Inspiring Futures - Lessons from the Worlds of Marketing and Advertising

Sophie Ayles, one of Australia's most experienced strategists, discusses her journey, the challenges of being a strategist, and the aspects of strategy she enjoys. She also talks about her work at M&C Saatchi/Greenhouse, transforming Woolworths, Australia's largest retailer. The podcast explores cultural transformations, the story of Woolworths, and reviving love for the brand by showcasing partnerships and innovations.

In the latest Inspiring Futures podcast, I spoke with Dan Gardner, the co-founder of Code and Theory. A 22-year-old- digital-first agency that states its philosophy as   "Our intent is to be unclassifiable in a cluttered agency landscape.We discussed the origins and evolutions of Code and Theory, how to think about technology correctly, the importance of discourse, what keeps him inspired, the power of the internet giants, why all websites look the same these days, and many other things. 

Ivan heads up Redscout and is the CEO of the consulting company. Founded over 20 years ago, Redscout focuses on "making change real," using strategists and designers to make this happen. Ivan has a strategy background and has been with Redscout since 2015. His client experience includes- Best Buy, Google, PepsiCo, and ADP.  Our conversation was wide-ranging, covering his career progression, the state of marketing and brands today, brand and performance marketing. talent, skills, and what it takes to succeed at Red Scout. 

Kyle is the Strategy Director of BBH Singapore, where he works on a roster of great brands, including; Heineken, Nike, and Riot Games. The podcast discusses his background, including his time at BBDO in Germany and his award-winning work for the WWF (World Wildlife Fund). We also talk about the importance of how work gets developed that's culturally resonant and is likely to capture attention and go into some detail on the sneaker idea BBH created for Heineken. In many ways, Kyle represents a breed of strategists at creative agencies where their understanding of culture and, importantly, how word gets out in culture plays an integral role in helping to develop great work.

Way too many months back, I had the chance to speak to Evie and Tyler at the Escape Pod in Chicago. It was an excellent opportunity to talk to members of a strategy team at a small agency. Tyler runs the department and Evie is a brand strategist on the team. Since Evie came into the industry from academia, we had an interesting discussion about what she brought to the team from her learnings on personal branding and entertainment. As a student, her dissertation was 350 pages on "Real Housewives." Tyler's experience includes Wieden, 72, and R/GA, and he has been at the shop for four years and was brought in as part of a team to create version 2.0 of the agency. We discussed the importance of building a strategy team and an overall agency culture where everyone can contribute and feels comfortable doing so. We also talked about golf grips. 

Craig Mawdsley and Bridget Angear are Craig and Bridget - brand strategy consultants based in London. They started a couple of years after spending time as joint Planning heads at AMV BBDO, where they worked on a portfolio of impressive brands and picked up a trophy case full of awards. They were named top strategists by Campaign Magazine six years out of eight. This podcast is a follow-up to one I did when they had just started their business. Two years on, we discuss how their business has evolved and developed, why strategy is still fundamental to brand and business, how they work, the importance of words, and much more. It's an essential listen for those thinking of starting their strategy practice and for those who need reminding how essential strategy is to business and brand. 

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

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

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

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