Sweathead, A Strategy Podcast

Helene Dick is Strategy Director at New York's Barton F Graf, an agency renowned for provocative work. And in a time where provocative work seems rare, how on Earth do these ideas travel through an agency committed to them? And what role do planners play? We discuss: - The work: Supercell, Welch’s, Little Caesars, Emerald Nuts, The Climate Name Change, Ragu - Briefs, briefings, and reviews - Client presentations You can find Helene here http://twitter.com/helenebd   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.

John Kenny is CSO of FCB Chicago, an agency with a planning team of 85 people. A transplant from Ireland who arrived in Chicago many years ago to attend college, John has seen planning in America since the early days of planning in America. We discuss: - Why John feels so bullish about the future of planning - What makes planning and planners work - Planning in the USA You can find John here https://twitter.com/johnxkenny   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.

Dave McCaughan was a public librarian for 10 years then worked 27 years for McCann in Australia, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Japan. This makes him one of Australia's earliest planners. He is still based in Asia - Bangkok, Thailand, and he hosts a podcast about market research called MR Realities. He talks, he advises, and he is definitely open to you asking him about planning. We discuss: -  The Australian Planner - The white Australian male - Stereotypes - useful or not useful? - How do you know when you’ve gone beyond a stereotype? - Current and interesting market research and survey techniques - Marshall McLuhan and Umberto Ecco You can find Dave here https://twitter.com/bibliosexuality   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.

Mylene Ong is the Head of Strategy at Colenso BBDO in Auckland, New Zealand. She has worked in New York, Shanghai, and her hometown Singapore. Much of our discussion uses Singapore, a country that is just over 50 years old, as a metaphor for the future of advertising. We also discuss: - Adapting yourself to different cultures - Generalists and specialists in strategy departments  - How working in a small market in an agency that consistently does good work might be the only shortcut there is  You can find Mylene here https://nz.linkedin.com/in/mylene-ong  P.S. I think she's hiring. P.P.S. According to various rankings, Colenso BBDO, is one of the best advertising agencies in the world http://www.colensobbdo.co.nz 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.

On Instagram, I recently asked people what questions they had about insights and I responded as an Instagram Story. This episode of Sweathead is those questions and my responses but on a walk around Central Park. Instagram: 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.

John Harris is CEO and President of Worldwide Partners. Worldwide Partners is a network of 72 independent agencies in 40 countries. It has existed since 1938. One thing that makes Worldwide Partners interesting is that the agencies own the network - the network doesn’t own the agencies. John helps make it work and, insodoing, he has great insight into the minds, needs, and trends of the independent agency. We discuss: - CEO and President - What exactly are these roles? - How an independent network works - The psychology of people who run independent agencies - Why people set up agencies - Trends with new independent agencies You can find John here https://www.linkedin.com/in/netharris and Worldwide Partners here https://www.worldwidepartners.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.

Emma Brooks leads marketing at Toronto's Wattpad. Wattpad serves stories to 70 million people around the world every month. Many of the authors are anonymous and many share as they write. Some of the stories are making their ways into books and movies. It's an intimate community where people are able to share ideas that haven't always belonged elsewhere. Also, Emma worked in advertising for over a decade.  So, we discuss: - The stories and community of Wattpad  - Why Emma decided to leave advertising - What it's like on the other side You can find Emma here: https://twitter.com/ejbrooks   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.

Gareth Price is a senior planner at JWT/WundermanThompson in London. He won the 2017 IPA President’s Prize and the Advertising category in the 2018 WPP Atticus Awards for his IPA Excellence Diploma thesis, Thinklong, which outlined a seven-point plan to tackle short-termism in marketing. So we decided to talk about writing about strategy. Topics include: - The IPA Excellence Diploma - Short-termism and Gareth's thesis about why people don't think long - Writing about strategy - why even do it? You can find Gareth here https://twitter.com/G_Price P.S. There are minor glitches in my questions - well, the sound of my questions. But Gareth's audio is 100%.   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.

Matt Tanter is the Chief Strategy Officer at Grey London and the Chair of the Account Planning Group (APG). As far as planning credentials go, CSO + Grey + London + Chair of APG = legit. He's a leader who's interested in culture over process and I thought I'd talk to him about this focus to help companies trying to bring in planning understand that you can't just drop in a planner and have planning. Planning happens within an operating system - a city, an agency type, an agency, the philosophy of the agency, the processes of the agency, and the attitudes of managers. We discuss: - Establishing a good culture of planning - The pressures on planners right now - Managing up - Mental health in planning' - The APG and its creative planning awards Shoutouts to all the lone planners or people trying to establish planning where it has never existed. You can find Matt here https://twitter.com/matttanter and the APG here https://www.apg.org.uk/   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.

Gillian Rightford grew up in the vibrant South African advertising industry. Now, Gillian lectures at the University of Cape Town and, in her company Ad Therapy, she consults with marketers and agencies about how to do better creative work and how to have better relationships to get to better creative work.   We discuss: - Why marketing suffers a credibility issue - The advertising industry in South Africa - Global brands and missteps in going local - The broader societal need for creativity You can find Gillian here https://twitter.com/grightford and here http://www.adtherapy.co.za/   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.