Sweathead, A Strategy Podcast

Join me as I take you on some of my trips. And follow me at http://www.instagram.com/markpollard For details about upcoming events and company training, visit http://www.sweathead.com

Find out about our upcoming conference and classes at http://www.sweathead.com Follow Mark here: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

To find out more about our conference The Sweathead Do-Together and my upcoming masterclasses in Africa and the Middle East, visit: http://www.sweathead.com Follow me on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Watch this on the new Sweathead YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/cqUmFaJ6Af4 It's part of our new series Brains On Brands. Sydney Sweeney and American Eagle dropped one of the most talked-about ads of the year. In this video, we break down why the campaign is controversial what it says about celebrity marketing, and what strategists, creatives, and brands can learn from it. Featuring: Amira B...

Many thanks to Chris Do from The Futur and Rakaa from Dilated Peoples from this impromptu walk around Los Angeles. You can find them here: http://www.instagram.com/thechrisdo http://www.instagram.com/therealrakaa Come to our annual conference --> The Sweathead Do-Together happens online and in Chicago and New York this November, 2025: https://sweathead.com/the-sweathead-do-together/ My newish Y...

Follow along for the real-time version of these: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Find out about our upcoming summer camp and masterclasses at http://www.sweathead.com Follow us at http://www.instagram.com/markpollard http://www.instagram.com/sweathead

For details about our upcoming classes, visit: http://www.sweathead.com Chicago, NYC, Barcelona, Madrid, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Bucharest, Prague, and more. Find Mark here: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard

Watch us discuss all of this here on YouTube: https://youtu.be/IAp_TsXrG7Q?si=OeGELRvjHM8FPNG9 - The USA vs the UK - US clients vs UK clients - Doing creative work in Corporate America - The good and not good things about New York City Strategy events and classes: http://www.sweathead.com

This interview comes from Part 2 of my YouTube series about surviving New York City, especially the Corporate America parts. Jason has worked at Energy BBDO, Huge, and Amazon. He recently documented his leaving of Amazon. We discuss: - Why he did this - What he's learned from working in NYC - Being an introvert in Corporate America And more. Watch us discuss all of this on The High Line: https...

Watch my first raw travel YouTube video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0josxmlLCKU&t=1437s It features strategists and friends Julian Cole and Jack Appleby. I also take you on a tour of NYC and share what the city has taught me. Julian: https://www.instagram.com/juliancole.strategy/ Jack: https://www.instagram.com/jackapplebyny/ Mark: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard Strategy traini...

Lee Ci En and Amy Daroukakis have been collecting trend reports in a Google for years now. You've probably fiended for access :) The thing is, trends can be useful but a lot of trend reports are not. In this episode, we discuss: - 7 trends they think we need to pay attention to, - What's wrong with the trend report industry, - And the projects both are involved with. Amy Daroukakis, Founde...

In this episode, I reflect about some of the countries I visited in 2024 - from The Maldives to Saudi Arabia. I also talk about the mindset required to reach clarity, big personal reflections, and my upcoming attempt at YouTube. Read about clarity here: https://mailchi.mp/sweathead/clarity-on-a-page https://mailchi.mp/sweathead/what-is-this-mood The one-page documents are in Best Strategists Club:...

I'm in Riyadh this week. It's my first time. I'm here for a new creator conference called Impaq Makers. It's run by the Ministry of Media. I spent a few days exploring the city and speaking to people. But a strategist friend Faisal Alshareef told me about a big YouTube channel here called Thmanyah. I asked if I could meet them and interview them. Faisal made it happen. Thmanyah have a Guinness Wor...

Felipe Tomaz is Associate Professor of Marketing at the Saïd Business School at University of Oxford. He's about to publish a paper in the Journal of Marketing after analyzing 1,000 campaigns and a million customer journeys via Kantar and Wavemaker. With this paper, he'll be showing that "not all reach is created equal" as well as how few campaigns are actually effective. I invited Tom Roach to jo...

Ipsita Das often reaches millions of people every month. While she was studying media and psychology at he New School, her Instagram account started to pop. Now, she works with tens of people every week. She tries to help them with the thoughts in their minds that are holding them back. In this episode, we discuss the five issues Ipsita hears about more. Ipsita will be teaching at our 2024 Sweathe...

Steve Walls has had big strategy jobs at TBWA, Ogilvy, Publicis Groupe, and more. But, now, he lives in Zurich, works with Moon Rabbit, and sees agency pitches from the other side - as someone helping marketers get more out of their agencies. In this episode, we discuss what Steve sees agencies get right and wrong in the pitch process. Steve will be teaching at our 2024 Sweathead Do-Together. Find...

Mike Jacobson has worked in strategy for years. But he's been a magician for decades. Not long ago, he appeared on America's Got Talent. That's how good he is. In this episode, Mike breaks down the business of magic as well as how what he's learned from being a magician and strategist has helped both of his crafts, something he'll be teaching at our upcoming strategy conference The Sweathead Do-To...

I recently spoke with Joe about strategy frameworks and whether they're dumb. In this episode, we discuss strategic territories, which is one of those tools that is either useful or offensive, depending on how people use it. Joe will teach us how to use territories at our upcoming strategy conference The Sweathead Do-Together. Links: Joe: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-burns-bb73a31b/ Mark: http:...

Lucien Etori is the Chief Strategy Officer of McCann New York. He grew up moving around a lot as well as a fan of several music subcultures. This has led him to question the way a lot of advertising people use the word "culture". What do people mean by "culture" and "the culture" and "be part of the culture" and "to do work at the speed of culture"? And this is what we get into. Links: Lucien: htt...

The last time I spoke with Jenny Chang was four years ago. Since then, she's worked in agencies and for Lego and has now launched her own company, Constellation Theory. In this episode of Sweathead, we discuss this journey as well as what it's like to build a business around yourself. Jenny is hosting our upcoming strategy conference The Sweathead Do-Together. Links: Jenny aka jennifer m chang: ht...

Kevin Chesters has CSO’d it all - Ogilvy, Wieden + Kennedy, Dentsu and more. He’s started a business. He’s sold a business.  He’s also started writing a book and finished writing a book, which is the hardest part of starting to write a book. It’s called The Creative Nudge. Kevin is speaking at our fourth Sweathead Do-Together about how to say your ideas in a few words. In this chat, we touch on th...

James Hurman was once the number one planner in the world. Now, he runs an innovation studio called Previously Unavailable, he teaches a Master of Advertising Effectiveness with the crew at WARC and Cannes Lions, and he directs brand-tracking company Tracksuit. In this episode, we discuss James’s 18 months in the creative department and what he learned that can help strategists.  We also get into...

How often does your advertising career feel stuck?  How often do you compare your career to other people’s careers? What do you do to get your career un-stuck? Iuren Ramiro is a Strategy Director at Agência WE in São Paulo. He’s also on the ANA and Lions CMO Growth Councils. In this episode, we discuss Iuren’s own journey through the darkness as well as a recent survey we ran to see how other stra...

Maytê Carvalho won a special version of Brazil’s The Apprentice television show when she was 18 years old. People told her she was persuasive. They told her to write a book about it.  But, first, Maytê decided to study persuasion and ended up getting a Master’s degree focusing on it. She also became a Research Fellow at the Berkeley Global Society. Simultaneously, Maytê worked in the Grey Group an...