Inspiring Futures - Lessons from the Worlds of Marketing and Advertising

Ana was the first guest on the Inspiring Futures podcast and it was great to have her back on the show to talk about her new book- The Business of Aspiration.The book is all about a new way for marketers and strategists to think about the interaction and intersection of brands and consumers. How brand value is now found in social good and the power of niches which serve as distinct worlds and cultures which create their own brands, but places where bigger brands need to connect. We talked about the importance of curators as providers of knowledge for those consumers who want to acquire category and brand expertise. When it came to specific brands, Ana mentioned Patagonia driving is brand strength not just from its environmental credentials, but also from the power it has within a diverse set of outdoor niches, Tracksmith for its dedication and focus, not just to running, but a specific type of runner.The Business of Aspiration is going to be published October 27thIt can be pre-ordered on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Business-Aspiration-Cultural-Environmental-Capital/dp/0367554402

A few weeks ago Jeff was a guest on my podcast and we talked about his take on the agency landscape, through the lens of his role as a PR person and consultant to agencies. At the end of the chat, Jeff mentioned to me that he also wrote books and had, in fact, written a couple. Hence- the 2nd pod- where Jeff talks about the process of writing and we go into the weeds on how this stuff gets done- the late nights, the editors, the re-writes, dealing with publishers and the marketing piece of the puzzle.It's a good listen for those who dream of writing the next great American novel or maybe just a book. 

Rob Campbell is a planner who thrives on being in the thick of the creative process. When it comes to creative work he wants to enhance it, inspire it, and nurture it. In the episode, Rob shares his philosophy on Strategy and some stories from his experiences which includes time spent at agencies HHCL, Wieden, and R/GA. Rob started out as a session guitarist - so he knows the creative process first hand. He was working with leading artists when he was just 18 years old.So, this is a must-listen if you are a strategist who is committed to inspiring better work and being intimately involved in the process. 

Lucy Jameson is one the best UK planners of her generation and has featured on Campaign's list of top 10 planners multiple times.She started her career at one of the founding agencies of the account planning discipline- BMP- where she stayed rising through the ranks for 19 years.She was one of a handful of leaders hired by Grey to transform the London office and operation, a task she succeeded in winning multiple new accounts, Campaign's Agency of the Year, and many creative and effectiveness awards. In 2015 she was made CEO of the shop.Prior to starting her own agency Uncommon Creative Studio-in 2017 with Nils Leonard and Natalie Graeme- she worked as an intern at Facebook and spent time in a tech incubator. Uncommon Creative Studio has worked with the likes of the WWF, ITV, Habito, and many others and is all in the business of building its own brands like Halo- a more eco-friendly alternative to Nespresso and a candle company which donates money to COVID related causes.In the episode, we talk about her career trajectory, her thoughts on planning, brands, and the approach Uncommon takes to clients and business. 

For the past 20 + years- Mark and Adam and the crew at Eat Big Fish have been helping brands to think like challengers, unlock the pirates inside and overcome constraints. They also happen to be the themes of the books that they have written about brands, internal cultures, and innovation.This is a consulting company that believes in doing the research to back up and build its thinking, frameworks, and tools. In the episode, I talk to Adam and Mark about how EBF came into being, how it thinks and works, and the purpose and role of writing and publishing books.Given the moment, we give some time to a discussion about a book they wrote 5 years ago - called A Beautiful Constraint which is all about achieving things against the odds when resources and barriers are put in the way of success. It seems like now is a time when companies will find a myriad of barriers that can in the way of progress. Through fascinating examples and tools- EBF shows how these barriers can be overcome. 

Tracey Faux Pattani is the recently hired CEO of BSSP.For Tracey, it is a return to an agency she last worked in 15 years ago.This is also her first agency CEO job - she joined the agency from Digitas SF where she headed up client service.To overuse, the cliche- these are unprecedented times, and certainly if you are a new CEO you want to be able to meet everyone in person both client and agency-side, but COVID has made this an impossibility. Instead, she only had the luxury of a week in the office before shutdown- making her a CEO who is forced to lead via Zoom.In the episode, I talk to Tracey about her experiences leading up to this position and what she has learned along the way from agencies with a variety of diverse working styles, cultures, and leaders like Lintas, Ogilvy, FCB, and Digitas. We talk about leading during COVID - how she does it and how she has had to adapt and her plans for the agency moving forward.  

Ad agencies have lots of skills but they rarely use them for the benefit of those who really could use them outside of their paying clients. Over in the UK, Akil Benjamin worked with M&C Saatchi to create Saturday School a program that helped provide mentoring for Black-owned businesses. Blackbusiness.mcsaatchi.com He achieved a lot of success with that program and is now scaling it up on his own. In the UK- agencies signed an open letter of solidarity after George Floyd's death and Akil's program provides a chance for them to put transfer this intent into action. In the episode, we talk about his background, his work, and support from M&C and the idea behind his new program and the support it has generated. Donate, volunteer and sign- up for the mentoring scheme bit.ly/2XGHodm

John Dempsey is one of the founders of the digital shop Road Trip.John got to experience the contemporary world of brand marketing while working on the KFC team at Wieden and Kennedy in Portland.In the episode, we discuss his thinking behind setting up Road Trip, the worlds of digital and brand marketing, and what he learned from his experience on the KFC account at W&K.

Chas Edwards is one of the founders of Pop-Up Magazine. The idea of Pop-Up Magazine started as an experiment with friends to turn a physical magazine into a live experience. Word of mouth soon followed and Pop Up became something of a cultural phenom selling out venues like the Lincoln Center and rolling through the country on a national tour.In the episode, I talk to Chas about his career trajectory- what took him into the magazine space and the secrets behind creating a compelling live experience for a generation who have a tough time putting their cellphones down. Of course, we also talk about COVID and how Pop-Up has pivoted to creating its experience online and what the implications of this learning might be for the business in the future. https://www.popupmagazine.com/

Jeff Sweat runs his own ad agency PR and consulting shop (Sweat and Co) in Los Angeles. Having started his career as a tech journalist he then moved to Yahoo where he got the chance to interact with a number of ad agencies. He then went agency side and had stints leading new business efforts at 72 and Sunny and Deutsch in LA before setting up on his own.My conversation with Jeff involved asking about his career trajectory and what he learned from his different experiences and inside agency cultures. We went onto talking about agencies today - how they have a unique opportunity to be real advisors to their clients and how important it is for agencies to practice what they preach to their clients by building their own differentiated and distinctive brands and cultures.Jeff is also a podcaster himself and has a very successful series- with Agencies under Quarantinehttps://www.sweatandco.com/quarantineHe is also a novelist which will be the topic for our next conversation. https://www.sweatandco.com/