Sweathead, A Strategy Podcast

Lots of updates and a list of things I wish I knew before becoming a strategist. My book “Strategy Is Your Words” is available this week on Amazon Kindle in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. I hope you’re well out there.

Erick Apuy is building an empire from his home base in San Jose, Costa Rica. His agency, Interaction, is one of the most awarded in the region. Their love of problems and context help them help their clients in ways that involve advertising but only if they have to. For instance, they helped a hydroelectricity company make money from crypto. In this episode, I chat with Erick and Monica Gonzales, Interaction's strategic planning lead, to find out how they go about their work. You can find Interaction here: https://interaction.cr/ ** You can find the Sweathead report What Strategists Want From Work here: ⁠https://bit.ly/what-strategists-want⁠ ** Next strategy event: The Sweathead Strategy Summer Camp - Starts July 18, 2023 Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up for our newsletters: https://sweathead.com/newsletter/strategy-for-life/ ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world.  We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies. Find out about our company training here: ⁠https://sweathead.com/teams/⁠

Dave Collins is Strategy Director at The Monkeys in Melbourne, Australia. The Monkeys have been a prolific creative agency ever since they launched and they were listed in the Effie Index in 2022. In this interview, Dave share the special sauce plus a few case studios. We also talk about his year in New York and how he's thinking about approaching his 30s in the industry. You can find Dave here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-collins-b5b15357/ ** You can find the Sweathead report What Strategists Want From Work here: ⁠https://bit.ly/what-strategists-want⁠ ** Next strategy event: The Sweathead Strategy Summer Camp - Starts July 18, 2023 Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up for our newsletters: https://sweathead.com/newsletter/strategy-for-life/ ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world.  We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies. Find out about our company training here: ⁠https://sweathead.com/teams/⁠

Raluca Kovacs is Chief Strategy Officer of Publicis Worldwide in Romania. Romania is a competitive advertising country. It seems like one of those hotbeds that not enough of us know about. It's a hotbed that has created several agencies that frequently feature in award shows and in the Effie Index. In this episode, Raluca shares with us the culture at Publicis in Romania. You'll hear a big emphasis on learning and self-improving. You can find Raluca here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raluca-kovacs-6987464/ ** You can find the Sweathead report What Strategists Want From Work here: ⁠https://bit.ly/what-strategists-want⁠ ** Next strategy event: The Sweathead Strategy Summer Camp - Starts July 18, 2023 Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up for our newsletters: https://sweathead.com/newsletter/strategy-for-life/ ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world.  We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies. Find out about our company training here: ⁠https://sweathead.com/teams/⁠

Mario Morby is Regional Head of Strategy at FP7McCann. He's based in Dubai. In case you didn't know, Dubai is very different from Birmingham in the UK, where Mario was working before joining FP7McCann. FP7McCann is prolific and Mario takes us on an intellectual tour of what makes the agency so good. You can find Mario here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariomorby ** You can find the Sweathead report What Strategists Want From Work here: https://bit.ly/what-strategists-want ** Next strategy event: The Sweathead Strategy Summer Camp - Starts July 18, 2023 Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up for our newsletters: https://sweathead.com/newsletter/strategy-for-life/ ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world.  We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies. Find out about our company training here: https://sweathead.com/teams/

Javier Quintero is Chief Strategy Officer of GUT in Buenos Aires. Every decade a handful of agencies appear and then tear up the industry as we know it and GUT is currently doing this. In this episode, Javier explains to us how GUT does creative briefs and how they put pressure on their work so that nothing crap leaves the building. You can find Javier here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/javiquintero/ ** You can find the Sweathead report What Strategists Want From Work here: ⁠https://bit.ly/what-strategists-want⁠ ** Next strategy event: The Sweathead Strategy Summer Camp - Starts July 18, 2023 Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up for our newsletters: https://sweathead.com/newsletter/strategy-for-life/ ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world.  We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies. Find out about our company training here: ⁠https://sweathead.com/teams/⁠

Zahra Ali runs strategy at Ogilvy in Karachi. She's helped the agency win so many awards that the agency is listed in the Effie Index. In this episode, Zahra explains the culture of Ogilvy Karachi to us and takes us through some award-winning work. You can find Zahra here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zahra-ali-037bb616/ ** You can find the Sweathead report What Strategists Want From Work here: ⁠https://bit.ly/what-strategists-want⁠ ** Next strategy event: The Sweathead Strategy Summer Camp - Starts July 18, 2023 Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up for our newsletters: https://sweathead.com/newsletter/strategy-for-life/ ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world.  We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies. Find out about our company training here: ⁠https://sweathead.com/teams/⁠

Victor Stroe is Associate Director and Head of Strategy at Leo Burnett in Bucharest, Romania. His office was ranked the eleventh most effective in the world according to the 2022 Effie Index). Romania has a prolific and competitive advertising industry–it's just not that internationally known. In this episode, we discuss Leo Burnett's mindset and culture, what helps the agency win so many awards, and how strategists fit in. You can find Victor here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victor-stroe-5511979/ ** You can find the Sweathead report What Strategists Want From Work here: ⁠https://bit.ly/what-strategists-want⁠ ** Next strategy event: The Sweathead Strategy Summer Camp - Starts July 18, 2023 Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up for our newsletters: https://sweathead.com/newsletter/strategy-for-life/ ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world.  We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies. Find out about our company training here: https://sweathead.com/teams/

Ryan O'Connell is Chief Strategy Officer of Ogilvy in Sydney, Australia. His office ranked in the Effie Index and we wanted to find out why. In this episode, Ryan talks about the need to be interesting and useful while also comparing notes between the two agencies he's spent the longest time in: Clemenger BBDO and Ogilvy. You can find Ryan here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-o-connell-43854212/ ** You can find the Sweathead report What Strategists Want From Work here: ⁠https://bit.ly/what-strategists-want⁠ ** Next strategy event: The Sweathead Strategy Summer Camp - Starts July 18, 2023 Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up for our newsletters: https://sweathead.com/newsletter/strategy-for-life/ ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world.  We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies. Find out about our company training here: ⁠https://sweathead.com/teams/⁠

Amber Chenevert is Managing Director, Strategy & Insights as well as Global Culture Studio Lead at VMLY&R. She's a PhD and has taught advertising. In this episode we discuss a question that's been on her mind recently: "Is niche marketing making it harder to reach ppl?" You can find Amber here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amber-chenevert-phd-027a4b1/ ** You can find the Sweathead report What Strategists Want From Work here: ⁠https://bit.ly/what-strategists-want⁠ ** Next strategy event: The Sweathead Strategy Summer Camp - Starts July 18, 2023 Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up for our newsletters: https://sweathead.com/newsletter/strategy-for-life/ ** Sweathead is a support group for strategists and account planners around the world.  We host conferences, online courses, live events, and podcasts. We also train companies. Find out about our company training here: ⁠https://sweathead.com/teams/⁠