Sweathead, A Strategy Podcast

Tim Levinson is a rapper, songwriter, label manager, and artist manager. He’s been in the public eye for two decades as Urthboy and as part of the Elefant Traks record label (Hermitude are one of the groups representing the label around the world). We discuss how Tim thinks about his art and touch on many ideas a strategist would do well to absorb into their lives. You can find Tim here https://twitter.com/urthboy 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.

Lauren Joyce is the National Strategy Director at the Australian Radio Network, a company that reaches millions of Australians every week. She's also worked in media agencies (Universal McCann), branded content, and in another publisher (Mamamia, a publisher that reaches 4 million Australians each month). We discuss how strategy is different in each of these types of companies, how to deal with short timelines, and how being a parent can shape your strategy life. You can find Lauren here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lscassar/ 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.

Alasdair Lloyd-Jones is a strategist-turned-CSO-turned-President-turned-COO-turned-CEO. Most recently, he led SET Creative, an agency that recently sold. I caught Alasdair as he was contemplating what to do next - should he create his own agency, go client-side, or join another agency with deep experience design expertise? This feels like a rare conversation - someone who's lived in multiple countries and who's had many different roles and who still loves what he does having an open chat about how he's thinking through what to do next.  You can find Alasdair here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alasdair-lloyd-jones   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.

How does it feel to be a strategist and have people invite you into strategy projects but not to do strategy? Instead, sometimes you're invited to "represent your people," a solo focus group on behalf of an entire population. How does it feel to be a lead strategist and have people invite you to meetings but treat you like you're not a lead strategist? These things have happened to Melle. And Melle wanted to discuss them. You can find Melle here http://www.twitter.com/mellehnyc Art Noir, her art collective, is here http://www.artnoir.co 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.

Trine Keller-Andreason is a planner at Forsman & Bodenfors. She's worked in Denmark and New York, but now lives in Sweden. Just over a week ago, her team won the inaugural Creative Strategy Grand Prix at The Cannes International Festival of Creativity. The project took Volvo's history and focus on safety somewhere it hadn't been before. This will come as no surprise because Forsman & Bodenfors is an agency many haven't seen before. They espouse a certain humanity and equality in how they work with each other - there isn't much formal hierarchy, there aren't many big titles, and people have to agree before projects can move ahead. Recently, the agency name arrived in New York through osmosis with KBS. But consensus, flat hierarchy, and small titles, can that even work in New York? You can find Trine here: https://twitter.com/trineka  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.

Today - a quick word to strategists who work in pre-sales for tech platforms and publishers, as well as for agencies that are new to strategy and mostly use it in pitches. Plus questions about doing strategy without much time, finding out things without being able to talk to people, and what planners need from Heads of Planning.  For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/   2. Strategy drawings: www.instagram.com/markpollard    3. Strategy Twitter: www.twitter.com/markpollard   4. Join 5,000+ strategists: www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Max Slonim is a senior strategist at Initiative in New York. He's attended the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity twice. The first time he attended was to compete as a Young Lion. He and his partner had 24 hours to come up with a campaign. This year, he attended the academy.  You can think what you want of the festival - good or bad. That's because you're an independent thinker. I have no vested interest in seeing the event in any particular way. Truth is, it's a private, profit-focused enterprise. It's not some universally ordained governing body or representation of what we do. It doesn't represent me. It's a business. It's its own thing. I spoke there once. I enjoyed it. But I didn't get carried away with the materialistic nature of it - the boats, the rosé, the awards. I didn't even drink. But so what? If you're into that, do you. And then know that people you didn't give pay-rises to this year because your holding company is 15 years into salary freezes are watching. Live with it. Max has also enjoyed his two tours of Cannes. And this is what we discuss.  You can find Max here: https://twitter.com/maxslonim For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: www.instagram.com/markpollard   3. Strategy Twitter: www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Your questions answered in the face like a dog with its head out the window of a car speeding down a freeway.  For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: www.instagram.com/markpollard   3. Strategy Twitter: www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Zoe Scaman runs Bodacious, a strategy consultancy in London. After a good run through Droga5, Undercurrent, Naked, and Adidas (yeah yeah, this is your dream list), Zoe isn't exactly settling down because maybe that's not how she's made. In fact, after growing up bouncing around, getting expelled twice, living in America, West Sussex, and Sydney, and constantly seeking new experiences and new ideas, maybe she came to the realization she didn't fit in anywhere and then she had to work out how to create the thing in which she fitted. But now that this is written here, she'll probably defy it. So, whatever. We discuss: - How Zoe grew up - What makes a good strategist - The consulting life We touch on mental health, self-perception, self-worth, and a bunch of other ideas that I think a lot of people will relate to, and I appreciate Zoe's openness.  You can find Zoe here https://twitter.com/zoescaman and Bodacious here http://www.bodacious.be/ For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

ECD Chapin Clark works at R/GA in New York. He has done so for a very long time, so long R/GA put its voice in his hands. It's not because he outlived his coworkers and R/GA had no choice, and it's not because Chapin got all Hunger Games at the office one long Winter's day. He just knows how to write things we wish we could say.  We discuss: - Moving from journalism into advertising - Why on Earth R/GA would trust Chapin with its Tweets - How Chapin thinks about writing - What gets in the way of brands doing Chapin to themselves (I call this "Chapining" - feel free to use it, especially if you work with Chapin) You can find Chapin here http://www.twitter.com/chapinc and R/GA's Tweets here http://www.twitter.com/rga May you enjoy his voice in your ear holes the way R/GA enjoys its voice in his hands. For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: www.instagram.com/markpollard 3. Strategy Twitter: www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.