Campaign Chemistry

This episode first aired January 31st, 2024.  If you were on TikTok this summer, you likely saw videos of people acting out a violent death after drinking McDonald’s Grimace milkshake.Marques Gartrell and Brandon Henderson are the creatives behind this campaign, which went viral and sets a playbook for how marketers can relinquish control and let their consumers take the reins on a creative idea in the age of social media.The co-CCOs of Wieden + Kennedy New York stepped into the role in September as part of a restructuring that put a trio of leadership — two CCOs and a president — in charge of each office. In this episode, they chat about running creative at one of the world’s most famous agencies and tease the work they’re creating for brands such as Michelob Ultra and FanDuel for Super Bowl LVIII.Listen to this episode and subscribe to Campaign Chemistry wherever you get your podcasts.  campaignlive.com What we know about advertising, you should know about advertising. Start your 1-month FREE trial to Campaign US.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Colleen DeCourcy has carved a career out of pushing boundaries and making change.In her nine years leading Wieden+Kennedy, DeCourcy evolved the agency to embrace digital and social media while reshaping its policies and leadership team to reflect an increasingly diverse workforce. She did it all while raising her daughter as a single mother. Two years ago, she came out of a brief retirement to join Snap as chief creative officer, compelled by the platform’s mission to right some of the wrongs social media has inflicted on society and particularly on youth. Snap’s most recent campaign, Less Social Media, More Snapchat, released in February, embodies this ethos.In this episode, DeCourcy also reveals her favorite campaign she has ever worked on. Listen to this episode and subscribe to Campaign Chemistry wherever you get your podcasts. campaignlive.com What we know about advertising, you should know about advertising. Start your 1-month FREE trial to Campaign US.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Subaru is a brand built on exploration and discovery. As discovery becomes more digital for shoppers, Roku has been there to help Subaru compress the purchase funnel by arming drivers with as much knowledge as possible through digital advertisements. This discussion will delve into the impact of streaming on Subaru's overall business dynamics, shedding light on the innovative strategies and activations of the partnership.  campaignlive.com What we know about advertising, you should know about advertising. Start your 1-month FREE trial to Campaign US.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Nadja Bellan-White is a staunch advocate for purpose at a time when brands are retreating from having a cultural point of view. In fact, she returned to the agency world at the end of 2023 to lead creative and public affairs agency SS+K for that reason. In her role, Bellan-White leads the agency to continue to help brands lean into their purpose and make work that fits within the cultural context. This doesn’t mean being overtly political, but rather understanding the dynamics in which consumers are experiencing a brand.In this episode, Bellan-White chats about why it’s critical for brands to stay committed to purpose in a turbulent time, particularly ahead of the 2024 election. She also shares wisdom from her time working all over the world, including as CEO of Ogilvy in Africa, as well as her time as CMO of Vice.Listen to this episode and subscribe to Campaign Chemistry wherever you get your podcasts. campaignlive.com What we know about advertising, you should know about advertising. Start your 1-month FREE trial to Campaign US.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

After 20 years at The Martin Agency wearing many different hats, Danny Robinson took on the CEO role in January. He had previously been chief creative officer, a background he says is nothing but beneficial to running an agency, despite common misconceptions that creatives can’t run the business.Robinson sees opportunities to grow Martin’s entertainment and design businesses, the former focused squarely on inserting brands into culture. The agency certainly did that back in the fall, when it nearly broke the internet with a cryptic post from Snoop Dogg saying he was going “smokeless.”Also in this episode, Robinson talks about the industry’s lack of forward movement on DE&I and his hopes for pushing progress in his new role. campaignlive.com What we know about advertising, you should know about advertising. Start your 1-month FREE trial to Campaign US.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Suzanne Kounkel jokes that her job as Deloitte’s U.S. and global CMO is penance for all of the times she pushed her CMO clients to work faster and more agilely. Over her 30-year career at Deloitte, Kounkel has led various functions, such as the Consulting Technology practice, where she helped other marketers transform their tech stacks to keep up with the demands of digital. Now she’s doing the same work for her own organization, where she’s leading the team to be more integrated and adopt new technologies such as generative AI.In this episode, Kounkel also talks about balancing creativity and craft with demand generation and other B2B necessities, how she’s navigating brand purpose in a polarized world and how marketers can partner with the rest of the business and the C-suite to achieve better outcomes.Listen to this episode and subscribe to Campaign Chemistry wherever you get your podcasts. campaignlive.com What we know about advertising, you should know about advertising. Start your 1-month FREE trial to Campaign US.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It’s been 30 years since Ajaz Ahmed founded AKQA, the agency named after his own initials. It was the dawn of the internet, and his experience working with software companies sparked a passion for design and communications that led to one of the industry’s most iconic digital agencies. Over the past three decades, AKQA has grown to more than 5,000 employees around the world with longstanding clients such as Nike. In an era when digital agencies are struggling to keep up, AKQA stays ahead of the curve by following a mantra it instilled early on: “It’s good to be first, it’s better to be good, it’s best to be both.” In this episode, Ahmed talks about AKQA’s history, new innovations he is excited about (hint: the Apple Vision Pro) and Future Lions, the agency’s long-running program that invites students from around the world to compete on a brief at the industry’s biggest creative festival. Listen to this episode and subscribe to Campaign Chemistry wherever you get your podcasts. campaignlive.com What we know about advertising, you should know about advertising. Start your 1-month FREE trial to Campaign US.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When Jason Harris and cofounders started Mekanism 17 years ago, social media had just begun reshaping the advertising and creative landscape. Today, Mekanism is adapting to a different shift — the need to build brand awareness while also driving performance. Acquired in 2022 by Canada-based holding company Plus Company, Mekanism began shifting its offer around the premise of “soul and science” — prioritizing the importance of brand-building that extends creativity through the full funnel. Harris is candid that the shift wasn’t easy — but a year and a half later, the dust has settled and the year ahead is promising. In this episode, Harris also chats about how Mekanism is adopting generative AI and sheds light on the agency’s work with President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign — as well as, yes, that viral Peloton ad. Listen to this episode and subscribe to Campaign Chemistry wherever you get your podcasts. campaignlive.com What we know about advertising, you should know about advertising. Start your 1-month FREE trial to Campaign US.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

At Convene: Creativity Converged, hosted by Campaign US on Tuesday, February 27 in New York City, leading and up-and-coming marketers, creatives and industry professionals gathered to listen to thought-provoking discussions on how the industry is adapting as technology collides with creativity. Attendees also got hands-on experience using generative AI tools to build a brand in a day and pitch it to a panel of experts.This episode includes clips from the day, coupled with exclusive interviews with our speakers and expert analysis from the Campaign US editorial team.Listen and subscribe to Campaign Chemistry wherever you get your podcasts. campaignlive.com What we know about advertising, you should know about advertising. Start your 1-month FREE trial to Campaign US.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

While The New York Times has arguably been one of the biggest success stories in the great pivot to subscription revenue, advertising still plays a significant role in its business. In fact, the two businesses fuel each other, as The Times is able to tap into its massive subscriber base to create better and more targeted advertising opportunities. Joy Robins joined The Times in spring 2023 to lead the storied publication’s advertising business. Since then, she’s led its push to launch ads on more of its properties, such as The Athletic and within Wordle, and has incorporated generative AI into The Times’ first-party targeting and brand suitability tools to add more nuance to parameters. In this episode, Robins also chats about how The Times balances the objectives of its subscription business with those of advertisers and shares her thoughts on the state of the media ecosystem. campaignlive.com What we know about advertising, you should know about advertising. Start your 1-month FREE trial to Campaign US.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.