Sweathead, A Strategy Podcast

Govind Pandey is CEO of TBWA\India, a global advertising agency he sees as a startup. This idea is an easy one to say but Govind can speak to what this actually means as part of his philosophy of running the company (Is the agency solving interesting problems well? Is the agency applying what they learn back to their projects? Are they building new revenue streams and pricing models because of this?). We discuss these ideas and we get into the challenges of taking global brands to India, a country with states bigger than many countries. And we chat planning because, guess what? Govind was a planner. And we hear how TBWA mandates 12% of direct costs to planning and how the global CEO looks at this. Amazing. Topics we touch: - How brands like Suzuki, McDonalds, Coca Cola, and Cadburys have adjusted to India - The role of celebrity in Indian advertising - Going from planner to management, CEO You can find Govind here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/govind-pandey-9309b0/   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.

Anselmo Ramos cofounded and sold the Miami agency David after years working his way around the world. Madrid, New York, Sao Paulo, and Buenos Aires feature on his itinerary. He recently cofounded another agency, Gut. You'll know him from his work with Burger King and Dove's "Real Beauty Sketches." He takes risks and takes on clients who' also take risks. For, what else is there? We discuss: - The difficulties in doing brave work - The challenges in finding brave clients - The shared DNA of planning and creative roles - A rubric to apply to ideas in creative reviews - The importance of dating in business It's one of those chats to which I hope strategists, creative teams, and clients can listen to develop more empathy and commit to bigger ambition for and with each other. You can find Anselmo here: https://twitter.com/anselmoramos   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.

Lynne D Johnson is an adjunct professor at SUNY, she's worked in agencies like R/GA, in publishing companies such as Fast Company, and she did a stint at the Advertising Research Foundation. She has spent well over two decades tinkering with the Internet, blogging, and expressing on social media. Lynne and I first crossed paths when Lynne was at Vibe Magazine - and I was publishing a hip hop magazine in Australia (Stealth), so it was great to be able to speak in public all these years later with both of us now in the same city. We discuss: - The early days of magazine publishing, social networks, and the Internet - Blogging While Black - SxSW 2005 - Introversion and public self-expression - Dealing with online trolls - Class, race, and gender in media - Finding your voice online You can find Lynne here: https://twitter.com/lynneluvah For strategy articles and drawings: www.markpollard.net www.instagram.com/markpollard New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Heidi Hackemer. Many of you have heard of her, met her, watched her speak, or read her. Many of you will have seen her article "I've cried on a few runs lately" in which she documents losing her job at the Chan Zuckerburg Institute, family health problems, closing the agency she co-founded, edging towards 40 years of age... and now what?  We spoke on the day Heidi was due to get an impressive tattoo so I wanted to publish this close to the conversation. It's raw, intimate, candid. Everyone is working things out. We discuss: - Creating space for yourself to speak to yourself - Working in advertising but not really being into buy stuff - Recovering from personal and career wipeout You can find Heidi here https://www.instagram.com/uberblond and here https://medium.com/@uberblond.   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.

Kaitlin Maud recently set up Current Forward, a strategy collective based in Austin, Texas. And as part of her preparation for our conversation (yes, sometimes people do homework... but I don't judge either way), Kaitlin asked the strategy community on Twitter about strategy taboos - what topics or points of view are just too raw for us to admit or examine?   The taboos we discuss:  - Strategy is a creative act - Good at talking, not good at execution - PowerPoint is a weak way to communicate ideas - Brief templates are uninspiring to creative teams - Briefings are too boring - Not every strategist loves brainstorms You can find Kaitlin here: https://twitter.com/kaitlinmaud   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.

Phil Adams has helped to merge three agencies. He's also worked in London at BBH and in Edinburgh at The Leith Agency and Blonde, and is now at Signal. He's had strategy and managing director roles. He's an OG and was kind enough to let me surprise him with something that resembles a virtual workshop about how to do better work. Like, what happened to taking risks? We discuss: - What we’ve got wrong with process and rigor - The power of asymmetry in creative returns - How to double your chances at winning pitches - The power of a chip on the shoulder - and Edinburgh You can find Phil here: https://twitter.com/phil_adams    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.

We're about to hit 100,000 listens. Seems like a solid number. Thank you for listening and sharing it with your friends. It means a lot to me because this podcast is how I trap people into deep conversations. If you'd like to rate the podcast, which is something you've probably been contemplating, please do.  Recently, I finished the second draft of this strategy book I'm writing and I wanted to read out the first chapter - Fighting Words. There's still work to do but it will give you a sense of the attitude of the book.  There are two main sections to the book. The first half focuses on 24 words that I find strategists and account planners using (or needing to use) in their work (clarity, meaning, truth, impostor, lonewolf, etc). It's surreal philosophy of sorts. I want it to feel like I'm in your head because I'm channeling hundreds - maybe thousands - of conversations, emails, and meetings. The second half of the book is more practical. It compiles frameworks from my "Strategy! The Workout" training sessions, helps you understand how to apply them, while also breaking down what ideas, problems, insights, and strategy statements are.  I want to get "Strategy Is Your Words" onto desks and walls (posters) around the world. There will be a digital version but... I want you to touch this and be able to point to it.  I'm just starting on launch and marketing plans. I'm open to ideas :) Enjoy.  Mark    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.

Alexandra Stankiewicz is CMO and Head of Online Sales at Aloha. She's also worked at Chobani and Calvin Klein. But, guess what? Alex was one of the first ten employees at Mother New York and she spent seven years there. So I thought it would be great to talk to her about what she's learned from being on both sides of the fence.  We discuss: - How agencies and clients can have better relationships - What hurts the relationships - Marketers' appetite for strategy from agencies - What agency folk thinking about jumping client-side need to know You can find Alex here: https://www.instagram.com/alexbdalex   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.

Omer Azeem is 20 years into a career that has taken him from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia, Oman, Eqypt, Qatar and back to Pakistan. We recorded this a few weeks ago before the war talk between Pakistan and India this week so you'll hear Omer say that things feel "calm". You'll also hear him echo the sentiment in the interview with Priyanka Agrawal from Bombay, India - that we are more alike than we are different. We discuss: - Planning in what many people might see as "closed markets" - Identifying as a progressive but working in what many people see as conservative cultures - How Pakistan is changing - What strategy and planning do in Pakistan You can find Omer here: https://twitter.com/omerazeem   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 spoke to Priyanka today. She was in Bombay - or "Mumbai," as some call it. Earlier this week, news abounded with fears of international war between India and Pakistan. We discuss this then we discuss doing strategy as the only planner in an agency and how India's diversity requires different approaches to advertising. War to strategy - easy segues all round. You can find Priyanka here: https://twitter.com/pri_agrawal   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.