Sweathead, A Strategy Podcast

Another episode of Live Action Strategy with Julian Cole. We chat The Strategy Super Sizer Megaclass, the 4 Live Action Strategy decks that are now online (lamps, tacos, vegetarian burgers, and crocs), and we riff a strategy live for getting people like Julian to go to the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) to renew their licenses.  The Megaclass details are here: http://www.strategymegaclass.com (NYC, October 4, 2019 is next) JC is here: https://twitter.com/juliancole The Live Action Strategy decks - from brief to comms plan - are here: Lamps: http://bit.ly/LiveStrategyLamps Dos Toros: http://bit.ly/LiveStrategyDosToros Beyond Burger: http://bit.ly/LiveStrategyBurger Crocs: http://bit.ly/LiveStrategyCrocs For more strategy talk: 1. Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Facebook - join 6,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Today we chat about how to make a point and why so much advertising talk and writing seems to lack one. You can ask questions here: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Praveen Vaidyanathan has worked around the world but currently calls Copenhagen home. He's a strategy director at VIRTUE/VICE Nordics, and, as he's traveled around, he's contemplated the agencies in which he'd like to work and how they talk about themselves. He's contemplated them so much that he compiled a list of 700 agency philosophies. In this interview, we discuss what an agency philosophy is, the categories of philosophy that Praveen sees, and Praveen's favorite philosophies.  You can find Praveen here https://twitter.com/v_praveen and his list of 700 agency philosophies here https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ad-agency-philosophies-taglines-global-700-praveen-vaidyanathan-1c/ For more strategy talk: 1. Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Facebook - join 6,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Vicky Chen is Head of Strategy at VIRTUE Nordic (part of Vice) in Copenhagen. She arrived in strategy via psychology and writing. She's worked in New York, Amsterdam, and San Francisco at agencies such as Naked, Sid Lee, and AKQA. She reached strategy in an indirect way, much like many of us. And this is what we discuss. How do you get into strategy? What are the pros and cons of advertising schools? And why people from different backgrounds make for better strategy departments. You can find Vicky here http://linkedin.com/in/vtchen For more strategy talk: 1. Newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Facebook - join 6,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Ben Shaw is Head of Strategy at BBH London. As an eleven-year veteran of one of the world's best agencies and one of the world's favorite homes to agency strategists, Ben believes that strategy is a creative role and that strategy departments need to contain more people from different backgrounds to be as creative as possible. We discuss both topics, including BBH's year-and-a-half mission to open itself up to people who wouldn't normally get access to an advertising career in London.      You can find Ben here https://twitter.com/benshaw  BBH's Homegrown program is here https://www.bartleboglehegarty.com/careers/internship-homegrown  Sweathead strategy classes are in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Scenario - Eighty people work in your Mumbai headquarters and you have new teams emerging in London and New York. You want to keep improving the quality of your work and you want the business to keep growing. What do you do?  After eight years in the American corporate world at GE and AIG, Libby Swan moved to India to create a new life. There she co-founded PRDXN, a creative and technology company, in 2006. We discuss the tools Libby uses for perspective, and how she and her team are thinking about growing their company. They don't think of themselves as an "agency," but I used it in the title because you're probably in one. You can find PRDXN here http://www.prdxn.com and Libby here https://twitter.com/libswan For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 6,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Nick Williams is a strategist in Colorado. He's listened to nearly all the episodes of Sweathead. As a form of study. So I wanted to ask him what he's learned from having hours of strategy folk in his head, how he's thinking about where to take his career, and we talk through a hypothetical strategy. I rambled a bit too much in this one. Sorry, Nick! You can find Nick here:  https://nicholasawilliams.com For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Rob Schwartz is CEO of TBWA\CHIAT\DAY New York. A big agency brand name, TBWA in New York was a shining star then it faded. When Rob arrived, the culture had been decimated and clients were either leaving or very unhappy.  In this interview, we discuss the turn-around story. Rob shares with us the business plan he shared with global CEO Troy Ruhanen and he discusses what they discussed before he took the role. He also describes what he focused on in his first few months.  It's a very candid interview - although I can tell Rob is comfortable in candor.  You can find TBWA NY here https://tbwachiatdayny.com Rob is here: https://twitter.com/Schwartzie14    Sweathead strategy classes are in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

Nadia Piet is a freelance experience and service designer in Amsterdam. We discuss service design and trying to design a career with a focus on the power and risks in personal narratives, utopian and dystopian ideas in artificial intelligence narratives, designing a career that involves feeling like an outsider and moving around a lot. You can find Nadia here http://nadiapiet.com/ and here https://www.instagram.com/nadiapiet/ For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 6,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Saturday afternoon in São Paulo, how good is this? Come for a walk from Pinheiros to Livraria Cultura for some chat about Brazil and strategy. Ask questions here: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard