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/⁠

David Moreno recently moved to BBDO, Atlanta, where he's EVP, Strategy Lead. Prior to this, David was Managing Director, Strategy and Insights at VMLY&R. Big titles in big agencies doing big things. In this episode, David gently compares the two and gives us his first impressions of BBDO and what makes the agency so good at making effective advertising. You can find David here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-moreno-577b928/ ** 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/⁠

Aisha Hakim is an associate creative director at 72andSunny. She's also prolific online. Aisha will be hosting a masterclass called "The Art Of Deck-Making" for us on May 17. Aisha originally published a deck about deck-making to Twitter and then to LinkedIn. The deck went a little viral and it still pops up every few months. In this episode, we discuss all of this. You can find Aisha here: https://aishamadeit.com/ ** Next strategy event: The Art of Deck-Making with Aisha Hakim 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/

It's May 4. Today marks three years since Sweathead launch its first online class. And, to celebrate, we've published a new report "What Strategists Want From Work". In this report, you'll learn: 1. What strategists want from the companies they work at, 2. What strategy bosses want from their strategists, 3. What makes a strategy career happen, 4. The top strategy bosses that people want to work for, and 5. The companies strategists most want to work at. Find it here: https://mailchi.mp/sweathead/what-strategists-want-2023

Bonnie Wan is Head of Strategy at Goodby Silverstein & Partners, an agency she's worked at for thirteen years. In 2022, she won a big award: AdAge's CSO of the year. And she's about to publish a book through which she's going to put all of her strategy nous into a shape that can help you in your life. It's called "The Life Brief." In this episode of Sweathead, we discuss how to become more of who you are–How do you work out who you are? How do you be that? You can find Bonnie here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bonniewan/ ** Next strategy event: The Art of Deck-Making with Aisha Hakim 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/

Bernice Chao is author of "The Visibility Mindset". Her agency experience includes R/GA, Zambezi, TBWA, and David&Goliath. While navigating her career in the creative department, Bernice found herself longing to be able to connect with more people who understood her experience. So she set up Asians In Advertising with Jessalin Lam and has amassed a community of over 4,000 people who identify as AAPI from around the world. And this is what we discuss. You can find Bernice here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernicechao/ ** Next strategy event: Aisha Hakim's Masterclass The Art of Deck-Making http://www.sweathead.com ** Sign up for our newsletters: 1. For Friday's Sake–a weekly laugh at the marketing world https://sweathead.com/newsletter/for-fridays-sake/ 2. Strategy 4 Life–inside the working lives of strategists 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.

Sofia, Bulgaria. It’s the capital of one of Europe’s poorest countries, a country that spent decades behind the iron curtain, a country after which the Bulgarian Split Squat is named, and a country that wants you to visit it. I’m speaking at Digitalk on May 18 and I’m teaching a masterclass on May 19. And to whet people’s appetites for the eccentricities I’m going to bring, this episode features a live workshop with Adriyana Mihaylova, a local strategy mind who’s spent the last couple of years developing a new strategy for Sofia. You can find out more about the Bulgaria masterclass on the Sweathead website: http://www.Sweathead.com You can find Adriyana here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriyanamihaylova/

Yikes. I think I squeezed four episodes into one here. We discuss: 1. Advertising industry news and breaking campaigns from Dodge, Icelandair, KFC, and Lawn Doctor 2. Natalie Brinkman's strategy for Sriracha 3. How to improve Get/To/By 4. Tensions facing strategists right now And a bunch of Sweathead news including masterclasses and conferences. ** Subscribe to our newsletters here: https://sweathead.com/newsletter/strategy-for-life/

@Agencyprobs is crushing it on Instagram. With over 110,000 followers, the meme account helps everyone in advertising laugh and cry a little at the career that's chosen them. In this anonymous and debut interview, I speak with one of the founders and minds behind the account. We discuss what the ad industry creator lifestyle is like and we discuss some of the industry problems that cause the most pain. You can find Agency Probs here: https://www.instagram.com/agencyprobs/ ** Next strategy events: Masterclass with Mark Pollard - How To Find Your Strategy Voice (April) WTEff-The Eff-ing Effectiveness Festival (April) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up for our newsletters: 1. For Friday's Sake–a weekly laugh at the marketing world https://sweathead.com/newsletter/for-fridays-sake/ 2. Strategy 4 Life–inside the working lives of strategists 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.

Simon Kemp is founder of Kepios, a business consulting firm that helps organizations worldwide make sense of people's digital behaviors. He's been investigating digital trends for a very long time. This means that he knows what I mean when I ask, "Yeah but is any of this useful?" So, in this chat, Simon points our attention to the digital trends worth our attention. You can find Simon here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eskimon/ ** Next strategy events: - Masterclass with Mark Pollard - How To Find Your Strategy Voice (April) - WTEff-The Eff-ing Effectiveness Festival (April) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up for our newsletters: 1. For Friday's Sake–a weekly laugh at the marketing world https://sweathead.com/newsletter/for-fridays-sake/ 2. Strategy 4 Life–inside the working lives of strategists 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.

Elisabeth Bromberg recently set up a consultancy. It's called Mildred Mae. Her focus is on empathy. In this episode, we discuss the three kinds of empathy as well as what it's like to set up a consultancy in these times. You can find Elisabeth here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elisabethbromberg/ You can find Mildred Mae here: https://mildredmae.com/ ** Next strategy events: Masterclass with Mark Pollard - How To Find Your Strategy Voice (April) WTEff-The Eff-ing Effectiveness Festival (April) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up for our newsletters: 1. For Friday's Sake–a weekly laugh at the marketing world https://sweathead.com/newsletter/for-fridays-sake/ 2. Strategy 4 Life–inside the working lives of strategists 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.

I wrote a thing today. It features Musashi, a sick samurai. He was probably sick in all the ways by today's terms but I try to connect what you're going through to what he once went through. This is especially relevant to anyone trying to work out their place in their company right now. We're launching a new weekly newsletter called For Friday's Sake. You can subscribe here: https://sweathead.com/newsletter/for-fridays-sake/ You can find out about all of our events and training here: http://www.sweathead.com

Andrew Roth runs dcdx, a research firm that focuses on Gen Z. In this episode, we discuss whether the term is even useful as well as some of dcdx's recent research reports into how Gen Z spend their time and what they're up to on TikTok.  You can find Andrew here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-roth43/ ** Next strategy events: Masterclass with Mark Pollard - How To Find Your Strategy Voice (April) WTEff-The Eff-ing Effectiveness Festival (April) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** 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.

Picture this: you're on a plane. An airplane. You land in Austin, Texas, for SXSW. And as you get off the plane you realize you've just lost your client Silicon Valley Bank and a chunk of your savings are at risk in another bank that might go under. Well, that's what happened to Jason Harris, CEO Mekanism, last week. You probably know his agency and his work and his accolades. But that's not what this episode is about. Instead, we talk about the dark times. We talk about getting back up when everything else is falling apart. You can find Jason here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-harris-29abb12/ ** Next strategy events: WTEff–The Eff-ing Effectiveness Festival (April) 8 Masterclasses this year Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** 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.

Christine Villanueva has had massive strategy jobs at UM, McCann, Ogilvy, and Walton Isaacson. She's had jobs you might have your eyes on. But, as a seasoned strategist, Christine knows you can't shortcut your way into a leadership role. So, in this episode, we discuss sensible ways to speed up your career, a career that might only last 10-20 years if you're lucky.  You can find Christine here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-villanueva/ ** Next strategy events: Masterclass with WundermanThompson CSO Rodrigo Maroni (March) The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator (March) WTEff-The Eff-ing Effectiveness Festival (April) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** 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.

In this episode, we discuss two sets of agency-client dysfunctions and ways to deal with them–too many revisions and your strategy getting props but not your creative. Download our new career planning toolkit here: https://mailchi.mp/sweathead/career-planning-toolkit ** Next strategy events: Masterclass with WundermanThompson CSO Rodrigo Maroni (March) The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator (March) WTEff-The Eff-ing Effectiveness Festival (April) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5

Nish Shah has just set up a company focused on helping companies to pitch. It's called Pitch Factory. Like Hit Factory. You know, that studio where hundreds of pop music hits were once made. In this episode, we discuss Nish's philosophy "Pitch With Joy" as well as some practical tips for Young Lions about to head over to Cannes to compete. You can find Nish here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hellonishshah/ ** Next strategy events: Masterclass with WundermanThompson CSO Rodrigo Maroni (March) The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator (March) WTEff-The Eff-ing Effectiveness Festival (April) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** 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.

Rodrigo Maroni is CSO of WundermanThompson in New York. He's managed strategy teams at Weiden+Kennedy and Crispin Porter & Bogusky too. And back in Brazil, Rodrigo led Brazil's Account Planning Group or Grupo de Planejamento.  Rodrigo is my kind of strategy leader–he wants his teams to grow, to take risks, and to thrive.  But this isn't the experience of all strategists out there. Some bosses aren't great. So, in this episode, we discuss how to develop the next generation of strategists. Rodrigo is teaching a masterclass for Sweathead in March.  You can find him here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/romaroni/ ** Next strategy events: Masterclass with WundermanThompson CSO Rodrigo Maroni (March) The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator (March) WTEff-The Eff-ing Effectiveness Festival (April) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** 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.

Archana Iyer is a culture junkie, trend spotter, and strategic storyteller. But she recently learned that she's also on the autism spectrum.  In this episode, we discuss how Archana became aware of being on the spectrum and how it affects her strategy work. You can find Archana here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arkkane/ ** Next strategy events: Masterclass with WundermanThompson CSO Rodrigo Maroni (March) The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator (March) WTEff-The Eff-ing Effectiveness Festival (April) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** 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.

David Tiltman likes to get around effectiveness. You could say he's really into effectiveness stuff. Like, it's his thing. And it better be because David oversees all of the ideas and words at WARC and WARC is slowly taking over Cannes. I said that. David did not. A few years ago, the company that bought the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity also bought WARC. They're called Ascential. They were once called emap. Since the purchase, WARC's footprint has been growing at Cannes with 2023 likely their biggest contribution so far. In our chat, we discuss the history of WARC as well as what's going on in the world of effectiveness–you know, the marketing science-y stuff. You can find David here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-tiltman-5a2a6614/ You can also find him talking at WTEff-The Eff-ing Effectiveness Festival in April. Details on the Sweathead website. ** Next strategy events: Masterclass with WundermanThompson CSO Rodrigo Maroni (March) The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator (March) WTEff-The Eff-ing Effectiveness Festival (April) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** 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.

Five years ago this week (February 25, 2018-2023), I published the first episode of Sweathead. Richard Shotton was my first interview. So I've called him back for two episodes this week.  In this episode, we discuss Richard's new book "The Illusion of Choice: 16 1/2 Psychological Biases That Influence What We Buy". You can find Richard here: https://www.astroten.co.uk/ **  Next strategy training: The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator (March) WTEff–The Eff-ing Effectiveness Festival (April) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** 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.

Five years ago this week (February 25, 2018-2023), I published the first episode of Sweathead.  I was doing talks up the West Coast of the USA and I was trying to work out what to do with the next phase of my life. Yes, I was 39 at the time.  I interviewed Richard Shotton about his book "The Choice Factory" from a hotel room in Los Angeles. It was all very raw. I published it unedited. I was just trying to re-find my voice and get a sense of new momentum in my life. So, for this week, I'm sharing a two-part interview with Richard. In this episode, we talk about his leap at independence–how has it all been going? In part two, we discuss Richard's new book "The Illusion of Choice: 16 1/2 Psychological Biases That Influence What We Buy". You can find Richard here: https://www.astroten.co.uk/ ** Next strategy training: Lucky Generals Cofounder Andy Nairn teaches a masterclass on planning superpowers (Feb 23) The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator (March) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** 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.

Jon Evans is a CMO at System1 in the UK. But he also runs a podcast called Uncensored CMO in which he discusses the trials and tribulations of being a CMO in public. In this episode of Sweathead, Jon shares some of the things he's learned from speaking to CMOs. Call them "secrets" if you like. You can find Jon here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/uncensoredcmo/ ** Next strategy training: Lucky Generals Cofounder Andy Nairn teaches a masterclass on planning superpowers (Feb 23) The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator (March) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** 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.

Andy Nairn is running our first masterclass of the year.  On February 23, he'll spend 3 hours helping play with your planning superpowers. And Andy should know. He's been the UK's Planner of The Year several times, he's Co-founder of Lucky Generals, an agency that TBWA bought into 5 years ago and an agency that's made four of the five most-watched ads in the past five years. Seems like some superpower stuff going on, right?  In this episode of Sweathead, we discuss the TBWA part-acquisition of Lucky Generals as well as how to understand your strengths.  You can find out about Andy's superclass here: https://sweathead.com/products/andy-nairns-masterclass/  Don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date with all of our classes, events, and conferences: https://linkin.bio/sweathead

In this episode, R/GA's Siona Singletary interviews me, Mark, deploying questions that strategists in Sydney most want answers to. We recorded an event in December in Sydney but the audio didn't turn out well so we decided to do it again. We cover: - Moving to New York - Mental health - The strategist's career You can find Siona here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sionasingletary/ ** Next strategy training: Lucky Generals Cofounder Andy Nairn teaches a masterclass on planning superpowers (Feb 23) The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator (March) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** 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/

To start 2023, we're running a fast series on trends worth paying attention to in The Sweathead Trend Bender Series. Over five episodes this week, you'll get to hear 25 trends that people who get paid to find trends are highlighting for their clients. In this episode, Quick Study Cofounder Rob Engelsman lays down one big trend for marketers: A Return To Practicality. And we discuss the dynamics leading to it. You can find Rob here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rcengelsman/ ** Join a live Meta Trend workshop with Reddit's Matt Klein on Feb 3 here: http://bit.ly/3XOjJ7f Next strategy training: Lucky Generals Cofounder Andy Nairn teaches a masterclass on planning superpowers (Feb 23) The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator (March) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** 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/

To start 2023, we're running a fast series on trends worth paying attention to in The Sweathead Trend Bender Series. Over five episodes this week, you'll get to hear 25 trends that people who get paid to find trends are highlighting for their clients. In this episode, EssenceMediaCom's Chike Ume takes us through The Great AI Experiment, Anti-Establishment Is The New Establishment, and Hedonism (f*&k-it vibes). You can find Chike here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chikeume/ ** Join a live Meta Trend workshop with Reddit's Matt Klein on Feb 3 here: http://bit.ly/3XOjJ7f Next strategy training: Lucky Generals Cofounder Andy Nairn teaches a masterclass on planning superpowers (Feb 23) The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator (March) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** 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/

To start 2023, we're running a fast series on trends worth paying attention to in The Sweathead Trend Bender Series. Over five episodes this week, you'll get to hear 25 trends that people who get paid to find trends are highlighting for their clients. In this episode, Vayner's Olayinka Ajibola and Hayley Grant take us through their trend highlight reel. The trends come from The Vayner Constellation: 2023 Trends Forecast. They include New Americana, Gen-less, and Revenge Living. You can find Olayinka Ajibola here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olayinkaajibola/ Hayley Grant is here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hayleykgrant/ ** Join a live Meta Trend workshop with Reddit's Matt Klein on Feb 3 here:   http://bit.ly/3XOjJ7f Next strategy training: Lucky Generals Cofounder Andy Nairn teaches a masterclass (Feb 23) The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator (March) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** 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/

To start 2023, we're running a fast series on trends worth paying attention to in The Sweathead Trend Bender Series. Over five episodes this week, you'll get to hear 25 trends that people who get paid to find trends are highlighting for their clients. In this episode, Will Poskett breaks down five trends he's seen across all those trend reports everyone is gouging on. These are called Meta Trends. They include Coping Through Creativity, The Power Of The Past, and Recover In Reconnection. You can find Will and his deck about these trends here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/will-poskett-%F0%9F%94%A5-62942716/ ** Join a live Meta Trend workshop with Reddit's Matt Klein on Feb 3 here: http://bit.ly/3XOjJ7f Next strategy training: Lucky Generals Cofounder Andy Nairn teaches a masterclass (Feb 23) The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator (March) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** 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/

A big thank you to the Sweathead team and all the speakers for making The Sweathead Get-Ahead happen on January 20, our five-year anniversary.  We have so much planned for 2023, including a week of trends this week on the podcast (The Sweathead Trend Bender) and a live workshop with Reddit's Matt Klein on 16 meta trends on Feb 3. RSVP to the workshop here: http://bit.ly/3XOjJ7f ** Next strategy training: Lucky Generals Cofounder Andy Nairn teaches a masterclass on planning superpowers (Feb 23) The Sweathead Strategy Accelerator (March) Details: http://www.sweathead.com. ** Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** 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/

Justin Graham runs M&C Saatchi Group in Australasia. He started in management consulting then moved to Leo Burnett Sydney as an account planner. I sat next to him there, or at least in arms' reach. Like, I could annoy him if I wanted to without using my arms if I felt like it. After Leo Burnett, Justin moved to BBDO in New York to run Gillette before returning to the Australian offices of Droga5. He always struck me as a very intentional decision-maker so,now that he's running things, I wanted to find out how intentional he was, how set on becoming an advertising agency CEO he'd been when we worked together, and what he's learned along the way. I think this is the first interview I've recorded face-to-face for Sweathead. Out of 400+.  We recorded this in Sydney at the M&C Saatchi offices. You can find Justin there most days of the week and also here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinalexandergraham/ ** Sweathead celebrates its fifth anniversary on January 20, 2023 with a live event "The Sweathead Get-Ahead". Join us for talks, case studies, and a chance to plan your year. Details at http://www.sweathead.com. ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Other links: https://znap.link/sweathead 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.

It's not every day you get to hear two strategy leaders compare and contrast their agency's Gold IPA Effectiveness Papers. But Senior Planner at Brave Michael Kates suggested it on Twitter and Leo Burnett's London Head of Planning Tom Sussman and Wieden+Kennedy's Group Strategy Director Tass Tsitsopoulos said "yes". So here we are–a rare day. Tom takes us through a 15-year case study of disciplined brand building for McDonald's in the UK. Tass shares the “Famous Orders” campaign with us. It's a refreshing discussion that will help you understand how each agency approaches their work for McDonald's, attitudes towards celebrity, making a global brand work locally, and more. Big thanks to Michael for suggesting the chat. Links below: Tom: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-sussman-59892719/ Tass: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tass-tsitsopoulos-ba44551/ Michael: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-kates-484b4843/ ** Sweathead celebrates its fifth anniversary on January 20, 2023 with a live event "The Sweathead Get-Ahead".  Join us for talks, case studies, and a chance to plan your year.  Details at http://www.sweathead.com.  ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Other links: https://znap.link/sweathead 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.

Friends, Sweathead celebrates its fifth anniversary on January 20, 2023, with a live event called "The Sweathead Get-Ahead". RSVP at http://www.sweathead.com. It's free and open to all and it features... 1. Elizabeth Paul–CSO, The Martin Agency Adage CSO of the Year and Chair of the 4As Strategy Committee 2. Andy Nairn–Founding Partner, Lucky Generals The UK’s Planner Of The Year in 2021 3. Tahaab Rais–CSO MENAT, Publicis Groupe One of the world’s most awarded strategists 4. Ambika Pai–CSO, Mekanism Former Partner at Wolf & Wilhelmine and Adjunct Professor at Parsons 5. Aisha Hakim–ACD, 72andSunny Art director published in Sweeney’s…tasty 6. Rodrigo Maroni–CSO, Wunderman Thompson Winner of the Grand Prix at Cannes and various Best Agency Awards Sign up to our weekly strategy newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 ** In this episode I run through our plans for the year, 7 strategist affirmations you can use to talk back to your brain, and a list of first principles I'd encourage you to keep in mind as you do your work this year. We have big plans for 2023 and hope to see you in strategy class soon. ** Find out about our company training here: https://sweathead.com/teams/

Thom James is Head of Strategy at One Green Bean, part of the Havas network, in the UK. Recently, he was hospitalized due to deteriorating mental health. He Tweeted about his experience in a very frank and vulnerable way. Most people will directly or indirectly deal with a mental health crisis during their lifetimes. But it does seem like the creative industries are home to a lot of people with challenging mental health situations. Yet we rarely hear real talk about it. And this is why I wanted to speak with James.  We discuss depression, hospitalization, social anxiety, ADHD, agoraphobia, and how he went through this with his family–then Twitter–watching on. If you're going through tough times, please reach out to a specialist for help. Pandemics, war, recessions, and broken families are leading to a lot of challenges out there. Seek help if you need it. You can find Thom here: https://twitter.com/ThomJames ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Other links: https://znap.link/sweathead 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.

Santi Pochat is Vice President of Marketing at LinkedIn and he believes that beautiful ideas can come from the worst ideas. And this is what we discuss in this episode. Santi has spent over ten years at Edelman across two stints. He's also worked at Verizon and Google. He's strategic but loves making things and I'm excited about what he's about to unleash for LinkedIn, a company he recently joined. You can find Santi here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spochat/ ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Other links: https://znap.link/sweathead 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.

In this episode of Sweathead, James Hankins discusses two big topics: marketing concepts he's infatuated with and how he published his way through–then out of–a redundancy.  We discuss concepts such as market share, contribution margin, and incremental revenue. And we discuss how writing can provide a sense of rhythm and mission when life throws lemons at us. James is Global VP Marketing Strategy and Planning at SAGE. He's also Founder of Vizer Consulting and the Co-Chair of the IPA Share of Search ThinkTank. In the past, he's worked at Manning Gottlieb OMD, Vizeum, and MEC. He's worked on two of the most successful smoking cessation campaigns in the world (Quit Kit and Stoptober for the UK's NHS) as well as IKEA's "The Wonderful Everyday". He created the "Hankins Hexagon"–a new model of the path to purchase, and "digital availability"–an addition to the availability canon. He also works with JP Castlin writing about e-commerce, modern retail and corporate strategy implications. You can find James here: https://twitter.com/jcphankins ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Other links: https://znap.link/sweathead 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.

In this episode of Sweathead, I discuss cross-culture kids with Sean Choi. Cross-culture kids are people who grow up between two or more cultures. These "kids" are fast becoming a large population in the USA and, because of this, they are increasingly working in advertising and the audiences of advertising. Sean currently calls The Martin Agency, AdWeek’s back-to-back Agency of the Year, home.  He takes pride in quite literally ‘breaking into’ strategy as a late bloomer but brings along his background in Talent and Culture from Apple and freelance photography.  Aside from fully believing “New York or nowhere,” Sean is a proud Korean-American committed to being a megaphone for the marginalized.  He’s spoken at events hosted by the likes of the 4As, AIA, and 3AF, crafted thought leadership picked up by Adweek, and is the the curator of an industry-wide cultural moments calendar. You can find Sean here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanrichardchoi/ ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Other links: https://znap.link/sweathead 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.

Tahaab Rais has won over 750 top-tier regional and global awards across Cannes, Effies, One Show, D&AD, Jay Chiats, Andy's, Clios, LIA, New York Festivals, WARC, Loeries, Dubai Lynx, among others, including a record of 340+ Effies. He's the MENAT CSO of Publicis Groupe. That's Middle-East-North-Africa-and-Turkey, a region with hundreds of millions of people in it. Some conversations I feel at home in. And this is one of them. In this interview, we discuss the ingredients that go into an agency being able to do award-winning work. We discuss the obvious stuff (like working with exceptional people) as well as the stuff that's only obvious when you no longer have it (like agency leadership that will fight for your ideas). We also discuss a campaign his team and client have been winning awards for lately: “James Jefferson: A Fraudster, Created by a Bank, to Reduce Financial Fraud” for Emirates NBD. You can find Tahaab here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tahaab/ ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Other links: https://znap.link/sweathead 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.

In this episode, we look at five insights about insight hunters as suggested by strategists. You can find the deck here: https://bit.ly/insighthunters ** THIS WEEK ONLY: You can the coupon code HOLIDAY22 on the Sweathead website to get 20% off plus free shipping of 2 or more copies of my book "Strategy Is Your Words". You can find out about our membership at http://www.sweathead.com. We'll be announcing tens of events and masterclasses in 2023 soon. If you enjoy this episode, please share it with a friend and give it a kind review. ** 🔥 Strategy classes: http://www.sweathead.com ✉️ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dscjW5 📸 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sweathead 🔊 Other links: https://znap.link/sweathead 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.