Sweathead, A Strategy Podcast

Ben Phillips is Strategy Director at Anomaly in New York. His parents are from America. I'll claim him as Australian because my family and I walked past him this one time in Ultimo, Sydney. He did work in Sydney. Then he spent a bunch of years in London and he worked at R/GA there. He's also the best skateboarder on the strategy Internet. He got engaged last year but, when we spoke, he either got the date or the year wrong because he was so excited about... talking to me. Or getting married. You decide. We discuss: - London - New York - London - New York You can find Ben here https://twitter.com/Ben_Phillips 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.

James Kirkham co-founded and co-sold the agency Holler. He started it in London. He was young and naive. He worked to spread offices around the world. Then he sold Holler to Leo Burnett. Now, he is the Chief Business Officer of Copa90, a football fan media empire. We discuss:  - Going from freelance to business - The power of young naivety - Luck, proximity, hard work, recession, catching waves, and audacity - What James has learned about football culture in recent years You can find James here https://twitter.com/spoonybear and Copa90 here https://copa90.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.

Kate Richardson is a marketing consultant who can work on a wide array of projects. As a generalist, she touches business strategy, marketing strategy, digital and comms planning, and, now, coaching and training. She once worked at Naked in Australia (news came out this week of their merger with BMF), she was the National Strategy Director of the TV network Channel Ten, and she believes in sabbaticals as a way to get distance from the day to day. She also contributed a chapter to "Eat Your Greens". We discuss: - How to approach career changes - How to find the story in a generalist career - The pros and cons of consulting You can find Kate here https://www.katerichardson.co and here https://twitter.com/KateRichardson   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.

A chat about 27 things that make strategy harder than it needs to be as suggested by the good folks who answered my question about this on Instagram. Plus 21 things that I believe make a good operating system for doing good work. If you like these walks, let me know: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard   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.

Julian Cole was formerly the Head of Comms Planning at BBDO in New York. We've known each since around 2008. We've blogged, taught Skillshare, and spoken at conferences side by side. And now we're doing a strategy class in a bunch of different cities side by side. It's called The Strategy Super Sizer Megaclass.  We discuss: - Revenge-astroturfing a bank by walking into it and yelling at it - The value of writing and putting yourself out there - Giving useful feedback about ideas - Working better with media agencies - An impromptu strategy for saving lamps from hypothetical extinction You can find Julian and his Planning Dirty newsletter here: https://twitter.com/juliancole And you can find out about the MEGACLASS here: http://www.strategymegaclass.com Sweathead strategy classes are in session: http://courses.sweathead.co

I don't know how good Mike is at strategy but I'd hire him just from how good he is at the things that make a good strategist: finding out stuff, spending time in unfamiliar places, talking to people, documenting it all, and putting it out into the world.  Mike is from London but has lived in Tokyo for the past 11 years. He's a journalist, documentary-maker, and DJ, and he spends his days at Mullen Lowe, where he founded their cultural insights group Tokyo20XX. He speaks Japanese. He's written for The Japan Times and the BBC. Just check him out: https://www.mikesunda.com/ We discuss: - Starting fresh in a new city - At what point is observing culture also participating in it? - That freelance writer/DJ lifestyle - Dealing with doing deep research but shallow outputs - Orientalism    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.

I interviewed Rob about philosophy a year ago. This time, we chat anxiety and what it's good for. For some reason, there are topics like this that I really want to talk about but when I ask the questions... I get a little anxious and they don't come out right. And I think some of my questions here a bit vague but Rob handled it well. You can find Rob and his newsletter Salmon Theory at https://twitter.com/robistyping   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.

Here are answers to about 20 questions people asked today via Instagram Stories. The questions include: How do you inspire creative teams? What do I do without a planning director for a year? What are some useful presentation tips? What’s a good creative brief template? Should anybody give up? Is getting credit important? Find me on Instagram here: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard   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.

Nicole Landesman is Head of Business Development at BBDO in New York, where she helps potential clients navigate everything BBDO has to offer. And she was once a planner. We discuss: - The BBDO new business process - What’s going on inside a marketer’s mind during a pitch - What makes a useful pitch brief - Moving form planning to business development   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.

Jason Lonsdale is the Head of Brand Strategy at Ogvily. Originally from New Zealand but now based in New York, Jason manages a team of strategists across America.  We discuss: - What Ogilvy New York is about - B2B marketing - The New York agency landscape - Advice for upcoming strategists You can find Jason here: https://twitter.com/jasonlonsdale   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.