Chuck and Nandi Welch run Rupture Studio a consultancy that helps brands and corporations navigate the complex world the exists across the worlds of business, marketing, culture, and lifestyle. They bring over 30 years of combined experience to the table- Nandi in brand management and Chuck from his work with media and creative agencies ranging from Mediavest and Naked to McCann and Wieden & Kennedy. In our conversation, we talked about their experience, the benefits of running their own consulting company, the work they are doing, and some of the challenges involved in getting companies to get to grips with and understand the real world- be that outside or inside of their building.With events of the past year pushing the diversity agenda to the forefront of the business agenda- Chuck and Nandi shared their thoughts on the smartest ways for companies to make meaningful progress on this critical issue. 

Rishad is one of the smartest minds in the ad business. He moved from Bombay to Chicago to do an MBA in Marketing and Finance at the University of Chicago, got hired at Leo Burnett and stayed for his entire career. That's not entirely correct- he worked his way across and up to the very top of the Publicis Group becoming Chief Strategist and Member of the Directoire. He spent his career thinking about the future especially in media and digital- he had roles at Starcom and help created a number of companies and was Chairman of Digitas LBI and Razorfish.He has a unique set of experiences that make him well-equipped to take observe some of the key macro trends and developments. In 2020, Rishad wrote his first book "Restoring the Soul of Business: Staying Human in the Age of Data" which was critically acclaimed with Strategy and Business naming it one of its top business books of 2020....he makes as thoroughly documented a case as I have come across for why the businesses that thrive are those whose leaders know that what made them great is their human resources. Tobaccowala singles out mighty customer- and user-focused corporations — Walmart, Starbucks, Domino’s, Google — that have “successfully reoriented their thinking on how to fuse technology and humanity,” while he warns of “data-blinded companies” that stumble when they do not correct such matters as “stifled employees [who are] not encouraged to contribute ideas or insights” and “poor customer service due to automated, robotic processes that cause frustration and hurt the brand.”....In my conversation with Rishad, we talked about the book, what he has learned from his experiences, his background, and his thoughts on the business implications of the pandemic. 

This was a pod recorded almost a year ago- right before COVID hit and somehow this recording got lost in the mix.Brent Vartan left his high-powered strategy job at Deutsch to join a former colleague Mike Duda and created Bullish.Bullish is a hybrid company that brings together a PE/VC company and a creative agency- the remit is as an early stage/angel. The vision is to "own what they make" to get equity and ownership in the company's they work for.  They only invest in consumer categories- there are apparently 256 of them!!The very first company they invested in was Birchbox in 2010....because they believed they need a brand and then they got introduced to Harry's, etc.Bullish was also they were the first money in Casper and Peleton. Their work is all about brand and providing thinking about how to build a brand, but also how to create a deep customer experience. A big challenge is understanding what the opportunities and limits are of a newly minted brand. Brett also talks about the differences between the ad industry and VCs and The Bay Area and NY and explains how hard it is to make this happen for an agency; you need brand strategists and MBAs and there also needs to be a willingness to risk your own money. This podcast was recorded at Betaworks and was recorded by Alexander Rae, who also co-hosted. 

Jason Harris is the CEO and Co-Founder of Mekanism. In our conversation, we discussed the evolution of the agency in the past 15-years from a digital shop, to a viral agency, a production house, and now a full-service shop with 4 offices and 200 employees. Jason is a firm believer in the importance of relationships and understands that at its essence, advertising is a people business. It's the reason Mekanism establishes offices close to its major clients. It's also the motivation behind a new book he has out called "The Soulful Art of Persuasion" which is something akin to a C21st version of How to Win Friends and Influence People. He acknowledges the big shift that has happened with leadership having to flip to understand concepts like empathy and purpose. What he espouses for human beings he also recognizes matters for brands. Mekanism is also an agency with a strong internal culture guided by a fundamental set of beliefs and values. From the onset, this was an agency that celebrated together with trips to Mexico and Hawaii, the most recent outing in 2019 was a camping trip in California. We also talked about the key-contributors to long-term success which he defined as being his fellow partners, a long-term legal council/business advisor, and his many connections in the ad industry who he has sought advice when needed. Finally, like everyone, Jason is looking forward to Summer 2021 when the Mekanista (Mekanism employees) will return to their offices and the agency can reassert its culture and the development of ideas can be more organic and free-flowing and less of a process run by the demands of Zoom. 

Seven years ago, Rob Baird, Seth Gaffney, and Krystle Loyland left Mother NY to set up their own shop- Preacher.I got the chance to sit down and have a chat with Rob and Seth. I learned they made a deliberate decision to locate to Austin- partly because Rob wanted to head back to Texas, but also because they wanted to impact, connect, and contribute to a place with a diverse artistic culture. They added an art gallery to their agency space from the get-go.In the conversation, we talk about the importance of having a point of view as an agency, the advantage of having skilled practitioners from different disciplines as founders, working with friends, and building a "family" culture that is strong enough to support a cast of 60 folks.Importantly, they've learned from some of the best along the way, and instead of jettisoning some of that thinking- they've used it as a foundation to build from; they clearly have tremendous respect for their alma mater- Mother; they parted as friends, and the larger agency has consistently supported them from the sidelines. 

Charlotte is the CEO of The Talent Business in North America.  She has a background in advertising having worked in the client services side of a number of agencies including - TBWA, McCann, and JWT. For the past eight years, Charlotte has worked for The Talent Business in Los Angeles in New York.In our conversation, we talk about the new energy around marketing talent and the desire for companies to find the right people to help them grow. We discuss the qualities that companies and brands are looking for and how these compare to the leadership qualities of old. In addition, we also talk about how the pandemic has accelerated the demand for change and has in some ways been a kind of incubator for a new breed of more vulnerable, open, and empathetic management. 

Cindy Judge is the President and CEO of the Boulder, Colorado-based- creative collective that works across the areas of research, strategy, design, and communication for its clients. SRG has expertise and a reputation for its work in the food and beverage space having worked with many of the leading restaurant chains and CPG brands. The focus of the conversation with Cindy focused on food- what we are seeing in the pandemic, what are some of the broader trends she is noticing and how are Americans' attitudes to food changing. 

Kristen Cavallo re-joined the Martin Agency as CEO 3 years ago. The agency was in crisis and was in urgent need of rejuvenation. She had spent 13 years at Martin in a variety of roles ranging from Planning Director to Head of Business Development but left in 2014 to join Mullen.It was Kristen's first CEO job and she leaned in on her experience as a strategist- applying brand planning skills to the Martin Agency brand.By going back to the origins, she unearthed the first principles of the agency and found they were still relevant today. In 2019, she was named Ad Age's Executive of the Year. Elizabeth Paul joined Martin from Mullen in January 2020 and has been instrumental in bringing new strategic thinking to the table- like the "Diversity Brief". Having built a strong team-when the pandemic struck, the team's strength paid dividends since they already had such a solid working relationship. Out of the gate- within days of the pandemic and the impending "work from home" IPG mandate, the Martin team brainstormed implementable ideas for every one of the agency's clients and was all in on getting these ideas made and ensuring there was no slow down or pause.The change of leadership, the doubling down on the importance of getting brands talked about by consumers, and the commitment to diversity have all been strong transformative forces for Martin; not only has this helped to maintain the confidence of its existing client base, but it has also been instrumental in bringing in new clients. Since the pandemic struck in March of this year, the agency has brought on seven new pieces of business. In a wide-ranging conversation, we talk about the process of change, what the agency believes in, and why and how they managed to keep it all together working remotely and via Zoom

This episode features an interview with John V Willshire. John has been running his innovation consultancy- Smithery for the past nine years- after graduating in Economics- he trained as a market researcher, worked for Viacom Out of Home, and then took on various roles at PHD- including separately - in the disciplines of econometrics and innovation.Somewhat disillusioned with agency innovation offerings - he set up his own with the guiding mantra "Make Things People Want, rather than Make People Want Things."Our conversation was broad and touched on his background in economics to building motivating narratives and onto the future of work. We covered a lot of territory in the sixty or so minutes but looks like we are going to need to do a part 2 because we have more ground to cover. 

In this episode, I talk with Tim Maleeny who is the President and Chief Strategy Officer at Havas- NY.Tim has an interesting background which includes stints at Hal Riney when Hal was working there, Ogilvy, RGA, and Havas.In our conversation, we talk about how the discipline has evolved and is evolving, the importance of department and teamwork, and how to run an agency and win business during a pandemic- which Havas appears to be doing OK at.We also talk about the importance of being passionate about something else other than advertising because that fuels the day job. Tim is the author of six almost seven mystery novels.