Sweathead, A Strategy Podcast

The strategy life is full of lonely strolls through the garden of the mind, blank timesheets, and career paths. Sometimes, there are allies. Sometimes, there aren't. Sometimes, you don't even know. Do strategy in a massive city like New York and the sense of isolation can multiply by the number of people in the city in some bizarre and ironic act of revenge. With her crew at STRTGST, Tina organizes events for strategists, and helps them find a supportive room of allies. We discuss: - Embracing your otherness - What Tina learned at each of the 8 events STRTGST ran in 2018 - The power of side projects You can find Tina here https://twitter.com/tina_yip and STRTGST here http://www.strtgst.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.

Jake Rusznyak has held very senior creative roles in very good advertising agencies in Sydney. BMF, Host, and The Monkeys feature on his resume. But what caught my eye was an article Jake recently wrote about being a father of twins while wrestling the needs of clients and maintaining a marriage to a CMO.  We discuss: - The idea of symmetry in relationships - Love languages - The power of routine for families but the lack of it in agencies - Who's in control of your time? - What fathers can do to improve the advertising industry  You can find Jake here: https://twitter.com/angstigator and his article here: https://www.gabberish.com/home/2018/12/14/s687fx83juvqlsqos9pjgzu5qdgjv1   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 Bordwell leads design research at Skyscanner in Scotland. Yes, the website that helps you fly places for your Instagram feed. And in former lives she was an account planner and a digital strategist. So how do all these experiences inform her approach to design thinking?   We discuss:  - What design thinking is - Working across company silos and departments - Ways to approach ethnography - Common issues with research plans - Running workshops You can find Kate here https://twitter.com/kbordwell   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.

Tess McGourty is strategy lead at Elephant in Los Angeles. Elephant is part of digital agency Huge so Tess now works on digital projects. She started in a media agency then spent several years in advertising. And she has written several articles for strategists new to the industry. So this is what we decided we'd talk about.  We discuss: 1. Mentorship and what's the point? 2. Unusual career leaps into planning 3. Working with creative teams 4. Introversion, overconfidence, and burnout 5. Switching from advertising planning to experience planning You can find Tess here https://twitter.com/tessmcgourty and her articles here https://medium.com/@TessMcGourty   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.

Nancy Hill became President and CEO of the 4As in 2008. The 4As is the American Association of Advertising Agencies. It is the main advertising agency body in the USA. In 2008, the economy tanked, middle-management roles disappeared, salaries didn't disappeared, and the misbehaviors of agency leaders started going public. Many people set up their own agencies as a way to do work they liked and to regain a sense of control over their careers. Nancy now consults with some of these small and mid-sized agencies in her company The Agency Sherpa. We discuss: - How diversity requires public numbers - Trade publications and whether they are too cozy with their topics - Where money goes in holding companies (i.e. not to you) - New York arrogance and titles - Does planning even work in the USA? You can find Nancy here https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancy-hill-advertising/   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.

Tom Beck once ran then sold an agency. Now, as the Executive Director of the Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA), he helps other people who run agencies.  We discuss: 1. The eras of digital agencies over the past 20 years 2. The missteps some agencies have taken 3. How to get the people to work... specifically, what are the challenges in bringing in strategy, account management, user experience, and creative folk? 4. Is "production" a dirty word? You can find Tom here https://twitter.com/laughingrobots and SoDA here: http://sodaspeaks.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.

Marketing consultant Wiemer Snijders recently gathered some of his favorite brains into a book. The book is a call to marketers and strategists of all kinds to deploy more evidence and more facts in their work. The book's name is "Eat Your Greens". It is available through Troubador. We discuss: 1. The 5 most useful fact-based ideas to marketers right now 2. The allure of consulting models and diagrams 3. Marketing's credibility issue You can find Wiemer here: https://twitter.com/wiemersnijders   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.

Fernando Machado is the Global CMO of Burger King. His marketing team is one of the most creatively awarded teams in recent years. And that's all you need to know. I recorded this interview with a brand new microphone but I didn't edit it much. I want you to hear a chat between someone at the peak of his game and a beginner. Yes, the beginner is me. Although, the way Fernando talks, he seems to have a wonderful beginner's mind.  We discuss: - Making the Super Bowl decision - What January for a CMO feels like - How marketing works at Burger King -  Working with agencies You can find Fernando at https://twitter.com/fer_machado123   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.

Lucy Cochran has just arrived in New York. She's run strategy teams in Australia and Amsterdam. She's won a bunch of awards. She ran the Melbourne arm of the Account Planning Group. And we decided to give ourselves the challenge of discussing and answering 20 of the main questions facing strategists right now. They include: 1. Why don't clients want to pay for it? 2. Why don't some agencies support their own strategists? 3. How do you deal with a jargon-heavy culture? 4. How do you build relationships with creatives? 5. How can someone get good at insights? 6. How an a planner have a good career? 7. What makes planning such a hard career to sidestep from? You can find Lucy at http://www.twitter.com/lucycochran   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.

Suzy Batiz is founder and CEO of Poo-Pourri. She is in a minority of business leaders who insist creativity is so important to a business that it's a default expectation of everyone in her company. As is the use of intuition. Having just launched the new direct-to-consumer brand Supernatural, Suzy has used creativity and intuition to create an empire of honest and comedic advertising and products from her home base in Dallas.  This episode is for anyone trying to get their marketing clients to take risks or people who are thinking of setting up their own product-based company.  We discuss:  - How to build creativity into business  - How to trust your gut  - Challenges facing direct-to-consumer companies right now  You can find Poo-Pourri here https://www.poopourri.com Supernatural here http://www.supernatural.com and Suzy Batiz here http://www.instagram.com/suzybatiz    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.