Breaking and Entering Advertising Podcast

Cooper Colvig is back with this week's guest, Evan Russack Co-Founder and Head of Account and Strategy at WorkInProgress Boulder, Colorado. You might know them best for their work on dominos, but they are doing a ton of Incredible work for so many other amazing brands.  WorkInProgress was named an Ad Age A-List Agency Standout (202), twice recognized by Ad Age’s Small Agency Awards (2020, 2022) an...

If you decide to engage in this audio experience, you might want to be best friends with Aaron Francois.  Aaron Francois is an Associate Strategy Director at Laundry Service and the visionary founder of Black Visionaries. Aaron's journey is one of purpose and impact. As the founder of Black Visionaries, he's dedicated to democratizing access to resources and information for Black professionals, cr...

Ian Mackenzie is an award-winning Chief Creative Officer at Performance Art, working in Toronto.  We talk about his work, including the Cannes Lions-winning "The Greatest Guide" for Grupo Bimbo, which has set new benchmarks in the industry. Ian shares his insights on building long-lasting creative platforms, his approach to integrating creativity into technological ecosystems, and the art of craft...

You should hear how Paanii Annan explains why Nikola Jokic is the best person to learn from as an Account Person.  Or what it's like to be a Brand Director on Nike at Wieden + Kennedy.  Or what it's like to move from Denver to Chicago for his first job at Leo Burnett in Chicago.  You should listen to his best advice for aspiring account professionals and the key attributes he exemplifies and looks...

Despite his father's advice, Jeffrey Buntin, Jr. packed his bags and broke into advertising.  He left Nashville in his early 20s to join the Chicago ad world.  There, he learned what he loved and did not love about creating great work.  He returned to Nashville bright-eyed, and since taking the helm of BUNTIN, Jeffrey has doubled agency billings. BUNTIN is a fiercely independent advertising agency...

She is the number one copywriter in the world, according to D&AD Rankings.  Claudia Illán is a copywriter at Marcel Worldwide.  We recently interviewed Gaëtan du Peloux, Marcel's CCO/CEO, where we dove deep into the agency structure, culture and magic.  In this episode, we learn about Claudia and Copywriting. To be the best of the best and what it takes.  She is proud that she goes to work like a...

Daniel Lobatón is the creative mastermind and Chief Creative Officer at Rethink NY.  Daniel's trailblazing journey from streets of Lima, Peru, to the bustling avenues of New York City is nothing short of inspiring. We discuss how he transformed the advertising landscape with the iconic “It’s a Tide Ad” campaign during the Super Bowl, cleverly turning every commercial into a showcase for Tide's eff...

He has studied and perfected the undergraduate creative system.  Glenn Griffin is the Director of Creative at UT Austin.  He's been teaching creativity and portfolio development courses for over 20 years.  His mission is clear. It's to help aspiring advertisers break into the creative industry. And he's gotten quite good at it.  He shares his wealth of knowledge with us today on our ADjunct segmen...

It's never too late to pivot to the career you love.  For Sean, it was from pivot tables and a career in Excel to becoming Dr. Sean Sawicki after earning his Ph. D. in communications after falling in love with teaching.  Today, Sean is on his way to tenure, leading the advertising and PR Department at the University of Tampa as an Assistant Professor.  His years of marketing-side experience and ac...

He’s worked at FCB and R/GA on clients like ESPN+ and Straight Talk wireless. Before advertising, he worked on the Sopranos.  Now, he has published an online resource for ad creatives called the AdAdderall Handbook of Advertising Idea Generation Techniques.  He is Senior Copywriter Andrew Weissman. He takes us through some of his favorite ideation techniques, methods, and creative processes of ad...

This week, we learn from Shelley Elkins, the Chief Creative Officer of NVE Experience Agency, appointed in October as part of the agency's inaugural C-Suite. NVE Experience Agency focuses on creating impactful brand experiences. Shelley's previous role was as the Global CCO for Jack Morton Worldwide, where she led the agency to multiple prestigious awards and chaired the Global Creative Council. W...

A role you might not have considered, but you should.  It's data strategy.  Merc is a data strategist at 72andSunny and an Adjunct Lecturer at The University of Illinois and Indiana University.  We break down what it means to be a data strategist, who could be best interested and how data strategy uncovers insights to help identify audiences and world trends that lead to the right creative idea at...

He's the 5th ranked Chief Creative Officer in the world, per D&AD.  Born and raised in Paris, Gaëtan du Peloux is the eldest of seven children. He started his career as a copywriter at CLM/BBDO in 2004. He's now 43 years old and works at Marcel as Chief Creative Officer and Co-Chief Executive Officer. Along with his creative partner, Youri Guerassimov, Gaëtan has produced outstanding and award-win...

From a receptionist to head of account.  Kevin Christopherson's story is one of insane passion, work ethic, overcoming toxic advertising environments, and hope.  Full of lessons, Kevin is now an associate professor of advertising at Columbia College in Chicago.  An award-winning academic institution known for its prolific creative development, I cannot wait for you to listen and learn from Kevin i...

From Wieden + Kennedy to Leo Burnett.  Nick Howard is catching the attention of the entire ad industry.  Today, we learn from Nick Howard, who has recently moved back to Chicago to work alongside his creative accomplice Nick Stoner, as an SVP Creative Director.  We talk about his Grand Prix Cannes winning idea for Clash of Clans and his very first assignment, where he had to make chili fit into a...

A career route in advertising we have not uncovered.  It is a route for those who want to know more.  A route that is intense and intensely rewarding.  Dr. Maria De Moya comes on ADjunct to inspire and inform you about considering the academic route.  Get a Ph. D. in advertising. Teach at a fantastic university. Inspire the next generation of advertisers and expand the knowledge of the industry. ...

He's produced 7 Super Bowl commercials in his career.  Including an almost impossible feat of landing two consecutive #1 rankings atop the highly coveted USA Today Ad Meter for Rocket Mortgage.  Casey Hurbis is the Chief Marketing Officer of Rocket Mortgage, the flagship brand within the Rocket Companies portfolio.  He oversees all marketing initiatives for the company's in-house agency while work...

She is the Director of Design at Yellow House Consulting, a women-led digital marketing consultancy.  She is also the go-to professor at the University of Miami for advertising students looking to break into advertising.  This week, we have the pleasure of learning from Sarai Nunez, Assistant Professor of Practice at the University of Miami School of Communication.  An easy listen for you all out...

For the first time ever, we needed to create a two-part episode.  Why?  Because David Kolbusz is incredible. Simple as that. David Droga described him as "one of the world's best creative leaders. We are back with David Kolbusz for part two of his B&E Episode.  An Adweek Creative 100 and the Chief Creative Officer of Orchard, my conversation with David could not be contained to a single episode. ...

For the first time, we needed to create a two-part episode.  Why?  Because David Kolbusz is incredible. Simple as that.  An Adweek Creative 100 and Chief Creative Officer of Orchard, David is one hell of a Creative.  David Droga described him as "one of the world's best creative leaders." This first part explains his break-in.  He also leaves us with quite an enticing cliffhanger at the end, which...

Here it is. Handpicked by Eric Kallman himself, the Blue Crowbar award-winning campaign. The Blue Crowbar goes to the single best campaign submitted. Best in Show. We asked the nation of aspiring advertisers to develop a brand identity and creative marketing campaign that establishes the Amtrak rail system as a way to enjoy travel, have a positive impact on the environment, and reach incredible de...

He creates iconic advertising characters.  Like Flo and Dr. Rick from Progressive.  Sean McBride is someone the Breaking and Entering team has admired from afar for the entirety of our academic and professional careers.  As the Chief Creative Officer of Arnold Worldwide, he gives advice on our show on how to break into advertising.  He mentions straightforward advice for Copywriter portfolios. Tal...

Play "Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty.  Dan Windels is an advertising instructor at the University of Florida.  Consistently a top 5 public university, and paired with the fact he's on this show, you know Dan will teach you two main things. How to break into advertising. And how to thrive in it.  Specifically, he is an esteemed expert on the account/strategy track.  Dan and I had a fantastic time ju...

Have you ever fallen in love with a brand so much that you could see yourself dedicating your career to it?  This week, Josh Dobbie lets us in on his enchanting journey with Sorinex. Sorinex has been the leading innovator in American-made strength equipment since 1980. This isn't about strength training or gym talk; it's about what happens when an individual forgoes traditional marketing norms, ra...

Diane Elliston demystifies the creative process.  She is a teaching professor at the University of Colorado Boulder and is known for her ability to help her students break into amazing ad careers.  College classes can cost hundreds of dollars, so we bring on the best educators to deliver their best advice to your ears for free.  Diane puts on a masterclass that intertwines advertising creativity a...