Grow Op

Andy Macaulay has been associated with some of Canada’s most successful agencies including Rethink, Zig, CPB Canada and more recently, The Garden. And some of that success, I believe, must at least in part be due to culture. You can’t do good work without good people. So today we’re talking about culture and how you build one post, or arguably even still during a global pandemic.

No matter how junior or seasoned you are as a strategist, it seems we all suffer from imposter syndrome. So perhaps it’s no surprise that when I suggested it as a topic, I didn’t get just one person raise their hand to talk about it, I got four. Being cast as the smartest person in the room can be a lot to live up to apparently. So this week, we’re catching up with Sarah Thompson, Julien Coulter,...

Just as a good dynamic between strategist and creative can be a predictor of stand out work, so too can a strong relationship between strategist and researcher.  So this week, we sat down with Shane Skillen, CEO at Hotspex, who shared his Top 5 tips on how to be a great planner.

If you’ve ever watched speakers on the TedTalk stage, you know they often are the best storytellers. But they don’t always start out that way. Andrea Sampson, CEO and Executive Speaker Coach, has worked with some of the most highly accomplished scientists, entrepreneurs, and dreamers in the world. She helps them find and tell the why in what they do. On this week’s episode, Andrea shares her top 5...

The temptation to go out on your own is a feeling that many of us have had at some point or another. But having the bravery to do it can be hard. In this week’s episode of Grow Op, we spoke to Ute Preusse, co-founder of Will, who shared her top 5 tips for starting your own agency.

There are few agencies that have been as successful as Rethink and while Rethink’s creative reputation is well known, a massive part of their secret sauce actually lies in their client management. It’s not hard to have great ideas but selling them in is entirely another thing. In this episode, we spoke to Caleb Goodman, Rethink’s National Managing Partner and COO, about how to be a better client w...

Empathy, compassion, and vulnerability. These are increasingly sought after skills in leaders. And contrary to being seen as a weakness or sign of submission, these qualities are recognized as powerful demonstrations of confidence, courage, and authenticity. In this week’s episode of GrowOp, we sat down with Lisa Kimmel, Global Managing Director, Chair & CEO of Canada & Latin America and G...

Freelance has been an enticing proposition for many, for years. And for some, COVID seemed to turn its appeal into overdrive. The opportunity for remote work and the strong need for on-demand talent have been at least two key reasons for its growth amongst not only industry veterans as has been the norm within strategy, but amongst more junior to mid-weight talent as well. In this week’s episode o...

For years we’ve been lamenting the death of the traditional agency model. Yet for all our complaining, there are few agencies that have actually tried to do something different. Then along came Oliver. Oliver is the world's first and only company to exclusively design, build, and run bespoke in-house agencies and marketing ecosystems for brands. It has an enviable client list including Unilever, G...

Sometimes having great ideas is not the hardest part. It’s selling them in. And while it’s easy for agencies to blame clients for not buying brave work,  don’t agencies have a responsibility in making the work buyable? Lori Davison, CMO at the Royal Ontario Museum, was one of the key architects behind Sick Kids Vs, one of Canada’s most awarded campaigns. And prior to Sick Kids, Lori spent the...

Advertising is not an easy profession: long hours and weekend work are all too common. No wonder so many of us get completely burnt out. But the narrative is changing. Many of us are no longer willing to accept these conditions but part of that needs to start with ourselves. Cat Wiles, CSO at Cossette, has achieved the upper echelons of our industry but not without learning how to prioritize her o...

Some teams like Jay Chaney and Carlos Moreno of Broken Heart Love Affair,  seem to have a partnership that allows them to hit it out of the park time and time again. So what’s their secret? How do they do it?  Find out from the best what makes for a great strategy and creative partnership work and what doesn't. You can connect with Jay Chaney on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ja...

When research is done well, it really has a life of its own. Listen to the inaugural episode of our new podcast show, Grow Op, where we give strategic thinkers and creative tinkerers opportunities to grow. In this episode, Daniel Berkal of The Palmerston Group shares his Top 5 Tips on Creating Research that Doesn't Suck.