth speaking to someone who feels like this is a good way to spend a Sunday. You can find Paul here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulfisher1980/ ** Find out about our strategy training and conferences at http://www.sweathead.com You can download a free 50-page ebook "How To Do Strategy" here: https://mailchi.mp/sweathead/how-to-do-strategy-by-sweathead

Grace Gordon is an Australian who's worked with a list of companies many strategists would dream of working with: Netflix, CashApp, Nike, Apple, The Fader, Refinery29, as well as various agencies. In fact, we worked together at Big Spaceship a decade ago. In this chat, we discuss living and working the USA as Australians as well as what Grace learned about getting these kinds of jobs. You can find Grace here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gracelgordon/ ** Find out about our strategy training and conferences at http://www.sweathead.com You can download a free 50-page ebook "How To Do Strategy" here: https://mailchi.mp/sweathead/how-to-do-strategy-by-sweathead

Marc is a fractional CMO based in Calgary, Canada. He recently published a deck to help marketers work out how to set their budgets based on evidence. You can find the deck here: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7134918764252299264/⁠ You can find Marc here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcbinkley/

You can download a free 45-page ebook on insights, including a chapter from my book "Strategy Is Your Words" here: https://mailchi.mp/sweathead/mastering-insights You can find out about The Insight Masterclass that I'm teaching on Wednesday, December 6, online here: http://sweathead.com/the-insight-masterclass-mark-pollard

Julien Normand is Global Strategy Lead for Publicis LEON @ Publicis Media in Singapore. Recently, he wrote a piece called "The Silent Ascent Of Super Light Buyers," in which he shares research that suggests marketers need to pay attention to people who don't buy them very often. You can find Julien here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julien-normand-101/⁠ ⁠ His article is here: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7061959692071141376/ ** Sign up for our newsletters: https://sweathead.com/newsletter/strategy-for-life/ ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world.  We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies. Find out about our company training here: ⁠https://sweathead.com/teams/⁠

I was going to keep it private but people started to find out. I got a hair transplant. And I had a second operation to get a lipoma removed. At the end of this episode I talk a little about functional versus emotional advertising. But most of the episode is about hair and Istanbul. You can find videos about the experience on my Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Watergunz won two golds at the recent Ad Black Sea festival for a campaign called “Women Who Don’t Exist”. They won in the Impact category for Creative Strategy and Sustainable Development Goals. Their campaign managed to get the Tbilisi government to change street names to the names of accomplished women. I was fortunate to be the one who handed them their trophies in front of well over one thousand people and a few stray dogs that had wondered into the Summer Theatre in Batum, Georgia. I grabbed the team at 1am just after the ceremony had finished to find out how they were feeling. Find out more here: https://georgia.unwomen.org/en/stories/feature-story/2023/06/women-who-dont-exist-a-campaign-against-stereotypes

It’s the final day of the Georgian advertising festival Ad Black Sea. The campaign winners will be announced soon. In this episode, I talk with fellow speaker Marie Reig Florensa, Ad Black Sea and agency Winfors founder Vato Lavtaradze, and Lado Malazonia who quit his job on stage during one of my sessions and in front of perhaps 800 people…and his wife. You can find out more about Ad Black Sea here: https://adblacksea.com

The next Sweathead Strategy Accelerator happens in October, 2023. It's a 4-week program that will teach you about The Four Points framework, linear and lateral thinking, the importance of problems, how to write insights, and how to write strategy. This next accelerator is our fifth public accelerator so we thought we'd invite some previous students to share their work and experience with you. You'll hear from: - Dulce Vazquez- VP, Strategy Director, Wildtype Health - Rodolfo Andres Estrada - Senior Brand Strategist BBDO, Guatemala - Sarah Mahoney
- EVP, Healthcare Communications, Strategy & Planning, Weber Shandwick - Victoria Gates-Fleming- SVP, Creative Strategy & Insights at Day One Agency For more details about the accelerator, visit: https://strategyhome.sweathead.com/products/the-sweathead-strategy-accelerator/ For 15 examples and 70 pages of student work, visit: https://mailchi.mp/sweathead/9vtxjz2jqq

In this episode, I share some of the student work from the Sweathead Strategy Accelerator as well as dive into some tips on how to improve your presentations. You can download 70+ pages of student work here: https://mailchi.mp/sweathead/9vtxjz2jqq

In this episode, I discuss a couple of recent essays—when it’s time to quit and how to help a strategy team that’s swirling all over the place. If you enjoy it, share it. And come say hi on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

In this episode, I share my experience at Hacktown as well as some uncomfortable truths about strategy careers. I’m doing a masterclass in São Paulo on Wednesday, August 23. DM me on Instagram for details. http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

I'm going to do a few solo episodes over the coming weeks. This episode's topic I've touched on a lot and I've even read out some of these words before. But I thought I'd start here as I share some of my most engaged-with social posts in voice format. You can download a free ebook How To Do Strategy here: https://zaap.bio/sweathead

Lots of updates and a list of things I wish I knew before becoming a strategist. My book “Strategy Is Your Words” is available this week on Amazon Kindle in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. I hope you’re well out there.

Erick Apuy is building an empire from his home base in San Jose, Costa Rica. His agency, Interaction, is one of the most awarded in the region. Their love of problems and context help them help their clients in ways that involve advertising but only if they have to. For instance, they helped a hydroelectricity company make money from crypto. In this episode, I chat with Erick and Monica Gonzales, Interaction's strategic planning lead, to find out how they go about their work. You can find Interaction here: https://interaction.cr/ ** You can find the Sweathead report What Strategists Want From Work here: ⁠https://bit.ly/what-strategists-want⁠ ** Next strategy event: The Sweathead Strategy Summer Camp - Starts July 18, 2023 Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up for our newsletters: https://sweathead.com/newsletter/strategy-for-life/ ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world.  We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies. Find out about our company training here: ⁠https://sweathead.com/teams/⁠

Dave Collins is Strategy Director at The Monkeys in Melbourne, Australia. The Monkeys have been a prolific creative agency ever since they launched and they were listed in the Effie Index in 2022. In this interview, Dave share the special sauce plus a few case studios. We also talk about his year in New York and how he's thinking about approaching his 30s in the industry. You can find Dave here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-collins-b5b15357/ ** You can find the Sweathead report What Strategists Want From Work here: ⁠https://bit.ly/what-strategists-want⁠ ** Next strategy event: The Sweathead Strategy Summer Camp - Starts July 18, 2023 Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up for our newsletters: https://sweathead.com/newsletter/strategy-for-life/ ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world.  We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies. Find out about our company training here: ⁠https://sweathead.com/teams/⁠

Raluca Kovacs is Chief Strategy Officer of Publicis Worldwide in Romania. Romania is a competitive advertising country. It seems like one of those hotbeds that not enough of us know about. It's a hotbed that has created several agencies that frequently feature in award shows and in the Effie Index. In this episode, Raluca shares with us the culture at Publicis in Romania. You'll hear a big emphasis on learning and self-improving. You can find Raluca here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raluca-kovacs-6987464/ ** You can find the Sweathead report What Strategists Want From Work here: ⁠https://bit.ly/what-strategists-want⁠ ** Next strategy event: The Sweathead Strategy Summer Camp - Starts July 18, 2023 Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up for our newsletters: https://sweathead.com/newsletter/strategy-for-life/ ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world.  We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies. Find out about our company training here: ⁠https://sweathead.com/teams/⁠

Mario Morby is Regional Head of Strategy at FP7McCann. He's based in Dubai. In case you didn't know, Dubai is very different from Birmingham in the UK, where Mario was working before joining FP7McCann. FP7McCann is prolific and Mario takes us on an intellectual tour of what makes the agency so good. You can find Mario here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariomorby ** You can find the Sweathead report What Strategists Want From Work here: https://bit.ly/what-strategists-want ** Next strategy event: The Sweathead Strategy Summer Camp - Starts July 18, 2023 Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up for our newsletters: https://sweathead.com/newsletter/strategy-for-life/ ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world.  We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies. Find out about our company training here: https://sweathead.com/teams/

Javier Quintero is Chief Strategy Officer of GUT in Buenos Aires. Every decade a handful of agencies appear and then tear up the industry as we know it and GUT is currently doing this. In this episode, Javier explains to us how GUT does creative briefs and how they put pressure on their work so that nothing crap leaves the building. You can find Javier here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/javiquintero/ ** You can find the Sweathead report What Strategists Want From Work here: ⁠https://bit.ly/what-strategists-want⁠ ** Next strategy event: The Sweathead Strategy Summer Camp - Starts July 18, 2023 Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up for our newsletters: https://sweathead.com/newsletter/strategy-for-life/ ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world.  We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies. Find out about our company training here: ⁠https://sweathead.com/teams/⁠

Zahra Ali runs strategy at Ogilvy in Karachi. She's helped the agency win so many awards that the agency is listed in the Effie Index. In this episode, Zahra explains the culture of Ogilvy Karachi to us and takes us through some award-winning work. You can find Zahra here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zahra-ali-037bb616/ ** You can find the Sweathead report What Strategists Want From Work here: ⁠https://bit.ly/what-strategists-want⁠ ** Next strategy event: The Sweathead Strategy Summer Camp - Starts July 18, 2023 Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up for our newsletters: https://sweathead.com/newsletter/strategy-for-life/ ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world.  We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies. Find out about our company training here: ⁠https://sweathead.com/teams/⁠

Victor Stroe is Associate Director and Head of Strategy at Leo Burnett in Bucharest, Romania. His office was ranked the eleventh most effective in the world according to the 2022 Effie Index). Romania has a prolific and competitive advertising industry–it's just not that internationally known. In this episode, we discuss Leo Burnett's mindset and culture, what helps the agency win so many awards, and how strategists fit in. You can find Victor here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victor-stroe-5511979/ ** You can find the Sweathead report What Strategists Want From Work here: ⁠https://bit.ly/what-strategists-want⁠ ** Next strategy event: The Sweathead Strategy Summer Camp - Starts July 18, 2023 Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up for our newsletters: https://sweathead.com/newsletter/strategy-for-life/ ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world.  We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies. Find out about our company training here: https://sweathead.com/teams/

Ryan O'Connell is Chief Strategy Officer of Ogilvy in Sydney, Australia. His office ranked in the Effie Index and we wanted to find out why. In this episode, Ryan talks about the need to be interesting and useful while also comparing notes between the two agencies he's spent the longest time in: Clemenger BBDO and Ogilvy. You can find Ryan here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-o-connell-43854212/ ** You can find the Sweathead report What Strategists Want From Work here: ⁠https://bit.ly/what-strategists-want⁠ ** Next strategy event: The Sweathead Strategy Summer Camp - Starts July 18, 2023 Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up for our newsletters: https://sweathead.com/newsletter/strategy-for-life/ ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world.  We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies. Find out about our company training here: ⁠https://sweathead.com/teams/⁠

Amber Chenevert is Managing Director, Strategy & Insights as well as Global Culture Studio Lead at VMLY&R. She's a PhD and has taught advertising. In this episode we discuss a question that's been on her mind recently: "Is niche marketing making it harder to reach ppl?" You can find Amber here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amber-chenevert-phd-027a4b1/ ** You can find the Sweathead report What Strategists Want From Work here: ⁠https://bit.ly/what-strategists-want⁠ ** Next strategy event: The Sweathead Strategy Summer Camp - Starts July 18, 2023 Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up for our newsletters: https://sweathead.com/newsletter/strategy-for-life/ ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world.  We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies. Find out about our company training here: ⁠https://sweathead.com/teams/⁠

David Moreno recently moved to BBDO, Atlanta, where he's EVP, Strategy Lead. Prior to this, David was Managing Director, Strategy and Insights at VMLY&R. Big titles in big agencies doing big things. In this episode, David gently compares the two and gives us his first impressions of BBDO and what makes the agency so good at making effective advertising. You can find David here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-moreno-577b928/ ** You can find the Sweathead report What Strategists Want From Work here: ⁠https://bit.ly/what-strategists-want⁠ ** Next strategy event: The Sweathead Strategy Summer Camp - Starts July 18, 2023 Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up for our newsletters: https://sweathead.com/newsletter/strategy-for-life/ ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world.  We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies. Find out about our company training here: ⁠https://sweathead.com/teams/⁠

Aisha Hakim is an associate creative director at 72andSunny. She's also prolific online. Aisha will be hosting a masterclass called "The Art Of Deck-Making" for us on May 17. Aisha originally published a deck about deck-making to Twitter and then to LinkedIn. The deck went a little viral and it still pops up every few months. In this episode, we discuss all of this. You can find Aisha here: https://aishamadeit.com/ ** Next strategy event: The Art of Deck-Making with Aisha Hakim Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up for our newsletters: https://sweathead.com/newsletter/strategy-for-life/ ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world.  We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies. Find out about our company training here: https://sweathead.com/teams/

It's May 4. Today marks three years since Sweathead launch its first online class. And, to celebrate, we've published a new report "What Strategists Want From Work". In this report, you'll learn: 1. What strategists want from the companies they work at, 2. What strategy bosses want from their strategists, 3. What makes a strategy career happen, 4. The top strategy bosses that people want to work for, and 5. The companies strategists most want to work at. Find it here: https://mailchi.mp/sweathead/what-strategists-want-2023

Bonnie Wan is Head of Strategy at Goodby Silverstein & Partners, an agency she's worked at for thirteen years. In 2022, she won a big award: AdAge's CSO of the year. And she's about to publish a book through which she's going to put all of her strategy nous into a shape that can help you in your life. It's called "The Life Brief." In this episode of Sweathead, we discuss how to become more of who you are–How do you work out who you are? How do you be that? You can find Bonnie here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bonniewan/ ** Next strategy event: The Art of Deck-Making with Aisha Hakim Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up for our newsletters: https://sweathead.com/newsletter/strategy-for-life/ ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world.  We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies. Find out about our company training here: https://sweathead.com/teams/

Bernice Chao is author of "The Visibility Mindset". Her agency experience includes R/GA, Zambezi, TBWA, and David&Goliath. While navigating her career in the creative department, Bernice found herself longing to be able to connect with more people who understood her experience. So she set up Asians In Advertising with Jessalin Lam and has amassed a community of over 4,000 people who identify as AAPI from around the world. And this is what we discuss. You can find Bernice here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernicechao/ ** Next strategy event: Aisha Hakim's Masterclass The Art of Deck-Making http://www.sweathead.com ** Sign up for our newsletters: 1. For Friday's Sake–a weekly laugh at the marketing world https://sweathead.com/newsletter/for-fridays-sake/ 2. Strategy 4 Life–inside the working lives of strategists https://sweathead.com/newsletter/strategy-for-life/ ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

Sofia, Bulgaria. It’s the capital of one of Europe’s poorest countries, a country that spent decades behind the iron curtain, a country after which the Bulgarian Split Squat is named, and a country that wants you to visit it. I’m speaking at Digitalk on May 18 and I’m teaching a masterclass on May 19. And to whet people’s appetites for the eccentricities I’m going to bring, this episode features a live workshop with Adriyana Mihaylova, a local strategy mind who’s spent the last couple of years developing a new strategy for Sofia. You can find out more about the Bulgaria masterclass on the Sweathead website: http://www.Sweathead.com You can find Adriyana here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriyanamihaylova/

Yikes. I think I squeezed four episodes into one here. We discuss: 1. Advertising industry news and breaking campaigns from Dodge, Icelandair, KFC, and Lawn Doctor 2. Natalie Brinkman's strategy for Sriracha 3. How to improve Get/To/By 4. Tensions facing strategists right now And a bunch of Sweathead news including masterclasses and conferences. ** Subscribe to our newsletters here: https://sweathead.com/newsletter/strategy-for-life/

@Agencyprobs is crushing it on Instagram. With over 110,000 followers, the meme account helps everyone in advertising laugh and cry a little at the career that's chosen them. In this anonymous and debut interview, I speak with one of the founders and minds behind the account. We discuss what the ad industry creator lifestyle is like and we discuss some of the industry problems that cause the most pain. You can find Agency Probs here: https://www.instagram.com/agencyprobs/ ** Next strategy events: Masterclass with Mark Pollard - How To Find Your Strategy Voice (April) WTEff-The Eff-ing Effectiveness Festival (April) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up for our newsletters: 1. For Friday's Sake–a weekly laugh at the marketing world https://sweathead.com/newsletter/for-fridays-sake/ 2. Strategy 4 Life–inside the working lives of strategists https://sweathead.com/newsletter/strategy-for-life/ ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

Simon Kemp is founder of Kepios, a business consulting firm that helps organizations worldwide make sense of people's digital behaviors. He's been investigating digital trends for a very long time. This means that he knows what I mean when I ask, "Yeah but is any of this useful?" So, in this chat, Simon points our attention to the digital trends worth our attention. You can find Simon here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eskimon/ ** Next strategy events: - Masterclass with Mark Pollard - How To Find Your Strategy Voice (April) - WTEff-The Eff-ing Effectiveness Festival (April) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up for our newsletters: 1. For Friday's Sake–a weekly laugh at the marketing world https://sweathead.com/newsletter/for-fridays-sake/ 2. Strategy 4 Life–inside the working lives of strategists https://sweathead.com/newsletter/strategy-for-life/ ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world.  We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

Elisabeth Bromberg recently set up a consultancy. It's called Mildred Mae. Her focus is on empathy. In this episode, we discuss the three kinds of empathy as well as what it's like to set up a consultancy in these times. You can find Elisabeth here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elisabethbromberg/ You can find Mildred Mae here: https://mildredmae.com/ ** Next strategy events: Masterclass with Mark Pollard - How To Find Your Strategy Voice (April) WTEff-The Eff-ing Effectiveness Festival (April) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up for our newsletters: 1. For Friday's Sake–a weekly laugh at the marketing world https://sweathead.com/newsletter/for-fridays-sake/ 2. Strategy 4 Life–inside the working lives of strategists https://sweathead.com/newsletter/strategy-for-life/ ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

I wrote a thing today. It features Musashi, a sick samurai. He was probably sick in all the ways by today's terms but I try to connect what you're going through to what he once went through. This is especially relevant to anyone trying to work out their place in their company right now. We're launching a new weekly newsletter called For Friday's Sake. You can subscribe here: https://sweathead.com/newsletter/for-fridays-sake/ You can find out about all of our events and training here: http://www.sweathead.com

Andrew Roth runs dcdx, a research firm that focuses on Gen Z. In this episode, we discuss whether the term is even useful as well as some of dcdx's recent research reports into how Gen Z spend their time and what they're up to on TikTok.  You can find Andrew here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-roth43/ ** Next strategy events: Masterclass with Mark Pollard - How To Find Your Strategy Voice (April) WTEff-The Eff-ing Effectiveness Festival (April) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

Picture this: you're on a plane. An airplane. You land in Austin, Texas, for SXSW. And as you get off the plane you realize you've just lost your client Silicon Valley Bank and a chunk of your savings are at risk in another bank that might go under. Well, that's what happened to Jason Harris, CEO Mekanism, last week. You probably know his agency and his work and his accolades. But that's not what this episode is about. Instead, we talk about the dark times. We talk about getting back up when everything else is falling apart. You can find Jason here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-harris-29abb12/ ** Next strategy events: WTEff–The Eff-ing Effectiveness Festival (April) 8 Masterclasses this year Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

Christine Villanueva has had massive strategy jobs at UM, McCann, Ogilvy, and Walton Isaacson. She's had jobs you might have your eyes on. But, as a seasoned strategist, Christine knows you can't shortcut your way into a leadership role. So, in this episode, we discuss sensible ways to speed up your career, a career that might only last 10-20 years if you're lucky.  You can find Christine here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-villanueva/ ** Next strategy events: Masterclass with WundermanThompson CSO Rodrigo Maroni (March) The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator (March) WTEff-The Eff-ing Effectiveness Festival (April) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

In this episode, we discuss two sets of agency-client dysfunctions and ways to deal with them–too many revisions and your strategy getting props but not your creative. Download our new career planning toolkit here: https://mailchi.mp/sweathead/career-planning-toolkit ** Next strategy events: Masterclass with WundermanThompson CSO Rodrigo Maroni (March) The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator (March) WTEff-The Eff-ing Effectiveness Festival (April) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

Nish Shah has just set up a company focused on helping companies to pitch. It's called Pitch Factory. Like Hit Factory. You know, that studio where hundreds of pop music hits were once made. In this episode, we discuss Nish's philosophy "Pitch With Joy" as well as some practical tips for Young Lions about to head over to Cannes to compete. You can find Nish here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hellonishshah/ ** Next strategy events: Masterclass with WundermanThompson CSO Rodrigo Maroni (March) The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator (March) WTEff-The Eff-ing Effectiveness Festival (April) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

Rodrigo Maroni is CSO of WundermanThompson in New York. He's managed strategy teams at Weiden+Kennedy and Crispin Porter & Bogusky too. And back in Brazil, Rodrigo led Brazil's Account Planning Group or Grupo de Planejamento.  Rodrigo is my kind of strategy leader–he wants his teams to grow, to take risks, and to thrive.  But this isn't the experience of all strategists out there. Some bosses aren't great. So, in this episode, we discuss how to develop the next generation of strategists. Rodrigo is teaching a masterclass for Sweathead in March.  You can find him here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/romaroni/ ** Next strategy events: Masterclass with WundermanThompson CSO Rodrigo Maroni (March) The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator (March) WTEff-The Eff-ing Effectiveness Festival (April) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

Archana Iyer is a culture junkie, trend spotter, and strategic storyteller. But she recently learned that she's also on the autism spectrum.  In this episode, we discuss how Archana became aware of being on the spectrum and how it affects her strategy work. You can find Archana here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arkkane/ ** Next strategy events: Masterclass with WundermanThompson CSO Rodrigo Maroni (March) The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator (March) WTEff-The Eff-ing Effectiveness Festival (April) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

David Tiltman likes to get around effectiveness. You could say he's really into effectiveness stuff. Like, it's his thing. And it better be because David oversees all of the ideas and words at WARC and WARC is slowly taking over Cannes. I said that. David did not. A few years ago, the company that bought the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity also bought WARC. They're called Ascential. They were once called emap. Since the purchase, WARC's footprint has been growing at Cannes with 2023 likely their biggest contribution so far. In our chat, we discuss the history of WARC as well as what's going on in the world of effectiveness–you know, the marketing science-y stuff. You can find David here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-tiltman-5a2a6614/ You can also find him talking at WTEff-The Eff-ing Effectiveness Festival in April. Details on the Sweathead website. ** Next strategy events: Masterclass with WundermanThompson CSO Rodrigo Maroni (March) The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator (March) WTEff-The Eff-ing Effectiveness Festival (April) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

Five years ago this week (February 25, 2018-2023), I published the first episode of Sweathead. Richard Shotton was my first interview. So I've called him back for two episodes this week.  In this episode, we discuss Richard's new book "The Illusion of Choice: 16 1/2 Psychological Biases That Influence What We Buy". You can find Richard here: https://www.astroten.co.uk/ **  Next strategy training: The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator (March) WTEff–The Eff-ing Effectiveness Festival (April) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

Five years ago this week (February 25, 2018-2023), I published the first episode of Sweathead.  I was doing talks up the West Coast of the USA and I was trying to work out what to do with the next phase of my life. Yes, I was 39 at the time.  I interviewed Richard Shotton about his book "The Choice Factory" from a hotel room in Los Angeles. It was all very raw. I published it unedited. I was just trying to re-find my voice and get a sense of new momentum in my life. So, for this week, I'm sharing a two-part interview with Richard. In this episode, we talk about his leap at independence–how has it all been going? In part two, we discuss Richard's new book "The Illusion of Choice: 16 1/2 Psychological Biases That Influence What We Buy". You can find Richard here: https://www.astroten.co.uk/ ** Next strategy training: Lucky Generals Cofounder Andy Nairn teaches a masterclass on planning superpowers (Feb 23) The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator (March) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

Jon Evans is a CMO at System1 in the UK. But he also runs a podcast called Uncensored CMO in which he discusses the trials and tribulations of being a CMO in public. In this episode of Sweathead, Jon shares some of the things he's learned from speaking to CMOs. Call them "secrets" if you like. You can find Jon here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/uncensoredcmo/ ** Next strategy training: Lucky Generals Cofounder Andy Nairn teaches a masterclass on planning superpowers (Feb 23) The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator (March) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

Andy Nairn is running our first masterclass of the year.  On February 23, he'll spend 3 hours helping play with your planning superpowers. And Andy should know. He's been the UK's Planner of The Year several times, he's Co-founder of Lucky Generals, an agency that TBWA bought into 5 years ago and an agency that's made four of the five most-watched ads in the past five years. Seems like some superpower stuff going on, right?  In this episode of Sweathead, we discuss the TBWA part-acquisition of Lucky Generals as well as how to understand your strengths.  You can find out about Andy's superclass here: https://sweathead.com/products/andy-nairns-masterclass/  Don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date with all of our classes, events, and conferences: https://linkin.bio/sweathead

In this episode, R/GA's Siona Singletary interviews me, Mark, deploying questions that strategists in Sydney most want answers to. We recorded an event in December in Sydney but the audio didn't turn out well so we decided to do it again. We cover: - Moving to New York - Mental health - The strategist's career You can find Siona here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sionasingletary/ ** Next strategy training: Lucky Generals Cofounder Andy Nairn teaches a masterclass on planning superpowers (Feb 23) The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator (March) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies. Find out about our company training here: https://sweathead.com/teams/

To start 2023, we're running a fast series on trends worth paying attention to in The Sweathead Trend Bender Series. Over five episodes this week, you'll get to hear 25 trends that people who get paid to find trends are highlighting for their clients. In this episode, Quick Study Cofounder Rob Engelsman lays down one big trend for marketers: A Return To Practicality. And we discuss the dynamics leading to it. You can find Rob here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rcengelsman/ ** Join a live Meta Trend workshop with Reddit's Matt Klein on Feb 3 here: http://bit.ly/3XOjJ7f Next strategy training: Lucky Generals Cofounder Andy Nairn teaches a masterclass on planning superpowers (Feb 23) The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator (March) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies. Find out about our company training here: https://sweathead.com/teams/

To start 2023, we're running a fast series on trends worth paying attention to in The Sweathead Trend Bender Series. Over five episodes this week, you'll get to hear 25 trends that people who get paid to find trends are highlighting for their clients. In this episode, EssenceMediaCom's Chike Ume takes us through The Great AI Experiment, Anti-Establishment Is The New Establishment, and Hedonism (f*&k-it vibes). You can find Chike here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chikeume/ ** Join a live Meta Trend workshop with Reddit's Matt Klein on Feb 3 here: http://bit.ly/3XOjJ7f Next strategy training: Lucky Generals Cofounder Andy Nairn teaches a masterclass on planning superpowers (Feb 23) The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator (March) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies. Find out about our company training here: https://sweathead.com/teams/

To start 2023, we're running a fast series on trends worth paying attention to in The Sweathead Trend Bender Series. Over five episodes this week, you'll get to hear 25 trends that people who get paid to find trends are highlighting for their clients. In this episode, Vayner's Olayinka Ajibola and Hayley Grant take us through their trend highlight reel. The trends come from The Vayner Constellation: 2023 Trends Forecast. They include New Americana, Gen-less, and Revenge Living. You can find Olayinka Ajibola here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olayinkaajibola/ Hayley Grant is here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hayleykgrant/ ** Join a live Meta Trend workshop with Reddit's Matt Klein on Feb 3 here:   http://bit.ly/3XOjJ7f Next strategy training: Lucky Generals Cofounder Andy Nairn teaches a masterclass (Feb 23) The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator (March) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies. Find out about our company training here: https://sweathead.com/teams/

To start 2023, we're running a fast series on trends worth paying attention to in The Sweathead Trend Bender Series. Over five episodes this week, you'll get to hear 25 trends that people who get paid to find trends are highlighting for their clients. In this episode, Will Poskett breaks down five trends he's seen across all those trend reports everyone is gouging on. These are called Meta Trends. They include Coping Through Creativity, The Power Of The Past, and Recover In Reconnection. You can find Will and his deck about these trends here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/will-poskett-%F0%9F%94%A5-62942716/ ** Join a live Meta Trend workshop with Reddit's Matt Klein on Feb 3 here: http://bit.ly/3XOjJ7f Next strategy training: Lucky Generals Cofounder Andy Nairn teaches a masterclass (Feb 23) The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator (March) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies. Find out about our company training here: https://sweathead.com/teams/

A big thank you to the Sweathead team and all the speakers for making The Sweathead Get-Ahead happen on January 20, our five-year anniversary.  We have so much planned for 2023, including a week of trends this week on the podcast (The Sweathead Trend Bender) and a live workshop with Reddit's Matt Klein on 16 meta trends on Feb 3. RSVP to the workshop here: http://bit.ly/3XOjJ7f ** Next strategy training: Lucky Generals Cofounder Andy Nairn teaches a masterclass on planning superpowers (Feb 23) The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator (March) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies. Find out about our company training here: https://sweathead.com/teams/

Justin Graham runs M&C Saatchi Group in Australasia. He started in management consulting then moved to Leo Burnett Sydney as an account planner. I sat next to him there, or at least in arms' reach. Like, I could annoy him if I wanted to without using my arms if I felt like it. After Leo Burnett, Justin moved to BBDO in New York to run Gillette before returning to the Australian offices of Droga5. He always struck me as a very intentional decision-maker so,now that he's running things, I wanted to find out how intentional he was, how set on becoming an advertising agency CEO he'd been when we worked together, and what he's learned along the way. I think this is the first interview I've recorded face-to-face for Sweathead. Out of 400+.  We recorded this in Sydney at the M&C Saatchi offices. You can find Justin there most days of the week and also here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinalexandergraham/ ** Sweathead celebrates its fifth anniversary on January 20, 2023 with a live event "The Sweathead Get-Ahead". Join us for talks, case studies, and a chance to plan your year. Details at http://www.sweathead.com. ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

It's not every day you get to hear two strategy leaders compare and contrast their agency's Gold IPA Effectiveness Papers. But Senior Planner at Brave Michael Kates suggested it on Twitter and Leo Burnett's London Head of Planning Tom Sussman and Wieden+Kennedy's Group Strategy Director Tass Tsitsopoulos said "yes". So here we are–a rare day. Tom takes us through a 15-year case study of disciplined brand building for McDonald's in the UK. Tass shares the “Famous Orders” campaign with us. It's a refreshing discussion that will help you understand how each agency approaches their work for McDonald's, attitudes towards celebrity, making a global brand work locally, and more. Big thanks to Michael for suggesting the chat. Links below: Tom: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-sussman-59892719/ Tass: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tass-tsitsopoulos-ba44551/ Michael: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-kates-484b4843/ ** Sweathead celebrates its fifth anniversary on January 20, 2023 with a live event "The Sweathead Get-Ahead".  Join us for talks, case studies, and a chance to plan your year.  Details at http://www.sweathead.com.  ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

Friends, Sweathead celebrates its fifth anniversary on January 20, 2023, with a live event called "The Sweathead Get-Ahead". RSVP at http://www.sweathead.com. It's free and open to all and it features... 1. Elizabeth Paul–CSO, The Martin Agency Adage CSO of the Year and Chair of the 4As Strategy Committee 2. Andy Nairn–Founding Partner, Lucky Generals The UK’s Planner Of The Year in 2021 3. Tahaab Rais–CSO MENAT, Publicis Groupe One of the world’s most awarded strategists 4. Ambika Pai–CSO, Mekanism Former Partner at Wolf & Wilhelmine and Adjunct Professor at Parsons 5. Aisha Hakim–ACD, 72andSunny Art director published in Sweeney’s…tasty 6. Rodrigo Maroni–CSO, Wunderman Thompson Winner of the Grand Prix at Cannes and various Best Agency Awards Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** In this episode I run through our plans for the year, 7 strategist affirmations you can use to talk back to your brain, and a list of first principles I'd encourage you to keep in mind as you do your work this year. We have big plans for 2023 and hope to see you in strategy class soon. ** Find out about our company training here: https://sweathead.com/teams/

Thom James is Head of Strategy at One Green Bean, part of the Havas network, in the UK. Recently, he was hospitalized due to deteriorating mental health. He Tweeted about his experience in a very frank and vulnerable way. Most people will directly or indirectly deal with a mental health crisis during their lifetimes. But it does seem like the creative industries are home to a lot of people with challenging mental health situations. Yet we rarely hear real talk about it. And this is why I wanted to speak with James.  We discuss depression, hospitalization, social anxiety, ADHD, agoraphobia, and how he went through this with his family–then Twitter–watching on. If you're going through tough times, please reach out to a specialist for help. Pandemics, war, recessions, and broken families are leading to a lot of challenges out there. Seek help if you need it. You can find Thom here: https://twitter.com/ThomJames ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

Santi Pochat is Vice President of Marketing at LinkedIn and he believes that beautiful ideas can come from the worst ideas. And this is what we discuss in this episode. Santi has spent over ten years at Edelman across two stints. He's also worked at Verizon and Google. He's strategic but loves making things and I'm excited about what he's about to unleash for LinkedIn, a company he recently joined. You can find Santi here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spochat/ ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

In this episode of Sweathead, James Hankins discusses two big topics: marketing concepts he's infatuated with and how he published his way through–then out of–a redundancy.  We discuss concepts such as market share, contribution margin, and incremental revenue. And we discuss how writing can provide a sense of rhythm and mission when life throws lemons at us. James is Global VP Marketing Strategy and Planning at SAGE. He's also Founder of Vizer Consulting and the Co-Chair of the IPA Share of Search ThinkTank. In the past, he's worked at Manning Gottlieb OMD, Vizeum, and MEC. He's worked on two of the most successful smoking cessation campaigns in the world (Quit Kit and Stoptober for the UK's NHS) as well as IKEA's "The Wonderful Everyday". He created the "Hankins Hexagon"–a new model of the path to purchase, and "digital availability"–an addition to the availability canon. He also works with JP Castlin writing about e-commerce, modern retail and corporate strategy implications. You can find James here: https://twitter.com/jcphankins ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

In this episode of Sweathead, I discuss cross-culture kids with Sean Choi. Cross-culture kids are people who grow up between two or more cultures. These "kids" are fast becoming a large population in the USA and, because of this, they are increasingly working in advertising and the audiences of advertising. Sean currently calls The Martin Agency, AdWeek’s back-to-back Agency of the Year, home.  He takes pride in quite literally ‘breaking into’ strategy as a late bloomer but brings along his background in Talent and Culture from Apple and freelance photography.  Aside from fully believing “New York or nowhere,” Sean is a proud Korean-American committed to being a megaphone for the marginalized.  He’s spoken at events hosted by the likes of the 4As, AIA, and 3AF, crafted thought leadership picked up by Adweek, and is the the curator of an industry-wide cultural moments calendar. You can find Sean here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanrichardchoi/ ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

Tahaab Rais has won over 750 top-tier regional and global awards across Cannes, Effies, One Show, D&AD, Jay Chiats, Andy's, Clios, LIA, New York Festivals, WARC, Loeries, Dubai Lynx, among others, including a record of 340+ Effies. He's the MENAT CSO of Publicis Groupe. That's Middle-East-North-Africa-and-Turkey, a region with hundreds of millions of people in it. Some conversations I feel at home in. And this is one of them. In this interview, we discuss the ingredients that go into an agency being able to do award-winning work. We discuss the obvious stuff (like working with exceptional people) as well as the stuff that's only obvious when you no longer have it (like agency leadership that will fight for your ideas). We also discuss a campaign his team and client have been winning awards for lately: “James Jefferson: A Fraudster, Created by a Bank, to Reduce Financial Fraud” for Emirates NBD. You can find Tahaab here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tahaab/ ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

In this episode, we look at five insights about insight hunters as suggested by strategists. You can find the deck here: https://bit.ly/insighthunters ** THIS WEEK ONLY: You can the coupon code HOLIDAY22 on the Sweathead website to get 20% off plus free shipping of 2 or more copies of my book "Strategy Is Your Words". You can find out about our membership at http://www.sweathead.com. We'll be announcing tens of events and masterclasses in 2023 soon. If you enjoy this episode, please share it with a friend and give it a kind review. ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

You can find this episodes on Instagram @markpollard. You can the coupon code HOLIDAY22 on the Sweathead website to get 20% off plus free shipping of 2 or more copies of my book "Strategy Is Your Words". You can find out about our membership at http://www.sweathead.com. We'll be announcing tens of events and masterclasses in 2023 soon. If you enjoy this episode, please share it with a friend and give it a kind review. ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

Eden Swanson is Group Planning Director at Carmichael Lynch in Minneapolis. Her team picked up a Gold Effie in 2021 as well as a bronze in the Connection Strategy category of the 2022 Jay Chiat Awards. At its simple, communications planning (or, "connection planning"), seeks to reach its audience where they spend time and in ways that work for the channels in which they spend time as well as for the brand. However, where comms planning really comes to life is when the campaign idea and how the brand turn up rub off on each other, channeling the same theme. For instance, if a brand wants to talk about intimacy, it might choose places that desperately need it or that have a lot of it. This can make the campaign more effective. In this episode, Eden takes us through the handful of key decisions that led to this effective campaign. The decisions each pushed back on the original brief. They challenged the original audience focus, the message, and the channels the client expected to use. You can find Eden here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edenswanson/ ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world.  We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

Edelman's Amina Colter Jones (SVP, Health), Dinah Douglas (Senior Strategist), and Laura Goldsmith (Head of Strategy, LA) were part of a team that helped The Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation launch a campaign to get attention for black student's mental health challenges. The campaign was called “The Unspoken Curriculum”. It recently picked up Gold in the Healthcare category and an honorable mention for Nonprofit Strategy at the 2022 Jay Chiat Awards.  In this episode of Sweathead, we discuss how it came to be–from why the campaign was needed to how the team arrived at their approach as well as the involvement of their clients. You can see the campaign here: https://borislhensonfoundation.org/unspoken/ Amina Colter Jones (SVP, Health): https://www.linkedin.com/in/amina-colter-jones-94545512/ Dinah Douglas (Senior Strategist): https://www.linkedin.com/in/dinahdouglas/ Laura Goldsmith (Head of Strategy, LA): https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauraseidengoldsmith/ ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

British Airways has just launched a new positioning "A British Original" and a new campaign "Every Reason You Fly". The campaign breaks conventions by focusing on small moments that happen because of travel in their 15-second ads as well as the real reasons people travel.  Part of the campaign involves 500 ads which feature three radio checkboxes and the words "Business" and "Leisure" then a third set of words showing the real reason someone is traveling, such as "Because the weather sucks" and "Remission". The campaign was made by the profuse Uncommon Creative Studio with MG OMD handling media. It's one of those campaign that has excited agency folk with industry writer Tim Nudd declaring "British Airways' New Ads Will Make You Love Copywriting Again". However, the campaign has also come in for criticism from the marketing effectiveness community and some experienced marketers. I wanted to use the campaign as a way to bring both sides of the house together to discuss why some people love this work and why others think it won't work. Since 2020 especially, online discussions about advertising have often and quickly become toxic with people speaking over, around, and beyond each other. So I brought together Colin Lewis and John Long to hear their perspectives. Colin Lewis has spent over a decade marketing travel brands such as Thomas Cook, Stobart Air, City Jet, and flybmi. The travel tech company he last worked at has sold over $1B of British Airways tickets. And he has strong opinions about what works with travel marketing. John Long is ECD at LG’s in-house agency as well as the former global head of creative for The Economist and an ECD at Ogilvy NY. He recently shared a Twitter thread comparing old advertising to recent digital advertising that stoked strong reactions and he's worked on the Southwest Airlines brand.  You can find Colin here: https://twitter.com/colinalewis John is here: https://twitter.com/janthonylong The new British Airways campaign is here: https://www.lbbonline.com/news/there-are-over-500-unique-reasons-to-fly-in-british-airways-unique-campaign You can listen to a Sweathead interview with Lucie Jamieson, Co-Founder of Uncommon here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-if-you-could-make-an-agency-from-scratch-lucy/id1370723809?i=1000472372492 ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

In this episode, I speak with John Lyons, a senior marketer who was recently at the LEGO Group.  John has been weathering a difficult few years. He's shared his challenges on Twitter–the loss of a brother, a marriage, a career, and more.  I wanted to find out more and to put a voice to his story. We discuss some topics that might be difficult for you to listen to–including depression and self-harm.  I recently heard of research that suggests that if you give people a trigger warning they're more likely to feel triggered but I don't know what to do with this research as I publish this episode. Mental health crises can hit any of us at any time. In fact, a real crisis will hit most of us directly or through people we know at some point in our lives. Unfortunately, when we are hit directly, we withdraw, we isolate, and we struggle to reach out for help. If this describes you now then you will hopefully benefit from John's story. Please reach out for help. Millions of other people are confronting similar challenges.  Thank you to John for sharing your story with us. You can find him here: https://twitter.com/johnnieego ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

Susan Coghill is the Chief Marketing Officer of Tourism Australia. Susan and her team have just launched a new campaign with their agencies M&C Saatchi, UM, Digitas and many more. They are spending $125M over two years in an attempt to get tourism numbers back to pre-pandemic levels of about nine million visits per year. In this episode, we discuss: - How the campaign came to be - Some of the science in the campaign, especially the distinctive brand assets it deploys, and - How Tourism Australia selects its agency partners. You can find the campaign “Come and Say G’Day” here: https://www.tourism.australia.com/en/resources/campaign-resources/come-and-say-gday.html You can find Susan here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susancoghill ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

Mayur Hola is a former creative director who now runs India's OYO brand. OYO helps small- and medium-sized hotels sell their rooms. They've been winning a ton of awards for a campaign they made with The Script Room, including several at the 4As' Jay Chiat awards. In this interview, Mayur takes us through the key decisions that led to this campaign, one that attempted to increase hotel bookings by showing people that hotel rooms can be used in many more ways than just for couples romances or for on-the-road business trips.  You can find Mayur here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mayurhola/ ** The Sweathead Do-Together will take you through ten hours of strategy conference October 18-20, 2022. The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator is 4 weeks of lively strategy training and starts Oct 25, 2022. Find out more at http://www.sweathead.com. ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

Tim Gingrich, along with his team at Edelman and his clients at Dallas Regional Chamber, recently picked up a couple of trophies at the 4A's Jay Chiat Awards. Silver in the Healthcare category, bronze in the Regional category. In this interview, Tim takes us through the thinking behind the initiative that sought to get over 600,000 North Texans vaccinated and why capitalism played a key role in the messaging. You can find Tim here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timgingrich/ ** The Sweathead Do-Together will take you through ten hours of strategy conference October 18-20, 2022. The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator is 4 weeks of lively strategy training and starts Oct 25, 2022. Find out more at http://www.sweathead.com. ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

James Whatley is Chief Strategy Officer at UK agency Diva. Diva works with gaming brands but they also help non-gaming brands get into gaming. James is speaking at our upcoming conference The Sweathead Do-Together so I thought it would be good to speak to him about the work he's doing at Diva: 1. How does an agency that focuses on gaming work with brands? 2. How can brands get it right more often than not? You can find James here: https://twitter.com/Whatleydude ** The Sweathead Do-Together will take you through ten hours of strategy conference October 18-20, 2022. The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator is 4 weeks of lively strategy training and starts Oct 25, 2022. Find out more at http://www.sweathead.com. ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

This Sweathead episode is a live workshop in front of a virtual audience of about 60 people. Working with the team at TEACH, we try to crack a strategy to get more people with bachelor's degrees to consider teaching STEM in high schools around the USA. You'll hear Jen Cooper (Senior Director of Content), Teresa Alexandru (Director of Growth Marketing), and Nancy Sylvan (Director of Programs) workshop with me, Mark. We sort of got somewhere. But perhaps it's the messiness that makes the most sense. You can find out more about TEACH here: http://www.teach.org ** The Sweathead Do-Together will take you through ten hours of strategy conference October 18-20, 2022. The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator is 4 weeks of lively strategy training and starts Oct 25, 2022. Find out more at http://www.sweathead.com. ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

Ever felt creative but uncertain about how strategic you were? What about the other way around? In this episode, we get into both of these situations. We'll discuss small shifts creative minds can take to become more strategic and help the strategy-inclined to understand their creativity. We also answer strategist questions: 1. How can I sell strategy without design? 2. What to do if your creative crew isn't capable of translating your strategy into a digital concept? 3. How do you convert a campaign pitch to a brand strategy pitch? 4. Tips for someone transitioning from a strategy doer into a strategy leader? To find some of this on Instagram... "I'm creative but am I strategic?" https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch2ZpGYOo8Q/ Why strategy work is creative work https://www.instagram.com/p/CiA0yYOOkCa/ ** The Sweathead Do-Together will take you through ten hours of strategy conference October 18-20, 2022. The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator is 4 weeks of lively strategy training and starts Oct 25, 2022. Find out more at http://www.sweathead.com. ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

Sharing creative briefs with creative teams is intimidating when you're starting out. In this episode, I share some history, including "I didn't write my first creative brief until I was about 28", and at least 15 tips about how to do this.  Listen to this episode with CCO Jill Applebaum and ECD Kieran Ots as they give feedback to strategists: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/creative-bosses-give-4-strategists-feedback-live-and/id1370723809?i=1000571081998 For more Internet content about sharing creative briefs: 1. "I need to give the creative team feedback but I'm scared." https://www.instagram.com/p/Chsnci2J3uY/ 2. 8 Things To Consider When Sharing Creative Briefs With Creative Teams https://www.instagram.com/p/ChXPmUDuGMp/ ** The Sweathead Do-Together conference and our next multi-week accelerator will happen in October, 2022. Podcast listeners can get early-bird tickets to the Do-Together until September 14. Instructions are in this episode. ** Subscribe to our newsletter for updates: ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

In 2021, Derek Walker lit up our first ever strategy conference The Sweathead Do-Together.  His talk about fear in advertising sent chills through over one hundred souls.  We've heard that some people replay this talk to themselves when they need a kick in the pants. Having just launched this year's Do-Together, we thought we'd share Derek's talk via the podcast. He'll be back this year to light a fire under you. You can find details at http://www.thedotogether.com. You can find Derek here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derek-walker-8741578/ You can watch this talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVeW7xbm1z0 ** Early-bird tickets to this year's Sweathead Do-Together are available until the end of August or until sold out: http://www.thedotogether.com. October 18-20, ten hours of conference, over 20 speakers, plus 3 masterclasses. ** ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

In this episode, we discuss mediocrity and why some people need it plus I answer nine questions while walking through New York City. The questions include: 1. What can I do when I feel a lack of interest cause every project looks the same? 2. How to approach building a team for the first time 3. Why are we moving backwards as a country? 4. Are the traditional strategy-creative roles in agencies relevant in the fast-paced digital marketing era? 5. Does the agency world over index with neuro-atypical peeps (spectrum, sociopaths, etc)? 6. I’m frustrated by how the person I report to hardly gives a shit about planning and knows less. 7. What’s the value of strategy? 8. How do you deal with a strategist above yo who won’t get out of your way? 9. Do you know of any good practices or exercises I could use to "derive insights from data"? ** For early-bird tickets to The Sweathead Do-Together and for information about our next strategy accelerator, visit http://www.sweathead.com ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

Freelancing can smell like freedom but it can also reek of fear. “I can’t wait to be my own boss…but what if I can’t manage myself?” “I’m so excited about finding my own clients…but what if nobody wants to work with me?” “I can’t wait to choose how I spend more of my days…but what if I spend them in ways that set me back?” In this podcast recording, freelance strategist Lydia Taylor hosts a conversation with Sophie Cross and Howie Chan about specific tips that will make the freelance life feel less scary. Lydia Taylor is a freelance strategy consultant https://www.linkedin.com/in/lydiataylor0/ Sophie Cross is Editor of Freelancer Magazine https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophcross/ Howie Chan is a healthcare brand consultant https://www.linkedin.com/in/howiechaniam/ ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world.  We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

For this episode of Sweathead, VMLY&R's Kevin Brockenbrough collects a few of his favorite minds to share their experiences as black strategists working in advertising in the USA: Simone Pratt (Ogilvy), Deadra Rahaman (Huge), and Emanuel Basnight (Power Twist). This episode is from a live recording. Kevin was due to host the whole session but had some technical challenges so you’ll hear his powerful voice at the start and then towards the end when he rejoined us. Big thanks to Simone for taking over as the session’s center of gravity. The guests’ details and links are as follows: Kevin Brockenbrough - Group Director, Strategy & Insights, VMLY&R https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinsbrockenbrough/ Deadra Rahaman @DeadraRahaman - VP Brand Strategy, Huge https://www.linkedin.com/in/deadrarahaman/ Emanuel Basnight @elbj - Creative Strategy and Content Lead, Power Twist https://www.linkedin.com/in/emanuel-basnight-5079223/ Simone Pratt @simoneisis1913 - Brand Strategy Director, Ogilvy https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonepratt/ ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world.  We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

Sharing a creative brief with creative teams can be scary, right? Well, how about presenting strategy to a Chief Creative Officer and an Executive Creative Director? Four Sweathead students recently did this with Wunderman Thompson CCO Jill Applebaum and Leo Burnett ECD Kieran Ots.  This is a rare public experience that's often full of trepidation and excitement in equal measures. You can find Jill here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jill-applebaum-4280a96/ Kieran is here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kieranots/ Big shoutouts to our students for being brave enough to go on public record: - Dulce Vazquez: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dulcevazquez/ - Eric Pattillo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-pattillo-0053813b/ - Kaitlin Carpenter: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaitlincarpenter/ - Kris Kennedy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kriskennedy/ ** The Sweathead Do-Together conference and our next multi-week accelerator will happen in October, 2022. ** Subscribe to our newsletter for updates: ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

Maria Van Buskirk is Head of Strategy at Media by Mother. Mother is notorious for its creativity. So you'd expect Media by Mother to be notorious for its creativity in media.  But how does it all work, especially in a city like New York that can make creativity feel so corporate and where big budgets and a fetish for efficiency can dull many creative spirits? In this episode, Maria shares with us how media thinking can help ideas before they happen and when to bring a comms planner in to play. You can find Maria here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-van-buskirk-01317540/ ** The Sweathead Do-Together conference and our next multi-week accelerator will happen in October, 2022. ** Subscribe to our newsletter for updates: ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead 
Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

For details about the Sweathead Strategy Summer Camp, go to: http://www.Sweathead.com

We all want to feel good about our work but does some of the marketing industry take itself too seriously? In our personal pursuit for meaningful work and a sense of nobility, can we completely overshoot the whole point of marketing? What if marketing doesn't need to be noble? What if "brand purpose" isn't a useful concept? What if marketing is just to sell? These are questions that Anthea Foyer (Sector Development Officer, City of Toronto), Julie Ng (Marketing and Business Development Consultant), and Radovan Andrej Grezo (Creative Director, Somebody&Somebody) discuss with us in this live panel recording of Sweathead. You can find Anthea here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthea-foyer/ Julie is here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julieonvancouverisland/ Andrej is here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/radovangrezo With thanks to Dot Jarantilla for making this happen. ** Find out about our 4-week virtual summer camp at http://www.sweathead.com. It starts on July 21, 2022. **  🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

Nathan Brown is Global Chief Strategy Officer for UM in New York. We worked in the same building on William St in Sydney about 15 years ago. Nathan was a breath of fresh air. He built teams that expected to do creative things with their clients’ media buys. He was a good coach and easy to collaborate with. He’s still all of these things. But many years have passed since we worked together so I wanted to see how a coach-oriented, creative thinker was faring in the high-stakes game of media planning in New York. We discuss a lot of C-words: - Creativity in media planning, - Media buying as a commodity, - Being a CEO of PHD Media, - Being a CSO, - Culture, - Collaborating with advertising agencies, - Clients, and - Whether Nathan is a company man at heart :) You can find Nathan here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathan-brown-8115153/ ** Find out about our 4-week virtual summer camp at http://www.sweathead.com. It starts on July 21, 2022.  ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

Jo Lepore is Global Foresight Leader at Mars Wrigley. She moved to the USA about a year ago and works out of Hoboken, New Jersey. In this episode of Sweathead, Jo takes us through how she approaches her work, the work of a snack futurist. This kind of work might be of interest to a few agency strategists and Jo helps us understand how to make it work that the rest of a business will want to engage with rather than ignore or just use as lunchtime entertainment. Jo also publishes her own podcast. It’s called Looking Outside. You can find out more here: https://www.looking-outside.com/ ** Find out about our 4-week virtual summer camp at http://www.sweathead.com. It starts on July 21, 2022. It's for our annual members. ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

Archana Mahadevan is VP, Director of Strategy at DDB Chicago. Archana was born in India and came to the United States to attend college. She has been here ever since. While in India, Archana was obsessed with advertising, and wanted to prove to everyone that she could do it. So she combined her need to start over, her desire to work in advertising, and her urge to leave her country and grow professionally to come to the USA. You can find Archana here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/archana-mahadevan-30a21617/ ** Details about our 4-week virtual summer camp are coming: http://www.sweathead.com. It starts around July 18, 2022.  ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

Picture this: you have a yearning to do strategy but you’re in an account management role. Maybe a job switch has been promised. Maybe you're simply doing multiple roles. Either way, on your mind is this question: "How do I do strategy full-time?" The transition isn’t always easy. The thing you want can put stress on your current company. But how much of that is a ‘you’ problem versus a ‘them’ problem? In this episode of Sweathead, we speak with these three people who’ve made the leap: 1. Kimberley Upton, Head of Planning at Blue Chip (UK) https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberley-upton-93112819 2. Chirag Khushalani, Creative Strategist at AKQA (UAE) https://www.linkedin.com/in/khushalani/ 3. Alana Dwyer, Strategic Planner at Goosebump (Ireland) https://www.linkedin.com/in/alana-dwyer-6bb8695a/ ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.  

Within a matter of minutes, the pandemic went from freaking out everybody about keeping their jobs to unfurling a ton of new opportunities. Agencies and brands alike turned to strategists to help them navigate the ambiguity and confusion and frustration. And now many strategists realize they have more options than ever. But what’s a strategy boss to do? In this live session, we ask: 1. What are the most common challenges facing managers of strategists right now? 2. What do managers get wrong? 3. How can managers get more things right? Guests: Lee Maicon – CSO https://www.linkedin.com/in/leemaicon/ Nikita Walia – CEO and Founder of Blank https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikitaontheinternet/ Seth Gaffney – CSO, Preacher https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethgaffney/ ** Find out about our 4-week virtual summer camp at http://www.sweathead.com. It starts on July 18, 2022. ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

Rodolfo Estrada is a fresh new planner at BBDO in Guatemala. He recently took The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator, our 6-week strategy course. And I thought his work was worth sharing. In this episode, Rodolfo takes us through his response to a hypothetical brief. The task was to get heavy drinkers to consider Vivitrol as a way to cut down their drinking. Vivitrol is a monthly needle in the butt (although there are pill versions of the drug, too - eg Naltrexone). It claims to turn down the opioid receptors in the brain, to reduce the endorphin rush that heavy drinkers feel after their first few drinks and then chase for the next few hours with more drinks. You can find Rodolfo here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rodolfoaestrada/  ** Find out about our New York City strategy workshop on June 16 here: https://sweathead.com/products/the-sweathead-strategy-workshop/ ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

After stints at Leo Burnett and Droga5, Mara Rigney now helps brands work out what to do with Web3 at Accenture Song. "With Web3" is such a...non-specific thing. And, for those of us who've been around through Web 1.0 and Web 2.0, it's hard not to feel a little skeptical. Like, "Oh, here comes another Ponzi scheme." But, in this episode, Mara takes us through some of the fundamental concepts of Web3 and describes how she works with brands to get a handle on it. You can find Mara here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mararigney/  ** Find out about our New York City strategy workshop on June 16 here: https://sweathead.com/products/the-sweathead-strategy-workshop/ ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

Austin Powers is currently in Phuket, Thailand. He recently burned out. In Phuket, he hopes to rekindle himself. Austin had been working in Taiwan as a Global Marketing Strategy Director. This was after working in Singapore, Beijing, and Hong Kong. He posted his exit strategy in the Sweathead Facebook Group. Many other strategists related...hardcore. So I decided to talk to him about what he's been going through and how he hopes to put himself back together. You can find his exit strategy here:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/445994692484756/posts/1700175407066672 You can find Austin on LinkedIn here:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/powersaustin ** Find out about our New York City strategy workshop on June 16 here: https://sweathead.com/products/the-sweathead-strategy-workshop/ ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

David Snell and Christopher Owens have worked at The Richards Group in Dallas for fifty years. Combined. That's a long, long time.  David is TRG's Head of Brand Strategy while Christopher is Brand Strategy Director. In 2020, The Richards Group hit a crisis. Words said by the agency's founder were reported to the media. The agency lost staff. The agency lost clients. David and Christopher stayed.  In this episode, we discuss how the crisis affected the company and its people, how David and Christopher worked through it, and how they are rebuilding their strategy team.  You can find David here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-snell-9371b9a/ You can find Christopher here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christ0ph3r/ ** Find out about our New York City strategy workshop on June 16 here: https://sweathead.com/products/the-sweathead-strategy-workshop/ ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

Strategy bosses say it’s hard to find good talent right now.  Recent pressure on margins and growth has meant that many strategy bosses are torn between their roles in the management team, winning new business, and helping their teams to develop. The pandemic led to a lot of strategy job losses but, as soon as the economy came back on, it also led to high salaries and a battle for ever bigger titles. It also led to an interest in finding more diverse talent but confusion about where to look. In this episode, Dino Demopoulos @chroma, Chief Strategy Officer, GUT and Brinn Phillips @inwithbrinn, Global Strategy and Director of DE&I at Commonwealth/McCann, help us understand what's going on out there.  This episode is from a live panel hosted by @markpollard and @dotjarantilla.  You can find Dino here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dino-demopoulos-91b1073/ You can find Brinn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brinnphillips/  ** Find out about our New York City strategy workshop on June 16 here: https://sweathead.com/products/the-sweathead-strategy-workshop/ ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world. We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies.

It's not every day you get to launch a campaign at the Super Bowl. And it's not every day you get to speak to the people who did it.  This episode of Sweathead is an edited recording of a live panel we hosted for the Sweathead community, organized by Dot Jarantilla. In it, Chandreyi Davis (Global VP of Brand Marketing, Trips Brands at Expedia Group) and Melissa Peace (Senior Manager, Global Brand at Expedia Group) discuss: - Why launch campaigns at the Super Bowl? - Where did the budgets come from? - How are they measuring success? We also get guest questions from Theophilus Wells IV, Al Sakickas, and Mark Jenson. If you'd like to attend live sessions like this, sign up to our newsletter for details: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 You can find Chandreyi Davis here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chandreyi-saha-davis-9a4859/ You can find Melissa Peace here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissaspeace/ ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead

Strategy bosses are humans, too. It's true.  In this episode, we run through ten tensions that follow around most strategy bosses from an analysis of over 60 responses to a LinkedIn post. You can read the PDF of this podcast here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/markpollardstrategist_the-twisted-reality-of-strategy-bosses-activity-6926907852582268928-lGiT ** MASTERCLASS / WORKSHOP ANNOUNCEMENT Join me for my first in-person masterclass and workshop on June 16 in NYC. Bring a brand or project and leave with a creative brief.  Find details here: https://sweathead.com/products/the-sweathead-strategy-workshop/ I'm excited. ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead

Strategists Karan Taneja and Syed Shozab Abbas recently shared a bunch of practice strategies online. In this episode, we look at five of them: Selling Playstation 5 to 45+ dads in a midlife crisis Selling Sleepwell mattresses to pregnant women Selling Woodland to stay-at-home dads Selling therapy to bodybuilders Selling Fastrack to grandparents Syed describes himself as a perennial ad geek while Karan is a chef-turned-strategist. They were classmates who decided to put their thinking into public to land their first strategy jobs. You can find Karan here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karan-taneja29/ You can find Syed here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/syedshozab/ ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead

If you'd like to read this episode, go to this link: https://www.instagram.com/p/CdbxeOTpGg0/ My first in-person masterclass will happen in NYC on Thursday June 16. DM me for details or get them in your inbox with our newsletter soon. In this episode, we discuss Fearless Honesty and five ways a strategist can focus on sounding clear rather than emulating The Strategist Dictionary and trying to sound expensive. Also, you're a hermit crab.  ** Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 Strategy classes and books: visit http://www.sweathead.com Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead Podcast: https://www.sweathead.com/pages/sweathead-podcast

In this week's episode of Sweathead, we speak with Sahar Mehdi (Digital Strategist, WE Codeword) and Kate Endeley (VP, Multicultural Strategy Director, Edelman). We continue a conversation we started in person in Dallas in which we discussed some of the initiatives and titles agencies use to do, hint at doing, or pretend to do..."inclusion".   You can find Sahar here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sahar-mehdi-98920128/ You can find Kate here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-kate-endeley-5023417/ ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead

Kavinda Welagedara is Chief Strategy Officer at Fudge, an eight-person agency born during the pandemic. He's based in Colombo, Sri Lanka, a city and a country in the grips of social unrest due to inflation, as well as corruption and nepotism within the government. We discuss all of this in this episode of Sweathead. You can find Kavinda here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/welewelagedara/ You can find Fudge here: https://www.instagram.com/fudgetheagency/ **  🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead

Over 100 people joined us for this panel about getting jobs overseas. It features: - Payal Pereira who recently got her first job in New York at Sylvain,  - Rodrigo Maroni, CSO of Wunderman Thompson NY, - Charlotte van der Vorm, a recruiter and founder of VDV Search in the UK. You'll also hear Dot Jarantilla who makes the Sweathead events happen plus members of the Sweathead community. -- 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead

Shoutouts to all the Dallas strategists who came down to Happiest Hour last night. It was great to be among people for many reasons including how the pandemic made that impossible for a long long time. In this walk around the Bishop Arts District, I talk about strategic rigor and try to re-explain a LinkedIn post about the job title “multicultural” strategist. 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Other links: https://znap.link/sweathead

Harriet Kindleysides is Senior Strategist at Nice and Serious in the UK. She also writes a newsletter called 'A Strategist’s Guide to Art' in which she connects her love for fine art to her strategy mind.  In this episode, we discuss what art is, how art can help a strategist, as well as Harriet's pandemic-triggered email-writing practice. You can find Harriet here: Newsletter: https://astrategistsguidetoart.substack.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/minimalstrat LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harriet-kindleysides/ ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead

Ben Culpin is a managing partner at Amsterdam agency Lifely. He turned in a 5-year freelance strategy career to join a company he knew well - as a freelancer and also as friends. Prior to this, Ben worked at Strawberry Frog and Nomads, and, somewhere in-between all of this, he has been a video maker and ethnographic researcher. In this episode of Sweathead, we discuss what it's like to make all these shifts - into then out of the freelance life and into then out of a lone wolf life. You can find Ben here: www.benculpin.com ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead

Marcelo Ferrarini is a Brazilian in London working for The Lego Group as Senior Manager, Global Insights.  Recently, he published an article on LinkedIn that later made its way to WARC. And, now, you can hear it from his mouth right here. In this episode, Marcelo takes us through what he's learned from the marketing sciences and how what he's learned has changed how he goes about marketing.  You can find Marcelo here: https://twitter.com/immarcelinho ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 🔊 Other links: https://znap.link/sweathead

Taylor Marks is a senior strategist at SixSpeed in Minneapolis. Taylor completed the very first public Sweathead Strategy Accelerator in 2021. I liked her work and wanted to share it with you. (BTW Our next accelerator starts on March 31, 2022) One of the briefs in our accelerator asks you to sell Party City to people who aren't comfortable partying due to the pandemic. In our chat, Taylor takes us through her Four Points and her strategy story for this brief.  We also discuss how the accelerator has helped her and what she's still applying from it in her dayjob. Taylor is looking to hire her first strategy boss at SixSpeed. If you're interested, go here: https://www.sixspeed.com/ You can find Taylor here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylor-marks-830592187/ Find out about our next strategy accelerator at http://www.sweathead.com ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead

Immediately after speaking with Philipp Paster on Friday, March 11, 2022 (the episode before this one), I spoke with three more Ukrainians about their experience of the war they're living through. In this episode, Nata Zaharova joins us from Odessa, Valeria Tymotievych from Dubai, and Andriy Nimkovych from Kyiv.  We discuss this feeling of induced psychosis, how Ukrainian “Creative Forces” are self-organizing on Telegram and giving each other jobs to do (including helping Ukrainian advertising people get jobs overseas), and the group's personal experience of the past few weeks. - Nata is 23 years into a marketing and advertising career: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natazaharova/ - Valeria is a strategic planner at Fedoriv: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valeria-tymotievych-183455107/ - Andriy is a project manager: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nimkovych/ Love to Ukraine. ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 🔊 Other links: https://znap.link/sweathead

Sweathead Facebook group member Philipp Paster lives in Kyiv, Ukraine. Much of his family is there, too. But everyone lives in different apartments.  On Friday, March 11, Philipp (formerly a brand strategist at TBWA Ukraine) spoke with me about what it’s been like to be living in Kyiv during the Russian invasion. I only watched the documentary “Winter On Fire”, which looks at the toppling of one of Ukraine’s leaders Yanukovych, after speaking with Philipp. Watching it before speaking with Philipp would have given me better questions.  Like many of us, I’m only just starting to wrap my head around the history of Kyiv and Ukraine. Still, many thanks to Philipp for sharing his thoughts with us. I’ll post another interview with three Ukrainians later this week.  **  🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com  ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5  📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Günel Sadigova is eight months into her first strategy role. A pandemic strategy baby (if that's a thing), Günel was once a professional pianist. She then moved into marketing and, now, into a job with Toronto's Performance Art (coincidentally named–you know, because Günel was a performer and artist). In this episode, we discuss what Günel has learned over the past eight months. She discusses coming to terms with making mistakes, how some briefs will feel exciting but not all of them will, and how doubt doesn't disappear–you just need to learn how to manage it better. On Tuesday, March 8, 2022, Günel will be taking over Mark's Twitter account for International Women's Day. So you can find out more about her story @markpollard.  You can also find Günel herself here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gunelsadigova/ https://twitter.com/gunelsadig ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Podcast & other links: https://znap.link/sweathead

"Any advice for my first strategy job?" is a big question. In this episode, I try to answer it along with eight other questions, including: - Can you get promoted too soon? - How do you do deep thinking when you have to work fast? - How do you sell strategy as a standalone offer? * Find out about our Strategy Accelerator at http://www.sweathead.com Follow the fun on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead Subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 The book "Strategy Is Your Words" by Mark Pollard is here: http://www.sweathead.com

Strategy is an odd job. It’s doused in ambiguity and riddled with confusion while sounding important at all times. This is why we brought in Pilar McQuirter. Pilar is a Cultural Strategy Director at Los Angeles' Cashmere Agency. In this episode of Sweathead, Pilar will help you explain yourself to people around you, especially the ones who see you all the time but still don’t know what you do or why you’re so…you know, odd. Find her here: http://www.instagram.com/ayy_pilar ** Find out about our Strategy Accelerator at http://www.sweathead.com Follow the fun on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead Subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 The book "Strategy Is Your Words" by Mark Pollard is here: http://www.sweathead.com

So. Many. Trends. But what's really worth our attention?  In this episode of Sweathead, Chike Ume (Essence, Seattle), Hayley Grant (VaynerMedia, New York), and Matt Klein (Reddit, New York) each introduce three trends they think we need to pay attention to. We recorded this in front of a small but live virtual audience on Zoom. We managed to remove most of the Zoom glitches and there is a little lag in which we speak over each other but this chat left me energized. I hope it does the same to you. You can find these minds here:... Chike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chikeume/ Hayley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hayleykgrant/ Matt: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kleinkleinklein/ ** Find out about our Strategy Accelerator at http://www.sweathead.com Follow the fun on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead Subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 The book "Strategy Is Your Words" by Mark Pollard is here: http://www.sweathead.com

The strategy career has been kind to me. Frustrating but kind. And I hope it’s kind to you. I often get this question, “Any advice for someone new to strategy?” It’s a grabby question. A little lazy. But I wanted to share some thoughts for all of you who are new to strategy and trying to work out how to thrive. Some of this even makes sense. You can find this post on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CZxTLRRpZ7S/ ** Find out about our Strategy Accelerator at http://www.sweathead.com Follow the fun on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead Subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 The book "Strategy Is Your Words" by Mark Pollard is here: http://www.sweathead.com

Nick Hirst is Executive Strategy Director at adam&eveDDB in London. He's twenty years into his planning career. He's been at adam&eveDDB for eight years and spent some of them as Head of Planning. That's after being a Head of Planning at Dare and working at Lowe and Grey. In this episode of Sweathead, we discuss the messy reality of doing account planning. You can find Nick here: https://twitter.com/nickhirst  ** Find out about our Strategy Accelerator at http://www.sweathead.com Follow the fun on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead Subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

Pooja Munshi is Head of Web, Data Analysis, and Digital Transformation at the UN Environment Programme. She's based in Nairobi, Kenya, but she's lived and/or worked in Paris, Berlin, London, Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta, Miami, and New York. In fact, after ten years of working in advertising in New York, Pooja felt somewhat burnt out and decided to follow her partner to Paris.  In this episode, we discuss burnout, purpose, and what it's like to live and work in so many different cities.  You can find Pooja here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/poojamunshi/ ** Find out about our Strategy Accelerator at http://www.sweathead.com Follow the fun on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead Subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

In this episode I run you through some recent student work from the Sweathead Strategy Accelerator (thanks to Colin Craig from Moon Rabbit) as well as ten tips about doing strategy while exhausted. Our next strategy accelerator starts on March 31. You find find details at http://www.sweathead.com You can find the Instagram version of this episode on Instagram at http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Don't forget to subscribe to the newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

In today's Sweathead episode, Rakaa Taylor shares with us how he made the leap from being a rapper, musician, and artist to being a full-time strategist. He draws parallels between songwriting and strategy writing and discusses some of his strategy work.  Rakaa Taylor, aka Rakaa Iriscience, is a world-class rapper, performer, artist, and musician who's part of the group, Dilated Peoples. They're an underground group that found mainstream success through record labels all over the world, particularly in the US, UK, and Japan. Rakaa is now on his journey to becoming a full-time strategist and is developing an agency with his partner. It's called Angles. You can find Rakaa here: https://www.instagram.com/therealrakaa/ ** Find out about our Strategy Accelerator at http://www.sweathead.com Follow the fun on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead Subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

In today's Sweathead episode, Ambika Pai teaches us what Instinctual Leadership is and why it is important for leaders and managers to learn how to lead with instinct. She also discusses the types of leaders and the common misconceptions that the world has of them. Ambika also shares how leading with instinct transformed her life and work and gives advice to young leaders who are just starting to navigate the strategy world. Ambika Pai is Chief Strategy Officer at Mekanism. She believes a strategist can solve any problem and is working to diversify and dimensionalize how the world thinks about leadership. She's a mom to a toddler and still trying to figure out how working parents do it. Connect with her at: Twitter/IG: ambikagp Email: ambikagpai@gmail.com Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ambikagpai ** Find out about our strategy classes at http://www.sweathead.com Follow the fun on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead Subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

Last episode of 2021! We discuss why creatives might dislike a strategist, what to do as the only creative strategist in a team, why “right” doesn’t matter, and how to turn despair into creativity. Thank you to everyone who shared prompts and questions with me over on Instagram @markpollard. Happy new year!

In today's Sweathead episode, Anastasia Karklina Gabriel talks about cultural intelligence and how it can affect brand strategy. She discusses how difficult it is to grapple with diversity, inclusion, and identity, and gives advice on how to deal and wrestle with these topics within the strategy and advertising landscape. Dr. Anastasia Kārkliņa Gabriel is a formally trained cultural analyst who works at the intersection of culture, brand, and innovation. She uses her expertise in critical race, gender, and sexuality studies to help both agencies and brands build culturally intelligent, incisive, and inclusive strategy. Dr. Gabriel specializes in social impact, brand authenticity, and diversity, equity, and inclusion, drawing on 10+ years of experience in grassroots social justice movements, and is fiercely committed to producing rigorous, critically conscious, and people-centered work.  Connect with her at https://www.linkedin.com/in/anastasiaxgabriel/ ** Find out about our strategy classes at http://www.sweathead.com Follow the fun on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead Subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

"Thou shalt not cut and paste the client brief." "No brief is an island." "Show the tension in the strategy." "Share it with the creatives." In today's Sweathead episode, Will Humphrey talks about 20 pieces of no-nonsense advice on how to write, sharpen, and present a creative brief. Will Humphrey is an integrated planner of 15 years' experience, having worked at a huge variety of agencies (Advertising, PR, CRM, Digital) on many different clients - from telco to charity, to FS and beer. He's taught APG courses, judged the Effies, written the odd award paper, and won a pitch or two. He likes good writing, tea, pub quizzes, and taxidermy. One of those is a lie. Connect with him at http://twitter.com/will_humphrey or https://will-humphrey.com/. P.S. I (Mark) managed to skip words in parts of this interview. As in, I introduce Will as "strategy", which is pretty good for Will but makes no sense. Sometimes my brain misfires but, luckily, Will is fully coherent.  ** Find out about our strategy classes at http://www.sweathead.com Follow the fun on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead Subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

In today's Sweathead episode, Giles Edwards shares with us how ISOLATED Talks was born during the early days of the pandemic to help people, both in and out of the strategy world, cope with crisis through creativity. He also talks about his feelings and experiences surrounding his father's death, and how they have helped him make sense of and carry on with his life now. Giles Edwards is Creative Director and Founder of Creatively Memorable and Boringly Effective™ agency…Gasp!, founder of ISOLATED Talks®, and host of UK top 5 marketing podcast, Call To Action®. He also manages ...Gasp! Books, is dad to two much more likeable humans, and to quote Professor Mark Ritson, “a bit of a tit”. He remains annoyingly curious about most things. Trigger topics: death, murder, anxiety, grief You can find Giles here: https://twitter.com/Giles_Edwards ** Find out about our strategy classes at http://www.sweathead.com Follow the fun on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead Subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

What is it like to lead the strategy team in a social media agency right now? How can brands capitalize on social media platforms without just spraying content everywhere and praying for it to work? Are playbooks and creative brief templates relevant to social media strategy? These questions and more are answered in this Sweathead episode with Rob Engelsman, Head of Strategy & Relevance at Annex88. As the Head of Strategy & Relevance, Rob leads a team that works with brands like adidas Originals, Courvoisier, HUGO BOSS, and Keurig Dr. Pepper. He created the Science of Hype, a methodology for measuring viral influence of ideas, products, and brands. Previously, Rob spent time at Droga5 and Huge, developing social & brand campaigns for smartwater, DICK’S Sporting Goods, Cap’n Crunch, and more. Connect with Rob at @rcengelsman on Twitter, IG, and LinkedIn. ** Find out about our strategy classes at http://www.sweathead.com Follow the fun on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead Subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

In today's Sweathead episode, Dr. Clint Johns takes us on a nostalgic trip back to the heyday of magazines, particularly at Tower Records. Clint shares his experiences working at the forefront of distribution and sales of a wide array of magazines at Tower, he talks about the traits possessed by zine-makers large and small, and discusses the stories of independent zine-makers around the globe. He also shares what he's currently up to as a cognitive psychologist and researcher. Clint Johns is a cognitive psychologist and data scientist researching the impact of education applications, with a focus on applied statistics. Most recently, he was a research scientist studying language processing, reading comprehension, and memory retrieval, and sometimes is an adjunct professor of psychology here and there. Prior to that, he worked for Tower Records as their Director of Newsstand Operations, including purchasing, distribution, and just about anything else that might be linked to a zine or magazine or newspaper ending up in one of Tower's stores. He is a long-time indie press promoter and critic. Connect with him at Twitter @DrClintonJohns. ** Find out about our strategy classes at http://www.sweathead.com Follow the fun on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead Subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

In today's Sweathead episode, Itumeleng Ndaba tells us how she got inspired to take up a career in advertising as an art director. She also discusses her five-year plan to become a full-time strategist.  Itumeleng is an art director (soon to be strategist) who is passionate about building sustainable brands for the benefit of Africa and her people. Born and raised in sunny South Africa, she holds an undergraduate degree in Creative Brand Communications, post grad in Strategic Communications and hopes to get accepted into an MBA program. She loves learning as much as she love plants, tomato sauce, and people.  Connect with her at: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itumeleng-ndaba-28b66aa6/ Twitter: @goodboymygirl ** Find out about our strategy classes at http://www.sweathead.com Follow the fun on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead Subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

In this episode of Sweathead, Penny Norman talks about her journey from working in account planning and startup strategy to focusing her strategy work in the niche of social good. She discusses how strategy can encourage individual behavioral change as well as government policy change. And Penny shares examples of her contributions to social impact campaigns in mental health, substance abuse, vaccine hesitancy, and child care. Penny has worked in London (Publicis, AMV BBDO) and Vancouver (DARE, Pound & Grain), and is now a Senior Strategist at Rescue Agency, a social impact agency focused on health behavior change. She also founded APG Good Thinking, a strategy hack-a-thon created to tackle real life problems to give other strategists a head start. You can connect with Penny at https://www.linkedin.com/in/pennynorman/ ** Find out about our strategy classes at http://www.sweathead.com Follow the fun on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead Subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

Esther Wang is two years into her strategy career. We recently spoke in a Sweathead Happy Hour (online) about creative briefs–How do you make them good? How do make them better? How do make them something that creative teams will use?  So, in this episode, we wanted to have that kind of conversation again.  We talk about why talking about creative briefs is a much more complicated discussion than many people realize. We workshop a creative brief to get teachers to use an online learning system. And we discuss the 3 to 4 phases that brief writers tend to mature through. There is a lot of thinking out loud in this episode but, without admitting the mess involved in our work, well, we'd be liars. You can find Esther here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/esther-wang7 ** Find out about our strategy classes at http://www.sweathead.com Follow the fun on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead Subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

Are marketers allergic to creativity? How do bold ideas thrive in huge international companies? How can creatives work within a systematic, data-driven company or agency? All these questions and a lot more are answered in this Sweathead episode with Karl Isaac, who also talks about his experience working on some of the most popular brands worldwide. For over 20 years, Karl’s been giving brands chiropractic adjustments. He’s led some of the world’s best-known brands at Microsoft, Adobe, and Ebay and agency-side at Razorfish, Landor, and Hi It’s Us. Now, he’s a Fractional Chief Brand and Marketing Officer helping companies define, grow, and accelerate brands by better connecting to culture, embracing digital, and uniting through a common vision on a global scale. He’s presented at SXSW, DMEXCO, AIGA National Conference, and Digiday events and been interviewed and published in Wall Street Journal, AdWeek, AdAge, Inc., Forrester, and CMO.com. Karl has an MBA and Master of Architecture degree. You can find Karl at @redglassesclub on Twitter and Instagram, and on LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/in/brands. ** Follow the fun on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead Subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

A brief word about resilience while walking Central Park. Plus a bunch of questions from Instagram answered: What's a creative strategist? What skills will a strategist need in the future? What are neglected strategy skills? Should you work in a network agency or an indie shop? And more. (Apologies if this episode has appeared a couple of times in your feed––we had some technical issues). Find me on Instagram here: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard ** Find out about our Strategy Accelerator at http://www.sweathead.com Follow the fun on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead Subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

A quick episode about how strategists mature. But also a brief chat about sleep and exhaustion. ** Find us at http://www.sweathead.com @sweathead: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead More posts about briefs @markpollard: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

In this Sweathead episode, Heeru Dingra talks about the challenges she has faced as a CEO managing three agencies in the midst of a global pandemic. She also discusses her experiences of being a woman in a highly male-dominated culture and professional landscape. Heeru also shares her life lessons and wisdom about how to be an effective leader. Heeru Dingra is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Isobar Group India. The Group houses award-winning agencies - Isobar, WATConsult and Perfect Relations under one umbrella. Heeru started her journey with WATConsult a decade ago and today leads a team of 1000+ people across offices in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. You can connect with her here: Twitter: @heerudingra Instagram: @heerudingra LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heeru-dingra-b2769035/ ** Find out about our Strategy Accelerator at http://www.sweathead.com Follow the fun on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead Subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

In this Sweathead episode, Sara Tate talks about her experience as the CEO of TBWA\London and the valuable lessons that she learned from being the head of one of the top 10 marketing and communications companies in the UK. She also discusses how disruption, collaboration, and collective spirit can take a company to the next level. Sara was most recently the CEO of TBWA London and had a very long stint as strategy director and managing director at Mother (almost a decade). She is currently writing a book on rebuilding things in life and work while currently doing an MSc in organizational consulting with a focus on executive coaching.  You may connect with Sara at https://www.linkedin.com/in/saraktate/. ** Find out about our Strategy Accelerator at http://www.sweathead.com Follow the fun on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead Subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

In this Sweathead episode, Lydia Taylor talks about the many places where strategy lives -- may it be in agencies, within startups, on the client side, or at a social media platforms, to name a few. Lydia also lets us know what she thinks are the hottest places that a strategist can work at right now.  Whilst Lydia has done her time at the big agencies, she's not a traditional agency strategist. Having spent the last few years growing a creative tech startup and then hopping around as a freelancer, she keeps strategy as simple as she can, solving problems with a human lens and avoiding overly complex frameworks. You can find Lydia on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lydiataylor0/ And on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDcYQYjQlQ6BGA6wkZASBzg ** Find out about our Strategy Accelerator at http://www.sweathead.com Follow the fun on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead Subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

In this Sweathead episode, Ben Mburu takes us behind the scenes of several of his small businesses in Kenya. An account planner by profession, Ben believes that owning a small business helps him validate his ideas and gain insights he can use in his client work. He also shares his experiences of the ups and downs of being a small business owner during a global pandemic.  After 14 years in account management in the advertising business, Ben is now building a life selling ideas that solve marketing and communications problems for businesses in East Africa. You can connect with him at www.linkedin.com/in/benmburu or ben.mburu@gmail.com.  **  Find out about our Strategy Accelerator at http://www.sweathead.com  Follow the fun on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead  Subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

How do you start a new job without showing your impostor syndrome? How can you grow into a strategy director at an agency? How can you work in another country without having to start from scratch? These questions and more. From you. Answered. Right here. Right now. *** Don't forget to sweat that Subscribe button and share this episode with your strategy friends. ** For information about the Sweathead Strategy Accelerator, visit http://www.sweathead.com You can find me on Instagram at http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

In this episode, Jane Cunningham and Philippa Roberts talk about marketing to women–how it's historically been and how it's been changing. We discuss sexism in marketing, corporate feminism, fempowerment and femvertising, and the narratives of women in the marketing and advertising world. Jane and Philippa worked for many years in advertising agencies DDB and Ogilvy.  Fifteen years ago they left their big jobs to write their first book about marketing to women and have written two further books since. They have been researching female audiences ever since.  "Brandsplaining" is their latest book. It is a data-led analysis of marketing to women and how much it has progressed (or not). To connect with Jane and Phil, visit their website, http://www.plhresearch.com, or follow them on IG @plhresearch. ** Find out about our Strategy Accelerator at http://www.sweathead.com  Follow the fun on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead Subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

A brief and gentle episode about the privileges of a strategy career.  If you'd like this episode as an Instagram post, it's here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CU58pAbgQ-b/ *** If you enjoy these short monologues, let me know.  Don't forget to sweat that Subscribe button and share this episode with your strategy friends. ** For information about the Sweathead Strategy Accelerator, visit http://www.sweathead.com You can find me on Instagram at http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

In this episode of Sweathead, Colleen Merwick talks about her experiences as the target of workplace bullying. She takes us through three experiences in three different companies and explains how she’s trying to come to terms with what happened and what kind of work life will suit her in the future. Colleen earned a degree in Advertising at Penn State University and a Masters in Creative Account/Brand Planning at Bucks New University. She is currently a freelance brand strategy director in the UK. Her personal mantra is, "What makes me different is my strength." You can find Colleen on LinkedIn here: http://linkedin.com/in/colleen-merwick-06b7885 And you can check out her blog, Baby on My Brain here: https://babyonmybrain.com ** The first Sweathead Strategy Accelerator launches November 1, 2021: http://bit.ly/sweatheadaccelerator

Over on Instagram, we often do strategy together. I'll ask for suggestions of brands and audiences. Then we'll run through some simple exercises to arrive at a Four Points.  It's playful and it tries to shine a light on the messiness of our work. Sometimes, we get somewhere worth getting but, often, we don't. And that's okay. A few days ago, Minal Jadeja gave us the challenge of selling IKEA to architects. We assumed that this was an issue for IKEA. We didn't have research to work with. But, over 24 hours, we landed on a strategy–we thought we could reframe IKEA and its instructions as a trigger for architects to think bigger.  You can see it here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CUvWZ42pfOc/ Ana Škorić disagreed with some of our thinking. Ana is an architect who works in marketing. She believes the issues that architects have with IKEA are different from the ones we focussed on. So I invited Ana to do a workshop with me. Ana is based in Belgrade, Serbia. She is a Senior Consultant at The Right Street, an agency based in Brussels. You can find Ana here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anaskoric/ If you'd like to play strategy with us some time, find me here: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard ** Also, we've just launched the Sweathead Strategy Accelerator, a 7-week training program. Details are here: http://bit.ly/sweatheadaccelerator

In this Sweathead episode, Tatiana Peck voices what many of us have been experiencing in this pandemic—burnout, mourning the loss of self and identity, and being plunged into totally different routines. She shares with us how she has bounced back from these emotions and found joy in her work again. Tatiana also takes us through her journey from working in an agency to being a creative strategist at Facebook. Barcelona-born and transatlantic grown, Tatiana finds herself exploring the great digital frontier as the Strategy & Insights lead at Facebook’s Creative Shop, developing data-backed creative solutions at scale that sit at the intersection of people, culture, and technology.  Previously, Tatiana worked at small, independent ad agencies—most recently, as a Strategy Director at Big Spaceship, where she led a variety of new business pitches and client accounts, including Purina, Google Play, Chobani, and AOL, while establishing internal mentorship and collaboration best practices. You can find Tatiana playing pool in Brooklyn, enjoying the finest jamón, and loving on her dog Snacks. You can also connect with her on IG: @tatianapeck. ** Join Sweathead to access 100 strategy classes and pick up a copy of "Strategy Is Your Words" today.

Massive thanks for helping us reach one-million listens. Yes, it's just a number but it sounds good and you can say "one million" like the bad guy in Austin Powers. Thank you to everyone who's let me into their heads–guests and listeners. In this episode, I discuss how there's no such thing as a "right" way to do strategy and how frameworks like the 4Cs, Get/To/By, and the Four Points can work together or not. The onus is on the frameworker to use what works for them without being rigid or dogmatic. I share two examples that are...you know, okay. But definitely beatable. Hawaii–get remote workers to move there (when the world was locked down). Find it here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CLLAD0uhY5j/ And Freelancing–convince someone resistant to freelancing to try it. Find it here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CUc63mdFuhu/ We're looking to launch 1-2 more strategy training experiences this year. A 1- or 2-day masterclass as well as a 6-week program. Email us hello@sweathead.com if you're interested. Details are coming.  Happy 1 million to you! http://www.sweathead.com http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

What is your greatest fear? What is your most marked characteristic? Who are your heroes in real life? In this Sweathead episode with Parker Mason, we discuss the Proust Questionnaire and how Parker applies it to strategy projects. Parker has travelled the world doing strategy for big agencies. Now he's in Vancouver helping agencies win business and start-ups get their start. Find Parker on: Instagram Twitter ** Join Sweathead to access 100 strategy classes and pick up a copy of "Strategy Is Your Words" today.

Amanda Rue is a business consultant, facilitator, and the founder of The Shift Work Shop, a human resource consultancy offering consent-forward sexual harassment prevention and training. With over ten years in the advertising industry, including Vice Media, Anomaly (Ace Content) and Team One, Rue is a former brand strategy director turned founder and independent consultant with the mission of inviting more pleasure, purpose and passion into work and life. Her work with The Shift Work Shop has been featured in Forbes, The Rosie Report, Lifehacker and more with a focus on completely eradicating sexual harassment at work through an understanding of consent, power dynamics, and honest communication. You can find Amanda here: https://www.theshiftworkshop.com/about ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and strategy classes at Sweathead here: https://www.sweathead.com/

What role does linguistics play in strategy work and in everyday life? What exactly is a problem? Is there really a right or a wrong way to deal with a problem? We are discussing all these and more with Rodrigo Maroni, the Head of Strategy and Data at Crispin Porter + Bogusky Brazil. He currently serves as President of the Board at Grupo de Planejamento, the professional organization that represents strategy professionals in Brazil. Previously, he’s held strategy leadership positions at Wieden+Kennedy, BBH, JWT and DDB, in the US and Brazil, working for brands such as Nike, Budweiser, Heineken, Coca-Cola and Mondelez.  His projects have won a total of over 180 awards, including a Grand Prix at Cannes. ** Join Sweathead to access 100 strategy classes and pick up a copy of "Strategy Is Your Words" today at https://www.sweathead.com/

Inspirations on strategy can come from surprising places. In Asha's case, it's stand-up comedy and rap. She takes us through the power of words and fast wit, and how her experiences as a comedian and former rap music artist have helped shape her career in strategy. Asha Davis co-hosts and produces The Disruptor Series podcast, and is also an Integrated Strategy Director at TBWA\Chiat\Day New York. Canadian-born and NY based, Asha has over a decade of experience in the advertising industry and has helped top-tier brands including Dove, Huggies, and Nissan 'connect the dots' across their communications and organizations to create award-winning campaigns. In addition to being an accomplished marketer, Asha is also a talented stand-up comedian and writer and has performed at some of the most famous comedy clubs in New York. ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: https://www.sweathead.com/

We are about to reboot. New interviews are coming. Sweathead is now on Instagram here: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead And if you’d like to find out more about our first strategy conference The Sweathead Do-Together take a look at http://www.thedotogether.com

Also I answer 15 questions from Instagram stories (@markpollard), tell you about The Sweathead Do-Together and give you four book recommendations. I hope you’re doing okay out there. Find us at http://www.Sweathead.com

What do you learn from interviewing some of the world's best advertising strategists and account planners about their agency's best work? Fergus O'Carroll hosts the On Strategy Showcase podcast. He focuses on one thing–the stories behind incredible advertising campaigns. In this episode, I gently encourage Fergus (joking, I totally forced him) into a list of ten things he's taken away from tens of his own interviews.  They are: 1. We don't understand enough and need to push for a deeper understanding in our work 2. Don't let the search for an elusive insight ruin a good strategy 3. New shiny objects are killing us 4. There's no one way to plan 5. There's no one truth–there are many truths 6. Don't forget the other 50% 7. Rediscovery is more powerful than reinvention 8. Study the past 9. Develop the brand's voice over time because it won't happen over night 10. There's no shame in your strategy showing   You can find Fergus and his work here: http://www.onstrategyshowcase.com ** Bonus points: Fergus is talking at The Sweathead Do-Together this September. Find details and tickets here: http://www.thedotogether.com ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

In this episode, I download you about the first three findings from the recent Sweathead Feelings Check-In Survey. These are: 1. They appreciate the job and the money but they have questions about this version of capitalism. 2. They are not in a bad mood but they are in a mood to move. 3. They are raring to go but often feel sidelined in their work. 550 strategists responded. You can find the deck here: http://bit.ly/feelings2021 Also, I run you through the speaker list for our first ever conference, The Sweathead Do-Together. Excitement. You can find details here: http://www.thedotogether.com

How do you get the advertising industry and your clients to understand what you bring to the table?  Fabiola Nguembu is an account planner and researcher in Dakar, Senegal. She is one of a handful of planners in sub-Saharan Africa. We discuss what it's like to try to work in an industry that might not want to think too much and in which account planning is relatively new and not yet a major force. You can find Fabiola here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fabiola-nguembu-579430168/ ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

What if your next presentation wasn't fifty slides of numbers followed by fifty slides of tactics? What if you could present your thinking within a story structure? Victor Pineiro knows stories. He made the documentary "Second Skin" about people who play online in different realities, he's written books, and he's helped to create some of your favorite social media brand presences - think Skittles and YouTube. Oh, and he has taught screenwriting.   In this episode, we discuss the most useful parts of movie structures and try to apply them to a hypothetical presentation.   You can find Vic here http://www.victorpineiro.com/ ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

How are the insights of outsiders useful and how can outsiders find anything more than a stereotype? Erika Brenner has worked as a planner and insights manager, and now works in marketing for Helly Hansen. Born in Brazil, Erika spent eight years in China after university and is now into her fourth year in Norway. With all this moving around, she has had to explain the value she can bring to local advertising and marketing teams by not being local, something she now captures in her website The Outsights: http://www.theoutsights.com   We discuss: - Belonging everywhere and nowhere at once - How to work with stereotypes - The reality behind stereotypes about Brazilians, Norwegians, and Australians ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

How much of the research that brands commission ever gets used? And isn't that the point? Gunny Scarfo and Ben Zeidler set up Nonfiction Research in 2018 to do research in an unafraid way, a way that might just open a soul or two.   We discuss: - Having an "unassailable" research methodology - Unusual experts such as bank robbers - Building a research business like Non-Fiction with a clear set of values - Insights they've discovered on their adventures   You can find Nonfiction here: http://www.nonfiction.co ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

When you respond to thousands of briefs in a year, how do you not start from scratch every day? Nick Susi is Head of Strategy at Complex Collective, a group that sits in the Complex media organization that is owned by Hearst and Verizon. His team often has 24 to 72 hours to help their sales team pitch ideas capable of winning budget.   We discuss over 7 ingredients that help strategy and creative teams work without much time–from a clear philosophy, understanding common client requests, hiring people connected to the zeitgeist, and more. You can find Nick here: http://www.nicksusi.com ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

Side projects don't have to be side hustles - but what's the point of them? Jesse Nicely is a Group Strategy Director at Cashmere in Los Angeles.  After studying psychology and journalism at NYU and editing the subculture magazine Frank 151, Jesse has found a place in the advertising world but he keeps one hand in a side project called Puffington's Golf. Puffington's Golf is a brand for golfers who also play with cannabis.   We discuss: - The benefits of side projects - The struggles of side projects   You can find Jesse here https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesse-nicely-84094b33/ And you can find Puffington's Golf here https://www.puffingtonsgolf.com/ ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

Why is it so uncomfortable for marketers and agencies to delve into dark emotions? Lindsey Wehking is an Associate Director of Strategy at Nonfiction Research. She recently led research into the way people use music playlists on Spotify to identify and process dark emotions. Nonfiction published this research under the title "America's Secret Playlist Report".   We discuss how the team approached this research and what they found. Hint: dark places aren't bad places.   What I took out of this chat is this: 1. "Negative" emotions are useful and need dealing with; they need labels and names if we're to address them . 2. Vivid language disappears somewhere between what we say and what people tell us and what strategists put in their formal documents. 3. When you're conducting a research project, it helps to have breathing room between an initial qualitative phase and the quantitative phase so you can work out what you're really looking to put numbers to. 4. "The Story That Wasn't Told"–this is what Lindsey focuses on in her research. Do enough strategists ask themselves for the untold story before they write creative briefs? 5. People want to go into dark places with others because our public lives focus the light on heroic acts by heroic people as if those heroic acts are eternal and infinite. You can find Lindsey here: https://www.instagram.com/sup_creep/ You can find Nonfiction Research here:  https://nonfiction.co/ ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

Black, indigenous, and racialized minorities are barely visible in the advertising industries in North America, which is where we are going to situate this conversation. We’ll situate it here because Derek Walker (USA) and Gavin Barrett (Canada) are on a mission to help more people become visible to and in the industry and North America is where they’re plying their trade. Gavin Barrett is Chief Creative Officer at Barrett and Welsh in what Canada claims to be the “most multicultural city in the world”, Toronto. He’s also Co-Founder of People of Colour in Advertising and Marketing (POCAM). Gavin is here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gavinbarrettbw/ Derek Walker is CEO of advertising agency brown and browner. A prolific writer and truth-speaker, Derek has been writing daily profiles about Black American advertising talent for several Black History Months. Derek is here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derek-walker-8741578/ ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

Ever been hired to a strategy or account planning job only to arrive in the company and they don't know what it is, they aren't sure they want it, and they make you justify your existence every day? Ilana Bryant was one of two American planners in London in the 1990s. Read that again. It's not the premise of your next Netflix binge-watch but it could be. Ilana finished her postgraduate studies in the UK. She studied law at Oxford. Then she stayed on as an account planner. Not only were there few women in the agencies in which she worked, there were few Americans in the London advertising industry at all, let alone... well, hardly any American women in planning in London at the time. Ilana has worked with some prolific creative leaders. She's worked at BBH, Lowe Lintas, and HHCL. She was the CSO of Strawberry Frog for 5 years in New York.   So we discuss the differences between planning in the UK and the USA and how a planner can prove their value in a country–I mean, "agency"–that isn't sure what they are. You can find Ilana in her company Special Forces here: https://specialforcesny.com/projects  P.S. Some of my questions don't quite make sense in the second half of this. It happens. I was excited. ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

Dear advertising agencies, mental wellness is not an initiative you can use to wish away cultures and processes that are not mentally healthy. What makes an agency culture mentally healthy? 1. A sense of meaning 2. Autonomy 3. Psychological safety 4. Reasonable hours 5. Work getting made 6. Small, focused teams 7. Gentle hierarchy Mental health in an agency starts with doing meaningful work in a 
self-directed way. And this episode is a rapid reminder about what actually matters to strategists and their mental health. You can read this episode on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CMpRV8TBVM4/ ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

If you hunger to solve toothy problems, where can you even do that work right now? Many agencies talk a good game when it comes to solving problems only to put the brains fiending to do such work on social media calendars and hashtags and into inter-agency meetings gone wild. MJ Alexander-Scott is Group Director at Fjord, which is part of Accenture Interactive. He leads the strategy and insights practice there. In his work, MJ finds himself drawn to problems without a playbook, a siren that has led him from the agency world into the management consulting world.    We discuss: - Why so many people in advertising are wondering, "What else is out there?" - The kinds of problems management consultancies deal with - The different kinds of companies that strategists and account planners who are frustrated might do well to explore You can find MJ Alexander-Scott here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeljon/ ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

How does it feel to leave a 5-year-career but then to flare out of the new agency that you join in a matter of months? And what if the flaring out really helps you work out what you want in life? Brinn Phillips is a strategist in Detroit. After a long run in one agency in which she grew in responsibility and in titles, had a mentor she enjoyed, and started to mentor other strategists, she left. She lasted a matter of months in the agency to which she moved, an agency that she hoped would open her to more client variety and a broader range of strategy. This journey will happen to many strategists.  For Brinn, stepping out of a new role, taking a short break, and examining what she wants has led to many doors opening, many new conversations, and a stronger sense of what she wants to pursue. You can find Brinn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brinnp/ ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

You're about to interview your first potential hire, how on earth do you feel right now? In this chat with Nicole Rajesky, we discuss the journey from not hiring to hiring. Nicole is a Senior Brand Planner at Rethink in Toronto, Canada. They do good work. Very good work. Nicole is 18 months into hiring and was kind enough to talk about the guilt she feels when interviewing people, feeling like a fraud, and wanting to be desirable while still making an assertive decision. You can find Nicole here https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolerajesky/ and Rethink here https://rethinkcanada.com/ ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

If you're a freelancer exchanging time for money, and chasing invoices while trying to explain to people what value you can really bring, how could setting up a company help you? Brandon Williams runs 55 Media Group in Los Angeles. We were going to talk about what it's like to freelance–to go in and out of companies that aren't always functional–but we ended up discussing Brandon's journey from artist to advertising freelancer to business-haver to, now, business-runner. Brandon has such a broad background and works in so many different ways that, as we spoke, I kept trying to put my finger on exactly how he is trying to fit into the world. This is because I speak with a lot of freelancers and consultants who are trying to work it out. And I thank Brandon for letting me basically interview him to understand what exactly he is trying to do. And it's big. His goal is to hire the most people of color in North America while making afro-futurism happen now. You can find Brandon's 55 Media Group here: http://www.55mediagroup.com/ ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

Ever worked in a company that fusses with process and organizational charts but never makes good work? Yeah. The question houses the truth, doesn't it? Genevieve Grandsen, Selma Ahmed, and Will Grundy work at one of the world's best agencies (although, now I've interviewed six people from adam&eveDDB, it sounds like "the world's best agency" is the "key message" but this is very un-British so I'll be British on their behalf and say "one of..."). Having spoken with CCO Rick Brim and CSO Martin Beverley, I wanted to find out if their relatively low-fi way of working is real. It seems like it is. And this will disappoint many agencies that are new to creative teams and account planners and spend their days in offsite meetings reviewing all their management things. Apparently, hiring people who know how to do what they need to do, expecting good things from them, and letting them talk is a pretty adequate process. And that's what we discuss. You can find Gen and Selma here http://genandselma.com/ and Will, because he's a planner and isn't on somebody else's website, here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/will-grundy-5835a536/ ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

How does one of the world's best agencies–adam&eveDDB-work? The teams of Chief Creative Officer Rick Brim and Chief Strategy Officer Martin Beverley are responsible for some of the UK's most famous advertising. Their John Lewis Christmas campaigns are what all other Christmas campaigns are compared to. So how does the magic happen?   In this interview, we discuss: - How the account planners work with the creative teams at adam&eveDDB - Why simplicity matters, and - What it feels like to be only as good as your next idea   You can find adam&eveDDB here: https://adamandeveddb.com/ ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

Why are you so caught up in being accurate instead of compelling? And that 100-slide deck–can anybody even use it? Rachel Bateast is VP, Strategic Planning, at The Mars Agency in Detroit, Michigan. To the advertising industry on the coasts, the mid-west advertising scene can feel way more conservative so what does it even mean to call B.S. on work in Michigan? In this episode, we discuss and role-play (you're welcome) specific situations to show people how to question themselves to tighter thinking–from research to creative briefs and presentations. You can find Rachel here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-bateast-8968478/ ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

So, you've interviewed over 300 strategists from around the world and spoken with thousands more... what aren't we talking about enough? In this episode published on the third anniversary of the Sweathead podcast, I (Mark) run you through a stream-of-consciousness list of fifteen points that I feel are true but not in a science way. They're true in a "we need to pay more attention to this" way. You can find this podcast episode as a post on Instagram http://www.instagram.com/markpollard and on LinkedIn if you'd like to share it with colleagues: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/markpollardstrategist_300-strategist-interviews-activity-6770700692966526976-vj-s Thank you for listening to the podcast and for being part of the Sweathead world. ** Favor: If you have enjoyed the pod, could you drop a kind review or rating? I haven't asked many times before but it's time to step up what I'm doing. Thank you. 

Let's say you have one hundred team members spread across the world. They work on thousands of briefs for massive brands every year. Often, they have to reach great ideas within a matter of days. They're doing well but you believe they can do ever better. Where do you start? Aly Baer is a Director at Twitter Next in New York and John Lee is a lead of the Twitter Next lab in San Francisco. Their team helps marketers and agencies create ideas worth talking about on Twitter.  This is an unusual discussion for me because I'm talking with two people with whom I worked on exactly the challenge above. Having spent time with all kinds of companies, I can say that their challenges weren't uncommon in the happening but they can be uncommon in the way companies tackle them. And, because of this, I wanted to talk about the work we did together knowing we'd tread a fine line between what they can feasibly say as representatives of one of the world's most influential companies and not wanting to be too self-indulgent or sycophantic. We discuss: - How thousands of ideas travel through Twitter Next - Giving feedback about work while it happens - The benefits of frequent reviews of work once the work has happened You can find Aly at http://www.twitter.com/baer_naked and John at http://www.twitter.com/john_lee. ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com  

You have reams of research in your head but you need to whittle everything in your head into an insight fast–what do you do? In this episode of Sweathead, I share a few steps I like to use–especially in workshops–to take an observation and land on an insight. These steps–or "stumbles"–can work in customer interviews too.   You can read this episode on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CK9LVGhhyA2/ ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

Advertising agencies have responded to pleas to open their doors to people from different backgrounds in different ways. Some have resisted the pleas, some have faltered in public, and others have managed to listen and make structural, policy, and cultural change happen.  In this episode of Sweathead, I speak with Tanya Brown who co-chairs the Equals Network and Simi Nijher who co-chairs the Heritage Network. These "networks" are two of the six Diversity and Inclusion networks that sit across M&C Saatchi Group's businesses.  We discuss: - The importance of bottom-up D&I networks - How to know if they're working - Which topics are getting attention right now    You can find Tanya here https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanyabrown1 and Simi here https://www.linkedin.com/in/simi-nijher-57809278  **  Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

What's the point of all the trend reports? What's the point of trends? And how do you use trends anyway? Matt Klein is Director of Strategy at sparks & honey but he's also into cultural theory and cyber psychology. Recently, he rounded up nineteen trends from over thirty trend reports and I gave him nineteen minutes to discuss them while reminiscing about the incredible Japanese obstacle course television show Takeshi's Castle.    We discuss the truth wars, reworking work, mindfulness, soft activism, the tranquil web, and why–like many brand essences–trend names sound like perfume ads from Paris. You can find Matt here http://kleinkleinklein.com/ ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

So, what did account planners make of this year's Super Bowl ads? #PlannerBowl is a hashtag that account planners and strategists use to talk to each other about Super Bowl ads as they watch them. Born in 2013, it has housed snark, wit, strategy analysis, and probably led to a friendship or two. In this episode, Megan Averell and Brian Wakabayashi discuss what they saw planners discussing as well as their own thoughts on this year's Super Bowl ads.  We cover: 1. How few brands ran at the mega cultural shift happening in the USA right now 2. Nostalgia and escapism during dark times 3. The state of fear and exhaustion into which the Super Bowl ads were unleashed 4. The reappearance of the old school celebrity 5. And the question: How do you find the thing everyone can relate to?   You can find Megan here https://theinsightinn.com/ and Brian here https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianwaka/. ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

Problems can fix creative briefs. But how can something broken make something else work?   In this mini lesson, I define the word "problem" as I use it in advertising strategy (or account planning), why you need to be careful when you use the word, and six examples of a problem statement being solve with a strategy statement to help greyhound dogs find new homes.   To listen to two of these strategies happen live, listen to the episode with Cait Dorombozo, which you can find here: https://www.sweathead.com/blogs/podcast/30-minutes-to-a-greyhound-adoption-campaign-strategy-cait-dorombozo-graphic-designer.   If you have ideas for other problems that greyhound adoption agencies might need to address plus ways to solve them, tag me on Instagram @markpollard with your thinking. ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

How would you get people to adopt a greyhound? Cait Dorombozo is a graphic designer in Brisbane, Australia. She keeps house with two greyhounds and is trying to come up with ways to get more people to adopt greyhounds.  People associate greyhounds with racing, intensity, muzzles, and size yet many need caring homes. We come up with two possible campaign strategies in 45 minutes–but edited into 30 minutes for you. You can find Cait here: https://www.instagram.com/caitdorombozo/ ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

What does it mean to do provocative thinking and why is it easier to do it for brands than for ourselves? Hugh Munro is Head of Planning at one of Australia's most prolific agencies The Monkeys, an agency that sells one thing - provocative thinking.  We discuss: - The positioning of The Monkeys   - Building brands for the long-term - Australia Day advertising - Working through the pandemic - Being malleable - Questioning the value of what strategists do   You can find Hugh here https://www.linkedin.com/in/humun/ and The Monkeys here https://themonkeys.com.au/ ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

How do you conduct useful research? Simple question, right? At Current Forward, a research and brand strategy consultancy in Austin, Texas, Ashley Lapin and Kaitlin Moon spend their working lives trying to answer this question.  With COVID-19 throwing everything up in the air and forcing even more research to happen through screens, we decided to discuss practical ways to conduct research in a pandemic but also not in a pandemic. We discuss: - Helping clients work out what research to do - Pricing research - Quantifying qualitative research - Creative testing and is there really a point? - Working out which outputs would be useful  You can find Current Forward here: http://www.currentfwd.com ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

What do you do when where you work is hurting you? This episode was a livestream within the Sweathead Facebook group.  We discuss working at toxic companies. - Is it you? - Is it the company? - What can you do about it? Our guests: 1. Emma Siu is a seasoned scientist who is currently working in the gaming industry in Seattle as an award-winning community manager. https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmasiu 2. Thiago Bersou is a Brand Strategy Consultant in Los Angeles. He has 15 years of brand work under his belt with brands like Nike, Diageo, and Unilever. He also used to have his own agency in '06. https://www.linkedin.com/in/tbersou/ ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

What happens when you draw a card from a strategy card deck and apply it to your life? Jye Smith runs Double Star in Sydney. He recently made a deck of strategy cards called "Strategy Action Deck: Stupid Questions And Bad Ideas". I've known Jye for close on 15 years so I thought it would be interesting to use his cards on him as a sneaky way to get him to talk about mental health challenges, the ups and downs of his career, good and not good decisions he's made, and what he's learned about himself in the process. You can find the cards here: https://youregoodgetbetter.com/shop/strategy-action-deck You can find Jye here: https://twitter.com/jyesmith  ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

What shapes can a strategy career take? This episode was a livestream from the Sweathead Facebook group. In it, we discuss what shapes strategy careers can take.  Our guests: 1. Serena Berra is a strategist based out of Miami. From being a planner to director of marketing to teacher to co-founding her own IOS application, she is now back freelancing as a strategist and enjoying it. https://www.linkedin.com/in/serenaberra/ 2. Monica Duran is a freelance marketing consultant based out of Miami. She is a bilingual and bicultural marketer that specializes in shopper and brand marketing. She's had multiple clients and has experience in working on different brands and industries. https://www.linkedin.com/in/monicaduran/ 3. Matilde Ricon Peres is working at Mondelez in London as part of the category development insights team. She started out as a researcher that worked to analyze different channels to create innovative insights. Now with Mondelez, she is now focused on driving insights on category, shopper, consumer metrics by analysing & translating data on the Chocolate UK market in general and Cadbury brand products in particular. https://www.linkedin.com/in/matildericonperes/ ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

What if you think you're a strategist who happens to write but you're really a writer who happens to do strategy? Claire Strickett is a senior planner at one of the world's best agencies adam&eveDDB. In London. She writes all day every day - research debriefs, workshop agendas, presentations, and creative briefs. But she just co-wrote a book with Bert Blaize. It's about food and wine and it's called "What Wine When: What to drink with the food you love". So we investigate the difference between being a strategist who writes and a writer who does strategy. You can find Claire on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/clairestrickett You can find "What Wine When" here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1529104858/ref=c ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

What are your desires, goals, and cravings? In this episode, Libby Swan takes over as host and brings four of us together to discuss our desires. Grace Steite is Head of Program Management at Square’s Creative Studio and has recently been working from Ireland: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gsteite/ Anjali Ramachandran is the Director of Storythings and Co-Founder of Ada’s List: https://twitter.com/anjali28 Libby Swan runs digital agency PRDXN: https://prdxn.com/ ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

What do the 15,000 people in the Sweathead Facebook Group think about working in advertising and dealing with each other online? 2020 managed to infect the community with rage and frustration so, a few months ago, Stephen Yap helped coordinate a research project for Sweathead.  One hundred people in the group got together and ran discussions about the advertising industry as well as the Sweathead Group. In this episode, Stephen discusses the project and what we found. We thought it would be a 45-minute debrief but it ended up being a ninety-minute therapy session.  Stephen is utterly coherent throughout. I'm less coherent from the midpoint as I try to discuss difficult issues such as aggressive behavior in the group and towards me and people I know online, racism, and sexism. You can find Stephen here https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-yap/ ** The Sweathead Annual Report 2020 is here: http://bit.ly/sweathead2020 ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

How do you help a brand stay in someone's mind by going through their ears? Steve Keller is Sonic Strategy Director at Pandora. Pandora has over 60 million active users per month and is worth a few billion dollars. Steve sits in Studio Resonate, a small part of this few-billion-dollar company in Oakland, USA. At Pandora's Studio Resonate, Steve works with brands on how to appear in people's ears - on and beyond Pandora. In this interview, we discuss: - The science of sound - The key concepts of sonic branding - How the money works (who gets paid for what)  You can find Steve here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevekeller1/ You can find Resonate Studios here: https://www.pandoraforbrands.com/studio-resonate ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

Why are networks for women in advertising needed and how do they work? Anita Schillhorn van Veen is Director of Strategy at McKinney LA. Anita is also on the leadership team of Ladies Who Strategize, an online community for women-identifying strategists.  We discuss: - Ladies Who Strategize and creating networks for women within the advertising and strategy world - Writing and being creative in stressful times - Empathy and empathetic leadership You can find Anita here https://www.linkedin.com/in/anitasvv/ You can find Anita's newsletter here https://framestrategy.substack.com/about You can find Ladies Who Strategize here http://www.kimbklyn.com/ladies-who-strategize/ ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

Can companies change? If so, how? Hilton is VP of Marketing at Cognitive. He was born in Zimbabwe but he's worked in the UK, the USA, and Canada. And he was a founding member of the Account Planning Group (APG) in Toronto, Canada.  After a long career in advertising, Hilton wanted to get closer to business problems. This led him to exploring company culture and change management. In this episode, we discuss: - Shifting from account planning to marketing - Change management - Organizational culture as an accelerant of strategy You can find Hilton here https://www.hiltonbarbour.com/ ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

"Should I work in advertising or marketing or something else?" In this episode, we discuss what it's like to shift from advertising to marketing - and back. Challapalli Kalyan Ram is based in Mumbai, India. From project/account manager to strategist to a consumer planning and research manager in Diageo and back to strategy, Kalyan is now running his own shop Wolfzhowl where they specialize in branding, research, and many other services.  https://www.linkedin.com/in/challapallikalyan Dmitry Grobov is based in Moscow, Russia. He started out as a strategic planner and moved his way up to strategic planning director and is now the head of marketing in Xiaomi Russia. He uses a creative yet data-driven approach that helps him craft marketing campaigns and guide teams to success. https://www.linkedin.com/in/dgrobov/ ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

How do you get clients to shake shit up when the world already seems shook up enough? Chuck Welch is CSO of Rupture Studio, a company he runs with his MBA-awarded wife Nandi. It's a mom-and-pop business that helps the couple do the work they want to do while also helping them spend time with each other and their children. Chucks' early years were spent at companies like Def Jam, Naked, and McCann. Now he and Nandi help brands shake themselves up in a time when by-standing is not in fashion. We discuss: - Working in the music industry and at Def Jam - Shifting into advertising - Running a consultancy with his wife Nandi - Getting brands to act more urgently through times of strife You can find Chuck and Nandi's company Rupture Studio here: https://www.rupturestudio.co/ ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

What does the journey from doing strategy for other people's brands to making your own product look like? Brooklyn's George Crichlow made $250,000 selling bamboo hats in high school. This bought him a ticket to the elite Georgetown college and it made George the first person of his family to go to college - most of his family had not stayed in school beyond the fifth grade. After college, George ran an agency gamut that took him from telling the world about brands to help companies create brands to making his own product and telling the world about it. He was AKQA's tenth employee in New York and made pitstops at Wolf Ollins and Red Scout along the way.  Now, he does freelance strategy but puts most of his time into Kynsho, an outerwear brand that he created. And it's into this brand that he puts his love for problem solving, making, and entrepreneurialism. In this interview, we discuss: - Running a business in high school - The attributes of an entrepreneur - Making your own product   You can find Kynsho here http://www.kynsho.com  You can find George here http://www.georgecrichlow.com/ ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

Do creative lives happen in straight lines? Carolyn Hadlock is Executive Creative Director at Indianapolis's Young & Laramore. She does creative work but, as part of doing that creative work, Carolyn also does ethnography. She likes to go deep into people's lives to try to understand what's going on inside their minds. It's an unusual combination–a creative director who does ethnography–and it's led her to set up her own publication Eunoia where she's recently started documenting other people whose minds are also unusual combinations. In this interview, we discuss: - The creative and agency scene in Indianapolis - Young & Laramore and the work they do - Carolyn's circuitous path into advertising (after seven years of undergraduate study), and - Carloyn's investigation of minds she finds beautiful through Eunoia, a blog started four years ago You can read her interviews with beautiful thinkers and listen to them chat at Eunoia: https://medium.com/eunoia-by-carolyn-hadlock  ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

What do strategists do and where do they fit in a large digital agency? Based in New York, Grant Owens is Global Chief Strategy Officer of Critical Mass. He's had the role for over five years and that's after an eleven-year stint at Razorfish.  In this episode, we discuss: - Organizing strategy activities in a large agency - How to effectively use "open office hours" You can find Grant here: https://twitter.com/grantowens ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

What do different roles such as user experience designer, strategist, and managing director have in common - and what's the real work involved with doing these roles well? Jess Mireau is a strategy and agency leader. She started as an animator then she moved into user experience then strategy then strategy team leader then managing director. The last role she did in Hong Kong on behalf of her Brooklyn agency. In this interview, we discuss: - What these roles have in common - How to pay attention to what you're really interested in - The shift from user experience into strategy - Managing a new office in a foreign country - Mental health challenges  You can find Jess here https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessmireau/  ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

How do you get people with power to talk? Vince and Max host the podcast Son Of A Pitch from Sydney, Australia. Vince works as a strategist in advertising; Max used to. They've interviewed many agency leaders and we found ourselves discussing the power of naivety and dealing with power dynamics in interviews.  We also discuss: - Whether advertising is a compelling career - Making podcasts - Australian banter You can find the Son of a Pitch podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/son-of-a-pitch-podcast/id1483296304 Vince is here: https://www.vinceusher.com/ Max is here: https://www.maxlearmont.com/  ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

If you wanted to tell the truth to a group of students eyeing advertising careers, what would you tell them? Vanessa Toro is Group Strategy Director at Digitas North America. She's based in Atlanta. She loves both her chosen city and her agency And, often, she loves her industry but she knows it can do better, especially for the new batch of students trying to get into it. In this interview, we discuss: - How advertising students want to change the advertising industry - Bringing who are to your day job - Her love of Atlanta You can find Vanessa here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessatoro/ ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

Strategists can take many shapes but what do those shapes look like outside of a full-time agency? This episode is from a livestream in the Sweathead Facebook group. It features Ian Crocombe, Jackie Crynes, and Carlos Hermida.  We discuss: - Things that make people leave agency life - What people hope to find after agency life - How "qualified" is "qualified enough" - Perceptions hirers have of agency people Ian Crocombe is based in London. From strategist to VP Innovation to CSO to finding his own shop to teaching and then working at Facebook, Ian is now on his newest venture of helping in-house teams build the next generation of performance brands. Find him here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iancrocombe/ Jackie Crynes is currently based in Arizona. She started out in strategy then moved client-side and is now back in a strategy role where she blends the worlds of digital, product and brand strategy to design meaningful experiences and drive business results. Find her here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackiecrynes/ Carlos Hermida is based in Colombia where he is now focused on advising entrepreneurs and startups. He has experience in marketing, strategy, branding and communications. Find him at his twitter account: http://www.twitter.com/walkthefox ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

What happens when a creative career leads to a self-destructive life? Philip Slade went from Mac Operator at famed music magazine Smash Hits to art director at Saatchi & Saatchi then to creative director and planning director roles and, eventually, to managing partner of Crispin Porter + Bogusky London. But along the way he had to reckon with his relationship with drugs and alcohol and himself.  We discuss career mid-points, working in the London agency world in the 1980s, being adopted, and the difficult realities of decades spent making up stories. You can find Philip here: http://www.homeslade.com ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

What's it like to freelance? This episode is from a livestream in the Sweathead Facebook group. It features Tasha Prados, Lexie Perez, and Greg Donnelly. We discuss: - The mindset shift from being an employee to a freelancer - Working with agencies - Working with entrepreneurs - How jobs appear Tasha Prados is a multicultural strategist who's worked out of Washington, D.C. but was in Hanoi, Vietnam, during our chat. She has ten years of international project management, communications, and marketing experience with the world’s leading brands, publishers, and nonprofits https://www.linkedin.com/in/tashaprados/ Lexie Perez is a brand strategist in San Francisco and her credentials span across B2B and consumer tech, CPG, retail, and entertainment, fin tech - at both global and regional levels http://www.lexieperez.com/ Greg Donnelly is a brand strategist in New York with experience in product marketing and creative strategy at global brands including Altria, Airbnb, and Google https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-donnelly/ ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

How do you graduate from "doing social" to doing strategy? Blake is a digital strategist from New York who entered advertising after a brief flirtation with neuroscience.   In this episode, we discuss the  evolution made by many people who start out as social media workers. They go from trading on their youth and knowing the platforms because they use them to making recommendations not just because they get the platform but because they get people and business.    You can find Blake here https://www.instagram.com/not.blake.lively/ ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

How does the Strategic Planner of the Year think? Andy Nairn co-founded Lucky Generals in London seven years ago. The agency has grown to ninety people in London and now has twenty people in New York. Their work is consistently exceptional. Andy's contribution to it was acknowledged by Campaign when it named him Strategic Planner of the Year 2020. We discuss growing an agency from scratch, establishing a culture of effectiveness, seeking clients who are in search of dramatic change, and some of Andy's favorite work. You can find Andy here: http://www.twitter.com/andynairn ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

What does it feel like to take a stance about a difficult topic and to let it rip in public? Jenny Chang is a comet roaring through space–a comet that likes the wind in its face. That's how her prolific publishing feels. Only four years out of college, Jenny has dropped stances on the Cardi B and Mega Thee Stallion song "WAP", TikTok, and the stolen history of New York. She writes with a fire that might make you wonder, "Is advertising big enough for her?"   You can find Jenny and her writing here: http://www.jayemsey.com ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

What if account planners get paid for their confusion and clarity is fleeting but just a bonus?   Richard Huntington is Chief Strategy Officer and Chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi London. He's also a writer of many classic account planning articles that you can find on his blog Adliterate http://www.adliterate.com/  In this episode, we discuss the confusion and vagueness of the strategy career, the act of clarity, performing in front of people, being weird, and the intermittent value account planners provide.   You can find Richard on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/adliterate ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

How do you know you're ready to freelance and how do you make it work?  In this episode, we speak with Colleen Berg, Lani Dourado, and Willem van der Horst about what it means to freelance, the ups and downs, getting clients, and pricing.   Colleen Berg is based in Toronto and the Director of Strategic Insights in the Palmerston Group. She specializes as a human insight consultant and has over a decade of experience in the field. https://www.linkedin.com/in/colleenberg/  Lani Dourado is a freelance brand strategist. She has worked with Virtue Worldwide, Supermachine and Alaffia. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ilanadourado/  Willem van der Horst is a brand strategy consultant based in Paris. He's worked with clients such as SC Johnson, P&G, and Toyota. http://www.icecreamforeveryone.net Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

It’s been a minute but here’s a ramble from an Upper West Side bedroom about discovering yourself. PS My book just came out - http://www.sweathead.com

What if you know you have something to offer to the advertising industry but the advertising industry isn't set up for you?  Jennifer Ekeleme runs JennZen Co-Creation Studio. She is a brand and creative consultant as well as a diversity, equity, and inclusion facilitator.  In this episode, we discuss burn out in an early New York advertising career, depression, being a highly sensitive person, and jumping out of the industry so you can work out how to jump back in. You can find Jenn here https://www.instagram.com/_jennzen_/ ** Caveat: In this episode, we discuss depression. We try to make the point that everybody's experience with depression is personal and it is a complex condition with many strands. Please consult a professional if you're experiencing mental health challenges.    ** Find the book "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes at Sweathead here: http://www.sweathead.com

Megan and I had this chat in the middle of 2019. I'm republishing it along with other episodes that tackle difficult topics because 2020 seems to have woken up a lot of us. But there's still work to do.    Megan Averell runs The Insight Inn, a research and strategy consultancy. You can find her here https://theinsightinn.com "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes are now live at http://www.sweathead.com

Zac Martin is a senior planner at Ogilvy in Melbourne. We discuss getting. interviewed and being in the spotlight when you’re not used to it and how Australian culture is suspicious of it.  You can find Zac here: http://www.twitter.com/zacmartin  "Strategy Is Your Words" and 100 strategy classes are now live at http://www.sweathead.com

Over the summer, I'm going to republish a few episodes from over a year ago. This one features Zoe Scaman. It's direct, honest, and vulnerable, and delves into the challenges many creative minds face as they try to fit into themselves and then the advertising industry. You can find Zoe here: https://twitter.com/zoescaman Sweathead strategy classes are now in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Stef Hamerlinck runs the podcast Let's Talk Branding in which Stef publicly documents his own journey to learning about brand strategy in a deeper way while coming from a design background. In this chat, we discuss Belgium and the soft skills that help brand strategy happen.  You can find Stef here http://stefhamerlinck.be/ and Let's Talk Branding here: https://www.letstalkbranding.be/ Sweathead strategy class is in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Recently in Marketing Week, Colin Lewis wrote, "Careers won’t pick up where they left off." Colin believes the recruitment process is broken, age discrimination will continue to rise, employers talk soft skills but buy hard skills, and job stability is a myth. Colin is CMO of OpenJaw in Dublin and organizer of Ireland's largest marketing event DMX. You can find Colin here: https://twitter.com/colinalewis You can read a new piece "Seven tried and tested strategies for getting back into work" by Colin here: https://www.marketingweek.com/seven-tried-tested-strategies-getting-back-work/ * This episode was recorded as a livestream in Sweathead on Facebook on May 8, 2020.  Sweathead strategy class is in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Melle and I recorded this interview almost a year ago to the day. Having briefly worked with Melle, I can say that she is a powerful force, deeply compassionate, and excellent at what she does.  We hadn't had many direct conversations about what it was like to be a Black strategist in America while we were working together. I'm republishing this because I'm hoping it can give more of you insight into what it's been like for the few who've been able to get the title and then stuck around despite not seeing many people ahead of them like them and despite the treatment. You can find Melle here: http://linkedin.com/in/mellehock You can find Art Noir here: https://www.artnoir.co/

Jon Haber is Co-founder of Giant Spoon, a well respected, fully integrated agency based in Los Angeles. We discuss how Giant Spoon goes about its award-winning work and how to stay active during quarantine. This interview was recorded in April 2020. You can find Jon here https://twitter.com/jonhaber Sweathead strategy class is in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Lizi Hamer is Regional Creative Director at Octagon in Singapore, where she also runs SheSays. She's appeared on the television show Gruen Transfer, she's been listed in the Top 20 Women in Asia to watch, and she's met Jurgen Klopp, the coach of Liverpool Football Club.  Lizi and I worked together at McCann in Sydney ten years ago. And, since that time, a lot has changed in the advertising industry but ... not enough. So, in this episode, we discuss what it's like to try to find a place in advertising while trying to open doors for others.  You can find Lizi here https://www.instagram.com/lizihamer/ Sweathead strategy class is in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Will Humphrey is Strategy Director at Wunderman Thompson in London. He grew up in an advertising family and he’s worked in a variety of agencies with various focuses - from advertising to PR. In this episode, we discuss how many strategists mature over time. You can find Will here https://twitter.com/Will_Humphrey Strategy class is in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Rachel Mercer is Head of Strategy at R/GA New York. About one month into New York getting closed down (April 2020), we spoke about what it was like to try to help an agency and its clients deal with COVID-19. And all this after Rachel and her husband had to get off one plane and return to America on another plane before all the borders closed. You can find Rachel here https://twitter.com/rachelmercer when she's not playing Words With Friends with me or letting me make fun of her workaholism. * This interview was live-streamed to the Sweathead Facebook Group on April 25, 2020 - about 6 weeks into New York being locked down. Sweathead strategy class is in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Sheldon Tarpey is a strategist at McCann in Birmingham in England. In this episode, we discuss how Sheldon made his way into a strategy role from inside McCann. And we discuss the importance of problems as well as the scene in Birmingham. You can find Sheldon here https://twitter.com/SheldonLT Strategy class is in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Ani Acopian makes. She makes ideas that use all their might to capture the attention of the Internet. From Amazon Dating (a website where you can shop for a date), Scrubhub (Pornhub but for cleaning your hands), an 18-hole mini golf course that can fit in a tiny backyard, and some sweet video direction for companies like AWAL. In my plea to strategists to make - and not just think, I wanted to talk with Ani about what gets her mind going. We recorded this as a livestream on 13 May, 2020. There was a little lag which is why, every now and then, we speak over each other. But it’s still worth a listen. You can find Ani here https://twitter.com/aniacopian Sweathead strategy class is in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Noma is one of the world's most famous restaurants. Based in Copenhagen and founded by René Redzepi, creativity is at the heart of Noma's ethos - in words and in action.  Ben Liebmann is the Chief Operating Office of Noma. In this discussion, Ben breaks down the beliefs that form the culture of Noma. It's an incredibly uplifting conversation, and a conversation that many agencies in the world would do well to study and emulate. This interview was record on 20 May, 2020, the day before Noma re-opened after Copenhagen closed due to COVID-19. You can find Ben here: https://twitter.com/benliebmann Sweathead strategy class is in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

A brief word about race and the recent energy of the Sweathead Facebook group. Thank you to everyone who’s been teaching the community and me about the history and the present. This week, we’ll launch a small research project to identify ways in which Sweathead can take and show more initiative in addressing inequities and abuses of people in the advertising industry and, especially of the black, indigenous, and people-of-color populations in and around the American advertising industry.

Mickey Jones is a graduate from the University of Lincoln. Like many of her peers, she's trying to get into the advertising industry. In England, this can mean trying to get a job in London. But, before you can move to London, you need to be able to afford to visit it and stay in it to meet possible hirers. You also need to get on their radars. London is no mean feat if you didn't go to the right schools or grow up with the right connections.  In this episode, we discuss the challenges facing juniors outside of power. Mickey wrote about this in an article "Young, Broke & Hungry: How Can Advertising Improve the Way It Recruits Juniors after Covid-19?". Listen to our chat then read Mickey's article and share her writing. P.S. There is some construction noise in the background in parts of this interview. You can read Mickey's article here: https://www.lbbonline.com/news/young-broke-hungry-how-can-advertising-improve-the-way-it-recruits-juniors-after-covid-19 You can find Mickey here https://www.linkedin.com/in/mickey-jones-22041998 Sweathead strategy class is in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Charlie Quirk is a strategist at Google in San Francisco. Recently, he published a deck that looked at 50 movies as a way to practice insights.  You can find the deck here: http://charlie-quirk.com/hollywood/ Charlie is here: https://twitter.com/charliequirk Sweathead strategy class is in session http://courses.sweathead.co

Summer Camp! http://courses.sweathead.co

Sabastien Genty is Head of Strategic Planning at DDB in Paris. Recently, he cofounded CPS, an organization to support planning and planners (but not just planners) in Paris. In this chat, we discuss what planning is like in Paris and the work of CPS. You can find Sabastien here http://linkedin.com/in/sebastien-genty-9b4563b - the CPS is here: https://www.collectifplanningstrategique.org Sweathead strategy class is in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Gracie Page is Director of Emerging Technology at VMLY&R in London. In this episode, we discuss five technology trends that Gracie is currently studying - augmented reality, just walkout technology, voice, visual search, and gaming. Oh, and Gracie's mean knitting tech stack. You can find Gracie here: https://twitter.com/gracietech Sweathead class is in session http://courses.sweathead.co

Rhiannon Stroud is Head of Strategy at McCann Synergy in Bristol. She works with companies on how they interact with their employees. It's an interesting field to work in, a field we don't hear much about because... no Superbowl ads. It can be a very meaningful field, too. We discuss all these things. You can find Rhiannon here https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhiannon-stroud-50787a75 Sweathead strategy class is in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Simeon Coker is a Creative Director. He also makes a podcast called Mixed Company. A big part of Simeon's work is helping brands and agencies make creative work that is inclusive and that doesn't offend people with stereotypes. We discuss the business benefits and politics of inclusive work. You can find Simeon here https://www.indigoxpyrite.com/  Sweathead strategy classes are in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

@Femalcopywriter is an anonymous Internet presence. It’s funny. The person who writes it is funny. And, in this episode, we talk about what’s funny about advertising. But we also discuss some serious issues including sexual assault. @Femalcopywriter’s voice has been altered. Female Copywriter is here http://www.twitter.com/Femalcopywriter Strategy class is in session http://courses.sweathead.co

Eric L Hu is VP Strategy and Customer Experience at H4B Chelsea, a healthcare agency that's part of Havas. In this episode, we discuss what strategy work is in healthcare and what clients are asking of their agencies right now. You can find Eric here https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericlhu/ and here: https://www.instagram.com/ericlhu Sweathead strategy school is in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Alex Stewart is a Senior Content Strategist at The Athletic, which recently acquired Tifo Football. Tifo Football is a football/soccer channel for nerds. It painstakingly breaks down football tactics, history, and business. In this chat, we go through some of the better known ways to approach strategy on a football field and try to make sense of them off the field.   You can find Alex here: https://twitter.com/AFHStewart You can find Tifo Football here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGYYNGmyhZ_kwBF_lqqXdAQ Sweathead strategy class is in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Cole Habersham is an account manager at Droga5 in New York. In late 2019, he published a spreadsheet asking for people to anonymously share their salaries so that he could help friends work out their worth. Not their worth as humans but as salaries. You know what I mean.  This is the story of how it all happened. You can find Real Agency Salaries http://www.realagencysalaries.com/ You can find Cole here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colehabersham/ Strategy class is in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Rebecca Rowntree hosts the podcast This Way Up and is a freelance Creative Director. She's judged D&AD and Cannes. She's worked at BBDO, R/GA, and The Elephant Room. And, at the time we spoke back in March, Rebecca was contemplating her freelance life. So that's what we discussed. You can find Rebecca https://www.rebeccarowntree.com/ And here https://twitter.com/rebeccarowntree * This episode was recorded on March 12, 2020, the day NYC started locking down but still early days for COVID-19 here. And, yes, my voice sounds like that because maybe I had it. Sweathead strategy classes are now in session: https://courses.sweathead.co/

Greg Hahn is one of the world's most prolific and best known creative leaders. Chances are that if you've lived in America–yet alone worked in the advertising industry here–you've seen his work. Or his team's work. Greg started at Fallon in Minneapolis then moved to BBDO in New York where he rose to Chief Creative Officer. He spent fourteen years at BBDO. But he's not there now. In this interview, we discuss how Greg is thinking through his future, how strategists and creatives can work better together, work and identity, as well as simpler stuff like, "What makes a portfolio good?". You can find Greg here https://www.linkedin.com/in/greghahn777/ The LinkedIn post we reference is here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/greghahn777_last-week-i-got-to-attend-my-own-wake-it-activity-6658133906765697024-JDDg Sweathead strategy school is in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Join hundreds of strategists from around the world as a Founding Member of Sweathead. You'll get access to the Sweathead Strategy Summer Camp. It will be weird.  http://courses.sweathead.co/

Nathan Young is Group Strategy Director at Periscope in Minneapolis. Like the rest of us, he used to make a rap blog and, like the rest of us who've made rap blogs, at some point Nathann realized he had bills to pay. So again, like the rest of us who've faced these turbulent rap blog decisions, he moved into advertising. In this chat, we discuss research that he and his team at Periscope have just published. It focuses on COVID-19 and how America is feeling about it and responding to it. It also covers Periscope's POV on how to help marketers right now. Yes, we discuss rap and #BlackAF. You can find the Periscope team's research here https://www.periscope.com/covid/ You can find Nathan here https://twitter.com/notnathan You can join the Sweathead strategy school here: http://courses.sweathead.co

Ci En Lee is a media strategist at PHD Media in Singapore. With the help of friends, Lee has been gathering reports about COVID-19 and storing them in a Google Drive for others to access. He first started coming across reports in group chat with friends in China. We discuss how these reports have worked their way around China and then what's stuck with him having read many of them.  You can find Ci En Lee here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lee-ci-en/ You can find his round-up of COVID-19 reports here: https://bit.ly/covid19reports Sweathead strategy classes are in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Tom Goodwin is Head of Futures at Publicis. We live-streamed this chat into Sweathead on Facebook on Saturday, 11 April, 2020.  We mostly discuss sharing ideas in public - the privilege that often enables it, the perils of doing it, and what the point of it is anyway.  You can find Tom here: https://twitter.com/tomfgoodwin  Sweathead strategy classes are in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Lucy Jameson has had massive roles - CEO, CSO, and ESD. And she's had these roles at massive London agencies - Grey and DDB. But, despite these massive roles in these massive places, in 2017 she founded Uncommon with Nils Leonard and Natalie Graeme. In this interview, we discuss the different ways creative agencies can make money and what really matters once you're out of the holding company beast if you want to create an agency that is both profitable and constantly doing good work.   You can find Lucy here: https://twitter.com/lucyjameson You can find Uncommon here: http://www.uncommon.london/ For COVID-19 context, this interview was recorded on March 13, 2020. Sweathead strategy classes are in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

In this episode, I run through what strategists are sharing about their lives and emotions in the Sweathead Facebook group.  Sweathead strategy classes are in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

@ me -> http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Sweathead strategy classes are in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

This might surprise some of you but there are experienced marketers out there who really love creativity. Josh Dean is one of them.  He's been the CMO at S'well (post-plastic bottles and containers), he's CMO'd Tommy John, he had a ten-year stint at Unilever, and he was VP of Brand Communications at Chobani.   I've sat in meeting rooms with him wondering, "What's he doing here?" I've wondered that because the wrestle with Josh is usually over ideas - to get to better ideas, instead of wrestling a marketer into believing in ideas. And this is what we discuss.  You can find Josh here https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrjoshuadean/  Sweathead strategy classes are in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Tim Burrowes is an editor, a journalist, and an entrepreneur. Having helped to launch Campaign in the Middle East and edited B&T in Sydney, Tim co-founded Mumbrella in 2008. Chances are that if you work in marketing, media, or advertising in Australia, you know Tim.  In this chat, we discuss what it's like to be a journalist covering the advertising industry, how trade publications choose their stories, as well as why and how Tim started Mumbrella. You can find Mumbrella here https://mumbrella.com.au/ *For COVID-19 context, this episode was recorded on March 8, 2020. Sweathead strategy classes are in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Derek Walker runs Brown & Browner Advertising. He enjoys cooking, writing, and taking public pot-shots at the things in the advertising industry that don't make sense. We've spoken on Sweathead before but I wanted to speak to Derek about what's happening right now.  *For COVID-19 context, we live-streamed this to the Sweathead Facebook Group on March 31, 2020 You can find Derek here: https://twitter.com/dereklwalker Sweathead strategy classes are in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Christina Aventi is Executive Planning Director at BMF Australia. She's probably won more strategy awards than you've had strategy dreams. We discuss her approach to strategy.  You can find Christina here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christina-aventi-5442b414  Sweathead strategy classes are in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Tina Yip and Darien LaBeach (with many friends) run strtgst, a community that brings together strategy folk to learn together. By day, Tina is Director of Marketing & Culture at Berlin Cameron in Manhattan, and Darien is Director, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategy at Huge in Brooklyn.  This is an edited chat from a livestream to the Sweathead Facebook group (streamed Wednesday, 25 March 2020). We discuss what they've been up to with srtgst, what they're hearing from their own communities, and we run through a COVID-19 workshop they ran.     strtgst: http://strtgst.co/  Tina http://www.tinayip.com/   Darien https://www.darienlabeach.com/    Sweathead strategy classes are in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Mark Jenson has worked in advertising for over three decades. Currently, he is a brand consultant and also a lecturer at the University of Minnesota Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication. In this episode, we discuss Minneapolis - the culture, the advertising scene - as well as how Mark approaches the teaching of advertising. You can find Mark here https://twitter.com/mjenson * This was recorded P.C. (Pre-COVID-19) Sweathead strategy classes are in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Mara Lecocq is Brand and Community Director at Fishbowl, a semi-anonymous platform for people in industries such as ours to ask each other difficult questions. In this episode, we discuss what people in advertising talk about in public when people can't identify who's doing the talking. We live-streamed this to Sweathead on Facebook, hence the references to “watching” and “seeing”.  You can find Mara here https://www.instagram.com/mara.lecocq/  Sweathead strategy classes are in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Payal Pereira is studying strategy at VCU Brand Center. We met in Bombay, India, last year but I came across her portfolio again in a spreadsheet compiled by Aisha Hakim. In this spreadsheet are over 300 people hoping someone with industry experience with review their portfolios. Payal's portfolio and the way she expresses her strategic thinking stood out to me. So, we decided to talk through her portfolio in public. You can find Payal here: https://www.instagram.com/payalpereira/ Her Swatch case study is here: http://www.payalruthpereira.com/swatch Aisha Hakim's spreadsheet is here: https://bit.ly/reviewmyportfolio Sweathead strategy classes are in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Noah Brier is Co-Founder of Variance, a relatively new company looking to help people work better together. His last venture was Percolate, a content marketing platform many of you will be familiar with. But these companies came after years in agencies such as Naked and Barbarian Group. In this episode, we discuss the shift from "coming up with things" to "coming up with systems for other people's things".  You can find Noah here: https://twitter.com/heyitsnoah You can find Variance here: https://www.variance.com/ Sweathead strategy classes are in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Rob Estreitinho is a strategist at VCCP in London and he helps make strategy get-together machine Group Think happen. He also publishes Salmon Theory in which he discusses ways of seeing the world, often with a nod to working in advertising. We live-streamed this chat last week right into Sweathead on Facebook. Now it's here ... for your ears. You can find Rob here https://twitter.com/robistyping Salmon Theory is here https://robistyping.substack.com/ Sweathead strategy classes are in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Darren Woolley is Co-founder and CEO of Trinity P3. He spent 15 years as a copywriter including working as a Creative Director at JWT. Then he decided to help marketers make smarter decisions with their marketing. A big part of his work focuses on helping marketers hire agencies and fix relationships with their existing agencies. In this chat, we ask whether procurement or pitch consultants have hurt the industry the most, how agencies make money from employee salaries, as well as different ways agencies can charge for their work. You can find Darren's company and articles here: https://www.trinityp3.com/ And his LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrenwoolley  Sweathead strategy classes are in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Mary Buzbee is a creative at Lewis Communications in Birmingham, Alabama. Recently, she published an article about classism in advertising and how it prevents people who could work in advertising and who want to from doing so. And this is what we discuss. You can read Mary's article here: https://medium.com/@fellowcommunity/as-advertising-becomes-pay-to-play-creative-potential-is-wasted-267363870380 You can find her here: https://twitter.com/mary_buzbee (One correction, I mention Recurse Nation and how it's now called Hacker School - I meant it the other way around) For more strategy talk: Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Facebook - join 10,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words” is out soon http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

Leo Nguyen is a strategist at Stink Studios in Brooklyn. He grew up in Portland, he graduated from the University of Oregon in 2015, he interned in Singapore, and he's wrestled with what it means to be American in a family that's from somewhere else. Initially, we intended to talk about the BBH Griffin Farley program but Leo talked about so much more and mesmerized me with how articulate he is. So, we talked about a lot more. You can find Leo here https://www.linkedin.com/in/ljnguyen5 For more strategy talk: Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Facebook - join 9,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words” is out soon http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

In this episode, I share some thoughts about the past couple of weeks, some real talk from a recent Instagram story about your work life and WHAT ARE YOU DOING, as well as run you through 10 strategy exercises and answer a bunch of questions. Thanks for hanging out with me. You can find 10+ hours of training videos here for the next week or two: http://www.sweathead.co

Amy Charlotte Kean is Director of Innovation at &us in the UK. She's led teams in the UK and throughout Asia. But we don't talk too much about this. Instead, we discuss Amy's book "The Little Girl Who Gave Zero F**ks", her article on mental health "Don't Tell Me To Talk, Teach Me To Listen", and DICE - her attempt to improve the diversity of industry panels. You can find Amy here: https://twitter.com/keano81 P.S. This was recorded before COVID-19 arrived in a big way in the UK so our discussion about going out after the interview was not about going out in spite of COVID-19. For more strategy talk: Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Facebook - join 10,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words” is out soon http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

Gregory Duquesne leads planning at M&CSAATCHI.GAD in Paris having been Managing Partner of Naked. He published a book called "Oeil Neuf" a few years ago in which he demonstrates how a planner's fresh eyes can apply critical thinking to questions such as "Why don't we pay attention to fire extinguishers even though they are red and very visible?", "Why do some people have more luck than others?", and "Why do students do better when they like their professors?"  You can find Greg here https://www.linkedin.com/in/gr%C3%A9gory-duquesne-a328a71/ For more strategy talk: Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Facebook - join 10,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words” is out soon http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

Jani Westcott is a planner who plans to help more people get into planning by giving them new ways to see themselves and to speak about themselves. Essentially, she plans planners. Truth be told, she does this mentoring work with people who aren't just looking to get into planning but into the advertising industry as a whole and she focuses her work on helping women and people of color. In this conversation, we hear how Jani works with people to help them understand the power of their experiences while also helping them navigate an industry that has overlooked them for too long. You can find Jani here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janwestcottplanner For more strategy talk: Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Facebook - join 9,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words” is out soon http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

Natalie Burns - Brighton, UK Annalie Killian - New York, USA Sheldon Lawrence Tarpey - Birmingham, UK Jesse Alleva - Alaska, USA Siddharth Seth - Chicago, USA Alexandra Suarez - Puerto Rico Dillon Key - Arkansas, USA Join 9,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co

Bruce Clark is Associate Professor of Marketing at Northeastern University in the D'Amore-McKim School of Business. This chat happened today - Friday, March 13 - and is unedited. In it, we discuss how COVID-19 has affected the teaching and learning of marketing, what marketing students need to learn, and what marketers might do well to contemplate in these turbulent times. You can find Bruce here: https://twitter.com/bruceclarkprof You can read his article "What's a 'Marketing Plan'?" here: https://medium.com/@bruceclarkprof/whats-a-marketing-plan-35602cd21ce1 For more strategy talk: Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Facebook - join 9,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words” is out soon http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

James Lees is a strategist and a co-founder of Group Think in London. With over 1,000 members, Group Think brings together strategy-inclined folk several times each month to learn and to hang out. They even trialled a space for strategists to work together inside a co-working location. In this chat, we discuss how Group Think approaches its events and the topics that are on people's minds right now. You can find James here https://twitter.com/jameslees101 and Group Think here https://www.group-think.co.uk/ For more strategy talk: Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Facebook - join 9,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words” is out soon http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

David Navarro is Executive Creative Director at Ueno in New York. He's spent swathes of his career working websites and digital products, and he's done this in Spain, the Netherlands, and the USA. And while we could have spoken about all the incredible work he's done, we decided to discuss how companies new to strategists can help strategists succeed. (PS I said GFC = Global Financial Crash but it’s Global Financial Crisis) You can find David here http://navarro.co/ For more strategy talk: Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Facebook - join 9,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words” is out soon http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

Genie Gurnani is Head of Creative, Asia-Pacific, at Vice Media. Genie grew up near Yosemite National Park, a relatively isolated part of the States before then attending UC Berkeley and VCU Brandcenter, and working in agencies such as David&Goliath, TBWA\Chiat\Day, and Leo Burnett. In this chat, we discuss Genie's push from a small town to elite schools, from planning to creative, from the US to Asia, and from behind the camera to in front of it.  This episode is for everyone who's been told to bring themselves to work but doesn't know what this means, and for anyone who feels they have to leave a huge chunk of themselves at home every day.   You can find Genie here https://www.instagram.com/wishforgenie/ For more strategy talk: Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Facebook - join 9,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words” is out soon http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

In my first summer in New York, Cristina Pansolini interned with me and a small new-age strategy clique at Saatchi & Saatchi. She was astute, competitive, and very capable. These traits have taken her into fulltime roles at Saatchi & Saatchi, Wieden + Kennedy, and McCann. She's had quite the career trajectory. Now, she leads strategy at Sylvain Labs and applies her strategy skills to different kinds of clients problems.  You can find Cristina here https://www.instagram.com/cristina_simone For more strategy talk: Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Facebook - join 9,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words” is out soon http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

Tristan Burrell is Chief Strategy Officer at Vizeum in Sydney, Australia. Whenever I've worked with media agencies, there's an echo of my experience working with Tristan in my desires for each media plan but often the desires go unmet. In this episode, we discuss how Tristan landed a creative role inside a media agency, the impressive cast of characters he grew up around at Universal McCann, winning a Cannes Young Lions trophy, his jaunt in New York, as well as his return to Sydney and his new movie podcast Double Impact. You can find Tristan here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tristanburrell/ For more strategy talk: Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Facebook - join 9,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words” is out soon http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

Marcus Collins is a marketing lecturer at the University of Michigan's The Ross School of Business. He used to write love songs for a living. He's worked at Translation and Doner, he's run digital strategy for record labels (including for Beyoncé) and he's taught at NYU, General Assembly, and Miami Ad School. In this episode, we discuss the idea of a portfolio career and having multiple dreams of income. You can find Marcus here: https://twitter.com/marctothec For more strategy talk: Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Facebook - join 9,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words” is out in soon http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

I took about 20 of your questions for a walk after pilates. Now my mind feels like my body. Thank you. http://www.strategymegaclass.com http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Nick Ellis is cofounder of Bristol agency Halo. Paul Bailey is Halo's strategy director. In this episode, we discuss what it takes to do strategy at pace because, well, that's how most strategy needs to happen these days. And we arrive at a list of 10 - let's call it 11 - ideas that will help you in your day job. You can find Nick here https://twitter.com/Nickhalo01 Paul here https://twitter.com/paulmarkbailey Halo here https://wearehalo.co.uk/ For more strategy talk: Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Facebook - join 9,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words” is out in soon http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

Haley Gordon is a strategist at BBH in Los Angeles. Part of her attempts to work her way into a strategy role involved attending the BBH Beautiful Minds program, named in honor of a man a lot of us knew for his writing and generous teaching spirit, Griffin Farley. In this chat, we discuss Haley's attempts to get into strategy and her experience in this weekend-long, competitive bootcamp. You can find Haley here http://www.haleykgordon.com/ And Griffin Farley's Beautiful Minds program here: http://griffinfarleysbeautifulminds.com/ For more strategy talk: Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Facebook - join 9,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words” is out in soon http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

Sai He is a copywriter and runs the hilarious social media presence Dong Draper. He thinks he’s one of the most introverted people in the industry. I have a hunch a few listeners might contest this claim. Either way, Sai is prolific and still finding his feet in the industry. My question to him: What are you going to do after this industry? You can find Sai here https://twitter.com/adversaising Dong Draper on Twitter here https://twitter.com/dongtent Dong Draper on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/dong.draper/ You can find Mark here http://www.instagram.com/markpollard And details for The Strategy Megaclass here http://www.strategymegaclass.com

Julian and I have just launched Season 2 of The Strategy Megaclass. It's called F**k Yeah Rainbow Cannons. And it's coming to NYC, Chicago, San Francisco, and Seattle in March and April. It's a full day of strategy training covering words, briefs, ideas, and strategy frameworks. Details and tickets are here http://www.strategymegaclass.com We thought we'd use the occasion to talk through some work by S'well, Burger King and ClassPass, as well as discuss strategy practice work that Harriet (@minimalstrat), Bram Draaijer (@DraaijerB), and Sanika Tilway (@tillwaytweets) have posted on Twitter to #ShowYourStrategy. Hannah Molly Baker's ClassPass case study https://www.hannahmollybaker.com/classpass-positioning-campaign Harriet - Selling fountain pens to office workers https://twitter.com/minimalstrat/status/1226120048902918144?s=20 Dram - Selling wall paint to new house owners https://twitter.com/DraaijerB/status/1225792494018887681?s=20 Sanika - Selling speed dating to introverts https://twitter.com/tillwaytweets/status/1223692880826568704?s=20 The Strategy Megaclass -> http://www.strategymegaclass.com Julian https://www.planningdirty.com/ Mark https://www.instagram.com/markpollard/

Clare Barry is a copywriter from Liverpool, England. She struck Internet gold with an article titled "Everyone’s a copywriter. Right?" in which she captured the frustrations of many of her peers. Now, she's back in the mines again. This time she's writing a book in public and on the road. It's called "Drink. Smoke. Swear." It's going to be like "Eat Pray Love" but Clare. You can find Clare here https://twitter.com/ClareBarry and here https://copyclare.com/ You can find her article "Everyone’s a copywriter. Right?" here: https://medium.com/@ClareBarry/everyones-a-copywriter-right-4dbbac741a4d You can find Mark here: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard And new dates for The Strategy Megaclass here: http://www.strategymegaclass.com

Justine Armour started as the Chief Creative Officer of Grey New York this week. Big job, big city, big ambitions. In this episode, we discuss the journey from doing the work to helping others do the work. We touch on missteps along the way, as well as ideas that can help people doing creative work do better creative work.  You can find Justine here: https://twitter.com/jusarmour You can find Mark here: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard New dates for The Strategy Megaclass are here: http://www.strategymegaclass.com

Stephanie Matthews is Partnerships Director at Creative Equals where she is currently launching the next series of their Creative Comeback Returners Programme. The programme is a two-week bootcamp for people who've worked in the advertising industry but have had a prolonged period away from it and now need a hand to get back in. It involves training as well as working on a real creative brief. Some participants may also get the opportunity to do a mini-internship.   Details about the Creative Comeback Returners Programme are here http://www.creativeequals.org/creativecomeback You can find Stephanie here https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanielmatthews You can find Creative Equals here http://www.creativeequals.org/ And here's an article Stephanie wrote about the power of businesses with diverse employee populations which cites the McKinsey research she mentions in the interview: https://www.virgin.com/entrepreneur/how-mary-poppins-could-inspire-gender-equality-workplace  For more strategy talk: Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Facebook - join 8,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words” is out in soon http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

Claire is a strategist in Paris. We met at an impromptu strategy get-together in Paris a couple of weeks. It was organized by M&C Saatchi Head of Planning Gregory Duquesne. Having been fortunate enough to hang out with and enjoy long conversations with strategists around the world, I've realized these are some of my favorite conversations and that many of the non-strategy topics we discuss are echoing across borders and continents. This is also why I want to do a better job of sharing these non-strategy topics.  So, today, almost live and unedited, Claire discusses feminism, romance, singledom, and what it means to be and feel independent in one of the most romantic cultures and cities in the world. You can find Claire here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-joly-18634b9b/ I'm here: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Tamer Kattan is a stand-up comedian who's plied his strategy trade at 72andSunny, TBWA\Chiat\Day, and Deutsch.  He was born in Egypt, moved to the USA when he was 8, and then he had to work out how to adapt to an unhappy father and to unpredictable and sometimes violent environments as he grew up. Unfortunate for Tamer but lucky for us–because now he makes jokes about it all. P.S. Tamer is in NYC for the next few months doing shows. I caught him last night at the West Side Comedy Club. Go out and support one of your strategy kin flexing in new and incredible ways.  And shoutouts to Heather LeFevre and Julian Cole for putting me onto Tamer and his work. You can find Tamer and his shows here: https://twitter.com/TamerKattan For more strategy talk: Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Facebook - join 9,000 strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words” is out in soon http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

Heather LeFevre is back. Last time, we discussed applying strategy to life. This time, we discuss 10 things we hope advertising students can contemplate as they embark on their careers.  You can find Heather here https://twitter.com/hklefevre - and make sure you check out her book “Brain Surfing.”  For more strategy talk:  Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Facebook - join 8,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words” is out in April 2020 http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

Julian Cole and I decided to speak in public for an hour before we plan the year. Well, probably, a few years. It's the first time we've sat face-to-face to plan the events we do–specifically, The Strategy Super Sizer Megaclass. We discuss things we've learned about strategy, doing events, and life.  Details for the next megaclasses will appear here soon: http://www.strategymegaclass.com You can find Julian here https://twitter.com/juliancole You can find Mark here http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Lee Maicon is Chief Strategy Officer of McCann - the North American Chief Strategy Officer. It's a big role but Lee cares about the small things such as the craft that goes into account planning. "Craft" can be an esoteric word that planners throw around like the phrase "classically trained" planner. So we discuss what craft is when the word isn't used in an esoteric way. You can find Lee here https://twitter.com/leemaicon For more strategy talk: Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Facebook - join 8,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words” is out in April 2020 http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

Two things Toronto-based strategy head Dino Demopoulos has spent much of life doing are music and strategy. In this interview, we discuss how promoting events, running record labels, and DJ-ing have something to do with strategy. You can find Dino Demopoulos here:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/dino-demopoulos-91b1073 For more strategy talk: Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Facebook - join 8,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words” is out in April 2020 http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

Jane Evans runs the Uninvisibility Project.  Having been a prolific creative director and having run an agency, she's now on a mission to make women over 50 uninvisible.  You can find Jane here https://twitter.com/janee and The Uninvisibility Project here https://www.uninvisibility.com/ For more strategy talk: Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Facebook - join 8,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words” is out in April 2020 http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

Marco del Valle is a strategist at Epoch Design in the UK. He recently posted hypothetical strategies every day for a month. How do you sell Britney Spears to CEOs? The durian to westerners? Yoga to body builders? We discuss how Marco made a move from the Philippines to the UK and then go through 10 different strategies. You can find Marco’s work here: https://twitter.com/marcodel_valle/status/1190251547042684928?s=21 For more strategy talk: Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Facebook - join 8,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words” is out in April 2020 http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

Katrina Grönberg (née Wong) is a career-long planner. Her first planning role was at Leo Burnett in Sydney then she worked at Droga5 and then she went to BBDO in New York, met a guy, moved to Sweden, and had two boys. We discuss all of this. You can find Katrina here https://www.instagram.com/katrinagroenberg For more strategy talk: Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Facebook - join 8,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words” is out in April 2020 http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

Brian Wakabayashi leads strategy at 215 McCann in San Francisco. He started as an admin. Well, as an admin to an admin. And, as he grew into bigger roles and roles that weren't only about doing the strategy work but making the strategy team his work, he's had to reflect a lot on what that work is. So we discuss this.  You can find Brian here https://twitter.com/brianwaka For more strategy talk: Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Facebook - join 8,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words” is out in April 2020 http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

Dabs runs Adland. It's a website with over twenty years of ads from around the world. Adland went down recently after a copyright dispute. But it's back up. This week. And that's really cool. In this interview, we discuss what Dabs has learned about advertising over the years, issues with copyright and DMCA takedowns, as well as how creative award show juries–and their jurors– work. You can find Adland here https://adland.tv/ and Dabs here https://twitter.com/Dabitch For more strategy talk: Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Facebook - join 8,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words” is out in April 2020 http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

In which I answer about 10 of your questions, chat creative briefs, and agencies doing a better job taking care of their lone strategists: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Duncan Blair runs marketing at Article in Vancouver. Article is a furniture powerhouse in the e-commerce world, growing quickly and appearing everywhere. In this interview, we discuss how marketing responsibilities have eroded from the 4 Ps to just an A–advertising. We also discuss working with introversion, especially in business cultures and regions where extroversion is prized. You can find Duncan here: https://twitter.com/phixx For more strategy talk: Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Facebook - join 8,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words”: http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

Nicolas Lévy is Managing Partner and CSO at Marcel in Paris. Marcel is part of the huge holding group Publicis but it tries to maintain an independent spirit. We discuss how Marcel works, getting strategy to work at Marcel, as well as mentoring strategists. And I accidentally call Nicolas "Marcel" once - maybe twice - but let's see if it sticks. You can find Nicolas here https://twitter.com/nico_atd For more strategy talk: Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Facebook - join 8,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words”: http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

Welcome back. It’s 2020. What are you going to do about it? Come read 15 Instagram essays here http://www.instagram.com/markpollard and top up your brain with this official Skillshare class http://skl.sh/markpollard PS Much love to friends, family, and strangers in Australia dealing with the bushfires

Sam Sterling is Managing Director of AKQA Greater China and Japan. Mega title, right? She's a doctorate candidate at Fudan and Durham University where she's doing a DBA (Doctorate of Business Administration), in which she's trying to bring a practitioner's mindset to academia while bringing academia a little closer to the practitioner's reality. She's studying the life expectancy of brands. We discuss this. You can find Sam https://www.linkedin.com/in/samsterling For more strategy talk: 1. Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Facebook - join 7,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co 5. The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words" http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

Kate O'Neill went from studying linguistics to making websites to Silicon Valley to Netflix to starting an agency to writing books and speaking around the world. Like many of us, she's interested in meaning. How do we work out what means something to us and how do we express how we mean that something? And this is what we talk about.  You can find Kate here: https://twitter.com/kateo For more strategy talk: 1. Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Facebook - join 7,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co 5. The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words”: http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

Rory Sutherland has a brain the size of a whale in the head of a short, scruffy Englishman who's spent a lifetime trying to work out people while mostly being among them. He’s the Vice Chairman of Ogilvy in London and he recently published the book “Alchemy: The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don't Make Sense”. The book has two subtitles depending on where you look and this makes complete sense because why not? In this chat, Rory douses us in tens and tens of ideas while avoiding most of my attempts to corner him in a deep, cozy, unnecessarily revealing series of confessions about his inner life. We touch on behavioral economics, dating profiles, how Spanish takes longer to write and say than English, taxing wealth not income, homeownership, public speaking, possible Asperger’s, government policy, Rory’s mother, how Rory is contemplating making his next book, travel photos, how your long haul is someone else’s short haul, Humanitarians of Tinder, how young people have it both great and not so great at the same time but in different ways than ever before. This is unedited.  Enjoy the segues because they’re infinite and you’re bound to learn something useful. And, yes, "segue" is said "segway". You can find Rory here https://twitter.com/rorysutherland Rory's book "Alchemy" is here: https://www.amazon.com/Alchemy-Surprising-Power-Ideas-Sense-ebook/dp/B01F1HOAWA For more strategy talk: 1. Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Facebook - join 7,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co 5. The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words”: http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

Helen Edwards is a columnist for Marketing Week, a strategy consultant, and a teaching fellow at London Business School. We discuss the tensions between the worlds of the practitioners and the academics of marketing, amassing credentials, and overachievement. Then we discuss what Helen wants to see change in marketing.  You can find Helen here https://twitter.com/helenedw For more strategy talk: Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words”: http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

Amber Benson is a strategy consultant and an executive-in-residence at SMU in Texas. She consults and she teaches. Yes, she does both. And she believes doing both helps you get better at both. We discuss Texas, what the creative culture is like in Texas, and how she encourages students at SMU to develop empathy and creative skills. You can find Amber here: https://twitter.com/AmberBenson For more strategy talk: 1. Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Facebook - join 7,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co 5. The deskbook “Strategy Is Your Words" http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

Ryan Ford is CCO of Cashmere in Los Angeles. Ryan entered the agency world after working as the executive editor of The Source magazine, one of the most powerful hip hop media voices of all time. So how do the two worlds connect? What did Ryan learn from his journalism days that he applies to his advertising role? How do brands "work within culture"? You can find Ryan here https://twitter.com/fordryan and Cashmere Agency here http://cashmereagency.com/ "Strategy Is Your Words" the deskbook is here: http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

About 15 of your questions answered today. ASMR soon - I promise. Tickets to Strategy Upon A Strategist are $40 and on Eventbrite it you can get a ticket plus book for more here: http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

Vikki Ross is a copywriter in London. She does a lot for the copywriting community - she organizes events and drinks, and she is a powerful and independent voice fighting to improve the respect the industry has for the craft (of copywriting, not of drinking). Also, she would have hated seeing the word "organizes" spelled like that. She probably flinched seeing "spelled" in the passive voice, too. Finally, see how I used brackets? Tsk tsk.  In this episode, we look at a few ads and try to break them down. What's the strategy? What are the words doing? You can watch the video of this discussion in the Sweathead Facebook group and on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyCX2nKj0wY You can find Vikki at https://twitter.com/VikkiRossWrites The book “Strategy Is Your Words" is here: http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

Ryan Wallman is back to talk about his first book Delusions of Brandeur. He's compiling his most powerful pieces of the Internet to put into a compendium dedicated to puncturing the pretensions of marketing. We discuss why the industry is so serious about itself and how this hurts it, the copy-writing community, and self-deprecation.  You can find Ryan here: http://twitter.com/dr_draper.  His book website is here: https://www.delusionsofbrandeur.com/ The Kickstarter for the “Strategy Is Your Words" book is live until December 4 http://bit.ly/strategykickstarter

An episode for all my people thinking about their next jobs when, maybe, a brief pause to think about their next lives is due. Plus some of your questions answered. http://www.strategyisyourwords.com

Natalie Kim runs We Are Next. She is urgently trying to get diverse advertising voices into public while also helping people start their advertising careers well. We hear from hundreds of people every month. So we thought we’d compare notes about what we are hearing for the We Are Next podcast and Sweathead podcast. PS Happy maternity leave, Nat! http://www.we-are-next.com For more strategy talk: 1. Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Facebook - join 7,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The Kickstarter for the “Strategy Is Your Words" book is live until December 4 http://bit.ly/strategykickstarter

Barry Mowszowski has worked at Droga5 in New York as well as Contagious and, after a good stint in the agency world, he decided to go to the Berlin School of Creative Leadership. We discuss getting an executive MBA and the work Barry now does helping leaders to understand how to adapt their companies for creative minds and makers.  You can find Barry here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barrymow The Kickstarter for "Strategy Is Your Words" is live: http://bit.ly/strategykickstarter

Kaitlin Maud is back. As co-founder of Austin's Current Forward, Kaitlin has spent time thinking about and developing products from strategy services. It's one of those ideas that sounds cool and seductive but what does creating strategy products mean and can it even work? You can find Kaitlin here https://twitter.com/kaitlinmaud The Kickstarter for "Strategy Is Your Words" is live http://bit.ly/strategykickstarter

Jason Fox is a copywriter who also writes the social media presence known as Lee Clow's Beard. We discuss how Jason came to create Lee Clow's Beard, melancholy, writing, and the fundamentals our industry can seem too advanced to defend. You can find Jason here https://twitter.com/jason_fox and Lee Clow's Beard here https://twitter.com/leeclowsbeard * The Kickstarter for the “Strategy Is Your Words" book is live until December 4 http://bit.ly/strategykickstarter

Simon McEvoy runs strategy at Omobono in the UK. He's working with his agency on decentralizing how they operate, as well as on building give into the company and into the culture. "Give" - as in encouraging a sense of safety, vulnerability, and forgiveness. But are agencies meant to act like this? And how does it work? This is what we discuss. You can find Simon here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonmcevoy/  For more strategy talk: 1. Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Facebook - join 7,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The Kickstarter for "Strategy Is Your Words" is live: http://bit.ly/strategykickstarter

Jessie White is Executive Creative Director at Instrument in Portland. We discuss two main topics: the graduation from designer to leader and how designers and strategists can work better together. If you work with people in any other kind of discipline and if you're contemplating a shift from being on the tools to being on the people, you'll get something out of Jessie's insights. You can find Jessie here https://twitter.com/jessiefwhite For more strategy talk: 1. Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Facebook - join 7,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The Kickstarter for "Strategy Is Your Words" is live http://bit.ly/strategykickstarter

Thoughts from SoHo about knowing when you have an insight or strategy or idea plus THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING MY KICKSTARTER: http://bit.ly/strategykickstarter

Reema Mitra is VP of Brand at New York's Today Tix, a ticketing platform that gets you into your favorite shows. In this episode, we discuss how brand and product can work better together, the importance of research, and finding your way in a career that has a hunch about what it wants to do but knows it will take a few twists and turns to find it. You can find Reema here: https://twitter.com/rmitty Sweathead strategy classes are in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Derek Walker is a creative director turned agency owner. He writes and reflects extensively about the industry and he believes the advertising industry is operating in the face of constant fear. And he believes a big part of this is because agencies haven’t fought hard enough for themselves. You can find Derek here https://twitter.com/dereklwalker For more strategy talk: 1. Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Facebook - join 7,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The Kickstarter for "Strategy Is Your Words" launches November 5th.

1. Empathy 2. What’s the difference between a strategy and a plan? 3. I got the dates wrong - Kickstarter Tuesday Nov 5, NYC event Wed Dec 4 http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Eaon Pritchard is working on his second book. Sort of. You see, he published his first book in 2018. It was called “Where Did It All Go Wrong?” Then he ran into a career surprise and is now working out what kind of work he wants to do and how to get that work. We talk about how all of this feels like and how to keep going when the going gets shitty. You can find Eaon here: https://twitter.com/eaonp For more strategy talk: 1. Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Facebook - join 7,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The Kickstarter for "Strategy Is Your Words" launches November 5th.

Mary Ergul is a strategist who wants to see companies help strategists start new jobs well. So she made a deck called “Sinking Isn’t An Option” (http://bit.ly/strategyonboarding). Grab the deck, fill it in, and help your fellow strategists fly... or, at least, not drown. Mary mentions working at Havas a few times. She recently left and is joining Madwell. You can find Mary here https://twitter.com/MaryErgul and here http://maryergul.com For more strategy talk: 1. Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Facebook - join 7,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The Kickstarter for "Strategy Is Your Words" launches November 5th.

Sarah Watson likes big pictures. First, as an account planner then as a chairman, Sarah has been drawn to the big picture and to grand narratives and to drawing them out of people, companies, and brands. But, over time, she’s had to learn how to adjust to her clients and colleagues because not everyone knows what to do with a big picture. After all, you don’t usually just hang them on a wall, stand back, and think, “Lovely.” You have to turn them into action. For more strategy talk: 1. Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Facebook - join 7,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The Kickstarter for "Strategy Is Your Words" launches November 5th.

Today’s walk - yeah, things I’m learning about through therapy, confidence, a happy life, job interviews, how maternity leave can feel. This weekend, make some art, yo! http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

In a happy coincidence, an interview I'd scheduled with Jim Carroll occurred hours before he was due to attend the Account Planning Group's Creative Strategy Awards.  The APG really is the leading industry group for the awkward among our industry and, after a hefty career in London, Jim just chaired two days and 27 presentations from England's strategy brains for the APG. So we talked about how he sees the state of creativity in advertising, why planning seems a bit lost, what makes planning work difficult yet powerful, and his analysis of this year's account planning papers and presentations. This interview isn't edited so you know you'll get a few rambling questions.  You can find Jim's writing here: https://www.jimcarrollsblog.com/ For more strategy talk: 1. Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Facebook - join 7,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The Kickstarter for "Strategy Is Your Words" launches November 5th.

Justin Lines is a marketer who recently completed a year at the University of Edinburgh. He's on a mission to investigate the connection between comedy and marketing. His paper "How do comedians reveal the funny?" discusses insights and, especially, how comedians deploy benign violations - thoughts that offend yet seem true - to stir their audiences.  You can read Justin's research here https://justinlines.com and you can find him on Twitter here https://twitter.com/JustinLines1 For more strategy talk: 1. Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Facebook - join 7,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The Kickstarter for "Strategy Is Your Words" launches November 5th.

It's an outer-body experience to have written a bunch of pages about empathy and feelings and how they can affect a strategist (not all strategists because, let's face it, not everyone has feelings), and to then start therapy and have some of the ideas in your writing played back to you but about you.... very about you. Take a listen if you're into any of this. I am. I need to be. You - you have choices :) I'm launching the book as a Kickstarter on November 5, 2019. I'd love your support - even if it's just telling everybody you know about it. You can subscribe to my newsletter for launch details: https://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ You can also follow the adventures on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard And Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard

I wanted to re-record the introduction to my book "Strategy Is Your Words" after making a few changes and because the sound wasn't great six months ago. I'm launching the book as a Kickstarter on November 5, 2019. I'd love your support - even if it's just telling every single person you know about it. Joking. But not joking.  Let me know what you think. I think I'm happy with it which is a very unusual thing for a writer to feel.  You can subscribe to my newsletter for launch details: https://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ You can also follow the adventures on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard And Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard  

Here are stories about mental health experiences from the Sweathead Facebook community. Ben Breier, Julia Vanderput, Abbey Gaunt, and Mariana Cotlear step up and share their minds with us. A huge thanks to them.  You can read Ben's Medium article here: https://medium.com/@misterdisco For more strategy talk: 1. Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Facebook - join 7,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The Kickstarter for "Strategy Is Your Words" launches November 5th.

What's your brain up to? How is technology affecting it? How does dating in New York City affect it? Divorce? Talking on stages? Writing a book? Therapy? Thinking? Tom Goodwin somehow manages to work in a very public role for Publicis while also expressing spontaneous and very candid thoughts about our industry and our world. How does he survive every day? Great question. We get into all these topics and manage to land in a conversation about mental health because we're both nuts. Like you. You can find Tom here https://twitter.com/tomfgoodwin. Check out his book "Digital Darwinism: Survival of the Fittest in the Age of Business Disruption", too. For more strategy talk: 1. Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Facebook - join 7,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The Kickstarter for "Strategy Is Your Words" launches November 5th.

It's World Mental Health Day today and I'm going to post multiple episodes. I wanted to start with this excerpt from my book to help people understand that the strategy life is about a search for truth, how many parts of our public lives aren't interested in truth, and how this tension can create conflict that we risk bringing too much into our internal lives. This is why art is good. It helps you put your truth somewhere. I'm launching a Kickstarter for the book "Strategy Is Your Words" on Tuesday, November 5, 2019. I'd love your support. You can sign up to my newsletter for details http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/. Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard

Heleana Blackwell is a London planner who recently discovered herself doing stand-up comedy. Her brain told her to do it because it would make her better at her job. But Heleana was also looking for new ways to express herself and to experience the world. As she simultaneously moves deeper into comedy and planning, how do the worlds work together? Which skills and techniques transfer? And which don't? You can find Heleana here https://twitter.com/h_a_blackwell For more strategy talk: 1. Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Facebook - join 7,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co The Kickstarter for "Strategy Is Your Words" launches November 5th.

We don’t easily discuss how we feel and what to do when we lose a job. In the Sweathead Facebook group, tens of people answered a question about this last week. We discuss the topic and four people phone in their answers (Brian, Giovanna, Ben, Gustavo). I also talk therapy, dealing with strategy bosses, and I read about Fog from my upcoming book “Strategy Is Your Words.” http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Stan Johnson is a creative director. After years in agencies, he spent half a decade running an in-house team. When he started, he thought people never came back from that kind of move. Yet he made the move. And now he’s back. And this is what we discuss. You can find Stan here: http://www.twitter.com/branddna For more strategy talk: 1. Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Facebook - join 6,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

There's something pure and powerful about pitches - largely because the thinking rarely reaches the public and the time pressures force fast decisions, but they can be wrought with bad behavior. How do you deal with the bad behavior? Do you just have to put up with it? Tim Dunn is an English Executive Strategy Director in Canada. He loves pitches. He has a way with them. And, in this interview, we discuss how he has his way with them.  You can find Tim here https://www.linkedin.com/in/timdunn/ and here https://twitter.com/timmcdunn For more strategy talk: 1. Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Facebook - join 6,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Jon Wilkins has big titles. Yes, two of them. After co-founding and running the agency wunderkind Naked, he's moved into the roles of Executive Chairman of Karmarama and MD and Creative Lead at Accenture Interactive. Actually, perhaps that's three titles. In this episode of Sweathead, we discuss how creative minds are fitting in at management consultancies, what management consultancies can offer these brains and their clients, and what Jon does in his many roles.  You can hear Jon talk about Naked, communications planning, and agency culture on Sweathead here: https://anchor.fm/sweathead-with-mark-pollard/episodes/Strategic-Integrity---Jon-Wilkins--Cofounder-of-Naked-e4vqb3 You can find Jon here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wilkinsjon For more strategy talk: 1. Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Facebook - join 6,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

In which I read from my book “Strategy Is Your Words” and focus on why I think practicing and publishing are important ideas for strategists. We also talk about which skills are useful for someone in business intelligence to learn to make the leap into planning, seeing patterns, and an insight I think is amazing. Ask questions here: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

How comfortable are you with putting your personal details into the world? Do you think they'll hurt you or help you? Last time Nayantara Dutta appeared on Sweathead, I interviewed her about identity - and growing up in different places around the world. This time, we have more of a conversation - and less of an interview - about telling the stories, perhaps secrets, that make us who we are. Nayantara also talks about her impromptu interview of M. Night Shyamalan at the recent Adcolor Conference in Los Angeles. You can find Nayantara here: https://www.nayantaradutta.com For more strategy talk: 1. Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Facebook - join 6,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Tom Crichtlow is an independent consultant who helps start-ups with digital strategy. Based in Brooklyn, Tom originally moved from London to New York to help establish a US presence for his brother's agency Distilled in 2007. His work in SEO, content, and digital marketing then took him to the Google Creative Lab but, after two years of bouncing around and not quite hitting his stride, he struck out by himself. He's currently writing a book - much of it in public - about going and staying independent. And this is what we discuss. You can find Tom's writing here https://tomcritchlow.com/ and his Tweets here https://twitter.com/tomcritchlow For more strategy talk: 1. Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Facebook - join 6,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Another episode of Live Action Strategy with Julian Cole. We chat The Strategy Super Sizer Megaclass, the 4 Live Action Strategy decks that are now online (lamps, tacos, vegetarian burgers, and crocs), and we riff a strategy live for getting people like Julian to go to the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) to renew their licenses.  The Megaclass details are here: http://www.strategymegaclass.com (NYC, October 4, 2019 is next) JC is here: https://twitter.com/juliancole The Live Action Strategy decks - from brief to comms plan - are here: Lamps: http://bit.ly/LiveStrategyLamps Dos Toros: http://bit.ly/LiveStrategyDosToros Beyond Burger: http://bit.ly/LiveStrategyBurger Crocs: http://bit.ly/LiveStrategyCrocs For more strategy talk: 1. Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Facebook - join 6,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Today we chat about how to make a point and why so much advertising talk and writing seems to lack one. You can ask questions here: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Praveen Vaidyanathan has worked around the world but currently calls Copenhagen home. He's a strategy director at VIRTUE/VICE Nordics, and, as he's traveled around, he's contemplated the agencies in which he'd like to work and how they talk about themselves. He's contemplated them so much that he compiled a list of 700 agency philosophies. In this interview, we discuss what an agency philosophy is, the categories of philosophy that Praveen sees, and Praveen's favorite philosophies.  You can find Praveen here https://twitter.com/v_praveen and his list of 700 agency philosophies here https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ad-agency-philosophies-taglines-global-700-praveen-vaidyanathan-1c/ For more strategy talk: 1. Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Facebook - join 6,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Vicky Chen is Head of Strategy at VIRTUE Nordic (part of Vice) in Copenhagen. She arrived in strategy via psychology and writing. She's worked in New York, Amsterdam, and San Francisco at agencies such as Naked, Sid Lee, and AKQA. She reached strategy in an indirect way, much like many of us. And this is what we discuss. How do you get into strategy? What are the pros and cons of advertising schools? And why people from different backgrounds make for better strategy departments. You can find Vicky here http://linkedin.com/in/vtchen For more strategy talk: 1. Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Facebook - join 6,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Ben Shaw is Head of Strategy at BBH London. As an eleven-year veteran of one of the world's best agencies and one of the world's favorite homes to agency strategists, Ben believes that strategy is a creative role and that strategy departments need to contain more people from different backgrounds to be as creative as possible. We discuss both topics, including BBH's year-and-a-half mission to open itself up to people who wouldn't normally get access to an advertising career in London.      You can find Ben here https://twitter.com/benshaw  BBH's Homegrown program is here https://www.bartleboglehegarty.com/careers/internship-homegrown  Sweathead strategy classes are in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Scenario - Eighty people work in your Mumbai headquarters and you have new teams emerging in London and New York. You want to keep improving the quality of your work and you want the business to keep growing. What do you do?  After eight years in the American corporate world at GE and AIG, Libby Swan moved to India to create a new life. There she co-founded PRDXN, a creative and technology company, in 2006. We discuss the tools Libby uses for perspective, and how she and her team are thinking about growing their company. They don't think of themselves as an "agency," but I used it in the title because you're probably in one. You can find PRDXN here http://www.prdxn.com and Libby here https://twitter.com/libswan For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 6,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Nick Williams is a strategist in Colorado. He's listened to nearly all the episodes of Sweathead. As a form of study. So I wanted to ask him what he's learned from having hours of strategy folk in his head, how he's thinking about where to take his career, and we talk through a hypothetical strategy. I rambled a bit too much in this one. Sorry, Nick! You can find Nick here:  https://nicholasawilliams.com For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Rob Schwartz is CEO of TBWA\CHIAT\DAY New York. A big agency brand name, TBWA in New York was a shining star then it faded. When Rob arrived, the culture had been decimated and clients were either leaving or very unhappy.  In this interview, we discuss the turn-around story. Rob shares with us the business plan he shared with global CEO Troy Ruhanen and he discusses what they discussed before he took the role. He also describes what he focused on in his first few months.  It's a very candid interview - although I can tell Rob is comfortable in candor.  You can find TBWA NY here https://tbwachiatdayny.com Rob is here: https://twitter.com/Schwartzie14    Sweathead strategy classes are in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Nadia Piet is a freelance experience and service designer in Amsterdam. We discuss service design and trying to design a career with a focus on the power and risks in personal narratives, utopian and dystopian ideas in artificial intelligence narratives, designing a career that involves feeling like an outsider and moving around a lot. You can find Nadia here http://nadiapiet.com/ and here https://www.instagram.com/nadiapiet/ For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 6,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Saturday afternoon in São Paulo, how good is this? Come for a walk from Pinheiros to Livraria Cultura for some chat about Brazil and strategy. Ask questions here: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Iuren Ramiro is a planner in São Paulo, Brazil. He helps run Planners BR, a Facebook group with thousands of Brazilian planners, as well as the podcast PlannersCast. As a fellow planner who likes to bring other planners together, I was curious to talk to Iuren about the state of strategy in Brazil - how planners feel about their industry right now, the important topics they're discussing, and how they use Planners BR.  You can find Iuren here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iuren/en and Planners BR on Facebook. For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 6,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Vibeke Skov is a Danish psychologist with a focus on creativity. She's published six books and has a keen interest in Carl Jung, art therapy, mythology, and dreams. We discuss the power of using myths and stories as roadmaps for life, dealing with shame, depression, and feeling the wrong person in life. I know this is an episode I'll be sending to many people over the coming years. I know you'll get a lot out of it. Listen to it before you need it (also when you need it). You can find Vibeke here http://www.vibekeskov.com/ and The Institute for Art Therapy here: https://en.kunstterapi.dk For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 6,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Anant Rangaswami watches advertising. Having launched Campaign Magazine in India, worked for CNBC and First Post, and, now working as the editor of MELT on WION, Anant gets around a lot of conversations happening in advertising agencies and in marketing. He believes that creativity is disappearing due to a combination of short-term thinking, too many numbers, and several other dynamics. And this is what we discuss. You can find Anant here: https://twitter.com/AnantRangaswami and some of his interviews here: https://readytomelt.com For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 6,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Today, we look at a scenario where junior strategists are the only strategists in the agency but the bosses don’t seem to want it to work. What do you do? Also, moving to a new city, charging for strategy (Jake Fagan - my accent is Australian like Keith Urban, your hero), San Francisco, and I tell you something I’ve never told people about my work. You can ask questions here: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Tom Trenta runs the research and strategy agency Positive in Chicago. Previously, he was Chief Strategist at EggStrategy and a VP of Account Planning at Leo Burnett. The point of the CV is he's been working strategy since the 1990s and he sells it every day. So, how do people buy strategy? How has selling strategy changed? What makes selling strategy difficult? And if you sell strategy for 20 years, what are realistic expectations about the career and the likelihood of your thinking being able to affect any given project? You can find Tom and Positive here: http://www.we-are-positive.com     For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 6,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Laura Bambach is D&AD President, co-founder of SheSays, and Chief Creative Officer of Mr President in London. In this episode, we discuss the work of a Chief Creative Officer. What does a CCO do? How do they look at the work? What's the best way for them to spend time? Laura compares her experiences working in leading roles in large agencies to her time at Mr President. She also discusses her work with SheSays and the conversations we need to have more of when it comes to women working in advertising.  You can find Laura here: https://twitter.com/laurajaybee      For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Jon Wilkins was a cofounder of Naked, a prolific agency that burst into the world in the year 2000 then rampaged into some of the toughest advertising markets to establish itself as a much admired creative force. The agency attracted brilliant misfits and championed the idea of communications planning (using media in novel ways and in ways that magnified or played with the campaign ideas - as opposed to just stuffing them into a generic media plan). After Naked, Jon was hired as Executive Chairman of Karmarama and he is now Global Managing Director of the Creative Council at Accenture Interactive. Yes, he's had a big career.  In this first part of a two-part chat, we discuss Naked - how and why it started, how it thought, whether it could start again now and what would have to be different for it to succeed now.  You can find Jon here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wilkinsjon For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Farrah Bostic runs The Difference Engine where she does brand strategy and qualitative research. In this chat, we discuss the latter and Farrah shares very clearheaded and astute observations about where research is at and is able to do so through the mind of a strategist - as in, someone who has to also use the research. We discuss the challenges research is facing, what data is, what a data-driven insight is, and much more. You can find Farrah here https://twitter.com/farrahbostic and here https://www.thedifferenceengine.co.  For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Politics, ego, and extroverts - how do you deal with them? In this episode, we answer 20-plus questions about working with other people - why it’s difficult, whether it needs to be difficult, and how to make it less difficult. Stream-of-consciousness. Someone gave the podcast a 1-star rating. If you’ve gotten something out of the 135 episodes, could you drop a 5 star rating in iTunes, please? I’m fragile. http://www.instagram.com/markpollard (PS The recording cut off a few minutes so I added a second section - hopefully the sound is just good enough)

Olivia Poglianich is a freelance brand strategist from New York. She studied at Cornell and interned at BBDO. She was a finalist in BBH's Griffin Farley's Beautiful Minds strategy bootcamp, she volunteered for the 4A's StratFest, she studied some more and then she thought... "What have I signed up for? Maybe there's another way to live." So, now, she does strategy and marketing work while moving around the world - working out how to earn enough to live a good life without giving her life to a corporation. And this is what we talk about. You can find Olivia here: https://www.instagram.com/lostwithliv For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 6,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Art direction is a beautiful thing - to reach for an idea that says one thing clearly and clearer than the other visual ideas it competes with and to do so in a way that makes unique sense for a brand. But does art direction still exist? Or, does it exist like it could? With the rise of social media, rapid turnarounds, cheap stock image options, mood boards and social media calendars, multivariate testing, and a whole chunk of the industry just banging out work to stay alive, are we doing a good enough job with the ideas people see?  Meet Cathy Heng, an art director recognized by D&AD, Cannes, the British Arrows, and the IPA Effectiveness Awards. She even featured in Campaign’s ‘Top 100’ Hall of Fame for her work on BMW.  We discuss what art direction is, how it happens, good examples, and how to do it better. You can find Cathy here: https://www.cathyheng.com For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Bogdana Butnar is currently contracting as Digital Strategy Director at Accenture, London. She ran strategy at Poke, she once worked at Google, and she was MD of MRM in Romania. She's a ferocious learner, she loves product and service design, and, after an exceptional career in agencies, she is now playing her mind to a management consultancy.  We discuss the different shades of digital strategy, how the title can even confuse the people who do it, experience strategy and what is it?, working in silos, the programmatic mind, and building models. Oh, and baking and dating. You can find Bogdana here http://www.twitter.com/bogdana  For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Today, a chat about strategy job interviews, Europe, happiness, moving goal posts, problems, favorite projects, and more. Thanks for your questions: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Faris Yakob is a Cofounder of strategy and innovation consultancy Genius Steals. A prolific thinker and writer, he has worked all over the world and is now six years into also living all over the world. But what we discuss in this interview is having a mind that sometimes won’t stop moving - how it feels, how Faris tries to deal with it, and why people find the topic so difficult to discuss. You can find Faris here: http://www.twitter.com/faris. Don’t forget to read his book “Paid Attention”. 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

What research is useful research? How can we deal with bias? What’s a good way to take notes? What are common pitfalls in research interviews? Does intuition matter? And more. http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

JP Hanson is CEO of strategy consultancy Rouser where he works with executives to improve their marketing. He also contributes to Marketing Week. In this chat, we discuss what makes someone commercially minded, the CMO's struggle for credibility, and how JP approaches his writing. You can find JP here https://twitter.com/rouserjp and Rouser here https://rouser.se/ For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Rosie Yakob runs the nomadic strategy and innovation consultancy Genius Steals. She moves around the world with her partner Faris doing strategy work and talks, and constantly contemplates their belief system and how to apply it to their lives outside of the New York agency world. We discuss their goals of working 20 hours per week, of not having an exit strategy, how they'd work on a project with very little time, the importance of creating space for yourself, and the value of patience. You can find Rosie here https://twitter.com/rosieyakob and Genius Steals here http://geniussteals.co/ For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

10+ questions from Instagram answered in Amsterdam, including:  What would you say to an immigrant strategist trying to find work in a new country? Why can’t strategists strategize their own lives? Does anxiety and depression help you be a more creative thinker? What did you learn from writing raps that makes its way into strategy work? How can I grow in strategy without a boss or a good boss? For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co

Toby Ryan runs security in a large casino-resort in Macau. It’s one of the biggest in the world. He’s worked in security for over two decades, having trained in martial arts and initially wanting to apply his skills for a living. In this chat, we discuss what he’s learned about people in his job - as a “simple guy”, then a manager, and now as someone running one of the largest casino-resort security operations in the world.   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Rachita Vasan is a strategist at Leo Burnett in Chicago. Recently, she presented thoughts about being less racist and less shitty in the workplace. A friend filmed it. I saw it. We invited Rachita to present it at The Strategy Super Sizer Megaclass in Chicago. And, now, she’s here sharing it into your ears. This episode features Rachita’s talk and then an interview. You can find Rachita here https://www.instagram.com/rachitavasan/ For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Tim Levinson is a rapper, songwriter, label manager, and artist manager. He’s been in the public eye for two decades as Urthboy and as part of the Elefant Traks record label (Hermitude are one of the groups representing the label around the world). We discuss how Tim thinks about his art and touch on many ideas a strategist would do well to absorb into their lives. You can find Tim here https://twitter.com/urthboy For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard   3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Lauren Joyce is the National Strategy Director at the Australian Radio Network, a company that reaches millions of Australians every week. She's also worked in media agencies (Universal McCann), branded content, and in another publisher (Mamamia, a publisher that reaches 4 million Australians each month). We discuss how strategy is different in each of these types of companies, how to deal with short timelines, and how being a parent can shape your strategy life. You can find Lauren here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lscassar/ For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard   3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Alasdair Lloyd-Jones is a strategist-turned-CSO-turned-President-turned-COO-turned-CEO. Most recently, he led SET Creative, an agency that recently sold. I caught Alasdair as he was contemplating what to do next - should he create his own agency, go client-side, or join another agency with deep experience design expertise? This feels like a rare conversation - someone who's lived in multiple countries and who's had many different roles and who still loves what he does having an open chat about how he's thinking through what to do next.  You can find Alasdair here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alasdair-lloyd-jones   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

How does it feel to be a strategist and have people invite you into strategy projects but not to do strategy? Instead, sometimes you're invited to "represent your people," a solo focus group on behalf of an entire population. How does it feel to be a lead strategist and have people invite you to meetings but treat you like you're not a lead strategist? These things have happened to Melle. And Melle wanted to discuss them. You can find Melle here http://www.twitter.com/mellehnyc Art Noir, her art collective, is here http://www.artnoir.co For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Trine Keller-Andreason is a planner at Forsman & Bodenfors. She's worked in Denmark and New York, but now lives in Sweden. Just over a week ago, her team won the inaugural Creative Strategy Grand Prix at The Cannes International Festival of Creativity. The project took Volvo's history and focus on safety somewhere it hadn't been before. This will come as no surprise because Forsman & Bodenfors is an agency many haven't seen before. They espouse a certain humanity and equality in how they work with each other - there isn't much formal hierarchy, there aren't many big titles, and people have to agree before projects can move ahead. Recently, the agency name arrived in New York through osmosis with KBS. But consensus, flat hierarchy, and small titles, can that even work in New York? You can find Trine here: https://twitter.com/trineka  For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Today - a quick word to strategists who work in pre-sales for tech platforms and publishers, as well as for agencies that are new to strategy and mostly use it in pitches. Plus questions about doing strategy without much time, finding out things without being able to talk to people, and what planners need from Heads of Planning.  For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/   2. Strategy drawings: www.instagram.com/markpollard    3. Strategy Twitter: www.twitter.com/markpollard   4. Join 5,000+ strategists: www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Max Slonim is a senior strategist at Initiative in New York. He's attended the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity twice. The first time he attended was to compete as a Young Lion. He and his partner had 24 hours to come up with a campaign. This year, he attended the academy.  You can think what you want of the festival - good or bad. That's because you're an independent thinker. I have no vested interest in seeing the event in any particular way. Truth is, it's a private, profit-focused enterprise. It's not some universally ordained governing body or representation of what we do. It doesn't represent me. It's a business. It's its own thing. I spoke there once. I enjoyed it. But I didn't get carried away with the materialistic nature of it - the boats, the rosé, the awards. I didn't even drink. But so what? If you're into that, do you. And then know that people you didn't give pay-rises to this year because your holding company is 15 years into salary freezes are watching. Live with it. Max has also enjoyed his two tours of Cannes. And this is what we discuss.  You can find Max here: https://twitter.com/maxslonim For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: www.instagram.com/markpollard   3. Strategy Twitter: www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Your questions answered in the face like a dog with its head out the window of a car speeding down a freeway.  For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: www.instagram.com/markpollard   3. Strategy Twitter: www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Zoe Scaman runs Bodacious, a strategy consultancy in London. After a good run through Droga5, Undercurrent, Naked, and Adidas (yeah yeah, this is your dream list), Zoe isn't exactly settling down because maybe that's not how she's made. In fact, after growing up bouncing around, getting expelled twice, living in America, West Sussex, and Sydney, and constantly seeking new experiences and new ideas, maybe she came to the realization she didn't fit in anywhere and then she had to work out how to create the thing in which she fitted. But now that this is written here, she'll probably defy it. So, whatever. We discuss: - How Zoe grew up - What makes a good strategist - The consulting life We touch on mental health, self-perception, self-worth, and a bunch of other ideas that I think a lot of people will relate to, and I appreciate Zoe's openness.  You can find Zoe here https://twitter.com/zoescaman and Bodacious here http://www.bodacious.be/ For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

ECD Chapin Clark works at R/GA in New York. He has done so for a very long time, so long R/GA put its voice in his hands. It's not because he outlived his coworkers and R/GA had no choice, and it's not because Chapin got all Hunger Games at the office one long Winter's day. He just knows how to write things we wish we could say.  We discuss: - Moving from journalism into advertising - Why on Earth R/GA would trust Chapin with its Tweets - How Chapin thinks about writing - What gets in the way of brands doing Chapin to themselves (I call this "Chapining" - feel free to use it, especially if you work with Chapin) You can find Chapin here http://www.twitter.com/chapinc and R/GA's Tweets here http://www.twitter.com/rga May you enjoy his voice in your ear holes the way R/GA enjoys its voice in his hands. For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Nayantara Dutta has lived in Scotland, Vietnam, Hong Kong, India, and the USA. As a third culture kid, she has had to contemplate how to fit in as she's moved around while also learning different ways of being. And, in advertising, she's found a way to take this experience and contemplation and turn it into a career in New York, then into a report about young Muslim women.  We discuss: - Growing up around the world - The South Asian renaissance - Unapologetically Muslim - Nayantara's trend report about young Muslim women You can find Nayantara and her report here: https://www.nayantaradutta.com  For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Mickey Taylor runs Adweak, a satirical Internet presence that mocks advertising and all the silly things we do. He's a long-time creative director on the West Coast of the USA and has navigated his career from more traditional channels into running a Twitter account that thousands pay attention to every single day. We discuss: - What Adweak is all about and what Mickey has learned from doing it - How social media isn't just for kids - Working on the West Coast - Having a heyday (maybe you're having one right now) You can find Adweak here https://twitter.com/adweak and Adweak Studio here https://adweakstudio.com   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

In this episode, I answer a few questions from Instagram - Does strategy need a rebrand? How do you get an executional client to think bigger? How do you avoid post-rationalizing ideas? What’s up with “purpose”? For AMAs: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Megan Averell runs The Insight Inn, a research and strategy consultancy. After years working in large agencies, she decided she’d had enough of Bro culture - misogyny dressed as creativity and frat games. So, she left. Then she researched her own industry and, after speaking to 20 women, she published what she’d found on her website and she presented it at The 3% Conference. Now, she discusses it here. You can find Megan here https://twitter.com/Meggatron and here https://theinsightinn.com  For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Duane Brown runs a digital marketing agency called Take Some Risk. He’s all across PPC (Pay Per Click) and the hashtag of the PPC community #PPCChat. He’s visited 40 countries and he has just moved from Vancouver to Montreal. And along the way, he’s spent time working out the company he wants to work in while building it. We discuss:  Basic digital performance marketing concepts Not charging for hours worked Quora, Pinterest, Reddit, Google Shopping, Facebook When a client outgrows you Which categories are hard to sell online Working out what you want to do and not do You can find Duane here https://twitter.com/duanebrown and his company here https://www.takesomerisk.com/   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter 2. Strategy drawings: www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

A quick look at the ZeeMELT Conference in Mumbai this week just after I arrived back in NY. It includes a brief summary of talks by Faris & Rosie, Laura Bambach, Vicki Ross, Dave Trott, Kate O’Neill, Mr Sodhi, Samuel Scott, Fernando Machado, Rodger Beekman, Gerardo Mazzeo, JP Hanson and Wiemer Snijders. Complete with at least 200 mistakes and mispronunciations. Shout-outs to Payal, Sanika, Tushar, and Animesh for hanging out and to the Kyoorius crew for bringing us out - Rajesh, Anant, Pakhi, Nupur. P.S. My currency conversion was horribly wrong - where I mention $800 it’s closer to $8   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: www.instagram.com/markpollard    3. Strategy Twitter: www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Dos Toros is a Mexican food joint. They are lunch-sponsoring the first occurrence of The Strategy Super Sizer Megaclass in New York. So we thought we'd throw around some ideas like the last episode Julian and I did together. Can we think out loud and messy and try - just try - to find a thread from problem to comms idea and tactics in less than an hour and then draw it up? Will any of it make sense? This time, we brought in Davis Ballard who provided research support (Thanks, Davis!). This is hypothetical thinking. And it's an unedited pod. If you think you can beat it, beat it! Julian and I will do a Live Action Strategy sesh live in our Megaclasses (NYC, Chicago, LA). You can find Julian's newsletter Planning Dirty (not Dirty Planning or Planking Dirty) and his Tweets here: http://www.twitter.com/juliancole. You can find Davis here: https://twitter.com/mrdavisballard. The Strategy Super Sizer Megaclass: http://bit.ly/StrategySuperSizer The deck for the last Live Action Strategy sesh (Lamps): http://bit.ly/LiveStrategyLamps The deck for this Live Action Strategy sesh (Dos Toros): http://bit.ly/LiveStrategyDosToros Sweathead strategy classes are in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Writing creative briefs, creative brief templates, running brief-writing workshops, propositions, and more. Shout-outs to Gillian Rightford and Shane O’Leary for the Saturday morning encouragement. http://www.instagram.com/markpollard For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Lauren Cole is Senior Manager of Inclusion & Diversity at The One Club For Creativity. In this role, Lauren helps organizations improve how they understand and apply important ideas about creating workforces that represent the communities they're in, while helping individuals understand more about the industry they are in or might enter. We discuss: - The very concepts of diversity and inclusion - The most pressing diversity and inclusion issues right now - Euphemisms and perpetual surprises about diversity and inclusion You can find Lauren here: https://twitter.com/MsCole84 For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

How do you learn strategy? In this episode we look at 15+ questions from strategists around the world and we discuss deliberate practice, sets, and practice as sanity. Ask questions here: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Ben Phillips is Strategy Director at Anomaly in New York. His parents are from America. I'll claim him as Australian because my family and I walked past him this one time in Ultimo, Sydney. He did work in Sydney. Then he spent a bunch of years in London and he worked at R/GA there. He's also the best skateboarder on the strategy Internet. He got engaged last year but, when we spoke, he either got the date or the year wrong because he was so excited about... talking to me. Or getting married. You decide. We discuss: - London - New York - London - New York You can find Ben here https://twitter.com/Ben_Phillips For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

James Kirkham co-founded and co-sold the agency Holler. He started it in London. He was young and naive. He worked to spread offices around the world. Then he sold Holler to Leo Burnett. Now, he is the Chief Business Officer of Copa90, a football fan media empire. We discuss:  - Going from freelance to business - The power of young naivety - Luck, proximity, hard work, recession, catching waves, and audacity - What James has learned about football culture in recent years You can find James here https://twitter.com/spoonybear and Copa90 here https://copa90.com.   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Kate Richardson is a marketing consultant who can work on a wide array of projects. As a generalist, she touches business strategy, marketing strategy, digital and comms planning, and, now, coaching and training. She once worked at Naked in Australia (news came out this week of their merger with BMF), she was the National Strategy Director of the TV network Channel Ten, and she believes in sabbaticals as a way to get distance from the day to day. She also contributed a chapter to "Eat Your Greens". We discuss: - How to approach career changes - How to find the story in a generalist career - The pros and cons of consulting You can find Kate here https://www.katerichardson.co and here https://twitter.com/KateRichardson   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

A chat about 27 things that make strategy harder than it needs to be as suggested by the good folks who answered my question about this on Instagram. Plus 21 things that I believe make a good operating system for doing good work. If you like these walks, let me know: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Julian Cole was formerly the Head of Comms Planning at BBDO in New York. We've known each since around 2008. We've blogged, taught Skillshare, and spoken at conferences side by side. And now we're doing a strategy class in a bunch of different cities side by side. It's called The Strategy Super Sizer Megaclass.  We discuss: - Revenge-astroturfing a bank by walking into it and yelling at it - The value of writing and putting yourself out there - Giving useful feedback about ideas - Working better with media agencies - An impromptu strategy for saving lamps from hypothetical extinction You can find Julian and his Planning Dirty newsletter here: https://twitter.com/juliancole And you can find out about the MEGACLASS here: http://www.strategymegaclass.com Sweathead strategy classes are in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

I don't know how good Mike is at strategy but I'd hire him just from how good he is at the things that make a good strategist: finding out stuff, spending time in unfamiliar places, talking to people, documenting it all, and putting it out into the world.  Mike is from London but has lived in Tokyo for the past 11 years. He's a journalist, documentary-maker, and DJ, and he spends his days at Mullen Lowe, where he founded their cultural insights group Tokyo20XX. He speaks Japanese. He's written for The Japan Times and the BBC. Just check him out: https://www.mikesunda.com/ We discuss: - Starting fresh in a new city - At what point is observing culture also participating in it? - That freelance writer/DJ lifestyle - Dealing with doing deep research but shallow outputs - Orientalism    For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

I interviewed Rob about philosophy a year ago. This time, we chat anxiety and what it's good for. For some reason, there are topics like this that I really want to talk about but when I ask the questions... I get a little anxious and they don't come out right. And I think some of my questions here a bit vague but Rob handled it well. You can find Rob and his newsletter Salmon Theory at https://twitter.com/robistyping   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon. 

Here are answers to about 20 questions people asked today via Instagram Stories. The questions include: How do you inspire creative teams? What do I do without a planning director for a year? What are some useful presentation tips? What’s a good creative brief template? Should anybody give up? Is getting credit important? Find me on Instagram here: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Nicole Landesman is Head of Business Development at BBDO in New York, where she helps potential clients navigate everything BBDO has to offer. And she was once a planner. We discuss: - The BBDO new business process - What’s going on inside a marketer’s mind during a pitch - What makes a useful pitch brief - Moving form planning to business development   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Jason Lonsdale is the Head of Brand Strategy at Ogvily. Originally from New Zealand but now based in New York, Jason manages a team of strategists across America.  We discuss: - What Ogilvy New York is about - B2B marketing - The New York agency landscape - Advice for upcoming strategists You can find Jason here: https://twitter.com/jasonlonsdale   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Helene Dick is Strategy Director at New York's Barton F Graf, an agency renowned for provocative work. And in a time where provocative work seems rare, how on Earth do these ideas travel through an agency committed to them? And what role do planners play? We discuss: - The work: Supercell, Welch’s, Little Caesars, Emerald Nuts, The Climate Name Change, Ragu - Briefs, briefings, and reviews - Client presentations You can find Helene here http://twitter.com/helenebd   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

John Kenny is CSO of FCB Chicago, an agency with a planning team of 85 people. A transplant from Ireland who arrived in Chicago many years ago to attend college, John has seen planning in America since the early days of planning in America. We discuss: - Why John feels so bullish about the future of planning - What makes planning and planners work - Planning in the USA You can find John here https://twitter.com/johnxkenny   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Dave McCaughan was a public librarian for 10 years then worked 27 years for McCann in Australia, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Japan. This makes him one of Australia's earliest planners. He is still based in Asia - Bangkok, Thailand, and he hosts a podcast about market research called MR Realities. He talks, he advises, and he is definitely open to you asking him about planning. We discuss: -  The Australian Planner - The white Australian male - Stereotypes - useful or not useful? - How do you know when you’ve gone beyond a stereotype? - Current and interesting market research and survey techniques - Marshall McLuhan and Umberto Ecco You can find Dave here https://twitter.com/bibliosexuality   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Mylene Ong is the Head of Strategy at Colenso BBDO in Auckland, New Zealand. She has worked in New York, Shanghai, and her hometown Singapore. Much of our discussion uses Singapore, a country that is just over 50 years old, as a metaphor for the future of advertising. We also discuss: - Adapting yourself to different cultures - Generalists and specialists in strategy departments  - How working in a small market in an agency that consistently does good work might be the only shortcut there is  You can find Mylene here https://nz.linkedin.com/in/mylene-ong  P.S. I think she's hiring. P.P.S. According to various rankings, Colenso BBDO, is one of the best advertising agencies in the world http://www.colensobbdo.co.nz For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

On Instagram, I recently asked people what questions they had about insights and I responded as an Instagram Story. This episode of Sweathead is those questions and my responses but on a walk around Central Park. Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

John Harris is CEO and President of Worldwide Partners. Worldwide Partners is a network of 72 independent agencies in 40 countries. It has existed since 1938. One thing that makes Worldwide Partners interesting is that the agencies own the network - the network doesn’t own the agencies. John helps make it work and, insodoing, he has great insight into the minds, needs, and trends of the independent agency. We discuss: - CEO and President - What exactly are these roles? - How an independent network works - The psychology of people who run independent agencies - Why people set up agencies - Trends with new independent agencies You can find John here https://www.linkedin.com/in/netharris and Worldwide Partners here https://www.worldwidepartners.com/ For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Emma Brooks leads marketing at Toronto's Wattpad. Wattpad serves stories to 70 million people around the world every month. Many of the authors are anonymous and many share as they write. Some of the stories are making their ways into books and movies. It's an intimate community where people are able to share ideas that haven't always belonged elsewhere. Also, Emma worked in advertising for over a decade.  So, we discuss: - The stories and community of Wattpad  - Why Emma decided to leave advertising - What it's like on the other side You can find Emma here: https://twitter.com/ejbrooks   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Gareth Price is a senior planner at JWT/WundermanThompson in London. He won the 2017 IPA President’s Prize and the Advertising category in the 2018 WPP Atticus Awards for his IPA Excellence Diploma thesis, Thinklong, which outlined a seven-point plan to tackle short-termism in marketing. So we decided to talk about writing about strategy. Topics include: - The IPA Excellence Diploma - Short-termism and Gareth's thesis about why people don't think long - Writing about strategy - why even do it? You can find Gareth here https://twitter.com/G_Price P.S. There are minor glitches in my questions - well, the sound of my questions. But Gareth's audio is 100%.   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Matt Tanter is the Chief Strategy Officer at Grey London and the Chair of the Account Planning Group (APG). As far as planning credentials go, CSO + Grey + London + Chair of APG = legit. He's a leader who's interested in culture over process and I thought I'd talk to him about this focus to help companies trying to bring in planning understand that you can't just drop in a planner and have planning. Planning happens within an operating system - a city, an agency type, an agency, the philosophy of the agency, the processes of the agency, and the attitudes of managers. We discuss: - Establishing a good culture of planning - The pressures on planners right now - Managing up - Mental health in planning' - The APG and its creative planning awards Shoutouts to all the lone planners or people trying to establish planning where it has never existed. You can find Matt here https://twitter.com/matttanter and the APG here https://www.apg.org.uk/   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Gillian Rightford grew up in the vibrant South African advertising industry. Now, Gillian lectures at the University of Cape Town and, in her company Ad Therapy, she consults with marketers and agencies about how to do better creative work and how to have better relationships to get to better creative work.   We discuss: - Why marketing suffers a credibility issue - The advertising industry in South Africa - Global brands and missteps in going local - The broader societal need for creativity You can find Gillian here https://twitter.com/grightford and here http://www.adtherapy.co.za/   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Govind Pandey is CEO of TBWA\India, a global advertising agency he sees as a startup. This idea is an easy one to say but Govind can speak to what this actually means as part of his philosophy of running the company (Is the agency solving interesting problems well? Is the agency applying what they learn back to their projects? Are they building new revenue streams and pricing models because of this?). We discuss these ideas and we get into the challenges of taking global brands to India, a country with states bigger than many countries. And we chat planning because, guess what? Govind was a planner. And we hear how TBWA mandates 12% of direct costs to planning and how the global CEO looks at this. Amazing. Topics we touch: - How brands like Suzuki, McDonalds, Coca Cola, and Cadburys have adjusted to India - The role of celebrity in Indian advertising - Going from planner to management, CEO You can find Govind here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/govind-pandey-9309b0/   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Anselmo Ramos cofounded and sold the Miami agency David after years working his way around the world. Madrid, New York, Sao Paulo, and Buenos Aires feature on his itinerary. He recently cofounded another agency, Gut. You'll know him from his work with Burger King and Dove's "Real Beauty Sketches." He takes risks and takes on clients who' also take risks. For, what else is there? We discuss: - The difficulties in doing brave work - The challenges in finding brave clients - The shared DNA of planning and creative roles - A rubric to apply to ideas in creative reviews - The importance of dating in business It's one of those chats to which I hope strategists, creative teams, and clients can listen to develop more empathy and commit to bigger ambition for and with each other. You can find Anselmo here: https://twitter.com/anselmoramos   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Lynne D Johnson is an adjunct professor at SUNY, she's worked in agencies like R/GA, in publishing companies such as Fast Company, and she did a stint at the Advertising Research Foundation. She has spent well over two decades tinkering with the Internet, blogging, and expressing on social media. Lynne and I first crossed paths when Lynne was at Vibe Magazine - and I was publishing a hip hop magazine in Australia (Stealth), so it was great to be able to speak in public all these years later with both of us now in the same city. We discuss: - The early days of magazine publishing, social networks, and the Internet - Blogging While Black - SxSW 2005 - Introversion and public self-expression - Dealing with online trolls - Class, race, and gender in media - Finding your voice online You can find Lynne here: https://twitter.com/lynneluvah For strategy articles and drawings: www.markpollard.net www.instagram.com/markpollard New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Heidi Hackemer. Many of you have heard of her, met her, watched her speak, or read her. Many of you will have seen her article "I've cried on a few runs lately" in which she documents losing her job at the Chan Zuckerburg Institute, family health problems, closing the agency she co-founded, edging towards 40 years of age... and now what?  We spoke on the day Heidi was due to get an impressive tattoo so I wanted to publish this close to the conversation. It's raw, intimate, candid. Everyone is working things out. We discuss: - Creating space for yourself to speak to yourself - Working in advertising but not really being into buy stuff - Recovering from personal and career wipeout You can find Heidi here https://www.instagram.com/uberblond and here https://medium.com/@uberblond.   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Kaitlin Maud recently set up Current Forward, a strategy collective based in Austin, Texas. And as part of her preparation for our conversation (yes, sometimes people do homework... but I don't judge either way), Kaitlin asked the strategy community on Twitter about strategy taboos - what topics or points of view are just too raw for us to admit or examine?   The taboos we discuss:  - Strategy is a creative act - Good at talking, not good at execution - PowerPoint is a weak way to communicate ideas - Brief templates are uninspiring to creative teams - Briefings are too boring - Not every strategist loves brainstorms You can find Kaitlin here: https://twitter.com/kaitlinmaud   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Phil Adams has helped to merge three agencies. He's also worked in London at BBH and in Edinburgh at The Leith Agency and Blonde, and is now at Signal. He's had strategy and managing director roles. He's an OG and was kind enough to let me surprise him with something that resembles a virtual workshop about how to do better work. Like, what happened to taking risks? We discuss: - What we’ve got wrong with process and rigor - The power of asymmetry in creative returns - How to double your chances at winning pitches - The power of a chip on the shoulder - and Edinburgh You can find Phil here: https://twitter.com/phil_adams    For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

We're about to hit 100,000 listens. Seems like a solid number. Thank you for listening and sharing it with your friends. It means a lot to me because this podcast is how I trap people into deep conversations. If you'd like to rate the podcast, which is something you've probably been contemplating, please do.  Recently, I finished the second draft of this strategy book I'm writing and I wanted to read out the first chapter - Fighting Words. There's still work to do but it will give you a sense of the attitude of the book.  There are two main sections to the book. The first half focuses on 24 words that I find strategists and account planners using (or needing to use) in their work (clarity, meaning, truth, impostor, lonewolf, etc). It's surreal philosophy of sorts. I want it to feel like I'm in your head because I'm channeling hundreds - maybe thousands - of conversations, emails, and meetings. The second half of the book is more practical. It compiles frameworks from my "Strategy! The Workout" training sessions, helps you understand how to apply them, while also breaking down what ideas, problems, insights, and strategy statements are.  I want to get "Strategy Is Your Words" onto desks and walls (posters) around the world. There will be a digital version but... I want you to touch this and be able to point to it.  I'm just starting on launch and marketing plans. I'm open to ideas :) Enjoy.  Mark    For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Alexandra Stankiewicz is CMO and Head of Online Sales at Aloha. She's also worked at Chobani and Calvin Klein. But, guess what? Alex was one of the first ten employees at Mother New York and she spent seven years there. So I thought it would be great to talk to her about what she's learned from being on both sides of the fence.  We discuss: - How agencies and clients can have better relationships - What hurts the relationships - Marketers' appetite for strategy from agencies - What agency folk thinking about jumping client-side need to know You can find Alex here: https://www.instagram.com/alexbdalex   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Omer Azeem is 20 years into a career that has taken him from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia, Oman, Eqypt, Qatar and back to Pakistan. We recorded this a few weeks ago before the war talk between Pakistan and India this week so you'll hear Omer say that things feel "calm". You'll also hear him echo the sentiment in the interview with Priyanka Agrawal from Bombay, India - that we are more alike than we are different. We discuss: - Planning in what many people might see as "closed markets" - Identifying as a progressive but working in what many people see as conservative cultures - How Pakistan is changing - What strategy and planning do in Pakistan You can find Omer here: https://twitter.com/omerazeem   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

I spoke to Priyanka today. She was in Bombay - or "Mumbai," as some call it. Earlier this week, news abounded with fears of international war between India and Pakistan. We discuss this then we discuss doing strategy as the only planner in an agency and how India's diversity requires different approaches to advertising. War to strategy - easy segues all round. You can find Priyanka here: https://twitter.com/pri_agrawal   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Jerrold McGrath helps artists and creators solve big problems and work out how to make a living from their art. He spent a decade consulting with companies and leaders at the amazing Bannf Centre in Calgary and now advises Artscape Daniels Launchpad, a program that takes places in a 30,000 square-foot space in Toronto. We discuss: - How to have a creative practice - Understanding the systems in which you operate - Creativity and saving the world - Hiding from your own creative practice in a job You can find Tom here: https://twitter.com/JerroldMcGrath   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Tom is 20+ years into strategy work and now runs brand strategy at Re in Sydney, Australia. He's worked in the UK, NYC, and Sydney.  We discuss: - The blindspots of different types of agencies doing brand strategy - How complexity has earned many companies money - The return to simplicity in strategy You can find Tom here: https://twitter.com/thepunkrockshop   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Mel McShane has spent well over a decade at renowned design agency Wolff Olins and consults with executives around the world on their brand strategies.  One question up-coming strategists are sometime curious about is which type of agency actually does brand strategy because... so many agencies say they do everything but when you're in them you realize it isn't always true. We discuss: - Where brand strategy happens - How Mel approaches brand strategy - Interviewing people vs running people through questionnaires You can find Mel here: http://linkedin.com/in/melanie-mcshane   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Simon Smiles is the Chief Investment Officer for the Ultra-High Net Worth investors of UBS in Switzerland. He spends his days with people who have over $50M in investments with UBS. UBS banks with half of the world's billionaires. Simon has a PhD, he is a regular attendee of the World Economic Forum and the Milken Institute events, he speaks with hundreds of the world's business, government, philanthropy, and NGO leaders every year. He has a thing for impact investment - investments that earn money for the investor while also helping the planet. And he thinks there are better and more urgent ways to create a different future for the world. We discuss: - How the wealthy think about their investments - The UN’s Sustainability Development Goals - The World Economic Forum - Profit, sustainability, and greenwashing - How to speak to business people about doing good You can find the UBS white-paper on the United Nation's Sustainability Development Goals that we discuss at http://ubs.com/wef2019   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Jonathan Colmenares and Matt Butler established Open Strategy at the start of 2015. They assembled strategy presentations and tools into a website. Then they launched a Slack channel which housed thousands of strategists. Then events and an email newsletter. Then they both left the full-time agency world, reduced how much time they spend online and they now spend less time talking about strategy. But Open Strategy taught them about their love for community, teaching, and doing.  We discuss: - The needs of full-time agency folk - What Jon and Matt learned from running open Strategy - What life after full-time agency life is like You can find Matt at https://twitter.com/MattButler07 and Jon at https://twitter.com/mrjonath   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Imagine if you could put your strategy skills to work for some kind of good. All that brainpower, that empathy, and that creative lust... surely you could change the world. Well, in some places it might be possible. Harsha Prag is based in Johannesburg, South Africa, a country of 50 million people with 11 official languages and a lot of social problems that need help. Having run account planning at JWT, Harsha now works with companies to create products and communications that help more than pollute and hurt. We discuss: - Empathy - what is it and what isn't it? - Advertising in post-apartheid South Africa - How some brands put money into potholes and traffic lights - Advice to heads of planning You can find Harsha at https://twitter.com/Harsha_Prag   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Tom Morton is co-CSO of R/GA in the USA. It's a new role, so new it was announced this week. Tom shares the role with Jess Greenwood. With over 60 strategists in 7 US offices while working with large and fast tech companies but not just tech companies, what does strategy do at R/GA and how is strategy different between the USA and England, the other place both Tom and Jess have worked? We discuss: - Doing strategy in the USA - Doing strategy fast and under pressure - Problems and insights - What a CSO does You can find Tom at https://twitter.com/tommorton   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Samanta Judez is Managing Director of DDB Barcelona. Before this, she was the agency's CSO. She isn't alone as a planner-turned-agency-leader but the convention is to reserve the role for someone from account management. So, what can a planner bring to agency leadership? We discuss: - What an MD does - How to know if this path is for you - Planning in Spain - Barcelona's long history of creativity  You can find Sam at https://twitter.com/samjudez13   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

How would you feel the day you found out you had cancer? How would you feel the afternoon after your first chemotherapy session? How would you feel the sleep before spinal surgery? Would you seek out and do more strategy work or less? Would you know how to speak about any of this with your family and friends? What would you say?  Murray Calder is strategy director at Mediacom in Edinburgh. He also spent a couple years as chairman of the IPA, Scotland. Hearing quietly about what he was going through, I decided to hassle him for some volume. YO, MURRAY! WHAT'S ALL OF THIS LIKE? We discuss: - What it felt like to get his cancer diagnosis - What he's learned from his illness - What makes good strategy - and we use his spine as a metaphor Thanks for the brave chat, Murray. To any of you going through similar things, we're here. You can find Murray at http://www.twitter.com/ScotStratGuy   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Sudeep Gohil has worked in Sydney, London, Portland, LA, Mumbai, and Tokyo. He's run a Droga5 office, led strategy at Wieden and Kennedy, helped 72andsunny develop plans for Asia, and now runs brand strategy at KPMG.    We discuss: - How moving around helps you connect more dots - Working in a growing market like India - Taking a break from agencies - The move from strategist to CEO - How it feels when your agency closes - Taking business personally - Building the case for planning - with insight into W+K You can find Sudeep here http://www.twitter.com/sudeepgohil   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

The strategy life is full of lonely strolls through the garden of the mind, blank timesheets, and career paths. Sometimes, there are allies. Sometimes, there aren't. Sometimes, you don't even know. Do strategy in a massive city like New York and the sense of isolation can multiply by the number of people in the city in some bizarre and ironic act of revenge. With her crew at STRTGST, Tina organizes events for strategists, and helps them find a supportive room of allies. We discuss: - Embracing your otherness - What Tina learned at each of the 8 events STRTGST ran in 2018 - The power of side projects You can find Tina here https://twitter.com/tina_yip and STRTGST here http://www.strtgst.co   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Jake Rusznyak has held very senior creative roles in very good advertising agencies in Sydney. BMF, Host, and The Monkeys feature on his resume. But what caught my eye was an article Jake recently wrote about being a father of twins while wrestling the needs of clients and maintaining a marriage to a CMO.  We discuss: - The idea of symmetry in relationships - Love languages - The power of routine for families but the lack of it in agencies - Who's in control of your time? - What fathers can do to improve the advertising industry  You can find Jake here: https://twitter.com/angstigator and his article here: https://www.gabberish.com/home/2018/12/14/s687fx83juvqlsqos9pjgzu5qdgjv1   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Kate Bordwell leads design research at Skyscanner in Scotland. Yes, the website that helps you fly places for your Instagram feed. And in former lives she was an account planner and a digital strategist. So how do all these experiences inform her approach to design thinking?   We discuss:  - What design thinking is - Working across company silos and departments - Ways to approach ethnography - Common issues with research plans - Running workshops You can find Kate here https://twitter.com/kbordwell   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Tess McGourty is strategy lead at Elephant in Los Angeles. Elephant is part of digital agency Huge so Tess now works on digital projects. She started in a media agency then spent several years in advertising. And she has written several articles for strategists new to the industry. So this is what we decided we'd talk about.  We discuss: 1. Mentorship and what's the point? 2. Unusual career leaps into planning 3. Working with creative teams 4. Introversion, overconfidence, and burnout 5. Switching from advertising planning to experience planning You can find Tess here https://twitter.com/tessmcgourty and her articles here https://medium.com/@TessMcGourty   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Nancy Hill became President and CEO of the 4As in 2008. The 4As is the American Association of Advertising Agencies. It is the main advertising agency body in the USA. In 2008, the economy tanked, middle-management roles disappeared, salaries didn't disappeared, and the misbehaviors of agency leaders started going public. Many people set up their own agencies as a way to do work they liked and to regain a sense of control over their careers. Nancy now consults with some of these small and mid-sized agencies in her company The Agency Sherpa. We discuss: - How diversity requires public numbers - Trade publications and whether they are too cozy with their topics - Where money goes in holding companies (i.e. not to you) - New York arrogance and titles - Does planning even work in the USA? You can find Nancy here https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancy-hill-advertising/   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Tom Beck once ran then sold an agency. Now, as the Executive Director of the Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA), he helps other people who run agencies.  We discuss: 1. The eras of digital agencies over the past 20 years 2. The missteps some agencies have taken 3. How to get the people to work... specifically, what are the challenges in bringing in strategy, account management, user experience, and creative folk? 4. Is "production" a dirty word? You can find Tom here https://twitter.com/laughingrobots and SoDA here: http://sodaspeaks.com   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Marketing consultant Wiemer Snijders recently gathered some of his favorite brains into a book. The book is a call to marketers and strategists of all kinds to deploy more evidence and more facts in their work. The book's name is "Eat Your Greens". It is available through Troubador. We discuss: 1. The 5 most useful fact-based ideas to marketers right now 2. The allure of consulting models and diagrams 3. Marketing's credibility issue You can find Wiemer here: https://twitter.com/wiemersnijders   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Fernando Machado is the Global CMO of Burger King. His marketing team is one of the most creatively awarded teams in recent years. And that's all you need to know. I recorded this interview with a brand new microphone but I didn't edit it much. I want you to hear a chat between someone at the peak of his game and a beginner. Yes, the beginner is me. Although, the way Fernando talks, he seems to have a wonderful beginner's mind.  We discuss: - Making the Super Bowl decision - What January for a CMO feels like - How marketing works at Burger King -  Working with agencies You can find Fernando at https://twitter.com/fer_machado123   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Lucy Cochran has just arrived in New York. She's run strategy teams in Australia and Amsterdam. She's won a bunch of awards. She ran the Melbourne arm of the Account Planning Group. And we decided to give ourselves the challenge of discussing and answering 20 of the main questions facing strategists right now. They include: 1. Why don't clients want to pay for it? 2. Why don't some agencies support their own strategists? 3. How do you deal with a jargon-heavy culture? 4. How do you build relationships with creatives? 5. How can someone get good at insights? 6. How an a planner have a good career? 7. What makes planning such a hard career to sidestep from? You can find Lucy at http://www.twitter.com/lucycochran   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Suzy Batiz is founder and CEO of Poo-Pourri. She is in a minority of business leaders who insist creativity is so important to a business that it's a default expectation of everyone in her company. As is the use of intuition. Having just launched the new direct-to-consumer brand Supernatural, Suzy has used creativity and intuition to create an empire of honest and comedic advertising and products from her home base in Dallas.  This episode is for anyone trying to get their marketing clients to take risks or people who are thinking of setting up their own product-based company.  We discuss:  - How to build creativity into business  - How to trust your gut  - Challenges facing direct-to-consumer companies right now  You can find Poo-Pourri here https://www.poopourri.com Supernatural here http://www.supernatural.com and Suzy Batiz here http://www.instagram.com/suzybatiz    For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Heather Lefevre has done a lot for strategy people. With The Strategist Survey, she helped strategists understand their salaries. With her book "Brain Surfing", she takes strategists around the world with her to meet and experience other strategy minds. But she's also done a lot for herself by applying her strategy sensibilities to her own life. We discuss:  - Writing a brief to find love - Divorce and decision-making - The Strategist Survey and strategist salaries - Brief and brand as algorithm for decision-making - Doing karaoke to gain confidence as a presenter - Sensitivity - Meaningful living - Linking and ranking cultures - Performance evaluations and feedback WTF? - Reflecting and listening to yourself You can find Heather at http://www.twitter.com/hklefevre   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Courtney Ackerman is a researcher and author. She focuses on positive psychology. Her first booked was called "My Pocket Positivity" and contains tens of exercises to help people practice positivity. She has two new books in the pipeline - one on bliss and one on gratitude.  We discuss:  - What is positive psychology? Is it misunderstood?  - Bliss and gratitude and how they affect the brain  - Turning dark rumination into something positive  - Realistic pessimism  - Research survey design  You can find Courtney here: https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/?s=courtney+ackerman and her books in Target, Walmart, and on Amazon.    For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

How much is happiness a leap of faith? And, like entrepreneurship, does the leap ever end? Meet Mo Seetubtim. Mo runs The Happiness Planner while running around the world to cities such as Bangkok, London, San Francisco, and New York. She once worked in a media agency in Australia but left and created her own company. And a new way of living.  We discuss:  - Happiness in different parts of the world  - Moving countries to understand who you are  - Living a free life  - Relationships - what's a happy relationship?  - Jumping from a full-time job into starting a company  - Running an online business  - The power of writing  You can find Mo at http://www.thehappinessplanner.com and http://www.instagram.com/happinessplanner    For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

In October 1990, Miguel D’Souza started The Mothership Connection on 2SER FM with Roxanne. Within a couple of years it was Sydney’s preeminent hip hop radio show. Every Tuesday at 2pm (or at 2.30pm for a period), it was one of the few places on any radio station that played hip hop, underground hip hop, local hip hop, while also hosting hip hop DJs and open mic freestyle sessions. Around April 1998, Miguel handed the radio show to me. I was 20. I had no idea what I was doing. And I spent five years trying to work it out while also trying to work out what I was about. In this chat (edited from 2.5 hours), Miguel and I compare notes about the show, what it meant to us, the role we think it played in the local community, some of our favorite memories, and how it changed us. Topics include: - How the format of the show evolved - The recent Australian youth protests. Is change happening? - Indigenous hip hop - Finding yourself by bringing others together Contributing to a community while analyzing it - How Miguel researched and interviewed people Getting people into hip hop - Dealing with aggression, bad rap, open doors - How the Internet and September 11 affected rap and the business of rap - The Four Elements, style enforcing, and fascism Stepping aside as one ages - or not? - Participants, observers, and tourists in subcultures - What’s real hip hop and who gets to decide? - Finding an identity in Australia as an immigrant Names mentioned include: Molly Meldrum, Easy Bass, DJ Kavi-R, Gil Scott Heron,  Bootsy Collins, Roy Ayers, Roc Raida, DJ Qbert, Def Wish Cast, Just Us, Mako and Perret, Katalyst, Obese Records, Next Level Records, Parallax Records, Celsius, Bliss n Eso, Hilltop Hoods, Elefant Traks, Urthboy, Meta Bass n Breath, The Sleeping Monk, Ugly Duckling, Raised by Wolves, Wu Tang Clan. You can find Miguel at https://twitter.com/MiguelDSouza For more internet: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard http://www.instagram.com/markpollard http://www.sweathead.co

Becky Wang is CEO and Founder of Crossbeat, a company she set up after running data and analytics at Saatchi & Saatchi New York then at Droga5. She's worked in Hollywood, she's published a book ("Creativity and Data Marketing: A Practical Guide to Data Innovation"), and she gets things done. We discuss: - What data and analytics people ask her about their careers - Robotic reporting and software jockeys - The uncertainty in agency leadership right now - Selling without feeling slimy - The importance of stretching yourself - Freelancing You can find Becky at http://www.instagram.com/gnostica. For more Internet: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard http://www.instagram.com/markpollard http://www.sweathead.co

Shann Biglione recently moved to New York as the Head of Strategy at Zenith after five years in China, including a stint as CSO of Publicis Media. And he's French. With an Italian last name. So what are all these places like to work in? And what's happening with strategy in media agencies right now? We discuss: - How to deal with someone saying, "We don't need strategy" - What it's like to work in China and New York - The importance of doing - Why Shann loves people who ruffle feathers (P.S. Ask him for a job using "Feather ruffler" in the email subject line) - How working in different countries teaches you - Communications Planning vs channel planning You can find Shann at https://twitter.com/LeShann For more Internet: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard http://www.instagram.com/markpollard http://www.sweathead.co

Ky Chow is a journalist. He's appeared on or in Sky News, The Financial Review, ABC, and SBS in Australia. But he didn't start his journalist career until his late 20s. He spent his early twenties in accounting and marketing at companies like KPMG, CommSec, and Macquarie Bank. I wanted to talk to Ky to explore the similarities between journalism and strategy, as well as to understand how he approached making his big career change. We discuss: - How annoying is too annoying when you're interviewing? - How do you become a 5-minute expert? - Honoring things you loved doing when you were young - Dealing with other people's negativity about your choices - Diversity in the media in Australia - How strategists and journalists are similar - How self-interest drives news You can find Ky at http://www.kychow.com and https://twitter.com/KyBusiness. For more Internet: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard http://www.instagram.com/markpollard http://www.sweathead.co

Natalie Tran has spent her entire adulthood on YouTube. Not literally. But she first published videos to YouTube in 2006 when she was 20 and she kept going.  Well, until recently. In public, Natalie appears confident and articulate, and as the owner of a savage wit and powerful brain.  She's at ease in her honesty and with what makes her feel vulnerable but she also deals with a noisy head and has spent long periods not leaving her home and not moving much between rooms in her home. I really appreciate Natalie sharing her experience with us in this chat. She's an incredible spirit.  We discuss:  - The early days of YouTube - How YouTube has changed - How Natalie approaches her writing and projects - Living with OCD and supporting someone with OCD - Getting older - Why Natalie doesn't own a TV station or have a national TV show You can find Natalie at http://www.twitter.com/natalietran and https://www.youtube.com/user/communitychannel  For strategy courses and more, check out http://courses.sweathead.co

Sam Hammington is an extreme freelancer. When he's working, he's really working. And when he's not, he's really not. That's because Sam is an actor. He's an Australian actor in Seoul, South Korea. If you turn on a television in South Korea and change the channel a few times, chances are you'll see Sam's face. He has starred in several massive TV shows (Gag Concert, Real Men, The Return Of Superman) but even with what looks like success from the outside comes the frequent question: What am I doing with my life? We discuss: - How South Korea has changed - The explosion of South Korean culture onto the world stage - Being a foreign actor in South Korea - The challenges of an extreme freelance life - The benefits of self-expression for mental health - Mixed-race children in South Korea You can find Sam at http://www.instagram.com/samhammington and his sons William at https://www.instagram.com/williamhammington and Bentley at https://www.instagram.com/bentleyhammington. For more Internet: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard http://www.instagram.com/markpollard http://www.sweathead.co

Seb Chan is Chief Experience Officer at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) in Melbourne, a museum that over 1.5M people visit every year. Seb has also led digital efforts at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney and the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York and is one of the world's most renowned experts on getting museums to open up - to get their collections online, to get people using the museums in new ways. And he was a well-respected DJ, radio host, zine maker, music and video game writer, and we hosted radio shows back to back for five years. We discuss: - The early years of museums getting onto the Internet - How an IT guy ends up a Digital Head - What is a museum? How have museums changed? - What is the business model of a museum? - The metrics that matter to museums - Career paths one just... falls into You can find Seb in many corners of the Internet, especially http://www.twitter.com/sebchan For more Internet: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard http://www.instagram.com/markpollard http://www.sweathead.co

Fredrik Öst is Founder and Creative Director of Stockholm agency Snask. Snask makes bold, frank, outspoken work. This is why I've had a crush on them for two years, which was nine years into their existence. We discuss: - Fredrik's philosophy on what makes good work - The importance of extremes - How frankness doesn't work in all cultures - The importance of side projects - The beauty of making mistakes - Fredrik's time in the military - Fredrik's experience as a Korean adoptee in Sweden - The importance of manifestos You can find Snask at http://www.snask.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/snasksthlm/. More Internets: Instagram http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Strategy class http://www.skl.sh/markpollard Articles http://www.markpollard.net

Ryan Wallman is an Associate Creative Director at Wellmark in Melbourne, Australia. He's also a prolific Internet satirist. It's not that he satires the Internet but he does satire marketing and advertising on the Internet. Formerly a psychiatrist, and having experienced an assault while working with a patient, Ryan switched into a copywriting career later than many. We discuss: - What's distracting the industry now - Why is everything so bland? - The power of irreverence, humor, and negativity - The industry's insecurity - Ryan's work as a psychiatrist - Why people call things "negative" and what they're missing out You can find Ryan at http://www.twitter.com/dr_draper More Internets: Instagram http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Strategy class http://www.skl.sh/markpollard Articles http://www.markpollard.net

An update about all things Sweathead as well as the talk from Google Firestarters in London mid-November. It's not the actual talk. It's a reading of an 11-page script of the talk. If you like it, let me know. Otherwise, maybe I'll delete it in a few days. Instagram http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Strategy class http://www.skl.sh/markpollard Articles http://www.markpollard.net

Where are your morals? Do they exist on one side of a line and prevent you from working on projects and clients on the other side of the line? Where is the line? How did it get there? Has it ever moved? Jen Bonhomme is VP of Planning at Huge in Brooklyn. We chat about working on projects that others object because they are evil or taboo and we discuss how to enjoy the taboo on all projects. We discuss: - Miss America - organized objectification or scholarships? - The opioid crisis - The role of the military in US values and policy - Insurance for the ultra rich You can find Jen at https://twitter.com/JenBonhomme and her strategy framework collection here: https://medium.com/@JenBonhomme - More Internets Facebook strategy group: http://www.sweathead.co Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

LA's Jack Appleby is a Director of Creative Strategy. He has touched projects for Beats by Dre, Microsoft, Rockband, and more. Almost a decade into a career that has focused largely on whatever social is and with a title that now suggests a broader remit, we chat about the challenges facing social strategists at a time when few get training. We discuss: - Best Practice Machines - What's up with "engagement"? - What is social strategy? - Could other types of strategists do social work? - The skills social strategy folks need - The Los Angeles agency zeitgeist - Video game marketing - What is a creative strategist? You can find Jack at https://twitter.com/JuiceboxCA For more internet: Facebook group: http://www.sweathead.co Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Camilla Grey Petty is an independent strategy director who's walked the halls of London's Wolff Olins, Brand Union, and Moving Brands, and is now three years into a freelance lifestyle. We discuss: - How people make the freelance decision - What people don't think about before going freelance - What's good and not so good about freelance - How to charge and get paid - Camilla's strategy email newsletter You can find Camilla at http://www.oddkid.co and http://twitter.com/camillaxgrey. You can find her article "How to get a job as a brand strategist" here: https://medium.com/open-strategy/career-planning-for-brand-strategists-getting-into-strategy-roles-in-agencies-start-ups-and-a2754d362e8e ---- Internets: New Skillshare strategy class: http://skl.sh/markpollard Articles: http://www.markpollard.net Community: http://www.sweathead.co Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Lani Wyche is a product strategist at Dame Products. She holds a BA from Stanford and she has spent some time in agencies, but now she spends her days trying to understand people's sex lives. We discuss: - Design thinking in agencies - The shift from agency to product - Researching what is intimate to people - Sex positivity, sexual wellness, and other important concepts You can find Lani at https://www.laniwyche.com and Dame Products at http://www.dameproducts.com ---- Internets: New Skillshare strategy class: http://skl.sh/markpollard Articles: http://www.markpollard.net Community: http://www.sweathead.co Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

CSO Justine Bloome runs strategy at Vayner in NYC and is about to run a planner into the world. Not a strategy planner - a book planner. A journal planner. It's called The Mindful Strategist. It's part of a series called The Mindful Series. We discuss: - The importance of unstructured time - How noticing and writing help your head - Strategy as a creative discipline - Why people don't value strategy - Managing 40 people, managing strategists in general You can find Justine at https://twitter.com/inbloome and The Mindful Strategist at https://twitter.com/TheMindful__ and https://themindfulseries.com/ ---- Internets: New Skillshare strategy class: http://skl.sh/markpollard Articles: http://www.markpollard.net Community: http://www.sweathead.co Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Germaine Fagan recently hosted an event to honor the life of a planner, Grace McDermott, in Dublin. Grace was a planner from New York who passed away in Ireland last year after what sounds like years of passion for planning and passionate teaching of planning. We discuss: - Grace McDermott's outlook on planning and her research - Griffin Farley's Beautiful Minds event (BBH) - How courageous acts make things fall in place - Teacher planners - Literary translation You can find Germaine at http://twitter.com/fagangermaine and the website for Radiate for Grace here: http://www.radiateforgrace.com ---- Internets: New Skillshare strategy class: http://skl.sh/markpollard Articles: http://www.markpollard.net Community: http://www.sweathead.co Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Dublin's Rachel O'Donovan and Thomas Geoghegan are strategists who want other strategists to talk about strategy. They recently set up a Dublin branch of London's Group Think, a community of hundreds of strategists that is trying to provide emotional and intellectual support that doesn't seem to be something agencies or industry organizations are interested in, capable at, or resourced to do. We discuss: - Dublin's pub philosophers and writers. And are planners this? - The frustration, loneliness, and self-doubt of the planning life - What midweight planners need - What is a midweight planner? A senior planner? - What happens at Group Think You can find Rachel at http://www.twitter.com/phaedria http://www.twitter.com/thomasgeoghegan and Group Think event dates here: http://wwww.group-think.co.uk ---- Internets: New Skillshare strategy class: http://skl.sh/markpollard Articles: http://www.markpollard.net Community: http://www.sweathead.co Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Neil Perkin is a digital consultant and author who helps businesses move faster. One could call him a jockey. Workshops are his gentle whip. Live from across the road of Web Summit which Neil was not in Lisbon to attend, we discuss Neil's consulting life, his writing, and his blog Only Dead Fish which has gathered a decade of the Internet's favorite strategy posts in one place. Only Dead Fish is also his company's name. The name of his first book is "Building the Agile Business through Digital Transformation". Chat topics: - The consultant life - What makes business change difficult - Why the answers are always inside the company - The power of humility - Writing and blogging for over a decade - Google Firestarters You can find Neil at http://twitter.com/neilperkin and http://www.onlydeadfish.co.uk * Don't forget to leave a rating or review. Please. ** Want an article? Try "How To Explain An Idea": https://www.markpollard.net/how-to-explain-an-idea/ ---- Internets: New Skillshare strategy class: http://skl.sh/markpollard Articles: http://www.markpollard.net Community: http://www.sweathead.co Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Fanny RK makes jokes. She also does stand-up comedy. That's not to say her strategy at companies like Shopify and Johns St has ever made anybody laugh. But what if it did? What if a strategist used techniques that make people laugh to make strategy? We discuss: - A need for attention and immediacy - Strategy as The Thing Before The Thing - The role of uncontrollable laughter in ideas - Writing and writing jokes - Techniques strategists can use You can find Fanny RK http://twitter.com/fannyrk and at Shopify or on stages around Toronto * Don't forget to leave a rating or review. Please. ** Want an article? Try "How To Do Account Planning": www.markpollard.net/how-to-do-account-planning-a-simple-approach/ ---- Internets: New Skillshare strategy class: http://skl.sh/markpollard Articles: http://www.markpollard.net Community: http://www.sweathead.co Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Edwin Rager is a Bolivian in Argentina who is about to move to Colombia. He's taught strategy at Brother and worked at Mother, Google, and MediaMonks having made Buenos Aires his strategy home for several years. We discuss: - How travel helps the strategist - Planning in Argentina - How teaching teaches a teacher - Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, and Chile You can find Edwin at http://www.twitter.com/locosombrero and http://www.edwinrager.com * Don't forget to leave a rating or review. Please. ** Want an article? Try "How To Do Account Planning": http://www.markpollard.net/how-to-do-account-planning-a-simple-approach/ ---- Internets: New Skillshare strategy class: http://skl.sh/markpollard Articles: http://www.markpollard.net Community: http://www.sweathead.co Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Alex Morris has just published a strategy scrapbook that will stir the soul of even the most rusted strategist. And it will set alight the rainbow of the strategist who's simply trying to get steady footing in his or her young career. The book spans 146 pages and includes quotes, techniques, philosophy, frameworks, and absurdist art. We discuss: - How and why Alex made the book - Some of our favorite parts of the book - The importance of doing stuff for the sake of it You can find Alex and his scrapbook here: http://alexmorris.co You might find yourself in it. * Don't forget to leave a rating or review. Please. ** Want an article? Try "How To Do Account Planning": https://www.markpollard.net/how-to-do-account-planning-a-simple-approach/ ---- Internets: New Skillshare strategy class: http://skl.sh/markpollard Articles: http://www.markpollard.net Community: http://www.sweathead.co Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

BBH LA Head of Strategy Agathe Guerrier has run a strategy department or two, and, right now, when it seems strategy doesn't always know where it's running, it also seems useful to speak with someone who's put a saddle on a strategy horse in her time. We discuss: - What Agathe did when she took over strategy at BBH London - The most important things new heads of strategy can do - The logistics of BBH LA's strategy department - The hardest thing about finding good planners right now You can find Agathe here: http://twitter.com/agatheg ---- Internets: YouTube: http://bit.ly/2Ji3zNt Community: http://www.sweathead.co Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Rapper-turned-search specialist Michael King knows a thing or six about search - what the search engines pay attention to, missteps advertising agencies make when showing search data, and whether and how machine learning and blockchain will help marketing. We discuss: - The key concepts of search - What to look for when you think about buying a website - Rap - Rap - Rap - How strategists can use search in their non-search work You can find Michael here: http://www.twitter.com/ipullrank http://www.ipullrank.com ---- Internets: YouTube: http://bit.ly/2Ji3zNt Community: http://www.sweathead.co Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Girl Geek Academy Co-Founder and CEO Sarah Moran is on a mission. With her team, she's aiming to teach technology to 1,000,000 women by 2025. The greater goal is to ensure that the Internet of the future reflects more of the people who use it, rather than it reflecting one gender based in Silicon Valley. We discuss: - The career choices of technical people - Starting something and founder fears - The work of Girl Geek Academy You can find Sarah here: https://twitter.com/sarahmoran?lang=en https://girlgeekacademy.com/ ---- Internets: YouTube: http://bit.ly/2Ji3zNt Community: http://www.sweathead.co Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

In 2010, I wrote an article about how to do account planning. For the 25th episode of Sweathead, I thought I'd read it to you and add a little extra context (but not too much). Over 90,000 people have read this article. The accompanying drawing has appeared in all sorts of places - CVs, presentations about strategy, business plans. And while I promise to re-write it and make it, you know, decent writing at some point, that didn't stop me from wanting to read it to you. Here it is: http://www.markpollard.net/how-to-do-account-planning-a-simple-approach/ ---- Internets: YouTube: http://bit.ly/2Ji3zNt Community: http://www.sweathead.co Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Tony Clement has worked data in agencies in Sydney, London, and New York. We've worked together in two of these places - Leo Burnett in Sydney about a decade ago and then at Brooklyn's Big Spaceship. Tony has the rare background of having worked with a lot of different types of data - CRM and direct marketing, advertising effectiveness measurement, web analytics, and social, and, in his time in New York, he worked on several Google brands, YouTube, and Samsung. The guy is legit. In this interview, we discuss: - Why data struggles in agencies - How to get data to work better - The politics of data - Growing up in 26 different places - Fatherhood You can find Tony at: http://twitter.com/tonyclement http://www.instagram.com/tonyclement ---- Internets: YouTube: http://bit.ly/2Ji3zNt Community: http://www.sweathead.co Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Tony Effik is SVP, Client Strategy at NBCUniversal and an adjunct assistant professor at Columbia University. Before, he ran Media & Connections at R/GA and he was CSO of Publicis. Big titles. The thing is, talking to Tony makes me think of this Dilated Peoples lyric: "I work the angles sharp and precise." Everything he has done in life is work the angles. From Nigeria to a housing estate in London to New York. From selling ads to making them. From trying to understand what angle would work for his life and for a possible customer. There is the sound of a beard rubbing against a microphone in this conversation. But maybe it's just Tony working out his next angle. You can find Tony at https://twitter.com/aeffik ---- Internets: YouTube: https://bit.ly/2Ji3zNt Community: http://www.sweathead.co Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Gareth Kay co-founded Chapter after a stint as CSO of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners and leading planning at Modernista! in Boston. However, he's originally from England where he achieved a MA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford. So his planning bonafides are well bonfided. In this 40-minute interrogation, I hit Gareth with 150 questions. OK. Maybe 30. It's fast-paced. We cover a lot of planning topics that some people might think are below them to discuss. Not us! - What is planning? - Planning vs strategy - does it matter? - Does planning work? - Has planning always had a credibility issue? - What makes a good planner? - Why does planning struggle in agencies? - Are there nuances in the USA that make planning harder? You can find Gareth at http://twitter.com/garethk Video: http://www.sweathead.co Mark: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

Vikki Ross copywrites. That means she finds words for brands to help those brands express themselves in ways that are unique and compelling. Vikki Ross also trains, mentors, and judges. She does these things with the School of Communications Arts 2.0, SheSays, Creative Equals, Who’s Your Momma?, and D&AD. And she co-runs an event for copywriters in London called Copy Capital. Yes, she keeps busy. Mad busy. In this interview, we discuss: - What makes good copywriting - Giving feedback to writers - Respecting the craft You can find Vikki at http://www.vikkirosswrites.com and http://twitter.com/VikkiRossWrites Video: http://www.sweathead.co Mark: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

Why have so few women progressed into senior roles within creative departments? Dr Kasey Windels has researched this. In 2008, she analyzed the 1984, 1994, and 2004 issues of the Communication Arts Advertising Annual, and learned that only 3% of the creative directors across those issues were women. She's also spoken to a lot of female creatives. This is an important discussion. We cover: - What the 3% number actually means - What gets in the way of women moving ahead - How Kasey approaches qualitative research - Her coming work on mental health in advertising You can find Dr Windels at http://kaseywindels.com and https://twitter.com/windels. Video: http://www.sweathead.co Mark: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Sweathead newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

Know Vice? RG Logan works for their agency Virtue. He's worked in advertising, social, and digital agencies, but now spends his days helping brands to create content worth watching. We discuss: - What a publisher agency even does - Creating ideas of importance - "Branded content" - doing it good, doing it bad - Feeling comfortable doing something drastic Video: http://www.sweathead.co RG Logan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rglogan Mark: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Sweathead newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

Jocelyn Lai has assembled teams at Droga5, R/GA, and GSD&M. She now does this for companies all over the place through her own consultancy in Pittsburgh, JSL Talent Consulting. We discuss: - Ways to re-energize your career - Reflecting on whether advertising is for you anymore - How to move beyond your advertising career Video: http://www.sweathead.co Jocelyn on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jocelynslai Mark: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Email newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

The Drum's Bennett D. Bennett once worked as a copywriter inside a large New York agency but now writes about agencies and the media world in which they live. He's also hosting a free portfolio program over summer: https://www.theconceptingclass.org/ We discuss: - What's going on with agencies right now? - The Upfronts and New Fronts - Diversity in the key of "real talk" (The Pipeline Is Blocked, Progress Isn't Cute, Roadblocks Ahead) - Career burnout - Where does a hybrid work? - The American idea "Everything is up for grabs" Video: http://www.sweathead.co Bennett on Twitter: https://twitter.com/theacecapade The Drum: http://www.thedrum.com Mark: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Email newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

CSO Adam Pierno thinks you think too much, not too well. This was Hamlet's problem. Adam also thinks all your social media looks the same. Hamlet would have killed at social media. Straight out of Pheonix, Arizona, where Adam CSO's for Santy, podcasts 'The Strategy Inside Everything', and recently released his book 'Under Think It', we discuss: - Agency culture in NYC, Boston, Atlanta, and Arizona - How everything looks like Pinterest on Pinterest - A framework for thinking about making unique social media - Dealing with depression Video: http://www.sweathead.co Adam on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/apierno 'Under Think It ' on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Under-Think-Adam-Pierno/dp/0999399004 Mark: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Email newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

Meet Chelsea Coleman and Rachelle DiGregorio. They recently formed Flock, a community of women from the University of Oregon that helps each other get jobs, get paid, and shine. Flock is a gang and chances are that if you think for a living you spend too much time alone and you need a gang. Get a gang. In this interview we discuss: - Making that running jump from college to agency - Common problems with internships - Starting salaries - Making mentorship work - Communities organized around gender - The WAIT RUle (Why Am I Talking?) - #TimesUp Video: http://www.sweathead.co For more: Flock website: http://hey-flock.com/ Flock Twitter: https://twitter.com/hey_flock Flock Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/hey_flock/ Flock Email: heyflock@gmail.com Chelsea: http://twitter.com/chelseaLcoleman Rachelle: http://twitter.com/rachelledigreg Mark: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

Rachel Mercer is an Executive Strategy Director at R/GA in New York City. In fact, she just started the job. Three weeks ago. And we discuss this but we also discuss: - American culture shock in London - Finding a way into strategy - The short eras of digital agency work - Managing teams - Pressures on doing good work - And a lot of other stuff Video: http://www.sweathead.co Rachel on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rachelmercer Mark: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Email newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

Whenever someone working in strategy or marketing says, "I just want to do work that has more meaning," Malaka's face is one of the faces that rushes through my head as an example of someone who is building a life and career around meaning. After a flirtation with the music industry and the agency world, Malaka has spent much of her career writing about some of the most challenging topics our world confronts - conflict and poverty. Based in Washington D.C., Malaka has worked for ONE.ORG, the Malala Fund, and is now an editor at NPR. She is also working on a graphic novel "I Was Their American Dream," in which she's capturing stories about growing up in some fourth dimension straddling Egypt, America, and the Philipines. Video: http://www.sweathead.co Malaka on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/malakagharib Malaka on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MalakaGharib Mark: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Email newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

How do you grow your confidence? Meet Lexie Perez. She's lived and worked in New York, Seoul, and San Francisco. She's worked in TV production, digital agencies, and, now, she's the strategy lead at Agency Inside at Intel. In this episode, we focus on the idea of confidence - how it grows, how to build it off a base of expertise, the need for allies and pushing your comfort zone, and we discuss how to find your voice. We also talk about working with Korean businesses. Like, comment, share. I know a lot of you who are just starting out in your careers will get something useful from this chat with Lexie. Video: http://www.sweathead.co Lexie on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexave/ Mark: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Email newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

Yeah! Tom! Tom is the Head of Effectiveness at BBH London. He shares such good things on the Internet, things that will help you do more effective work for your clients. And guess what? We discuss this. We also discuss: - "All data is wrong but some is useful" - What makes advertising effective - Objectivity, confidence, and pride - How to shepherd good ideas - How to approach writing an effectiveness paper We had a couple of WiFi glitches (sorry - I'll get more pro!) but it was a fun chat. MOST MARKETING IS BAD BECAUSE IT IGNORES THE MOST BASIC DATA http://bbh-labs.com/most-marketing-is-bad-because-it-ignores-the-most-basic-data/ Fwd to CEO: THE MOST VALUABLE BUSINESS TOOL EVER INVENTED http://bbh-labs.com/fwd-to-ceo-the-most-valuable-business-tool-ever-invented/ Video: http://www.sweathead.co Tom: http://www.twitter.com/tomroach Mark: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Email newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

How does a production company even work? Whether you live in an agency or not, it's so important to spend time understanding how your industry works. Especially right now as... well, hang on, is it working any more? Yeah yeah. Of course, it is. Meet JP (aka S Jason Prohaska). He is the Managing Director of MediaMonks in New York Fucking City. Great gentleman, great company. In this interview, we discuss: - Wrestling with ambiguity through scopes - Procurement and what's all that about? - Profit centers and cash money things - Agency culture - How projects happen at MediaMonks You can find JP on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/sjprohaska/ and Twitter https://twitter.com/sjprohaska Video: http://www.sweathead.co Mark on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Email newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

Have you ever wanted to ask a recruiter... "Like, come on now, could you tell me what's really going on?" Well, I just did. And - BONUS - Erin Noel who's currently Director of Team Operations at Stink Studios was a strategist for 13 years before doing recruitment so she can speak to both sides. In this interview, we discuss: - How to honor yourself in your career - The 2 most common crossroads in a strategist's career - The art of compromise - Getting a job, keeping a job, and career twilights - Working with recruiters (and specific recruiters Erin recommends) You can find Erin on LinkedIn. Related article: Give Me That Strategy Job (Can you passion your way into a job?) https://mailchi.mp/mightyjungle/give-me-that-strategy-job Video: http://www.sweathead.co Mark on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Email newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

Maura Tuohy is the Global Head of Social Content & Experiential Marketing at Mozilla (think the Firefox browser) in San Francisco. She has an MBA, she's studying law, she's worked in agencies and in brands, and she's done this in the USA as well as during a short stint in Australia. We discuss: - Mozilla and Firefox and being a not-for-profit tech company - How social media works at Mozilla - Working in the USA versus Australia - Working in agencies versus brand-side You can find Maura on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/mtuohy Video: http://www.sweathead.co Mark Pollard: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Email newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

Mr Mark Cripps is CMO at The Economist in London. Mark grew up around advertising and direct marketing and then spent his career in agencies in roles that often involved working out how to help "digital" and all things data make sense to people who weren't as familiar as he. We discuss: - The evolution of data within agencies - Key data and direct marketing concepts (a great 101) - How The Economist thinks of the marketing discipline Mark Cripps: https://twitter.com/crippo The Economist: https://www.economist.com Video: http://www.sweathead.co And me: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard Email newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

Deb is a Shogun. A professor at the University of Oregon, she doesn't just teach, she doesn't just hold down a job, she gets people careers. She does this with how she teaches but she also takes a much deeper interest in students than any other professor I've met. In this chat, we talk: - What learning advertising is really learning - The role of portfolios - Which agencies students want to get it into and why - Finding meaning in strategy work - What advertising students look like in 2018 - What's up with Oregon? - And so much more. You can find the shogun here: https://twitter.com/debkmorrison Video: http://www.sweathead.co And me: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard

Group Think is a London-based strategy community that gets people together to think, drink, and discuss. They have 500+ members. Here's an interview with James Lees (strategist at Sword and Stone) and Arthur Perez (Head of marketing and brand strategy at Depop) from Group Think in which I share 9 or 10 generalizations of things I've been hearing to see how London feels about planning. Points I ask them to consider include: 1. Not many agencies are clear on why they exist 2. "Advertising" has become a dirty word 3. "Going upstream" - is it really a thing? 4. The strategy career is amazing but many agencies don't know how to make it work 5. The confusion of the job title sprawl For the video, visit http://www.sweathead.co Group Think: http://www.group-think.co.uk/ James: http://twitter.com/jameslees101 Arthur: http://twitter.com/arezpe You can find Mark at http://www.twitter.com/markpollard

Philosophy is dope. Sure, some of the books are dense and the words longer than a giraffe, but we all have philosophies and can improve our lives by learning how to debate them with ourselves. Meet Rob Estreitinho, senior strategist at VCCP in London, and maker of Salmon Theory, a newsletter about the philosophy of strategy. We discuss: - Having A Thing - not just a CV - What philosophy is - The philosophy of freelancing - The philosophy of expectations versus reality - Going full-time You can find Rob at https://twitter.com/restreitinho And his beautiful newsletter Salmon Theory at https://tinyletter.com/estreitinho For the video, visit http://www.sweathead.co You can find Mark at http://www.twitter.com/markpollard

Yo! It's Natalie Kim from We Are Next. After 10 years in the agency world with her last role being Director of Strategy at Firstborn, Natalie now runs We Are Next where she helps people new to the industry navigate how to get into it and thrive once they are there. We discuss: - Studying advertising in college - The most common question of new strategists - Informational interviews (what are they and what's the point?) - Recent strategy job trends - Patience You can find Natalie at http://www.twitter.com/natalieykim and http://www.we-are-next.com/ For the video, visit http://www.sweathead.co You can find Mark at http://www.twitter.com/markpollard

Eaon Pritchard recently published "Where Did It All Go Wrong? Adventures At The Dunning Kruger Peak of Advertising". Eaon is the Head of Strategy at Universal McCann in Melbourne, Australia. We discuss these things: - WTF is data anyway? - The Dunning-Kruger effect (where the incompetent think they're good and the competent do not) - Sturgeon's Law (output connecting to the quality of output) - The importance of being confident in your own self-doubt You can find Eaon on Twitter here: http://www.twitter.com/eaonp And you can pick up his book here: https://www.amazon.com/Where-Did-All-Wrong-Advertising/dp/1544901054 For the video, visit http://www.sweathead.co You can find Mark at http://www.twitter.com/markpollard

Richard Shotton is the Deputy Head of Evidence at MG OMD over in London and has just released a book called "The Choice Factory: 25 behavioural biases that influence what we buy."  We discuss the power of flaws, mirror strengths, virtue signaling, the principal-agent problem, the decline in rhyme, and many other biases.  You can find Richard's book on Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Choice-Factory-behavioural-biases-influence/dp/085719609X/  You can find Richard on Twitter - https://twitter.com/rshotton  Sweathead strategy classes are in session: http://courses.sweathead.co