Campaign Chemistry

When Code & Theory launched in 2001, digital had a much different meaning. But fast-forward to today, and the world continues to adapt to new technologies that have massive implications for communications and business.  Code & Theory is at the forefront, from helping advertisers launch their e-commerce businesses to guiding them through the promises and practicalities of Web3. The digital creative...

IPG consolidated its health agencies under the IPG Health banner in July 2021, putting longtime FCB Health CEO Dana Maiman at the helm, where she oversees 45 agencies and 6,000 people. Leadership changes are still underway , but the consolidation allows for more holistic focus on client needs and creates more opportunities to invest across a single P&L, she says.  Maiman, who has focused on health...

When you think of Morgan Stanley, diversity and accessibility might not be the first thing that comes to mind. But Alice Milligan, who joined as CMO in May 2021, is on a mission to change that.  Milligan joined Morgan Stanley through its acquisition of E-Trade in 2020. Since then, the firm has expanded its portfolio of products and services to cater to a wider range of individuals beyond the uber-...

Fifteen years ago, just as the iPhone was launched, Jan Jacobs and Leo Premutico left the big agency world to strike out on their own. Indie agency Johannes Leonardo was born, and with it grew a reputation for courageous work that puts consumers at the center.  Fast forward to today, and JL has garnered a global reputation for repositioning legacy brands, such as Kraft and MassMutual, for a modern...

Steve discusses the power of humor in business, and how the tenets of humor change perspectives on leadership styles and open participants’ minds to creative ways of thinking and engaging. Research shows that training rooted in humor principles improves engagement, enhances creative problem-solving, and deepens communication and collaboration with coworkers. Humor releases important hormones like...

As work has changed irrevocably in the past two years, Upwork has leaned into its category dominance in the talent marketplace sector to push organizations to think about work in new ways. Over the past year, chief marketing officer Melissa Waters has led the charge on Upwork’s evolution from talent marketplace to enterprise solutions provider. Her most recent work for the brand leans into humor,...

When Apple released the iOS 14.5 update that limited tracking visibility on its devices, direct-to-consumer brands had to pivot. John Sheldon, chief marketing officer of oral health brand SmileDirectClub , shifted his organization’s focus by embracing less granular metrics, such as engagement, and putting more budget into brand-building channels.  Today, SmileDirectClub, which launched in 2014 as...

The Roku Brand Studio and Mast-Jägermeister US came together for The Lesbian Bar Project , the highly anticipated three-part docuseries. The Lesbian Bar Project spotlights Lesbian bars and the communities that they serve across the United States. The show was co-directed by Erica Rose and Elina Street and includes Lea DeLaria (from Orange Is the New Black) as Executive Producer. The series airs on...

Mediahub has gone from the media arm of MullenLowe to a strong standalone agency with clients including Netflix, Pinterest and Twitch. What used to describe itself as “the challenger agency for challenger brands” has grown beyond its roots to land large heritage accounts, such as being named AOR for Post Consumer Brands in March. John Moore leads the IPG-owned agency globally across 13 offices and...

T-Brand Studio helps marketers tap into The New York Times’ huge and valuable audience with custom integrations that span its massive portfolio. Vida Cornelious, VP, creative, advertising and T-Brand Studio, leads the team to apply the rigor and standards of Times journalism to client storytelling.  A commitment to diverse storytelling is clear throughout the work. One example is the T-Brand partn...

Campaign US celebrated its 40 Over 40 honorees at Elsie Rooftop in New York City last week.  The event gathered top industry leaders in advertising, marketing, media and technology to honor their hard work to break boundaries, inspire creativity and make the industry better throughout their careers.  Tune into this special episode with on-the-ground interviews with five of our honorees: Kara Buckn...

As an agency leader, Mo Said does things a bit differently.  After building his creative pedigree at shops including BBDO and Droga5, Said went off to launch his own agency to do work he is more passionate about – not just work that’s focused on growing the agency’s remit. Unlike other creatives who start their own shops, Said runs the business as well as being a creative director, which he says h...

You might know Zynga from its mobile gaming titles like Words with Friends and FarmVille, the social game that took over Facebook in 2009. Today Zynga operates hundreds of casual and hyper casual mobile games that reach more than 200 million monthly active users. That ubiquity in the mobile gaming space led to its $12.7 billion acquisition by mobile gaming studio Take Two Interactive, which closed...

You might know Land O’Lakes best for its dairy products, like its namesake butter. But did you know that the 100 year-old company, which operates as a farmer-owned cooperative, also has an animal feed business and provides technical services to agricultural retailers and farmers to be more efficient and sustainable? Heather Malenshek, a former agency executive and Harley Davidson CMO, joined the a...

Many women remember the feeling of walking into Victoria’s Secret and being overwhelmed by the strong smell of perfume, the bright colors and the life size supermodels setting unrealistic expectations of beauty. Mostly, they remember the lack of fit and support of its products.  ThirdLove exists to change that. Launched in 2013 as an early mover in both the DTC and body positive marketing spaces,...

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, people were stuck inside for months – rendering out of home (OOH) billboards on roadways and in major downtown areas, in buildings and malls, suddenly invisible to millions of people.  But since then investment in OOH has rebounded as people venture back out into the world. The Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA) released its Q2 reven...

The overturning of Roe v. Wade is causing a crisis for U.S. women looking for access to safe, reproductive healthcare – beyond just abortion services. Wisp is at the center of the storm. The telehealth startup, which launched in 2018 to provide easy, safe access to virtual reproductive health services, is on a mission to educate women across the country about how to access care while destigmatizin...

Bas Korsten and Dania Alarcon both pursued careers in advertising by accident. Korsten studied logistics and engineering in college, and Alarcon went to medical school before pivoting to a career in healthcare marketing.  But that’s what makes them a fit at Wunderman Thompson, which positions itself around combining creativity and technology for brands. Wunderman Thompson Health is a big and growi...

In this episode, we revisit our conversation with VMLY&R global CEO Jon Cook.  Cook chats about Cannes, how the agency is navigating pending economic headwinds and dives into VMLY&R’s strategy for retaining diverse talent. Fresh off of Cannes with a haul of Grand Prix wins, VMLY&R is making waves in the healthcare space. Campaigns including “I will always be me,” which helps people with motor neur...

American Family Insurance takes a different approach to creative, leaving behind the silly humor and fuzzy animal mascots used by most in the category for earnest, purposeful storytelling that reaches communities authentically.  That approach is led by Sherina Smith, chief marketing officer at the challenger insurance brand. Smith, who has a background across verticals including retail, healthcare...

Nicola Mendelsohn is six months into her role as VP of the global business group at Meta, overseeing the platform’s multi-billion dollar ad business. She’s moved from London to New York for the role and says progress and conversations with advertisers globally, have been productive.     Despite a recent slowdown of the business (and across the tech sector), Mendelsohn says advertisers still believ...

Cook chats about Cannes, how the agency is navigating pending economic headwinds and dives into VMLY&R’s strategy for retaining diverse talent. Fresh off of Cannes with a haul of Grand Prix wins, VMLY&R is making waves in the healthcare space. Campaigns including “I will always be me,” which helps people with motor neuron disease preserve their voices before they lose the ability to speak, and for...

Temkin, senior director of product management, for ads privacy and user trust at Google, is leading the charge on preserving ad targeting and measurement while tracking restrictions loom.  Major privacy changes are happening on the web as regulation reshapes the internet. Google will begin the process of restricting the use of third-party cookies on Chrome next year, but is also looking to preserv...

Comms pros have all watched “Mad Men’s” Don Draper walk into a conference room, deliver a brilliant pitch and save the day. But what if the notion of “the big idea” is as outdated as the three-martini lunch? In this podcast, Josh Budd, Chief Creative Officer, NA, Citizen Relations and Jaime Pescia, VP, Global Creative & Brand engagement, Little Caesars Pizza talked about how the pressure to delive...

Consumers understand the benefits of sharing data and are more willing to do so in exchange for relevant or valuable experiences. President of Infillion, the company that builds advanced media and technology solutions, Christa Carone hopes to see content providers that are working towards an Advertising-based Video on Demand (AVOD) model think of opportunities to do something innovative with adver...