Call To Action

This week we’ve laid bait of fried chicken and Guinness to snare the recently rebranded Stockholm strategist who now has a new name and manifesto, JP Castlin.     JP is an independent strategy and complexity management consultant who shares his views on strategy in Marketing Week, The Drum, the IPA’s EffWorks, his own no-nonsense talks across the globe, and his hugely popular annual manifestos.    The imminently available Castlin Manifesto promises to be more provocative than ever, so we’re first in line to fill our plate and stuff our faces with a scintillating smorgasbord of JP’s most controversial opinions.    We tuck into deliberate and emergent strategy, why context is king, complexity theory, experimenting, marketing in “praxis”, A/B testing and porn, the effectiveness shaped elephant in the room, challenging context-free rules in a context specific world and loads more.   /////   Follow JP on Twitter  Listen to his first Call to Action episode here  Catch Chapter 1 of the Castlin Manifesto on ISOLATED Talks    JP dedicates this episode to the magnificent Murray Calder:“As good as he is a marketer, he’s an even better person.” Follow Murray on Twitter too.   JP is offering Call to Action listeners the Castlin Manifesto for absolutely nada. Simply email hello@rouser.se and ask nicely. It won’t be free forever, so get your grubby paws on it pronto.     JP’s book recommendations are: The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning by Henry Mintzberg  Cynefin by Dave Snowden  /////

This week, by order of the Peaky Blinders, we’ve slipped into Small Heath and taken up a table at The Garrison to catch the best Brummie Tommy since Tommy Shelby, Tommy Mason.    An exceptionally talented designer, Tommy is Founder and Lead Designer of Studio Mason, a digital and branding studio based in Birmingham. An experienced creative specialising in UX, UI and branding, he was nominated for The Drum’s Young Designer of the Year 2018, and more recently nabbed himself one of their Chip Shop Awards.   Tommy talks to us on tonnes of topics, including doing a design apprenticeship, function over form, designing for accessibility, going freelance, why self-branding is b*llocks, the creative scene in Brum and a whole lot more. /////  Follow Tommy on Twitter  And on Instagram   Check out Studio Mason  Here are the Accessibility Tools mentioned     Tommy’s recommendations are: Interface Lovers Magazine  Abstract: The Art of Design on Netflix  /////

We’ve laid the Table (Mountain) with a bountiful Binet and Field feast to snare Cape Town’s creativity champion and industry agony aunt, Gillian Rightford, this week.  Gillian is Founder of Adtherapy, a management, skills development and communication consultancy ridding the world of bad ads using her simple equation; Better skills = better relationships = better results. Previously, Gillian honed her craft at agencies across South Africa, culminating in an impressive stint as Group Managing Director at Lowe Bull.    In this episode, we tuck into tasty topics like why loads of creative work is so mediocre, tips for marketers and agencies to get the best out of each other, the Bill she can’t live without (clue: it’s either Bernbach or tong?), the importance of account leadership, creativity, risk, cats, astrology and loads more. Go forth and gorge.   ///// Follow Gillian on Twitter  And on LinkedIn  Check out Adtherapy   Watch The Cracks in Things Let the Light Shine In on ISOLATED Talks   And here's her talk from Nedbank     Gillian’s book recommendations are: Anything from the BBH World Cup of Advertising Books The Choice Factory by Richard Shotton  Drive by Daniel Pink  Madison Avenue Manslaughter by Michael Farmer  Delusions of Brandeur by Ryan Wallman  Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman  Predatory Thinking by Dave Trott  The Anatomy of Humbug by Paul Feldwick  /////

This week, armed with the promise of sex and drugs and How Brands Grow, we’ve waded our way through gaggles of groupies to catch ex-rock star, pitch addict and award winning creative, Nick Ellis.    A respected strategic thinker and pre-watershed sex toy advert pioneer, Nick is Creative Partner & Co-Founder of Halo, a Design Week UK Top 100 independent brand agency based in Bristol. He has over 20 years’ experience working on significant global projects for clients including Jack Daniel’s, SEAT, BT, Live Nation, Ticketmaster, and Diageo.    He talks to us on his failed career as a rock star, running an agency, why he’s ashamed of his “womb room”, tips on creative briefing, the importance of account management, making the world’s most boring advert for a sex toy client and loads more. Tune up, plug in and enjoy. ///// Follow Nick on Twitter  And on LinkedIn  Check out his agency Halo  Watch Wow How Now: A Creative Pitch Technique on ISOLATED Talks  And check out the slides from his ZeeMelt talk on Account Management Hovering Art Directors on Tumblr   Nick’s book recommendations are: How Brands Grow by Byron Sharp  Paid Attention by Faris Yakob  Delusions of Brandeur by Ryan Wallman  Strategy is Your Words by Mark Pollard  Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell  Slade House by David Mitchell  The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman  /////

This week, marking our Half Century 50th episode (not out), we’ve caught and bowled Facebook’s Head of Strategy, and cricketer, Shekhar Deshpande.   One of the world’s great strategists, Shekhar spent nearly two decades at the creative agency J Walter Thompson, across Bangalore and London, prior to joining Facebook. He’s had work awarded at Cannes, performed judging duties for the Effies, and worked with clients including Nike, Unilever, Shell, Diageo and Mondelez.    Shekhar shares stories of his 19 years at JWT, running away from and towards things, how a cricket match in Guildford helped change his life, working at Facebook, the importance of expressing your feelings and the future of strategy.    If that wasn’t enough, in the final over, he knocks us for 6 with career advice from Calvin & Hobbes, delivers a glorious googly on why he detests pitches, and loads more. Howzat? ///// Follow Shekhar on LinkedIn  And on Twitter  Watch ‘Being the Best Strategist You Can Be’ on ISOLATED Talks  Here’s his WARC article on the Future of Strategy    Shekhar’s book recommendations are: Roots by Alex Haley  The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan  Illusions by Richard Bach  Born a Crime by Richard Noah (Audiobook)  We Need to Talk About the British Empire by Afua Hirsch (Podcast)  Alchemy by Rory Sutherland (Audiobook)  /////

Wielding a witch’s wand, we hot-footed aboard the Hogwarts Express for a magical chat with Founder of Bodacious and strategy’s own Severus Snape, Zoe Scaman, this week.   Zoe’s love for sci-fi and strategy has sent her searching around the world for the next shiny thing, working for the likes of Droga5, Ridley Scott Creative Group, and Adidas. She’s developed a TV series for a huge fashion label, branded a celebrity or two, and is the go-to-guru for expertise on brand planning and entertainment strategy.  In this episode, she adds magic and mojo to topics like avoiding university, Sydney’s strategy scene, PPC for porn sites, agencies ‘sausage factory’ problem, world-building and what-if planning, fetishizing frameworks, why the smartest people ask stupid questions, and a treasure trove more.  ///// Follow Zoe on Twitter  And check out her Substack  Here’s Bodacious  Her out of this world ISOLATED Talk  And her article on breaking our non-fiction addiction    Zoe’s book recommendations are: Hollowpox Trilogy by Jessica Townsend  Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens  Daring Greatly by Brené Brown  Dare to Lead by Brené Brown Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik  Uprooted by Naomi Novik  The Midnight Library by Matt Haig  How to Stop Time by Matt Haig /////

This week, we fired up the big screen and laid bait of a reminiscing watch of Wales’ glorious 3 – 1 Euro 2016 victory over Belgium to catch the best thing since sliced Bara-Brith; MediaCom’s Global Digital Director, Andrew Spurrier-Dawes.   Arguably Wales’ finest export since Huw Edwards, ASD has worked with stellar brands like Mars, Sky, Tesco and eBay. Described by Rory Sutherland as ‘MediaCom’s polymath’, he still finds time to be an IronMan, Campaign 30 Under 30 winner, co-host of two successful podcasts, keen photographer and family man. He talks to us on missing a McDonald’s armed robbery by 30 seconds, why his first boss called him a c*nt, why ads should be more expensive, advice for onboarding clients, why the internet is f*cked, clicks, China, his struggles with mental health, and loads more. You’d be a fool not to fill your ear canals up. Iechyd da. ///// Follow ASD on Twitter Or drop him a line Here are more of his favourite books And his ISOLATED Talk He also co-hosts two successful podcasts; Connected, where he talks to the greatest names in marketing, technology and beyond, and Echoes of Glory, a podcast dedicated to Tottenham Hotspur ASD’s book recommendations are: 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene The Hero with A Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell Undisputed Truth: My Autobiography by Mike Tyson Sweat the Technique by Rakim  /////

They say you should leave an audience wanting more, but sod that, as this week we are giving you a huge double helping of more, as it is part 2 of our chat with George Tannenbaum.    One of the most highly awarded, revered and talented copywriters and creative directors on the planet, George is a freelancer who was previously Executive Creative Director and Copy Chief at Ogilvy for over 10 years, and has worked with huge brands like IBM, Boeing, PayPal and General Motors.   Allow your ears to be bent by George’s blissful yet biting NY tones, as he talks on subjects such as the state of copywriting, what he would do if he was Joe Biden, rediscovering his love for advertising, what he would banish from the industry, his time at Ogilvy including his last assignment working on the Boeing account, clickbait and how to write a good headline and more. Go tune in, you lucky, lucky people.   Oh. And that’s not to mention a perfectly timed comedic cameo from his wife. ///// Follow George and Le Agency Holding Company CEO on LinkedIn George is on Twitter Here is his Ad Aged Blog And his Website Here are the AdHouse Classes  George’s book recommendations: The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson Caste by Isabel Wilkerson  /////

We’ve pulled a network agency worm out of the Big Apple and used it as topic-bait to catch one of advertising’s biggest fish this week; the one and only George Tannenbaum. One of the most highly awarded, revered and talented copywriters and creative directors on the planet, George is a freelancer who was previously Executive Creative Director and Copy Chief at Ogilvy for over 10 years.   George has worked with huge brands like IBM, Boeing, PayPal, and General Motors, writes a hugely influential marketing blog called Ad Aged, and has a charming if alarmingly deluded French alter ego called ‘Le Agency Holding Company CEO’ who holds up a satirical mirror to the holding company era.   Listen to George chat and vent eloquent fire on a variety of subjects such as his family’s settlement in the U.S, his early career, working and learning from Ron Rosenfeld and Len Sirowitz, the NY agency scene in the 80s and 90s, what the industry has become, ageism, his time at Ogilvy, why he hates the Yankees, and tonnes more. So much more, that this is the first of a two-parter.   And the whole thing kicks off with an unmissable cameo from Le Agency Holding Company CEO. So what you waiting for? Go listen. ///// Follow George and Le Agency Holding Company CEO on LinkedIn George is on Twitter Here is his Ad Aged Blog And his Website   George’s book recommendations: The Saddest Words by Michael Gorra And the rest will be in Part 2, so be sure to listen in 😉 /////

This week we’ve trawled and traversed all 50 US states in a 27-foot-long hot dog to catch former male cheerleader, Assistant Tour Manager to Britney Spears, mentee of Magic Johnson & ad land’s most diverse and disruptive Diversity Officer; Doug Melville.    Another chapter of his remarkable CV tells us that as the first-ever Chief Diversity Officer of TBWA\North America, Doug has driven TBWA’s supplier diversity efforts to over $250 million in spend with female and diversely owned-and-operated businesses in the creative space…and still found time to interview Snoop Dogg.     He talks to us on that giant wiener (!!), studying at the University of Magic Johnson, touring with the Princess of Pop, nailing your diversity strategy, valuing progress over PR, how brands can take a stance on social issues, and loads more. Anyone who simply wants their company or agency to produce better, more diverse work should bend their ear hither now. /////   Follow Doug on Twitter, LinkedIn & Instagram  Check out his diversity platform One Sandbox  And delve into any of his 3 brilliant TEDx Talks: Improving your diversity IQ  Being A Male Cheerleader Changed My Relationships with Women  Digital Breadcrumbs - 12 steps to online success  And why not? Here’s Britney’s ...Baby One More Time  Doug’s book recommendation is: Think And Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill    /////