The New Abnormal

Series Two In this episode of #TheNewAbnormal, I interviewed Steve Vranakis. He's an award winning creative who worked on the launch of the iPhone, with Amazon, NASA (Space Lab), The United Nations, UNICEF and headed up the Creative Lab at Google in EMEA for nearly a decade. Appointed as the first ever Chief Creative Officer for Greece, he developed a new country narrative as a Special Advisor to the Prime Minister. Some of his past projects inc a machine learning musical instrument, an installation giving youth a voice at the UN, the launch of a physical coding platform that teaches kids to code, and bringing dinosaurs back to life in VR at the Natural History Museums in London and Berlin. In 2015 Steve went to the island of Lesvos to build a mobile information site  to help Syrian refugees fleeing civil war keep safe. (This was scaled across dozens of NGO’s going on to help thousands of refugees). His  work has been recognised by the D&AD,  Cannes Lions, ADC, One Show's, Campaign Big, Webbys, Lovies, FWA, BIMA and Clio's.  Steve's has been featured in WIRED, The NY Times, Telegraph, WSJ, Creative Review, Huffington Post, FT, Design Week, Adage and he’s written for Adweek, Marketing, Campaign and conducted interviews with the BBC, CNN, CNBC, Lürzer's Archive and Shots. While president of D&AD, he made it his mission to help young people from disadvantaged backgrounds get into the creative industries. As you can imagine, we cover a lot of ground in this interview as we discuss his extraordinary career, how he pictures the 'Agency of the Future' alongside his views on 'hope, community and resilience'… 

Series OneIn this episode of #TheNewAbnormal, I interviewed Charlie Waterhouse, Creative Director of This Ain't Rock 'n' Roll (with an ethos based on  identity + activism for culture + causes) whose clients include those such as Amnesty International, English Heritage, Médecins Sans Frontières, National Gallery, and UNICEF. He's also co-founder of the Art Group and Media & Messaging team at Extinction Rebellion ('the most successful start-up in history'), and is a Fellow of the RSA.  His day job is split between This Ain’t Rock’n’Roll (who are currently working with the Unitarians and legal activists Foxglove) and community organisation The Brixton Project. After hours he’s also a director of the Brixton Pound, and is part of the team re:  '81 Acts of Exuberant Defiance' a celebration of 1981’s Brixton Uprising. So we discuss all of the above, starting with XR's international rebellion against the criminal inaction on the climate and ecological crisis. Charlie also outlines his viewpoints on issues such as the future of cities, work he's doing with David Graeber’s widow, the modern crisis of spirituality, and how to build a utopian business model. Finally, we debate an activist manifesto based around a belief that 'when hope dies, action begins'. 

Series OneThis episode of #TheNewAbnormal features Paul Kemp-Robertson, the co-founder of Contagious Communications and co-author of 'The Contagious Commandments'. To put it mildly, he has a very deep knowledge of the global marketing communications industry. A graduate of Goldsmiths, and the ex-worldwide director of creative resources for Leo Burnett, in 2004 he then co-founded Contagious - the marketing innovations resource and creative excellence consultancy. Paul has written for numerous publications inc The Guardian and Forbes, and has appeared on CNN, ITV News and BBC Radio 4. His TED Talk has been viewed over a million times. And he is an advisor to the 'Create' charity. In this interview, we discuss his views about the power of creativity and the bias against it, brands acting as NGO's, the crucial need for an organising principle, and the 'fundamental reset' that we're all undergoing, which (in the context of our discussion) is leading to a creative explosion. Finally, Paul explains why everything leads back to Middlesbrough and a certain football club...

Series OneIn this episode of #TheNewAbnormal, I interview the leading futurist, author and speaker Anne-Lise Kjaer. Her wholebrain methodology bridges the rational and emotional universe – shaping the strategies and core concepts driving the businesses and brands of the future. According to the Financial Times her unique world vision is "as fertile as Dali’s only she creates social prototypes…based on nascent trends." She's the Founder of Kjaer Global, who work with an A-Z of world-leaders including Accenture, BMV, Esade Alumni, Fiskars Group, Herman Miller, Ikea, Johnson & Johnson, Mc Kinsey & Co, Nokia, Sony, Toyota and Unilever. In this podcast, we discuss her views on issues including design-thinking, the dangers of short-termism, scenario planning, trend forecasting, creative leadership, and cultivating intuition. 

Series OneIn this episode of #TheNewAbnormal, I interviewed Carl Miller, who specialises in how technology is changing society and politics. He co-founded the first UK think tank institute dedicated to studying the digital world, at Demos (Britain's leading cross-party think tank)  nearly a decade ago, and has been their Research Director ever since. Carl writes widely on tech and society for titles inc The Economist, Wired, New Scientist, The Sunday Times, the Telegraph and the Guardian. In 2018 he released his first book 'The Death of the Gods: The New Global Power Grab', and often gives speeches about the implications of changes in politics, society, media, crime and warfare. In this episode, we discuss a range of fascinating issues, including the fundamental redrawing of liberties & state boundaries, identity politics and the social landscape, disinformation / misinformation / fake news / alternative facts in the context of Influence Operations & Information Warfare.We go to talk about collective experiences & social polarisation, the public's demand for accountability, intersectionality, and of how we're living in a moment of flux, where the old rules are being washed away by a new consensus. 

Series OneIn this episode of #TheNewAbnormal, I interview the writer Tom Hodgkinson. His philosophy is of a relaxed approach to life, enjoying it as it comes rather than toiling for an imagined better future. After lounging around at Jesus College, Cambridge, where he played bass in the thrash band Chopper, he took the natural step of getting a job in Rough Trade records before moving on to becoming an importer of absinthe. Later, he and his partner Victoria Hull launched The Idler Academy; which offers courses on subjects such as foraging, singing, grammar, philosophy and astronomy. In this episode, we discuss a range of issues alongside anecdotes about the people he's interviewed. You'll therefore hear about Damien Hirst, Iggy Pop, Rowan Williams, Brett Anderson, Paul Mason, Communism, Ethics, the Futurists, Aldous Huxley, Colin MacInnes, the Sleaford Mods, Public Enemy, Bob Dylan, Naomi Klein, and the great Sally Phillips. Plus, a retort to the appallingly non-idling Home Secretary Priti Patel, who accused the British of being "the worst idlers in the world". By "worst" Tom points out, Patel seems to actually mean "best".To finish, and as The Idler states so clearly: 'Down with Silicon Valley...Open the Village Hall...Embrace Beauty...We Are Free...Anarchy in the UK!

Series One This episode of 'The New Abnormal' features the renowned semiotician Dr Rachel Lawes. One of the earliest providers of British commercial semiotics, her PhD was in social psychology, hence bringing a unique perspective to semiotics, placing her at the exact intersection of psychology, linguistics and cultural studies. Rachel has been using semiotics for nearly 20 years to rejuvenate brands, innovate products and services, and steer communication. As she points out in her excellent book 'Using Semiotics in Marketing', semiotics is big business - most famous for its unique ability to decode visual images - and can provide invaluable insights into understanding people's needs and behaviour. In this interview, we discuss the communication of codes / signs / symbols, how semiotic research can dovetail with ethnography, the post-modern theorists Jean Baudrillard and Michel Foucault, Western Individuality / Hyper Individualism, and Conceptual Art. 

Series One In this episode of #TheNewAbnormal podcast, I interviewed Joakim Noren, who is now a consultant, having been the Marketing Director and Vice President of Artipelag - a unique international venue for art, culture and design, beautifully set among pine trees on Varmdo in the Stockholm archipelago. Previously, Joakim was at the Swedish Institute, where he developed the 'Brand Sweden' platform into a complete brand strategy. Prior to that he'd been head of their strategy unit, which followed on from years as an independent concept developer and design strategist. (I last saw him when we were in Beirut, speaking at a conference alongside Govt officials). In this podcast, we discuss issues including the complexities of national branding initiatives, ideas around consensus culture and progressive notions of #BrandSweden alongside 'Swedish Brands Today'. We discuss green investment and regenerative capitalism, and 'Now/Next/Why' regarding the implications of Covid's impact on Scandinavian society and culture.  

Series OneIn this episode, I talk with the renowned strategist Gareth Kay, a founding partner of the cutting-edge independent creative studio Chapter, in San Fransisco, whose clients inc Google, Airbnb, Sonos, Dropbox, Uber, Facebook and PayPal. (Although , since we recorded the episode, Gareth has now moved into fintech).Prior to setting up Chapter, he'd spent 20yrs at some of the world's best ad agencies, inc Goodby Silverstein & Partners, where he was Chief Strategy Officer. He says that 'today, people expect more from their brands'. Those expectations may seem unreasonable, but they have been reset for good'. We talk about the 'complexity of uncertainty' summing up a key challenge of C19, but that we need to use the crisis 'as a portal to a better future'. Finally, Gareth talks about the urgent need to support the 'cultural creators and enablers' that play such a vital role in our lives. Oh, and he's also been to more gigs than seems humanly possible and really, really wanted to be a drummer. So...please listen and enjoy!

Series One In this episode of 'The New Abnormal' I interview Emily Hare, the Global Content Strategy Director of the Publicis Groupe. (Prior to this, she was Head of Content for Make Honey, before which she spent over a decade with Contagious Communications, where she was the Managing Editor.) In our discussion, which is a reposted episode, she explains her views on a wide range of issues including behavioural influencers, how to develop an informed and educated brand voice, the vital foundation of brand trust, and examples of authentic & positive brand behaviour regarding C19. In addition, we discuss the law of unintended consequences, the crucial issue of promoting diversity, economic reprioritisation re: #TheGreatReset, adaptive capacity re: the climate crisis, and the rise of hyper-localisation.