EP 70: "Getting Fired Was the Best Career Move I Ever Made"

Getting fired can be devastating to your career - or it can be the catalyst for something greater. For Patrick Collister, being unceremoniously dismissed from a French-owned direct marketing agency where he was billed at £1000 per hour became a transformational moment that propelled him toward  success.

In this fascinating conversation, Patrick takes us behind the scenes of his remarkable journey from copywriter trainee at Ogilvy to Executive Creative Director and eventually Head of Design at Google. Patrick unpacks how his most humiliating professional setback opened the door to understanding direct marketing just as digital communications was transforming the industry.

Patrick shares the untold story behind one of Britain's most iconic advertisements - the "Accrington Stanley" milk commercial that continues to resonate decades later. Discover how that instantly recognisable line "Accrington Stanley, who are they? Exactly!" wasn't the original plan at all, but emerged from rejection and creative necessity.

Throughout our discussion, Patrick explores the paradox at the heart of effective marketing: the tension between creative risk-taking and business pragmatism. He challenges the concept of "risk" altogether, suggesting that what we call risky is often just exciting and unfamiliar. His refreshingly practical definition of creativity as "nothing more and nothing less than solving problems" strips away mystique and makes innovation accessible to everyone.

For marketers navigating today's fractured media landscape, Patrick offers invaluable insights on reframing challenges, interrogating briefs properly, and fostering environments where meaningful creativity can thrive. His stories of pitch disasters, encounters with industry legends, and observations about the current state of advertising deliver both entertainment and enlightenment.

Subscribe now to hear Patrick's full conversation and learn how our greatest professional mistakes often become our most powerful catalysts for growth and reinvention.

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