

On Strategy Showcase
Fergus O’Carroll
Where marketers tell the stories behind the strategies that led to amazing campaigns.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Nov 11, 2021 • 27min
The KitchenAid campaign that shines a light on sexism in professional kitchens, with Stephanie Kelly of Digitas, Chicago
This Gold EFFIE winning partnership with HULU drew attention to inequality by brilliantly twisting an age old adage " A woman's place is in the kitchen."

Oct 31, 2021 • 45min
The Starbucks brand and the project that led to the Funnel Cake Frappuccino, with Ben Doepke
According to Ben, the essence of the Starbucks brand has always been seduction. Yet he worries it's moving away from its cultural capital codes. We talk about the brand and how its desire to connect post-lockdown led him and the team to the Funnel Cake Frappuccino.

Oct 21, 2021 • 50min
Temptations' Halloween campaign suggests giving your cat an alternative to eating you, with Jack Spicer of Adam&EveDDB
The likelihood of getting eaten by your cat this Halloween is low, but it's not zero. Building on the success of last year's Halloween campaign, this year's "Tasty Human" takes the humor and insight to a new, hilarious level.

Oct 12, 2021 • 43min
Lurpak's strategic pivot with Rory Foster of W+K, London
In pre-covid convenience-obsessed culture, cooking at home was struggling. This led to Lurpak's strategic pivot from celebrating "how" we cook to celebrating "why." A 2021 APG Creative Strategy Award winner.

Oct 7, 2021 • 43min
Out of Google Labs, Apple and W+K comes Arts & Letters. A look inside with Andy Grayson, Head of Strategy
This independent shop with clients including Google (Chromebook, Assistant, Pixel, Photos, Pay, etc) ESPN, NBC and others, is a studio-style creative company that's delivering at speed, something that generally scares other agencies.

Aug 26, 2021 • 35min
The Cannes Lion winning "Connected Island" with Aoife Murphy and Kris Clarkin of Boys+Girls, Dublin, Ireland
Three Ireland is a telecommunications brand. This B2B campaign centered around Arranmore, an isolated island off the coast of Donegal. The parallel between island life and business life was that companies, not unlike communities, need to be connected in order to effectively grow.

Aug 12, 2021 • 58min
KFC on the importance of "radical honesty," with Neasa McGuinness of Mother and Jack Hinchliffe of KFC
The story behind successfully managing through multiple challenges (chicken shortage crisis, the intro of new fries, and covid.) It's a journey of success built on the shared belief in doing the opposite of what's expected.

Aug 4, 2021 • 38min
Rockstar Energy Drink's pivot from high-octane lifestyle to fueling personal achievement
The story behind the brand's expansion from a niche segment to the broader market with Mark Kirkham, VP & General Manager of Sports, Energy and Juice brands at PepsiCo and Tiina Salzberg, CSO at 180 Amsterdam.

Jul 15, 2021 • 48min
What Taylors coffee bags can teach us about embracing the obvious, with Loz Horner of Lucky Generals
As strategists, we're reluctant to embrace the obvious. As Loz puts it "we think our role is to create an unexpected leap." But when something is obvious, that doesn’t mean it’s useless. This brilliantly simple campaign for Taylors coffee bags will inspire you to consider the obvious in everything you do.

Jul 9, 2021 • 46min
Is Accenture Interactive's CEO, Brian Whipple building the agency we've always promised, and on a global scale?
After acquiring Droga5 and other creative shops, Brian and his team are now ready to roll out their part consultancy, part tech firm and part agency offering. Not only is it formidable, but it may, in fact, be what we've always wanted modern marketing agencies to be.