Think with Google Firestarters

Adah Parris discusses creating community in the digital age, reflecting on technology, nature, and cultural patterns, and the importance of self-awareness for leaders. She explores personal growth, historical reflections, and the need for visionary thinking in a changing world.

What are the best techniques for making your content marketing really fly? Matt Locke is the founder of the agency Storythings, and a renowned thinker on gaining attention through content. He joins Neil to talk about the need to understand how your content can fit into the lives of your audience, appreciating the media moments when it's possible to engage, and the formats that will work. Check out our YouTube video series at: https://goo.gle/3t13pWt

Why is optimism and letting go of what we know so important when considering technology futures? How can we challenge unexamined assumptions to come up with new ideas? In this wide-ranging, insights-packed episode, Kevin Kelly talks about the role of imagination in understanding the future, why we should focus on enabling technologies, how to make creativity a habit, and the importance of lifelong learning, curiosity, and making new mistakes.  Check out our YouTube video series at: https://goo.gle/3t13pWt

Don’t leave workshop energy at the door — bring it into your business. Listen to Alison Coward, founder of Bracket and author of “Workshop Culture: A Guide to Building Teams That Thrive”, as she joins Neil to discuss leadership lessons and prompts for creating meaningful conversations and work environments that foster psychological safety, commitment, creativity, empathy, and high-performance amongst teams. Check out our YouTube video series at: https://goo.gle/3t13pWt

Is media planning becoming the impossible job? Michael Lee, Chief Strategy Officer at VCCP and former Chair at the Account Planning Group, joins Neil to talk about the challenges of the ever-changing media landscape, the importance of “T-shaped” knowledge, the skills that can’t be replaced by AI, and why data can’t predict if a radical idea will be successful. Check out our YouTube video series at: https://goo.gle/3t13pWt

Claire Hennah from Unilever discusses using consumer feedback, community, and authenticity for brand growth. They talk about the significance of digital channels, ratings and reviews, and building connections in gaming. Unilever uses customer feedback to enhance products and recognizes trends for authentic branding. They emphasize the importance of building communities and having a clear purpose for brand growth.

Are you making the most of your data? Rishad Tobaccowala, award-winning strategist, podcaster and best-selling author, joins Neil to discuss why storytelling is key to unlocking its true value and how successful companies combine ‘maths and magic’ in marketing. Check out our YouTube video series at: https://goo.gle/3t13pWt  

Jerry Daykin VP & Head of Global Media at Beam Suntory — and former EMEA Senior Media Director at GSK*, speaks to Neil about the future of media, 'lazy endism', balancing hyper-personalisation with wider insight and empathy, and the power of context in media.  *This episode first came out in September 2021.  Check out our YouTube video series at: https://goo.gle/3t13pWt

Emma Cookson is a partner at The Brandtech Group (formerly You & Mr Jones) which positions itself as being built around in-housing, rooted in technology, and founded on transparency. Neil speaks to her about the power of simplicity, and how the ability to simplify complexity is a superpower for strategists. She also discusses some of the biggest and most disruptive shifts in marketing including the benefits of inhousing and the emergence of virtual worlds. And she describes what it's like to trend globally on Twitter (and not in a good way). Check out our YouTube video series at: https://goo.gle/3t13pWt  

Is finding opportunity in constraints the key to inventiveness? Neil speaks to Adam Morgan, highly respected author and the founder of eatbigfish, who describes how asking 'propelling questions' that combine a bold ambition with a constraint can help everyone to think more transformatively, reframe challenges, and get 'productively uncomfortable'.    Check out our YouTube video series at: https://goo.gle/3t13pWt