Grow Op

A few months ago we interviewed Justine Feron, a Canadian strategist who gave us the ins and outs of working as a planner in the US. Today, we're going a bit further afield. Have you ever wondered what it's like to work as a strategist in the UK? Find out from Michael Kates, Senior Strategist at Brave London, who moved to Old Blighty a year ago.

Many of us have gotten or had to give tough love over the course of our career but few of us have managed to turn it into our own business venture. Today we’re talking to Lindsay Waugh, James Fisher and Julie Sheldon of the newly formed strategy collective, Tough Love on How Tough Love Fuels Agile Strategy. Enjoy!

Acceptance of psychedelics is growing which can importantly have positive impacts on our industry so this week we’ve decided to revisit one of our top episodes from last year’s GrowOp Summer School, How to Leverage a Psychedelic Experience with Emily Squirrell, VP Head of Strategy at Gene.

If you haven’t ever been on a Zoom call with Jon Crowley, I highly recommend it. It’s literally like being transported to a sneaker shop and the kicks on display, so I’m told, are only a small glimpse into Jon’s entire collection. I find fringe and not so fringe (given sneakers are a $73BN global market) cultures fascinating so this week we’re revisiting one of our top episodes from last year’s Gr...

Coca-Cola. Nike. Apple these are all brands that have massive cultural equity and resonance with consumers. But what is their secret? How do they do it? Do yourself a favour and take a listen to Chuck Welch, Founder and CSO at Rupture Studio on How to Build Culturally Iconic Brands - one of our top episodes from last year’s GrowOp Summer School.

While we like to think of ourselves as individuals, rarely influenced by the actions of others, the truth is many of our actions are swayed by the group. No one knows this better than award winning UK strategist and Herdmeister, Mark Earls. This week we’ve decided to revisit one of our top episodes from last year’s GrowOp Summer School so take a listen to Mark’s top tips on how to leverage the her...

Lots of strategists dream of working in bigger markets and often times that means spending some time in New York or further afield in London. It’s definitely a worthwhile experience: bigger budgets, bigger teams, etc. So this week, we are fortunate enough to get some tips on getting your foot in the US market and what it’s really like to work there from strategist extraordinaire, Justine Feron, He...

While it was only 6 weeks ago that we had a well deserved winter break, I’m sure at this point, it feels like a distant memory. So this week we’ve decided to revisit an important episode from last year’s GrowOp Summer School. Take a listen to Chantaie Allick’s top tips on how to overcome burnout.

Canada is set to bring in 1.5M immigrants by 2025. And already, about one in four Canadians have come here  as an immigrant. This is promising news for our industry as we continue to work towards greater diversity and inclusion including increased understanding of the culturally diverse consumers we seek to connect with. That said, breaking into the Canadian ad scene from another country is n...

To wrap up our deep dive into storytelling, this week, we’ve decided to re-run one of our top episodes from last year’s GrowOp Summer School. Polish your skills in mastering this art form by listening to our interview with author of Mystery: A Seduction, a Strategy, a Solution with Jonah Lehrer.

Last week, we explored the importance of storytelling. This week, we thought we’d continue this theme but from the perspective of yet another masterful storyteller. If you haven’t yet had a chance to listen to one of our top episodes from last year’s GrowOp Summer School, then take the time today to get a masterclass from legendary planner and author, Paul Feldwick.

If you’re anything like me, you spent a good chunk of your winter holiday binging on Netflix shows. We are blessed with a constant onslaught of truly immersive and downright addictive storytelling and since we work in a media that most would much rather avoid, being really good at telling stories (even just to sell your strategy into a client) is a vital skill.  So this week, listen and then...

Doesn’t everyone want to be thought of as interesting? Afterall, it is interesting that often sparks our best ideas and so for many strategists chasing what’s interesting is a much loved pastime. So take some time to listen to one of our top episodes from last year’s GrowOp Summer School and find out from John Griffiths, one of the world’s most interesting planners, how to add more zest to your li...

It’s the start of a new year so it feels like we should be talking about how to make luck happen. Luckily enough, we have the perfect person to tell us just how to do that. Take a listen to one of our top episodes from last year’s GrowOp Summer School and find out how to make 2023 work in your favour.

Just in time for the holidays, this week we’re re-running one of our top episodes from GrowOp Summer School: How to Slow Down with Carl Honore.

This week, we’re re-running one of our top episodes from GrowOp Summer School. Find out from one of the best in the industry how thrive at an independent agency.

This week, we’re re-running one of our top episodes from GrowOp Summer School. Find out from one of the best in the industry how to venture out on your own.

It’s no secret that as branding professionals we are shockingly bad at branding ourselves. So this week on the show, I decided to talk to Henry Wong, author of Telling Your Story, Building Your Brand, to share his 5 tips on Personal Branding.

Pitching is the lifeblood of our industry. And there are certainly some agencies that seem to have it more dialed in than others. So I decided to tap one of the best in the business to share his top 5 tips on how to pitch. Tom Kenny, is the newly appointed CSO at Courage and in this conversation he shared some of his trade secrets on converting the all important pitch.

Many advertisers and agencies have made important progress when it comes to diversity and inclusion, yet there is still more that can be done.  Specifically, ensuring that the conversation doesn’t start downstream during casting but rather much further upstream during the strategy phase is just one example. So this week on APG’s GrowOp, we’re catching up with Jessica Borges, VP Business Lead...

The concept of challenger brands is one that many strategists refer to time and time again. It’s a concept rich with tension and white space - all the good things we love. But so, interestingly enough, are constraints.. Constraints can in fact be beautiful, according to Mark Barden,  partner at Eat the Big Fish. So this week on the show, we’re exploring Mark’s top 5 tips on overcoming beautif...

Sometimes, when you’re just starting out as a strategist, it’s hard to figure out what your style is going to be and as much as our job is to undercover a brand’s superpower, it can be hard to locate our own - especially the ones that will make us stand out from what other strategists do. So today on the show we’re catching up with Elliott Altilla, Head of Strategy at Mint, on how to uncover your...

Breaking glass ceilings and advocating for things to better add up in advertising has been an important focus for this week’s guest: Becky McOwen Banks, former ECD at Vayner London and contributing author of Eat your Greens. And yet, while there may be more women in leadership positions in marketing, especially vs other industries, it’s not just about representation but the actual workplace enviro...

Gareth Kay, CMO at Twill,  is a well known name in strategy circles. Over the years, he’s led planning at a number of the best agencies in the world from Goodby Silverstein to Modernista. He is a highly sought after speaker and one of the most refreshing voices in marketing. Having recently made the shift from agency side to client side, he’s here to share his top 5 tips on making the switch.

I’ve never come across a single agency that doesn’t say they’re collaborative. Of course they’re collaborative, who isn’t? So we all know it’s important but how easy is it to collaborate these days, especially when more often than not now we’re not even in the same room as those we are working with? Well if there is one relationship for which collaboration is an essential ingredient to success, it...